book. The miniature he always wore next to his heart suspended around his neck by a strong, black cord. The last thing he did every night, before lying down to rest, was to read in that book, with the picture under his eyes."*

*Dyer, Life of Jackson.

CHAPTER XII

THE WHIG PARTY IN TENNESSEE

With Andrew Jackson's second election to the presidency of the United States, Tennessee state politics became national politics. From this time on down to the Civil War the chief issues in nearly every state campaign were national rather than state. The principal cause of this change was the opposition that developed in Tennessee to some of the policies of President Jackson.

It was at this time that the Whig party came into existence in Tennessee. From the time Thomas Jefferson became president of the United States in 1800 down to the entrance of Jackson into national politics, there was only one political party in the country, and this was the Democratic party. The Whig party came into existence through opposition to President Jackson.

David Crockett, a noted Tennessean, has sometimes been called the founder of the Whig party. Crockett had fought with Jackson in his Indian wars; but as a member of the Tennessee legislature in 1823 voted against Jackson for the United States senate. He was elected to Congress while Jackson was president, and in Congress strongly opposed some of Jackson's policies. This led to Crockett's defeat.

David Crockett was born in East Tennessee in 1786. His parents were very poor, and as a boy he had a hard struggle. He attended school less than six months altogether. After he left home to make his own living he learned that his father was indebted to a farmer in the neighborhood to a considerable amount. Without the knowledge of his father, he volunteered to work for the farmer for six months to pay his father's debt. At the end of the six months he went home and surprised his father by presenting him a receipt in full for the debt.

When he was married, he could hardly read and knew virtually nothing about public affairs. He says in his autobiography that when he was elected to the Tennessee legislature he did not know the meaning of "government" or "judiciary." When he heard some one speak of "judiciary," he determined to find out the meaning of the word after he got to the legislature. He moved from East Tennessee to Giles County and later moved to Obion County. He went to the legislature from Giles County, but was living in Obion when he was elected to Congress. He was a very skillful hunter, and was noted far and near as a "bear hunter." He was first elected to Congress in 1829. On account of his opposition to President Jackson he was defeated in 1831; but was elected again in 1833. He was again defeated in 1835. He attracted national attention in Congress, and developed into a representative of force. After his second defeat, he shouldered his rifle and

started for Texas, which at that time had a small population and was struggling to free herself from Mexico. He went to Texas for the purpose of helping the Texans gain their independence. When he reached Texas, he found a small body of patriotsless than two hundred-fortified in a building called the Alamo located within the limits of the present city of San Antonio. Crockett with a small number who accompanied him joined them. They were surrounded by several thousand Mexicans under command of Santa Ana. The Texans refused to surrender and decided to fight to the last. Every man in the Alamo was slain by the Mexicans. Crockett is said to have done the work of ten men in defending the fort, and was one of the last to be killed.

The fate of the brave band at the Alamo fired the whole of Texas for revenge; and as they went out to meet the army of Santa Ana led by the brave Sam Houston, another Tennessean, the watchword of the soldiers was "Remember the Alamo."

Texas was largely settled by Tennesseans in the beginning, and her early history is really a part of Tennessee history.

The opposition to some of President Jackson's policies became pronounced in Tennessee during his second term, and was largely due to the fact that he selected Martin Van Buren of New York to succeed him as president of the United States. Many of the Tennesseans of that day wished to see Hugh Lawson White, a distinguished Tennessean, succeed Jackson, and they felt that Jackson should give his sup