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'^^UNITED STATES OF AMERICA C„ 



HANDBOOKS for Students and General Readers* 

HISTORY OF 

AMERICAN POLITICS 

BY 

ALEXANDER JOHNSTON, LL.D. 

LATE PROFESSOR IN PRINCETON COLLEGE. 

FOURTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED 
BY 

WILLIAM M. SLOANE, Ph.D., L.H.D. 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE IN PRINCETON COLLEGE. 




NEW YORK 
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 



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51172 



Copyright, 1890, 



HENRY HOLT & CO. 




THE MERSHON COMPANY PRESS, 
RAHWAY, N. J. 



PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 

This edition of what is now a standard text-book 
in academies and colleges throughout the land ap- 
pears ten years after the first. These ten years 
had elevated the author from obscurity to a posi- 
tion of the highest authority as a historian when 
he died in July of last year. This book, which not 
only created but sustained the ever-increasing repu- 
tation of Professor Johnston, should therefore stand 
as the writer left it. Accordingly, in bringing it up 
to date, the editor has treated the text with rever- 
ence, and has sought in the few additions made to 
preserve the spirit and plan of the original volume. 

Princeton, May i, 1890. 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

This book was first published in March, 1879. 
Since that time corrections have been made for each 
of the eight times that the book has been put to 
press, but these have been comparatively so unim- 
portant that it has not at any time seemed fitting to 
call the result a new edition. It would hardly be 
proper, however, to allow this issue to go out ex- 
cept as a new edition. In it the whole book has 
iii 



iv Preface. 

been carefully revised and brought down to date ; 
detached portions have been rewritten ; the whole 
outline history from 1868 until 1881 has been given 
very much more fully than was possible while events 
were still uncertain ; and a new appendix, called for 
by many correspondents, has been added in the 
form of a list of the cabinets of the successive ad- 
ministrations, with the dates of appointment. 

For the guidance of readers who desire to study 
more fully the history of which this is an outline, a 
classified list of authorities is given below. 

The scope of the book will be sufficiently indi- 
cated by repeating the last paragraph of the preface 
to the first edition : 

"The design of the book is not to present the 
politics of the States, or to criticise party manage- 
ment, but to make our national political history 
easily available to young men. It is of interest to 
the whole republic that young citizens should be 
able to learn that true national party differences 
have a history and a recognized basis of existence, 
and should be prevented from following factitious 
party differences, contrived for personal objects by 
selfish men. If, for this purpose, this book shall be 
considered worthy to serve as an introduction to 
the larger works already in existence, its object will 
be accomplished." 

Norwalk, Conn., January 2, 1882. 



Preface. 



AUTHORITIES. 

Historical. — Bancroft's United States (to 1782) ; Pitkin's 
United States (to 1797) ; Hildreth's United States (to 1820) ; 
Hamilton's Republic of the United States ; Tucker's United 
States (to 1840) ; Hammond's Political History of New York 
(to 1840) ; von Hoist's United States (vol. 3, to 1850) ; Spen" 
cer's United States (to 1856) ; Benton's Debates of Congress 
(1789-1850) ; Appleton's Annual Cylopcedia (1861-1888) ; 
Statutes at Large ; Electoral Count ; Benton's Thirty Years' 
View (1820-50) ; North American Review, January, 1876 
(" Politics in America"); Draper's Civil War in America; 
Greeley's American Conflict (to 1865) ; Statesman's Manual 
(to 1858) ; Wilson's Rise and Fall of the Slave Power ; Lunt's 
Origin of the Late War ; Giddings's Rebellion. 

Biographical. — Marshall's Life of Washington ; Randall's 
Life of Jefferson ; Adams's Life of John Adams and Life of 
John Quincy Adams ; Rives's Life of Madison ; Jay's Life 
of John Jay ; Sparks's Life of Gouverneur Morris ; Austin's 
Life of Gerry ; Parton's Life of Burr and Life of Jackson ; 
Hammond's Life of Wright; Garland's Life of Randolph ; 
Colton's Life of Clay ; Curtis's Life of Webster; Schuckers's 
Life of Chase ; Pollard's Life of Jefferson Davis ; Raymond's 
Life of Lincoln ; Tyler's Life of Taney ; Barnes's Thirty- 
ninth and Fortieth Congresses ; Spencer's Life of T. F. Bay- 
ard ; Poore' s Political Register. 

Historical (Special Periods). — Lodge's English Colo- 
nies ; Frothingham's Rise of the Republic ; Curtis's History 
of the Constitution ; Jameson's Constitutional Convention; 
H. Adams's Documents Relating to New England Federalism ; 
Dwight's Hartford Convention ; Carey's Olive Branch ; Inger- 
soll's Second War with Great Britain ; Peter's Cherokee Case ; 
Gouge's Banking in the United States ; Stryker's American 
Register (1849-51) ; Cairnes's Slave Power ; Greeley's Slavery 
Restriction ; Chittenden's Peace Conference ; McPherson's His- 



vi Preface. 

tory of the Rebellion and History of the Reconstruction; Put- 
nam's Rebellion Record ; Whiting's War Powers ; Callan's 
Military Laws ; Eaton's Civil Service in Great Britain ; The 
Nation (1865-81). 

Strict Construction. — Van Buren's Origin of Political 
Parties; Capen's Democracy; Gillet's Democracy in the 
United States ; Jefferson's Writings ; Madison's Writings ; 
Woodbury's Writings ; Calhoun's Works ; Hunt's Life of 
Livingston ; Sedgwick's Political Writings of William Leg- 
gett ; Byrdsall's Loco-Foco Party ; Hamilton's Memoir of 
Rantoul ; Democratic Review; Harris's Political Conflict ; 
Buchanan* s Administration ; A. H. Stephens's War Between 
the States ; Centz's Republic of Republics. 

Loose, or Broad, Construction. — Hamilton's Works ; 
John Adams's Works ; Webster's Works ; Clay's Speeches ; 
Story's Commentaries ; Whig Review ; Ormsby's Whig Party ; 
Seward's Works ; Sumner's Works ; Creswell's Speeches of 
Henry Winter Davis ; Mulford's The Nation; Andrew's 
Handbook of the Constitution ; Farrar's Manual ; Tiffany's 
Constitutional Law ; Hurd's Theory of the United States Gov- 
ernment. 

Miscellaneous. — Iribune Almanac (1838-81); Cluskey's 
Political Text-book ; Greeley's Political Text-book of i860 ; 
Congressional Reports (particularly those on Kansas, Harper's 
Ferry y Covode Investigation, Impeachment of President John- 
son, Reconstruction , Ku-Klux Conspiracy, Credit Mobilier, 
Louisiana) ; Poore's Federal and State Constitutions ; Appen- 
dix D is to be credited to Spofford's American Almanac ; Ap- 
pendix H has been furnished by the various Departments. 



