The presidency of Martin Van Buren began on March 4, 1837, when Martin Van Buren was inaugurated as President of the United States , and ended on March 4, 1841. Van Buren, the incumbent vice president and chosen successor of President Andrew Jackson , took office as the eighth United States president after defeating multiple Whig Party candidates in the 1836 presidential election . A member of the Democratic Party , Van Buren's presidency ended following his defeat by Whig candidate William Henry Harrison in the 1840 presidential election .
175-499: The central issue facing President Van Buren was the Panic of 1837 , a sustained economic downturn that began just weeks into his presidency. Van Buren opposed any direct federal government intervention and cut back federal spending to maintain a balanced budget. He also presided over the establishment of the independent treasury system, a series of government vaults that replaced banks as the repository of federal funds. Van Buren continued
350-749: A central bank to regulate fiscal matters, which President Andrew Jackson had ensured by not extending the charter of the Second Bank of the United States , was also key. The ailing economy of early 1837 led investors to panic, and a bank run ensued, giving the crisis its name. The bank run came to a head on May 10, 1837, when banks in New York City ran out of gold and silver. They immediately suspended specie payments , and would no longer redeem commercial paper in specie at full face value . A significant economic collapse followed: despite
525-491: A lecture against slavery while dressed as a soldier, after which he plunged a sword into a bible containing a bladder of fake blood ( pokeberry juice) that splattered those nearby. On September 9, 1739, a literate slave named Jemmy led a rebellion against South Carolina slaveholders in an event referred to as the Stono Rebellion (also known as Cato's Conspiracy and Cato's Rebellion.) The runaway slaves involved in
700-756: A Native American nation had forced the United States to sue for peace. An agreement was reached allowing the Seminoles to remain in southwest Florida, but the peace was shattered in July 1839. Fighting was not resolved until 1842, after Van Buren had left office. The United States spent over $ 30 million in the Second Seminole War, which also cost the lives of over 1400 American military personnel, dozens of civilians, and at least seven hundred Seminole. Historian Laurence M. Hauptman argues that dishonest and underhanded methods were deliberately employed to remove
875-623: A South Carolinian who had opposed secession during the Nullification Crisis . Van Buren's cabinet choices were criticized by Pennsylvanians such as James Buchanan , who argued that their state deserved a cabinet position, as well as some Democrats who argued that Van Buren should have used his patronage powers to augment his own power. But Van Buren saw value in avoiding contentious patronage battles, and his decision to retain Jackson's cabinet made it clear that he intended to continue
1050-502: A brief recovery in 1838, the recession persisted for nearly seven years. Over 40% of all banks failed, businesses closed, prices declined, and there was mass unemployment. From 1837 to 1844, deflation in wages and prices was widespread. As the nation underwent hardships, positive forces were at work that, in time, would invigorate the economy. Railroads had begun their relentless expansion, and furnace masters had discovered how to smelt greater quantities of pig iron. The machine tool and
1225-402: A celebration of the incoming president than a tribute to the outgoing one. Van Buren's inaugural address took wistful note of it: In receiving from the people the sacred trust twice confided to my illustrious predecessor, and which he has discharged so faithfully and so well, I know that I can not expect to perform the arduous task with equal ability and success. But...I may hope that somewhat of
1400-522: A clash between Van Buren's Independent Treasury system and Clay's support for a revived national bank. Clay had the backing of most Southerners at the 1839 Whig National Convention , but most Northerners favored Harrison. Northern leaders like William Seward and Thaddeus Stevens believed that Harrison's war record would effectively counter the popular appeals of the Democratic Party. General Winfield Scott also had some support, and he loomed as
1575-738: A collapse in cotton prices had massive reverberations. In the United States, there were several contributing factors. In July 1832, President Jackson vetoed the bill to recharter the Second Bank of the United States , the nation's central bank and fiscal agent. As the bank wound up its operations in the next four years, state-chartered banks in the West and the South relaxed their lending standards by maintaining unsafe reserve ratios. Two domestic policies exacerbated an already volatile situation. The Specie Circular of 1836 mandated that western lands could be purchased only with gold and silver coin. The circular
1750-538: A combination of his own attractive political and personal qualities, Jackson's popularity and endorsement, the organizational power of the Democratic party, and the inability of the Whig Party to muster an effective candidate and campaign. Virginia's presidential electors voted for Van Buren for president but William Smith for vice president, leaving Johnson one electoral vote short of election. In accordance with
1925-548: A concern for Black civil rights. However, James Stewart advocates a more nuanced understanding of the relationship of abolition and anti-slavery prior to the Civil War: While instructive, the distinction [between anti-slavery and abolition] can also be misleading, especially in assessing abolitionism's political impact. For one thing, slaveholders never bothered with such fine points. Many immediate abolitionists showed no less concern than did other white Northerners about
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#17327943261432100-687: A crime, in 1865. This was a direct result of the Union victory in the American Civil War . The central issue of the war was slavery. Historian James M. McPherson in 1964 defined an abolitionist "as one who before the Civil War had agitated for the immediate, unconditional and total abolition of slavery in the United States". He notes that many historians have used a broader definition without his emphasis on immediacy. Thus he does not include opponents of slavery such as Abraham Lincoln or
2275-573: A desire to avoid sectional disputes. During Van Buren's presidency, congressional leaders sought to avoid divisive debates over slavery through the " gag rule ," an informal practice in which any discussion of the abolition of slavery in Congress was immediately tabled. While the gag rule was largely successful in stifling the debate over slavery in the Senate, Congressman (and former President) John Quincy Adams earned notoriety for his efforts to resist
2450-415: A difficult election in 1840 . Van Buren's term had been a difficult affair, with the U.S. economy mired in a severe downturn, and other divisive issues, such as slavery, western expansion, and tensions with Great Britain provided numerous for opportunities for Van Buren's political opponents to criticize his actions. Although Van Buren's renomination was never in doubt, Democratic strategists began to question
2625-573: A diplomatic solution to a long-standing financial dispute between American citizens and the Mexican government, rejecting Jackson's threat to settle it by force. Likewise, when the Texas minister at Washington, D.C., proposed annexation to the administration in August 1837, he was told that the proposition could not be entertained. Constitutional scruples and fear of war with Mexico were the reasons given for
2800-468: A few banks collapsed, alarm quickly spread throughout the community and were heightened by partisan newspapers. Anxious investors rushed to other banks and demanded to have their deposits withdrawn. When faced with such pressure, even healthy banks had to make further curtailments by calling in loans and demanding payment from their borrowers. That fed the hysteria even further, which led to a downward spiral or snowball effect. In other words, anxiety, fear, and
2975-663: A few decades the entire slave trade was under attack, being opposed by such Quaker leaders as William Burling, Benjamin Lay , Ralph Sandiford, William Southby, John Woolman , and Anthony Benezet . Benezet was particularly influential, inspiring a later generation of notable anti-slavery activists, including Granville Sharp , John Wesley , Thomas Clarkson , Olaudah Equiano , Benjamin Franklin , Benjamin Rush , Absalom Jones , and Bishop Richard Allen , among others. Samuel Sewall ,
3150-629: A former Jackson ally, emerged as the major Whig candidate in the South, touting himself as the only Southerner in the race. William Henry Harrison , who had gained notoriety for his service in the Battle of Tippecanoe , edged out Senator Daniel Webster to become the main Whig candidate in the North. The Whig Party campaigned on denouncing Jackson's alleged executive tyranny, and attacked Van Buren as an untrustworthy career politician. Van Buren had to articulate
3325-399: A hard blow. Vermont had a period of alleviation in 1838 but was hit hard again in 1839–1840. New Hampshire did not feel the effects of the panic as much as its neighbors did. It had no permanent debt in 1838 and had little economic stress the following years. New Hampshire's greatest hardship was the circulation of fractional coins in the state. Conditions in the South were much worse than in
3500-476: A massive offensive, culminating in the Battle of Lake Okeechobee . Following the American victory in the battle, the war entered a new phase, a long war of attrition. During this time, the government realized that it would be almost impossible to drive the remaining Seminoles from Florida, so Van Buren sent General Alexander Macomb to negotiate a peace with the Seminoles. It was the only time in U.S. history that
