1On December 10, 1838, Archibald Williams introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives. The House decided against a motion to table the resolution, by a vote of 35 yeas
to 50 nays, Abraham Lincoln voting nay. The House then amended the resolution by addressing it to the Committee
on Finance, of which Lincoln was a member. The Committee on Finance reported back
on December 12, and introduced a different resolution.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G.A., 1st sess., 52-53.
2On December 10, 1838, the House amended the resolution by striking out “Judiciary”
and inserting “Finance” in lieu thereof.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G.A., 1st sess., 53.
3In July 1836, by executive order, President Andrew Jackson issued the “Specie Circular,” which required all federal government revenue to be
collected only in specie, gold and silver coins instead of bank paper. The order immediately
raised the ire of Whigs like Henry Clay, who argued that it was unsound economic policy and indicative of Jackson’s abuse
of power. While Congress repealed the circular in May 1838, the debate over specie and paper money continued,
and it was usually a highly charged political issue.
Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson, 3 vols. (New York: Harper & Row, 1984), 3:327-29; Jessica M. Lepler, The Many Panics of 1837: People, Politics, and the Creation of of a Transatlantic
Financial Crisis (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 5, 66, 107, 220.
Printed Transcription, 2 page(s), Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois at their First Session (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 52-53