Additional. — Bancroft's History of the Constitution ; Mc- 
Master's History of the People of the United States ; Henry 
Adams's History of the United States ; John Fiske's American 
Political Ldeas and other works ; Lalor's Political Cyclopedia ; 
American Commonwealth Series ; American Statesman Series ; 



Preface. vii 

Scribner's Statistical Atlas ; Roosevelt's Naval History of the 
War of 1812 and Winning of the West ; the Histories of 
Schouler, Higginson, Eggleston, and Johnston ; Winsor's 
Narrative and Critical History ; H. H. Bancroft's History of 
the Pacific Coast ; Battles and Leaders of the Civil War ; 
Blaine's Twenty Years of Congress ; Personal Narratives of 
Grant, Sherman, McClellan, Hood, Beauregard, and Johnston. 



CONTENTS. 

Preface and Authorities, . . iii 

Introduction, . ..... i 

CHAPTER I. 

Origin of Political Parties in the United States. Formation 
of the Constitution of 1787, under the guidance of the 
Federal Party, ..... 3 

CHAPTER II. 

First Administration, i 789-1 793. Settlement of the 

government, and rise of the Republican party, . ig 

CHAPTER III. 

Second Administration, i 793-1 797. The political con- 
tests of Europe transferred to America. Success of 
the Federalists in the first national party contest, . 30 

CHAPTER IV. 

Third Administration, 1 797-1801. Continued success 
of the Federalists. Alien and Sedition Laws. Defeat 
of the Federalists. The disputed election of 1800, 44 

CHAPTER V. 

Fourth Administration, 1 801-1805. The Republican 

Party in Power. Purchase of Louisiana, . 55 



x Contents. 

CHAPTER VI. 
Fifth Administration, i 805-1 809. Continued decline 
of the Federal Party. The Napoleonic Wars. The 
Embargo, . . . . . .64 

CHAPTER VII. 
Sixth Administration, 1809-1813. War with England. 

Opposition to it by the Federalists, • • 73 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Seventh Administration, 1813-1817. Discontent in 

New England. The Hartford Convention. Peace, 8 1 

CHAPTER IX. 
Eighth Administration, 1817-1821. Disappearance of 
the Federal Party. Appearance of loose construction- 
ist Republicans. Purchase of Florida. The Slavery 
Question, and the Missouri Compromise of 1820, . 89 

CHAPTER X. 

Ninth Administration, 1821-1825. The Era of Good 
Feeling. Real existence of Parties. The disputed 
election of 1824, . . . . .98 

CHAPTER XI. 
Tenth Administration, 182 5-1 8 29. Formation of the 
National Republican and Democratic Parties. Suc- 
cess of the Democrats, .... 103 

CHAPTER XII. 
Eleventh Administration, 1829-1833. The Opposi- 
tion. Rotation in office. Nullification. The Na- 
tional Bank, ..... 109 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Twelfth Administration, 1833-1837. Removal of the 
Deposits. Success of the President. Slavery and 
the Anti-Slavery Society, . . . .123 



Contents. xi 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Thirteenth Administration, i 837-1 841. Panic of 
1837. Defeat of the Democrats. Appearance of an 
Abolition Party, ..... 133 
CHAPTER XV. 

Fourteenth Administration, 1 841-1845. The Whig 
Party in Power. Its disagreement with President 
Tyler. Success of the Democrats, and Annexation 
of Texas, ...... 140 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Fifteenth Administration, 1 845-1 849. The Demo- 
cratic Party in power. War with Mexico. The Sla- 
very Question revived as to territory acquired from 
Mexico. The Wilmot Proviso. The Formation of 
the Free Soil Party. The Whig Party evades the 
Slavery Question, ..... 149 
CHAPTER XVII. 

Sixteenth Administration, 1 849-1 853. The Whig 
Party in power. Adoption of Squatter Sovereignty 
by the Democrats. California. The Compromise of 
1850. Its acceptance by the Whig Convention, . 159 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Seventeenth Administration, 1853-1857. The Demo- 
cratic Party in power. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 
and the Repeal of the Compromise of 1820. Divi- 
sion of the Whig party. Rise of the Republican and 
the American Parties. Kansas, . . . 167 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Eighteenth Administration, 1857-1861. The Dred 
Scott Decision, and its Consequences. Southern 
Democrats reject Squatter Sovereignty. Division of 
the Democratic Party. Success of the Republicans. 
Secession, Conciliation, and attempted Compromise, 179 



xii Contents. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Nineteenth Administration, 1861-1865. The Repub- 
lican Party in Power. Civil War. Loose Construc- 
tionist Measures. The Democratic Party opposes the 
War and is defeated. Abolition of Slavery, . 197 

CHAPTER XXI, 

Twentieth Administration, 1865- 1869. Return of 
the seceding States to the Union. Reconstruction. 
Disagreement between Congress and the President. 
The Democratic Party opposes Reconstruction by 
Congress and is defeated, .... 207 
CHAPTER XXII. 

Twenty-first Administration, 1 869-1 873. Recon- 
struction by Congress accomplished, and the results 
of the War finally accepted by the Democratic Party. 
The " Liberal Movement." Success of the Republi- 
can Party, ...... 220 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Twenty-second Administration, 1873-1877. Disturb- 
ances in the South. The enforcement of Reconstruc- 
tion. The disputed Presidential Election of 1876, 234 
CHAPTER XXIV. 

Twenty-third Administration, 1877-1881. Ques- 
tions of Currency and Financial Legislation. The 
condition of the Civil Service, • . . 249 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Twenty-fourth Administration, 1881-1885. The 
Republican Party in Power. Scramble for Office. 
Civil Service. The Pendleton Act, . . 259 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Twenty-fifth Administration, 1885-1889., The 
Democratic Party in Power. Civil Service Commis- 
sion. Tariff-reform made a party issue. Growth of 
Corporations. Knights of Labor, . . 268 



Contents. xiii 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Twenty-sixth Administration, 1889-1893. The Re- 
publican Party in Power. McKinley Tariff Bill, 
'with Reciprocity. Chicago Columbian Exposition. 
Beginning of New Navy, .... 280 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Twenty-seventh Administration, 1893-1897. The 
Democratic Party in Power. Repeal of Sherman 
Silver Act and Federal Election Laws. Wilson 
Tariff Bill. Coal and Railroad Strikes. Venezuelan 
Boundary Dispute. Relations with Spain and Cuba, 290 

Appendix A. Articles of Confederation, . . 304 

Appendix B. The Constitution, . . .319 

Appendix C. Admission of the States, . . 348 

Appendix D. Summary of Popular and Electoral Votes 

in Presidential Elections, 1 789-1888, . . 349 

Appendix E. Population of the Sections, 1790-1860, 358 
Appendix F. Congressional Representation of the Sec- 
tions, 1790-1860, ..... 359 
Appendix G. The Sections in 1870, 1880 and 1890, . 360 
Appendix H. Cabinet Officers of the Administrations, 363 
Index, . 375 



INTRODUCTION. 

i. The government of the United States, in its 
original form (in 1777), was an extreme Democracy, 
whose controlling principle was the complete inde- 
pendence of separate communities. Those who 
opposed its change to a Representative Republic 
(in 1787) were generally distinguished afterwards 
by a desire that the Constitution then adopted 
should be construed or interpreted strictly accord 
ing to its terms, and tiat ingenious interpretations 
of its provisions should not give the Federal Gov- 
ernment any further stretch of power. The party 
which was thus founded, and which has retained 
the name of Democratic-Republican even to our 
own day, has therefore usually been called the 
Strict Constructionist party. 