3675-405: A pervasive lack of confidence initiated devastating, self-sustaining feedback loops. Many economists today understand that phenomenon as an information asymmetry . Essentially, bank depositors reacted to imperfect information since they did not know if their deposits were safe and so fearing further risk, they withdrew their deposits, even if it caused more damage. The same concept of downward spiral
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#17327943261433850-493: A political movement is usually dated from 1 January 1831, when Wm. Lloyd Garrison (as he always signed himself) published the first issue of his new weekly newspaper, The Liberator (1831), which appeared without interruption until slavery in the United States was abolished in 1865, when it closed. Abolitionists included those who joined the American Anti-Slavery Society or its auxiliary groups in
4025-490: A position on slavery that could win full-throated approval in both the pro-slavery South and the Northern states where slavery was illegal and unpopular. The biggest challenge came in the South, where all Yankees were automatically suspect on the slave question. Van Buren moved to obtain the support of Southerners by assuring them that he opposed abolitionism and supported the continued existence of slavery in states where it
4200-452: A potential compromise candidate between Clay and Harrison. Due in large part to effective maneuvering by Thurlow Weed and Thaddeus Stevens , Harrison triumphed over Clay on the third ballot of the convention. For vice president, the Whigs nominated former Senator John Tyler of Virginia. Clay was deeply disappointed by his defeat at the convention, but he nonetheless faithfully campaigned for
4375-405: A principle was far more than just the wish to prevent the expansion of slavery. After 1840, abolitionists rejected this because it let sin continue to exist; they demanded that slavery end everywhere, immediately and completely. John Brown was the only abolitionist to have actually planned a violent insurrection, though David Walker promoted the idea. The abolitionist movement was strengthened by
4550-493: A prominent Bostonian, wrote The Selling of Joseph (1700) in protest of the widening practice of outright slavery as opposed to indentured servitude in the colonies. This is the earliest-recorded anti-slavery tract published in the future United States. Slavery was banned in the colony of Georgia soon after its founding in 1733. The colony's founder, James Edward Oglethorpe , fended off repeated attempts by South Carolina merchants and land speculators to introduce slavery into
4725-563: A prosperity of its own. Meanwhile, individuals and institutions were hurting. The crisis followed a period of economic expansion from mid-1834 to mid-1836. The prices of land, cotton, and slaves rose sharply in those years. The boom's origin had many sources, both domestic and international. Because of the peculiar factors of international trade, abundant amounts of silver were coming into the United States from Mexico and China. Land sales and tariffs on imports were also generating substantial federal revenues. Through lucrative cotton exports and
4900-448: A slave. According to historian Steven Pincus , many of the colonial legislatures worked to enact laws that would limit slavery. The Provincial legislature of Massachusetts Bay , as noted by historian Gary B. Nash , approved a law "prohibiting the importation and purchase of slaves by any Massachusetts citizen." The Loyalist governor of Massachusetts , Thomas Hutchinson , vetoed the law, an action that prompted angered reaction from
5075-631: The 1735 Georgia Experiment in part to prevent Spanish partnership with Georgia's runaway slaves, Oglethorpe eventually revoked the act in 1750 after the Spanish's defeat in the Battle of Bloody Marsh eight years prior. During the Revolutionary era, all states abolished the international slave trade , but South Carolina reversed its decision. Between the Revolutionary War and 1804, laws, constitutions, or court decisions in each of
5250-659: The 1836 presidential election , but he remained influential within the Democratic Party , and he strongly supported Van Buren's candidacy in the 1836 election. With Jackson's support, Van Buren won the presidential nomination of the 1835 Democratic National Convention without opposition. Two names were put forward for the vice-presidential nomination: Representative Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, and former senator William Cabell Rives of Virginia. Though most Southern Democrats favored Rives, Jackson preferred Johnson, and his influence helped lead to Johnson's nomination for
5425-553: The American Revolutionary War and was reorganized in 1784, with Benjamin Franklin as its first president. In 1777, independent Vermont , not yet a state, became the first polity in North America to prohibit slavery: slaves were not directly freed, but masters were required to remove slaves from Vermont. The Constitution included several provisions which accommodated slavery, although none used
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5600-458: The Amistad case, involving international issues and parties, people of color testifying in federal court, and the participation of former president Adams and other high-profile lawyers, engendered great public interest. The Amistad case drew attention to the personal tragedies of slavery and attracted new support for the growing abolition movement in the North. It also transformed the courts into
5775-533: The Aroostook River . After American woodcutters rushed to stand guard, a shouting match, known as the Battle of Caribou , ensued. Tensions quickly boiled over into a near war with both Maine and New Brunswick arresting each other's citizens, and the crisis seemed ready to turn into an armed conflict. British troops began to gather along the Saint John River . Governor John Fairfield mobilized
5950-617: The Indian removal policies of the Jackson administration, as thousands of Native Americans were resettled west of the Mississippi River during his presidency. He sought to avoid major tensions over slavery , rejecting the possibility of annexing Texas and appealing the case of United States v. The Amistad to the Supreme Court . In foreign affairs, Van Buren avoided war with Britain despite several incidents, including
6125-642: The Massachusetts courts in freedom suits , spurred on the decision made in the Somerset v. Stewart case, which although not applying the colonies was still received positively by American abolitionists. Boston lawyer Benjamin Kent represented them. In 1766, Kent won a case ( Slew v. Whipple ) to liberate Jenny Slew , a mixed-race woman who had been kidnapped in Massachusetts and then handled as
6300-685: The Mississippi River . Continuing this policy, the federal government negotiated 19 treaties with Indian nations in the course of Van Buren's presidency. By the time Van Buren took office, the Muscogee , Chickasaw , and Choctaw had been removed to lands west of the Mississippi River , but a large number of Cherokee were still in Georgia and the Seminole remained in Florida. An 1835 treaty signed by U.S. government officials and representatives of
6475-530: The Northern states provided for the gradual or immediate abolition of slavery. No Southern state adopted similar policies. In 1807, Congress made the importation of slaves a crime, effective January 1, 1808, which was as soon as Article I, section 9 of the Constitution allowed. A small but dedicated group, under leaders such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass , agitated for abolition in
6650-638: The Patriot War . The administration followed through on its enforcement of the Neutrality Act, encouraged the prosecution of filibusters , and actively deterred U.S. citizens from subversive activities abroad. After the failure of two filibuster expeditions in late 1839, the Hunters' Lodges lost their popular appeal and the Patriot War came to an end. In the long term, Van Buren's opposition to
6825-598: The Republican Party ; they called for the immediate end to expansion of slavery before 1861. The religious component of American abolitionism was great. It began with the Quakers , then moved to the other Protestants with the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. Many leaders were ministers. Saying slavery was sinful made its evil easy to understand, and tended to arouse fervor for
7000-543: The Twelfth Amendment , the Senate elected Johnson vice president in a contingent vote. Meanwhile, in the concurrent congressional elections, Democrats retained control of both houses of Congress. The election of 1836 marked an important turning point in American political history because of the part it played in establishing the Second Party System . In the early 1830s the political party structure
7175-543: The Underground Railroad . This was made illegal by the federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 , arguably the most hated and most openly evaded federal legislation in the nation's history. Nevertheless, participants like Harriet Tubman , Henry Highland Garnet , Alexander Crummell , Amos Noë Freeman , and others continued with their work. Abolitionists were particularly active in Ohio , where some worked directly in
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7350-552: The United States Capitol . At age 54, he was the youngest person at the time to assume the presidency. Taking the oath as the eighth president, Van Buren defined his role as one of preservation: "sacredly to uphold those political institutions" created by the Founders and especially to safeguard the hallowed Jeffersonian principles of a limited national government and the liberty and sovereignty of "the people and
