Tag Archives: zachary taylor

Civil War Podcast, Episode 8

In which we look at the Presidential Election of 1848 (Zachary Taylor wins!), the crisis over California’s admission to the Union as a free state (which nearly led to disunion & civil war), and how Henry Clay stepped into the breach and laid the groundwork that allowed Stephen A. Douglas to save the day with the Compromise of 1850.

Our book recommendation for this episode is At the Edge of the Precipice: Henry Clay and the Compromise that Saved the Union by Robert V. Remini.  “In 1850, America hovered on the brink of disunion. Tensions between slaveholders and abolitionists mounted, as the debate over slavery grew rancorous. The addition of vast new territory in the wake of the Mexican war prompted Northern politicians to demand that new states remain free; in response, Southerners baldly threatened to secede from the Union. Only Henry Clay, America’s Great Compromiser, could keep the union together.”


Listen to Episode 8: Compromise1848

Civil War Podcast, Episode 6

Battle of Buena Vista
February 23, 1847

WAR WITH MEXICO (Part the Second)


Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)

In which we continue our discussion of America’s war with Mexico.  We cover the military action out west in California & New Mexico, then we talk about a different kind of battle that raged in Congress over something called the Wilmot Proviso.  Finally, we head back down to the Rio Grande and follow along as Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey & then wins the hard-fought Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847.

Zachary Taylor on Old Whitey
at Buena Vista.

 

Our book recommendation for this episode is A Country of Vast Designs: James K Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent by Robert W Merry.  About this NY Times Bestseller, Publishers Weekly said: “Using a broad spectrum of published and archival sources, Merry depicts Polk as an unabashed expansionist.  His political career was devoted to expanding American power across the continent.  Polk saw the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny as transcending even the festering issue of slavery… Merry makes a strong case that Polk’s America embraced a sweeping vision of national destiny that he fulfilled.  Merry’s conclusion that history turns not on morality but on power, energy and will may be uncomfortable, but he successfully illustrates it.”


Listen to Episode 6: MexicanWarPartSecond