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　　Last time, we talked about the election of MartinVan Buren as the eighth president of the UnitedStates.

　　Van Buren had served as President AndrewJackson's secretary of state, and later his vicepresident. Jackson asked his political party, theDemocrats, to nominate Van Buren as their presidential candidate in the 1836 election. TheWhig party was against him, but their opposition was divided. Van Buren won the electioneasily.

　　Jackson stood beside Van Buren as the new president was sworn in at the Capitol building inWashington. Physically, the two men were very different. Jackson was tall, with long white hairthat flowed back over his head. Jackson's health had been poor during the last few months hespent in the White House. He seemed tired. There was almost no color in his face.

　　Van Buren was much shorter than Jackson and had much less hair. His eyes were brighter thanthose of the old man next to him.

　　In his inaugural speech, Van Buren noted that he was the first American born after therevolution to become president of the United States. He was also the first president who wasnot from a British family; his family was Dutch.

　　Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States (1837–1841)

　　Van Buren said he felt he belonged to a later age. He called for more unity among Democrats ofthe North and South. He said better times were ahead for the country.

　　Martin Van Buren had a poor education as a boy. He went to school only for a few years. Hisfather was a farmer and hotel keeper at a small town in New York State. Politicians, includingAlexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, had sometimes visited the hotel. By listening to them andothers, the future president learned about politics.

　　Eventually, Van Buren studied in a law office and became a lawyer. In the first years of hiscareer he defended tenants and renters who were fighting large plantation owners for theirland. As a result, he developed a reputation for helping the common man. Van Buren became alocal official, and then a senator and governor of New York.

　　When he was 24, he married a young woman he had grown up with. But she died oftuberculosis after 12 years, leaving him with four sons.

　　"And after that, he was known as quite charming among the ladies, as they said in thosedays."

　　Historian Joel Silbey is an expert on Martin Van Buren. Mr. Silbey says most people who knewVan Buren liked him. He seemed warm and friendly. He tried to keep his political life and hissocial life separate. It was not unusual to see him exchange handshakes, smiles and jokeswith men who were his political enemies. But, he did not have a national reputation like AndrewJackson had.

　　"What he was known for, and what got him into the vice presidency, and then the presidency,was that he was Jackson's right hand man."

　　Van Buren had been president for just a few days when an economic crisis struck the country.The crisis had been building for months. It really began with the death of the Bank of the UnitedStates more than a year before.

　　The bank had been so strong that it was able to control the economy throughout most of thecountry. It also helped control smaller state banks. It refused to accept the notes, or papermoney, of these banks, unless the state banks could exchange the paper for gold or silvermoney.

　　President Jackson had opposed the Bank of the United States. He vetoed a bill that would havecontinued it. After the powerful bank closed, a number of new state banks opened. All of themproduced large amounts of paper money — many times the amount they could exchange forgold or silver. Business speculators used much of this paper money to buy land from thegovernment. These men bought the land, held it for a while, then sold it for more than theypaid.

　　The government soon found itself with millions of dollars of paper money of questionablevalue. To stop these activities, Jackson had ordered only gold or silver payments forgovernment land. But many banks did not have enough gold to cover the paper notes.

　　At the same time, American agriculture was having trouble. In 1835 and 1837, many cropsfailed. American traders had to import farm products from Europe. And they had to pay forthem in gold or silver.

　　Bank decision leads to financial crisis...

　　In the spring of 1837, just as Martin Van Buren was taking office, the demand on banks forgold and silver grew too heavy. The banks stopped honoring their promises to exchange theirpaper money for gold. They said the suspension was just temporary. That it was necessaryto stop — for a while — all payments in gold or silver. The crisis became worse.

　　Many of the weaker state banks closed. Those that stayed open had almost no money to lend.Businessmen could not pay back money they owed the banks. And they could not get loans tokeep their businesses open. Many factories closed. Great numbers of people were out of work.And prices rose higher and higher. Most people struggled to buy food and other necessities.The price of flour and meat doubled between 1835 and 1837. Even coal, the fuel people used toheat their homes, cost two times as much.

　　Violence finally broke out at a protest meeting in New York City. Some in the crowd demandedaction against the rich traders. About 1,000 people marched to a store, forced their way into it,and destroyed large amounts of flour and grain.

　　Businessmen blamed the government for the economic depression. They said the biggestreason was a decision former President Jackson made. Jackson's order required thegovernment to accept only gold or silver for government land.

　　Opponents said the order had caused fear and mistrust. Even some of Jackson's strongestsupporters said it should be lifted. They said the measure had done its job of ending landspeculation. Now, they said, it was hurting the economy.

　　Two of President Van Buren's closest advisers urged him to continue the order. Lifting it, theyargued, would flood the federal government with worthless paper money.

　　Van Buren was troubled. The federal government had already lost nine million dollars becauseof bank failures. The president wanted to make sure the government had enough money. Andhe wanted this money safe until needed.

　　Yet he did not believe the federal government had the responsibility for ending the depression.And, historian Joel Silbey says Van Buren did not believe the government had the right tointerfere in any way with private business.

　　"He said that over and over again. That the federal government doesn't have the power to dothis."

　　Mr. Silbey adds that Van Buren's political philosophy grew out of the beliefs of former presidentThomas Jefferson. All of his life, he claimed to be a Jeffersonian Democrat.

　　"That had a specific meaning to him: limited government, freedom for people — meaning whitemales. He was an egalitarian within the limits of those years."

　　Van Buren also shared Jackson's suspicion of bankers. In general, he believed no group —neither the government, nor the wealthy — should have too much power, not even to help theeconomy.

　　So Van Buren decided to continue Jackson's order. No government land could be bought withpaper money.

　　The American economy got worse. The president called a special meeting of Congress. In amessage to lawmakers, Van Buren said "over-banking and over-trading" had caused thedepression. He proposed several steps to protect the government. One of them was forCongress to pass a law permitting the government to keep its own money in the Treasury.

　　America's Treasury Department received money when it collected import taxes and sold land. Itused this money to pay what the government owed. The Treasury did not, however, hold themoney from the time it was collected to the time it was paid out.

　　The Treasury put the money in private banks. President Van Buren wanted to end this custom.He wanted a law to let the Treasury keep government money in its own secure places.

　　The Whigs criticized Van Buren for thinking only of protecting the federal government and nothelping businessmen, farmers and the states. Some Democrats who believed strongly in states'rights also opposed Van Buren's idea. All these opponents provided enough votes in Congressto defeat the proposal.

　　Van Buren tried again the following year to get approval for an independent Treasury. Again,the proposal was defeated.

　　Finally, in June 1840, Congress passed a law enabling the Treasury Department to holdgovernment money itself. Van Buren signed what was called the "Independent Treasury" bill.But the economic depression continued.

　　Martin Van Buren also faced an international challenge from a surprising place. The president'stroubles with Canada will be our story next week.

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