Date | December 3, 1838 |
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Venue | House Chamber, United States Capitol [1] |
Location | Washington, D.C. |
Coordinates | 38°53′23″N77°00′32″W / 38.88972°N 77.00889°W |
Type | State of the Union Address |
Participants | Martin Van Buren Richard Mentor Johnson James K. Polk |
Previous | 1837 State of the Union Address |
Next | 1839 State of the Union Address |
The 1838 State of the Union Address was delivered by the 8th president of the United States Martin Van Buren to the 25th United States Congress on December 3, 1838. Van Buren presented an optimistic view of the nation's state, reflecting on fifty years of federal governance under the U.S. Constitution, which he described as a system preserving both "individual happiness" and "private interests." This year marked the nation’s half-century under the framework devised by the Founding Fathers, which Van Buren credited for the preservation of peace, liberty, and economic growth. [2]
Van Buren reflected on the United States’ significant advancements in education, religious freedom, and infrastructure development. He highlighted how the Constitution allowed for expansion westward while balancing the unique cultural and social attributes of the many new communities. Van Buren noted, “Each successive change made in our local institutions...has increased the direct influence of the mass of the community,” underscoring how democratic practices had grown to serve the broader population. [2]
The speech also covered key foreign policy issues. Relations with Mexico were stabilizing through a new treaty that aimed to arbitrate longstanding disputes. Van Buren reported progress toward settling boundary disputes with Great Britain over the northeastern U.S. border. Furthermore, he addressed concerns over unauthorized expeditions by American citizens into Canada during times of unrest, vowing the government would "repress all attempts" by Americans to interfere in Canadian affairs.
On domestic matters, Van Buren focused on economic recovery following the Panic of 1837, mentioning efforts to stabilize the currency and the resumption of specie (gold and silver) payments. He acknowledged that the federal treasury had stabilized and attributed this in part to the return to specie-backed currency: "The short duration of [the suspension of specie payments]...proves how little our finances require such an institution" as a national bank. [3]
The president also discussed progress in Indian removal efforts, noting the complete relocation of the Cherokee Nation and the near-total resettlement of other tribes, such as the Choctaw and Creek. Van Buren highlighted the challenges posed by the Seminole Wars, stressing continued efforts to remove Seminole forces resisting relocation in Florida. He contended that this longstanding federal policy was intended to support "civilization" and independence for the tribes in newly designated lands west of the Mississippi River. [2]
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Before his presidency, he gained fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. Often praised as an advocate for ordinary Americans and for his work in preserving the union of states, Jackson has also been criticized for his racial policies, particularly his treatment of Native Americans.
Martin Van Buren was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he served as New York's attorney general and U.S. senator, then briefly as the ninth governor of New York before joining Andrew Jackson's administration as the tenth United States secretary of state, minister to Great Britain, and ultimately the eighth vice president from 1833 to 1837, after being elected on Jackson's ticket in 1832. Van Buren won the presidency in 1836 against divided Whig opponents. Van Buren lost re-election in 1840, and failed to win the Democratic nomination in 1844. Later in his life, Van Buren emerged as an elder statesman and an anti-slavery leader who led the Free Soil Party ticket in the 1848 presidential election.
A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the late 1920s to 1932 as well as from 1944 until 1971 when the United States unilaterally terminated convertibility of the US dollar to gold, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. Many states nonetheless hold substantial gold reserves.
The Specie Circular is a United States presidential executive order issued by President Andrew Jackson in 1836 pursuant to the Coinage Act of 1834. It required payment for government land to be in gold and silver (specie).
The Specie Payment Resumption Act of January 14, 1875 was a law in the United States that restored the nation to the gold standard through the redemption of previously unbacked United States Notes and reversed inflationary government policies promoted directly after the American Civil War. The decision further contracted the nation's money supply and was seen by critics as an exacerbating factor of the so-called Long Depression, which struck in 1873.
The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their enslaved African Americans within that were ethnically cleansed by the United States government.
The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by the United States government in the early federal period of the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminoles. White Americans classified them as "civilized" because they had adopted attributes of the Anglo-American culture.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal east of the river Mississippi". During the presidency of Jackson (1829–1837) and his successor Martin Van Buren (1837–1841) more than 60,000 Native Americans from at least 18 tribes were forced to move west of the Mississippi River where they were allocated new lands. The southern tribes were resettled mostly in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). The northern tribes were resettled initially in Kansas. With a few exceptions, the United States east of the Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes was emptied of its Native American population. The movement westward of indigenous tribes was characterized by a large number of deaths occasioned by the hardships of the journey.
