REFERENCES.—GENERAL WORKS: same as for Chapter XIX. SPECIAL WORKS: same as for Chapters XXII. and XXIII., with the addition of: H. Wilson, _History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America_, Vol. II., chaps. ii.–iii.; H. H. Bancroft, _Pacific States_, Vol. VIII.; Winfield Scott, _Memoirs_; U. S. Grant, _Personal Memoirs_, Vol. I., chaps, iii.–xiii. ----- [173] Born in Virginia, 1784; died, 1850. Appointed first lieutenant in the army, 1808; fought in the War of 1812, in the Black Hawk War, and in the war against the Seminoles; was ordered to the disputed territory on the outbreak of the Mexican War, where his numerous victories made him a national hero; was nominated for President over such competitors as Clay and Webster, in 1848, and was elected by a large majority; died before the Compromise of 1850 was adopted. [174] Born in Virginia, 1786; died, 1866. Graduated at William and Mary College, and entered the army, 1808; distinguished himself in the War of 1812, in consequence of which he was promoted to be brigadier and brevet major general in 1814; became commander in chief of the United States Army in 1841; distinguished himself by the brilliancy of his victories in the Mexican War; was defeated by Pierce for the Presidency in 1852; retired from the army, October, 1861. [175] An uncomplimentary name given them by their opponents on account of their supposed revolutionary opinions on political matters. [Illustration: UNITED STATES—ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY] PART V. THE EVE OF THE CIVIL WAR, 1850–1861. * * * * * CHAPTER XXIV. =THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE, 1849–1853.= THE QUESTION OF CALIFORNIA. =390. General Conditions.=—The period of controversy upon which we are about to enter, was caused by the opposing interests and feelings of the North and South on the subject of slavery. In the early history of the country, the balance of power had been kept even by the alternate admission of free and slave states. But the admission of Texas, and still more, the results of the Mexican War, enlivened the hopes of the South, while the Wilmot Proviso (§ 388) showed that the North was fully aware of the great interests involved in the annexation of any new territory capable of supporting slavery.