2. On the other hand the successive parties which 
have opposed the Strict Constructionist view, and 
have endeavored to carry the government still fur- 
ther from its originally extreme democratic form, 
have generally been distinguished by a desire that 
1 



2 American Politics. 

the Constitution should be interpreted loosely and 
broadly, so as to give the Federal Government in- 
creased power in various matters of national impor- 
tance. They have therefore usually been called 
Loose Constructionist, or Broad Construc- 
tionist, parties. 1 Their policy has necessarily 
been one of attack, and each of them has, in the 
main, been successful in securing a general accept- 
ance by the whole country of the principle upon 
which its formation was based. 2 

3. This question of a strict or a loose construc- 
tion of the Constitution has always been at the 
root of legitimate national party differences in the 
United States. All other pretended distinctions 
have been either local and temporary, or selfish and 
misleading, and the general acceptance of any such 
party difference would mark an unfortunate decline 
in the political intelligence of the people. 

1 It must not be imagined, however, that any party has ever called itself 
41 The Strict Constructionist Party," or " The Loose Constructionist 
Party." These names are used as descriptions, not as titles. 

2 The Federalists succeeded in forming a stronger Central Government ; 
the Whigs in maintaining for the Central Government the power of making 
certain Internal Improvements at national expense ; and the Republicans 
in maintaining for the Central Government the power of abolishing Slavery 
(first in the Territories, and afterwards in the States also), of coercing a 
rebellious State, and of protecting the slaves when set free. The power of 
the Central Government to lay Protective Duties on imports, and to or- 
ganize a national banking system, was maintained for a time by the Whigs, 
and revived and carried into effect by the Republicans. 



CHAPTER I. 

ORIGIN OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE UNITED 
STATES. 

i. Political Parties in the United States had 
no real existence until the revolution which dis- 
solved allegiance to Great Britain. Most of the 
colonies were under royal or proprietary govern- 
ments, in some of which there was a deliberative 
assembly. But in none of these did the people 
have such an influence upon the government as 
would have given to their differences of political 
opinion the distinction of party membership. In 
the New England Colonies the opportunities 
for the formation of parties were greater. The 
immigrants in this section of America had brought 
with them the town system of local government, 
and had left behind them the strong central power 
which had held it in check in England. They had 
also the good fortune, or the political foresight, to 
obtain charters from the king, by which they were 
allowed to exercise powers of government denied 
to the other colonies. To these charters they clung 
3 



4 American Politics. [Circa 1760 

with tenacity, and their distance from England 
made it difficult for the king to overcome their 
stubborn resistance to his endeavors to withdraw 
the gift, when its results had roused his suspicion 
and dislike. The consequence was the establish- 
ment in New England of a multitude of petty 
towns, each a pure democracy. In these were put 
in practice without question the principles of per- 
sonal liberty, trial by jury, the voting of taxes by 
the people, and the responsibility of public officials 
to the people, for which all the succeeding years, 
and a great expenditure of blood and money, have 
hardly been able to secure recognition elsewhere. 
But the questions debated and decided n these 
petty democracies, or even in the larger colonial 
assemblies, were not such as give rise to settled 
differences of opinion and political parties. For 
these a broader field was necessary. 

2. This principle of Popular Sovereignty had 
spread rapidly from the townships to the collective 
New England colonies, but was longer in influenc- 
ing the colonies to the southward. It was not 
until about the year 1760 that this work can be 
considered accomplished. By that time most of 
the thinking men in the colonies agreed in believ- 
ing that in the colonies rested the right to govern 
themselves. The principle had been repeatedly 
announced in theory before revolution was thought 
of, but personal loyalty to the king, pride in the 
name of Englishman, and the infrequent exercise 



1776.] Whig and Tory. 5 

by England of her asserted rights of absolute 
dominion over her colonies, permitted it to lie dor- 
mant. In the year 1760 the financial necessities 
of England drove her into a fifteen years' intermit- 
tent endeavor to govern the colonies without their 
consent. The attempt at once awakened the prin- 
ciple of popular sovereignty, and the continuing 
contest increased the extent of its acceptance, until 
it became strong enough to overcome the forces 
which had hitherto held it in check. 

3. During this period of contest the English 
party names, Whig and Tory, became naturalized 
in America. Their use at first was only nominal, 
for those who claimed them had no power to in- 
fluence the course of government. Lord North and 
his Tory ministry and party, being in power and in 
need of money, advocated repressive and coercive 
measures toward the insubordinate colonies, and 
these were naturally opposed by the Whigs, the 
party in opposition. The name of Whig, therefore, 
became'more popular yearly in the colonies, and 
was the boast of thousands whose only claim to it 
lay in their gratitude to the real Whigs in England. 

4. The successive Congresses of delegates from 
the different colonies, which gradually learned to 
exercise all the functions of government, to form an 
army and navy, to organize a post-office depart- 
ment, and to raise money for national purposes, 
were recognized and attended only by the so-called 
American Whigs. Therefore, although they 



6 American Politics. [}77^> 

offered no opportunity for party contests, they at 
least gave the American Whigs an influence, whether 
rightful or usurped, upon the course of government, 
and thus made them the first American political 
party. As soon as independence was announced, 
in 1776, to be the final object of the contest, the 
names Whig and Tory lost, in America, whatever 
of British significance they had ever possessed. 
One who espoused the cause of the revolted colo- 
nies was called a Whig, and one who still clung to 
the mother country and the crown was called a 
Tory. The Tory party was finally abolished at 
the close of the Revolution, when the triumphant 
Whigs confiscated the estates of its more active 
members, and compelled their owners to emigrate. 
5. Before the end of the year 1776 most of the 
States had settled their forms of State government. 
These were generally such adaptations of the old 
colonial governments as the altered condition of 
affairs seemed to demand. But there was greater 
difficulty in settling a collective government' for all 
the States. The idea of popular sovereignty, of 
local government, had spread from the township to 
the county, and from the county to the colony, 
without evil results. But the difficulty of inter- 
communication, and the diversity of local interests, 
caused each State to regard the others as, in great 
measure, foreign soil. And, now that a Confeder- 
acy was to be formed, the determination of each 
State to allow no dictation from its neighbors, or 



1 777-1 First Confederation. J 

from the new Federal Government, was found to be 
an insuperable barrier against the formation of a 
close union. In their anxiety to be without a 
master the States left themselves without a govern- 
ment. 

