Narrator

Ever wonder where Tropicana got its name? The tropics. And every time you enjoy a glass, you're not just drinking juice. You're taking a trip, stepping into sunshine and embarking on a flavorful journey into the tropics, where ripe fruit is crafted into wildly delicious juice. And the best part? No passport required. Tropicana. Give life some juice. It's April, 1832. Springtime in Washington, D.C. striding into the capital is a man who doesn't really blend in. He's tall, broad shouldered and he likes to wear Indian clothing. He's 39 years old. He's well known thanks to the personal and political baggage attached to his name, which is Sam Houston. Houston is in D.C. he's fighting for something personal. The Cherokee and other Indian tribes getting squeezed by broken federal property promises. He is lobbying hard and calling in all the favors he can. On the House floor, Representative William Stanberry of Ohio, a large grudge holding politician, drops a reckless bombshell. He accuses Houston of fraud, claiming the ex governor conspired to pocket cash on a government contract meant to help feed Indian tribes. He didn't produce any evidence, just a pure political attack. Houston reads about it in the newspaper and he sees red temper and self control. Not exactly Houston's strong suit. He rushes to the Capitol. He finds Stanberry, but Congressman James Polk, an acquaintance and future president, holds Houston back. Houston fires off a note to Stanberry demanding he either apologize for the slander or have a duel. Stanberry ignores the note but starts carrying two pistols and a dagger to work just in case. A few nights later, Pennsylvania Avenue is glowing under the flickering gas lamps. Houston is walking back to his hotel with a couple of senator buddies, likely a few drinks deep, when he spots a large figure crossing the street just ahead. Houston rushes toward the man, calling out

Sam Houston

in a booming voice, are you Mr. Stanberry?

Narrator

The startled congressman turns towards him. Yes, sir.

Sam Houston

Then you are a damned rascal.

Narrator

Well, out comes the hickory cane that Houston whittled himself from a tree at Andrew Jackson's hermitage. Houston unloads on Stanberry, cracking him across the head, shoulders and the back. Stanberry staggers and tries to run, but Houston leaps on him like a wildcat, slamming the big man to the ground. They wrestle in the dirt while horrified witnesses freeze. Stanberry manages to pull a pistol out. He jams the barrel against Houston's chest and pulls the trigger. Misfire. Houston, shocked that he's still alive, rips away the pistol. He jumps to his feet and aims More cane blows between Stansberry's legs. The next morning, a bruised and bedridden Stansbury sends a formal complaint to speaker of the House Andrew Stevenson. A few days later, over Congressman James Polk's objection, The House votes 145 to 25 to order Houston's arrest by the sergeant of arms for assaulting a sitting member of Congress. The very next day, the gallery is jammed shoulder to shoulder with onlookers. In walks the prisoner, Sam Houston, full buckskin coat, that infamous cane still gripped in his hand like a trophy. He bows to Speaker Stevenson, who's a personal friend, and then in his deep, resonant voice, requests 24 hours to prepare for his trial. The speaker grants him 48. Sam Houston is about to be tried in the House of Representatives for assaulting a US Congressman. One impulsive swing of a cane, one misfired pistol, and history ripples outward from a Washington street at night to Texas, to war and to a continent transformed. This is the American story, the Beginnings, adapted from the book of the same title by David Barton and Tim Barton. Episode 14 Manifest Destiny the war that forged the American West. When Sam Houston was 13, his father died. The family scraped by on a Tennessee farm and ran a general store. But at 16, Houston decided he didn't want any part of the family business. So he bolted across the Tennessee river and vanished into Cherokee territory. For three years, Chief Uluteca adopted. Houston gave him a Cherokee name which meant the Raven. Houston learned the language, the customs and proud independence of his new family. He dressed in Cherokee clothes, hunted like them, forged a bond so deep it would define his life in those woods he found belonging. At one point, when his brothers came to see him, Houston told them that he preferred to live with the Cherokee. But Houston wasn't meant to stay hidden. His towering frame and magnetic personality drew attention wherever he went. And soon he found himself under the wing of a man who recognized destiny when he saw it. General Andrew Jackson. Jackson saw in Houston a reflection of his own fiery will. During the War of 1812, Houston fought under Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and was almost killed. Two musket balls to the arm and the shoulder and an arrow in his upper thigh. Jackson never forgot his courage. He mentored him, promoted him, cleared a path for him into politics. Houston became a lawyer, then a US congressman, and by 1827, Houston stood at the top of Tennessee's political world, elected governor at just 34 years old. Then came a fairytale twist that turned nightmare. In January 1829, the 35 year old governor married 19 year old Eliza Allen. She was the daughter of a prominent Tennessee family and the wedding was lavish. The expectations were enormous. Houston was very much in love. Eliza, not so much. Just 11 weeks after their marriage, it was over. Eliza left Houston and Houston spiraled. The exact cause of their split has remained a mystery, though hints appeared in the letters of family and friends over the years. Eliza may have loved another man closer to her age. There was even a suggestion that she was repulsed by Houston's war wounds. But for the rest of his life, Houston refused to discuss the details, determined not to impugn Eliza's virtue. In April 1829, Houston poured his heart out in a letter to her father, John Allen.

