ELECTION OF 1836U.S 1

Introduction of Whigs

Began in 1834 Brought together in opposition to “King”

Andrew Jackson Jackson crushed National Republicans

in 1828 and 1832 Whigs were made about: National Bank

and tariffs in South Carolina Fiscal conservatives and states’ rights

proponents

Election of 1836

Vice- President Martin Van Buren of New York was who Jackson wanted to take over

Jackson was now 70 Jacksonites supported Van Buren but

not with enthusiasm Whigs could not come up with a good

presidential candidate

Strategy

Whig strategy was to run several different “favorite sons” each with a regional appeal

Hoped to scatter vote so no candidate would win a majority

Then vote would go to House of Rep. AGAIN

William Henry Harrison of Ohio, hero of Battle of Tippecanoe

Van Buren v. Harrison

Election results

Electoral Vote

“Little Magician” Short, slender, bland and bald Had resentment from many Democrats More mild-mannered than Jackson Inherited Jackson’s numerous enemies Rebellion in Canada 1837 stirred up ugly

incidents along northern frontier and threatened to trigger war with Britain!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWJQvvMFd5o&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1

Panic of 1837

Economic Depression Much of Van Buren’s energy was spent

on battling the panic Basic cause was rampant speculation

from get-rich-quickism But speculation alone didn’t cause the

crash

Jacksonian finance

Jacksonian finance, included the Bank War and Specie Circular helped out the bad times

Failures of what crops, ravaging by Hessian fly deepened the distress

Grain prices were forced so high that mobs in NYC, 3 weeks before Van Buren took oath stormed warehouses and broke open flour barrels

Economics

Late in 1836 2 prominent British banks created tremors so British investors called in foreign loans

Resulted in pinch for U.S, combined with previous topics worsened the “depression”

American banks collapsed by the hundreds

Hard times

Factories closed their doors, unemployed workers mulled in streets

Whigs called for: expansion of bank credit, higher tarriffs, subsidies for internal improvements

Van Buren did not like those ideas

One foreign traveler 1837 “The greatest annoyance I was subjected

to in travelling was in exchanging money. It is impossible to describe the wretched state of currency- which is all bills issued by private individuals; companies; cities and states; almost all of which are bankrupt; or what amounts to the same thing, they cannot redeem their issues… and these do not pass out of the state, or frequently, out of the city”