The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk
If you believe you should have access to this document, click here to Login.
| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC01025 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to 1844 |
| Title | Andrew Jackson to Amos Kendall discussing the Nullification Crisis and his own general health |
| Date | 26 April 1844 |
| Author | Jackson, Andrew (1767-1845) |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Writes to the former Postmaster General, also Jackson's close friend and biographer. Jackson relates how he learned that nullifiers secretly sent an agent to Great Britain for aid during the Nullification Crisis of 1832. "... the nullifiers of the south having sent a secrite agent to Great Britain to obtain aid in carrying into effect their designs against the Union." He details the source of his information so that it might be enclosed with his papers by Kendall. Without naming his former vice president, John C. Calhoun, Jackson accuses him and other nullifiers of being traitors and refers to their plan as, "... their wicked plan, to destroy the Union." Prophecies his own death: "My health is very bad, my affliction & debility increasing, & unless a change soon for the better, I cannot hope to live long." Also predicts that Henry Clay will lose the presidential election over the issue of the annexation of Texas, "The people of the west feel great solicitude for the annexation of Texas -- This will destroy Clay even in Ky." Written from Jackson's home, Hermitage, near Nashville, Tennessee. |
| Subjects | President Nullification Global History and Civics Government and Civics Secession Vice President Treason Health and Medical Death Texas Westward Expansion Politics |
| People | Jackson, Andrew (1767-1845) Kendall, Amos (1789-1869) Calhoun, John Caldwell (1782-1850) |
| Place written | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Theme | The Presidency; Government & Politics; Health & Medicine; Foreign Affairs; Banking & Economics; Industry; Westward Expansion |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859 |
| Additional Information | The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson over the issue of protective tariffs passed by the federal government in 1828 and 1832 that benefited trade in the northern states but caused economic hardships for Southern states. In response, a number of South Carolina citizens endorsed the states' rights principle of "nullification," which was enunciated by John C. Calhoun, Jackson's vice president until 1832. South Carolina adopting the Ordinance of Nullification, which declared both the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void within state borders. Senator Henry Clay mediated a compromise between South Carolina and the federal government in 1833 but the crisis deepened the divide between the north and the south and planted the seeds for the Civil War. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |
| Transcript | Show/hide |