ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON, VAN BUREN, W.H. HARRISON, AND TYLER,
1829-1845.
Andrew Jackson--"To the Victors Belong the Spoils"--The President's
Fight with the United States Bank--Presidential Election of
1828--Distribution of the Surplus in the United States Treasury Among
the Various States--The Black Hawk War--The Nullification
Excitement--The Seminole War--Introduction of the Steam
Locomotive--Anthracite Coal, McCormick's Reaper, and Friction
Matches--Great Fire in New York--Population of the United States in
1830--Admission of Arkansas and Michigan--Abolitionism--France and
Portugal Compelled to Pay their Debts to the United States--The Specie
Circular, John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel
Webster--Presidential Election of 1836--Martin Van Buren--The Panic of
1837--Rebellion in Canada--Population of the United States in
1840--Presidential Election of 1840--William Henry Harrison--His
Death--John Tyler--His Unpopular Course--The Webster-Ashburton
Treaty--Civil War in Rhode Island--The Anti-rent War in New York--A
Shocking Accident--Admission of Florida--Revolt of Texas Against Mexican
Rule--The Alamo--San Jacinto--The Question of the Annexation of
Texas--The State Admitted--The Copper Mines of Michigan--Presidential
Election of 1844--The Electro-magnetic Telegraph--Professor Morse--His
Labors in Bringing the Invention to Perfection.
ANDREW JACKSON.
Andrew Jackson, seventh President, ranks among the greatest of those who
have been honored with the highest gift their countrymen can confer upon
them. He was born of Scotch-Irish parents, at Waxhaw Settlement, on the
line between North and South Carolina, March 15, 1767. His parents were
wretchedly poor and he received only a meagre education. His father died
just before the birth of his son, who enlisted in the patriot army when
but thirteen years old, and was captured at the battle of Hanging Rock.
When a British officer ordered the boy to clean his boots, he refused.
He was brutally beaten for his stubbornness; he told the officer that he
might kill him, but he could never make a servant of him.
Shortly afterward he was seized with smallpox and was abandoned to die,
but his mother secured his release and nursed him back to health. She
died soon afterward, and, while still a boy, Andrew was left without a
single near relative. At the close of the Revolution, he took up the
study of law, pursuing it in a desultory way, until his removal to
Nashville, at the age of twenty-one years. He threw his law books aside
when the Indians began their outrages, and we have told of his striking
services as a soldier and military leader, culminating with his great
victory at New Orleans, the anniversary of which is still widely
celebrated. Jackson became the idol of his countrymen, and he possessed
many admirable qualities. Never, under any circumstances, did he betray
personal fear. He was ready to attack one man, ten men, a hundred, or a
thousand, if he deemed it his duty to do so. He was honest to the core,
intensely patriotic, and he either loved or hated a man. He would stand
by a friend to the death, unless he became convinced of his
unworthiness, when he instantly became his unrelenting enemy.
[Illustration: ANDREW JACKSON.
(1767-1845.) Two terms, 1829-1837.]
He fought numerous duels, and stood up without a tremor in front of one
of the most famous of duelists. When his opponent's bullet tore a
dreadful wound in his breast, he resolutely repressed all evidence of
pain until he had killed his antagonist, in order that the latter should
not have the pleasure of knowing he had hurt Jackson.
While carrying one arm in a sling from this wound, he led a strong force
into the Creek country. When the men were close upon starvation, they
mutinied. Jackson rode in front of them, pistol in hand, and declared he
would shoot the first one who refused to obey his orders. Not a man
rebelled. At the same time he divided all the food he had among them,
which consisted solely of acorns. Nevertheless, he pressed on and
utterly destroyed the Indian confederation.
Added to these fine qualities was his chivalrous devotion to his wife,
the unvarying respect he showed to the other sex, and the purity of his
own character. Such a man cannot fail to exercise a powerful influence
upon those with whom he comes in contact. In Jackson's estimation, the
only living person whose views were right upon every question was
himself. He was intolerant of opposition, and merciless in his enmity of
a personal opponent. He made mistakes, as was inevitable, and some of
them wrought great injury; but even his opponents respected while they
feared him, and the qualities which we have indicated gave him a warm
place not only in the affection of his own generation but in the
generations that came after him.
When his tempestuous career came to a close, Jackson retired to his
home, known as the Hermitage, in Tennessee, where he passed his
declining years in quiet and peace. He became a devout Christian, and
died of consumption, June 8, 1845.
"TO THE VICTORS BELONG THE SPOILS."
It need hardly be said that when Jackson became President he shared his
authority with no one. He made up his cabinet of his personal friends,
and, on the principle of "To the victors belong the spoils," that an
administration to be successful must be composed of those of the same
political faith with its head, he began a system of removals from
office. The total number of such removals made by his predecessors was
seventy-four, some of which were for cause. A year after his
inauguration, Jackson had turned 2,000 office-holders out, and, since
their successors were obliged in many instances to remove subordinates,
in pursuance of the same policy, it will be seen that the President
adopted no halfway measures.
He regarded the members of his cabinet as simply clerks, and, when he
wished to consult with trusted friends, called together a certain number
of boon associates, who became known as his "Kitchen Cabinet."
JACKSON'S FIGHT WITH THE UNITED STATES BANK.
One of the President's unbearable aversions was the United States Bank.
