The Life of the Characters in Martin Van Buren's Works

The ancestral home of the Van Buren family is in the village of Bimason in Helland, the Netherlands. The earliest American settler was Martin Van Buren's great-grandfather Cornelius, Peter von Mei Sen, who came to North America as a slave of free contract in 163 1. At the time of registration, he mistakenly wrote his hometown as Bren Malsen, and since then Van Buren has been regarded as a surname. Van Buren's father is Abraham Van Buren (1737 ~ 18 17), a small planter and innkeeper with six slaves. Although old Van Buren did not enter politics, he was very concerned about current affairs. He took part in the anti-British struggle during the First Revolution and became a follower of democracy and the Party after the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC). Van Buren's mother Maria Hos Van Allen Van Buren (1747 ~ 18 18) also has her ancestral home in the Netherlands. Abraham Van Buren is her second husband.

On February 5th, Martin Van Buren was born in Kinderhook Village, New York. Dutch is the first language of Van Buren's family, so Van Buren occasionally speaks English with a Dutch accent. Young Van Buren's family is not well-off, and he often borrows money to live. Van Buren often helps his father move goods or do odd jobs after school. Because of his short stature, his nickname is Xiao Pubao. In the eyes of little Van Buren, his father's hotel is a colorful world and a place frequented by big people. They drink, chat and talk about politics here. At that time, some famous politicians often had political debates here. Here, little Van Buren was initially influenced by politics and fell in love with this profession. Although he was not involved in this argument, he gradually became a staunch anti-federalist.

Van Buren's earliest education was the village-run school in his hometown. The shabby schoolhouse and the chilly bell accompanied him through his childhood and adolescence. Later, he studied at Kinderhook College for some time. At that time, lawyers were an enviable profession and a shortcut to wealth and career. In order to change his fate as soon as possible, Van Buren began to study law at the age of fourteen, and read a lot of famous books on law and literature and history, laying a solid professional foundation. In order to live a self-reliant life, he often went out to work during the whole school period. Afraid of being looked down upon, Van Buren paid great attention to neatness and propriety, even though life was very tight. This habit later became a handle for him to be ridiculed by his political opponents. Van Buren became a practicing lawyer at the age of 20.

Van Buren's legal practice mainly covers Kinderhook and its vicinity. Because of his profound knowledge, outstanding eloquence and mastery of lawyer business, his lawyer work is very successful. During this period, he began to step into politics, became a follower of local democracy and party leader Clinton Livingston, and borrowed money to help the party leader election.

Van Buren got married on February 2 1, 1807. The bride is Miss Hannah Hawes, who is also descended from Holland. She looks pure and lovely, treats people warmly and sincerely, and is a primary school classmate with Van Buren. The two hit it off, their married life was very harmonious, and * * * raised four children. From 65438 to 0808, Van Buren became a probate judge in Columbia County. His professional level is very high, his work attitude is serious, and he is fully qualified for this job.

18 12, Van Buren was elected as a New York senator by Democrats and Republicans and became a staunch supporter and admirer of President Madison. He agreed with a series of measures taken by the government to develop the economy, actively safeguarded the interests of debtors, and advocated that the state should intervene in fraudulent activities in the banking industry. He made many speeches in Parliament, firmly supported the 18 12 war against Britain, and later supported the diplomatic actions taken by the government to end the war. At this time, the competition between new york's political democrats and the two factions within the party is fierce. Van Buren became the attorney general of the state with the support of the Ramtail faction, but he lost power in the party competition three years later. Together with a group of local politicians, he also controlled the political machine in new york and tried to manipulate local election politics. At about this time, his political image was artificially distorted, and his political opponents attacked him for being cunning and fickle, playing politics and giving him some indecent nicknames, such as Little Magician and Kinderhook Red Fox.

182 1 year, Van Buren was elected as a senator. Although his political opponents poured a lot of sewage on him, and many stories of his evasiveness and success circulated in the political arena, his colleagues also noticed that he was not only quick-thinking and well-managed, but also not a hypocrite in have it both ways. Van Buren still adheres to the basic idea of Jeffersonism: a thrifty government whose power is strictly limited. Therefore, in the Senate, he soon became the successor and defender of Jefferson's democratic tradition. He reiterated Jefferson's democratic principles and ideals, opposed democratic political ideas and the merger of some members of the party and federalists, and opposed some measures implemented by the government to damage state rights. He also lashed out at the Supreme Court and criticized its review practice.

1824 general election, there are many candidates and the situation is complicated. Finally, people's attention focused on five people: john caldwell calhoun, john quincy adams, william harris crawford, henry clay and andrew jackson. Van Buren was a supporter of Crawford, but the latter withdrew from the competition because of a stroke. Little Adams stood out and was elected president, carrying out the nationalist policy. In Congress, Van Buren provoked the banner of anti-nationalism and criticized Adams Jr.' s domestic and foreign policies, which made it difficult for him to make a difference, while Van Buren's political prestige climbed all the way. 1828 After the general election, Van Buren fully supported andrew jackson, thinking that he was a faithful successor of Jeffersonism. He spared no effort to lobby around, netting all kinds of opposition forces of President Adams Jr. and forming a strong campaign camp.

