William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 – April 4, 1841) was the ninth President of the United States (1841), an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when inaugurated, the oldest president to take office until Ronald Reagan in 1981. Harrison died on his 32nd day in office[a] of complications frompneumonia, serving the shortest tenure in United States presidential history. His death sparked a brief constitutional crisis, but its resolution settled many questions about presidential succession left unanswered by the Constitution until 20th-century passage of the 25th Amendment. He was grandfather to Benjamin Harrison, who became the 23rd President of the United States.
Before election as president, Harrison served as the first territorial congressional delegate from the Northwest Territory, governor of the Indiana Territory and later as a U.S. representative andsenator from Ohio. He originally gained national fame for leading U.S. forces against American Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811,[1] where he earned the nickname "Tippecanoe" (or "Old Tippecanoe"). As a general in the subsequent War of 1812, his most notable action was in the Battle of the Thames in 1813, which brought an end to hostilities in his region. This battle resulted in the death of Tecumseh and the dissolution of the Indian coalition which he led.[2]
After the war, Harrison moved to Ohio, where he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. In 1824 the state legislature elected him to the US Senate. He served a truncated term after being appointed as Minister Plenipotentiary to Colombia in May 1828. In Colombia, he spoke with Simón Bolívar urging his nation to adopt American-style democracy.
Returning to his farm in Ohio, Harrison lived in relative retirement until nominated for the presidency in 1836. Defeated, he retired again to his farm. He was elected president in 1840, and died of pneumonia in April 1841, a month after taking office.
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[show]Early life[edit]
Early life and education[edit]
William Henry Harrison was born February 9, 1773, the youngest of Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth (Bassett)'s seven children. They were a prominent political family who lived on Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia.[3] He was the last president born as a British subject before American Independence. His father was a planter and a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–1777), who signed the Declaration of Independence. The senior Harrison was governor of Virginia between 1781 and 1784, during and after the American Revolutionary War.[4]William's older brother Carter Bassett Harrison was elected a representative of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives.[3]
In 1787, at the age of 14, Harrison entered the Presbyterian Hampden-Sydney College.[5] He attended the school until 1790, becoming well-versed in Latin and basic French. He was removed by his Episcopalian father, possibly because of a religious revival occurring at the school. He briefly attended a boys' academy in Southampton County. He allegedly was influenced by anti-slavery Quakers and Methodists at the school.
Angered, his pro-slavery father had him transfer to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for medical training, where Benjamin boarded with Robert Morris. The young Harrison entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1790, where he studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush.[6] As Harrison later told his biographer, he did not enjoy the subject. Shortly after Harrison started these studies, his father died in 1791, leaving him without funds for further schooling. Eighteen years old, Harrison was left in the guardianship of Morris.[7]
Early military career[edit]
Governor Henry Lee of Virginia, a friend of Harrison's father, learned of Harrison's impoverished state after his father's death and persuaded him to join the army. Within 24 hours of meeting Lee, Harrison was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Army, 1st Infantry Regiment at the age of 18. He was first assigned to Cincinnati in the Northwest Territory, where the army was engaged in the ongoing Northwest Indian War.[8]
General "Mad Anthony" Wayne took command of the western army in 1792 following a disastrous defeat under its previous commander, Arthur St. Clair. Harrison was promoted to lieutenant that summer because of his strict attention to discipline, and the following year he was promoted to serve as aide-de-camp. From Wayne Harrison learned how to successfully command an army on the American frontier. Harrison participated in Wayne's decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, which brought the Northwest Indian War to a successful close for the United States.[9] After the war, Lieutenant Harrison was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which forced cession of lands by Native Americans and opened much of present-day Ohio to settlement by European Americans.[3][10][11]
After the death of his mother in 1793, Harrison inherited a portion of the family's estate, including about 3,000 acres (12 km2) of land and several slaves. Still in the army at the time, Harrison sold his land to his brother.[12]
Marriage and family[edit]
In 1795 at the age of 22, Harrison met Anna Symmes, of North Bend, Ohio. She was the daughter of Judge John Cleves Symmes, a prominent figure in the state and former representative to the Congress of the Confederation.[3] When Harrison asked the judge for permission to marry Anna, he was refused. The pair waited until Symmes left on business, then they eloped and married on November 25, 1795.[13] Afterward, concerned about Harrison's ability to provide for Anna, Symmes sold the young couple 160 acres (65 ha) of land in North Bend.[14]
Together they had 10 children. Nine lived into adulthood and one died in infancy. Anna was frequently in poor health during the marriage, primarily due to her many pregnancies.[15] But, she outlived William by 23 years, dying at age 88 on February 25, 1864.