He believed that its strength had been exerted against him, and in his
first message to Congress, in December, 1829, he charged that it had
failed to establish a uniform and sound currency and that its existence
was contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. Its charter would expire
in 1836, and Congress passed an act renewing it for fifteen years.
Jackson vetoed the measure, and the two-thirds majority necessary to
pass it again could not be obtained.
By law the deposits of the bank were subject to the secretary of the
treasury, who could not remove them without giving Congress his reasons
for the step. Jackson ordered his secretary to remove the deposits, and
when he very properly refused, the President removed him. He made Roger
B. Taney, afterward chief justice of the United States, his new
secretary of the treasury, and that pliable official promptly
transferred the deposits to certain banks that had been selected.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1832.
Although the fight caused much excitement, and the action of Jackson was
bitterly denounced, it added to his popularity, as was proven in the
presidential election of 1832, when the following electoral vote was
cast: Andrew Jackson, 219; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, National Republican,
49; John Floyd, of Georgia, Independent, 11; William Wirt, of Maryland,
Anti-Masonic, 7. For Vice-President, Martin Van Buren, Democrat, of New
York, received 189 votes; John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, National
Republican, 49; Henry Lee, of Massachusetts, Independent, 11; Amos
Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, Anti-Masonic, 7; William Wilkins, of
Pennsylvania, Democrat, 30. On the popular vote, Jackson had more than a
hundred thousand in excess of all the others in a total of one million
and a quarter. It was a great triumph for "Old Hickory."
[Illustration: SAMUEL HOUSTON.
One of "Old Hickory's" volunteers, afterward famous in the Texan War for
Independence.
(1793-1863).]
It rarely happens in the history of any country that the government
finds itself in the possession of more money than it wants. It became
clear, however, that not only would the public debt soon be paid, but a
surplus would accrue. In view of this certainty, Henry Clay secured the
passage of a bill in 1832, which reduced the tariff, except where such
reduction came in conflict with home labor. Several years later, the
surplus, amounting to $28,000,000, was divided among the States.
BLACK HAWK WAR.
In the year named occurred the Black Hawk War. The tribes known as the
Sacs, Foxes, and Winnebagoes lived in the Territory of Wisconsin. The
Sacs and Foxes made a treaty with the United States in 1830, by which
they ceded all their lands in Illinois to the government. When the time
arrived for them to leave, they refused, and the governor called out a
military force to compel them to remove beyond the Mississippi. Black
Hawk, a famous chieftain of the Sacs, left, but returned at the head of
a thousand warriors, gathered from the tribes named, and began a savage
attack upon the settlements. The peril was so grave that the government
sent troops under Generals Scott and Atkinson to Rock Island. On the way
thither, cholera, which had never before appeared in this country, broke
out among the troops and raged so violently that operations for a time
were brought to a standstill.
When Atkinson was able to do so, he pushed on, defeated the Indians, and
captured Black Hawk. He was taken to Washington, where he had a long
talk with President Jackson, who gave him good advice, and induced him
to sign a new treaty providing for the removal of his people to the
Indian Territory. Then Black Hawk was carried on a tour through the
country, and was so impressed by its greatness that, when he returned to
his people, he gave no more trouble. It is worth remembering that both
Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War.
NULLIFICATION MEASURES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
South Carolina had long been soured over the tariff measures, which,
while they helped the prosperity of other sections of the Union, were
oppressive to her, because there were no manufactures carried on within
her borders. When Congress, in the spring of 1832, imposed additional
duties, she was so angered that she called a convention in November, at
which her governor presided. The new tariff was declared
unconstitutional, and therefore null and void, and notice was given that
any attempt to collect the duties would be resisted by South Carolina,
which, unless her demands were granted, would withdraw from the Union
and establish herself as an independent government. Other States
endorsed her action and the situation became serious.
President Jackson hated the tariff as much as South Carolina, but his
love for the Union was unquenchable, and, having sworn to enforce the
laws, he was determined to do it in the face of any and all opposition.
Because Vice-President Calhoun sided with his native State, Jackson
threatened to arrest him. Calhoun resigned, went home, and was elected
United States senator.
President Jackson issued a warning proclamation on the 10th of December,
but South Carolina continued her war preparations, and the President
sent General Scott, with the sloop-of-war _Natchez_, to Charleston, with
orders to strengthen the garrison in the harbor. Scott displayed great
discretion, and won the good-will of the citizens by his forbearance and
courtesy. The other Southern States condemned the rash course of South
Carolina, within which gradually appeared quite a number of supporters
of the Union. Then Clay introduced a bill in Congress, which became law,
providing for a gradual reduction of duties until the 30th of June,
1842, when they were to reach a general level of twenty per cent.
Calhoun, now a member of the Senate, supported the compromise, and the
threatened civil war passed away for the time.
SECOND SEMINOLE WAR.
Trouble once more broke out with the Seminoles of Florida. The
aggravation, already referred to, continued. Runaway slaves found safe
refuge in the swamps of the State and intermarried with the Indians. A
treaty, known as that of Payne's Landing, was signed in May, 1832, by
which a number of chiefs visited the country assigned to the Creeks, it
being agreed that, if they found it satisfactory, the Seminoles should
remove thither. They reported in its favor, but the other leaders,
incensed at their action, killed several of them, and declared, probably
with truth, that they did not represent the sentiment of their people,
and doubtless had been influenced by the whites to make their report.
The famous Osceola expressed his opinion of the treaty by driving his
hunting-knife through it and the top of the table on which it lay.
