Van Buren and Sectional Issues

With varying measures of success, Martin Van Buren attempted to follow a moderate approach on matters of regional concern, but won little public support for these actions. Notable events included the following:

• He continued Jackson’s Seminole War in the Everglades, but offended Northerners who feared that Florida was being prepared for statehood as a slave state
• He actively opposed the annexation of Texas, realizing that sectional passions would be ignited; this angered proslavery forces in the South
• He completed Jackson’s removal policy of the Native Americans in the Southeast; in 1838-39 the Cherokees were forced to move westward along the “Trail of Tears.”