the creation of a state library. These measures were also rejected. Slaughter's governorship was further complicated by the financial panic of 1819, and he spent the majority of his term working to stabilize that state's economy. Politicians of the day generally divided into those who favored measures favorable to debtors – called the "relief" position or party – and those who insisted that creditors be paid in a timely manner – called the "anti-relief" position or party. On December 16, 1819, the General Assembly passed a law requiring a six-month moratorium on the collection of debts. Slaughter, an anti-relief partisan, vetoed the bill, but relief party legislators held a large majority in the General Assembly thanks to the previous fall's elections, and overrode the veto. The following February, the General Assembly passed an even more liberal stay law, preventing the collection of debts for one year if the creditor would accept payments in the devalued notes of the Bank of Kentucky and two years if they demanded payment in specie or specie-backed notes. These actions were a precursor to the Old Court-New Court controversy. While Slaughter clashed with the General Assembly over potential solutions to the crisis at the state level, he adopted a strong states' rights policy at the national level. He challenged the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States and the Supreme Court's ruling that individual states could not tax branches of the Bank. Religious leadership and later life Following his term as governor, Slaughter failed in a bid to return to the state senate in 1821, but was re-elected to the state House of Representatives in 1823, serving a single term. During this term, he continued to support measures to improve education. He voted to ask Congress for aid for the Deaf and Dumb School in the state, and opposed redirecting fines and forfeitures earmarked for the state's "Seminaries of Learning" into the state treasury. He was also named to a joint committee to investigate the use of state appropriations to Transylvania University. Concurrent with his political career, Slaughter took a leading role in the affairs of his church. He was born into the tradition of the Church of England, but soon became associated with the Baptist congregation at Shawnee Run. He served as a messenger from this congregation to the various associations with which it was connected for over thirty years. One such association