HISTORY 2763

 Nullification Crisis 1832

a.   In 1828, Congress had passed one of the highest tariffs in US history.  Southerners, who depended on foreign markets to sell much of its cotton, and who depended heavily on importing manufactured goods, were opposed to tariff and called it the "Tariff of Abominations." Jackson agreed with the tariff and protectionism but to conciliate the South, he recommended tariff revision.  In 1832 the tariff was reenacted and  while somewhat milder, retained the principle of protectionism and was used by South Carolina nullifiers to win a decisive victory in state elections

b.   The South blamed the tariff also for their declining wealth, not overproduction of cotton.

Ordinance of Nullification
a. During 1830-31, nullification forces gained strength in South Carolina
b.  Nullifiers believed that a law which was deemed unconstitutional could be nullified or declared invalid by any state. 
d. The SC legislature authorized a convention, which adopted an ordinance nullifying the tariffs of 1828 and 1832.
f. The ordinance prohibited the collection of duties within the state, forbade appeal to the Supreme Court on any case about the tariff, and asserted that any attempt through force on the part of the federal gov. to collect the tariff would be grounds for seccession.
g. The state legislature appropriated funds for a state military force.

Jackson's response
a.  military in SC were put on alert
b. recommended to Congress a reduction of the tariff.
c. Jackson issued his Proclamation to the People of South Carolina:
(1) Nullification was an impractical absurdity .
(2) The sovereign and indivisible Federal government was supreme.
(3) No state could refuse to obey the laws of the land or could leave the Union.
(4) Disunion by armed force is treason.

South Carolina's Response
a. Calhoun was elected senator from SC and he resigned the VP--the first vice president to resign in office
b. A counter proclamation called for a general convention of states to consider relations between the Federal and state governments, but many states condemned nullification and secession.

Force Bill --the stick and the olive branch
a. Jackson asked Congress for authority to enforce militarily the revenue laws, if needed, which passed the Force Bill
b. While Calhoun debated Webster on nationalism and states' rights, Henry Clay forged a compromise tariff, which passed both houses in 1833.  Henry Clay called "the Great Compromiser" since he forged a number of compromises in the first half of 1800s to save the union.  New tariff significantly lower in a number of areas

Crisis Ends -- late January 1833
a. When learning that a compromise tariff was being sought, SC suspended its nullification ordinance
b. A state convention in March adopted a face-saving ordinance which declared the Force Bill null and void, allowing both sides to claim victory.

Webster-Hayne Debate January 1830
a. Senator Robert Y Hayne (SC) and Sen Daniel Webster (Mass) held a famous debate on the floor of the Senate, showing the continued level of controversy over the issue of the nature of the union.
b. Advocating strict constructionism and states' rights views over Federal interference, Hayne stated the very life of our system is the independence of the States.  Webster countered arguing that state power was limited by the Constitution to areas not given to the national government.  Hayne's position was that the union was a collection of STATES.  Webster that it was a union of PEOPLE throughout the nation.  If it was states, then each state could break the bond.  If it was made with the people of the US, then no state could dissolve the union or have sovereignty over the national government
c. answered Hayne and their exchange eventually was confined to the origin and nature of the Constitution and the Union.  According to Webster, a disagreement between the states and the national government is settled by the Federal courts, the amending process or regular elections.  Webster's argument ended with the famous quote, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable" 

NOTE:  this debate occurred BEFORE nullification crisis, as did the following incident at Jefferson Day dinner.

Jackson's Break with Calhoun
a. Jefferson Day Dinner 1830
(1) At a dinner to commemorate Jefferson's birthday (Jefferson and John Adams had died July 4, 1826), Jackson and his VP, Calhoun, gave conflicting toasts concerning states rights and the Union
(2) Jackson's well-phrased toast stated Our Union: It must be preserved . (later amended when printed to read Our Federal Union . . .).
(3) John C. Calhoun responded: The Union, next to our liberty, most dear . May we always remember that it can only be preserved by distributing equally the benefits and burdens of the Union ..
(4) This exchange illustrated growing differences between Jackson and Calhoun

b. Calhoun's 1818 Anti-Jackson Actions Surfaced
(1) Jackson learned in 1830 that Calhoun, Secretary of War in 1818, had supported measures to punish Jackson for his actions in the Florida Seminole campaign.
2) Calhoun published a pamphlet containing the correspondence on the Seminole affair which angered Jackson and completed the rift between them.
(3) Jackson began to support Martin Van Buren as his successor to the presidency.

