till, sending it to England; that it was a monopoly which had
given millions of the people's money to a few men, and that it was then
proposed to continue that monopoly. So certain were Clay and Biddle that
they would defeat the President that they circulated at the expense of
the Bank thirty thousand copies of this remarkable document. Biddle
declared that Jackson was like "a chained panther, biting the bars of
his cage." Webster and John Quincy Adams, taking counsel of their hopes,
declared that the old man in the White House was in his dotage and at
the end of his career.

A remarkable campaign ensued. While South Carolina prepared to put into
effect its remedy of state intervention, the West and the lower South
united, as in 1828, against the East. The gubernatorial contest in
Kentucky, which came in August, showed that Clay had not regained his
former hold on that State. From midsummer to November every effort was
made to break the power of Jackson, but to no avail. Without the planter
support of the older South the President proved stronger than he had
been four years before with it; the plain people were now more of a unit
than they had ever been before, though many of their number still voted
for the industrial or planter interests. The outcome surprised all
parties. Jackson received 219 electoral votes, while Clay received only
49. The popular majority over all other candidates, including William
Wirt and John Floyd, for whom the Calhoun party of South Carolina cast
its vote, was more than 125,000. No President has since received such a
large proportion of the suffrages of the people. Only one Western State,
Kentucky, supported Henry Clay; while Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York
gave Jackson larger majorities than ever. The alliance of the West and
the up-country held together in spite of the untoward circumstances.

The significance of the election was that the President could rely upon
the people in a fight with Congress; it was the first appeal to the
country made over the heads of the national legislature. To this
triumphant President, Calhoun and his ardent nullifiers must refer their
case; the Bank would also have to reckon with a much stronger man than
its spokesmen had contemplated.

Without awaiting the results of the election, Calhoun, Hayne, and their
allies called South Carolina into special convention to consider the
state of the Union. The nullification program was carried by safe
majorities, des