APRIL 27 — ELECTIONS: 1844 Van Buren releases Hammett letters; 1956 Rocky Marciano retires; 2016 Batman’s Arkham City becomes most popular comic-book video game
APRIL 27
1844 – Van Buren releases his Hammed letter.
For the election of 1844, the annexation of Texas and with it, the issue of slavery expansion and war with Mexico, were the biggest topics in the election. President John Tyler, who had ascended to the presidency due to William Harrison’s untimely death, had lost popularity with Americans as well as his own constituents by vetoing a national bank, putting Democrats in his cabinet, even though he had abandoned the Democratic party in 1836, now in fact wanted to expand slavery into Texas, which belonged to Mexico at the time.
The Whigs turned to former Senator from Kentucky Henry Clay as their party leader to run in the election, but the Democrats had a more complicated experience choosing their leader. Now, I go into detail about the Mexican-American War on my May 13th ep, as well as stories about Sam Houston and Santa Ana in various other stories, so long story short, one of the main reasons the settlers in Teas wanted independence from Mexico is because Mexican government didn’t allow slavery.
That wasn’t very convenient for America in the south, and gave the Northern United States some leverage in the country’s politics. Former president Martin Van Buren decided to step into the Democratic ring, and seeing that slavery issues could give the edge to Northern Whigs, he took an anti-Texas stance in a letter that urged fellow Democrats to resist President Tyler’s Texas position.
The Hammed letter signified the end of Van Buren’s political career, as it alienated him from everyone in the south. Meanwhile, Tyler who was kicked out of the Whig party in 1842, dropped out to throw his support to James Knox Polk would lead the Democratic Party against Clay. Clay took a more central stance for this Manifest Destiny in which Americans believed in United States that stretched from sea to shining sea.
The only question was how it would be expanded, and the Oregon territory way out in the west coast, still had boundary disputes with England. Northerners considered this an opportunity for expansion without slavery, but the South was much more interested in slavery in Texas. These issues made the election of 1844 a very close one. Clay, also a known slaveholder, also wrote a paper called the Alabama letter, in which he appeared to flip flop on the slavery issue. This letter just may have led to James “the Dark Horse” Polk’s victory.
When the results came in, the Democrats wrestled the power from the Whigs, and the napoleon of the Stump emerged victorious, with 1.337 popular and 170 electoral votes, followed by Clay with a very close 1.299 popular but a measly 105 electoral. James Gillespie Blimey for the Liberty Party, which was an anti-slavery group, drew in 62,000 votes.
It wasn’t much longer after Polk won that he went after Mexico in a lopsided fight that one could hardly call a war, and Texas would soon be a US slave state, and Oregon would be split with the United Kingdom.
1822-=- Happy birthday The Butcher!
On April 327, 1822, Hirum Ulysses Grant was born in Ohio to a tanner. Growing up he would watch disgustedly as his father would turn animal hides into leather using really smelly chemicals. Grant decided early on he would not take that route. He went to West Point and graduated in the middle of his class. At West Point, he learned the skills of horseback riding like few others.
He met and married his roommate’s sister Julia and by 1944 the two were engaged. The wedding would have to wait however, until the end of the Mexican-American War. During the war he fought under Zachary Taylor and alongside someone he would eventually fight against – Robert E. Lee. At the end of the war he spent some time with his new family but now had four kids with Julia and they were seriously struggling for money. He finally had to work for his brother in the tanner business, exactly what he was hoping not to do.
Then the Civil War broke out. Little by little he won victories using a strategy that none of the other Union generals seemed to be trying, the strategy of fighting to win and not to try and regain southern territory. President Lincoln was frustrated with general after general, especially McLellan, who would seemingly have superior firepower over the enemy but not the will to win.
In 1862 he took Ft. Henry, and when he attacked Ft. Donelson, he accepted nothing but unconditional surrender. At Shiloh, he fought an extremely bloody battle, and though victorious in the battle, there were too many casualties to win overall approval. But Lincoln knew he was the only man who would fight and appointed Grant General-in-Chief. He defeated General Lee’s Army of the Potomac in Virginia, then went down to Mississippi and eventually achieved victory at Vicksburg. Lee eventually surrendered, ending the Civil War.
The two men famously met near the Appotomax courthouse, and Grant shockingly allowed Lee to let his men and horses go back home instead of taking them prisoners of war.
Anyway, that was General Grant. President Grant ran the country pretty much the same way he ran the Army. Elected the 18th President, Ulysses Grant wasn’t without problems. He fought with Andrew Johnson to the point of siding with the Radical Republicans.
Although he had some major accomplishments during his two terms, including the 1q5th amendment and the National Parks service, his administration suffered scandals. He took presents that often appeared to be bribery and appointed non-scrupulous men. Upon retiring from the presidentcy, Grant discovered he had cancer and work wed with Mrak Twain o publich his memoirs, which turned out to be a big hit. Grant did not live long enough to see its popularity.
1956-Rocky Marciano retires.
He was boxing’s World heavyweight champion from September 23-1952, up until his retirement. He’s the only person to hold the heavyweight title without a bout tie or defeat during his entire career. Marciano defended his title six times, against Jersey Joe Walcott, Roland La Starza, Ezzard Charles (twice), and Archie Moore. He’s been ranked by many boxing historians as one of the bst heavyweight boxers of all time.
1903 – The Long Island Jamaica race track opens.
It was a thoroughbred horse racing facility operated by the Metropolitcan Jockey Club in Jamaica, Queens, New York. Legendary Hall of Fame horse trainer Sunny Jim Fitzimmons was the first toe trainthere and Native Dancer made a winning debut in 1952. It’s attendance record peaked onMemorial Day, 1945. These days, it’s a housing project.
2016 Batman’s Arkahn City becomes the bestselling comic book video game.
This would be the sequel to 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum which featured Mark Hammill doing the voices for Batman and the Joker. I’ve never played it, but from what I understand, and I hope I’m getting this right, for some reason, Arkham City is now a huge super prison that covers entire slum neighborhoods of Gotham, and Hugo Strange has Batman incarcerated in Arkham City and Batman has to figure out the secret to Strange’s Protocol 10. I’m sure someone listening can tell me more about this game, considering 13 Million copies were sold by April 27 2016.
I mean if I didn’t do this podcast I might be playing Arkahm City, just sayin.