It being clear that the Seminoles had no intention of going west,
President Jackson sent General Wiley Thompson to Florida with a military
force to drive them out. The Indians secured a delay until the spring of
1835, under the promise to leave at that time; but when the date
arrived, they refused to a man. Osceola was so defiant in an interview
with General Thompson that the latter put him in irons and held him
prisoner for a couple of days. Then the chief promised to comply with
the terms of the treaty and was released. He had not the slightest
intention, however, of keeping his promise, but was resolved to be
revenged upon Thompson for the indignity he had put upon him.
In the month of December, 1835, while Thompson and a party of friends
were dining near Fort King, with the windows raised, because of the
mildness of the day, Osceola and a party of his warriors stole up and
fired a volley through the windows, which killed Thompson and four of
his companions. Before the garrison of the fort could do anything, the
Seminoles had fled.
DADE'S MASSACRE.
On the same day of this tragical occurrence, Major Francis L. Dade set
out with 140 mounted men to the relief of General Clinch, stationed at
Fort Drane, in the interior of Florida, where he was threatened with
massacre. Dade advanced from Fort Brooke at the head of Tampa Bay, and
was not far on the road when he was fired upon by the Indians from
ambush. Half the men were killed, including Major Dade. The remainder
hastily fortified themselves, but were attacked in such overwhelming
numbers that every man was shot down. Two wounded soldiers crawled into
the woods, but afterward died. "Dade's Massacre" caused as profound a
sensation throughout the country as did that of Custer and his command
forty years later.
The Seminole War dragged on for years. General Scott commanded for a
time in 1836, and vigorously pressed a campaign in the autumn of that
year; but when he turned over the command, in the spring of 1837, to
General Zachary Taylor, the conquest of the Seminoles seemingly was as
far off as ever. Taylor attempted to use a number of Cuban bloodhounds
for tracking the mongrels into the swamps, but the dogs refused to take
the trail of the red men, and the experiment (widely denounced in the
North) was a failure.
In October, while Osceola and a number of warriors were holding a
conference with General Jessup under the protection of a flag of truce,
all were made prisoners, and Osceola was sent to Charleston, and died in
Fort Moultrie in 1838. The war dragged on until 1842, when General
Worth, after it had cost $40,000,000 and many lives, brought it to an
end by destroying the crops of the Seminoles and leaving to them the
choice between starvation and submission.
[Illustration: OSCEOLA'S INDIGNATION.]
GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMFORTS OF LIFE.
The steam locomotive, of which we have given a brief history, came into
general use during the presidency of General Jackson. When he left
office 1,500 miles of railway had been built, and many more were being
laid in different parts of the country. It wrought a social revolution
by bringing all parts of the country into close communication, making
settlement easy and the cost of moving crops slight. Anthracite coal was
tested in 1837, and, because of its great advantages, was soon widely
used. McCormick's reaper was patented in 1834, and gave an enormous
impetus to the cultivation of western lands. In the early days fire was
obtained by the use of flint and steel or the sun-glass. Friction
matches appeared in 1836, and quickly supplanted the clumsy method that
had been employed for centuries.
On the night of December 16, 1835, New York City was visited by the most
destructive fire in its history. The weather was so cold that the
volunteer fire department could do little to check the conflagration,
which destroyed 648 buildings, covering seventeen blocks and thirteen
acres of ground. The value of the property lost was $20,000,000.
THE COUNTRY IN 1830.
The population of the United States in 1830 was 12,866,020, and the
postoffices, which in 1790 numbered only 75, had grown to 8,450. The
sales of the western lands had increased from $100,000 to $25,000,000 a
year, a fact which explains the rapid extinguishment of the public debt.
[Illustration: WESTERN RAILROAD IN EARLIER DAYS.]
Two States were admitted to the Union, Arkansas in 1836 and Michigan in
1837. The former was a part of the Louisiana purchase, and was
originally settled by the French at Arkansas Post, in 1635. Michigan was
the fourth State formed from the Northwest Territory, and was first
settled by the French at Detroit in 1701.
Abolitionism assumed definite form in 1831, when William Lloyd Garrison,
in his Boston paper, _The Liberator_, demanded the immediate abolition
of slavery. Anti-slavery societies were organized in different parts of
the country and the members became known as abolitionists. The South was
incensed by the agitation, which reached its culmination in the great
Civil War of 1861-65.
FRANCE AND PORTUGAL FORCED TO TERMS.
President Jackson impressed his personality upon everything with which
he came in contact. We had been pressing a suit against France for the
injuries she inflicted upon our commerce during the flurry of 1798, but
that country was so laggard in paying that the President recommended to
Congress that enough French vessels should be captured to pay the bill.
France flared up and threatened war unless Jackson apologized. A dozen
wars would not have moved him to recall his words. England, however,
mediated, and France paid the debt. Portugal took the hint and lost no
time in settling a similar account with us.
President Jackson, imitating Washington, issued a farewell address to
his countrymen. It was well written and patriotic; but his last official
act, which was characteristic of him, displeased many of his friends.
The speculation in western lands had assumed such proportions that the
treasury department, in July, 1836, sent out a circular ordering the
collectors of the public revenues to receive only gold and silver in
payment. This circular caused so much confusion and trouble that, at the
beginning of 1837, Congress modified it so that it would have given
great relief. Jackson held the bill in his possession until the
adjournment of Congress, and thus prevented its becoming a law.