7525-534: The United States Constitution did or did not protect slavery. This issue arose in the late 1840s after the publication of The Unconstitutionality of Slavery by Lysander Spooner . The Garrisonians, led by Garrison and Wendell Phillips , publicly burned copies of the Constitution, called it a pact with slavery, and demanded its abolition and replacement. Another camp, led by Lysander Spooner , Gerrit Smith , and eventually Douglass, considered
7700-484: The antebellum era . From 1834 to 1835, Europe experienced a surge in prosperity, which resulted in confidence and an increased propensity for risky foreign investments. In 1836, directors of the Bank of England noticed that its monetary reserves had declined precipitously in recent years due to an increase in capital speculation and investment in American transportation. Conversely, improved transportation systems increased
7875-521: The upper South , freed slaves, sometimes in their wills. Many noted they had been moved by the revolutionary ideals of the equality of men. The number of free blacks as a proportion of the black population in the upper South increased from less than 1 percent to nearly 10 percent between 1790 and 1810 as a result of these actions. Some slave owners, concerned about the increase in free blacks, which they viewed as destabilizing, freed slaves on condition that they emigrate to Africa . All U.S. states abolished
8050-468: The "Extermination Order". It authorized troops to use force against Mormons to "exterminate or drive [them] from the state". In 1839, after moving to Illinois, Smith and his party appealed to members of Congress and to President Van Buren to intercede for the Mormons. According to Smith's grandnephew, Van Buren said to Smith, "Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you; if I take up for you I shall lose
8225-793: The 1830s and 1840s, as the movement fragmented. The fragmented anti-slavery movement included groups such as the Liberty Party ; the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society ; the American Missionary Association ; and the Church Anti-Slavery Society . Historians traditionally distinguish between moderate anti-slavery reformers or gradualists, who concentrated on stopping the spread of slavery, and radical abolitionists or immediatists, whose demands for unconditional emancipation often merged with
8400-486: The 1830s, and the activism of abolitionist groups like the American Anti-Slavery Society prompted denunciations from Southern leaders like John C. Calhoun . Van Buren viewed abolitionism as the greatest threat to the nation's unity. He opposed any attempt on the part of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia against the wishes of the slave-holding states, and to resist the slightest interference with it in
8575-410: The 1836 Specie Circular . That policy had required the use of specie ( coins ), rather than paper money, in the purchase of government-held lands, and had had the effect of transferring specie from Eastern banks to Western banks and undermining confidence in banknotes. Whigs also blamed Jackson's dismantling of the Second Bank of the United States , thereby allowing state banks to engage in lending and
8750-503: The 1836 election with 764,198 popular votes, 50.9 percent of the total, and 170 electoral votes . Harrison led the Whigs with 73 electoral votes, White receiving 26, and Webster 14. Willie Person Mangum received South Carolina's 11 electoral votes, which were awarded by the state legislature. Compared to Jackson's 1832 campaign, Van Buren performed better in New England but worse in the South and West. Van Buren's victory resulted from
8925-508: The 27th best president. Several writers have portrayed Van Buren as among the nation's most obscure presidents. As noted in a 2014 Time magazine article on the "Top 10 Forgettable Presidents": Making himself nearly disappear completely from the history books was probably not the trick the "Little Magician" Martin Van Buren had in mind, but his was the first truly forgettable American presidency. Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837
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#17327943261439100-517: The Bank of England, wanting to increase monetary reserves and to cushion American defaults, indicated that they would gradually raise interest rates from 3 to 5 percent. The conventional financial theory held that banks should raise interest rates and curb lending when they were faced with low monetary reserves. Raising interest rates, according to the laws of supply and demand , was supposed to attract specie since money generally flows where it will generate
9275-755: The Bridge Street African Methodist Episcopal Church , and lived on Duffield Street. His fellow Duffield Street residents Thomas and Harriet Truesdell were leading members of the abolitionist movement. Mr. Truesdell was a founding member of the Providence Anti-slavery Society before moving to Brooklyn in 1838. Harriet Truesdell was also very active in the movement, organizing an anti-slavery convention in Pennsylvania Hall (Philadelphia) . Another prominent Brooklyn-based abolitionist
9450-469: The British in neighboring Canada, and by becoming landowners who had a higher status and were important factors in the local economy. They also deliberately sent their young men into the local wage labor market to make their presence valuable to the white community. They never threatened the local whites and had significant support from the community. The abolitionist movement had gained in popularity during
9625-687: The British. In early January 1838, the president proclaimed U.S. neutrality with regard to the Canadian independence issue, a declaration which Congress endorsed by passing a neutrality law designed to discourage the participation of American citizens in foreign conflicts. Though Scott was able to calm the situation, a group of secret societies known as " Hunters' Lodges " continued to seek the overthrow of British rule in Canada. These groups carried out several attacks in Upper Canada, collectively known as
9800-568: The Canadian side of the Niagara River. Several hundred volunteers traveled to Navy Island in the weeks that followed, procuring the steamboat Caroline to deliver supplies to Navy Island. Seeking to deter an imminent invasion, British forces crossed to the American bank of the river in late December 1837, and they burned and sank the Caroline . In the melee, one American was killed and others were wounded. Considerable sentiment arose within
9975-533: The Cherokee Nation had established terms under which the entire nation would cede its territory and move across the Mississippi River, but many Cherokee viewed the treaty as fraudulent. In 1838, Van Buren directed General Winfield Scott to forcibly move all those Cherokee who had not yet complied with the treaty. The Cherokee were herded violently into internment camps, where they were kept for
10150-416: The Constitution to be an anti-slavery document. Using an argument based upon Natural Law and a form of social contract theory, they said that slavery fell outside the Constitution's scope of legitimate authority and therefore should be abolished. Another split in the abolitionist movement was along class lines. The artisan republicanism of Robert Dale Owen and Frances Wright stood in stark contrast to
10325-402: The Democratic convention decided to allow state Democratic Party leaders to select the vice-presidential candidates for their states. The convention drafted the first party platform in U.S. history, fully endorsing Van Buren's views on economic policy and other matters. Van Buren hoped that the Whigs would nominate Henry Clay for president, which would allow Van Buren to cast the 1840 campaign as
10500-678: The East, and the Cotton Belt was dealt the worst blow. In Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina the panic caused an increase in the interest of diversifying crops. New Orleans felt a general depression in business, and its money market stayed in bad condition throughout 1843. Several planters in Mississippi had spent much of their money in advance, which led to the complete bankruptcy of many planters. By 1839, many plantations were thrown out of cultivation. Florida and Georgia did not feel
10675-544: The House . Meanwhile, Whigs won gains in state elections across the country, including in Van Buren's home state of New York. In early 1838, most banks ended their moratorium on converting paper into money into gold or silver, temporarily bringing an end to the monetary crisis. The economy began to recover, and an alliance of Democrats and Whigs repealed the Specie Circular that year. A second economic downturn, known as
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#173279432614310850-671: The Independent Treasury system in 1841, but it was revived in 1846 and remained in place until the passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. In 1840, President van Buren issued an executive order which lowered the working hours for government workers to only 10 hours per day. This mostly included laborers and mechanics. Federal policy under Jackson had sought, through the Indian Removal Act of 1830 , to move all indigenous peoples to lands west of
11025-506: The Indian territory and columns of soldiers scoured the countryside. Feeling the pressure, many Seminoles, including head chief Micanopy , offered to surrender. The Seminoles slowly gathered for emigration near Tampa , but in June they fled the detention camps, driven off by disease and the presence of slave catchers who were hoping to take Black Seminoles captive. In December 1837, Jesup began
11200-437: The Iroquois and Stockbridge-Munsee Indians from their lands in upstate New York without payment. He states that federal officials, James W. Stryker, John F. Schermerhorn, and Random H. Gillet, collaborated with Van Buren in fraudulently imposing the 1838 Treaty of Buffalo Creek using bribery, forgery, corruption, and deception. Meanwhile, in Michigan, the Ottawas managed to remain in their ancestral home land by threatening to join
