Van Buren, Martin (Administration)

MARTIN VAN BUREN WAS born in Kinderhook, New York, near Albany. His father ran a tavern where people often discussed politics. Van Buren became a lawyer and entered politics as a minor county official. He then became a New York state senator and attorney general. His success in these posts led to being elected to the U.S. Senate. As a supporter of Jeffersonian policies Van Buren objected to the direction that President John Quincy Adams wanted to take the nation. Van Buren voted for the tariff of 1824, but opposed other measures to expand the federal government, and gradually came to support free trade.

Van Buren aligned himself with Andrew Jackson. He served as Jackson's secretary of state and as ambassador to England for a short while. Though he dealt with foreign affairs, Van Buren's talent as a party builder enabled him to build a political organization that would become the Democratic Party. Jackson trusted Van Buren, perhaps more than any other member of his administration. Consequently, Van Buren became vice president for Jackson's second term.

Van Buren won the election of 1836. He entered office intent upon continuing the policies of the Jackson administration. There was a major financial panic and a depression in 1837. The prosperity of the early and mid-1830s gave way to unemployment, destitution, and widespread poverty. This brought about calls for increased federal powers to intervene in the economy. Van Buren resisted these calls. Some claim that the demise [Page 1133]of the Second Bank of the United States during the Jackson administration caused the depression. There was considerable support for a new national bank to manage the financial system and stabilize the economy. Van Buren opposed this measure in favor of an independent treasury. Congress passed a bill for an independent treasury in 1840. He blamed the panic and depression on credit overexpansion. There is much evidence to support this explanation of the depression.

International factors affected the American banking system at this time. During the early 1830s there was an influx of silver from Mexico, large capital inflows from English investors, and an end to the outflow of silver from the United States to China. These factors caused an inflationary boom. This changed in 1837. Capital inflows dried up and overseas demand for cotton fell. These factors brought an end to the boom. Bank loans went from $201 million in 1830 to $324 million in 1833, and to $525 million in 1837. Bank deposits rose from $55 million in 1830 to $76 million in 1833, and then to $127 million in 1837.

The price level went up 53 percent from 1830 to 1833 and 64 percent from 1833 to 1837. In 1837 bank loans fell by 7 percent, bank deposits fell by 33 percent, and the price level fell 30 percent. Consequently, the depression cannot be attributed to the policies of either Van Buren or his predecessor. There was a partial recovery in 1838, but hard times continued during the rest of the Van Buren administration.

Van Buren opposed annexation of Texas because it would enter the Union as a slave state. He also resisted pressure to confront the English over the U.S.-Canadian border. These actions helped to avoid wars with Mexico and England. Van Buren also ordered the enforcement of the Treaty of Echota, which relocated 90,000 Native Americans. This resulted in the infamous Trail of Tears, which became a symbol of Native American deprivation and poverty.

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