Lessons on American Presidents.
Ready-To-Print Handouts, MP3 & Online Quizzes - Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore was in the Finger Lakes country of New York in 1800. He was the 13th President of the United States, from 1850-1853. As a youth, he endured the hardships of frontier and lived in a log cabin. His rise to and the White House demonstrated that through hard work and some ability, “an uninspiring man could make the American come true”.

In 1823 he was admitted to the bar; seven years later he his law practice to Buffalo, in New York state. He held state office and for eight years was a of the House of Representatives. In 1848, he was Vice President. He presided over the Senate the months of nerve-wracking debates over the Compromise of 1850 when the south wanted to the Union.

The sudden of President Zachary Taylor in July 1850 elevated Fillmore to President. One of his first was the Fugitive Slave Act, in which runaway slaves had to be returned to their . Opponents nicknamed it the ‘Bloodhound Law’ after the dogs used to hunt slaves. He also saw California become the 31st state and abolished the slave (but not slavery) in the District of Columbia.

He was quite active with his policy. He championed the rising trade with Japan and sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry to establish with the Japanese. He quashed Napoleon III's to annex Hawaii by threatening military action, and did likewise with the British over their efforts to Cuba. Out of office, he President Lincoln throughout the Civil War. He died on March 8, 1874.