Peggy Eaton Affair
(1) When Jackson's Secretary of War John H. Eaton married a local barmaid,  Peggy O'Neale, Calhoun's wife and other cabinet wives refused to receive her.  Jackson was enraged (his late wife, Rachel, the only love of his life, had been shunned by society during her life and Jackson thought it drove her to an early grave.)  Jackson's support of Mrs. Eaton soon became a political issue.  He first summoned the wives and ordered them to include Peggy in their social events (the cabinet wives were the social leaders of Washington society)  The women refused, saying that their husbands had to take orders from him, they did not.
(2) Jackson then brought up the issue was raised in a cabinet meeting, the only one to support Peggy Eaton besides the President was the widower, Martin Van Buren.  Jackson then dissolved the entire cabinet and reorganized it--only the Postmaster General remained from old cabinet.
(3) Jackson appointed Van Buren Minister to England, although the Senate rejected it (his critics believing that it would end his career) and Eaton governor of Florida.

E. Election of 1832 -

1.  First election where  National Nominating Conventions were used to select candidates for Pres. & VP
2.  First third party in US politics emerged--the Anti-Masonic Party
     (1) When William Morgan mysteriously disappeared after preparing an expose of Freemasonry, an investigation did not solve the mystery of his disappearance, but revealed that most NY officeholders were Masons
(2) Opponents of Jackson, also a Mason, exploited the subsequent popular reaction against Freemasonry to form an Anti-Jackson political party.
(3) The party declined after 1836 and was absorbed by the new Whig Party.

Candidates
a. Democrats (this beginning of modern Democratic Party), renominated Andrew Jackson for a second term and Martin Van Buren for Vice-President
b. National Republican nominated Henry Clay for President and John Sergeant (PA) for Vice-President.
c. Anti-Masons in Baltimore
(1) Antipathy to secret societies spread to other states and a national convention of Anti-Masons nominated William Wirt (MD) for president
(2) It was the first third party in the US, the first party to hold a national nominating convention, and the first to announce a platform.

Campaign
a. The primary issue was the Bank of the United States
b. Jackson's critics dubbed him King Andrew the First .
Results
a. Jackson won 16 of 24 states with 219 electoral ( 687,502 popular) votes, Clay had 49 electoral (530,189 popular) votes and Wirt carried Vermont (7 electors).
Van Buren received 189 electoral votes

F. Domestic Issues -- Second Term
Death of the National Bank
a. Jackson interpreted his election as a popular mandate to proceed against the Bank of the US and started removing Federal funds, depositing them in select state banks beginning in October, using 23 state banks, called "pet banks," by the end of 1833.
b. Jackson justified his actions in his annual message to Congress, claimed complete responsibility for removing the deposits on the grounds that the bank had tried to influence elections. (the director, Nicholas Biddle had campaigned against Jackson, but no evidence he used bank funds to do so)
c. The Bank died and was rechartered as the Bank of the US of Philadelphia.
d. Deposit Act required the Secretary of the Treasury to designate at least one bank in each state and territory as the place of public deposit  and to handle all business for federal government previously handled by Bank of US

Other Events
a. Assassination Attempt
(1) Richard Lawrence fired two pistols at Jackson as he left the House chamber on 30 January 1835, although Jackson was unharmed because the pistols misfired.
(2) Lawrence was adjudged insane and committed to an institution.

G. Second Term -- Foreign Policy Issues -- Annexation of Texas
Because of instability of the government of the Republic of Mexico, Anglo-Americans in Texas felt forced into separating from Mexico and establishing an independent Republic which immediately sought union with the US.  Because Sam Houston , first president of the Republic of Texas, was good friends with Jackson, and because the Texicans had overwhelmingly favored annexation with the US, it was hoped that the US would add Texas as a new territory or state.  But US abolitionist forces raised constitutional questions over the addition of foreign territory, not yet recognized as independent by the original holder or by other nations.  In addition, the US was negotiating with Mexico to extend the LA Purchase boundary as far west as the Rio Grande River for $5 million, although this action only made the Mexican government suspicious of the US.  Although resolutions favoring the addition of Texas passed both houses of Congress and Jackson was sympathetic to Texas, he believed that the US had treaty obligations with Mexico and until Mexico recognized Texas as independent, the US would be neutral over the Mexican struggle involving Texas.  Furthermore, recognition of Texas (even without its annexation) might lead to war with Mexico, which could pull in other European nations on the Mexican side.  Therefore, Jackson proceeded cautiously regarding Texas, to the disappointment of many Texans, an action which delayed adding Texas to the US for ten years. 

But as a last presidential action, Jackson appointed a minister to the "new nation"  which in effect officially recognized the independence of Texas.

Election of 1836
Rise of Other Political Parties
a. Whig Party
(1) When National Republicans combined with Calhoun forces to secure passage of the Senate censure resolutions, a political coalition on a national scale resulted;
(2) The name Whig , adopted in 1834, came to designate the coalition of political groups led by Clay, Webster and Calhoun, who opposed Jackson;
(3) Included in this loose coalition were
(a) National Republican supporters of Clay, Adams, the "American System"
(b) states' rights groups opposed to Jackson's stand on nullification;
(c) former Jackson supporters who were alienated by his US Bank policy;
(d) Southern planters and Northern industrialists; and,
(e) gradually after 1836, the remnants of the Anti-Masonic party.