6. The form of government for the new Con- 
federacy 1 was agreed upon in November, 1777. 
The Congress was to be composed of not more 
than seven, or less than two, delegates from each 
State, to be chosen by the Legislature. The States 
were to be equal in power, each having but one vote, 
no matter how great its population or wealth. 
There was to be jto President or other Executive 
power, except committees of Congress. Important 
measures required the votes of nine of the thirteen 
States, and amendments required the votes of all. 
Congress had hardly more than an advisory power 
at the best. It had no power to prevent or punish 
offenses against its own laws, or even to perform 
effectively the duties enjoined upon it by the 
Articles of Confederation. It alone could declare 
war, but it had no power to compel the enlistment, 
arming, or support of an army. It alone could fix 
the needed amount of revenue, but the taxes could 
only be collected by the States at their own pleasure. 
It alone could decide disputes between the States, 
but it had no power to compel either disputant to 
respect or obey its decisions. It alone could make 
treaties with foreign nations, but it had no power 

1 See Appendix A. 



8 American Politics. [ l 7%3 

to prevent individual States from violating them. 
Even commerce, foreign and domestic, was to be 
regulated entirely by the States, and it was not long 
before State selfishness began to show itself in the 
regulation of duties on imports. In everything the 
States were to be sovereign, and their creature, the 
Federal Government, was to have only strength 
enough to bind the States into nominal unity, and 
only life enough to assure it of its own practical 
impotence. The jealous States then felt, with con- 
siderable satisfaction, that their liberties were rea- 
sonably secure. 

7. A human society bound together by no 
stronger ties than those provided by the Articles 
of Confederation must tend naturally to anarchy. 
Even during the War of Revolution the weakness 
of the government seemed to many to portend 
financial ruin and a speedy dissolution of the 
Union. As soon as the pressure of war was re- 
moved the symptoms of disintegration grew alarm- 
ingly worse. Congress had become a mere Rump, 
without dignity, without power, and without a home. 
It was compelled to appeal repeatedly to the States 
before it could obtain a quorum of members to ratify 
the treaty of peace. Many of the States refused 
or neglected to pay even their alloted shares of 
interest upon the public debt, and there was no 
power in Congress to compel payment. Eighteen 
months were required to collect only one-fifth of 
the taxes assigned to the States in 1783. The 



1785.] Taxation, — Revision. 9 

national credit became worthless. Foreign nations 
refused to make commercial treaties with the United 
States, preferring a condition of affairs in which they 
could lay any desired burden upon American com- 
merce without fear of retaliation by an impotent 
Congress. The national standing army had dwin- 
dled to a corps of eighty men. In 1785 Algiers 
declared war against the United States. Congress 
recommended the building of five 40-gun ships of 
war. But Congress had only power to recommend. 
The ships were not built, and the Algerines were 
permitted to prey on American commerce with im- 
punity. England still refused to carry out the 
Treaty of 1783, or to send a Minister to the United 
States. The Federal Government, in short, was 
despised abroad, and disobeyed at home. 

8. The apparent remedy was the possession by 
Congress of the power of levying and collecting 
internal taxes and duties on imports, but, after long 
urging, it was found impossible to gain the neces- 
sary consent of all the States to the article of taxa- 
tion by Congress. In 1786, therefore, this was 
abandoned, and, as a last resort, the States were 
asked to pass an Amendment intrusting to Con- 
gress the collection of a revenue from imports. 
This Amendment was agreed to by all the States 
but one. New York alone rejected it, after long 
debate, and her veto seemed to destroy the last 
hope of a continuance of national union in America. 
Perhaps the dismay caused by the action of New 



10 American Politics. l l 7&7 

York was the most powerful argument in the minds 
of many for an immediate and complete revision of 
the government. 

9. The first step to Revision was not so de- 
signed. In 1785 the Legislatures of Maryland and 
Virginia, in pursuance of their right to regulate 
commerce, had appointed Commissioners to decide 
on some method of doing away with interruptions 
to the navigation of Chesapeake Bay. The Com- 
missioners reported their inability to agree, except 
in condemning the Articles of Confederation. The 
Legislature of Virginia followed the report by a 
resolution, inviting the other States to meet at An- 
napolis, consider the defects of the government, 
and suggest some remedy. In September, 1786, 
delegates from five of the Middle States assembled, 
but confined themselves to discussion, since a 
majority of the States was not represented. The 
general conclusion was that the government, as it 
then stood, was inadequate for the protection, pro- 
sperity, or comfort of the people, and that some 
immediate and thorough reform was needed. After 
drawing up a report for their States and for Con- 
gress, recommending another convention, to be 
held at Philadelphia, in May, 1787, they adjourned. 
Congress, by resolution, approved their report and 
the proposed Convention. 

10. The Convention met as proposed, May 
14th, 1787, being composed of delegates from all 
the States, with the exception of Rhode Island. Its 



1787.] The Constitution of 1787. II 

proceedings were secret, but an account of them 
was afterwards drawn up from Mr. Madison's notes. 
Washington, who was a delegate from Virginia, was 
chosen as presiding officer, and the Convention de- 
cided to transcend the instructions given to the 
delegates, and form an entirely new Constitution, 
on the ground that the work must finally be sub- 
mitted to, and approved by, the people, before it 
could go into effect. May 29th, Randolph, of Vir- 
ginia, offered the so-caiied " Virginia plan " for a 
new government. It consisted of fifteen points, of 
which the most important were that representation 
in the new Congress should be proportional to 
population, and that Congress should have power 
to compel the States to fulfill their obligations. 
These provisions were particularly distasteful to 
the smaller States, who preferred the " New Jersey 
plan," offered by Patterson, of New Jersey, which 
continued the old Confederation, but with the ad- 
ditional power to regulate commerce, and to raise 
a revenue. By this plan the smaller and larger 
States would still have been equal in power. June 
19th the Convention rejected the New Jersey plan, 
and took up that of Virginia for consideration. 
After a long debate a compromise was made. The 
smaller States agreed to take a proportional share 
in the lower of two Houses of Congress, in return 
for an equal share in an upper House. The ques- 
tion of omitting or including slaves in reckoning 
population as a basis for representation was com- 



12 American Politics. \j-7^ 

promised by agreeing to estimate them as equal to 
three-fifths of the same number of whites. The 
friends and enemies of the slave-trade agreed not 
to prohibit it until 1808. Other debatable ques- 
tions were adjusted in the same spirit, and in Sep- 
tember, 1787, the Constitution of the United States 
was completed, 1 being, like all other sound and 
lasting political works, the result of wise, judicious, 
and even-handed compromise. 

11. Any full discussion of The Constitution 
of 1787 must be left to the treatises upon it. But 
there are some points which require notice, in view 
of party action upon them. Unquestionably the 
most important creation of the Constitution was 
The Federal Judiciary. It will be seen that the 
only guarantee for the observance of the Articles of 
Confederation was the naked promise of the States. 
This had been found to be utterly worthless. The 
creation of a system of United States Courts, ex- 
tending throughout the States, and empowered to 
define the boundaries of Federal authority, and to 
enforce its decisions by Federal power, supplied 
the element needed to bring order out of chaos. 
Without it the Constitution might easily have 
proved a more disheartening and complete failure 
than the Articles of Confederation. 

