Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was a leading organizer of the Democratic Party, Andrew Jackson’s secretary of state and vice president, and president from 1837 to 1841. A New York politician experienced in building party alliances, he inherited both Jackson’s political coalition and the consequences of his administration’s financial and expansion policies. The depression following the Panic of 1837 dominated his presidency. ¹

Van Buren worked to prevent unrest along the Canadian border from becoming a war with Britain. American support for rebellions in Canada and the British destruction of the steamer Caroline in 1837 generated strong public anger. His administration reaffirmed neutrality and used military and diplomatic pressure to restrain private expeditions. During the Aroostook boundary dispute between Maine and New Brunswick, General Winfield Scott helped secure a temporary settlement. The final boundary agreement came after Van Buren left office. ²

He declined to pursue immediate annexation of Texas, which Mexico still claimed, judging that it could bring war and sharpen the domestic struggle over slavery. His caution contrasted with the continued use of force against Native peoples within American claims. Federal troops carried out the Cherokee removal in 1838, and the costly Second Seminole War continued in Florida. ^{2, 3}

Van Buren’s principal economic response was an independent treasury system intended to separate federal money from private banks. He opposed reestablishing a national bank and offered little direct federal relief during the depression. Voters replaced him with William Henry Harrison in 1840. Van Buren later broke with his former party over the expansion of slavery and ran as the Free Soil presidential candidate in 1848, a marked shift from his earlier accommodation of southern Democratic interests. ^{3, 1}