11375-450: The Navy Mahlon Dickerson hailed from the mid-Atlantic states, Secretary of State John Forsyth represented the South, and Postmaster General Amos Kendall of Kentucky represented the West. For the position of Secretary of War, the lone unfilled post in the cabinet, Van Buren first approached William Cabell Rives, who had sought the vice presidency in 1836. After Rives declined to join the cabinet, Van Buren appointed Joel Roberts Poinsett ,
11550-484: The North. In 1835 alone, abolitionists mailed over a million pieces of anti-slavery literature to the South, giving rise to the gag rules in Congress, after the theft of mail from the Charleston, South Carolina , post office, and much back-and-forth about whether postmasters were required to deliver this mail. According to the Postmaster General , they were not. Under the Constitution, the importation of enslaved persons could not be prohibited until 1808 (20 years). As
11725-505: The Panic of 1839, began as the result of a cotton glut. With less income coming in from the cotton trade, land prices plummeted, industries laid off employees, and banks failed. According to historian Daniel Walker Howe , the economic crisis of the late 1830s and early 1840s was the most severe recession in U.S. history until the Great Depression . Partly in response to this second economic downturn, Congress enacted Van Buren's Independent Treasury proposal in June 1840. The Whigs would abolish
11900-431: The Patriot War contributed to the construction of healthy Anglo–American and U.S.–Canadian relations in the 20th century; it also led, more immediately, to a backlash among citizens regarding the supposed overreach of federal authority. A new crisis between Britain and the United States surfaced in late 1838 in disputed territory on the Maine – New Brunswick frontier. Jackson had been willing to drop American claims to
12075-456: The Second Bank of the United States. The Independent Treasury was inspired by the writings of William M. Gouge , a hard currency advocate who argued that any federal collaboration with banks both risked corruption and reinforced a speculative boom and bust cycle that led to economic downturns. When the 25th Congress convened in September 1837, Van Buren introduced his legislation to create the Independent Treasury system. Van Buren's plan allowed
12250-428: The South due in large part to the influence of hundreds of escaped slaves and other African Americans who lived among the Seminole. These escaped slaves feared that the departure of the Seminole would lead to their own re-enslavement. Prior to leaving office, Jackson had placed General Thomas Jesup in command of all U.S. troops in Florida in order to force Seminole emigration to the West. Forts were established throughout
12425-446: The South, members of the abolitionist movement or other people opposing slavery were often targets of lynch mob violence before the American Civil War . Numerous known abolitionists lived, worked, and worshipped in downtown Brooklyn , from Henry Ward Beecher , who auctioned slaves into freedom from the pulpit of Plymouth Church, to Nathaniel Eggleston, a leader of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society , who also preached at
12600-410: The South. While Southern Whigs cast doubt on his devotion to slavery, his supporters insisted he believed in three things: that Congress could not interfere with slavery in the states, that it would be "impolitic" to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and that agitation about slavery endangered the union. Van Buren and his supporters realized that to build a viable national party and to maintain
12775-402: The Spanish had outlawed the importation of slaves from Africa , but high slave mortality rates encouraged smugglers to smuggle captured slaves from Africa into Spanish colony of Cuba . In June 1839, several recently kidnapped Africans took control of La Amistad , a slave ship headed to Cuba. The Africans attempted to sail home, but were tricked by one of the crew members into heading towards
12950-449: The Specie Circular policy split the Democratic Party, with prominent Democrats like William Cabell Rives and Nathaniel Tallmadge urging it as part of a move away from Jackson's hard currency policies. After a long period of consideration, Van Buren announced in May 1837 that he would not revoke the Specie Circular. Van Buren feared that revoking the Specie Circular would hurt western banks, and
13125-908: The Supreme Court with the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act of 1837 , but President Jackson had filled only one of those positions. To fill the vacancy, in early 1837 Van Buren appointed Senator John McKinley of Alabama, a key supporter of Van Buren's 1836 presidential campaign. A second Supreme Court vacancy arose in 1841 due to the death of Philip P. Barbour . Van Buren appointed federal judge Peter Vivian Daniel to succeed Barbour. Van Buren also appointed eight other federal judges, all to United States district courts . On May 10, 1837, some important state banks in New York, running out of hard currency reserves, suddenly refused to convert paper money into gold or silver. Other financial institutions throughout
13300-641: The Underground Railroad. Since only the Ohio River separated free Ohio from slave Kentucky, it was a popular destination for fugitive slaves. Supporters helped them there, in many cases to cross Lake Erie by boat, into Canada. The Western Reserve area of northeast Ohio was "probably the most intensely antislavery section of the country." The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue got national publicity. Abolitionist John Brown grew up in Hudson, Ohio . In
13475-491: The United States for both funding rampant speculation and introducing inflationary paper money. Some modern economists view Van Buren's deregulatory economic policy as successful in the long term, and argue that it played an important role in revitalizing banks after the panic. Virtually the whole nation felt the effects of the panic. Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware reported the greatest stress in their mercantile districts. In 1837, Vermont's business and credit systems took
13650-425: The United States to declare war, and a British ship was burned in revenge. Van Buren, looking to avoid a war with Great Britain, sent General Winfield Scott to the border with large discretionary powers for its protection and its peace. Scott impressed upon American citizens the need for a peaceful resolution to the crisis, and made it clear that the U.S. government would not support adventuresome Americans attacking
13825-691: The United States to so-called " pet banks ." Both the Second Bank of the United States and the pet banks had used those federal deposits to engage in regular banking activities, specifically the extension of loans. Van Buren sought to fully divorce the federal government from banking operations by establishing the Independent Treasury system, essentially a series of vaults, to hold government funds. The Independent Treasury took its name from its supposed independence from banks and British creditors, as British creditors had made large investments in
14000-528: The United States were forced to do the same. When New York banks raised interest rates and scaled back on lending, the effects were damaging. Since the price of a bond bears an inverse relationship to the yield (or interest rate), the increase in prevailing interest rates would have forced down the price of American securities. Importantly, demand for cotton plummeted. The price of cotton fell by 25% in February and March 1837. The American economy, especially in
14175-559: The United States, where the Africans were apprehended and brought before the federal court of Judge Andrew T. Judson . The Spanish government demanded that the ship and its cargo (including the Africans) be turned over to them. The Van Buren administration, hoping to minimize the political domestic and international fallout from the incident, supported Spain's position at trial. Defying the expectations of most observers, Judson ruled that
14350-462: The Whig Party, which itself grew more unified in its opposition to Van Buren. The Panic of 1837 loomed large over the 1837 and 1838 election cycles , as the carryover effects of the economic downturn led to Whig gains in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Democratic Party retained a majority in both chambers after the elections, but a split among House Democrats led to the election of Whig Congressman Robert M. T. Hunter as Speaker of
14525-408: The Whig success in attracting new voters more than canceled out Democratic gains. The Whigs also won control of the House and Senate, making the 1840 election the only time in U.S. history that the Whigs won unified control of Congress and the presidency. According to historian Robert Remini : Van Buren's presidency is considered average, at best, by historians. His time in office was dominated by
14700-597: The activities of free African Americans, especially in the Black church , who argued that the old Biblical justifications for slavery contradicted the New Testament . African-American activists and their writings were rarely heard outside the Black community. However, they were tremendously influential on a few sympathetic white people, most prominently the first white activist to reach prominence, Wm. Lloyd Garrison , who
14875-474: The anecdotal claim that she intended to re-landscape the White House grounds to resemble the royal gardens of Europe, were used to attack her father-in-law. Pennsylvania Whig Congressman Charles Ogle referred obliquely to her as part of the presidential "household" in his famous " Gold Spoon Oration ." Van Buren appointed two associate justices of the Supreme Court . Congress had added two new seats on
15050-475: The beginning of the American abolitionist movement. Before the Revolutionary War , evangelical colonists were the primary advocates for the opposition to slavery and the slave trade, doing so on the basis of humanitarian ethics. Still, others such as James Oglethorpe , the founder of the colony of Georgia , also retained political motivations for the removal of slavery. Prohibiting slavery through