The stormy years of Jackson's presidency brought into prominence three
of the greatest of Americans. All, at different times, were members of
the United States Senate, where their genius overshadowed those who
under other circumstances would have attracted national attention. These
men were John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster.
JOHN C. CALHOUN.
[Illustration: JOHN C. CALHOUN. (1782-1850).]
The first named was born near Abbeville, South Carolina, March 18, 1782,
and, graduating at Yale, studied law and early developed fine qualities
of statesmanship. He was elected to the House of Representatives in
1811, and became at once the leader of the younger element of the
Democratic party. He was a vehement advocate of the war with Great
Britain, and, in 1817, was appointed secretary of war under Monroe,
serving to the close of his presidency. It has been shown that he was
elected Vice-President with Adams. Elected again with Jackson, the two
became uncompromising opponents, and he resigned in 1832, immediately
entering the Senate, where he was accepted as the leader of the "State
rights" men.
His services as senator were interrupted for a short time when, in
1844-45, he acted as secretary of State in Tyler's administration. He
was determined to secure the admission of Texas and by his vigor did so,
in the face of a strong opposition in the North. He re-entered the
Senate and resumed his leadership of the extreme southern wing of the
Democratic party. He died in Washington, March 31, 1850, while Clay's
compromise measures were pending.
Calhoun ranks among the foremost of American statesmen, and as the
champion of the South his place is far above any who appeared before or
who have come after him. As a speaker, he was logical, clear, and always
deeply in earnest. Daniel Webster said of him: "He had the indisputable
basis of all high character--unspotted integrity and honor unimpeached.
Nothing groveling, low, or meanly selfish came near his head or his
heart."
HENRY CLAY.
[Illustration: HENRY CLAY. (1777-1852).]
Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777, in the "Slashes," Virginia. He
studied law, and at the age of twenty removed to Kentucky, which is
proud to claim the honor of having been his home and in reality his
State. His great ability and winning manners made him popular
everywhere. He served in the Kentucky Legislature, and, before he was
thirty years old, was elected to the United States Senate, of which he
was a member from 1806 to 1807. He soon became recognized as the
foremost champion of the cause of internal improvements and of the
tariff measures, known as the "American System." His speakership of the
Kentucky Assembly, his term as United States senator again, 1809-11, and
as a member of the House of Representatives in 1811, followed rapidly.
Against precedent, being a newcomer, he was chosen Speaker, and served
until his resignation in 1814. He was as strenuous an advocate of the
war with Great Britain as Calhoun, and it has been stated that he was
one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent in 1814. The
following year he was again elected to the House of Representatives, and
acted without a break as Speaker until 1821. He was the most powerful
advocate of the recognition of the Spanish-American States in revolt,
and but for Clay the Missouri Compromise would not have been prepared
and adopted.
Absent but a brief time from Congress, he again acted as Speaker in
1823-25. President Adams appointed him his secretary of State, and he
retired from office in 1829, but two years later entered the Senate from
Kentucky. For the following twenty years he was the leader of the Whig
party, opposed Jackson in the bank controversy, and secured the tariff
compromise of 1833 and the settlement with France in 1835. He retired
from the Senate in 1843, his nomination for the presidency following a
year later. Once more he entered the Senate, in 1849, and brought about
the great compromise of 1850. He died June 29, 1852.
Clay's vain struggle for the presidency is told in the succeeding
chapter. It seems strange that while he was indisputably the most
popular man in the United States, he was not able to secure the great
prize. The American Congress never knew a more brilliant debater, nor
did the public ever listen to a more magnetic orator. His various
compromise measures in the interest of the Union were beyond the
attainment of any other man. His fame rests above that which any office
can confer. His friends idolized and his opponents respected him. A
strong political enemy once refused an introduction to him on the ground
that he could not withstand the magnetism of a personal acquaintance
which had won "other good haters" to his side. John C. Breckinridge, his
political adversary, in his funeral oration, said: "If I were to write
his epitaph, I would inscribe as the highest eulogy on the stone which
shall mark his resting-place, 'Here lies a man who was in the public
service for fifty years and never attempted to deceive his countrymen.'"
DANIEL WEBSTER.
[Illustration: DANIEL WEBSTER. (1782-1852).]
Daniel Webster was born January 18, 1782, at Salisbury, New Hampshire,
and died October 24, 1852. He was educated at Exeter Academy and
graduated from Dartmouth College in 1801. After teaching school a short
time in Maine, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1805, and
began practice at Boscawen, in his native State. Two years afterward, he
removed to Portsmouth, where he speedily became a leader at the bar and
served in Congress from 1813 to 1817. At that time he was a moderate
Federalist. He settled in Boston in 1818, and assumed a front rank among
lawyers by his argument before the United States Supreme Court in the
celebrated "Dartmouth College Case," which involved the obligation of
contracts and the powers of the national government. He was congressman
from Massachusetts from 1823 to 1827, was chairman of the judiciary
committee, and attracted great attention by his speeches on Greece, then
struggling for independence, and his pleas in favor of free trade.
Webster's fame as an eloquent orator was already established. As such,
he was the greatest that America ever produced, and many claim that he
surpassed any who spoke the English tongue. Among his masterpieces were
his speeches at Plymouth, 1820, on the bi-centennial; at the laying of
the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument, 1825; and his eulogy on
Adams and Jefferson, 1826.
