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196 Harrison as a more colorless candidate than Web- ster or Clay. The Democratic followers of Jackson nominated Van Buren, who received a large ma- jority of both popular and electoral votes, in spite of the defections above mentioned. There was a great deal of bolting in this election. Massachu- setts threw its vote for Webster for president, and South Carolina for Willie P. Mangum. Virginia, which voted for Van Buren, rejected his colleague, Richard M. Johnson, and cast its twenty - three electoral votes for William Smith, of Ala- bama, for vice- president. Mr. White obtain- ed the elec- toral votes of Tennessee and Georgia, twen- tv-six in all, but Mr. Tyler made a better showing ; he carried, besides these two states, Maryland and South Caro- lina, making forty-seven votes in all. The uneven- ness of the results was such that the election of a vice-president devolved upon the senate, which chose Mr. Johnson. In the course of the year pre- ceding the election an incident occurred which em- phasized more than ever Mr. Tyler's hostility to the Jackson party. Benton's famous resolutions for expunging the vote of censure upon the presi- dent were before the senate, and the Democratic legislature of Virginia instructed the two senators from that state to vote in the affirmative. As to the binding force of such instructions Mr. Tyler had long ago, in the case of Giles and Brent, above mentioned, placed himself unmistakably upon rec- ord. His colleague, Benjamin Watkins Leigh, was known to entertain similar views. On receiving the instructions, both senators refused to obey them. Both voted against the Benton resolutions, but Mr. Leigh kept his seat, while Mr. Tyler resigned and retur-ned home, 29 Feb., 1836. About this time the followers of Calhoun were bringing forward what was known as the " gag resolution " against all peti- tions and motions relating in any way to the aboli- tion of slavery. (See Atherton, Charles G.) Mr. Tyler's resignation occurred before this measure was adopted, but his opinions on the subject were clearly pronounced. He condemned the measure as impolitic, because it yoked together the question as to the right of petition and the question as to slavery, and thus gave a distinct moral advantage to the Abolitionists. On the seventh anniversary of the Virginia colonization society, 10 Jan., 1838, he was chosen its president. In the spring election of that year he was returned to the Virginia legis- lature. In January, 1839, his friends put him for- ward for re-election to the U. S. senate, and in the memorable contest that ensued, in which William C. Rives was his principal competitor, the result was a deadlock, and the question was indefinitely postponed before any choice had been made.

Meanwhile the financial crisis of 1837 — the most severe, in many respects, that has ever been known in this country — had wrecked the administration of President Van Buren. The causes of that crisis, indeed, lav deeper than any acts of any adminis- tration. The primary cause was the sudden devel- opment of wild speculation in western lands, con- sequent upon the rapid building of railroads, which would probably have brought about a general pros- tration of credit, even if President Jackson had never made war upon the United States bank. But there is no doubt that some measures of Jack- son's administration — such as the removal of the deposits and their lodgment in the so-called " pet banks," the distribution of the surplus followed by the sudden stoppage of distribution, and the sharp- ness of the remedy supplied by the specie circular — had much to do with the virulence of the crisis. For the moment it seemed to many people that all the evil resulted from the suppression of the bank, and that the proper cure was the reinstatement of the bank, and because President Van Buren was too wise and clear-sighted to lend his aid to such a policy, his chances for re-election were ruined. The cry for the moment was that the hard-hearted administration was doing nothing to relieve the distress of the people, and there was a general combination against Van Buren. For the single purpose of defeating him, all differences of policy were for the moment subordinated. In the Whig convention at Harrisburg. 4 Dec, 1839, no plat- form of principles was adopted. Gen. Harrison was again nominated for the presidency, as a can- didate fit to conciliate the anti-Masons and Na- tional Republicans whom Clay had offended, and Mr. Tyler was nominated for the vice-presidency in order to catch the votes of such Democrats as were dissatisfied with the administration. In the uproarious canvass that followed there was prob- ably less appeal to sober reason and a more liberal use of clap-trap than in any other presidential contest in our history. Borne upon a great wave of popular excitement, " Tippecanoe, and Tyler too, were carried to the White House. By the death of President Harrison, 4 April, 1841, just a month after the inauguration, Mr. Tyler became president of the United States. The situation thus developed was not long in producing startling results. Although no platform had been adopted in the nominating convention, it soon appeared that Mr. Clay and his friends intended to use their victory in support of the old National Republican policy of a national bank, a high tariff, and internal improvements. Doubtless most people who voted for Harrison did so in the belief that his election meant the victory of Clay's doctrines and the re- establishment of the United States bank. Mr. Clay's own course, immediately after the inauguration, showed so plainly that he regarded the election as his own victory that Gen. Harrison felt called upon to administer a rebuke to him. " You seem to for- get, sir," said he, " that it is I who am president." Tyler, on the other hand, regarded the Whig triumph as signifying the overthrow of what he considered a corrupt and tvrannical faction led by Jackson. Van Buren, and Benton ; he professed to regard the old National Republican doctrines as virtually postponed by the alliance between them and his own followers. In truth, it was as ill-yoke'd an alliance as ever was made. The elements of a fierce quarrel were scarcely concealed, and the re- moval of President Harrison was all that was needed to kindle the flames of strife. " Tyler dares not resist," said Clay ; " I'll drive him before me." On the other hand, the new president declared : " 1 pray vou to believe that my back is to the wall, and that, while I shall deplore the assaults. I shall, if practicable, beat back the assailants " ; and he was as good as his word. Congress met in extra session, 31 May, 1841, the senate standing 28 Whigs to 22 Democrats, the house 133 Whigs to 108 Democrats. In his opening message President Tyler briefly recounted the recent history of the United States bank, the sub-treasury system, and