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John Caldwell Calhoun, a native of South Carolina, was born March 18th, 1782. He was graduated from Yale College, studied law at Litchfield, was admitted to the bar, and was sent to Congress in 1811. Here he became an active member of the war party. He was made Secretary of War by President Monroe, was elected Vice-President by the people in 1824, and re-elected in 1828. In 1816, Mr. Calhoun was in favor of a protective tariff, but soon after he became a firm believer in the doctrine of free trade. He was henceforth a consistent advocate of the principle of the sovereignty of the State, and of the wisdom of the system of slavery. Mr. Calhoun was a man of the greatest integrity of character, and even his political opponents spoke of his worth in the highest terms. He was the first of the trio (Clay, Calhoun, and Webster) to die, his death occurring March 31st, 1850.

on the question of its constitutionality, and having decided that Hamilton's arguments in its favor were stronger than those of Jefferson against it. In 1816 a new Bank of the United States received from Congress a twenty years' charter, and in 1819 the United States Supreme Court declared this charter to be valid. President Jackson was afraid of the great power of the bank, was opposed to it from principle, could not agree with the decision of the Supreme Court, thought that the bank was working against him politically, and therefore decided to destroy it if he could. In 1832, by a fair majority, a bill was passed by Congress re-chartering the bank. The President responded with a veto message, in which he declared the bank to be "unnecessary, useless, expensive, hostile to the people, and possibly dangerous to the government. ' The friends of the bank were unable to obtain the necessary two-thirds vote to pass the bill over the veto. 473. Removal of the Deposits. The Bank of the United States was a private corporation, having a charter from the national

William Wirt of Virginia was brought forward by a convention of Anti-Masons. A popular craze had been started against the secret order of Free-Masons, and a party had been formed whose main idea was to prevent any member of that order from obtaining public office. In the election of 1833 the Anti-Masonic party carried the State of Vermont only, and in a few years ceased to exist.

government; but it was also more than this. It was the depository of the funds of the United States, and it was the agent which the government used for doing its financial business. Perhaps half of the deposits in the bank consisted of the money of the federal government. The President therefore gave it the severest blow possible when he ordered that hereafter the government should deposit no more funds in the Bank of the United States, but, instead, that they should be loaned to certain specified State banks. This bold act of the President nearly caused a panic in the money market, and brought upon him a censure from

Congress; but the President's plans were effective, and in 1836 the bank quietly ceased to do business under the charter.

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474. Surplus Revenue.

-The heated discussion with regard to the bank called attention to the fact that there was a constantly increasing surplus in the United States Treasury. Each year

the revenue was in excess of the expenses of the government. What should be done with the surplus? The majority of Congress as well as the President were opposed to appropriating it for internal improvements; no one desired to change the Compromise Tariff of 1833. so as to reduce the revunder the circumstances,

Arkansas, or the "Bear State," was the third to be admitted from the Louisiana Province. It was given a territorial government in 1819, having been a portion of Missouri Territory up to that time. Like the other Southern States, it has devoted its attention to agriculture, but it is now rapidly advancing in the development of its material wealth. The census of 1890 showed a population of over a million, a gain of more than forty per cent over the census of 1880.

The great industrial period of the United States was fast approach ing, and the age of invention was dawning during these administra

tions (728). In 1830 the first steam railroad was opened in England. Before the end of Jackson's terms there were about two thousand miles of steam railroads in this country. Canals became

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of less importance, and the canal feyer soon came to an end. Steam navigation upon the rivers and lakes was greatly increasing, and many regular routes were established. Several discoveries and inventions were of importance; among the most noteworthy of these were the use of anthracite coal for making steam, the machine-reaper, and friction matches.

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Michigan was first settled by French Jesuit missionaries, early in the seventeenth century. It became a part of the Northwest Territory in 1787, and received little attention until about 1810. The first act of the British, in the War of 1812, was to capture Michigan. The "Wolverine State" has great wheat and oat fields, large apple and peach orchards, and immense lumber regions. Michigan is especially noted for vast copper and iron mines, as well as valuable saltworks. The State ranks ninth in population, having more than two million inhabitants.

