1832 Bank of the United States. 227 vate lives of the two candidates were closely scanned. Jackson was successful by a very large majority, and was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1829. Calhoun was a second time chosen vice-president. 2. Adams, like his predecessors, had refused to make officeholding depend upon politics; but Jackson believed in the doctrine, formulated at a later day, that "to the victor belong the spoils." He, therefore, commenced the practice called "rotation in office," by which government Rotation officials are removed from their positions and the in office. political friends of the president appointed to the offices. Jackson's course provoked protest and abuse, but it was firmly persisted in, and has been followed to a greater or less extent by all his successors. Bank of the United States. 3. In his first annual message to Congress, Jackson took ground against the renewal of the charter of the United States Bank; and when, notwithstanding his objections, a bill was passed to renew it, he vetoed the measure (1832). The next year he withdrew the government deposits from the bank, and caused them to be placed in several of the State banks, which, because they were thus favored, were thence spoken of as “Pet Banks." This act caused great excitement; and a resolution of the Senate declared the act unconstitutional, and censured the president. The State banks which had received the government funds, increased their loans to the merchants, and money became so abundant that the price of everything was advanced. This led to speculation, all hoping to become suddenly rich. Farms were laid out for cities, and cut up into building lots, which sold at fabulous prices, although those who bought them were unable to build upon them, or 1 In 1791, during Washington's administration, the first bank of the United States was established by Congress, for a period of twenty years. Its charter was not renewed. In 1816, the second bank of the United States was established, to exist till the 3d of March, 1836, when it ceased to act under the charter granted by Congress, even to pay for them. The ruinous consequences of this state 4. The tariff law of 1828 grew every year more unsatisfactory to the cotton-growing States; and, though an act was passed removing some of the duties on foreign goods, they were still discontented. South Carolina took the Nullification. lead in opposition to the law, or, rather, was the only member of the Union that assumed State hostility to it. A convention, elected by its voters, met and ordained that the tariff law was null and void, that no duties should be paid in the State, no appeal should be permitted to be made to the Supreme Court of the United States, and that should the general government attempt to enforce the law by collecting the duties, the State of South Carolina would secede from the Union (1832). 5. "The State resounded with the noise of warlike preparations. Blue cockades, with a palmetto button in the centre, appeared upon thousands of hats, bonnets, and bosoms. Medals were struck ere long, bearing this inscription: 'John C. Calhoun, First President of the Southern Confed eracy.' The legislature pro ceeded to fill the vacancy created in the Senate of the United States by the election of Mr. Hayne to the governorship. John C. Calhoun, vice-president of the United States, was the person selected, and he accepted the seat. He resigned the vicepresidency, and began his journey to Washington, leaving his State in the wildest ferment." 6. Jackson acted with promptness and firmness. He sent General Scott to Charleston, a naval force was anchored off the city, and all the military posts in South Carolina were occupied by Unitel States JOHN C. CALHOUN. 1836-7 Arkansas and Michigan. 229 troops. Then Jackson issued his celebrated proclamation (December 11th, 1832), announcing his determination to enforce the law. "Argument, warning, and entreaty were blended in its composition." "The Union," he said, "must and shall be preserved." These prompt and decisive measures had the desired effect. The nullifiers, as they were called, were restrained; and, not long afterward, a "compromise bill," providing for the gradual reduction of the duties, was offered HENRY CLAY. by Henry Clay, accepted by Calhoun and the other South Carolina leaders, and passed by Congress. Thus quiet was restored. 7. The election campaign in 1832 came on while the bank and nullification troubles were at their height. It Jackson's was a decidedly ear- 2d election. nest one. The country was very much excited and party spirit ran high. Jackson, who was again the candidate of the Democrats, was lauded as "the hero of New Orleans," the "old Roman," and, in allusion to his toughness as a soldier, "Old Hickory." Hickory poles, these being hickory trees trimmed so as to leave no limbs except at the top, were raised at the great out-door meetings. Every city-ward, every town, village, and hamlet had its hickory pole at the head-quarters of the party. On one occasion of a hickorypole raising in New York city, there was a Democratic procession, says a French traveler who described it, "nearly a mile long." Jackson was again successful. Martin Van Buren, of New York, was chosen vice-president. New States. 8. Two States were added to the Union while Jackson was president. The first, Arkansas, formed from the territory known as the "Louisiana Purchase," was admitted in 1836. The second, Michigan, formerly a part of the Northwest Territory, was admitted in the early part of 1837, about a month before the expiration of Jackson's term of office. The Union then consisted of twenty-six States. Van Buren's Administration. 1. The presidential election in the fall of 1836, resulted n the success of Martin Van Buren, whom Jackson had favored. This was another triumph of the Democratic party, the party opposed to rechar The 13th national tering the Bank of election. the United States and to a high tariff. The policy of Jackson's administration was thus continued. The candidate of the other great political body, the Whig party, was General William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, the "hero of Tippecanoe and the Thames." Colonel Richard M. Johnson, was chosen vice-president. He, like Van Buren, was a Democrat.' MARTIN VAN BUREN. 2. The beginning of Van Buren's administration was noted for the bursting forth of the great financial storm, the result of the wild speculations of the few preceding years. Mer The 1 In 1832 the northwest frontier suffered from Indian hostilities. savages were subdued, and their great chief, Black Hawk, and other warriors, being made prisoners, were conducted through some of the principal cities of the Union to convince them of the folly of contending against the whites. Towards the close of 1835, the Seminoles of Florida renewed their hostilities, because an attempt was made to remove them to lands west of the Mississippi, according to a treaty which had been previously made with some of their chiefs. Their principal warrior, Osceola, and others, did not consider this treaty binding, and refused to obey it.. Osceola was imprisoned, because of his threatening language, but, promising submission, was set free. In revenge, he attacked the whites, but was again made prisoner. The Indians were defeated by Colonel Taylor (afterward President), yet they continued hostile till 1842. 1840 The Slavery Agitation. 231 The panic of 1837. chants were unable to pay their debts, and numerous failures were the consequence. The banks, of which there were about eight hundred in number, had three times as much paper money in circulation as they had coin in their vaults. They were therefore compelled to suspend the payment of their notes in specie, and gold and silver disappeared, for those who had any hoarded it for safety. Even the government was embarrassed, for its money was locked up in the suspended banks. This led to a measure, recommended by the president, by which the keeping of the government money was intrusted to Assistant Treasurers, in certain designated places, called Sub-Treasuries. This is now the established policy of the country. The Slavery agitation. 3. In 1840, the number of slaves in the United States was 2,487,455. All the Northern States had either abolished slavery or had made provision for its gradual abolishment. At the date mentioned, there were sixty-four slaves still in Pennsylvania, five in Rhode Island, seventeen in Connecticut, and about five hundred in New Jersey. The South, in the early colonial times, had been opposed to slavery, and, in the first years of our existence as a nation, our prominent men-Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Jay, Hamilton, and many others regarded slavery as a great evil. Various causes-the difference in climate, and the invention of the cotton gin, by which slave labor was made more profitable in the South than the North, being the principal ones,-in the course of time effected a change of opinion; and slavery was at length advocated in the Southern States as right in itself and worthy of being extended. 66 4. It is thus seen that from the very foundation of the government there were many persons opposed to slavery. As early as 1775, an Abolition Society" was formed in Pennsylvania, with Franklin for its president, having for its object the "removal of slavery from the American people" and the "discouraging of all traffic in the persons of our fellow-men." The formation of other Abolition Societies" 66 |