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pessimism abounded.
The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish territory of La Florida, and later the provinces of East Florida and West Florida, it was ceded to the United States as part of the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty. It was governed by the Florida Territorial Council.
The Independent Treasury was the system for managing the money supply of the United States federal government through the U.S. Treasury and its sub-treasuries, independently of the national banking and financial systems. It was created on August 6, 1846, by the 29th Congress, with the enactment of the Independent Treasury Act of 1846. It was expanded with the creation of the national banking system in 1863. It functioned until the early 20th century, when the Federal Reserve System replaced it. During this time, the Treasury took over an ever-larger number of functions of a central bank and the U.S. Treasury Department came to be the major force in the U.S. money market.
The Bank War was a political struggle that developed over the issue of rechartering the Second Bank of the United States (B.U.S.) during the presidency of Andrew Jackson (1829–1837). The affair resulted in the shutdown of the Bank and its replacement by state banks.
The presidency of Andrew Jackson began on March 4, 1829, when Andrew Jackson was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1837. Jackson, the seventh president, took office after defeating incumbent President John Quincy Adams in the bitterly contested 1828 presidential election. During the 1828 presidential campaign, Jackson founded the political force that coalesced into the Democratic Party during Jackson's presidency. Jackson won re-election in 1832, defeating National Republican candidate Henry Clay by a wide margin. He was succeeded by his hand-picked successor, Vice President Martin Van Buren, after Van Buren won the 1836 presidential election.
Hard Times Tokens are American large or half cent-sized copper or brass tokens, struck from about 1833 through 1843, serving as unofficial currency. These privately made pieces, comprising merchant, political and satirical pieces, were used during a time of political and financial crisis in the United States.
The presidency of Martin Van Buren began on March 4, 1837, when Martin Van Buren was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1841. Van Buren, the incumbent vice president and chosen successor of President Andrew Jackson, took office as the eighth United States president after defeating multiple Whig Party candidates in the 1836 presidential election. A member of the Democratic Party, Van Buren's presidency ended following his defeat by Whig candidate William Henry Harrison in the 1840 presidential election.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Letter to Martin Van Buren" (1838) was written in response to the government's efforts to remove the Cherokee people from their native lands. In his letter to then-president Martin Van Buren, Emerson strongly represents that he, as well as other citizens of the American nation, feel that the American government is committing a serious evil crime in proceeding with the removal of the Cherokee. He stresses the efforts of the aboriginal population by stating that "Even in our distant state, some good rumor of their worth and civility has arrived. We have learned with joy their improvement in social arts. We have read their newspapers. We have seen some of them in our schools and colleges. In common with the great body of the American people we have witnessed with sympathy the painful labors of these red men to redeem their own race from the doom of eternal inferiority, and to borrow and domesticate in the tribe, the arts and customs of the Caucasian race." ." In the conclusion of the letter, Emerson questions the morality of a government that could put "so vast an outrage upon the Cherokee nation, and upon human nature ."
The 1839 State of the Union Address was delivered by the 8th president of the United States Martin Van Buren to the 26th United States Congress on December 2, 1839. Van Buren opened by noting that while the country had experienced several challenges, including fires, disease, and ongoing trade difficulties in key cities, the nation continued to benefit from prosperity in agriculture. He praised the season's abundant harvests, noting that “no means of individual comfort is more certain and no source of national prosperity is so sure” as agriculture.
The 1840 State of the Union Address was delivered by the 8th president of the United States Martin Van Buren to the 26th United States Congress on December 5, 1840. Van Buren highlighted the country's blessings of “health, plenty, and peace,” as well as the strength of its foreign policy, grounded in the principle of neutrality, which he credited with fostering strong international relationships and preserving domestic tranquility. He commended the country's success in maintaining “peaceful relations” and noted that tensions regarding the Aroostook War with Great Britain appeared close to resolution.
The 1869 State of the Union address was delivered by the 18th President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant on December 6, 1869, to the 41st United States Congress. It was Grant's first annual address, focusing on post-Civil War recovery, economic policy, and civil rights.
The 1870 State of the Union address was delivered by the 18th President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant on December 5, 1870, to the 41st United States Congress. This was Grant’s second annual message, emphasizing Reconstruction, foreign relations, and domestic reforms.