Sam Houston

That I have and do love Eliza. None can doubt that she is the only earthly object dear to me. God will witness, Eliza stands acquitted by me. I have received her as a virtuous wife and as such I pray God I may ever regard her and trust I ever shall. She was cold to me and I thought did not love me. She owns that such was one cause of my unhappiness. You can judge how unhappy I was to think I was united to a woman that did not love me.

Narrator

Exactly one week after he wrote that letter, Houston resigned as governor of Tennessee. Well, his opponents gloated, including his successor as governor, William Carroll, who wrote this to President Andrew.

Sam Houston

The fate of Houston must have surprised you. His conduct, to say the least, was very strange and charity requires us to place it to the account of insanity. I have always looked upon him as a man of weak and unsettled mind.

Narrator

Houston vanished from public view. He tried to disguise himself and boarded a steamboat headed west towards his Cherokee family in the Arkansas Territory. Years later, he recalled the pain.

Sam Houston

I was in an agony of despair and strongly tempted to leap overboard and end my worthless life. At that moment, however, an eagle swooped down near my head and then soaring aloft with wildest screams, was lost in the setting sun. I knew then that a great destiny waited for me in the West.

Narrator

In self imposed exile, Houston lived among the Cherokees again. He lived with a Cherokee woman named Tiana, a strong, respected widow, and together they ran a trading post near Fort Gibson. But the bottle became a constant companion. The Raven earned a new Cherokee nickname that meant Big Drunk. He wrestled alcoholism amid the pain of lost love and reputation. But in his better sober moments, he channeled the fire outward, defending the legal rights of the Cherokee. And that's why, when he was in Washington D.C. in 1832, when he attacked Congressman Stanberry for slandering him on The House floor. The trial became the hottest ticket in town. Newspapers were obsessed. His lawyer was none other than Francis Scott Key. You know, the guy who wrote the Star Spangled Banner. During the trial, Key reminded the congressman that his client was a wounded war hero, not some violent assassin. President Jackson was worried about his protege. For one thing, Jackson was not a fan of Houston's Indian garbage. Jackson called him to the White House, tossed him some money, crossed the desk and told Houston, would you please go out and buy a decent suit? Houston obeyed. The night before he was set to deliver his own closing argument, Houston hosted a booze soaked party at his hotel. The speaker of the House, Andrew Stevenson, who was presiding over the trial, passed out drunk on the couch. The next morning, a hungover Houston stood on the House floor.

Sam Houston

Mr. Speaker, arraignment. For the first time of my life on a charge of violating the laws of my country, I feel embarrassment which my peculiar situation is calculated to inspire. All I demand is that my actions may be pursued to the motive which gave them birth.

Narrator

When Houston finished his long speech, the gallery exploded into cheers. The actor Junius Brutus Booth, yes, the father of the future assassin, pushed through the mob to embrace Houston. After four more days of debate, the House voted 106 to 89 to convict Houston of contempt. His punishment was a formal reprimand from Speaker Stevenson, the same guy who passed out drunk at Houston's party earlier that week. Congressman Stanberry then pressed charges in D.C. court, where Houston was found guilty and fined $500. But President Jackson commuted the fine to zero. Later, Houston reflected with a grin on the whole circus.

Sam Houston

I was dying out and had they taken me before justice of the Peace and fined me $10, it would have killed me. But they gave me a national tribunal for a theater and that set me up again.

