From: Kristi De Simone
Date: 3/22/00
Time: 8:32:05 PM
Remote Name: 155.247.244.68
History week 9 Who was Martin Van Burin and why did President Andrew Jackson write him this letter at this time? Martin Van Buren, a democratic lawyer was governor of New York in 1928. He impressed President Andrew Jackson so much that after only serving as governor for three months Jackson appointed him to Secretary of State. President Jackson wrote him this letter because he was responding to the many letters that remained unanswered form Van Buren. Jackson wrote about how angry he was with South Carolina leaders. He was writing about how unhappy he was with South Carolina because South Carolina is taking liberal views on government. The nullification crisis during the 1820's revealed that South Carolina would not tolerate any federal action that seemed contrary to their interests or raised doubts about the institution of slavery. A fear of the north meddling with slavery was the main spur to the growth of a militant doctrine of state sovereignty in the South. At the time of the nullification crisis, the other slave states had not yet developed such strong anxieties about the future of the "peculiar institution" and had not embraced South Carolina's radical conception of state sovereignty. South Carolina called the legislation unconstitutional. South Carolina put out an idea that the state had the right to nullify the laws of Federal government. Jackson was pro-slavery, he was a southern slaveholder, he didn't agree with abolition. He took attacks about government very seriously and personally offending. Jackson had made a stand that no other president had before, he had asserted that the federal government was supreme over the states and that the Union was indivisible. He also justified the use of force against states that denied federal authority. The President closes his letter to his friend Van Buren by stating " The union shall be preserved". This is a clear example that the President will go to any extent to keep the union together.