From 65438 to 0829, Van Buren became the governor of new york. During this period, he promulgated laws to curb bank fraud and took corresponding safeguard measures. But Van Buren's main purpose as governor was to help Jackson. Through his efforts, Jackson won the election in New York State, paving the way for his election as president. Jackson immediately appointed Van Buren as the first 10 Secretary of State of the United States. In the diplomatic field, Van Buren has made some important achievements. Through negotiations with Britain, Britain opened direct trade between the West Indies and the United States. Van Buren also sent people to negotiate with the Turkish side and concluded a bilateral treaty beneficial to the United States; He also negotiated with Mexico to buy Texas.

In domestic affairs, Van Buren was President Jackson's right-hand man and helped Jackson solve many problems and crises. He supported Jackson to replace a large number of officials appointed by former President Adams Jr., during which the Eton incident caused a storm in the city. Through hard work, Van Buren finally broke the personnel deadlock of cabinet members caused by the incident, which made his relationship with the president closer. In order to win the president's trust, Van Buren, 50, also learned to ride a horse to accompany Jackson when he walked his horse. In return, Jackson chose Van Buren as his successor.

Vice President calhoun was both Jackson's running mate and his political heir, but his position was gradually replaced by Van Buren. Calhoun didn't want to suffer such a stupid loss, and he and his henchmen were also looking for revenge. After behind-the-scenes brewing, in 183 1, Van Buren resigned as Secretary of State and was ordered to go to Britain in order to make Jackson completely adjust his cabinet. Taking advantage of the political shock caused by this adjustment, calhoun's followers rejected Van Buren's appointment in the Senate. Calhoun proudly declared: Van Buren is completely finished! But in fact, calhoun's move turned people's sympathy to Van Buren, thus creating conditions for his comeback.

Soon, Van Buren was nominated as the vice presidential candidate and took office at 1833. As vice president, Van Buren fully supported Jackson's various administrative measures and continued to play the role of firefighting for the president on some key issues, which further strengthened Jackson's idea of helping him become president. Although Van Buren doesn't fully agree with Jackson's ideas on some issues, he will always help the president as long as he makes a decision. Especially in the hard struggle with the bank, it was because of Van Buren's public support that Jackson succeeded.

President Jackson kept his promise. According to his arrangement, the Democratic Party confirmed Van Buren as its presidential candidate as early as May 1835. It was the Whigs who opposed it. At this time, the Whig Party was just formed, with unclear program and loose organization. Its strategy is to let several famous Whig candidates run in their respective spheres of influence and ban Van Buren at different levels. But in the United States, the important factors that make a president are the advantages of political organization and campaign strategy. Van Buren made full use of the mature organizational structure of the Democratic Party and tried to please the South and the North on some issues of common concern (such as federal economic policy and how to treat slavery), so he successfully won the general election (but the number of voters on both sides was very close). 1837 On March 4th, Van Buren became the eighth president of the United States. The result of the election made him realize that the opposition is powerful, and the winner must remain modest and calm, so at the inauguration ceremony, he tried his best to make Jackson the object of cheering, while he appeared as a holdout.

When Van Buren came to power, the whole United States was prosperous and peaceful. But two months later, an economic panic quickly swept across the country. The severe depression caused by economic panic has caused people's life embarrassment and social order turmoil. Van Buren blamed the main cause of the crisis on the American banking system. He is committed to maintaining the solvency of the country and the government, opposing the establishment of new banks in the United States, prohibiting government funds from being invested in state banks, and striving to establish an independent financial system to handle government revenue and expenditure.

1In September, 837, Van Buren put forward the independent treasury law, suggesting the establishment of an independent treasury system, in which the independent treasury is in charge of government funds, so as to ensure financial independence and prevent some interest groups from profiting from the banking industry. However, due to strong opposition, the bill did not become law until 1840. In order to support the national finance, Van Buren also requested to issue10 million US dollars of treasury bills. However, Van Buren's measures were not implemented quickly, and the action of Congress was extremely slow. The opposition party took the opportunity to attack the government's corruption and incompetence, ignoring the lower class, and the Democratic Party also split, making the Van Buren government difficult. However, Van Buren still acted firmly according to his established policy, and this alone cannot be said that he is an unprincipled person.

During the economic crisis, the contradiction between labor and capital became more acute. Ordinary American workers not only have long working hours and poor working conditions, but also have low wages and benefits for government workers, so they constantly protest against strikes and put pressure on the government. Facing the general social crisis, in March 1840, the Van Buren government agreed to shorten the daily working hours to ten hours.