Narrator

Somehow that scandal relaunched Sam Houston. Soon after the House reprimand, he settled on a new mission for which President Jackson loaned him $500. He would go and start all over in a place called Texas. Texas in 1836 was a powder keg. In March that year, American settlers declared independence from Mexico, founding the Republic of Texas. Sam Houston, with his military chops and Jackson connection, became the commander of their ragtag little army. Barely 375 men at first, mostly volunteers itching for a fight. But then came the horror shows that lit the fuse. Mexican General Santa Anna's 4,000 man army stormed de Alamo in San Antonio. Defending the small fort were only 187 men, including former Tennessee congressman Davy Crockett. They famously Fought to the last man, Santa Anna ordered any remaining survivors slashed to death. Two weeks later at Goliad, 420 more Texans surrendered, only to be marched out on Palm Sunday and shot. Any survivors of that massacre were clubbed or stabbed to death. Then the bodies were stacked and burned. Houston knew retreat was the only strategy. He led his growing force east, buying time, drilling, waiting for the perfect moment. It came sooner than he expected. At San Jacinto On April 21, Santa Anna was overconfident. He split his forces. He camped carelessly near the San Jacinto river with 1300 troops. Houston's roughly 900 Texans launched a late afternoon surprise attack. They screamed remember the Alamo and remember Goliad. As they charged. The battle lasted just 18 minutes. Nine Texans were killed. The Mexicans had 630 killed and hundreds more captured. Houston took a bullet that shattered his ankle. Santa Anna fled in a private's uniform, but was caught the next day hiding in tall grass. As he was hauled into the Texans camp, his own soldiers revealed his identity, calling out El Presidente when they spotted him. Brought before the wounded Houston, Santa Anna signed agreements recognizing Texas independence and pulling Mexican troops south of the Rio Grande. Houston became an instant hero. Just five months later, he was elected President of the Republic of Texas. Texas wasted no time in asking to join the United States. But it caused instant fireworks in Congress and all across the nation. Because Texas was already a slave owning nation, adding it to the US Would tilt the balance toward the slave owning South. After the Mexican defeat at San Jacinto, Santa Anna remained in custody for six months. But once he was released and back in Mexico City, he repudiated everything he signed. Mexico would not relinquish Texas that easily. This is going to be an extremely busy month. I have to watch 104 soccer games. Follow the pre game, the post game, yell useless opinions at the tv. It's a lot. So I knew that when it comes to screening for colon cancer, the choice was clear.

Sam Houston

The Cologuard plus test.

Narrator

It can be used at home and can only take 15 minutes. So I can do it during halftime and not miss any action. If you are 45 or older and at average risk, ask your healthcare provider about screening for colon cancer with the Cologuard test.

