Two States were admitted to the Union, Arkansas in 1836 and Michigan in 1837. The former was a part of the Louisiana purchase, and was originally settled by the French at Arkansas Post, in 1635. Michigan was the fourth State formed from the Northwest Territory, and was first settled by the French at Detroit in 1701.
Abolitionism assumed definite form in 1831, when William Lloyd Garrison, in his Boston paper, The Liberator, demanded the immediate abolition of slavery. Anti-slavery societies were organized in different parts of the country and the members became known as abolitionists. The South was incensed by the agitation, which reached its culmination in the great Civil War of 1861-65.
FRANCE AND PORTUGAL FORCED TO TERMS.
President Jackson impressed his personality upon everything with which he came in contact. We had been pressing a suit against France for the injuries she inflicted upon our commerce during the flurry of 1798, but that country was so laggard in paying that the President recommended to Congress that enough French vessels should be captured to pay the bill. France flared up and threatened war unless Jackson apologized. A dozen wars would not have moved him to recall his words. England, however, mediated, and France paid the debt. Portugal took the hint and lost no time in settling a similar account with us.
President Jackson, imitating Washington, issued a farewell address to his countrymen. It was well written and patriotic; but his last official act, which was characteristic of him, displeased many of his friends. The speculation in western lands had assumed such proportions that the treasury department, in July, 1836, sent out a circular ordering the collectors of the public revenues to receive only gold and silver in payment. This circular caused so much confusion and trouble that, at the beginning of 1837, Congress modified it so that it would have given great relief. Jackson held the bill in his possession until the adjournment of Congress, and thus prevented its becoming a law.
The stormy years of Jackson's presidency brought into prominence three of the greatest of Americans. All, at different times, were members of the United States Senate, where their genius overshadowed those who under other circumstances would have attracted national attention. These men were John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster.
JOHN C. CALHOUN.
JOHN C. CALHOUN. (1782-1850).