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John Tyler: United States
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As the Civil War approached, John Tyler was on the side of moderation. He thought that the problems of slavery and the expansion of slavery into the territories could be solved by compromise rather than by a bloody civil war. When South Carolina seceded in December, 1860, and the Confederate States of America was formed on February 8, 1861, Tyler was saddened.
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In May 1842, when the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island came to a head, John Tyler declined to use Federal troops to suppress the rioting adherents of a new state constitution, which extended Rhode Island's restricted franchise. Tyler was of the opinion that the 'lawless assemblages' were dispersing, and expressed his confidence in a 'temper of conciliation as well as of energy and decision:'
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If his son Lyon Tyler is to be believed, John Tyler had troubling doubts about slavery, deploring it as an evil, and never rationalizing the South's "peculiar institution" as a blessing or positive good. As a member of Congress' District Committee, Tyler in 1832 introduced a bill prohibiting the slave trade in the District of Columbia. He unsuccessfully sought to eradicate the "slave mart" atmosphere of the capital of the republic by ending practices that made Washington a "depot for the slave brought from the two neighboring States. "s
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In May 1842, when the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island came to a head, Tyler pondered the request of the governor and legislature to send in Federal troops to help it suppress the Dorrite insurgents. The insurgents under Thomas Dorr had armed themselves and proposed to install a new state constitution. Previous to such acts, Rhode Island had been following the same constitutional structure that was established in 1663. Tyler called for calm on both sides, and recommended the governor enlarge the franchise to let most men vote. Tyler promised that in case an actual insurrection should break out in Rhode Island he would employ force to aid the regular, or Charter, government. He made it clear that federal assistance would be given, not to prevent, but only to put down insurrection, and would not be available until violence had been committed.
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Between 1843 and 1844 Tyler and his new secretary of state, Abel P. Upshur (1791-1844), secretly worked out an annexation treaty with the Republic of Texas. Unfortunately Upshur was killed in an accident in February, 1844. John C. Calhoun then became secretary of state. Calhoun unwisely linked Texas annexation to the expansion of slavery. This was a political blunder in an election year. The treaty quickly became involved in sectional politics, and the Senate turned it down.
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After leaving the White House, Tyler believed that he had done his part to advance America's destiny as a great world power. He was justly proud of his administration's successes in the Pacific, especially bringing the Hawaiian Islands into the United States sphere of influence and securing the nation's first treaty with China. The Tyler Doctrine for Hawaii, announced in a special message to Congress in December 1842 in response to fears that either Britain or France might annex the islands, stated that the United States adamantly opposed "any attempt by another power...to take possession of the islands, colonize them, and subvert the native Government." The 1844 Treaty of Wangxia, negotiated by Caleb Cushing, gave American merchants access to five Chinese ports, included a most-favored-nation provision, and contained what was perhaps its most pathbreaking feature, an extraterritoriality guarantee for all Americans resident in China. Significantly, Cushing's handiwork served as the standard for other treaties with China for more than a decade.26
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