Thomas Hart Benton

The narrative traces Thomas Hart Benton from frontier origins through a lengthy Senate career, portraying him as a vigorous advocate for Western expansion. It follows his alignment with Jacksonian principles and his clashes over the national bank, the spoils system, protective tariffs, and nullification. He persistently promotes territorial extension toward the Pacific and figures prominently in debates over Oregon and Anglo-American boundary troubles. The treatment considers how the expansion of territory and the Mexican campaigns brought the slavery question into politics and strained party loyalties. It closes by showing Benton's growing isolation as the old Nationalist Democracy fragmented and his political fortunes waned.