Presidency of Martin Van Buren

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

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Changes of government, elections and reigns

Dates

Date of occurrence 1837-03-04-1841-03-04

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United States (Location)

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In 1836, Martin Van Buren won the White House after serving four years as Andrew Jackson's vice president. Van Buren was aided by the divided Whig Party. He won 170 electoral votes compared to his opponents’ 124 votes. Thereafter, the Van Buren administration was forced to deal with a severe financial crisis in the United States. Van Buren’s solution was to set up an “independent treasury” to hold federal funds that had previously been in the possession of the states. This move caused a revolt within the nascent Democratic Party and many members bolted to the Whig Party. The popularity of the Van Buren administration was further eroded by the long and bitter struggle against the Seminole Indians in Florida. Moreover, Van Buren's popularity was undermined by his lack of support for…

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234 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Presidency of Martin Van Buren". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 September 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=693, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Presidency of Martin Van Buren

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