Sam Houston

You can also request a prescription@cologuard.com High

Narrator

prices are here to stay. Gas, groceries, insurance. And if you're a homeowner, you've probably thought should I call American Financing to refinance and pay off this credit card debt and then you second guess yourself because of your current low mortgage rate. Listen, that low rate, it's not saving you if you're drowning in credit card interest at 25% or more. That's the math nobody wants to face. But it's costing you thousands. And here's the truth. If you're only making minimum payments, that debt will follow you for years. That's why people are calling American Finance Financing because they're saving customers an average of $800 a month by using their equity to finally break free from credit card debt. You owe it to your family to see what's possible. No upfront fees, no pressure, and it costs you nothing to find out if you could save something big every month. And if you start today, you may be able to delay up to two mortgage payments. So call American Financing, 800-906-2440, that's 800-906-2440 or visit american financing.net nmls182334nmlsconsumeraccess.org APR for reaching the five starts at 6.3 for well qualified borrowers, call 800-906-2440. For details about credit costs and terms, visit american financing.net average savings based on borrowers who save over $200 hey, if you're enjoying this and you want to keep going, you don't have to wait a week for the next episode. Torch insiders already have access to episodes 1 through 15 of the American Story right now ad free. Just go to glenn beck.com torch or torch250.com and unlock the full experience today. In the decade after Texas broke free From Mexico in 1836, the young republic's population ballooned from about 50,000 to 125,000, including 25,000 slaves. American settlers and immigrants poured in. They were lured by the cheap land and the big dreams, turning the wild territory into a combustible mix of ambition and conflict. Texas. It had much to promise, but it was also a big problem. It quickly became the major factor in America's politics and future. Enter President John Tyler. He was a Virginian slave owner and a Democrat who was tacked onto the 1840 Whig ticket as the vice president to help win Southern voters for William Henry Harrison. Harrison won the election but caught pneumonia shortly after his inauguration speech and died just 31 days later. He was the first president to die in office, and his was the shortest presidency ever. So John Tyler stepped up, but his party hated it. Opponents mocked him with the nickname his accidency for the Way he became president politically homeless. Too Democratic for the Whigs, too Whiggish for Democrats. Tyler needed a legacy, and he found one in expanding slavery's reach through Texas. In 1844, Tyler appointed as Secretary of State John C. Calhoun. He was a fierce defender of slavery and states rights. From South Carolina, Calhoun wasted no time. He quickly signed an annexation treaty with Texas diplomats. But that treaty hit a wall in the Senate. You see, treaties need 2/3 majority to pass. And to Northern senators, this one reeked of slavery expansion. Details of the treaty leaked to the press, stoking outrage. Whig leader Henry Clay and Democrat leader Martin Van Buren both slammed it. So the Senate crushed it, with only die hard pro slavery Democrats backing the treaty. Yet one consistent feature throughout the nation's history is that politics is a long game. Enter James K. Polk, the ultimate dark horse candidate. He was born in North Carolina in 1795. He was raised in Tennessee, frail as a child, brilliant as a student. And he graduated from the University of North Carolina and entered politics early. He earned the nickname Young Hickory because he followed Andrew Jackson with almost religious devotion, backing his mentor through thick and thin. By 1825, Polk was in the U.S. house, rising to speaker 10 years later. There he strictly enforced the gag rule, the one aimed at John Quincy Adams to shut down any talk about abolishing slavery. No petitions, no debates, as much silence as possible on the hot button issue. Polk was a slave owner. He also benefited from President Jackson's Indian removal policies. When the Choctaw were forced off their lands in northern Mississippi, Polk was among the speculators who rushed in to buy up suddenly available property. He sold his plantation in Tennessee and upgraded for one in Mississippi, where his slaves grew cotton. In 1844, it was clear neither major party was interested in a second term for President Tyler. So Polk saw an opportunity. He threw his hat in the ring, running on a single idea that was the pulse of the expansion. The presidential race became a referendum on the Texas annexation and this idea of manifest destiny. This is a phrase that was coined by journalist John L. O' Sullivan in an editorial. It preached that America was divinely ordained to stretch from sea to shining sea, civilizing the continent for its multiplying millions. Manifest destiny. It made great politics. James Polk ran hard on the idea, barely edging out Henry Clay in the election. But lame duck President Tyler wasn't done. He still had a role to play in the drama surrounding Texas. Since the Senate had killed Texas annexation in treaty form, Tyler flipped the script. He pushed it through Congress as a joint resolution which only needed a simple majority. The resolution sailed through the House and squeaked by in the Senate with Democrats and a few Southern Whigs. March 1, 1845. In his very last act as president, Tyler signed it, inviting Texas to join the Union. Later that year, Texas officially became part of the US as a slave state. Former President John Quincy Adams, the old anti slavery warrior, called it the heaviest

Sam Houston

calamity that ever befell myself and my country.

Narrator

While Mexico was furious, they severed all diplomatic ties immediately, signaling war. As soon as Texas was part of the US President Polk sent an American diplomat, John Slidell, to Mexico City. His instructions were pretty Negotiate the disputed Texas border and offer up to $30 million for California and New Mexico at the same time. Polk quietly moved troops into Louisiana and dispatched naval ships into California just in case hostilities broke out. The Mexicans snubbed Slidell completely. No meetings, no deals. Polk now had done what he could, on paper at least. If Mexico refused to play ball, he would try to make them. Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to march troops south into the disputed zone between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. The US claimed the Rio Grande as the Texas boundary. Mexico insisted the border lay a hundred miles north at the Nueces. Mexico viewed General Taylor's troops with cannons aimed across the Rio Grande as an invasion. President Polk craved war, but he really needed Mexico to fire first. On April 25, 1846, Mexican cavalry crossed the Rio Grande and ambushed a small U.S. patrol, killing 16Americans. Mexico had taken Polk's bait. But Mexico wanted war too. Their military brass were confident Mexican troops would march into Washington in as little as six weeks. Both sides believed destiny was on their side. President Polk seized the moment in his May 11 war message to Congress.

Sam Houston

He the cup of forbearance had been exhausted even before the recent information from the frontier. Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon American soil. She has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced and that the two nations are now at war.

Narrator

The Whigs weren't buying it. They griped that Mexico was just defending its Turf from the U.S. invaders. They called it Mr. Polk's War, a shameless grab for land to spread slavery. One young Whig congressman from Illinois stood up and demanded to know the details about this spot where American blood had been shed. His name, Abraham Lincoln, and he did not mince words about President Polk.

Sam Houston

I more than suspect already that he is deeply conscious of being in the wrong, that he feels the blood of this war, like the blood of Abel, is crying to heaven against him that he ordered General Taylor into the midst of a peaceful Mexican settlement, purposely to bring on a war.

