Questions exist about Tom due to lack of documentation. Reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877, ending with a quick deal that pulled troops out of the south. Approximately 450,000 enslaved people were moved to the lower south in this manner between 1810 to 1860. Enslavement must be accounted for. The author, Major Wilson,focuses on the 1837 recession which dominated Van Buren's Presidency. No diary or journal exists, and few personal letters have survived. https://www.grunge.com/41138/worst-presidents-american-history For such a small, rural agricultural village, this statistic is startling. The Free Soil Party's main issue was opposition to the extension of slavery to the new Western territories. After leaving the presidency, Van Buren worked to restore his image and even made another run for the presidency in 1848 on the Free-Soilers ticket. Solomon Northrup, whose experience appears in 12 Years a Slave, described these pens as being “within the very shadow of the Capitol.” President Van Buren enjoyed daily riding excursions around the city, but it is unknown how aware he was of their existence. 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. Little had changed in Kinderhook since he left in 1808, with wife Hannah and firstborn Abraham, for the bustling town of Hudson to practice law, except in one respect - slavery. Martin van Buren was the Vice President of the United States while all of this was occurring. However, Van Buren relied on the labor of enslaved people for domestic service while serving as Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson, as well as during his presidency. While his time in office … The 1848 election effectively marked the end of Van Buren's active political career. Van Buren headed a splinter group—the Free-Soil Party—comprised of dissatisfied Democrats, Whigs who opposed their party's nominee, General Zachary Taylor, and members of the anti-slavery Liberty Party. The national census from 1790 – 1820 shows Kinderhook held the second, and at times the third, largest population of enslaved people outside Brooklyn, New York. Martin Van Buren wanted his home and farm to be his legacy, not his career. Van Buren, like Jefferson, believed the federal government held no authority to interfere with what a state decided for themselves, including the institution of slavery. Van Buren believed the Constitution exempted Black people of African descent, enslaved and free, from its protections, rights and benefits. As a result, Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party snatched victory from incumbent President John Quincy Adams. The primary problem was the economic recession that struck soon after he entered office. Sadly, Mrs. Dupuy lost her case and remained enslaved until 1840 when Clay emancipated Mrs. Dupuy and her daughter. In fact, over the next four years he emerged as the favorite for the Democratic nomination in 1844. The stringers delivered and sold them to slave traders who would auction them to cotton and sugar plantation owners. A national financial catastrophe prevented his chances for re-election, but enslavement became the issue that shaped and defined his legacy. The Free-Soil Party remained intact until 1854 and the formation of the Republican Party. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Africans days after Van Buren left office. Shortly after Martin Van Buren took office, the US was in a serious economic crisis. 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