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VAN BUREN, MARTIN.   Term Paper ID:28685 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Life & political career of 8th U.S. President. His policies on slavery & establishing an independent treasury.... More...

6 Pages / 1350 Words 4 sources, 17 Citations, MLA Format $24.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Life & political career of 8th U.S. President. His policies on slavery & establishing an independent treasury. Paper Introduction: Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States, was born on December 5th, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York. His parents were Abraham Van Buren, a farmer and tavern keeper, and Maria Hoes Van Alen, both of Dutch descent. Van Buren attended the village school and then the Kinderhook Academy before he began to read law with Francis Silvester, a local attorney, in 1796, when he was only 14. Consequently, he was admitted to the state bar when he was only 21 (Encyclopedia Americana) and opened his own practice in Kinderhook in 1803. He married his cousin Hannah Hoes in 1807 and they had four children together. Van Buren's successful law practice and involvement in local politics eventually provided a strong base for his launch into national politics. Van Buren's success as Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. William Shade argues that the 1836 presidential election, which VanBuren won, was the first election in which the discussion of slavery playeda major role (Shade 459). The situation in the United States in 1836 concerning slavery requiredthat national politicians compromise on the issue if their long-term goalwas to preserve the union. Nonetheless, Van Buren faithfully fulfilled the dutiesof his elected office, demonstrated by his election to the United StatesSenate in 1821, which launched his career in national politics. His parents were AbrahamVan Buren, a farmer and tavern keeper, and Maria Hoes Van Alen, both ofDutch descent. Van Buren'sactions and political history before he ascended to the national stageimply that his personal beliefs tended toward an anti-slavery bent, whichwould not have been unusual given that he was from New York in the North.However, as a politician with national aspirations, he recognized that hecould not enjoy national success without the support of the slave-holdingstates in the South. He was an extremely skilledpolitician and he would eventually be credited with being one of thefounders of the Democratic Party. "Martin Van Buren," WhiteHouse.gov (2 ). He married his cousin HannahHoes in 18 7 and they had four children together. Then, InMay 1835, he was unanimously nominated for president and went on to defeatthree candidates fielded by a splintered Whig Party, collecting 17 electoral votes to their 124. Rather, the Democrats needed to create aposition on the subject that southern slaveholders and white northernerswould both accept (Shade 459). In 1828 Van Buren resigned his Senate seat and successfully ran forgovernor of New York. Thus, in his inaugural address in 1837, Van Buren devoted more space toslavery than to any other issue and amid an affirmation of his faith instates' rights and strict construction of the Constitution as the only truebasis for sound government, he reaffirmed a pledge of "that no billconflicting with these [anti-abolition] views can ever receive myconstitutional sanction" (Shade 459). Shade, William. Still, as late as 182 there were still nearly 2 , slaves in the "free states," primarily in New York and New Jersey, and overone quarter of northern blacks remained enslaved. Still Shade argues that the problem was not that slavery would be anissue to divide the parties, largely because neither party would adopt astrong anti-slavery stance. Online:[www.whitehouse.gov]. Van Buren regarded himself as a disciple of Thomas Jefferson. In fact, in recognition of his cunningand skill as a politician, his friends called him "Little Magician" but hisenemies referred to him as "Sly Fox" (Britannica.com). He resignedthis position in 1831 to allow Jackson to reorganize his cabinet, andserved briefly as minister to Great Britain (WhiteHouse.gov). Van Buren's success as a local politician was demonstrated by his twosuccessive elections to the New York Senate (1812-2 ), during which time hewas appointed state attorney general. Such an organization allowed Van Buren to shrewdly dispense public officesand political bounty in the manner best calculated to ensure votes(WhiteHouse.gov). Van Buren attended the village school and then theKinderhook Academy before he began to read law with Francis Silvester, alocal attorney, in 1796, when he was only 14. "The Most Delicate and Exciting Topics: Martin VanBuren, Slavery, and the Election of 1836," Journal of the Early Republic(Fall 1998): 459-484. Thus, although theDemocrats unanimously renominated him in 184 , the Whig candidate WilliamHenry Harrison overwhelmingly defeated Van Buren. He died there on July 24, 1862(Britannica.com). Van Burenexplained the politics of his position but there remains the letter thatVan Buren wrote to King, in which he stated that "morally and politicallyspeaking slavery is an evil" (Shade 459). However, he won by a smaller margin that hadJackson, his predecessor, who had articulated a strong anti-slavery andracist national policy. Butperhaps most significantly, Van Buren had supported the reelection of a mannamed Rufus King, a vocal advocate of restricting slavery in Missouri. And,initially, as a member of the Jeffersonian faction of the Republican Party,he strongly supported the doctrine of states' rights and thus opposed astrong federal government. As the shrewd politician that he was, VanBuren understood this. This abolitionist bent in his home stateexplains Van Buren's political position on certain issues related toslavery from which he would have to retreat subsequently to succeed on thenational stage. He was elected with Jackson that year. In particular, Van Buren had supported a bill in 1814 that would havefreed slaves who served in the War of 1812. Before 1836, northern politicians hadadvanced various proposals intended to emancipate slaves, and slavery hadthus been declining in the North. Online:[www.encylopedia.com]. He made two moreunsuccessful attempts to be nominated for the presidency in 1844 and 1848,but thereafter he spent several years in Europe and retired to his estate,Lindenwald, in Kinderhook. The long and costly war with the Seminole Indiansin Florida only further eroded his popularity, as did his failure tosupport the proposed annexation of the newly independent state of Texas.Notably, southern states advocated the annexation of Texas because it wouldincrease the force and number of slave-holding states. He also apparently supportedan 1822 effort to curtail the slave trade in the Florida Territory. Consequently, Van Buren's slavery policy demonstratedan internal inconsistency that reflects the history of the United States'treatment of racial issues. Van Buren's successfullaw practice and involvement in local politics eventually provided a strongbase for his launch into national politics. However, the presidential election of 1836 demonstrated that slaverywas fast becoming a national issue. William Shade argues that while at the time ofthe first census over 9 percent of the slaves were in states south ofPennsylvania, slavery only slowly became a sectional institution (Shade459). Van Buren ascended to the presidency in 1837,less than 25 years before the start of the Civil War. Consequently, he wasadmitted to the state bar when he was only 21 (Encyclopedia Americana) andopened his own practice in Kinderhook in 18 3. Van Buren won the presidential election of 1836, demonstrating thathis articulation of his slavery policy was sufficient to satisfy bothnortherners and southerners. On the other hand, the expansion of the cotton belt inthe south meant the expansion of slavery in those states. However, he resigned the governorship after only 12weeks to become President Andrew Jackson's secretary of state. Then, at itsfirst national convention in 1832, the Democratic Party nominated Van Burenfor the vice presidency. Intruth, Van Buren had only supported King in a political maneuver ratherthan on King's substantive politics, but the flash-point that slavery wasbecoming would require Van Buren to explain such support. While in New York, Van Buren demonstrated his political prowessthrough the creation of the Albany Regency, an informal politicalorganization that served as the prototype for the modern political machine. Moreover, given that southern states wouldbegin seceding from the Union in the 186 s due to economic issuessurrounding slavery, Van Buren's decision to couch what may have been histrue feelings appears to have been a shrewd political decision. Consequently, theissue of the treatment of slavery within the states was becomingincreasingly significant for any politician's success. In other areas, Van Buren's presidency was characterized by hisproposal to move federal funds from state banks to an "independenttreasury," a move that was supported by Congress only after a bitterstruggle in which many conservative Democrats deserted to the new WhigParty (Britannica.com). Van Buren's retreat from the implications of hisearly actions at the regional level merely demonstrates the increasingsignificance of white supremacy as a political factor in American politics. He took office in 1837, at the onset of anational financial panic brought about in part by the transfer of federalfunds from the Bank of the United States to state banks during Jackson'ssecond term (Britannica.com). "Martin Van Buren," Encyclopedia Americana (2 ). Still, after John Quincy Adams was electedpresident in 1824 due to what many perceived as a questionable "backroombargain" with Henry Clay, Van Buren established a diverse coalition ofJeffersonian Republicans, including followers of Andrew Jackson, William H.Crawford, and John C. Van Buren'streatment of the issue demonstrates his prowess for politics, but it alsodemonstrates the seeming inevitability of the Civil War. A mere decade later,slavery had virtually disappeared from the area north of the Mason-DixonLine (Shade 459). Finally, Van Buren had alsosupported the right of free blacks to vote in New York, a position fromwhich he was forced to retreat once he ascended to national politics (Shade459). Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States, was bornon December 5th, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York. Online:[www.britannica.com]. Van Buren alsodeveloped a reputation for "non-committalism," and there exist many storiesof his propensity for evasion and double-talk (Encyclopedia Americana).Still, many who have studied his life and political career conclude thatVan Buren "combined sheer delight in political manipulation with a strainof idealism that led him in later life to adhere stubbornly to principlesin the face of political disaster" (Encyclopedia Americana). And he undertook the responsibility of drafting apractical response to the immediate problems posed by the abolitionists.However, this drew increased scrutiny to his own position on slavery and hefound himself tap-dancing around certain aspects of his earlier behaviorthat suggested anti-slavery leanings. Works Cited "Martin Van Buren," Britannica.com (2 ). Calhoun, to found a new political party, which wouldcome to be known as the Democratic Party (Encyclopedia Americana). 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