12. How far The New Federal Government 
succeeded to the sovereign rights of the States and 
formed a centralized government in their place 

1 See Appendix B, where the Confederation is compared with it. 



1787.] Nature of the Constitution, 13 

each must decide for himself by a study of the Con- 
stitution, and on his decision will depend generally 
his party membership. All agree that the new 
Federal Government succeeded to at least a part 
of the sovereign rights previously vested in the 
States, that the Federal Government thus obtained 
what it had previously lacked, the power over indi- 
viduals, and that, within the sphere abandoned to 
it, the Federal Government is supreme. How far 
that sphere extends is, and it is to be hoped always 
will be, a great party question. The very Pre- 
amble, " we, the people of the United States," has 
been construed by one party as an assertion that 
the Constitution was adopted by the people of each 
State for itself, and by the opposite party as an- 
nouucing the consolidation of discordant states into 
one powerful nation, not a mere league. All agree 
that it was intended "to form a more perfect 
union," but all do not agree as to how nearly per- 
fect that union was to be. 

13. The Powers Granted to Congress in 
Article I, § 8, should be carefully studied, for the 
antagonistic views of the Strict Constructionist and 
Loose Constructionist parties have always been 
most clearly shown in interpreting them. For in- 
stance, under the clauses which give Congress the 
power to establish post-roads, and to provide for 
the common defense, Loose Constructionists have 
claimed, and Strict Constructionists have denied, 
that Congress, has power to appropriate public 



14 American Politics. \M%7 

money for the building of roads, and for general 
internal improvements. There is hardly a clause 
in this whole section upon whose interpretation and 
application the members of opposite parties agree, 
except when impelled to do so by selfish interests. 

14. Is the Union a federal, or league, govern- 
ment, as claimed by the Strict Constructionists, or 
a centralized national government, as claimed by 
the Loose Constructionists ? The question may 
best be answered in the words of Mr. Madison : 
" The Constitution is, in strictness, neither a na- 
tional nor a federal constitution, but a composi- 
tion of both. In its foundation it is federal, not 
national ; in the sources from which the ordinary 
powers of the government are drawn it is partly 
federal and partly national ; in the operation of 
these powers it is national, not federal ; in the extent 
of them, again, it is federal, not national ; and, 
finally, in the authoritative mode of introducing 
Aniendtnents it is neither wholly federal, nor wholly 
national." 

15. Only thirty-nine of the fifty-five delegates to 
the Convention signed the Constitution, and it can- 
not truly be said that it really satisfied any one. 
Had it been entirely satisfactory to one great party, 
it would have been intolerable to the other. But it 
was a compromise in every important particular, 
and each party, while lamenting its own conces- 
sions, could derive some satisfaction from consider- 
ing those of its adversaries. For, on the question 



1787.] Two National Parties, 15 

of its adoption, the people of the United States 
had at last divided into opposing parties, Feder- 
alists and Anti-federalists, though both parties 
varied these formal titles by the use of such spite- 
ful and opprobrious epithets as party hatred so well 
knows how to invent and apply. 

16. The extreme Federalists were anxious for 
a strong government, and, if possible, for a mon- 
archy. During the secret proceedings of the Con- 
vention the report was common that the " high-fly- 
ing " Federalists had induced it to call an English 
prince to the throne of the United States. The 
great mass of the party, however, had no such de- 
sire. They despised the Confederacy as a mere 
" rope of sand," which would fall apart at the first 
shock, and leave the separate States to become the 
successive prey of a foreign enemy, or of each 
other. In place of it they wished to see a strong 
republican government, fitted to make itself re- 
spected abroad, and obeyed at home. In support- 
ing the new Constitution the Federalists were aided 
by many who were their natural opponents, but 
who either despaired of anything better, or were 
influenced by respect for the great names appended 
to or favoring it. 

17. The extreme Anti-federalists wished for 
no Federal Government whatever, but for a con- 
tinuance of the league between thirteen indepen- 
dent republics. The great mass of the party were 
united only in opposing the new Constitution, 



16 American Politics. [ J 788 

which seemed to them fantastic and experimental 
and a fit instrument to deprive the States of the 
liberties which they had gained by the sword. But 
no definite and united line of action was taken by 
the Anti-federalists. Many of them united with 
the Federalists in accepting and voting for the 
Constitution, but with the hope and expectation of 
future amendments. The whole party in a few 
years became a Strict Constructionist party, accept- 
ing the Constitution unreservedly, but aiming to 
confine the powers of the Federal Government to 
the letter of its terms. 

18. September 17th, 1787, the new Constitution 
was transmitted to Congress and thence referred to 
Conventions of the several States for adoption or 
rejection. The opposition was chiefly in the great 
States of New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts, 
but was shown in varying degrees in all the Con- 
ventions. Many of the States followed the " Mas- 
sachusetts plan," adopting the Constitution, but 
strongly recommending amendments to it. Even 
with this expedient, it was only adopted by votes of 
31 to 29 in New York, 88 to 80 in Virginia, and 
187 to 168 in Massachusetts. North Carolina and 
Rhode Island at first rejected, but more than a year 
afterward adopted it, their ratifications only reach- 
ing Congress in 1790. 

19. According to the terms of the Constitution, 
it was to go into effect as soon as adopted by 
nine States. The contests between Federalists and 



iySS.] The Constitution Adopted. 17 

Anti-federalists lasted for months. A noble relic 
of the controversy is the series of papers written by 
Hamilton, Jay, and Madison, over the joint signa- 
ture of Publius, explaining and defending the Con- 
stitution. They are known collectively as The 
Federalist. It was not until June 21st, 1788, that 
the ninth State ratified the Constitution, and it be- 
came an accomplished fact. New York and Vir- 
ginia soon afterward ratified it, and only North 
Carolina and Rhode Island refused. July 14th, 
1788, the Congress of the Confederacy, which was 
in session, referred the ratifications received from 
nine States to a committee which reported a reso- 
lution for carrying the new government into effect. 
There was some difficulty in deciding upon a time 
and place of meeting for the new Congress, but it 
was finally fixed at New York, March 4th, 1789. 
The first Wednesday of January, 1789, was ap- 
pointed for the choice of electors for President and 
Vice-President, and the first Wednesday in Febru- 
ary for the voting of the electors. 