When he entered the United States Senate in 1827, he immediately took
rank beside the giants, Calhoun and Clay. He was an advocate of the
protective tariff of 1823, and in 1830 reached the highest point of
thrilling and eloquent logic in his reply to Robert Young Hayne, of
South Carolina, who asserted that any State had the right to disobey
such laws of Congress as she deemed unconstitutional. Webster's speech
is a classic, never surpassed in its way, and the debate won for him the
proud title of "Expounder of the Constitution."
Naturally Webster opposed nullification, and he and Calhoun had many
earnest contests worthy of two such masters of logic. W.H. Harrison
appointed him his secretary of State, and he remained with Tyler until
1843. In 1845, he was again sent to the United States Senate, but in
1850 he alienated many of his former supporters by his speech in favor
of Clay's compromise measures, He was secretary of State in 1850-52, and
his death called out more addresses and testimonials than any other
since that of Washington.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1836.
The following was the electoral vote cast in 1836: Martin Van Buren, of
New York, Democrat, 170; William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, Whig, 73; Hugh
L. White, of Tennessee, Whig, 26; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts,
Whig, 14; Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina, Whig, 11. For
Vice-President, Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Democrat, 147; Francis
Granger, of New York, Whig, 77; John Tyler, of Virginia, Whig, 47;
William Smith, of Alabama, Democrat, 23. The vote for Johnson as
Vice-President was not sufficient to elect him, but he was chosen by the
House of Representatives.
MARTIN VAN BUREN.
Martin Van Buren, eighth President, was born December 5, 1782, at
Kinderhook, N.Y., and died July 24, 1862. He became eminent as a lawyer,
and his skill as a Democratic politician caused him to be known as the
"Little Magician." He held a number of public offices, being State
senator, United States senator, 1821-28; governor of New York, 1828-29;
and secretary of State under Jackson, 1829-31, when Jackson appointed
him minister to England, but his political opponents secured his defeat
in the Senate. Becoming Vice-President under Jackson, he presided in the
Senate from 1833 to 1837. Jackson was so pleased with Van Buren that he
chose him as his successor. He was the Free Soil candidate for the
presidency in 1848, and thereby brought about the defeat of Cass by
Taylor.
The administration of Van Buren was one of the most unpopular we have
ever had, and through no fault of his. A great deal of the prosperity of
Jackson's term was superficial. He had been despotic, as shown in his
removal of the United States Bank deposits and the issue of the specie
circular of 1836. Confusion ensued in business, and an era of wild
speculation followed a distribution of the surplus in the treasury among
the States. The credit system took the place of the cash system, banks
sprang up like mushrooms, and an immense amount of irredeemable money
was put in circulation.
[Illustration: MARTIN VAN BUREN.
(1782-1862.) One term, 1837-1841.]
These institutions were known as "wild-cat banks," and their method of
defrauding the public was as follows: They bought several hundred
thousands of cheap bills which, having cost them practically nothing,
they used in offering higher prices for public lands than others could
pay in gold and silver. They trusted to chance that their bills would
not soon come back for redemption, but if they did so, the banks
"failed" and the holders of the notes lost every dollar.
The fraud was a deliberate one, but the establishment of the national
banking law since then renders a repetition of the swindle impossible.
THE PANIC OF 1837.
Van Buren was hardly inaugurated when the panic of 1837 burst upon the
country. The banks were forced to suspend specie payment, many failed,
and mercantile houses that had weathered other financial storms toppled
over like tenpins. In two months the failures in New York and New
Orleans amounted to $150,000,000. Early in May, a deputation of New York
merchants and bankers called upon the President and asked him to put off
the collection of duties on imported goods, to rescind the specie
circular, and convene Congress in the hope of devising measures for
relief. All that the President consented to do was to defer the
collection of duties. Immediately the banks in New York suspended specie
payments, and their example was followed by others throughout the
country. The New York Legislature then authorized the suspension of
specie payments for a year. This left the national government without
the means of paying its own obligations (since no banks would return its
deposits in specie) except by using the third installment of the surplus
revenue that had been promised to the States.
The country was threatened with financial ruin, and Congress convened in
September. The President in his message proposed the establishment of an
independent treasury for the custody of the public funds, and their
total separation from banking institutions. Such a bill failed, but it
became a law in 1840. Congress, however, obtained temporary relief by
authorizing the issue of $10,000,000 in treasury notes.
The fact remained, however, that the country was rich, and though much
distress prevailed, the financial stress began to lessen as more healthy
methods of business were adopted. In 1838 most of the banks resumed
specie payments, but the effect of the panic was felt for years. Since
the distress occurred while Van Buren was President, the blame was
placed by many upon the administration.
At that time the present Dominion of Canada was divided into two
provinces, known as Upper and Lower Canada. Dissatisfaction with some of
the features of Great Britain's rule caused a rebellion in Lower Canada
in 1837. Much sympathy was felt for them in this country, and especially
in New York, from which a force of 700 men seized and fortified Navy
Island, in Niagara River. There were plenty of loyalists in Canada, who
made an attempt to capture the place, but failed. On the night of
December 29, 1837, they impetuously attacked the supply steamer
_Caroline_, killed twelve of the defenders, set the boat on fire, and
sent it over Niagara Falls.
President Van Buren issued a proclamation forbidding all interference in
the affairs of Canada, and General Wool was sent to the frontier with a
military force strong enough to compel obedience. He obliged the
insurgents on Navy Island to surrender and pledge themselves to refrain
from all unlawful acts. These vigorous measures soon brought quiet to
the border, and England's wise policy toward the disaffected provinces
has made Canada one of her most loyal provinces.
