Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2015 i Cobblestone American History and Current Events for Kids and Children

Today, the president of the United States (or POTUS) is one of the most powerful leaders in the world. But this was not always the case. The first attempt by the states to agree on a national government resulted in the Articles of Confederation in 1781, but it didn’t take long for Americans to realize that the Articles created a weak central government. So, the nation’s leaders tried again in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention. This time, the delegates created “a more perfect union.” Although they accepted that the federal government had to be stronger, they hoped to avoid giving unlimited power to any one person or branch. The answer to this predicament was to design a system of checks and balances. The U.S. Constitution describes three branches—legislative (Congress), executive…

1801–1809 Democratic–Republican Thomas Jefferson referred to his presidential election in 1800 as a “bloodless revolution.” The election signified a shift away from the Federalist policies supporting a strong federal government. As president, Jefferson was committed to shaping a government representative of and responsive to the needs of the people. To him, that meant keeping most government decisions at the local and state levels. The 1800 election revealed a bitter split between the Federalists and the Democratic–Republicans—the party of which Jefferson emerged as the leader. Americans feared a difficult transition of power, but Jefferson’s inaugural address emphasized harmony and good will. He said, “We are all republicans: we are all federalists,” meaning that all U.S. citizens were Americans first and were bound by the same founding principles. He showed how to…

1825–1829 Democratic–Republican Perhaps more than any other president, John Quincy Adams’ many decades of public service overshadowed his one term in office. His diplomatic career began at the age of 26, when he was appointed minister to the Netherlands. For eight years, he also served as President James Monroe’s secretary of state. Some historians consider Adams’ work in that Cabinet position without rival. The 1824 election was so close that none of the candidates received the necessary 131 electoral votes to win. The 12th Amendment to the Constitution left the decision of whom to name as president up to the House of Representatives, which could choose from the top three vote-getters. The members chose Adams after Henry Clay threw his support behind him. As the top vote-getter, Andrew Jackson had…

1853–1857 Democrat Franklin Pierce assumed office during a relatively calm moment in the nation’s otherwise difficult pre-Civil War years. But the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 soon reignited the controversy over slavery in the western territories, something that most Americans thought had been resolved by the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850. The Kansas–Nebraska Act supported popular sovereignty. That is, it allowed residents of future states to determine for themselves if they wanted to allow slavery within their boundaries. But the act repealed the Missouri Compromise because it allowed slavery to exist north of the line that was Missouri’s southern border. Proslavery and antislavery people entered Kansas to tip the voting to their preferences. It became known as “Bleeding Kansas” for the fighting and deaths that resulted over…

1865–1869 Democrat Andrew Johnson’s presidency faced two major difficulties from the moment he was sworn in. First, Johnson assumed the office after Abraham Lincoln was fatally shot only a month after his reelection. Second, he inherited the issue of Reconstruction (1865–1877), the period when the federal government controlled the Confederate states until they were readmitted into the Union. Lincoln had had specific ideas of how to quickly “bind the nation’s wounds,” but Johnson did not have Lincoln’s leadership skills needed to guide the nation toward that goal. The political climate in Washington was unsettled during this time, and a fierce battle raged over Reconstruction. Johnson offered leniency toward the South and the Confederacy’s former leaders. The Republicans in Congress did not like this easy approach. They demanded a tough attitude…

1877–1881 Republican After the scandal-ridden presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, Americans elected Rutherford B. Hayes, a shrewd and successful politician who wanted to enact reforms. The election of 1876 was one of the closest in U.S. history. A committee of eight Republicans and seven Democrats determined the winner. In exchange for deciding in favor of Hayes (a Republican), the Democrats demanded an end to the post–Civil War Reconstruction era and the removal of federal troops from southern states. Hayes fulfilled that promise, but he was relatively powerless to ensure the protection of voting and civil rights for Republicans in the South. Although unable to reform all of the civil service, Hayes allowed some of his Cabinet members to begin reforms within their own departments. During his administration, the nation began…

1885–1889 1893–1897 Democrat Grover Cleveland is the only president to leave the White House and then return for a second term. He won in 1884 because the Republican party was split. A group of Republicans disliked their party’s chosen candidate so much that they threw their support behind Cleveland. Cleveland worked hard at being president. He vetoed more than 400 pieces of legislation. He tried to prevent the federal government from providing financial aid to special interests. When an investigation revealed that western lands had been seized illegally by railroad companies, he made the railroads return 81 million acres. And he established the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate the railways. Cleveland did not always consider the political impact of his decisions, which cost him reelection in 1888. But he successfully…

John Adams First president to live in the White House. Thomas Jefferson First president to greet visitors with a handshake instead of a bow. John Quincy Adams First president who wore trousers (long pants) instead of knee breeches to his inauguration. Andrew Jackson First president to survive an assassination attempt. Martin Van Buren First president to be born as a citizen of the United States of America. William Henry Harrison First president to die in office. John Tyler First president to succeed to office through the death of a sitting president. James Buchanan First (and only) unmarried president. Abraham Lincoln First president with a beard. Rutherford B. Hayes First president to talk on a White House telephone. James A. Garfield First left-handed president. Benjamin Harrison First president to use electricity…

