CHAPTER XI.

ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON, VAN BUREN, W.H. HARRISON, AND TYLER, 1829-1845.

Andrew Jackson--"To the Victors Belong the Spoils"--The President's Fight with the United States Bank--Presidential Election of 1828--Distribution of the Surplus in the United States Treasury Among the Various States--The Black Hawk War--The Nullification Excitement--The Seminole War--Introduction of the Steam Locomotive--Anthracite Coal, McCormick's Reaper, and Friction Matches--Great Fire in New York--Population of the United States in 1830--Admission of Arkansas and Michigan--Abolitionism --France and Portugal Compelled to Pay their Debts to the United States--The Specie Circular, John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster--Presidential Election of 1836--Martin Van Buren --The Panic of 1837--Rebellion in Canada--Population of the United States in 1840--Presidential Election of 1840--William Henry Harrison --His Death--John Tyler--His Unpopular Course--The Webster-Ashburton Treaty--Civil War in Rhode Island--The Anti-rent War in New York--A Shocking Accident--Admission of Florida--Revolt of Texas Against Mexican Rule--The Alamo--San Jacinto--The Question of the Annexation of Texas--The State Admitted--The Copper Mines of Michigan--Presidential Election of 1844--The Electro-magnetic Telegraph--Professor Morse--His Labors in Bringing the Invention to Perfection 215