Part 36 (2/2)

313. Distribution of the Surplus, 1837.--A curious plan was now hit upon. It was to loan the surplus revenues to the states in proportion to their electoral votes. Three payments were made to the states. Then the Panic of 1837 came, and the government had to borrow money to pay its own necessary expenses. Before this occurred, however, Jackson was no longer President. In his place was Martin Van Buren, his Secretary of State, who had been chosen President in November, 1836.

CHAPTER 30

DEMOCRATS AND WHIGS, 1837-1844

[Sidenote: Causes of the Panic.]

[Sidenote: Hard times, 1837-39.]

314. The Panic of 1837.--The Panic was due directly to Jackson's interference with the banks, to his Specie Circular, and to the distribution of the surplus. It happened in this way. When the Specie Circular was issued, people who held paper money at once went to the banks to get gold and silver in exchange for it to pay for the lands bought of the government. The government on its part drew out money from the banks to pay the states their share of the surplus. The banks were obliged to sell their property and to demand payment of money due them.

People who owed money to the banks were obliged to sell their property to pay the banks. So every one wanted to sell, and few wanted to buy.

Prices of everything went down with a rush. People felt so poor that they would not even buy new clothes. The mills and mines were closed, and the banks suspended payments. Thousands of working men and women were thrown out of work. They could not even buy food for themselves or their families. Terrible bread riots took place. After a time people began to pluck up their courage. But it was a long time before ”good times” came again.

[Sidenote: The national finances.]

[Sidenote: The Sub-Treasury plan.]

[Sidenote: Independent Treasury Act, 1840.]

315. The Independent Treasury System.--What should be done with the government's money? No one could think of depositing it with the state banks. Clay and his friends thought the best thing to do would be to establish a new United States Bank. But Van Buren was opposed to that.

His plan, in short, was to build vaults for storing money in Was.h.i.+ngton and in the leading cities. The main storehouse or Treasury was to be in Was.h.i.+ngton, subordinate storehouses or sub-treasuries were to be established in the other cities. To these sub-treasuries the collectors of customs would pay the money collected by them. In this way the government would become independent of the general business affairs of the country. In 1840 Congress pa.s.sed an act for putting this plan into effect. But before it was in working order, Van Buren was no longer President.

[Sidenote: New parties.]

[Sidenote: The Democrats.]

[Sidenote: The Whigs.]

316. Democrats and Whigs.--In the Era of Good Feeling there was but one party--the Republican party. In the confused times of 1824 the several sections of the party took the names of their party leaders: the Adams men, the Jackson men, the Clay men, and so on. Soon the Adams men and the Clay men began to act together and to call themselves National Republicans. This they did because they wished to build up the nation's resources at the expense of the nation. The Jackson men called themselves Democratic Republicans, because they upheld the rights of the people. Before long they dropped the word ”Republican” and called themselves simply Democrats. The National Republicans dropped the whole of their name and took that of the great English liberal party--the Whigs. This they did because they favored reform.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Log Cabin Song Book.]

[Sidenote: ”A campaign of humor.” _Higginson_, 269; _McMaster_, 315-316.]

[Sidenote: Harrison and Tyler elected, 1840.]

317. Election of 1840.--General William Henry Harrison was the son of Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. General Harrison had moved to the West and had won distinction at Tippecanoe, and also in the War of 1812 (pp. 202, 209).

The Whigs nominated him in 1836, but he was beaten. They now renominated him for President, with John Tyler of Virginia as candidate for Vice-President. Van Buren had made a good President, but his term of office was a.s.sociated with panic and hard times. He was a rich man and gave great parties. Plainly he was not a ”man of the people,” as was Harrison. A Democratic orator sneered at Harrison, and said that all he wanted was a log cabin of his own and a jug of cider. The Whigs eagerly seized on this description. They built log cabins at the street corners and dragged through the streets log cabins on great wagons. They held immense open-air meetings at which people sang songs of ”Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.” Harrison and Tyler received nearly all the electoral votes and were chosen President and Vice-President.

[Sidenote: Death of Harrison, 1841.]

318. Death of Harrison, 1841.--The people's President was inaugurated on March 4, 1841. For the first time since the establishment of the Spoils System a new party came into control of the government.

Thousands of office-seekers thronged to Was.h.i.+ngton. They even slept in out-of-the-way corners of the White House. Day after day, from morning till night, they pressed their claims on Harrison. One morning early, before the office-seekers were astir, he went out for a walk. He caught cold and died suddenly, just one month after his inauguration. John Tyler at once became President.

[Sidenote: President Tyler.]

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