1789–1797 Federalist I walk on untrodden ground,” George Washington observed in 1789. As the first president of the United States, he faced an enormous challenge. The way that he filled the office would set a precedent for every U.S. president who followed him. Washington knew that he had to inspire respect and admiration. He also was aware that Americans were suspicious of leaders with too much power. In addition to defining the role of president, Washington had other goals. He wanted to strengthen the new country’s finances, repair its relationship with Great Britain, and develop its western frontier. Washington’s secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, made the case for a strong central government and came up with a plan to help manage the country’s war debts. The biggest international crisis…

1829–1837 Democrat Thousands of Americans converged on the U.S. Capitol to watch Andrew Jackson take the oath of office. Then they followed him home to the White House, where the crowd lunged for refreshments, broke furniture, and spilled food and wine. For his own safety, Jackson had to be spirited away to a hotel room. Such familiarity with a president was a sign of changing times. Unlike the previous six presidents who had grown up with a level of wealth and privilege, Jackson had been born in a frontier cabin in the Carolinas to struggling immigrant parents. Orphaned by the age of 14 and poorly educated, he was the image of a self-made man. He was the “People’s President.” Jackson had campaigned for office on the promise of reform. During…

1841–1845 Whig After the unexpected death of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler assumed all the powers of the presidency. He dismissed any idea that he might simply be an “acting” president. His actions set a precedent for anyone who became the chief executive after circumstances prevented the elected president from completing a term. Tyler believed that the rights of the individual states were more important than the national policies of the federal government. When the Whigs, the political party that helped elect him, realized that, they disowned him. Five months after Tyler took office as president, all of his Cabinet advisors except Secretary of State Daniel Webster resigned. Yet Tyler accomplished some key things. He signed the Preemption Act, also known as the Log Cabin Bill. The 1841 act allowed…

1850–1853 Whig Millard Fillmore was the second man to assume the executive office upon the death of a sitting president. His presidency led to a major political shift. Unlike his predecessor, Zachary Taylor, Fillmore was willing to support a compromise over slavery. Fillmore’s attitude encouraged Congress, which pushed through the Compromise of 1850 that fall. The compromise consisted of several bills. California was allowed to join the Union as a free state, and New Mexico was recognized as a U.S. territory. One bill called for tighter enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law (returning escaped slaves), while another abolished the slave trade in Washington, D.C. These efforts allowed for short-term political compromise but led to long-term political divisions. The Whig party, which had helped elect Taylor and Fillmore in 1848, split.…

1857–1861 Democrat A longtime Democrat from Pennsylvania, James Buchanan was in a tough position in 1856. His nomination for president had gone smoothly because he had been abroad serving as minister to Great Britain and had avoided being tainted by the growing sectional crisis. But those years abroad also left Buchanan unaware of how serious the situation was between the North and the South. Buchanan won the election mainly with votes from Democrats who accepted slavery. But when antislavery northern Democrats began to leave the party, Buchanan was left at the head of a mostly southern-controlled party. Those members defended slavery and wanted it to be allowed to spread. Most of Buchanan’s Cabinet members were proslavery, too. When he offered concessions to the South in the hope that it would…

1869–1877 Republican Ulysses S. Grant’s national celebrity as the general who ended the Civil War (1861–1865) won him election to two presidential terms. Throughout both his terms, Grant’s presidency faced scandal after scandal. A man of honor and principle, Grant was innocent of any personal wrongdoing, but he was unable or unwilling to see dishonor and disloyalty in those he trusted. Grant’s first vice president, Schuyler Colfax, and some members of Congress were entangled in a scandal involving insider stock deals and bribery during the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. The Whiskey Ring scandal in 1875 resulted in millions of federal tax dollars from liquor sales ending up in the pockets of mostly Republican politicians, including Grant’s own private secretary. In 1869, an attempt to corner the gold market…

Have you ever wanted to stand next to a president? Well, this month’s column offers a way to make that happen. This month’s heroes are actually a place organized by a group of visionaries who wanted to honor ALL of our presidents. What’s fascinating is that the place is located near the famous national monument presenting four of our well-known leaders: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Almost two decades ago, several people wanted to attract more visitors who came to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. They wanted tourists to stop and spend time and money in their town. In the late 1980s, a life-size statue of a seated Lincoln was displayed outside a hotel. Visitors loved having their photos taken standing next to the nation’s…

1797–1801 Federalist John Adams was no stranger to presidential politics. He had served for eight years as the nation’s first vice president. He found that office frustrating and with few defined powers. The presidency would prove equally frustrating for him but for different reasons. At that time, candidates for president and vice president did not run on a ticket together. Adams won the 1796 election by just three electoral votes—71 to 68. The winner of the second-most votes, Thomas Jefferson, became vice president. Adams and Jefferson had once been friends during the Continental Congresses and the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But by the 1790s, the two men had become political rivals. Adams believed in a strong national government and a strong executive branch. Jefferson feared too…

