1. The end of the Jacksonian era:
Chapter 13/ section 4/ pages

2. The election of 1836
While still in the white house Jackson was so popular that it was believed that he could remain president for a lifetime
However, he had used is presidential powers to help ensure that Martin Van Buren would become Americas next president

4. Whigs
A political party that included most of the National Republicans put forth 3 candidates
Van Buren won a sweeping victory by promising to walk in Jacksons footsteps
Within months, Van Buren ran into many problems

5. Problems for Van Buren
When Jackson allowed the charter of the Bank of the United States run out it went out of business
This allowed many smaller banks to begin taking the business
They began printing money, more money then they could back up with specie (hard cash in the form of gold or silver)

6. Easy credit
Easy credit helped increase the price of many things, including land
As long as prices continued to rise speculators could make a profit
Many Americans became speculators, they would buy land on credit

7. An economic crisis
They attempted to control purchase of government land with a doctrine called the Specie Circular which stated all government lands must be bought with hard money
Many people could now not afford the land and sales fell, which lowered prices, which caused many people to go broke and loose their land and investment

8. Problems for banks and businesses
When people lost their savings, they began to fear that paper bank notes would loose their value, so they rushed to the bank to cash them in for specie
Because people had less money, they bought less stuff, this caused factories to cut back on production and lay off workers

9. Panic of 1837
Within 3 months of Van Burans time in office the crisis had reached its peak
Many banks began to go out of business
Although he did not cause the crisis, he did little to prevent it, believing in laize-fair government
However, he did persuade congress to establish a treasury

11. Election of 1840
Before the panic of 1837 most people saw the Whigs as the party of the rich
The Whigs wanted to change this image and began looking for a candidate that would represent the “common man”
They chose William Henry Harrison who was the hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe

12. Log Cabin Campaigns
Harrison was from a rich Virginia family, however, no one had anyway of knowing about his past
The Whigs began bombarding voters with the idea of Harrison being a humble Ohio Farmer
The Whigs used the image of a log cabin as their symbol for the 1840 election
John Tyler was selected as Harrison’s running mate
They also used the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too”

14. Death of president Harrison
William Henry Harrison caught a cold while giving his inaugural speech, 30 days later he died
Tyler became the first vice president to take the presidency after the death of a president
He changed the course of history by following a policy of westward expansion known as Manifest Destiny