15225-511: The bloodless Aroostook War and the Caroline Affair . Van Buren's inability to deal effectively with the economic depression, combined with the growing political strength of the opposition Whigs, led to his defeat in the 1840 presidential election. His four-year presidency was marked by much failure and criticism. Historical rankings of presidents of the United States place his presidency as below-average. His most lasting achievement
15400-436: The bottom third of presidents of all time, right below George W. Bush and above Chester A. Arthur . The survey asked 91 presidential historians to rank the 43 former presidents (including then-out-going president Barack Obama ) in various categories to come up with a composite score, resulting in an overall ranking. Van Buren was ranked 34th among all former presidents (down from 31st in 2009, and 30th in 2000). His rankings in
15575-469: The brothers Derick and Abraham op den Graeff and Gerrit Hendricksz of Germantown, Pennsylvania , drafted the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery , a two-page condemnation of slavery, and sent it to the governing bodies of their Quaker church. The intention of the document was to stop slavery within the Quaker community, where 70% of Quakers owned slaves between 1681 and 1705. It acknowledged
15750-428: The case of Commonwealth v. Nathaniel Jennison , reaffirmed the case of Brom and Bett v. Ashley , which held that even slaves were people who had a constitutional right to liberty. This gave freedom to slaves, effectively abolishing slavery. States with a greater economic interest in slaves, such as New York and New Jersey, passed gradual emancipation laws. While some of these laws were gradual, these states enacted
15925-512: The cause of the panic principally to domestic political conflicts. Democrats typically blamed the bankers, and Whigs blamed Jackson for refusing to renew the Bank of the United States charter and for the withdrawal of government funds from the bank. Martin Van Buren , who became president in March 1837, was largely blamed, by the Democrats, for the panic even though his inauguration had preceded
16100-461: The cause. The debate about slavery was often based on what the Bible said or did not say about it. John Brown , who had studied the Bible for the ministry, proclaimed that he was "an instrument of God". As such, abolitionism in the United States was identified by historians as an expression of moralism , it often operated in tandem with another social reform effort, the temperance movement . Slavery
16275-472: The colony. His motivations included tactical defense against Spanish collusion with runaway slaves, and prevention of Georgia's largely reformed criminal population from replicating South Carolina's planter class structure. In 1739, he wrote to the Georgia Trustees urging them to hold firm: If we allow slaves we act against the very principles by which we associated together, which was to relieve
16450-442: The country's severe economic recession, propelled Harrison to victory. Ultimately, Harrison won 53 percent of the popular vote, and defeated Van Buren in the electoral vote by a margin of 234 to 60. Voter turnout rose from about 55 percent in 1836 to approximately 80 percent in 1840, which represented the highest turnout in a presidential election up to that point in U.S. history. Van Buren won more votes in 1840 than he had in 1836, but
16625-459: The country. Many of the banks were located in the West. The effect of both policies was to transfer specie away from the nation's main commercial centers on the East Coast. With lower monetary reserves in their vaults, major banks and financial institutions on the East Coast had to scale back their loans, which was a major cause of the panic, besides the real estate crash. Americans attributed
16800-483: The defendants be set free. After the federal circuit upheld Judson's ruling, the Van Buren administration appealed the case to the Supreme Court. In March 1841, the Supreme Court upheld Judson's ruling, holding that the Africans had been kidnapped illegally. After the case, the abolitionists raised money to pay for the return of the Africans, and they departed from the United States in November 1841. The unique nature of
16975-470: The disposal of the blacks, and that this foul and unnatural crime of holding men in bondage will finally be rooted out from our land." In the 1830s there was a progressive shift in thinking in the North. Mainstream opinion changed from gradual emancipation and resettlement of freed blacks in Africa, sometimes a condition of their manumission , to immediatism: freeing all the slaves immediately and sorting out
17150-658: The distresses. Whereas, now we should occasion the misery of thousands in Africa, by setting men upon using arts to buy and bring into perpetual slavery the poor people who now live there free. In 1737, Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lay published All Slave-Keepers That Keep the Innocent in Bondage: Apostates , which was printed by his friend, Benjamin Franklin. The following year, during the 1738 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in Burlington, New Jersey , Lay gave
17325-517: The economic disaster of the Panic of 1837, and historians have split on the adequacy of the Independent Treasury as a response to that issue. Van Buren's most lasting achievement was as a political organizer who built the Democratic Party and guided it to dominance in the Second Party System , and historians have come to regard Van Buren as integral to the development of the American political system. A 2017 C-SPAN survey has Martin Van Buren ranked among
17500-571: The economy did not recover until 1844. The recovery from the depression intensified after the California gold rush started in 1848, greatly increasing the money supply. By 1850, the US economy was booming again. Intangible factors like confidence and psychology played powerful roles and helped to explain the magnitude and the depth of the panic. Central banks then had only limited abilities to control prices and employment, making bank runs common. When
17675-477: The economy grew after 1838. According to the Austrian economist Murray Rothbard , between 1839 and 1843, real consumption increased by 21 percent and real gross national product increased by 16 percent, but real investment fell by 23 percent and the money supply shrank by 34 percent. In 1842, the American economy was able to rebound somewhat and overcome the five-year depression, but according to most accounts,
17850-429: The effects as early as Louisiana, Alabama, or Mississippi. In 1837, Georgia had sufficient coin to carry on everyday purchases. Until 1839, Floridians were able to boast about the punctuality of their payments. Georgia and Florida began to feel the negative effects of the panic in the 1840s. At first, the West did not feel as much pressure as the East or the South. Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were agricultural states, and
18025-612: The end of the 20 years approached, an Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves sailed through Congress with little opposition. President Jefferson signed it, and it went effect on January 1, 1808. In 1820, the Act to Protect the Commerce of the United States and Punish the Crime of Piracy was passed. This law made importing slaves into the United States a death penalty offense . The Confederate States of America continued this prohibition with
18200-628: The end of which brought about the abolition of American slavery, except as punishment for a crime , through the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified 1865). The anti-slavery movement originated during the Age of Enlightenment , focused on ending the transatlantic slave trade . In Colonial America, a few German Quakers issued the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery , which marked
18375-755: The fate of the nation's "precious legacies of freedom". Immediatism became most difficult to distinguish from broader anti-Southern opinions once ordinary citizens began articulating these intertwining beliefs. Nearly all Northern politicians, such as Abraham Lincoln , rejected the "immediate emancipation" called for by the abolitionists, seeing it as "extreme". Indeed, many Northern leaders, including Lincoln, Stephen Douglas (the Democratic nominee in 1860), John C. Frémont (the Republican nominee in 1856), and Ulysses S. Grant married into slave-owning Southern families without any moral qualms. Anti-slavery as
18550-452: The first abolition laws in the entire " New World ". In the State of New York, the enslaved population was transformed into indentured servants before being granted full emancipation in 1827. In other states, abolitionist legislation provided freedom only for the children of the enslaved. In New Jersey, slavery was not fully prohibited until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment . All of
18725-523: The first half of his presidency, Van Buren, who had been a widower since the death of his wife, Hannah Van Buren in 1819, did not have a specific person fill the role of White House hostess, instead assuming such duties himself. When his eldest son Abraham Van Buren married Angelica Singleton in 1838, the president quickly acted to install his daughter-in-law as his hostess. She solicited the advice of her distant relative, Dolley Madison , who had moved back to Washington after her husband 's death, and soon
18900-401: The formulation of abolitionist ideology in the United States. The federal government prohibited the transatlantic slave trade in 1808, prohibited the slave trade in the District of Columbia in 1850, outlawed slavery in the District of Columbia in 1862, and, with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , made slavery unconstitutional altogether, except as punishment for