Narrator

67 Whigs voted against the funding of the war, but it didn't matter. Too many congressmen were enamored with westward expansion, whether for slavery or other gains. On May 13, 1846, Congress declared war on Mexico. Ten days later, Mexico declared war on the United States. The map of North America was about to be redrawn once again. The older I get, the more I think about trust. I think about the people in my life who have my trust and earned my trust and the trust that I have placed in some people who I later learned abused that trust. I know we're alike in that way. We don't trust a lot of people anymore. It's like we're all Ronald Reagan. Trust, but always verify to make sure we're not making a mistake. I find it a little exhausting, quite honestly. And that's why I started realestate agentsitrust.com I didn't have good experiences with buying and selling my homes, so we built real estate agents I trust to introduce you to one of the thousands of agents all over the country that we work with, that we have verified that they will help you have the most successful and good real estate transaction possible. Our network agents share our sensibilities, have great track records, are good and decent people, and I trust them to help you with your real estate needs. So whether you're moving across town or across the country, visit realestateagentsitrust.com the name says it all. Realestate agentsitrust.com Choice hotels get you more of what you value. Comfort Inn. It's calling your name. Save on the stage. Oh, and free waffles are yours to claim. Book direct@storieshotels.com Let me tell you something about Medicare that nobody in Washington is going to say out loud. It was not designed for you to understand. It parts A, B, C, D, enrollment windows, penalties for missing deadlines you're never told about. In that confusion pours an entire industry of agents whose first loyalty isn't to you. It's to whoever is paying them to push their plan. Nobody's coming to explain it to you. So you have two choices. Figure it out alone or get somebody on your side at the table. And that somebody is chapter. They're the only Medicare advisor I trust because they're not paid to steer you anywhere. They compare every plan in the country and they tell you the truth, even when that truth is stay right where you are, and they deliver. On average, they save people about eleven hundred dollars a year in health care savings. So whether you're turning 65 or you've been on Medicare for years, make the call. It's free. It takes about 20 minutes and you'll finally have a straight answer. Dial £250. Say the keyword chapter. It's £250, keyword chapter. In June 1846, President James Polk decided the time for half measures was over. He ordered American forces farther into Mexican territory. General Zachary Taylor and his men were told to push southward from the Rio Grande straight into the heart of central Mexico. At the exact same moment, Brigadier General Stephen Kearney led a small force overland from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Their target? Seize Santa Fe and the entire New Mexico territory. At the same time, only about 75,000 Mexican citizens lived north of the Rio Grande, and as a result, US Forces conquered these territories with almost no resistance. Kearney's men marched into Santa Fe on August 18th without firing a shot. The locals, weary of distant Mexican rule mostly just shrugged and carried on. Finding so little opposition, Kearney didn't stop. He turned his column west toward California. There, American naval forces were already operating along the coast and settlers had staged what had become known as the Bear Flag Revolt. It was a wild, short lived uprising where a small band of Americans stormed the sleepy outpost of Sonoma raising a homemade flag featuring a grizzly bear and a single red star. They declared it the California Republic. It lasted barely a month before the Stars and Stripes replaced the bear. But the message was clear. This land is changing hands. Polk had bet everything on quick, clean victory. A few sharp strikes, he figured, and Mexico would bargain away its northern territories and call it a day. But the Mexicans showed zero interest in folding. As Mexican resistance hardened, President Polk made a very strange gamble. In August 1846, Polk negotiated a secret arrangement to bring exiled strongman Santa Anna back from Cuba. Now Santa Anna had convinced Polk that if he was restored to power, he would make peace on favorable terms. Terms that would include a multi million dollar payment for Santa Anna. President Polk believed him. Santa Anna, the same man responsible for the ruthless slaughter of Texans at the Alamo and the