gracious manners, and, though a partisan in politics of the most pronounced type, he never allowed political differences to alienate him from friends who belonged to the opposite party, as is shown in the warm personal friendship existing between himself and Henry Clay.

Before his election to the presidency, he had served as attorney-general and later as governor of New York. He had been United States senator from that state, and had served as Jackson's secretary of state from 1829 to 1831, when he resigned to accept the appointment of minister to England. He, however, never assumed the duties of that office, due to the fact that Calhoun, Webster, and Clay combined to secure his rejection by the senate. The Democratic party immediately nominated him as its candidate for vicepresident, and the following year he was elected to that office, thereby becoming presiding officer of the very body which had rejected his appointment to the court of England. Over the senate he presided with dignity and fairness, and by the close of Jackson's administration, his popularity won him the Democratic nomination, and the presidency.

After his retirement from the presidency, he still continued to take an interest in public affairs. Though defeated in 1840, for reëlection, he again sought the nomination of his party in 1844, but on account of his antislavery sentiments failed. In 1853 he was nominated for the presidency by the Free-soil party, but failed of election.

He was born at Kinderhook, New York, in 1782, and died in 1862, on his beautiful estate of Lindenwald, near his native city. 409. The Financial Panic of 1837. The issuing of the specie circular was one of the last acts of Jackson's administration. Van Buren now assumed all responsibility therefor, and committed himself to the policy of his predecessor. Banking institutions stood the strain on their gold and silver reserve as long as they could, then bank after bank suspended specie payment until not a specie-paying bank was left in the country.

The bubble of speculation, now blown to its full limit, burst, and the whole country was overwhelmed with commercial disaster. Business house after business house closed its doors. Enterprise after enterprise shut down; every line of business in the country was overtaken by the storm; and, on account of Jackson's policy, the government, too, was involved in the ruin. Failures were every day occurrences, the losses mounting up into the millions. "Hard times” prevailed among all classes of people. Bread riots occurred in New York, and hostility toward the banks and speculating companies was shown everywhere. The states could not pay their debts. The government was unable to meet its expenses. All confidence had been destroyed and trade was at a standstill, when Van Buren called a special session of congress to consider the state of public affairs.

410. The Sub-Treasury-1840.-The policy which Van Buren adopted was to let the country recover from its business disturbances in its own way, and to aid in its recovery only by restoring the national credit. He outlined a plan known as the Independent Treasury, and for four years pressed this measure before congress, until the Independent Treasury Act, or Sub-Treasury Bill, as it is sometimes called, was passed by that body in the last year of his administration.

The Sub-Treasury Bill provided that all public money should be kept in the vaults of the United States Treasury at Washington, and in sub-treasuries established by congress; and that all payments of moneys made to or by the United States should be in gold or silver. This act for the first time in the history of the United States completely separated the financial affairs of the government from the banking interests of the country.

411. The Sixth Census-1840.-The sixth census showed the population of the United States to be 17,069,453-an increase in ten years of nearly six millions of people. Of this population 2,486,326 were slaves-an increase of nearly

five hundred thousand in ten years. There remained in the north but 1,129 slaves.

412. The Presidential Election of 1840.-Although business had revived somewhat as the time for the presidential election of 1840 approached, the country was still suffering from the effects of the panic of 1837. Discontent reigned everywhere, and the "hard times" were charged to Van Buren and his administration of the public affairs. And yet the Democratic party unanimously renominated him, thereby showing their confidence in the "Little Magician," as he was familiarly called. The Whigs again chose William Henry

Harrison of Ohio as their candidate.

James G. Birney was placed in nomination at Albany, New York, by the Liberty, or Abolition party, which declared itself in favor of using all constitutional methods for the abolition of slavery.

The Democrats opposed the rechartering of the United States Bank, and all interference with slavery; they for the first time declared for internal improvements; came out boldly for a tariff for revenue only, and favored the subtreasury.

The Whigs favored the revival of the bank and a protective tariff; and opposed the sub-treasury. They asked that a just limitation be put upon the president's power of

veto.

The campaign of 1840 was unique. The republican simplicity of Harrison's home was made much of by his admirers, and the "log cabin and hard cider" campaign became one of the most enthusiastic presidential campaigns in the history of the country. The "coon-skin cap" became a party emblem. This was the first presidential campaign to introduce the great mass meetings and processions, that have since become such a prominent feature of national elections.

"Tippecanoe and Tyler too" were successfully sung into the White House, and Harrison was inaugurated president the 4th of March, 1841.

HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION

WHIG: 1841-1845

413. William Henry Harrison, ninth president of the United States, was a son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. On graduating from Hampden Sydney College, Virginia, Harrison began the study of medicine, but soon gave up that profession for a military life. He had served as a delegate to congress from the Northwest Territory, and had been superintendent of Indian affairs. While governor of the territory of Indiana, an Indian outbreak occurred, and his victory at Tippecanoe won him a national reputation. In the second war with England he had commanded the army of the west and had won a brilliant victory at the battle of the Thames. He had served as a member of congress from Ohio; later, as United States senator from that state, and still later as minister to the republic of Colombia, South America. In 1836 he was nominated for president, but was defeated by Van Buren.

Four years later, the Whig national convention made him their nominee, and Van Buren was again his opponent. Harrison was elected and at once surrounded himself with an able cabinet, in which Daniel Webster was his secretary of state. Just one month after his inauguration the country was shocked by the news of his sudden death. It was the first death of a chief magistrate while in office, and came as a great blow to the Whig party, which had hoped for much from this administration.

Harrison, while not a brilliant man, had shown great ability as an administrator and was a man of great prudence and common sense-a straightforward man of the people He was born at Berkeley, Virginia, in 1773. He died at his post of duty in Washington April 4, 1841. Two days later the vice-president, John Tyler, took the oath of office and succeeded to the presidency.

414. John Tyler, tenth president of the United States, was, like many of his predecessors, a Virginian. He was graduated from William and Mary College, and was soon thereafter admitted to the bar. He entered public life in 1811 as a member of the legislature of Virginia, and later served as governor of that state. He represented Virginia in both houses of congress, where he won distinction as a United States senator.

Tyler came to the presidency under peculiar circumstances. It was the first time in the history of the government when a vice-president had succeeded to the office. Of course, all knew that such a succession was not impossible, but the leaders had given little serious thought to such an event.

Tyler was a man of strong Democratic tendencies, although somewhat independent of party ties. He had been elected as vice-president by the Whigs, with whom he had lately affiliated on account of his opposition to Jackson and Van Buren, as well as on account of his refusal to submit to all the dictations of the Democratic leaders in congress. It was known that he differed from the Whigs on the question of renewing the United States Bank, and that he was an advocate of "state rights." The Whigs, hoping to gain the doubtful southern vote, winked at Tyler's opposition to the bank, and placed his name on the ticket with that of Harrison, having no thought that the reins of government would so soon fall into his hands.

He retired from office in 1845, to his estate of Sherwood Forest, a few miles from his native town, and was in retirement until 1861, when he became a member of the Peace Convention called by President Buchanan to avert the issue of civil war. He later advised the secession of Virginia, renounced his allegiance to the United States, and was soon after elected to represent the seceded state of Virginia in the Confederate congress. He died in Richmond, Virginia, in

1862.

415. The United States Bank and the Quarrel between