# **Overview:** #### **Martin Van Buren <> 1837-1841 (8th President)** - Good: - Opposition to the Annexation of Texas - {1837} - (For context, after Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836, it became the Republic of Texas, and there was immediate pressure, especially from pro-slavery Southerners to annex it to the U.S. Many Northerners, like Van Buren, feared annexation would expand slavery, upset the sectional balance in Congress, and provoke a war with Mexico, which still considered Texas its territory. As president, and again during the 1844 election, Van Buren publicly opposed immediate annexation saying it would destabilize the Union and risk war. He argued annexation should only happen with broad national consensus, not as a partisan or sectional maneuver. His refusal to support annexation cost him the 1844 Democratic nomination with Southern Democrats turning to James K. Polk, who ran on a pro-annexation, pro-expansion platform and ultimately won. For me this was an amazing choice as it stood for most of what I view to be lacking in the early years of the country. Overall this was great due to it opposing slavery expansion, preventing war with Mexico for the time being, prioritized national unity and stability, and showed restraint in a time of aggressive expansionist fervor.) - The Caroline Incident and Van Buren’s Response - {1837-1838} - (For context, in 1837 Canadian rebels opposed British rule fled to the U.S. and used an American steamboat called the Caroline to run supplies from New York into Canada. British troops crossed into U.S. territory, seized the Caroline, set it on fire, and towed it over Niagara Falls -- killing an American citizen in the process. This violated U.S. sovereignty, outraged the public, and sparked cries for retaliation or even war with Britain. In response to this Van Buren condemned the British incursion but refused to escalate the situation militarily. He sent diplomatic protests to Britain, demanding an explanation and accountability. He focused on calming tensions, maintaining U.S. neutrality in the Canadian rebellion, and preventing mob violence along the border. When Canadian rebels and American sympathizers continued cross-border raids, Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott to the region to enforce neutrality laws and de-escalate further violence. This was overall a good response in an attempt to keep peace and avoid war with Britain over something that can be solved peacefully. Overall a diplomatic response that focused on neutrality while still wanting accountability. - **U.S.-Mexico Arbitration Commission** - {*1839-1842*} - (For context, during Van Buren’s presidency, tensions between the U.S. and Mexico were rising due to American citizen claims against Mexico for property losses and damaged during Mexican revolutions and unrest as well as ongoing border tensions especially related to Texas which had declared independence only a few years earlier. To avoid war and settle disputes peacefully the two countries agreed to a Claims Commission in 1839, using arbitration to resolve American claims. The commission had two commissioners from each country and a neutral “umpire”; it evaluated over 1,000 claims from U.S. citizens who said the government had illegally seized or damaged their property. In the end about $2 million was eventually awarded to U.S. citizens. This was a peaceful diplomatic approach that cooled tensions and helped American citizens, although Mexico didn’t fully follow through which became a talking point for annexation hawks later on, but that isn’t something I blame Van Buren for. It also in a sense just pushed the can down the road and didn’t help the deeper resentment and tensions. Overall it was a very diplomatic and modern response to this sort of tension/conflict. - Scott-Harvey Agreement - {1839} - (Negotiated between General Winfield Scott [U.S.] and Lieutenant Governor Sir John Harvey [New Brunswick] with the goal to de-escalate the Aroostook crisis and prevent a shooting war over the Maine-New Brunswick border. It accomplished those goals with both sides withdrawing their militias, they both agreed to a joint temporary control of the disputed area, lumbering operations were allowed under joint supervision, and it maintained peace until the matter could be resolved diplomatically. Overall it prevented war, showed diplomatic professionalism, and set the stage for the treaty a couple years later. Van Buren though he didn’t negotiate himself he is the one who sent Scott to the border to negotiate with hopes of de-escalation and after the agreement was reached he supported it and endorsed the decisions agreed upon.) - Independent Treasury Act - {1840} - (For context, after the Panic of 1837 the U.S. banking system was a mess. Jackson had killed the Second Bank of the U.S. in the Bank War and federal funds were scattered among unreliable state “pet banks” many of which failed during the panic. Van Buren rejected re-creating a new national bank since he distrusted centralized banking like Jackson, but he also realized relying on private state banks was dangerous. This was his solution. It created a network of federal vaults, depositories, managed by the Treasury Department, separate from private banks. The U.S. government would no longer deposit its money in private banks at all and government funds would be kept in hard specie and handled only by government officers, not bankers. The goals were to reduce corruption from pet banks, insulate government finances from banking booms and busts, and make the government financially independent of the private economy. Overall this helped stabilize federal finances, reduced risk of speculative bubbles, it was a major anti-corruption move, and long-term it was very influential and in some senses it was a foundation. The only downside was it hurt the economy slightly short-term due to tightening the money supply when the