20. The Constitution has always been plain 
enough to guide the policy of the statesman and 
the decisions of the judge, and yet elastic enough 
to give full play to honest differences of opinion 
and party contest, and to fit the body politic at any 
time during its growth from 3,000,000 to 60,000,000 
inhabitants. The first eleven Amendments were 
added so soon after its adoption that they may 
fairly be considered a part of the original instro 



1 8 American Politics. [ x 788 

ment. It was then complete, and, with the excep- 
tion of the change in the manner of voting for 
President and Vice-President, after the disputed 
election of 1800, no further alteration was found 
necessary until the extirpation of Slavery intro- 
duced three Amendments which would have been 
impracticable in 1787. Even now, with the excep- 
tion of the old torment of the Presidential election, 
there is seldom any serious suggestion of a point in 
which the Constitution would be benefited by a 
revision. Its wheels move as smoothly to-day as 
at any time since the inauguration of the first 
President. Their motion is so quiet that we are 
usually unconscious of our own comfort. The tests 
of foreign and civil war, of bitter party and per- 
sonal contests, of financial convulsion and an un- 
paralleled prosperity, have tried and approved it. 
The stability of our own government, compared 
with the radical changes in those of every other 
civilized nation during the past ninety years, is an 
honorable memorial of the political wisdom of the 
men who framed the Constitution of 1787, and 
of their descendants who have expounded and 
obeyed it. 



CHAPTER II. 

FIRST ADMINISTRATION, 1789-1793. 

Georg-e "Washington, President. John Adams, Vice-President 

1st and lid Congresses. 

i. March 4th, 1789, had been appointed for the 
1st Congress, formal inauguration of the new 
Extra Session. Government, but the members 
elect had not yet unlearned the Confederacy's 
slovenly habits. It was not until April 6th that a 
sufficient number of members of Congress arrived 
in New York to form a quorum and count the elec- 
toral votes. At that time, and until 1805, no elec- 
toral votes were cast distinctively for President and 
Vice-President. Each elector voted by ballot for 
two persons. If a majority of all the votes were 
cast for any person, he who received the greatest 
number of votes became President, and he who 
received the next greatest number became Vice- 
President. When the votes were counted in 1789 
they were found to be, for George Washington, 
of Virginia, 69 (each of the electors having given 
him one vote), for John Adams, of Massa- 
19 



20 American Politics. \. l 7%9 

chusetts, 34, and 35 for various other candidates. 
Washington received notice of his election, and, 
after a triumphal progress northward from his home 
at Mount Vernon, was sworn into office April 30th. 
The Vice-President had taken his place as presid- 
ing officer of the Senate a few days before. 

2. Frederick A. Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, 
was chosen Speaker of the House, but the vote had 
no party divisions, for Parties were still in a state 
of utter confusion. Between the extreme Anti-fed- 
eralists, who considered the Constitution a long 
step toward a despotism, and the extreme Federal- 
ists, who desired a monarchy modeled on that of 
England, there were all varieties of political opinion. 
The union between the moderate members of both 
parties'in support of the new form of government 
still existed. The extreme importance of Washing- 
ton lay in his ability, through the universal confi- 
dence in his integrity and good judgment, to hold 
together this alliance of moderate men for a time, 
aud to prevent party contest upon the interpreta- 
tion of Federal powers until the Constitution should 
show its merit and be assured of existence. 

3. The President selected his Cabinet with a 
careful regard to the opposite opinions of his sup- 
porters. The Treasury Department was given to 
Alexander Hamilton, of New York, a Federalist, 
and a lawyer of distinguished ability, who had 
served with credit in the Revolutionary War, and 
was considered the ablest man of his party. The 



1789.] Cabinet.— " Bill of Rights:' 21 

War Department was given to General Henry 
Knox, of Massachusetts, also a Federalist. The 
State Department was given to Thomas Jefferson, 
of Virginia, an Anti-federalist. He was the author 
of the Declaration of Independence, and had the 
confidence of all the factions of his divided party. 
Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, also an Anti-fed- 
eralist, was appointed Attorney-General, and John 
Jay, of New York, a Federalist, Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court. 

4. Twelve Amendments were adopted by this 
Session of Congress, in order to meet the consci- 
entious objections of many moderate Anti-feder- 
alists, and to take the place of a " Bill of Rights." 
Ten of these, having received the assent of the 
irecessary number of States, became a part of the 
Constitution, and now stand the first ten of the 
Amendments. They were intended to guarantee 
freedom of religion, speech, person, and property. 
The positive requests of so many States, and the 
continued refusal of two States to enter the Union, 
were strong incentives to their adoption, and the 
opposition to them came mainly from the extreme 
Anti-federalists, who considered them delusive and 
insufficient, and only calculated to create a fatal 
feeling of security against centralized government. 

5. The most important work of this Session was 
the Regulation of Commerce and the settle- 
ment of a Tariff. During the debate some of the 
Anti-federalists made an attempt to arrange the 



22 American Politics. [[1789 

duties so as to discriminate against England and in 
favor of other nations, but the attempt failed in the 
Senate. A Tariff Act was passed by both Houses, 
and approved July 4th. Its preamble stated one 
of its objects to be " the encouragement and pro- 
tection of manufactures." This language is notable 
as stating the main object of the " American," or 
High Protective Tariff, system, thirty years before 
it became a party tenet. After directing the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury to prepare a plan for the set- 
tlement of the public debt, Congress adjourned 
September 29th, until the following January. In 
November, 1789, North Carolina finally ratified 
the Constitution, and entered the Union. 

6. Congress met at Philadelphia, January 4th, 
1st Congress, 1790. January 9th Hamilton 

1st Session, offered his famous Report on 
the Settlement of the Public Debt. It con- 
sisted of three recommendations, — first, that the 
foreign debt of the Confederacy should be assumed 
and paid in full ; second, that the domestic debt of 
the Confederacy, which had fallen far below par 
and had become a synonym for worthlessness, 
should also be paid at its par value ; and third, that 
the debts incurred by the States during the Revolu- 
tion, and still unpaid, should be assumed and paid 
in full by the Federal Government. 

7. Hamilton's First recommendation was adopt- 
ed unanimously. The Second was opposed, even 
by Madison and many moderate Anti-federalists, on 



I79Q-] The Public Debt. 23 

the ground that the domestic debt was held by 
speculators, who had bought it at a heavy discount, 
and would thus gain usurious interest on their 
investment. Hamilton's supporters argued that, if 
only for that reason, they should be paid in full, that 
holders of United States securities might learn not 
to sell them at a discount, and that the national 
credit might thus be strengthened for all time to 
come. After long debate the second recommend- 
ation was also adopted. 

8. Hamilton's Third recommendation involved 
a question of the powers of the Federal Govern- 
ment. It therefore for the first time united all the 
Anti-federalists in opposition to it. They feared that 
the " rope of sand " of the Confederacy was being 
carried to the opposite extreme ; that the " money 
power" would, by this measure, be permanently 
attached to the Federal Government ; and that the 
States would be made of no importance. But even 
this recommendation was adopted, though only by 
a vote of 31 to 26 in the House. A few days later, 
however, the Anti-federalists received a reinforce- 
ment of seven newly arrived North Carolina mem- 
bers. The third resolution was at once considered, 
and voted down by a majority of two. 

