Hi Gang,   I learned about the 1837 Depression at the Migration Seminar at the KHS this past week. Alot of people moved west because they lost everything. I never knew about this and it caught my attention, and I was thinking about it just now and did an internet search and I came up with this site........ http://www.kusd.edu/schools/lance/platinum/banaszynski/civil_war_2002/time_line_links_2002/1837_depression_of.html The Depression of 1837 was the worst depression in American history to that time, causing financial ruin and misery to millions. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed and thousands lost their land. It occurred because of Jackson's destruction of the Second National Bank of the U.S. He ordered the withdrawal of all federal funds from the bank, and when the bank was closed, credit collapsed. To ensure that the U.S. Treasury would always be full, in 1836 Jackson issued a law that federal lands be purchased with gold and silver rather than paper money. This was known as specie circular. In May 1837, New York banks suspended gold and silver payments on their bank notes because they did not have enough gold and silver in reserve to cover all the notes that panicked investors were trying to cash in. The Depression of 1837 occurred shortly after Martin Van Buren took office. Declaring that the panic was due to recklessness in business and over expansion of credit, Van Buren devoted himself to maintaining the meeting of financial obligations. He opposed the creation of a new bank of the U.S. and placed government funds in state banks. On May 15, 1837 Van Buren called a special session of Congress. At that time, the central government was not expected to assist individual members of society. In Van Buren's message to the special session he stated, "Those who look to the action of this government for specific aid to the citizen to relieve embarrassments arising from losses by revulsion in commerce and credit, lose sight of the ends for which it was created, and the powers with which it is clothed. It was established to give security to us all. It was not intended to confer special favors on individuals. The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for the general prosperity." Martin Van Buren believed in Thomas Jefferson's idea that the government should play the smallest possible role in American life. Van Buren asked Congress to establish an independent treasury system by which the government would build its own vaults in leading cities around the U.S. The government would deposit its revenues in these vaults, where they would be stored until needed. This would eliminate problems created by the use of federal money by state banks. Congress passed the law establishing the Independent Treasury System on July 4, 1840.Some say that the Civil War was fought only over slavery, but the structure of society and economy also played a big roll in the war. There was great disparity between northern and southern economies. The clash between the agricultural South and the industrial North was a significant contributing factor in the Civil War.GROUP 1: SARAH AND ALICIAhttp://www.ashp.cuny.edu/video/d-era.htmlhttp://www.americanheritage.com/AMHER/2001/03/busin ess.shtmlhttp://www.westga.edu/~bquest/2000/antebellum.htmlRETURN TO STUDENTS OF HISTORY PAGE Lynda <FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMIL