VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION, 1837-1841.
Martin Van Buren, eighth President, was born at Kinderhook, New York,
on the 5th of December, 1782. After receiving a limited education he
became a student of law. In 1821 he was chosen United States Senator.
Seven years afterward he was elected governor of New York, and was then
appointed Minister to England. From that important mission he returned
to accept the office of Vice-president.
[Illustration: Martin Van Buren.]
[Sidenote: Taylor's Campaign in Florida.]
2. One of the first duties of the new administration was to finish
the Seminole War. In the fall, Osceola came to the American camp with
a flag of truce; but he was suspected of treachery, seized and sent
a prisoner to Fort Moultrie, where he died. The Seminoles, however,
continued the war. In December Colonel Zachary Taylor, with a thousand
men, marched into the Everglades of Florida, and overtook the savages
near Lake Okeechobee. A hard battle was fought, and the Indians were
defeated. For more than a year Taylor continued to hunt them through
the swamps. In 1839 a treaty was signed, and the Seminoles were slowly
removed to the West.
3. In 1837 the country was afflicted with a serious monetary panic.
The preceding years had been a time of great prosperity. A surplus
of nearly forty million dollars, in the national treasury, had been
distributed among the States. Owing to the abundance of money, the
credit system was greatly extended. The banks of the country were
multiplied to seven hundred. Vast issues of irredeemable paper money
increased the opportunities for fraud.
[Sidenote: Financial Panic.]
4. The bills of these unsound banks were receivable for the public
lands. Seeing that the government was likely to be defrauded out
of millions, President Jackson issued an order, called the SPECIE
CIRCULAR, by which the land agents were directed _to receive nothing
but coin in payment for the lands_. The effects of this circular
followed in the first year of Van Buren's administration. The banks
suspended specie payment. In the spring of 1837, the failures in New
York and New Orleans amounted to one hundred and fifty million dollars.
5. When Congress convened in the following September, a bill
authorizing the issue of ten millions of dollars in treasury notes
was passed as a temporary expedient. More important by far was the
measure proposed by the President under the name of the INDEPENDENT
TREASURY BILL, by which the public funds were to be kept in a treasury
established for that special purpose. It was the President's plan thus
to separate the business of the United States from the general business
of the country.
6. The Independent Treasury Bill was at first defeated, but in the
following regular session of Congress the bill was again brought
forward and adopted. During the year 1838 the banks resumed specie
payments. But trade was less vigorous than before. Discontent
prevailed; and the administration was blamed with everything.
[Sidenote: Canadian Insurrection.]
7. In the after part of 1837 a portion of the people of Canada
attempted to establish their independence. The insurgents found
sympathy in the United States. Seven hundred men from New York seized
and fortified Navy Island, in the Niagara River. The loyalists of
Canada, however, succeeded in firing the _Caroline_, the supply ship
of the adventurers, cut her moorings, and sent the burning vessel
over Niagara Falls. For a while the peaceful relations of the United
States and Great Britain were endangered. But the President issued a
proclamation of neutrality, forbidding further interference with the
affairs of Canada.
8. Mr. Van Buren became a candidate for reelection, and received
the support of the Democratic party. The Whigs put forward General
Harrison. The canvass was one of the most exciting in the history of
the country. Harrison was elected. After controlling the government
for forty years, the Democratic party was temporarily overthrown. For
Vice-president, John Tyler of Virginia was chosen.