character endeared him to the people and won for him the popular nickname of "Old Hickory." He served two terms as president, being reëlected in 1832, with Martin Van Buren as vice-president, by a vote of two hundred nineteen to forty-nine cast for Henry Clay, the candidate of the National-Republican party. When he retired from office, imitating the example of Washington he issued a farewell address to his countrymen, in which he vigorously set forth the dangers of sectionalism, the horrors of disunion, and pleaded with the American people to stand by the American union as the last fortress of human liberty.

When he retired to private life at The Hermitage-his home near Nashville-he still continued to be the leader of his party. He was born in North Carolina in 1767, and died at The Hermitage in 1845.

393. Jackson's "Kitchen Cabinet.' Though Jackson selected the usual presidential cabinet, there was but one strong man in it-Martin Van Buren, secretary of state. Jackson, feeling the need of political advisers, surrounded himself by a few personal friends, selected from outside of his cabinet, who had access at all times to the executive mansion. It was soon discovered that these men, some of whom held subordinate positions under the administration, had great influence in the securing of appointments as well as in assisting the president in outlining his policy of administration. Jackson's enemies, perceiving this state of affairs, ridiculed his repudiation of his cabinet, by designating his "personal coterie" as the "kitchen cabinet."

394. The Spoils System: "Rotation in Office."-Jackson began his administration by the wholesale removal of officeholders. In order to have more vacancies at his command he now, for the first time, took into the presidential cabinet the postmaster-general-a movement which enabled him to secure control of the postoffice appointments. In politics he was a firm believer in the rule that "to the victor belong the spoils." As an excuse for his course, he referred to

Jefferson, and is quoted as saying, "I am too old a soldier to leave the garrison in the hands of my enemies."

He did not hesitate to reduce the whole system of presidential appointments to partisan purposes. He believed in rewarding those who had worked for his election and punishing those who had not.

His policy was in marked contrast to that of his predecessor, John Quincy Adams, who, during his entire administration, removed but two officeholders for political reasons. The spoils system has, since Jackson's time, been a regular feature of American politics. Those in favor of efficiency in the "Civil Service" have, in later years, opposed its evils by insisting on "Civil Service Reform."

395. The Overthrow of the United States Bank.-In the very first year of his administration Jackson began a warfare on the United States Bank, although its charter would not expire until the year 1836. He held that the institution was unconstitutional and dangerous to the government, in that its management had become implicated in politics. So active was he in opposing the bank, that its friends came forward in 1832 and passed a bill through congress providing for its recharter. This Jackson promptly vetoed,—thus sealing the fate of the bank.

The next year he directed the secretary of the treasury to order that the $10,000,000 then on deposit in the bank be drawn upon to discharge the government's expenses and that no further deposits be made therein. This order further directed that all future government deposits be made in certain state banks. These later became known as Jackson's "pet banks."

The senate, under the leadership of Henry Clay, protested against Jackson's high-handed policy-even to the point of passing a vote of censure upon him-but to no purpose. Whether right or wrong, he pursued his course, and his personal friend, Senator Thomas H. Benton of Missouri, saw to it, that before Jackson retired from office, the vote of censure was expunged from the records of the senate.

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396. Effect of the Bank's Overthrow.-Jackson's financial policy had been inaugurated at a time when the whole country was enjoying the greatest prosperity. The country was rapidly growing in population and increasing in material wealth. There was enough money in the treasury to pay the national debt. Commerce had just been restored with the West Indies. Canals and railroads had begun to solve the problem of cheaper and quicker transportation. Through Clay's influence the national Cumberland road had been completed into the state of Illinois. The new west was

being rapidly settled. Internal improvements were being encouraged by state aid. The manufacturing industries had thrived. The volume of business had steadily increased. The whole country, active, and restless, was on the eve of an era of a speculation of the wildest and most disastrous sort.