Main article: Walter Francis White
In a biography of Walter Francis White, the noted African-American civil rights leader and president of the NAACP in the United States, historian Kenneth Robert Janken notes that his mother Madeline Harrison traced some of her mixed-race white ancestry to Harrison in Virginia. Her family holds that Dilsia, a female slave belonging to William Henry Harrison, had six children by him, born into slavery.[16] Four were said to be sold to a planter in La Grange, Georgia, including a daughter, Marie Harrison. She became White's maternal grandmother.[16]
Political career[edit]
Harrison resigned from the army in 1797 and began campaigning among his friends and family for a post in the Northwest Territorial government. With the aid of his close friend, Secretary of State Timothy Pickering, he was recommended to replace the outgoing Secretary of the Territory. Harrison was appointed to the position, and frequently acted as governor during the absences of Governor Arthur St. Clair.[3][10][17][18]
Member of Congress[edit]
Harrison had many friends in the elite eastern social circles, and quickly gained a reputation among them as a frontier leader.[17] He ran a successful horse-breeding enterprise that won him acclaim throughout the Northwest Territory.[19] He championed for lower land prices, a primary concern of settlers in the Territory at the time. The U.S. Congress had legislated a territorial land policy that led to high land costs, a policy disliked by many of the territory's residents. When Harrison ran for Congress, he campaigned to work to alter the situation to encourage migration to the territory.[20]
In 1799, at age 26, Harrison defeated the son of Arthur St. Clair and was elected as the first delegate representing the Northwest Territory in the Sixth United States Congress. He served from March 4, 1799, to May 14, 1800.[3][21] As a delegate from a territory, not a state, he had no authority to vote on bills but was permitted to serve on a committee, submit legislation, and debate.[22]
As delegate, Harrison successfully promoted the passage of the Harrison Land Act. This made it easier for the average settler to buy land in the Northwest Territory by allowing land to be sold in small tracts. The availability of inexpensive land was an important factor in the rapid population growth of the Northwest Territory.[23] Harrison also served on the committee that decided how to divide the Northwest Territory. The committee recommended splitting the territory into two segments, creating the Ohio Territory and the Indiana Territory. The bill, 2 Stat. 58, passed and the two new territories were established in 1800.[24]
Without informing Harrison, President John Adams nominated him to become governor of the new territory, based on his ties to "the west" and seemingly neutral political stances. Harrison was confirmed by the Senate the following day.[25] Caught unaware, Harrison accepted the position only after receiving assurances from the Jeffersonians that he would not be removed from office after they gained power in the upcoming elections.[26] He then resigned from Congress.[27] The Indiana Territory consisted of the future states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsinand the eastern portion of Minnesota.[28]
Governor[edit]
See also: History of slavery in Indiana and Indiana Territory
Harrison moved to Vincennes, the capital of the newly established Indiana Territory, on January 10, 1801.[27] While in Vincennes, Harrison built a plantation style home he named Grouselandfor its many birds. It was one of the first brick structures in the territory. The home, which has been restored and has become a popular modern tourist attraction, served as the center of social and political life in the territory.[15] He also built a second home near Corydon, the second capital, at Harrison Valley.[29]
As governor, Harrison had wide ranging powers in the new territory, including the authority to appoint all territorial officials, and the territorial legislature, and to control the division of the territory into political districts. A primary responsibility was to obtain title to Indian lands. This would allow European-American settlement to expand and increase U.S. population to enable the region to gain statehood.[3] Harrison was eager to expand the territory for personal reasons as well, as his political fortunes were tied to Indiana's rise to statehood. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson granted Harrison authority to negotiate and conclude treaties with the Indians.
Harrison supervised the development of 13 treaties, through which the territory bought more than 60,000,000 acres (240,000 km2) of land from Indian leaders, including much of present-day southern Indiana. The 1804 Treaty of St. Louis with Quashquame led to the surrender by the Sauk and Meskwaki of much of western Illinois and parts of Missouri. This treaty and loss of lands were greatly resented by many of the Sauk, especially Black Hawk. It was the primary reason the Sauk sided with The United Kingdom during the War of 1812. Harrison thought the Treaty of Grouseland in 1805 appeased some of the issues for Indians, but tensions remained high on the frontier.
The 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne raised new tensions. Harrison purchased from the Miami tribe, who claimed ownership of the land, more than 2,500,000 acres (10,000 km²) of land inhabited byShawnee, Kickapoo, Wea, and Piankeshaw peoples. Harrison rushed the process by offering large subsidies to the tribes and their leaders so that he could have the treaty in place before President Jefferson left office and the administration changed.[29][30] The tribes living on the lands were furious and sought to have the treaty overturned but were unsuccessful.