19075-423: The gag rule in the House of Representatives. Adams defeated an attempt at censuring him, but a coalition of Southerners and Northern Democrats ensured that the gag rule remained in place. As the debate over slavery continued to gain prominence, a small group of anti-slavery activists founded the Liberty Party , which would nominate James G. Birney for president in the 1840 election. Like the British and Americans,
19250-467: The general public. American abolitionists were cheered by the decision in Somerset v Stewart (1772), which prohibited slavery in the United Kingdom, though not in its colonies. In 1774, the influential Fairfax Resolves called for an end to the "wicked, cruel and unnatural" Atlantic slave trade . One of the first articles advocating the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery
19425-430: The good crops of 1837 were a relief to the farmers. In 1839, agricultural prices fell, and the pressure reached the agriculturalists. Within two months the losses from bank failures in New York alone aggregated nearly $ 100 million. Out of 850 banks in the United States, 343 closed entirely, 62 failed partially, and the system of state banks received a shock from which it never fully recovered. The publishing industry
19600-491: The government to accept paper money as payment, but the government would seek to convert that paper money to specie as quickly as possible. State banking interests strongly opposed Van Buren's proposal, and an alliance of conservative Democrats and Whigs blocked the creation of the Independent Treasury System. As the debate over the Independent Treasury continued, Rives and some other Democrats defected to
19775-441: The greatest return if equal risk among possible investments is assumed. In the open economy of the 1830s, which was characterized by free trade and relatively weak trade barriers , the monetary policies of the hegemonic power (in this case Britain) were transmitted to the rest of the interconnected global economic system, including the United States. The result was that as the Bank of England raised interest rates, major banks in
19950-455: The informal gatherings of advisers that had attracted so much attention during Jackson's presidency. Van Buren saw himself as "a mediator, and to some extent an umpire between the conflicting opinions" of his counselors. He solicited advice from department heads, tolerating open and even frank exchanges between cabinet members. The president's detachment allowed him to reserve judgment and protect his own prerogative for making final decisions. For
20125-641: The initial insurrection in Upper Canada ended with the December 1837 Battle of Montgomery's Tavern , many of the rebels fled across the Niagara River into New York, and Canadian leader William Lyon Mackenzie began recruiting volunteers in Buffalo . Mackenzie declared the establishment of the Republic of Canada and put into motion a plan whereby volunteers would invade Upper Canada from Navy Island on
20300-418: The marketing of state-backed bonds in British money markets, the United States acquired significant capital investment from Britain. The bonds financed transportation projects in the United States. British loans, made available through Anglo-American banking houses like Baring Brothers , fueled much of America's westward expansion, infrastructure improvements, industrial expansion, and economic development during
20475-490: The metalworking industries were taking shape. Coal had begun its ascent, replacing wood as the nation’s major source of heat. Innovations with agricultural machinery would bring greater productivity from the land. The nation’s population would also increase by more than one-third during the 1840s, despite the economic turmoil. After downturns in 1845–1846 and 1847–1848, gold was discovered in California in 1848, setting off
20650-445: The mid-19th century. John Brown became an advocate and militia leader in attempting to end slavery by force of arms. In the Civil War, immediate emancipation became a war goal for the Union in 1861 and was fully achieved in 1865. American abolitionism began well before the United States was founded as a nation. In 1652, Rhode Island made it illegal for any person, black or white, to be "bound" longer than ten years. The law, however,
20825-475: The nation quickly followed suit, marking the start of a financial crisis that would become known as the Panic of 1837. The panic was followed by a five-year depression in which numerous banks failed and unemployment reached record highs. Van Buren blamed the economic collapse on greedy business and financial institutions, as well as on the over extension of credit by U.S. banks. Whig leaders in Congress, meanwhile, blamed Democratic economic policies, especially
21000-543: The organization of Wesleyan Methodist Connection by Orange Scott in 1843, and the formation of the Free Methodist Church by Benjamin Titus Roberts in 1860 (which is reflected in the name of Church). The True Wesleyan a periodical founded by Orange Scott and Jotham Horton was used to disseminate abolitionist views. The Methodist and Quaker branches of Christianity played an integral part in
21175-491: The other states north of Maryland began gradual abolition of slavery between 1781 and 1804, based on the Pennsylvania model and by 1804, all the Northern states had passed laws to gradually or immediately abolish it. Some slaves continued in involuntary, unpaid "indentured servitude" for two more decades, and others were moved south and sold to new owners in slave states . Some individual slaveholders, particularly in
21350-403: The panic by only five weeks. Van Buren's refusal to use government intervention to address the crisis, such as emergency relief and increasing spending on public infrastructure projects to reduce unemployment, was accused by his opponents of contributing further to the hardship and the duration of the depression that followed the panic. Jacksonian Democrats , on the other hand, blamed the Bank of
21525-503: The panic undermined confidence in public support for internal improvements. The panic unleashed a wave of riots and other forms of domestic unrest. The ultimate result was an increase in the state's police powers, including more professional police forces. Most economists agree that there was a brief recovery from 1838 to 1839, which ended when the Bank of England and Dutch creditors raised interest rates. The economic historian Peter Temin has argued that when corrected for deflation,
21700-492: The perspective of the slave, recognizing their agency and subsequent humanity as cause for self-liberation. Slave revolts following the Stono Rebellion were a present mode of abolition undertaken by slaves and were an indicator of black agency that brewed beneath the surface of the abolitionist movement for decades and eventually sprouted later on through figures such as Frederick Douglass, an escaped black freeman who
21875-445: The policies of his predecessor. Additionally, Van Buren had helped select Jackson's cabinet appointees and enjoyed strong working relationships with them. Dissatisfied with the discipline and morale of the navy, Van Buren pressured Dickerson to resign in 1838, and Dickerson was succeeded by James K. Paulding . That same year, Butler resigned and was replaced with Felix Grundy , a Senator from Tennessee with close ties to Jackson. Grundy
22050-517: The politics of prominent elite abolitionists such as industrialist Arthur Tappan and his evangelist brother Lewis . While the former pair opposed slavery on a basis of solidarity of "wage slaves" with "chattel slaves", the Whiggish Tappans strongly rejected this view, opposing the characterization of Northern workers as "slaves" in any sense. (Lott, 129–130) Many American abolitionists took an active role in opposing slavery by supporting
22225-402: The possibility of war with Mexico. New England abolitionists charged that there was a " slaveholding conspiracy to acquire Texas", and Daniel Webster eloquently denounced annexation. Many Southern leaders, meanwhile, strongly desired the expansion of slave-holding territory in the United States. Boldly reversing Jackson's policies, Van Buren sought peace abroad and harmony at home. He proposed
22400-536: The president's parties livened up. After the 1839 New Year's Eve reception, the Boston Post raved: "[Angelica Van Buren is a] lady of rare accomplishments, very modest yet perfectly easy and graceful in her manners and free and vivacious in her conversation ... universally admired." As the nation endured a deep economic depression, newspaper coverage of Angelica Van Buren's receiving style at receptions, influenced by her heavy reading on European court life, as well as
22575-505: The principal forum for a national debate on the legal foundations of slavery. In 1839, Joseph Smith Jr. , the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement , visited Van Buren to plead for the U.S. to help the roughly 20,000 Mormon settlers of Independence, Missouri , who had been forced from the state during the 1838 Mormon War . The Governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs , had issued an executive order on October 27, 1838, known as
22750-445: The printing of paper money without effective regulation. Another contributing factor to the panic was the sudden contraction of English credit, which had helped to finance a period of strong economic growth since 1830. While Whig leader Henry Clay promoted his own American System as the best means for economic recovery, Van Buren's response to the panic focused on the practice of "strict economy and frugality." The potential repeal of
22925-469: The problems later. This change was in many cases sudden, a consequence of the individual's coming in direct contact with the horrors of American slavery, or hearing of them from a credible source. As it was put by Amos Adams Lawrence , who witnessed the capture and return to slavery of Anthony Burns , "we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists." The American beginning of abolitionism as