Goliad, was helped back into his own country by the US Government. Meanwhile, General Taylor kept rolling. In September, he captured the fortified city of Monterey. Taylor's 6,500 troops faced 10,000 Mexicans over four days. By day three, the fighting turned into a brutal house to house urban struggle, with US Troops using cannons to blast through the adobe walls. A young lieutenant Ulysses Squad Grant commanded troops during the heaviest street fighting that led to an American victory. Overnight General Taylor became a national hero. But to President Polk that was a huge problem. He suddenly realized he might have created a viable presidential rival for 1848. So he ordered Taylor to halt his advance and sent half of Taylor's troops to join General Winfield Scotts force. With losses piling up and morale sinking, Mexico turned once again to its old standby, the charismatic opportunist Santa Anna. The moment Santa Anna stepped on shore in Mexico with US assistance he double crossed President Polk. He seized command of the army and marched north to crush the invaders. The collision came at the Battle of buena Vista in February 1847. Roughly 5,000 U.S. troops faced a Mexican force of 15,000 under Santa Anna. The night before the battle began Santa Anna sent a message to General Taylor offering to accept an American surrender and save them all the trouble. Taylor declined the offer. The next day wave after wave of Mexico Mexican infantry slammed into the US lines But American artillery held steady and a counter attack by the Mississippi regiment helped turn the tide. The commander of that regiment, a young Jefferson Davis who would go on to become president of the Confederacy during the Civil War. But by nightfall, the battle's second day, there were 1,500 Mexican casualties versus 700 for the Americans. Overnight Santa Anna left his army's campfires burning as a ruse to help cover their retreat. Further south General Winfield Scott led America's first ever amphibious landing at the port city of Veracruz shuttling 10,000 troops from the ships to the beach in just five hours. After heavy US bombardment and a 20 day siege, Veracruz surrendered. General Scott then embarked on a six month 265 mile march toward Mexico City. But the tropical diseases rapidly chewed through the American ranks. Scott knew his window was closing. He had to finish the war before his army just melted away. Between Mexico City and Scott's force. The Mexican army had set up a fortified position with 12,000 troops and at the mountain pass of Cerro Gordo, Santa Anna believed the territory was impregnable. But one of Scott's aides, a young Virginian named Robert E. Lee scouted a hidden route through the rugged hills. Lee then guided a flanking column that appeared in the Mexican rear like a ghost. The Mexican line was shattered. Mexico's army retreated leaving behind more than 1,100 dead and wounded and another 3,000 captured. The US had 64 killed and 353 wounded. Santa Anna was fleeing yet again and in the rush he left behind his prosthetic leg. His left leg had been amputated thanks to a grapeshot wound he had received while fighting the French nine years earlier. The prosthetic leg was found by US troops from Illinois, who took it home as a trophy after making the rounds at country fairs. The leg ended up at the Illinois State Military Museum, where it remains today. The Mexican government has made repeated requests over the years to have the leg returned, but Illinois is Illinois and they've refused. After the win at Cerro Gordo, the road to Mexico City was wide open. By September 1847, General Scott stood before the gates of the capital of Mexico City and he laid siege to the castle fortress that was perched on a rocky hill guarding Mexico City. After a day long artillery bombardment, the US troops stormed the castle using ladders to scale its stone walls. American troops soon poured through the gates of Mexico City. It was the first time in history that the US had occupied an enemy capital. Santa Ana, was deposed and fled the country yet again. The war was a brutal classroom for an entire generation of young officers who would go on to become household names. Ulysses s. Grant, George McClellan, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, George Pickett, James Longstreet, and William t. Sherman. Within 14 years, the lessons they learned on the battlefields in Mexico would be tragically used against each other in the Civil War. The US Never lost a major battle during the Mexican American War. And of the 79,000American troops who fought, over 13,000 died. With just over 2,000 of those killed in battle, the rest fell victim to disease. Years later, Ulysses Grant described the war like this.