In 1803, Harrison lobbied Congress to repeal Article 6 of the Northwest Ordinance, in order to permit slavery in the Indiana Territory. He claimed it was necessary to make the region more appealing to settlers and would make the territory economically viable.[31] Congress suspended the article for 10 years, during which time the territories covered by the ordinance were granted the right to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery. That year Harrison had the appointed territorial legislature authorize indenturing.[32] He attempted to have slavery legalized outright, in both 1805 and 1807. This caused a significant stir in the territory. When in 1809 the legislature was popularly elected for the first time, Harrison found himself at odds with them as the abolitionist party came to power. They immediately blocked his plans for slavery and repealed the indenturing laws he had passed in 1803.[33][34]
President Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Northwest Ordinance, had made a secret compact with James Lemen to defeat the pro-slavery movement led by Harrison. Although a slaveholder, he did not want slavery to expand into the Northwest Territory, as he believed the institution should end. Under the "Jefferson-Lemen compact", Jefferson donated money to Lemen to found churches in Illinois and Indiana to stop the pro-slavery movement. In Indiana the founding of an anti-slavery church led to citizens' signing a petition and organizing politically to defeat Harrison's efforts to legalize slavery. Jefferson and Lemen were both instrumental in defeating Harrison's attempts in 1805 and 1807 to secure approval of slavery in the territory.[35]
Army general[edit]
Tecumseh and Tippecanoe[edit]
Main articles: Tecumseh's War and Battle of Tippecanoe
An Indian resistance movement against U.S. expansion had been growing through the leadership of the Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa (The Prophet). The conflict became known as Tecumseh's War. Tenskwatawa convinced the native tribes that they would be protected by the Great Spirit and no harm could befall them if they would rise up against the white settlers. He encouraged resistance by telling the tribes to pay white traders only half of what they owed and to give up all the white man's ways, including their clothing, muskets, and especially whiskey, which was becoming known as evil for American Indians.[36]
In August 1810, Tecumseh led 400 armed warriors down the Wabash River to meet with Harrison in Vincennes. As the warriors were dressed in war paint, their sudden appearance at first frightened the soldiers at Vincennes. The leaders of the group were escorted to Grouseland where they met Harrison. Tecumseh insisted that the Fort Wayne Treaty was illegitimate. He argued that no one tribe could sell land without the approval of the other tribes; he asked Harrison to nullify it and warned that Americans should not attempt to settle the lands sold in the treaty. Tecumseh informed Harrison that he had threatened to kill the chiefs who signed the treaty if they carried out its terms, and that his confederation of tribes was growing rapidly.[37] Harrison said the Miami were the owners of the land and could sell it if they so chose. He rejected Tecumseh's claim that all the Indians formed one nation. He said each tribe could have separate relations with the United States if they chose to. Harrison argued that the Great Spirit would have made all the tribes speak one language if they were to be one nation.[38]
Tecumseh launched an "impassioned rebuttal," but Harrison was unable to understand his language.[38] A Shawnee friendly to Harrison cocked his pistol from the sidelines to alert Harrison that Tecumseh's speech was leading to trouble. Some witnesses reported that Tecumseh was encouraging the warriors to kill Harrison. Many of the warriors began to pull their weapons, representing a substantial threat to Harrison and the town, which held a population of only 1,000. Harrison pulled his sword. Tecumseh's warriors backed down after the officers had pulled their firearms in defense of Harrison.[38] Chief Winnemac, who was friendly to Harrison, countered Tecumseh's arguments and told the warriors that since they had come in peace, they should return home in peace. Before leaving, Tecumseh informed Harrison that unless the treaty was nullified, he would seek an alliance with the British.[39] After the meeting, Tecumseh journeyed to meet with many of the tribes in the region, hoping to create a confederation to battle the United States.[40]
In 1811, while Tecumseh was traveling, Harrison was authorized by Secretary of War William Eustis to march against the nascent confederation as a show of force. Harrison led an army of more than 1,000 men north to try to intimidate the Shawnee into making peace. Instead, the tribes launched a surprise attack on Harrison's army early on the morning of November 6, in what became known as theBattle of Tippecanoe. Harrison defeated the tribal forces at Prophetstown, next to the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers. Harrison was hailed as a national hero and the battle became famous. However, his troops had greatly outnumbered the attackers, and suffered many more casualties during the battle.[41]
When reporting to Secretary Eustis, Harrison informed him the battle occurred near the Tippecanoe River (which led to its naming), and he feared an imminent reprisal attack. The first dispatch did not make clear which side had won the conflict, and the secretary at first interpreted it as a defeat. The follow-up dispatch made the US victory clear. When no second attack came, the defeat of the Shawnee was more certain. Eustis demanded to know why Harrison had not taken adequate precautions in fortifying his camp against attacks. Harrison countered by saying he had considered the position strong enough. The dispute was the catalyst of a disagreement between Harrison and the Department of War that continued into the War of 1812.[42]
The press did not cover the battle at first, and one Ohio paper misinterpreted Harrison's dispatch to Eustis to mean he was defeated.[43] By December, as most major American papers carried stories on the battle, public outrage over the Shawnee attack grew. At a time of high tensions with the United Kingdom, many Americans blamed the British for inciting the tribes to violence and supplying them with firearms. In response, Congress passed resolutions condemning the British for interfering in American domestic affairs. A few months later, the U.S. declared war against UK.[44]
War of 1812[edit]
The outbreak of war with the British in 1812 led to continued conflict with Indians in the Old Northwest, and Harrison was kept in command of the army in Indiana. After the loss of Detroit, General James Winchester became the commander of the Army of the Northwest. He offered Harrison the rank of brigadier general, which he refused, as he wanted sole command of the army. President James Madison removed Winchester and made Harrison the commander on September 17, 1812. Harrison inherited an army of fresh recruits, which he endeavored to drill. Initially he was greatly outnumbered by the British with their Indian allies. In the winter of 1812–13, Harrison constructed a defensive position at the rapids on the Maumee River in northwest Ohio. He named it Fort Meigs in honor of the Ohio governor, Return J. Meigs, Jr.