In Van Buren's era, the issue of slavery has become a prominent issue affecting national stability and unity. In this regard, Van Buren's purpose is to try his best to ease the contradiction between the North and the South and maintain the status quo. On the Texas issue, he managed to stop the merger plan, because it would lead to the expansion of slave areas and the division of the country, so he was attacked by slave owners in the South. However, because he continued to implement Jackson's Indian policy, he forced Seminoles to move from Florida to the west, which was strongly opposed by the anti-slavery side.

In diplomacy, Van Buren was superior to all politicians at that time. He showed great composure and sophistication in the border crisis in Canada. When the Caroline incident happened, Van Buren had just taken office. Some Canadian insurgents who opposed British rule retreated to niagara river after failing to attack Toronto. The Americans who sympathized with them immediately sent rescue boats to deliver supplies to them. One of the ships named "Caroline" was intercepted by the British, and the ship was destroyed in the conflict, causing American casualties. In his public speech, President Van Buren condemned the atrocities of killing civilians and sent troops to strengthen vigilance, but at the same time announced that the United States would not interfere in Canada's internal affairs. 1839, there was a dispute between the United States and Canada in the undefined areas of Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, and war was imminent. However, Van Buren once again declared that the United States remained neutral and finally avoided the conflict through peace talks.

In the severe economic depression, the United States ushered in the presidential election of 1840. This is the most noisy and ostentatious election in the United States since the election, full of political scandals. Both sides of the campaign show their magical powers and ingenuity, but not on the campaign platform, but use songs, posters and various decorations for publicity and speculation, and even swindle. The whole activity was like a farce. Divisions within the party and political scandals have seriously damaged the image of Democrats, while Whigs criticized Van Buren for ruining the national economy, saying that he was a corrupt aristocrat who lived a luxurious life and ignored people's lives, and defeated Van Buren! Singing resounded through the streets. Under the banner of william henry harrison, the anti-Van Buren forces exaggerated to the general public that Harrison was their leader, a man who lived in a log cabin and drank hard liquor. As a result, cabins and spirits became the symbol of Whig campaign. Although the Whigs' methods were vulgar, they won cheers and countless votes. Democrats have always believed that Whigs are invincible, and they have been planning the next presidential election since the day they lost the election. Van Buren is still their favorite candidate. So at the beginning of the 1844 campaign, the situation was very favorable to Van Buren. But then Van Buren made a wrong move and lost the game. He formed a campaign alliance with Whigs, included opposition to the immediate annexation of Texas in the plan, and published an open letter. Van Buren did this because he was afraid that the annexation of Texas would increase the number of slave States and lead to national disputes. However, this move not only made him lose the votes of southerners, but also made him lose his position, which caused a quarrel within the Democratic Party.

1at the democratic nomination meeting in may, 844, the factions supporting annexation came prepared. Van Buren was far ahead in previous rounds of voting, but then the situation reversed. Due to the activities of opposition forces, a large number of votes fell to james polk of Tennessee, which made him nominated and eventually elected president. This is the first dark horse in the history of American elections, and the first president to be elected with less than half of the election votes.

After taking office, President Polk appointed Van Buren as the ambassador to Britain, but he didn't accept it because he didn't think he had completely failed politically and was still looking for a chance to make a comeback. In the later period of Polk's administration, the United States entered a new crisis period, especially the domestic struggle over slavery became increasingly fierce, so all political parties invariably invited people with military background as presidential candidates. The Whigs introduced the hero of the Mexican invasion, General Zachary Taylor, while the Democrats first introduced the hero of the 18 12 war, lewis cass. This nomination was strongly supported by President Polk. At this time, the Democratic Party of new york has split into two opposing groups-the burning warehouse group headed by Van Buren and the old school supported by Polk. Barn nike blazer firmly believed that only by restricting slavery could the Union be saved, and opposed the nomination of Cass as the Democratic presidential candidate. So they joined forces with the Liberal Democratic Party to nominate Van Buren as the presidential candidate. This nomination is a heavy blow to Cass and the Democratic Party. Cass lost a large number of votes of his own party members, thus making Taylor, a Whig who is not a politician, elected as the new president of the United States. This was Van Buren's last appearance in politics, and he retired from politics.

After retirement, Van Buren lived in seclusion at Lindenwald Manor. This is the property he bought during his presidency, not far from his birthplace. He likes to be with his elders in his hometown, and he prefers to take care of farmland and fish alone. At the same time, he also wrote a book, The Origin and Process of American Political Parties, which was published after his death. In his later years, Van Buren traveled all over Europe, where he met the Queen of England and the Pope. After the outbreak of the civil war, although he did not completely give up his moderate stance on slavery, he fully supported the government's civil war against the secession of the South. 1862 In the early morning of July 24th, he died at Lindenwald Manor. At the age of 79.