The population of the United States in 1840 was 17,649,453, further
evidence of the real prosperity of the country. Railroad building went
on vigorously, there being fully 4,000 miles in operation at the close
of Van Buren's term.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1840.
The following was the presidential vote of 1840: William Henry Harrison,
of Ohio, Whig, 234; Martin Van Buren, 70. For Vice-President, John
Tyler, 234; E.M. Johnson, 48; L.W. Tazewell, of Virginia, Democrat, 11;
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 1.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
[Illustration: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. (1773-1841.) One month, 1841.]
William Henry Harrison, ninth President, was born February 9, 1773, in
Virginia, and was the son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, and afterward governor of Virginia. The son
graduated from Hampden-Sidney College, and took up the study of
medicine, but was fond of military matters, and, entering the army of
St. Clair, he displayed great bravery and skill. He helped General Wayne
win his victory over the Indians in 1794, and was rapidly promoted. He
became secretary of the Northwest Territory in 1798, and the following
year was made delegate to Congress. In 1800, he was appointed governor
of Indiana Territory, and was acting as such when he won his decisive
victory at Tippecanoe, in the autumn of 1811. An account has been given
of his brilliant services in the War of 1812.
He attained the rank of major-general in the regular army, but resigned
in 1814. He was congressman from 1816 to 1819, United States senator
from 1825 to 1828, and United States minister to the United States of
Columbia, 1828-29.
President Harrison wore no hat or overcoat while delivering his
inaugural. Although accustomed to the hardships of the frontier, and
naturally one of the most rugged of men, he was now old and weak in
body. His imprudence, added to the annoyance from the clamorous
office-seekers, drove him frantic. He succumbed to pneumonia and died on
the 4th of April, just one month after his inauguration. He was the
first President to die in office, and an immense concourse attended his
funeral, his remains being interred near North Bend, Ohio.
JOHN TYLER.
As provided by the Constitution, the Vice-President, John Tyler, was
immediately sworn into office as his successor. Like many of his
predecessors, John Tyler was a native of Virginia, where he was born
March 29, 1790. He possessed great natural ability and was a practicing
lawyer at the age of nineteen, and a member of the State Legislature at
twenty-one. When thirty-five, he was chosen governor of Virginia, and
was a United States senator from 1827 to 1836.
Since he was the first President not elected to the office, there was
considerable discussion among the politicians as to his precise
_status_. It was contended by some that he was chief executive "in
trust," and was therefore bound to carry out the policy of his immediate
predecessor. Tyler insisted that he was as much the President, in every
respect, as if he had been elected by the people to that office, and in
this insistence he was unquestionably right.
Tyler quickly involved himself in trouble with the Whigs. They passed an
act to re-establish the United States Bank, whose charter expired in
1836, though it had continued in operation under the authority of the
State of Pennsylvania. President Tyler vetoed the bill. He suggested
some modifications, and it was passed again, but to the indignant
amazement of his party he vetoed it a second time. He was declared a
traitor and widely denounced. All his cabinet resigned, with the
exception of Daniel Webster, who, as stated elsewhere, remained until
1843, in order to complete an important treaty with England then under
negotiation.
THE WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY.
This was known as the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. Our northeastern
boundary was loosely defined by the treaty of 1783, and it was finally
agreed by Great Britain and the United States to refer the questions in
dispute to three commissions to be jointly constituted by the two
countries. The first of these awarded the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay
to the United States; the third established the boundary line from the
intersection of the forty-fifth parallel with the St. Lawrence to the
western point of Lake Huron. It remained for the second commission to
determine the boundary from the Atlantic to the St. Lawrence. The
question was a bone of contention for many years, and at last was
referred to Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton. These two gentlemen met
in a spirit of fairness, calmly discussed the matter, and without the
slightest friction reached an agreement, which was signed August 9,
1842, and confirmed by the Senate.
CIVIL WAR IN RHODE ISLAND.
Rhode Island had been governed down to 1842 by the charter received from
Charles II., in 1663. This charter permitted only the owners of a
certain amount of property to vote. Dissatisfaction gradually grew until
1842, when two political parties were formed in the little State, one
favoring a new constitution and the other clinging to the old. The
former carried the Legislature, after adopting a State constitution, and
elected Thomas W. Dorr governor. Their opponents elected Samuel W. King,
and both placed armed forces in the field. When civil war was imminent,
the national government interfered and Dorr's forces were dispersed
without bloodshed. Dorr was arrested, and on his trial found guilty of
treason. He was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but offered liberty
on condition of taking the oath of allegiance. He refused, and, in June,
1845, was unconditionally released. Meanwhile, the general
dissatisfaction with the colonial charter led to the calling of a
convention, which adopted a new constitution, that went into effect in
May, 1843.
[Illustration: JOHN TYLER. (1790-1862.) One partial term, 1841-1845.]
THE ANTI-RENT WAR IN NEW YORK.
