page_title: Presidency of Martin Van Buren
section_title: Panic of 1837
hierarchical_section_title: Presidency of Martin Van Buren / Domestic affairs / Panic of 1837 and treasury system / Panic of 1837
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: The modern balaam and his ass. A gaunt figure labeled Bankrupts of 1837 "the Regency" "Safety Fund" "Deposit Banks" "Old Hickory" &amp; Uncle Sam $300,000,000 holds a fiery sword labeled Protest $200,000. The figure says "Wherefore hast thou smitten thine Ass? Behold I went out to Protest thee, because thy way is perverse before me!!" An ass carrying a man and a sack with the words Specie Currency Circulating Medium replies to the figure, "Am not I thine Ass upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day?" The man ontop the talking Ass wields a cane with the word Veto on it and says to the figure, "Because thou hast mocked me, I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I veto thee!!" The man also has part of his garment labeled Farewell Address. A man walking behind him with a bulge in his pocket labeled $300,000 says, "I shall tread in the footsteps of my illustrious predecessor." Français&#160;: Caricature de 1837 présentant Andrew Jackson essayant de chevaucher un âne têtu (jeu de mot "Jackass" - Jackson) représentant son parti, suivi par Van Buren. C'est la première représentation d'un âne comme symbole du Parti démocrate.
context_page_description: 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.
  The central issue facing President Van Buren was the Panic of 1837, a sustained economic downturn that began just weeks into his presidency. Van Buren opposed any direct federal government intervention and cut back federal spending to maintain a balanced budget. He also presided over the establishment of the independent treasury system, a series of government vaults that replaced banks as the repository of federal funds. Van Buren continued the Indian removal policies of the Jackson administration, as thousands of Native Americans were resettled west of the Mississippi River during his presidency.
context_section_description: On May 10, 1837, some important state banks in New York, running out of hard currency reserves, suddenly refused to convert paper money into gold or silver. Other financial institutions throughout the nation quickly followed suit, marking the start of a financial crisis that would become known as the Panic of 1837. The panic was followed by a five-year depression in which numerous banks failed and unemployment reached record highs.
  Van Buren blamed the economic collapse on greedy business and financial institutions, as well as on the over extension of credit by U.S. banks. Whig leaders in Congress, meanwhile, blamed Democratic economic policies, especially the 1836 Specie Circular. That policy had required the use of specie (coins), rather than paper money, in the purchase of government-held lands, and had had the effect of transferring specie from Eastern banks to Western banks and undermining confidence in banknotes. Whigs also blamed Jackson's dismantling of the Second Bank of the United States, thereby allowing state banks to engage in lending and the printing of paper money without effective regulation. Another contributing factor to the panic was the sudden contraction of English credit, which had helped to finance a period of strong economic growth since 1830.
caption: The modern balaam and his ass, an 1837 caricature placing the blame for the Panic of 1837 and the perilous state of the banking system on outgoing President Andrew Jackson, shown riding a donkey, while President Martin Van Buren comments approvingly.
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