9. Hamilton secured the final adoption of the 
third resolution by a bargain which excited the 

z*\deep indignation of the Anti-federalists. A Na- 
tional Capital was to be selected. The Federal- 
ists agreed to vote that it should be fixed upon the 



K 



^^^#^ <£*j ^>^Lt-^r>^ 



24 American Politics. [i 790 

Potomac River, after remaining ten years in Phila- 
delphia, and two Anti-federalist members from the 
Potomac agreed in return to vote for the third 
resolution, which was then finally adopted. Ham- 
ilton's entire report was thus successful. Its 
immediate effects were to appreciate the credit of 
the United States, and to enrich the holders of the 
Continental debt. Its further effect was to make 
Hamilton so much disliked by Anti-federalists that, 
despite his acknowledged talents, his party never 
ventured to nominate him for any elective office. 
Congress adjourned August 12th, 1790. During 
this long Session there was no further decided party 
contest. In May Rhode Island ratified the Con- 
stitution, and entered the Union, which now in- 
cluded all the old thirteen colonies. 

10. Congress met December 6th, 1790. Its de- 
ist Congress, bates were mostly on finance. 

2d Session. Hamilton proposed the estab- 
lishment of a National Bank, to act as financial 
agent of the Government. This involved another 
question of Federal powers, and renewed party 
contest. The Federalists claimed that Congress, 
having the undoubted power to pass all laws neces- 
sary for the collection of revenue and taxes, might 
constitutionally charter a bank for that purpose. 
The Anti-federalists claimed that such a bank was 
not necessary \ though it might be convenient, and 
hence was beyond the power of Congress. This 
difference of opinion, trivial at first sight, continued 



I79 1 -] The National Bank. 2$ 

to be the subject of bitter party feeling, at inter- 
vals, for fifty years. The bill passed both Houses, 
and the President was importuned to veto it. He 
demanded the written opinions of his Cabinet. In 
the struggles of succeeding years upon the same 
subject, Hamilton's argument in favor of the con- 
stitutionality of a National Bank has hardly been 
improved upon, or added to. It prevailed in the 
mind of the President over those of Jefferson and 
Randolph, and he signed the bill. 1 At this Session 
the unpopular Excise Law, to provide funds for the 
debts assumed by the Government, passed both 
Houses against the opposition of most of the Anti- 
federalists. Congress adjourned March 3d, 1791. 
March 4th, Vermont, formerly called the New 
Hampshire Grants, whose people had for many 
years resisted New York's claim of jurisdiction over 
them, and had claimed to be an independent repub- 
lic, entered the Union. 

11. Congress met October 24th, 1791. Jonathan 

lid Congress, Trumbull, of Connecticut, was 

1st Session. chosen Speaker of the House. 

The number of Federalists was slightly reduced, 

but the Administration was supported generally by 

1 The Bank, thus created, continued in existence until 1811, when the op- 
posite party was in power and refused to recharter it. Another National 
Bank was chartered in 1S16, became the object of violent attack by Strict 
Constructionists, and ceased to exist in 1836. Other attempts were made 
without success, by Loose Constructionists, to charter a National Bank, and 
the project slept until 1862. During the Rebellion (1861-1865) the so- 
called Greenback Currency was really an assumption of the power to make 
forced loans. 



26 American Politics. \_ l 79 2 

a large majority of both parties. The Anti-federal- 
ists opposed an increase of the army and of the 
Tariff, but both bills became law. An Apportion- 
ment Bill was also passed at this Session, which had 
no party interest. It increased the number of the 
House of Representatives to 105. Congress ad- 
journed May 8th, 1792. June 1st Kentucky, for- 
merly a part of the State of Virginia, entered the 
Union. 

12. Party Organization may be considered as 
fairly begun about the close of this Session. The 
occasional irritation shown in the debates is an evi- 
dence that the first ill-defined estimate of the new 
scheme of government was giving way to positive 
and settled opinions of its powers, and of the policy 
which should be followed in managing it. It is 
probable that a majority of the American people 
were Anti-federalist in 1789, although the Federal- 
ists, by the active assistance of many of their natu- 
ral opponents, had gained the Executive, the Sen- 
ate, the House, the Judiciary, and most of the State 
Legislatures, and were able to defeat the disagree- 
ing factions known collectively as Anti-federalists. 
In 1792 affairs were beginning to settle into a more 
natural order. The various Anti-federalist factions, 
by union in resisting the Federalists, had learned 
to forget minor differences, and had been welded 
into one party which only lacked a name. That of 
Anti-federalist was no longer applicable, for its op- 
position to the Federal Union had entirely ceased. 



I79 2 Party Names, 27 

13. A name was supplied by Jefferson, the recog- 
nized leader of the party, after the French Revo- 
lution had fairly begun its course. That political 
convulsion had, for some time after 1789, the sym- 
pathy of both Federalists and Anti-federalists, for 
it seemed the direct outgrowth of the American 
Revolution. But, as its leveling objects became 
more apparent, the Federalists grew cooler and the 
Anti-federalists warmer toward it. The latter took 
great pains, even by dress and manners, to show 
the keenness of their sympathy for the Republicans 
of France, and about this time adopted the name 
Democratic-Republican, which seemed suffi- 
ciently comprehensive for a full indication of their 
principles. This has always been the official party 
title. It is now abbreviated to Democratic, though 
the name Democrat was at first used by Federal- 
ists as one of contempt, and the party called itself 
Republican, a title which it could hardly claim with 
propriety, for its tendency has always been toward 
a democracy, as that of its opponents has been to* 
ward a strong republic. The name Republican, 
therefore, belongs most properly to its present pos- 
sessors (1890). But it must be remembered that 
the party which will be called Republican until 
about 1828 was the party which is now called 
Democratic. 

14. The tendency toward Party Division was 
shown even in the Cabinet. Hamilton and Jeffer- 
son were influenced by personal antagonism and 



28 American Politics. \_ l 79 2 

suspicion, as well as by political opposition. In 
this, as in everything else, they were the perfect 
representatives of their parties. In Cabinet meet- 
ings they were, in Jefferson's own words, " pitted 
against one another like game-cocks," to the great 
grief of the President, who could not see in their 
wrangling the inevitable operation of political repul- 
sions, which he would not be able to control much 
longer, either in the Cabinet or in the country. 

15. At the request of both Federalists and Re- 
publicans, Washington consented to serve as Presi- 
dent a second time, so that only the Vice-Presi- 
dency was left as an object of party contest. For 
this office the Federalists supported John Adams, 
and the Anti-federalists supported George Clinton, 
of New York. To have supported Jefferson would 
have cost the vote of Virginia, whose electors could 
not have voted for Washington and Jefferson, both 
from Virginia. The Presidential Election took 
place November 6th, 1792, and resulted in the suc- 
cess of the Federalists. 

16. Congress met November 5th, 1792. Its meas- 
Ild Congress, ures had reference mainly to the 

2d Session. raising and expenditure of the 
revenue, in regard to which the Republicans had 
not yet settled upon any united course of action. 
The only party contest of the Session was an un- 
successful attempt of the Republicans to pass a vote 
of censure upon their enemy Hamilton for his man- 
agement of the Treasury, and for his indignant and 



I 793-] Presidential Election. 29 

somewhat discourteous language in a message to 
the House. In February, 1793, the electoral votes 
were counted, and were found to be, for George 
Washington 132 (each of the electors having given 
him one vote), for John Adams 77, for George 
Clinton 50, for Thomas Jefferson 4, and for Aaron 
Burr 1. Washington was therefore declared 
elected President, and Adams Vice-President. 
March ?A- 1793, Congress adjourned, and March 
4th, Washington and Adams were sworn into office. 