After receiving reinforcements in 1813, Harrison took the offensive. He led the army north to battle the Shawnee and their new British allies. He won victories in Indiana and Ohio and recaptured Detroit, before invading Canada. He defeated the British at the Battle of the Thames, in which Tecumseh was killed.[45]
Secretary of War John Armstrong divided the command of the army, assigning Harrison to a "backwater" post and giving control of the front to one of Harrison's subordinates. Armstrong and Harrison had disagreed over the lack of coordination and effectiveness in the invasion of Canada. When Harrison was reassigned, he promptly resigned from the army. His resignation was accepted in the summer of 1814.[46]
After the war ended, Congress investigated Harrison's resignation. It determined that he had been mistreated by the Secretary of War during his campaign and that his resignation was justified. They awarded Harrison a gold medal for his services during the War of 1812. The Battle of the Thames was considered one of the great American victories in the war, second only to the Battle of New Orleans.[45][46]
Postwar life[edit]
Public office[edit]
After the war, Harrison was appointed by President James Madison to serve as a commissioner to negotiate two treaties with the Indian tribes in the Northwest. Both treaties were advantageous to the United States as the tribes ceded a large tract of land in the west. It provided more land for European-American purchase and settlement.[21]
Harrison was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to finish the term of John McLean of Ohio, serving from October 8, 1816, to March 4, 1819. He was elected to and served in the Ohio State Senate from 1819 to 1821, having lost the election for Ohio governor in 1820. In 1822 he ran for the U.S. House but lost by only 500 votes to James W. Gazlay. In 1824 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until May 20, 1828. Fellow westerners in Congress called Harrison a "Buckeye", a term of affection related to the native Ohio Buckeye tree.[21] He was an Ohio Presidential elector in 1820 for James Monroe.[47] and an Ohio Presidential elector in 1824 for Henry Clay.[48] In 1817, Harrison declined to serve as Secretary of War under President James Monroe.
Appointed as minister plenipotentiary to Gran Colombia, Harrison resigned from Congress and served in his new post until March 8, 1829.[21] He arrived in Bogotá on December 22, 1828. He found the condition of Colombia saddening. Harrison reported to the Secretary of State that the country was on the edge of anarchy and he thought Simón Bolívar was about to become a military dictator. While minister in Colombia, Harrison wrote a rebuke to Bolívar, stating "... the strongest of all governments is that which is most free." He called on Bolívar to encourage the development of a democracy. In response, Bolívar wrote, "The United States ... seem destined by Providence to plague America with torments in the name of freedom", a sentiment that achieved fame in Latin America.[49] When the new administration of President Andrew Jackson took office in March 1829, Harrison was recalled so they could make their own appointment to the position. He returned to the United States in June.[50]
Private citizen[edit]
After Harrison returned to the United States in 1829, he settled on his farm in North Bend, Ohio, his adopted home state. There, he lived in relative retirement after nearly 40 years of continuous government service. Having accumulated no substantial wealth during his lifetime, he subsisted on his savings, a small pension, and the income produced by his farm. Harrison cultivated corn and established a distillery to produce whiskey. After a brief time in the liquor business, he became disturbed by the effects of alcohol on its consumers, and closed the distillery. In a later address to theHamilton County Agricultural Board in 1831, Harrison said he had sinned in making whiskey, and hoped that others would learn from his mistake and stop the production of liquors.[51]
In these early years, Harrison also earned money from his contributions to a biography written by James Hall, entitled A Memoir of the Public Services of William Henry Harrison, published in 1836. That year he made an unsuccessful run for the presidency as a Whig candidate.[51] Between 1836 and 1840, Harrison served as Clerk of Courts for Hamilton County. This was his job when he was elected president in 1840.[52] By 1840, when Harrison campaigned for president a second time, more than 12 books had been published on his life. He was hailed by many as a national hero.[53]
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