Candidates
a. Democrats in Baltimore May 1835 unanimously nominated was Martin Van Buren for President and added Richard M. Johnson (KY) for vice-president.
b. Whigs, unable to agree upon a single candidate, decided to nominate several strong local candidates to throw the election into the House of Representatives.
(1) Hugh L. White was chosen by anti-Jackson Democrats in Tennessee, and found support in Illinois and Alabama.
(2) Supreme Court Justice John McLean, nominated by an Ohio caucus, withdrew in August.
(3) Daniel Webster was nominated by a Massachusetts legislative caucus
c. Anti-Masons in Harrisburg PA (December 1835) nominated William Henry Harrison (OH) for president and Francis Granger (NY) for vice-president
Campaign
a. Van Buren pledged to continue in the footsteps of Andrew Jackson.
b. All other candidates represented anti-Jackson factions throughout the country.

Results
a. Van Buren got 761,549 votes, Harrison 549,567, White 145,396, Webster 41,287
b. Van Buren carried 15 of 26 states for 170 electoral votes including three disputed electors from Michigan, while Harrison received 73, White 26 and Webster 14.
c. For the only time in US history, since none of the 4 vice-presidential candidates received a majority of the electors, the vice-presidential election was thrown into the Senate, where Richard M. Johnson received 33 votes to 16 (February 1837).

Jackson's Farewell Address reviewed his two terms, called for loyalty to the Union, and condemned sectionalism, monopolies, paper currency and speculation.

A. Domestic Issues
The country was in a depression, called the Panic of 1837, which lasted until about 1842 with bank failures, riots in NYC, and farm foreclosures

Abolitionist Controversy--during Van Buren's presidency the abolitionism movement picked up steam.  Congress was bombarded with petitions requesting the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in Washington DC.  Congress was flooded with petitions on slavery and the slave trade, especially in DC. (people did not like the slave markets in our nations capitol, saying it made a bad impression to foreigners!)  By 1836 southern congressmen came to believe that any discussion of the slavery issues were prejudicial to the slave system

The House of Representatives dealt with the problem by enacting a "gag rule" which tabled all petitions on slavery unread and unpublished.  Rep. and former president John Quincy Adams believed that the constitution did not give Congress the right to outlaw slavery, but believed VERY strongly in the first amendment right to petition.  He was also very anti-slavery.  He continually attempted to introduce petitions sent to him and disrupted the workings of the House.  The Senate was in a similar state.

B. Foreign Policy Issues
Anglo-US Tensions
a. Because of the Panic of 1837, many state governments and US corporations defaulted on debts owed to British creditors, reviving Anglo-American differences and heightened disputes over boundary claims and violations of neutrality.  Tensions along the US-Canadian frontier caused Van Buren to issue a neutrality proclamation asking US citizens to refrain from hostile acts against Britain;

C. Election of 1840
Candidates
a. Whigs in Harrisburg PA December 1839 adopted no platform.
(1) Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison (OH), who, although not qualified as a public servant, had no real political enemies, had a reputation as a military hero and ran strong among Whigs in 1836.
(4) John Tyler (VA), a states' right advocate who had turned against Jackson in the nullification crisis, was nominated for Vice-president to help carry the South.
b. Democrats in Baltimore renominated Van Buren for president.
(1) Strong opposition against incumbent vice-president, Richard M. Johnson, provided no clear choice for that office, which was left to state electors.
(2) The platform opposed a national bank, internal improvements at Federal expense and Congressional interference with slavery (introducing this issue for the first time into a platform), and affirmed principles of the Declaration of Independence and adherence to strict constructionism.
c. The moderate abolitionist Liberty Party nominated James G. Birney (KY), a former slaveholder

Campaign--Log Cabins and Hard Cider!
a. Whigs declared Harrison the Log Cabin and Hard Cider candidate, cleverly using many devices which would become prominent in later elections: campaign hats, floats, placards, emblems, songbooks, effigies, huge rallies and transportable log cabins with the latchstring hanging out, coonskins and barrels of cider.
b. The campaign slogan, Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too , came into use when reminding voters that Harrison had been the hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe.
c. The campaign quickly sank to an exhibition of abuse, evasion, misrepresentation and irrelevancies,
(1) Critics of Van Buren shouted Van Van is a used up man, and painted him with aristocratic ex-travagant taste, living amid luxury in "the Palace" (White House), supping with gold spoons.
(2) Critics of Harrison countered "Give him a barrel of hard cider and a pension of $2000 a year and he will sit the remainder of his days in a log cabin .. . . "

Results
a. Van Buren received 1,128,702 popular (60 electoral) votes to Harrison's 1,275,017 (234 electoral) while 7,059 votes from every free state except for Indiana went to Birney.
b. Harrison carried 19 of the 26 states, including Van Buren's home state NY.
c. Tyler received 234 votes for vice-President.
d. Whigs also had a congressional majority

Van Buren made 3 tries to regain the presidency before dying of bronchial asthm