It has been shown that when the Dutch were the owners of New York State
many of them took possession of immense tracts of lands, over which they
ruled like the feudal lords in ancient England. These grants and
privileges were inherited by their descendants and were not affected by
the Revolution. Among the wealthiest patroons were the Van Rensselaers,
whose estates included most of Albany and Rensselaer Counties. Stephen
Van Rensselaer was easy-going and so wealthy that he did not take the
trouble to collect the rents due from his numerous tenants, who, at his
death, in 1840, owed him nearly a quarter of a million of dollars. His
heirs determined to collect this amount and set vigorous measures on
foot to do so. The tenants resisted, furious fights took place, and the
military were called out, but the tenants remained resolute in refusing
to pay rent. The disturbances continued and were known as "The Anti-Rent
War." The eastern towns of Rensselaer County and the Livingston manor of
Columbia County were soon in a state of insurrection, and many outrages
were committed. In Delaware County, while a deputy-sheriff was trying to
perform his duty he was killed. The civil authorities were powerless to
suppress the revolt, and, in 1846, the governor declared the County of
Delaware in a state of insurrection, and called out the military. They
arrested the ringleaders, and the murderers of the deputy-sheriff were
sentenced to imprisonment for life. Conciliatory measures followed, most
of the patroon lands were sold to the tenants, and the great estates
gradually passed out of existence.
A SHOCKING ACCIDENT.
A shocking accident occurred on the 28th of February, 1844. Mr. Upshur,
secretary of State, Mr. Gilmer, secretary of the navy, and a number of
distinguished ladies and gentlemen were taken on an excursion down the
Potomac, by Commodore Stockton, on the steamer _Princeton_. For the
entertainment of his guests, the commodore ordered the firing of an
immense new gun that had been placed on board a short time before. It
had been discharged several times, and, upon what was intended and
indeed proved to be the last discharge, it exploded, killing Mr. Upshur,
Mr. Gilmer, Commodore Kennon, Virgil Maxey, lately minister to The
Hague, and several of the visitors, besides wounding seventeen sailors,
some of whom died. Although Commodore Stockton lived many years
afterward, he never fully recovered from the shock. The accident cast a
gloom throughout the whole country.
ADMISSION OF FLORIDA.
One State, Florida, was admitted to the Union during Tyler's
administration. Its early history has been given, it having been bought
from Spain in 1819. It was made a State in 1845.
Texas now became a subject of national interest. Although the United
States made claim to it as a part of the Louisiana purchase, the claim
was abandoned in 1819, when Florida came into our possession. In 1821, a
colony of Americans formed a settlement in Mexican territory, encouraged
to do so by the home government. Others emigrated thither, among whom
were many restless adventurers and desperate men. By-and-by they began
talking of wresting Texas from Mexico and transferring it to the United
States. There is little doubt that in this design they received
encouragement from many men holding high places in the United States.
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION.
The ferment in Texas increased, and, on the 2d of March, 1836, a
convention declared Texas independent. Santa Anna, president of the
Mexican Republic, crossed the Rio Grande with a large force and advanced
to San Antonio, where less than 200 Texans had taken refuge in a
mission-house known as the Alamo, with their flag, consisting of a
single star, floating defiantly above it. In this body of fearless men
were the eccentric Davy Crockett, formerly congressman from Tennessee;
the Bowie brothers, one of whom was the inventor of the Bowie knife;
Colonel Travis, and others as dauntless as they. They had several rifles
apiece, and maintained a spirited defense, night and day, for ten days,
under the incessant attacks of the Mexicans. Finally, when the brave
band was reduced to less than a dozen, they surrendered under the
promise that their lives would be spared. Santa Anna caused the massacre
of every one.
"Remember the Alamo!" became the war-cry of the Texans, and, in the
following month, under the command of Sam Houston, they virtually
destroyed the Mexican army and took Santa Anna prisoner. Houston was
more merciful to him than he had been to the Alamo prisoners, and
protected him from the vengeance of the soldiers. He was very glad to
sign a treaty acknowledging the independence of Texas.
The Mexican government, however, repudiated the action of its president,
and a guerrilla warfare was waged by both sides for several years
without any progress being made in the conquest of the province. Texas
organized itself into an independent republic, elected Sam Houston
president, and secured recognition from the United States, England, and
several European governments. While making no organized effort to
conquer Texas, Mexico insisted that the province was her own.
ADMISSION OF TEXAS.
One of the first steps of Texas, after declaring her independence, was
to apply for admission into the Union. There was great opposition in the
North because its admission would add an enormous slave area to our
country. For the same reason the South clamored that it should be made
a State. Calhoun, who succeeded Upshur as secretary of State, in March,
1844, put forth every effort to bring Texas into the Union. Clay's
opposition lost him the support of the South in his presidential
aspirations. President Tyler, who favored its admission, made an
annexation treaty with Texas, but the Senate refused to ratify it. Then
a joint resolution was introduced, and, after a hot discussion, was
passed with the proviso that the incoming President might act, if he
preferred, by treaty. The resolution was adopted March 1, 1845, by the
Senate, three days before the close of President Tyler's term. Calhoun
instantly dispatched a messenger to Texas with orders to travel with the
utmost haste that the new State might be brought in under the
resolution. President Tyler immediately signed the bill, and the
"Lone-Star" State became a member of the Union. On the last day but one
of the close of his term he signed the bills for the admission of
Florida and Iowa, but the latter was not formally admitted until the
following year.
THE COPPER MINES OF MICHIGAN.
There were many events of a non-political nature, but of the highest
importance, that occurred during Tyler's administration. Copper took its
place as one of the great mineral productions of the United States in
1844. The Indians at last abandoned their claims to the country near
Lake Superior, in northern Michigan, and the explorations that followed
proved that the copper mines there are the richest in the world.
