Politics and Citizenship: With Tyler following the death of Harrison he definitely had a lot on his plate, especially since he had to adjust from being vice - president. Although President John Tyler did implement this entirely different view of the role of vice - president based on a personal interpretation of the Constitution. He believed that a vice - president should be allowed a greater sense of power in the absence of the president, where the vice - president plays the role of president to help serve the country and maintain a continuous flow of authority. This particular thought/belief wasn't accepted by all, but ultimately ushered a new definition for the role and political power given or is available to the second in command.
Economic Transformations and Globalization: During his presidency, John Tyler made his share of key decisions concerning the economy and which also affected his relations with the Whigs. John Tyler disappointed many of the members of the Whig party when vetoing Henry Clay's
attempts/legislation for a national banking act. Making such a serious decision not only left the Whigs disappointed, but in a sense also angered for not being able to achieve their goal. In addition Tyler later in his presidency was in a situation where he found it necessary to increase tariffs in order to meet a budget situation. The Whigs had strong opinions on trying to maintain the tariff rates and finding an alternate method, but Tyler had taken matters into his own hands. By making the decision to go with his idea, the Whigs had had enough with their continuous rejection and in a sense this was a final straw for them.
Environment: A goal Tyler had long envisioned and had hopes of achieving was being able to expand towards the Pacific Ocean and west in general. By expanding towards the Pacific he would be able to travel across the waters and establish a greater economic power opening up new markets and areas. It would him have the U.S present themselves in a much stronger suit and be able to compete with many other economic powers such as Great Britain. By expanding westward and gaining more land and more territory he would open the U.S to even more opportunities to thrive and prosper. The annexation of Texas was a major focus of President Tyler, with the size of Texas the U.S would benefit both economically and socially from the amount of land they would receive if they were successful. Ultimately John Tyler had hopes of increasing the nations status and power through the expansion of the U.S and made numerous attempts to do so.
War and Diplomacy: The Second Seminole War taking place from 1835 - 1842 took place during the John Tyler presidency and was a prominent concern for the government at the time. Taking place between the Seminole Indians and Americans the conflict arose from the turmoil over the Seminole lands in Florida. The Seminoles were extremely defiant to the American's proposition and were nowhere near willing to give up their land. With the two groups clashing heads and both unwilling to sway from their beliefs the groups went to war. The Second Seminole War was a very costly war in terms of money and the lives of soldiers. The war spanned on for a long period of time even after crucial blows to the Seminoles like the loss of their leader Osceola. Slowly the Americans began gaining the upper hand and the war slowly came to an end with President John Tyler there to make the final decisions.
American Identity and Culture: The Commonwealth v. Hunt case taking place in 1842 focused on the topic of labor unions. The case helped decide on the correct situation in which labor unions were appropriate and the rights they had open to them. With the case being sparked by a controversy between the Boston Bootmakers' Society and an employee, the controversy had quickly spread. An employee had been fired from the society and was left on his own, the employer fearing a protest of some sort tried to make amends. The employee had already set his mind and had formed a union in which he looked to get back on his employer.The case itself had risen when the employer made the statement that what the employee had done was a conspiracy act and was illegal.
Slavery and it's Legacies in North America: John Tyler personally owned slaves, but took to a different approach when it came to their treatment and his overall view of the practice. John Tyler was from a fairly wealthy family and from the start had experience with slaves, but unlike many other Tyler provided for better treatment of his slaves. He made it so the overseer of his slaves were not to abuse them physically through whipping as well as prevent the division of slave families. These steps towards the treatment of his own slaves set President Tyler apart from the many owners of slaves in the U.S during the time.
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