23100-633: The re-establishment of the national bank and higher tariffs. Democrats attempted to campaign on the Independent Treasury system, but the onset of deflation undercut these arguments. Many Northerners attacked Van Buren for his support of the gag rule, while in the South, many Whigs claimed that the Virginia-born Harrison would even better safeguard the institution of slavery than did the New Yorker Van Buren. The popular enthusiasm for " Tippecanoe and Tyler Too ," coupled with
23275-419: The region in return for other concessions, but Maine was unwilling to drop its claims to the disputed territory. For their part, the British considered possession of the area vital to the defense of Canada. Both American and New Brunswick lumberjacks cut timber in the disputed territory during the winter of 1838–39. On December 29, New Brunswick lumbermen were spotted cutting down trees on an American estate near
23450-477: The region. At the time, Native Americans in the region were hosting raids against lower-class settlers encroaching on their land after the Third Powhatan War (1644–1646), which left many white and black indentured servants and slaves without a sense of protection from their government. Led by Nathaniel Bacon , the unification that occurred between the white lower class and blacks during this rebellion
23625-618: The rejection, but concern that it would precipitate a clash over the extension of slavery undoubtedly influenced Van Buren and continued to be the chief obstacle to annexation. Northern and Southern Democrats followed an unspoken rule in which Northerners helped quash anti-slavery proposals and Southerners refrained from agitating for the annexation of Texas. Texas withdrew the annexation offer in 1838. British subjects in Lower Canada and Upper Canada rose in rebellion in 1837 and 1838, protesting their lack of responsible government . While
23800-482: The rest of the economy. Economists have concluded that the suspension of convertibility , deposit insurance , and sufficient capital requirements in banks can limit the possibility of bank runs. Abolitionism in the United States In the United States, abolitionism , the movement that sought to end slavery in the country , was active from the colonial era until the American Civil War ,
23975-502: The revolt intended to reach Spanish-controlled Florida to attain freedom, but their plans were thwarted by white colonists in Charlestown, South Carolina. The event resulted in 25 colonists and 35 to 50 African slaves killed, as well as the implementation of the 1740 Negro Act to prevent another slave uprising. In her book, "The Slave's Cause" by Manisha Sinha, Sinha considers the Stono Rebellion to be an important act of abolition from
24150-643: The same cheering approbation will be found to attend upon my path. Van Buren retained much of Jackson's cabinet and lower-level appointees, as he hoped that the retention of Jackson's appointees would halt Whig momentum in the South and restore confidence in the Democrats as a party of sectional unity. The cabinet holdovers represented the different regions of the country: Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury came from New England, Attorney General Benjamin Franklin Butler and Secretary of
24325-500: The sentence of death and prohibited the import of slaves. In 1830, most Americans were, at least in principle, opposed to slavery. However, opponents of slavery deliberated on how to end the institution, as well as what would become of the slaves once they were free. As put in The Philanthropist : "If the chain of slavery can be broken, ... we may cherish the hope ... that proper means will be devised for
24500-605: The slaves of masters who failed to register them with the state, along with the "future children" of enslaved mothers. Those enslaved in Pennsylvania before the 1780 law went into effect were not freed until 1847. Massachusetts took a much more radical position. In 1780, during the Revolution, Massachusetts ratified its constitution and included within it a clause that declared all men equal. Based upon this clause, several freedom suits were filed by enslaved African Americans living in Massachusetts. In 1783, its Supreme Court, in
24675-491: The southern states, was heavily dependent on stable cotton prices. Receipts from cotton sales provided funding for some schools, balanced the nation's trade deficit, fortified the US dollar, and procured foreign exchange earnings in British pounds , then the world's reserve currency . Since the United States was still a predominantly agricultural economy centered on the export of staple crops and an incipient manufacturing sector,
24850-406: The state militia to confront the British in the disputed territory and several forts were constructed. The American press clamored for war; "Maine and her soil, or BLOOD!" screamed one editorial. "Let the sword be drawn and the scabbard thrown away!" In June, Congress authorized 50,000 troops and a $ 10 million budget in the event foreign military troops crossed into United States territory. Van Buren
25025-427: The states where it existed. Reflecting the increasing importance of slavery as a topic of national debate, Van Buren was the first president to make use of the word "slavery" in an inaugural address, and his stances led to accusations that he was a " northern man with southern feelings ." However, Van Buren was also sensitive to northern concerns about the expansion of slavery, and he opposed the annexation of Texas out of
25200-471: The states." The inauguration marked the departure of a vital personality–Jackson–and the arrival of his chosen successor–Van Buren–in a new presidential dynasty. They rode together in a small phaeton (built from the wood of USS Constitution ) drawn by four gray horses. This was the first time that the outgoing president and incoming president rode together to the Capitol. The day's festivities proved less
25375-757: The summer of 1838. The actual transportation west was delayed by intense heat and drought, but in the fall, the Cherokee reluctantly agreed to migrate west. During the Cherokee removal, part of the Trail of Tears , some 20,000 people were relocated against their will. In the Florida Territory , the Seminole engaged the army in a prolonged conflict known as the Second Seminole War . The Seminole were more resistant to removal than other tribes of
25550-580: The supply of cotton, which lowered the market price. Cotton prices were security for loans, and America's cotton kings defaulted. In 1836 and 1837 American wheat crops also suffered from Hessian fly and winter kill which caused the price of wheat in America to increase greatly, which caused American labor to starve. The hunger in America was not felt by England, whose wheat crops improved every year from 1831 to 1836, and European imports of American wheat had dropped to "almost nothing" by 1836. The directors of
25725-452: The tensions. Scott successfully convinced all sides to submit the border issue to arbitration. The border dispute was put to rest a few years later, with the signing of the 1842 Webster–Ashburton Treaty . Van Buren paid close attention to party organization, and support for the communication media such as newspapers and magazines. They received subsidies in the form of government printing contracts. At an intellectual level, his administration
25900-448: The ticket. Whigs presented Van Buren as the antithesis of the president, and derided him as ineffective, corrupt, and effete. Whigs contrasted their image of Van Buren as an aristocrat living in high style with images of Harrison as a simple man of the people who sipped cider in a log cabin. Issues of policy were not absent from the campaign; the Whigs derided the alleged executive overreaches of Jackson and Van Buren, while also calling for
26075-462: The transatlantic slave trade by 1798. South Carolina , which had abolished the slave trade in 1787, reversed that decision in 1803. In the American South , freedom suits were rejected by the courts, which held that the rights in the state constitutions did not apply to African Americans . The formation of Christian denominations that heralded abolitionism as a moral issue occurred, such as
26250-484: The union they had to compromise by accepting slavery. The Democrats created the first modern party, but in doing so consciously removed slavery and abolition from the partisan agenda. More than a decade later, in 1848, Van Buren would become a leading opponent of the extension of slavery in the North while running with the Free Soil Party , but by then he had abandoned any hope of Southern support. Van Buren won
26425-563: The universal rights of all people. While the Quaker establishment did not take action at that time, the unusually early, clear, and forceful argument in the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery initiated the spirit that finally led to the end of slavery in the Society of Friends (1776) and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1780). The Quaker Quarterly Meeting of Chester, Pennsylvania , made its first protest in 1711. Within
26600-574: The various categories of this most recent poll were as follows: public persuasion (30), crisis leadership (35), economic management (40), moral authority (33), international relations (26), administrative skills (26), relations with congress (28), vision/setting an agenda (33), pursued equal justice for all (30), performance with context of times (33). A 2018 poll of the American Political Science Association 's Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Van Buren as
26775-445: The vice presidency. The newly established Whig Party , a loose coalition bound by mutual opposition to Jackson, sought to prevent Van Buren's victory in the election of 1836 . Lacking the party unity or organizational strength to field a single ticket or define a single platform, the Whigs fielded multiple candidates in the hope of forcing a contingent election in the House of Representatives. Senator Hugh Lawson White of Tennessee,
