| Benton’s Bullion Bar | |
|---|---|
|
Origin |
Thomas Hart Benton |
|
Type |
Gold Specie Bar |
|
Effects |
Bipartisan support for efforts regarding expansion |
|
Downsides |
Irritates constituents and opponents equally |
|
Activation |
Unknown |
|
Section |
|
| [Source] | |
Origin[]
Thomas Hart Benton (March 14, 1782 - April 10, 1858), nicknamed "Old Bullion", was an American politician, attorney, soldier, and longtime United States Senator from Missouri. A member of the Democratic Party, he was an architect and champion of westward expansion by the United States, a cause that became known as Manifest Destiny. Benton served in the Senate from 1821 to 1851, becoming the first member of that body to serve five terms. He called for the annexation of the Republic of Texas, which was accomplished in 1845. He pushed for compromise in the partition of Oregon Country with the British and supported the 1846 Oregon Treaty, which divided the territory along the 49th parallel. He also authored the first Homestead Act, which granted land to settlers willing to farm it.
Though he owned slaves, Benton came to oppose the institution of slavery after the Mexican-American War, and he opposed the Compromise of 1850 as too favorable to pro-slavery interests. This stance damaged Benton's popularity in Missouri, and the state legislature denied him re-election in 1851. Benton won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1852 but was defeated for re-election in 1854 after he opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Benton's son-in-law, John C. Frémont, won the 1856 Republican Party nomination for president, but Benton voted for James Buchanan and remained a loyal Democrat until his death in 1858.
Benton was an unflagging advocate for "hard money", that is gold coin (specie) or bullion as money,as opposed to paper money "backed" by gold as in a "gold standard". "Soft" (i.e. paper or credit) currency, in his opinion, favored rich urban Easterners at the expense of the small farmers and tradespeople of the West. He proposed a law requiring payment for federal land in hard currency only, which was defeated in Congress but later enshrined in an executive order, the Specie Circular, by Jackson (1836). His position on currency earned him the nickname Old Bullion.
Effects[]
Makes user feel positively inclined to matters relating to expansion, such as physically attaining more resources (i.e. land, wealth distribution). Their views will often be in favor to growth but also capable of being rejected, usually if they reasonably doubt the process would be beneficial or morally correct. Their behavior often balances others within their constant presence to compromise their own desires into reasonable queries. It also has the misfortune of causing those same actors to be oft annoyed by the user, making them squabble when in direct interaction with another or the user.