Sam Houston

For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure and to this day regard the war which resulted as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory.

Narrator

The war between the US and Mexico was now over. But there were still major bumps in the road to official peace. Hey, I like your new RAV4. Thanks. Yours too.

Sam Houston

What does RAV stand for anyway?

Narrator

To me, it's the remarkably advanced vehicle. Really?

Sam Houston

To me, it's the Runway approved vehicle

Narrator

for its amazing style. What about remarkably adaptable vehicle because of its versatile cargo space or really admired vehicle. Oh, or really awesome vehicle.

Sam Houston

It really is the recreational activity vehicle.

Narrator

The stylish 2026 Toyota RAV4 Limited.

Sam Houston

What's your RAV4?

Narrator

I want to talk to you about Mercury One and the American Journey Experience what they're doing to try to carry the story of America into the future. You know, during the World cup, it was inspiring to see people coming here from all over Europe and having their eyes open to the truth about this. You rarely see that kind of enthusiasm about America from Americans, let alone Europeans. But maybe that's not an accident. Maybe knowledge and understanding about America has been selectively edited out of our education and our lives. And without our history, we have no future. That's why we have to preserve it. Like the ancient scriptures preserved for centuries in clay pots. The American Journey Experience is seeking to preserve American history for the future. And we're building a museum of over 100,000 artifacts right now, everything from Columbus to the space race. And we need your help to do it. Please join us at American History americanjourneyexperience.com Become a founding member of our Sacred Honor Society. For $17.76 a month, we have been given a great gift. Let's use it. Join us to become an underwriter@americanjourneyexperience.com that's americanjourneyexperience.com for more of the history that inspired this podcast series, be sure to read the American Story the Beginnings by David Barton and Tim Barton, available now@wallbuilders.com. In the fall of 1847, as American troops occupied Mexico City, the fate of half a continent rested in the hands of a man who technically no longer had a job. His name was Nicholas Trist. He was about to gamble his entire career on peace. When Nicholas Trist was a child, Thomas Tristram Jefferson appointed Trist's father as customs collector in what was then the Louisiana frontier. After graduating from the College of Orleans in 1817, Trist was invited by Jefferson to visit Monticello. While there, Trist fell in love with Jefferson's granddaughter, Virginia Randolph. Perhaps in an attempt to impress his potential grandfather in law, Trist attended West Point for a while, but he left before graduating. Military life didn't stick. Tris was more interested in law and diplomacy. In 1824, he married Virginia, and they lived in Monticello. Trist served as Jefferson's private secretary, and then, after Jefferson died in 1826, as executor of his estate, he was in many ways a disciple of the author of the Declaration of Independence. And from there, Trist's path veered into D.C. politics. Henry Clay gave him a clerkship at the State Department. Then he served as President Jackson's personal secretary for a time. Next he served as US Consul in Havana for eight years. He became fluent in Spanish, and that was an ability that would later prove vital. By 1845, President James Polk made Trist chief clerk of the State Department. It was a quiet administrative position. Trist was good at that kind of behind the scenes work. But then Polk's war with Mexico escalated as General Winfield Scott racked up victories on Mexican soil. Veracruz, Cerro Gordo, the march towards Mexico City. Polk grew uneasy. Scott was a Whig. Victorious generals had a way of becoming presidential candidates. Polk had already been through this phobia with Zachary Taylor. Now, General Scott's success was making the president sweat even more about the next election. Polk wanted a Democrat to get the credit for any peace treaty with Mexico. That's when Polk's Secretary of State, James Buchanan, offered the perfect solution. His friend, Nicholas Trist. He was the chief clerk in the State Department, who also happened to speak fluent Spanish. Trist understood diplomacy and he was loyal. He was a safe pick. Plus he wasn't a general. So Trist was quietly sent to Mexico with the assignment of negotiating a treaty. When Trist arrived in Mexico, he and General Winfield Scott immediately clashed. Scott, a career soldier of towering pride and ego, didn't really appreciate having a D.C. diplomat show up to mess with his command of the situation. Upon Trist's arrival, Scott fired off a note to him dripping with indignation.

Sam Houston

I see that the Secretary of war proposes to degrade me by requiring that I, as commander in chief of this army, shall defer to you, the chief clerk in the Department of State. The question of continuing or discontinuing hostilities.

Narrator

Trist, for his part, vented privately in a letter to his wife, calling Scott

Sam Houston

decidedly the greatest imbecile I have ever met.

Narrator

So they began as sharp adversaries. But the war had a strange way of forging unlikely alliances. Over the next several weeks, as they navigated Mexico's climate, its politics, and the harsh reality of occupation, they developed mutual respect. Eventually, they became close friends. The two men who began by insulting one another would soon conspire together. In August 1847, during a brief pause in the fighting near Mexico City, Trist attempted to negotiate with Santa Anna's government. It didn't go anywhere. It wasn't until mid September, after the American forces captured Mexico City and Santa Ana, fled the capital, that real negotiations began. A provisional Mexican government formed and Trist finally sat down with three Mexican negotiators. Peace actually seemed possible. But then came the letter. In October, Trist received a dispatch from Secretary of State Buchanan. President Polk had lost patience with the lack of progress in the peace talks, so he recalled Trist, the Message was Trist was to return to D.C. immediately. If Mexico wanted peace, they would have to send a representative to Washington. Trist was distraught. To leave now would shatter the negotiations. But to stay would mean defying the President of the United States. General Scott urged Trist to ignore the recall. The Mexican negotiators also begged him to stay. They liked Trist's fluent Spanish and good manners, and they trusted him. Communication between Washington and Mexico City took at least a month, and that delay gave Trist a window. So he made a decision that would define his life. He stayed. In a letter to Polk received six weeks after he wrote it, Trist I

Sam Houston

place my determination on the ground of my conviction. First, that peace is still the desire of my government. Secondly, that if the present opportunity not be seized at once, all chance for making a treaty at all will be lost, probably forever.