Numerous companies were formed and copper-mining became the leading
industry of that section. An interesting discovery was that many of the
mines had been worked hundreds of years before by the Indians.
The wonderful richness of the gold deposits in California, the vast
mineral resources of Missouri and Tennessee, and the untold wealth of
the petroleum bed under the surface of Pennsylvania were unsuspected.
THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST OF 1844.
The presidential election of 1844 hinged on the question of the proposed
annexation of Texas. It has been stated that the Whigs nominated Henry
Clay, who opposed annexation. Van Buren lost the Democratic renomination
through his opposition to annexation, and the Southern Democrats secured
the candidacy of James K. Polk. The Abolitionists did not think Clay's
opposition to annexation quite as earnest as it should be, and they
placed William Birney in nomination. As a result Clay lost the State of
New York, and through that his election to the presidency. The electoral
vote was as follows:
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 170; Henry Clay, of Kentucky,
Whig, 105. For Vice-President, George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania,
Democrat, 170; Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, Whig, 105. This
secured the election of Polk and Dallas. James G. Birney and Thomas
Morris, candidates of the Liberty party for President and
Vice-President, received no electoral vote, but, as stated, caused the
loss of the State of New York to Clay, thereby throwing enough electoral
votes to Polk and Dallas to give them success.
THE MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.
The convention which placed Polk in nomination was held in the city of
Baltimore. A railway train was waiting to carry the news to Washington,
and, as soon as the passengers could hurry on board, it steamed at the
highest speed to the national capital. When the people left the cars an
hour later they found, to their inexpressible amazement, newspaper
extras for sale containing the news of Polk's nomination. In answer to
their questions they were told that it had been received from Baltimore
by TELEGRAPH.
[Illustration: SHOP IN WHICH THE FIRST MORSE INSTRUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED
FOR EXHIBITION BEFORE CONGRESS.]
This was on the 29th of May, 1844, and was the first public message sent
by magnetic telegraph. It marked an era in the history of civilization.
Investigation seems to establish that Professor Joseph Henry, of the
Smithsonian Institute, was the real inventor of the electro-magnetic
telegraph, though that honor has been given and will continue to be
given by most people to Professor Samuel F.B. Morse, whose relation to
the telegraph was much the same as that of Fulton to the steamboat. He
added to the ideas of those before him and first brought them into
practical use.
Professor Morse deserves all the credit he has received as one of the
greatest of inventors. He studied painting when young and became an
artist of considerable skill. As early as 1832 he conceived the idea of
an electro-magnetic telegraph and began his experiments. The project
absorbed all his energies until he became what is called in these days a
"crank," which is often the name of one who gives all his thoughts and
efforts to the development of a single project. He drifted away from his
relatives, who looked upon him as a visionary dreamer, and when his
ragged clothes and craving stomach demanded attention, he gave
instruction in drawing to a few students who clung to him.
Light gradually dawned upon Morse, and he continued his labors under
discouragements that would have overcome almost any other man. He
secured help from Alfred Vail, of Morristown, N.J., who invented the
alphabetical characters and many essential features of the system,
besides furnishing Morse with funds, without which his labors would have
come to a standstill. There was not enough capital at command to
construct a line of telegraph, and Morse and his few friends haunted
Congress with their plea for an appropriation. Ezra Cornell, founder of
Cornell University, gave assistance, and, finally, in the very closing
days of the session of Congress in 1844, an appropriation of $30,000 was
made to defray the expenses of a line between Baltimore and Washington.
[Illustration: THE SPEEDWELL IRON WORKS, MORRISTOWN, N.J.
Here was forged the shaft for the Savannah, the first steamship which
crossed the Atlantic. Here was manufactured the tires, axles and cranks
of the first American locomotive. Shop in which Vail and Baxter
constructed the first telegraph apparatus, invented by Morse, for
exhibition before Congress.]
The invention, like most others of an important nature, was subjected to
merciless ridicule. A wag hung a pair of muddy boots out of a window in
Washington, with a placard announcing that they belonged to a man who
had just arrived by telegraph; another placed a package on the wires,
and called to his friends to see it whisked away by lightning; while
many opposed the apparent experimenting with the electric fluid, which
they believed would work all sorts of mischief. Nevertheless, the
patient toilers kept at work, often stopped by accident, and in the face
of all manner of opposition. The first line was laid underground, and,
as has been shown, carried the news of Polk's nomination for the
presidency to Washington.
Professor Morse was in Washington, and the first message was dictated by
Annie Ellsworth, March 28, 1844, and received by Alfred Vail, forty
miles away in Baltimore. It consisted of the words, "What hath God
wrought?" and the telegram is now in the possession of the Connecticut
Historical Society. It may be said that since then the earth has been
girdled by telegraph lines, numbers of which pass under the ocean,
uniting all nations and the uttermost extremities of the world.
In the preceding pages we have done little more than give the results of
the various presidential campaigns. The two leading political parties
were the Whigs and the Democrats, and many of the elections were of
absorbing interest, not only to the participants, but to the country at
large. Several were distinguished by features worthy of permanent
record, since they throw valuable light upon the times, now forgotten,
and were attended in many instances by far-reaching results.
It seems proper, therefore, that a chapter should be devoted to the most
important presidential campaigns preceding and including one of the most
memorable--that of 1840--often referred to as the "hard cider
campaign."
[Illustration: CAMPAIGN SPEECHMAKING IN EARLIER DAYS.]
[Illustration: OLD GATES AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA.]