When Taylor became president, the Union was equally divided between slave states and free states. There were 15 slave states and 15 free states. Any new state entering the Union could upset the delicate balance of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. (President JAMES MONROE approved the compromise.)
President Taylor knew the status of slavery in new states was a national issue. In 1849, he proposed a compromise. He wanted voters in new states to decide the status of slavery for themselves. (Taylor embraced the idea of "popular sovereignty." Lewis Cass had devised the idea. He was Taylor's opponent in the 1848 presidential election.) The president apparently believed the western territories would automatically reject slavery.
But Taylor soon discovered that southerners opposed "popular sovereignty." They shared his belief that voters in the western territories would reject slavery. On the other hand, northern liberals also disliked Taylor's compromise. They wanted to outlaw slavery in the Union. Whigs in Congress devised the Compromise of 1850. Taylor opposed it. But he died before he could veto it. (After he succeeded Taylor, President MILLARD FILLMORE approved the Compromise of 1850.)
Austria-Hungary
In the 19th century, Austria was the political center of the powerful Holy Roman Empire. In 1848, Hungarians revolted against the Austrian Hapsburg monarchy. Americans cheered. They disliked monarchies. Congress wanted to sever diplomatic relations with the Austrian government.
President Taylor kept the United States neutral in the Austro-Hungarian dispute. Like American presidents dating back to GEORGE WASHINGTON, he wanted to avoid "the crooked politics of Europe." He did not react when Russia allied itself with Austria. The Russian army helped the Austrian army suppress the Hungarian rebellion.
Colombia and Nicaragua
President JAMES POLK had wanted the United States to build a canal in Central America. (The canal would have linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.) Polk's administration negotiated treaties with Colombia and Nicaragua. By the time Taylor came to office, Britain was asserting claims in Central America. President Taylor accepted a compromise. In 1850, he approved the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. It gave Britain and the United States joint rights of access to any canal built in Central America.
ZACHARY TAYLOR AND HIS TIMES
The Second Shortest Presidency
When he died on July 9, 1850, Taylor had been president for a little more than 16 months. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON was the only U.S. president to serve for a shorter time. (Harrison died after one month in office.) Taylor, Harrison, and WARREN HARDING are the only U.S. presidents to die in office of natural causes.
The Free Soil party
The Free Soil Party was an antislavery party founded in 1847. Its members were former northern Whigs, liberal Democrats, and other supporters of the old Liberty Party. They wanted to outlaw slavery in new territories acquired by the United States. The Free Soil Party nominated presidential candidates in 1848 and in 1852. By 1854, nearly all the Free Soilers had joined the Republican Party.
