Robert Y. Hayne, also a senator; and George
McDuffie, governor of the state. The nullifiers
made considerable military preparations, and
for a time civil war between South Carolina
and tho federal government seemed inevitable.
Jackson had just been reëlected for a second
term by 219 electoral votes, against a divided
opposition which cast 49 votes for Henry Clay,
11 for John Floyd, and 7 for William Wirt,
while Mr. Van Buren was chosen vice president.
The popular vote was 687,502 for Jackson
and 530,189 for his opponents. All the
disposable army was ordered to assemble at
Charleston under Gen. Scott, and a ship of
war was sent to that port to insure the
collection of duties. A proclamation was issued,
Dec. 10, 1832, denying the right of a state to
nullify any act of the federal government, and
warning all engaged in fomenting the rebellion
that the laws against treason would be
enforced at all hazards and to their utmost
penalties. The leaders of the nullifiers were also
privately given to understand that if they
committed any overt act they should surely be
hanged. The firmness of the president, who
in this conjuncture was warmly supported by
the great mass of the nation of all parties,
gave an effectual check to the incipient rebellion,
and the affair was finally settled by a
proposition brought forward in congress by
Henry Clay, the leading champion of the
protective system, for the modification of the tariff
by a gradual reduction of the obnoxious
duties; a compromise which was accepted by the
nullifiers as the only means of escape from
the perilous position in which they had placed
themselves. Meanwhile the president's
vehemence in party matters had led to sweeping
removals from office, and a personal quarrel
to changes in the cabinet, which in the latter
part of 1831 was constituted thus: Edward
Livingston, secretary of state; Louis McLane,
of the treasury; Lewis Cass, of war; Levi
Woodbury, of the navy; and Roger B. Taney,
attorney general. Barry remained postmaster
general. In his annual message in December,
1832, the president recommended the
removal of the public funds from the bank of
the United States, where they were by law
deposited. Congress by a decisive vote refused
to authorize the removal, and the president on
his own responsibility directed the secretary
of the treasury to withdraw the deposits and
place them in certain state banks. That officer
refusing, he was removed, and Mr. Taney,
the attorney general, appointed in his place,
who complied with the order. This step was
attended by a financial panic, and great
commercial distress immediately ensued. A
resolution censuring the president was passed in
the senate, but the house of representatives
sustained him. The foreign policy of President
Jackson was very successful. Useful commercial
treaties were made with several countries,
and indemnities for spoliations on American
commerce were obtained from France, Spain,
Naples, and Portugal. At home the principal
events of his administration, besides those
already mentioned, were the extinction of the
national debt, the beginning, toward the close of
1835, of the war with the Seminole Indians in
Florida, and the admission of Arkansas (1836)
and Michigan (1837) into the Union.—In the
presidential contest of 1836 Mr. Van Buren,
who was supported by the democrats, received
170 electoral votes, and was elected; while the
opposition or whig vote was divided between
William Henry Harrison (73), Hugh L. White
(26), Daniel Webster (14), and Willie P. Mangum
(11). No candidate having been elected
vice president, Richard M. Johnson, who had
received the highest number of votes (147,
against 77 for Francis Granger, 47 for John
Tyler, and 23 for William Smith), was chosen
by the senate. The popular vote was 761,549
for Van Buren and 736,656 for the opposition
candidates. President Van Buren selected as
his cabinet, John Forsyth, secretary of state;
Levi Woodbury, of the treasury; Joel R.
Poinsett, of war; Mahlon Dickerson, of the navy;
B. F. Butler, attorney general; and Amos
Kendall, postmaster general. All of these except
Mr. Poinsett had been members of President
Jackson's cabinet at the close of his last term;
but several changes were subsequently made,
James K. Paulding becoming secretary of the
navy and Felix Grundy attorney general in
1838, Henry D. Gilpin attorney general and
John M. Niles postmaster general in 1840.
The new administration commenced under
most untoward circumstances. The business
of the country, affected by excessive speculation
and overtrading, and by sudden contractions
and expansions of the currency, was on
the verge of ruin. Within two months after
the inauguration of the president the mercantile
failures in the city of New York alone
amounted to more than $100,000,000. Nearly
the whole of Mr. Van Buren's term was occupied
with attempts to remedy these evils by
legislative measures for the establishment of a
stable currency and a sound system of government
finance. A favorite measure of the
president was the independent treasury system for
the custody of the public funds, which was
ultimately sanctioned by congress, and is still
in force. The war with the Seminoles was
not ended till 1842. The pecuniary troubles
were imputed in great measure to the financial
policy of the administration by its political
opponents; and, as the presidential election of
1840 approached, the state elections indicated
that the democratic party was in danger of
overthrow. A whig national convention (the
congressional caucus system for nominating
candidates having been abandoned) was held
at Harrisburg, Dec. 4, 1839, and Gen. Harrison
was nominated for president, with John
Tyler for vice president. The national
democratic convention met at Baltimore, May 5,
1840, and unanimously nominated Mr. Van
Buren. The canvass was one of the most ani-
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