1817–1825 Democratic–Republican In his ruffled neck sleeves, knee breeches and silver-buckled shoes, James Monroe appeared to be the very picture of Revolutionary War ideals. At the beginning of his administration, Monroe went on a highly successful grand tour of New England and the Midwest to promote national unity. George Washington had done a similar grand tour in 1789. Monroe particularly wanted to tour New England, where opposition to the War of 1812 and the federal government had been strongest. He hoped to present himself as a figure of unity and give New Englanders a chance to show their loyalty to the nation. Monroe’s time in office was referred to as the “Era of Good Feeling.” His administration put the world on notice that the United States would act to keep…

1845–1849 Democrat James K. Polk’s platform calling for the annexation of Texas and continued western expansion made him victorious in the 1844 election. Polk’s supporters hoped he would be a champion of “manifest destiny”—a belief that the United States had a responsibility to expand the virtues of its form of government, economy, and national ideals across the continent. After Polk won the election but before he was sworn in, Congress voted to annex Texas. Texas went from being an independent republic to the 28th—and the largest—state in the Union. Polk pushed a lower tariff through Congress that increased trade and helped improve relations with Britain. Although he refused to support legislation to improve rivers and harbors, he did support a bill setting up the Department of the Interior—the first new…

1861–1865 Republican When Abraham Lincoln left his home in Illinois to begin the long journey to his inauguration as president, no U.S. president before or after faced a graver crisis or emerged with a greater reputation. By the time Lincoln took his oath of office on March 4, 1861, seven southern states had seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. It was the most severe challenge to national authority in the country’s brief history. In April, when Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, Lincoln called for volunteers to defend the Union. The Civil War (1861–1865) had begun. Lincoln called the struggle “a people’s contest.” He was determined to preserve majority rule, warning that if democracy was defeated in America, it would surely never rise again anywhere…

Following are some facts to have fun with. SO HAVE FUN! WHICH PRESIDENT SERVED THE SHORTEST TERM IN OFFICE? WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT GROVER CLEVELAND? WHO WAS THE ONLY PRESIDENT TO BE ELECTED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE? WHAT DO JOHN ADAMS, THOMAS JEFFERSON, AND JAMES MONROE HAVE IN COMMON? WHAT IS UNUSUAL ABOUT THE YEAR 1841? WHAT DO THE 9TH PRESIDENT AND THE 23RD PRESIDENT HAVE IN COMMON? WHICH PRESIDENT’S NATIVE TONGUE WAS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE? WHICH PRESIDENT HAD THE MOST CHILDREN? WHICH PRESIDENT WON BY THE NARROWEST MARGIN? WHAT DO THE 2ND PRESIDENT AND THE 6TH PRESIDENT HAVE IN COMMON? WHICH TWO PRESIDENTS SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE? WHO WAS THE TALLEST PRESIDENT, AND WHO WAS THE SHORTEST PRESIDENT?…

1881–1885 Republican Prior to becoming president, Chester A. Arthur used his positions to give jobs to his friends and political allies. This was known as the spoils system, and it was the exact situation that James A. Garfield tried to eliminate as president. When Arthur became president after Garfield’s assassination, he shocked the Republican party by reversing his attitude about the political spoils system. He supported the Pendleton Act, which set a procedure for filling civil positions in the federal government. The act ended the practice of allowing the president to appoint whomever he liked to many positions as a reward for party loyalty or votes. Instead, it established an exam to measure the abilities of different candidates in order to identify the most qualified person for a job. It…

1897–1901 Republican As the nation headed into the 20th century, William McKinley embraced modern technology and offered a new approach to foreign relations that saw the United States emerge as a world power. During the Spanish–American War of 1898, the White House became a communications center for the first time during a war. After 114 days of fighting, the United States defeated Spanish forces and controlled Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands. American influence in the Pacific Ocean also spread to the Hawaiian Islands, which McKinley annexed in 1898. McKinley’s support of tariffs and his expansive foreign policy helped him easily win reelection. Six months after his inauguration, he was assassinated by an unstable, antigovernment man. McKinley’s death elevated his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt, to the presidency, which began…

The White House is a pretty unique site. It is a residence, a museum, and an office where the president and his large staff work. Tours of the first-floor state rooms are available to the public, but you must make reservations ahead of time by contacting your senator or congressperson. If you find yourself in Washington, D.C., without a tour at the White House, we have an option for you. Take a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue toward 14th Street. The White House Historical Association (www.whitehousehistory.org) and the National Park Service have partnered to create a revitalized White House Visitor Center. It offers an interactive touchscreen virtual tour of the White House (you’ll feel as though you’ve experienced an actual tour). In addition, the new space displays nearly 100 artifacts and…