economy needed stimulus which Van Buren was fervently against.) - Slightly Good: - Neutral/Mixed: - Slightly Bad: - Bad: - The Panic of 1837 - {1837-1843} - (One of the worst economic crises in early U.S. history, and it hit just a few weeks after Martin Van Buren took office, though the roots of the crisis largely came from [[Presidents/List of Presidents/7th - Andrew Jackson/Presidency Overview]]’s policies. Multiple things caused the panic such as Jackson’s destruction of the Second Bank of the U.S. which left the nation without a strong central financial institution, Pet Banks which issued tons of unbacked paper money, fueling land speculation, The Specie Circular which required payment for federal land to be in gold or silver not paper money which dried up credit, foreign investors especially in Britain began to pull out their money which caused further collapse in banks and credit. Widespread bank failures, unemployment, and collapse in land prices followed. The panic wasn’t Van Buren’s fault, but it defined his presidency. He took a laissez-faire approach, refusing to intervene directly in the economy which was consistent with Democratic orthodoxy at the time. He opposed federal aid to struggling businesses and states, arguing it would set a dangerous precedent and expand federal power. Proposed and helped establish the Independent Treasury System which separated government funds from private banks. Overall outside of the Independent Treasury Idea nothing good stemmed from the Panic with it causing widespread suffering and economic crisis which lasted for years and though not his fault much at all was made worse due to his hands-off approach to the situation.) - Trail of Tears - {1838} - (For context, The Indian Removal Act was passed in 1830 under Andrew Jackson, authorizing the removal of Native American tribes to land west of the Mississippi River. Although Jackson started the policy, Van Buren was president when some of the worst parts of the removals occurred, particularly the Cherokee removal — what we now call the Trail of Tears. In 1838, after the Cherokee resisted removal through legal battles notably Worcester v. Georgia, Van Buren authorized General Winfield Scott to forcibly remove the Cherokee Nation. About 16,000 Cherokee were rounded up into internment camps in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama. They were then forced to march over 1,000 miles to present-day Oklahoma. Around 4,000 Cherokee, a quarter of the population, died from disease, exposure, starvation, and exhaustion. Conditions were brutal — families were split up, elders and children often died on the trail, and soldiers overseeing the march showed indifference or outright cruelty in many cases. This was an unmitigated disaster. Van Buren may not have done the Indian Removal Act, but he enforced it with no questions asked.) - Handling of the Amistad Case - {1839-1841} - (For context, A group of Africans, mostly Mende people from Sierra Leone, were illegally captured and sold into the Spanish slave trade, violating international treaties that Spain had agreed to. They were shipped to Cuba, then loaded onto the Amistad, a schooner bound for another part of Cuba. During the voyage, the Africans revolted, killed the captain, and tried to sail back to Africa — but they ended up near the U.S. coast instead. The ship was seized by a U.S. Navy vessel off the coast of Long Island, New York. The legal question was were the Africans property as Spain and Cuban slave owners argued and should they be returned to Cuba or were they free individuals who had been illegally enslaved and thus had a right to fight for their freedom. Van Buren’s administration sided with Spain with his Attorney general filing legal briefs in court arguing that the Africans should be returned to Cuba, supporting the claims of the Spanish owners. Van Buren was trying to avoid angering Spain who threatened diplomatic trouble if the U.S. didn’t return “their property”, to appease Southern slaveholders and protect political alliances [Van Buren feared losing Southern support]. Van Buren tried to influence the court proceedings by ordering the ship and the captives moved closer to the South [to a court more likely to rule against the Africans]. Overall a complete moral failure from Van Buren who did what he thought was easy instead of right which makes me look very spineless especially with him trying to manipulate the judiciary.) - **Economy** - {*1837-1841*} - (The biggest part of his presidency and the biggest economic condition was the Panic of 1837 which began just weeks after Van Buren took office. The major causes were all because of Jackson's Bank War. The economic collapse included things like bank failures, business closures, and sky rocketing unemployment. Land prices also collapsed especially in the West. The crisis turned into a prolonged depression that lasted in the early 1840s. Van Buren's economic response had one positive and that was the Independent Treasury Act, which eliminated pet banks. Due to being a hard-money Jacksonian who believed in laissez-faire economics, he refused to bail out banks, offer public job programs, or give direct aid to the unemployed. He believed government aid would expand federal power and create dangerous precedent. Overall while the Panic wasn't his fault, Van Buren undoubtedly extended it with his laissez-faire economic style resulting in a bad economy for his presidency with only one policy that helped at all.) ###### **Conclusion:** A presidency of extremes where it was either really good or really bad. Let's start with the good. Moving from pet banks to an independent treasury was a great move and his diplomatic skills outside of the Amistad were great. The Bad is rough though with the continuation of the trail of tears, this failure in response to the panic of 1837 and the aforementioned handling of the Amistad Case. ###### **Final Rating :** **3/10**