The Antiques Roadshow Takes A Closer Look at American History

While aimlessly flipping the channels a few nights ago, which doesn't happen as much as it used to now that we've upgraded to DVR, I stopped on the Antiques Roadshow.

This show always intrigues me with the background and history associated with each item. The appraisers are often times extremely knowledgeable in history and will associate the piece and how it was made with the era from which it came. To me, this makes the show very much worth watching.

But this night of the Antiques Road Show became especially enjoyable when they focused on a political sign from the 1840 election brought in by a man who inherited it from his family. The story goes that his great-grandmother, had made the sign in support of James K. Polk. The banner was appraised at $5-7,000 at auction.

His father's grandmother, was related to Abraham Lincoln. "One branch of the Lincoln family produced a gentleman by the name of Abraham," he told appraiser Catherine Williamson of Bonham & Butterfields in Los Angeles. "And the other branch of the family produced me."

I find it curious that during that era women weren't allowed to vote. But in the true democratic fashion, this woman decided to take the time to hand paint letters onto a banner which was approximately 15 by 6, using stencils. This was her way of campaigning.

Her favorite, Polk eventually did win the election on his platform of territorial expansion. He favored the annexation of Texas and the acquisition of the entire Oregon Territory, which at that time was shared with Britain. He was also pro-slavery. Polk was obviously the democratic nominee.

On the other hand Clay, representing the Whigs, had lost elections in 1824 and 1832, was against expansion and was anti-slavery. I've always been a big fan of Henry Clay, mostly because he was a man of strong convictions. He was never willing to give up. Known as the Great Compromiser his skill in negotiations staved off the Civil War twice in in 1820 with the Missouri Compromise and again with the Compromise of 1850. He also ran for president 5 times.

But back to the task at hand...

You can see the whole appraisal here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200702A10.html

Who knew the Antiques Roadshow was so Web 2.0. They have archived every appraisal they've done on TV and created a pretty cool search engine to find them too.

I tuned out after that, but was a little upset that I didn't continue watching. What came next was from the personal archives of the White House photographer for JFK.

"I was in Dallas during the horrible assassination," he told appraiser Francis Wahlgren of Christie's in New York as he recounted the details of that day. Once he realized Kennedy had died, he got on the plane with Lyndon Johnson and Jacqueline Kennedy and photographed Johnson's swearing-in ceremony.

The value of that photograph, autographed by LBJ, was $50,000, while a signed photo of the Kennedy family was appraised at $25,000.

And apparently this was THE episode to watch for american history aficianados as a Civil War Henry Repeating rifle was also appraised.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200702A34.html

References:

Article about Antiques Roadshow - http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080126/LIFE/801260301/-1/archives

Missouri Compromise - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Compromise
Compromise of 1850 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_1850

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Henry Clay... our Greatest Senator.

Henry Clay, like the Buffalo Bills was at the doorstep of greatness several times, and each time the result was undesirable. Henry Clay ran for president on 5 separate occasions. He won his party's nomination several times making to the 'big dance' only to be outdone by another party's candidate.

Though he never officially led our country, Henry Clay did great things representing Kentucky in both the House and Senate. Clay was known as The Great Compromiser, because of success brokering the issue of slavery several times.

First, was the Compromise of 1820, more commonly referred to as the Missouri Compromise. At this time, the balane between Free and Slave states was even at eleven a piece. Missouri wanted to come in as a free state, but the northern statesmen weren't going to have it. In a nutshell, the Missouri Compromise brought in Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, maintaining the balance in the Senate. Additionally, slavery was now forbidden north of the 36-30 latitude line, which is essentially the northern border of Arkansas.

This negotiation staved off the inevitable Civil War for the time being.

Thirty years later, Clay would be called on again, this time coerced out of a short retirement to debate the issue of slavery once more. A similar situation had occurred. Senate wanted to keep the balance of Slave vs. Free state, but wasn't sure what to do with the newly acquired land which came as a result of the Mexican
American War. The Compromise of 1850 was born. This plan allowed slavery in the New Mexico and Utah territories while admitting California to the Union as a free state. It also included a new Fugitive Slave Act and banned the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in the District of Columbia. Many thought the banning of the slave trade in DC would lead others to follow suit. Banning the slave trade, and not slavery itself would allow the current slave owners to continue using slaves, but leaving them to rely on their current slaves' offspring to carry on the work.

The Compromise of 1850, again, helped to delay the Civil War for an additional eleven years.

Obviously, Henry Clay has some influence in the political arena and was highly respected. If her were alive today, might he be a moderate democrat, willing to cross party lines to get things done?

He was forward thinking enough to start the Whig Party, essentially the first 'second party'.

The American System kind of falls under the realm of 'crossing party lines'. The Amrerican System was Henry Clay's economic plan to make the United States self sufficient. In order for this to work, the North would have to cooperate with the South and vice-versa. It was an effort to rely less on British manufacturers and more on the industry located on the eastern seaboard. It called for improvements in roads and canals, to aid in shipping goods to the newly developing western states. It also suggested a national bank, something Alexander Hamilton had been advocating for many years. However, increased tension between the North and South, eventually led to the demise of this plan.

But again, it shows the strategic mind of Henry Clay who wanted nothing more than a peaceful and cooperative united states. Clay passed away in 1852 unaware that despite all his efforts, the slavery issue became too much and the strife between the states came to a head with the inevitable Civil War.

Even so, Henry Clay deserves more credit for his efforts.

PS - A Senate committee, headed by John F. Kennedy in 1957, was assigned the task of assessing and honoring his past members. This committee declared that Henry Clay was the greatest Senator in the history of this body.

And finally, here's an article comparing Clay to John McCain.

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