Jackson believed that the old bank had become a political machine, and therefore ought to be replaced by something better. But his methods were too heroic. The bank had been the stay of the public credit; it had been conservative, and had made safe loans. Now Jackson's "pet banks," located chiefly in the south and west, were to be substituted for it. These deposit banks were creatures of favoritism, and were increasing at an alarming rate-due to political influence with the administration. Jackson had overthrown one "political machine"; he was now building up another. These "pet banks" flourished, and were for a time held in high favor. They issued paper money, large quantities of which they threw into circulation-even the government receiving this money in payment of its revenues. Private and state banks everywhere began to spring up-many of them absolutely without capital. Before the close of Jackson's administration, as many as seven hundred of these banks had appeared, flooding the country with "rag money," as the paper currency was then called.

397. Speculation.-As a result (1) of the distribution of the public funds to the numerous "deposit banks,” and (2)

of the power of these banks to issue paper money of their own, money abounded everywhere and could be easily obtained the banks desiring to make loans, and speculators wishing to borrow.

This abundance of money gave the opportunity, and the whole country plunged into the wildest speculation—more banks were established; railroads and canals were projected and built-some projected and never built; manufacturing plants were begun and never completed; "boom towns" were platted "on paper," and lots sold at fabulous prices; enterprises of every conceivable sort were undertaken, and still the people went wild with speculation.

398. Distribution of the Surplus. To add to it all, President Jackson came forward in 1836 with a proposal to distribute the government surplus. By that year the national debt had been entirely paid, and there was a surplus of government funds on deposit with the "pet banks," amounting to several millions of dollars. The Surplus Act, providing for the distribution of a large portion of this surplus among the several states, helped the states but crippled the deposit banks-$28,000,000 being withdrawn and distributed to the states within nine months. Many of the states joined in the mad whirl of speculation by investing their share of the surplus in speculative enterprises, or in unnecessary public improvements.

Specie soon began to disappear. Jackson, hoping to check its withdrawal, threw the entire output of the mint into circulation, and required all deposit banks to maintain one-third of their circulation in specie.

399. The Specie Circular.—At about this time Jackson was confronted by a new problem, due to the rapid and unexpected increase in the sale of the public lands in the west, which were being purchased in large tracts for speculative purposes. These sales were now bringing into the government treasury in a single year as much as $25,000,000 in depreciated bank notes. In order to check this speculation

in government land, and at the same time protect the government against the evils of this depreciated currency, Jackson issued his celebrated "specie circular," which required that all land should be paid for thereafter in specie.

The specie circular precipitated a financial crash-but it came in Van Buren's time. Before the blow fell upon the country Jackson had retired to private life.

400. The Webster and Hayne Debate-Feb. 1830.-After the passage of the Tariff of 1828, South Carolina carried her protest to the point of "nullification,"-a political doctrine which had of late been set forth by John C. Calhoun in defence of the theory of "state rights."

The action of the South Carolina legislature aroused great excitement throughout the country, and it was felt in the north that the interests of the nation demanded that some one competent to do so should make a reply to the arguments advanced in support of Calhoun's theories.

The occasion arose sooner than expected. Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina in a speech delivered before the senate in February, 1830, attacked the New England states. This drew forth a spirited reply from Daniel Webster, the senator from Massachusetts. Hayne, in his reply to Webster, boldly advocated the doctrine of "nullification," which brought forth Webster's celebrated speech in defence of the constitution-perhaps the greatest effort of America's greatest orator. This debate, known as the Webster - Hayne debate, marked an epoch in the constitutional development of the country. In it Webster won the well-earned title, "The Expounder of the Constitution."

401. The Tariff of 1832: The Nullification Act Passed by South Carolina: Compromise Tariff of 1833.-Following the Webster-Hayne debate, South Carolina was bolder than ever in the advocacy of Calhoun's doctrines. She wanted but an opportunity to declare herself. Such an opportunity was offered in the Tariff of 1832. This bill still maintained the American protective system, though the level of duties was