26950-553: The vote of Missouri". The Republic of Texas had gained de facto independence from Mexico in the Texas Revolution , and Texans had subsequently voted overwhelmingly in favor of annexation by the United States. Just before leaving office in March 1837, Andrew Jackson had extended diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Texas, and the possibility of annexation heightened sectional tensions at home while also presenting
27125-462: The wisdom of keeping Johnson on the ticket. Even former president Jackson conceded that Johnson was a liability and insisted on former House Speaker James K. Polk of Tennessee as Van Buren's new running mate. Van Buren was reluctant to drop Johnson, who was popular with workers and radicals in the North and added military experience to the ticket, which might prove important if the Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison. Rather than re-nominating Johnson,
27300-703: The word. Passed unanimously by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance forbade slavery in the Northwest Territory , a vast area (the future Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin) in which slavery had been legal, but population was sparse. The first state to begin a gradual abolition of slavery was Pennsylvania, in 1780. All importation of slaves was prohibited, but none were freed at first, only
27475-461: Was Rev. Joshua Leavitt , trained as a lawyer at Yale, who stopped practicing law in order to attend Yale Divinity School , and subsequently edited the abolitionist newspaper The Emancipator and campaigned against slavery, as well as advocating other social reforms. In 1841, Leavitt published The Financial Power of Slavery , which argued that the South was draining the national economy due to its reliance on enslaved workers. In 2007, Duffield Street
27650-541: Was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pessimism abounded. The panic had both domestic and foreign origins. Speculative lending practices in the West, a sharp decline in cotton prices, a collapsing land bubble, international specie flows, and restrictive lending policies in Britain were all factors. The lack of
27825-638: Was a popular orator and essayist for the abolitionist cause. The struggle between Georgia and South Carolina led to the first debates in Parliament over the issue of slavery, occurring between 1740 and 1742. Rhode Island Quakers, associated with Moses Brown , were among the first in America to free slaves. Benjamin Rush was another leader, as were many Quakers. John Woolman gave up most of his business in 1756 to devote himself to campaigning against slavery along with other Quakers. Between 1764 and 1774, seventeen enslaved African Americans appeared before
28000-402: Was also attacked, to a lesser degree, as harmful on economic grounds. Evidence was that the South, with many enslaved African Americans on plantations , was definitely poorer than the North, which had few. The institution remained solid in the South, and that region's customs and social beliefs evolved into a strident defense of slavery in response to the rise of a growing anti-slavery stance in
28175-561: Was an executive order issued by Jackson and favored by Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri and other hard-money advocates. Its intent was to curb speculation in public lands, but the circular set off a real estate and commodity price crash since most buyers were unable to come up with sufficient hard money or "specie" (gold or silver coins) to pay for the land. Secondly, the Deposit and Distribution Act of 1836 placed federal revenues in various local banks, derisively termed "pet banks", across
28350-566: Was as a political organizer who built the modern Democratic Party and guided it to dominance in the new Second Party System . Van Buren had emerged as President Andrew Jackson 's preferred successor during the Petticoat affair , and Van Buren won election as vice president in 1832. The two men –charismatic "Old Hickory" and the super-efficient "Sly Fox"—had entirely different personalities but had become an effective team in eight years in office together. Jackson declined to seek another term in
28525-637: Was given the name Abolitionist Place , and the Truesdells' home at 227 Duffield received landmark status in 2021. Abolitionists nationwide were outraged by the murder of white abolitionist and journalist Elijah Parish Lovejoy by a proslavery mob in Alton, Illinois on 7 November 1837. Six months later, Pennsylvania Hall , an abolitionist venue in Philadelphia , was burnt to the ground by another proslavery mob on May 17, 1838. Both events contributed to
28700-410: Was its most effective propagandist. Garrison's efforts to recruit eloquent spokesmen led to the discovery of ex-slave Frederick Douglass , who eventually became a prominent activist in his own right. Eventually, Douglass would publish his own widely distributed abolitionist newspaper, North Star . In the early 1850s, the American abolitionist movement split into two camps over the question of whether
28875-600: Was later succeeded by Henry D. Gilpin of Pennsylvania. John M. Niles , a party loyalist and former Senator from Connecticut, became Postmaster General in 1840. Van Buren was closely involved in foreign affairs and matters pertaining to the Treasury Department, but the Post Office, War Department, and Navy Department all possessed high levels of autonomy under their respective cabinet secretaries. Van Buren held regular formal cabinet meetings and discontinued
29050-436: Was particularly hurt by the ensuing depression. Many individual states defaulted on their bonds, which angered British creditors. The United States briefly withdrew from international money markets. Only in the late 1840s did Americans re-enter those markets. The defaults, along with other consequences of the recession, carried major implications for the relationship between the state and economic development. In some ways,
29225-687: Was perceived as dangerous and thus was quashed with the implementation of the Virginia Slave Codes of 1705 . Still, this event introduced the premise that blacks and whites could work together towards the goal of self-liberation, which became increasingly prevalent as abolition gained traction within America. The first statement against slavery in Colonial America was written in 1688 by the Religious Society of Friends . On 18 February 1688, Francis Daniel Pastorius ,
29400-462: Was present. Van Buren did not discuss his own personal beliefs, which held that slavery was immoral, but was sanctioned by the Constitution. Van Buren's strategy was not to defend his personal position, but to attack abolitionists, who were popular nowhere in the United States. As vice president, he cast the tie-breaking Senate vote in favor of a bill to subject abolitionist mail to state laws, thus ensuring that abolitionist mail would not be circulated in
29575-409: Was reluctant to depart from a Jacksonian policy so quickly after taking office. Van Buren's decision to uphold the Specie Circular represented the first step in his commitment to the separation of the government from all banking operations, a policy that would become the central economic policy of his tenure. During Jackson's presidency, the federal government had moved its funds from the Second Bank of
29750-476: Was still changing rapidly, and factional and personal leaders continued to play a major role in politics. By the end of the campaign of 1836, the new party system was almost fully formed, as nearly every faction had been absorbed by either the Democrats or the Whigs. Van Buren was sworn in as president by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney on March 4, 1837, in a ceremony held on the East Portico of
29925-590: Was strongly supported by the monthly The United States Magazine and Democratic Review , based in Washington and edited by John L. O'Sullivan . Its editorials and articles provided the arguments that partisans needed to discuss Democratic Party positions on the Mexican War, slavery, states' rights, and Indian removal. Though he faced no serious opposition for the presidential nomination at the 1840 Democratic National Convention , Van Buren and his party faced
30100-523: Was true for many southern planters, who speculated in land, cotton, and slaves. Many planters took out loans from banks under the assumption that cotton prices would continue to rise. When cotton prices dropped, however, planters could not pay back their loans, which jeopardized the solvency of many banks. These factors were particularly crucial given the lack of deposit insurance in banks. When bank customers are not assured that their deposits are safe, they are more likely to make rash decisions that can imperil
30275-425: Was unwilling to go to war over the disputed territory, though he assured Maine that he would respond to any attacks by the British. To settle the crisis, Van Buren met with the British minister to the United States , and Van Buren and the minister agreed to resolve the border issue diplomatically. Van Buren also sent General Scott to the northern border area, both to show military resolve, and more importantly, to lower
30450-462: Was widely ignored, and Rhode Island became involved in the slave trade in 1700. The first act of resistance against an upper-class white colonial government from slaves can be seen in Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. Occurring in Virginia, the rebellion saw European indentured servants and African people (of indentured, enslaved , and free negroes ) band together against William Berkeley because of his refusal to fully remove Native American tribes in
30625-419: Was written by Thomas Paine . Titled "African Slavery in America", it appeared on 8 March 1775 in the Postscript to the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser . The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage (Pennsylvania Abolition Society) was the first American abolition society, formed 14 April 1775, in Philadelphia, primarily by Quakers. The society suspended operations during
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