XI. and XII. ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JACKSON (1829-37). Cabinet.—Secretary of State, :Martin Van Buren, New York, March 6, Edward Livingston. Louisiana, May 24. 1831; Louis McLane. Delaware. May 29, 1833; John Forsyth, Georgia. June 27, 1834. Secre tary of the Treasury, Samuel D. Ingham, Penn sylvania, March 6, 1829; Louis McLane, Delaware, August 8, 1831 ; William J. Duane. Pennsylvania. May 29. 1833; Roger B. Taney. Maryland, Sep tember 23, 1833; Levi Woodbury, New Hamp shire, June 27, ]834. Secretary of War, John H. Eaton, Tennessee, March 9, 1829; Lewis Cass, Michigan, August 1, 1831 ; Benjamin F. Butler, New York, March 3, 1837. Secretary of the Yapy, John Branch, North Carolina, March 9. 1829; Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, May 23, 1831; Mahlon Dickerson, New Jersey, June 30, 1834.
Attorney-General, John NI. Berrien, Georgia, March 9, 1829; Roger B. Taney, Maryland. July 20, 1831 ; Benjamin F. Butler, New Vork, No vember 15, 1833. Postniaster-Gcneral,* William T. Barry, Kentucky. .Nlarch 9, 1S29; Amos Ken dall, Kentucky, May 1, 1835.
The bold„ decisive, and impetuous character of President Jackson was shown in a general re moval of those, down to small postmasters and tidewaiters, who had held office under the late Administration, and in the appointment of his own partisans. The administration was distinct ively one of conflict, the chief issues being the United States Bank and the tariff; and Jackson was swayed throughout, to a considerable extent, by the influence of a group of friends, who be came known collectively as the 'Kitchen Cabinet' (q.v.). South Carolina declared the high pro tective tariff acts of 1S28 and 1S32 to be un constitutional, and therefore null and void, and threatened to withdraw from the Union if an attempt were made to collect the duties on foreign importations. The President pre pared to execute the laws by force; Calhoun resigned his office of Vice-President, and in the Senate, to which he was promptly sent, asserted the doctrine of State rights, including the right of secession. (See NULLIFICATION.) A collision seemed imminent, but the affair was settled by a compromise bill, introduced by Henry Clay, pro viding for a gradual reduction of duties until 1842, when they were not to exceed 20 per cent. ad ralorcni. As an incident of this controversy, though nominally occasioned by a resolution call ing for an inquiry into the sale of Government lands, occurred the famous debate (January, 1830) in the Senate between Daniel Webster (q.v.), of Massachusetts, and Robert Y. Rayne (q.v.), of South Carolina, in which the two op posing views regarding slavery, nullification, and the true interpretation of the Constitution were advocated and discussed with such eloquence. learning, and enthusiasm as to make the debate a landmark in the constitutional development of the United States. The same period witnessed the rise of the Anti-Masonic Party, based on opposi tion to Free Masonry and to secret societies gen erally. See :MORGAN, WILLIAM; ANTI-MASONS.
The President was a pronounced opponent of the national bank, the existence of which under its second charter was to continue to 1836. Jack son early raised the issue of its constitutionality, whereupon the friends of the bank introduced and carried through both Houses a bill for its continuation. This was vetoed, and its porters were unable to carry the bill over the veto. The question, however, was made the chief issue in the campaign of 1832, in which the de cisive triumph of was taken by him to be a vindication of his policy and an assurance that he represented the popular will more ac curately even than did Congress. The result was still further to strengthen his position and to in crease his influence over Congressional action. In the election of 1832 he received 219 electoral votes, as against only 49 for Henry Clay, 11 for John Floyd, of Virginia. and 7 for William Wirt. of Virginia. Martin Van Buren was elected President, receiving 189 votes.
The Cherokee Indians in Georgia, who had attained to a certain degree of civilization, appealed to the President for protection against the seizure of their lands by the State; but they were told that he "had no power to op pose the exercise of the sovereignty of any State over all who may be within its limits:" and the Indians were obliged to remove to the territory set apart for them west of the Mississippi. In
1832, in the West, trouble with the Indians had culminated in the Black Hawk War (see BLACK HAWK), and now in 1835 the Seminole War broke out in Florida, and a tribe of Indians, in-signifi cant in numbers, under the crafty leadership of Osceola (q.v.), kept up hostilities for years, at a cost to the United States of several thousands of men and some $50,000,000. The removal in 1835 by order of the President of the Government de posits from the United States Bank to certain State banks, led to the weakening of the bank, and, after some years, to the adoption of Van BlIren's plan of an independent treasury. Later the Senate, which was controlled by the Whigs, as Jackson's opponents now styled themselves, led by Henry Clay, took the extraordinary step of passing formal re,inIntions of censure of the Pres ident for his order removing the Government de posits from the bank. The President protested against the resolution, but the protest was not allowed by the Senate to appear upon the record. The warfare between the President and Senate continued through the next two years, the latter frequently rejecting the nominations made by the Executive. In 1837, however, largely under the influence of Benton, the Senate, which had at last become Democratic, voted to expunge from its records the resolutions of eemnu•e already mentioned. In 1835 (December 7th) the Presi dent announced to Congress that the national debt would soon be paid, and that provision should he made for the surplus revenue which was anticipated. In June, 1836, a bill was passed providing that after .January 1, 1837, any surplus exceeding the SUM of $5,000, 000 should be divided among the States as a loan, subject to a recall by Congress; and in ac cordance with this act, some $2$,000,000 was di vided in 1837. which has never been recalled. In July, T836. the President caused the famous Specie Circular to be issued, which ordered the agents of the Government to receive only gold or silver in payment for public lands.
At this time Texas, which had been colonized by Americans. was endeavoring to free itself from Mexican eontrol and to establish its independence. The South saw in the movement a prospect of an nexing this large territory to the United States, and of carving from it new slave States who-so votes in the Senate would counterbalance those of the new free States. Many manifestations of sympathy with the Texans were therefore made, and a resolution recognizing the independence of Texas passed the Senate. but not the House. A new era in the slavery controversy had been inaugu rated with the establishment of the Liberator by Garrison in 1831 The New England Anti-Slav ery Society was organized in 1832, and the iean Anti-Slavery Society at Philadelphia in 1833. ( See SLAVERY; GARRISON, W. L.: PHILLIPS, WENDELL; ABoLiTIONISTS; GAG RULES.) Arkan sas (,Tune 15. 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1827) were admitted to the Union. The adminis tration of Jackson was further marked by the political acerbities growing partly out of the Peggy O'Neill affair (see EATON, MARGARET), and leading to the reorganization of the Cabinet, by the treaty with France settling the spoliation claims and the treaty with England securing un restricted direct trade with the British West In dies, by the adoption on a large scale by Jackson of the 'spoils system,' and by the introduction of railroads. The election of 1836 resulted in the success again of the Democratic Party, whose candidate for President, Martin Van Buren, of New York, received 170 electoral votes, against 73 for William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, and 51 scattering. No candidate for Vice-President received a clear majority, and so the Senate elected Richard M. .Johnson (q.v.), of Kentucky.