Narrator

Polk exploded, venting in his diary.

Sam Houston

His dispatch is arrogant, impudent and very insulting to his government and even personally insulting to the President. I have never in my life felt so indignant. If there was any legal provision for his punishment, he ought to be severely handled. He has acted worse than any man in the public employ whom I have ever known. His dispatch proves that he is destitute of honor or principle and that he has proved himself to be a very base man.

Narrator

Polk sent a new general to replace Winfield Scott and to arrest Trist. But the gears of bureaucracy. In 1847, praying a little slowly before the replacement arrived, Trist finished the peace deal. On February 2, 1848, in the village of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Nicholas Trist signed the treaty ending the war. He didn't have any official authority to do so, but he signed it anyway. All three Mexican negotiators signed as well, with full knowledge that Trist no longer had permission from the US Government. The treaty was enormous. In consequence, Mexico recognized the Rio Grande as the boundary of Texas. The US assumed $3 million in Mexican debts owed to American citizens and Mexico agreed to sell upper California and New Mexico for $15 million lands that would eventually become the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and parts the of of Colorado and Wyoming. The territory was roughly 2/3 the size of the Louisiana Purchase. Later, in a remarkable confession for a man of his era, Trist wrote, could

Sam Houston

those Mexicans have seen into my heart at that moment? They would have known that my feeling of shame as an American was far stronger than theirs could be. My object throughout was not to obtain all I could, but on the contrary, to make the treaty as little exacting as possible from Mexico as was compatible with its being accepted at home. In this, I was governed by two considerations. One was the iniquity of the war as an abuse of power on our part. The other was that the more disadvantageous the treaty was made to Mexico, the stronger would be the ground of opposition to it in the Mexican Congress by the party who had boasted of of its power to frustrate any peace moves.

Narrator

Predictably, when the treaty reached Washington D.C. polk was furious. Trist had deliberately disobeyed him. Technically, the agreement had been signed by a man with zero authority. So Polk considered discarding it until he read the whole thing and he realized it achieved most of his objectives. Reluctantly, he sent it to the Senate. In March 1848, the Senate approved the treaty barely. It required 2/3 majority. It was achieved by one vote. Even though Polk got everything he wanted, the war with Mexico and a massive amount of new land, he never forgave Nicholas Tristram for defying him. He revoked Trist's salary for all the months he worked in Mexico. For decades after, Trist lived modestly at times even in poverty. The man who secured nearly half of the American west spent years nearly broke. Over 20 years after the treaty, Trist petitioned Congress for his back pay. And in 1871, Congress finally approved a bill granting him over $14,000. And it was signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. During the same week, possibly even the same day, that Nicholas Trist had signed the treaty with Mexico, a carpenter named James Marshall was building a sawmill outside of Sacramento, California for a Swiss immigrant named John Sutter. In a drainage ditch at the mill, Marshall spotted something small, like shiny rocks. He reached down and plucked them from the water. He held them up for a closer look. Gold. In 1848, about 7,500 people of European ancestry lived in California. Two years later, there were over 100,000. The gold rush was on. Had that discovery been known before Trist negotiated, Mexico would have never signed away. California and the map might look very different today. Instead, America gained an empire of land and resources. But those riches also accelerated an already ticking time bomb. The vast new territory made urgent the question America could no longer dodge. Would slavery expand west? The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended one war, but it helped start another one. Coming up on the American the beginnings. November 7, 1837. Around 3:00 in the morning, a steamboat delivers yet another replacement printing press. Lovejoy is at the warehouse to receive it. But like clockwork, a pro slavery mob quickly arrives and surrounds the warehouse. One man climbs a ladder and tries to set the roof on fire. Lovejoy rushes out of the warehouse with a gun and fires up at the man. As soon as he does, multiple gunshots crack through the cold night air. When the smoke clears, 34 year old Elijah Lovejoy lies dead on the ground, shot five times by the mob. Just a reminder, I'd love you to rate and subscribe to the podcast and pass this on to a friend so it can be discovered by other people. Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless bill? It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat emotional arc, and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time. Fortunately, though, Mint's story is better. Every plan $15 a month, even unlimited. That's it. Happy ending, zero tears. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent to taxes. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. See terms.