476. Presidential Elections. Martin Van Buren was the choice of President Jackson to be his successor. Accordingly, he was nominated by the Democrats in a national convention at Baltimore early in 1835. Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky was associated with him as the candidate for VicePresident. The National Republicans had now taken the name of "Whigs." William Henry Harrison was the candidate of a large portion, though many refused to vote for Harrison, claiming that Daniel Webster was entitled to the nomination.

When the votes were counted it was found that Van Buren had received 170, a majority, Harrison 73, White, a Democrat opposing Van Buren, 26, Webster 14, and W. P. Mangum, of North Carolina, II. Johnson failed to receive a majority of the electoral votes, and was elected by the Senate.

CHAPTER LXIII.

FINANCIAL PANICS AND THE SUB-TREASURY. 1837-1841.

477. Wild-Cat Banks. One of the first results of the overthrow of the Bank of the United States was the formation of a vast number of State banks throughout the country. Many of these had no money and no financial standing, and fraudulently attempted to enrich their stockholders by issuing paper money which they knew they never could redeem. Such institutions were called "wild-cat" banks; and as soon as one of them failed because of inability to redeem its notes, its stockholders would simply form another. The banks with whom the government placed its deposits were thereby on a better footing than the others, and were commonly called "pet banks."

Martin Van Buren was born at Kinderhook, New York, December 5th, 1782. He was admitted to the bar at an early age and rapidly rose in political life. In 1821 he was appointed United States Senator; in 1828 he became Governor of New York; he was Secretary of State under Jackson and later Vice-President. Van Buren was defeated for re-election, his opponent in 1836 being victorious in 1840. He received nearly enough votes at the Democratic Convention in 1844, but not quite sufficient to receive the nomination. In 1848 he was the candidate of the Free-Soil party. He died July 24th, 1862.

478. Panic of 1837.- The President issued a "Specie Circular," which directed that only gold or silver should be received as payment for the public lands. The notes of the wild-cat banks were therefore useless for this purpose, and at once a panic ensued. Money had become scarce, and the prices of the necessities of life became very high. Bread riots took place in New York City, and business failures were announced all over the country. Soon all the banks of the country found themselves unable to redeem their notes with specie, and bank failures became too nearly universal. The year 1837 was long remembered as the most disastrous in the history of the country.

479. The Sub-Treasury. -When President Jackson withdrew the deposits from the Bank of the United States he found it necessary to place them in State banks, as there were no other places of deposit. President Van Buren recommended to Congress the establishment of sub-treasuries, as they were called, and a bill for this

purpose was introduced. This plan, sometimes called the "Inde pendent Treasury" scheme, was "to make the government the custodian in its own vaults of its own funds." After repeated failures to pass this bill through Congress, its friends were successful in 1840, and from that time, with a short intermission, this plan has been the "permanent system of federal financial administration."

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480. Presidential Election. The panics that occurred during Van Buren's administration caused a reaction against the Democratic party, which had passed the laws which many thought had been the direct cause of the financial distress. The campaign of 1840 was fought with the same leaders as that of four years before. Both parties were united, however, as they had not been in the other election, and the contest was a direct one between the principles of the two parties. A remarkably enthusiastic contest followed the nomination of candidates, which has since been known as the 'log-cabin and hard-cider" campaign. campaign. Harrison and Tyler, or "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," received nearly four-fifths of the elec toral vote, and were declared elected.

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CHAPTER LXIV.

TEXAS AND OREGON. 1841-1845.

481. The President's Death. March 4th, 1841, President Harrison took the oath of office, and April 4th he died in the White House. Vice-President Tyler accordingly became President, and the affairs of the government went on without a break. The new President was not, however, in harmony with the leaders of the Whig party, and discord soon arose between them. The most important act of the new Congress was to establish a National Bank. Though this was done by the Whigs, the President's own party, he quickly vetoed the bill, declaring it to be unconstitutional. This angered the party leaders, and, after two or three other vetoes of their favorite measures, they publicly declared him to be no longer a Whig, and announced that thereafter they should treat him as a political enemy. Throughout the four years of President Tyler's

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