CHAPTER III. 

SECOND ADMINISTRATION, 1 793-1797. 

Seorge Washington, President. John Adams, Vice-President. 

Hid and IVth Congresses. 

i. Early in April, 1793, news was received that 
France had declared war against Great Britain and 
Holland. It excited the sympathies of the Amer- 
ican people for their sister republic, even though 
that republic was the aggressor. One of the great 
parties specially affected the leveling principles 
avowed by the French Republicans, and the oppo- 
site party would not have objected to their limited 
success. There was no open war party as yet, 
though many considered the treaty (of 1778) still 
in force, which bound France and the United 
States to offensive as well as defensive alliance. 
The country was in a position to drift easily into 
war as an ally of France ; and many of its citizens 
were certain to criticise severely any act of their 
own government which seemed unfriendly to the 
French Republic. 

2. Washington always deliberated slowly and 



1 793.] Proclamation of Neutrality. 31 

calmly, though he was immovable when he had de- 
cided. He consulted his Cabinet, and by their 
unanimous advice determined, notwithstanding the 
inevitable unpopularity of the act, to regard the 
former treaty as nullified by the change of govern- 
ment in France, and to issue his Proclamation 
of Neutrality between the French Republic and 
her enemies. The proclamation roused intense 
anger. For the first time the extreme Republicans, 
who might now almost be called the French party, 
assailed the President personally. He was ac- 
cused of being an enemy to France and republican 
institutions, of usurping the functions of Congress 
in the decision and announcement of peace and 
war, and of setting at naught a solemn treaty, to 
whose observance the faith of the country was 
pledged. 

3. The bitterness of the pro-French newspapers 
was increased by the arrival of Citizen Genet, 
who had been accredited by the French Republic 
as Minister to the United States. He had reached 
Charleston, S. C, April 8th, and, misled by the 
warmth of his reception, he entered on and per- 
sisted in a course which would only have been par- 
donable if he had been still on French soil. He 
began to commission cruisers from American 
ports, which captured British vessels even in Amer- 
ican waters. He created courts for the trial and 
condemnation of such prizes, and began to raise 
money and enlist men for the service of France. 



32 American Politics. [ J 793 

The British agent complained of these violations of 
neutrality, and Genet was informed by Jefferson 
that they must cease. Two of his American re- 
cruits were arrested and committed to jail. Against 
this Genet remonstrated in offensive language, and, 
making Philadelphia his headquarters, persevered 
in breaking the law. 

4. He was encouraged by the so-called Demo- 
cratic Clubs which had been formed by the more 
violent Republicans, in imitation of the Jacobin 
clubs of France. They had adopted the wildest 
follies of their French prototypes. They had 
changed their aristocratic title of Mr. to Citizen, 
and their daughters were married under the name 
of Citess. They were even scandalized by that 
relic of European aristocracy, the spread eagle 
upon public papers. To Republicans of this type 
the character and past services of Washington were 
no bar to the severest denunciation of his conduct 
to Genet and the French Republic. 

5. Through the Summer of 1793 the insolence of 
Genet toward the President and the Cabinet be- 
came still more offensive, and his subordinates imi- 
tated their chief. The French consul at Boston, 
with a body of marines from a French war vessel 
in the harbor, rescued a libeled vessel from the 
United States Marshal. An American privateer 
under French colors left Philadelphia in flat defi- 
ance of direct orders from the Federal Government. 
French officers in Georgia began to organize expe 



1 793-] Hostility to Engla?id. 33 

ditions against the American possessions of Spain, 
with which country France was now at war. Fi- 
nally Chief Justice Jay, and Senator King, of New 
York, declared over their signatures in a New York 
newspaper that Genet had in private declared his 
intention to appeal from the Government to the 
people. To the astonishment of Genet, who seems 
not to have been aware of the extent to which free 
political discussion may harmlessly be carried, this 
announcement alienated from him all but the most 
violent of his former supporters. His popularity 
was gone. The American Government asked his 
recall, and until this took place in the following 
winter his only noteworthy action was his declara- 
tion that Chief Justice Jay and Senator King had 
told a falsehood. 

6. Congress met December 2d, 1793, with a slight 
Hid Congress, Republican majority in the 

1st Session. House, where F. A. Muhlen- 
berg, of Pennsylvania, a Republican, was chosen 
Speaker. The doubtful vote, however, was still so 
large that there was no real party majority. The 
President's Proclamation, and his treatment of 
Genet, were approved, though not warmly, in the 
House, where there was increasing Hostility to 
England, provoked by England's systematic neg- 
lect of the interests and feelings of the United 
States. 

7. England had never accredited a resident 
Minister to the United States, and had refused to 

i 



34 American Politics. [ x 793 

carry out those articles of the Treaty of 1783 which 
bound her to surrender her military posts on United 
States soil, and to pay for slaves carried away by 
her armies. It was firmly believed that her agents 
had interfered to prevent treaties of peace with the 
savages of the North-West, and had incited them 
to renewed attacks upon the frontier settlements. 
An unexpected treaty of peace between Portugal 
and Algiers, which had let loose the Algerine pirates 
for a warfare upon the Atlantic against unprotected 
American commerce, was attributed to English in- 
tervention. The impressment of American seamen, 
under color of their resemblance to Englishmen, 
was a growing grievance. All English ships of 
war had been ordered, on the 8th of June, 1793, to 
stop vessels bound for France with corn, and com- 
pel them to change their course to an English port. 
This blow at American commerce with France had 
been supplemented by a further order of November 
6th, that all such vessels should be seized and sent 
to Great Britain for trial by English courts. Her 
refusal to evacuate the Western posts was grounded 
on the unjustifiable neglect of the United States to 
enforce that article of the Treaty of 1783 which 
provided for the payment of debts due to British 
subjects. For her further offensive measures no 
justification was offered, except her sovereign will. 
She acted apparently under the belief that the 
United States were the concealed, but soon to be 
the avowed, ally of her enemy, and thus she con- 



1 794. J Jays Nomination. 35 

tributed in no small degree to swell the current of 
anti-English feeling. 

8. The retaliating orders and decrees of Great 
Britain and the French Republic had already in- 
jured American commerce. In an Official Report 
of December 16th Jefferson advised friendly ar- 
rangements for their cessation, if possible, and, in 
default of these, active retaliation upon the offend- 
ing nation. As England was more likely to be the 
offender, the Republicans promptly adopted the 
suggestion, and, January 4th, 1794, Madison intro- 
duced resolutions imposing prohibitory duties upon 
English goods. They were debated, at intervals, 
for two months, but finally failed. 

9. The Debates of this Session were mainly 
upon commercial matters. The Federalists wished 
to form a navy, and to maintain neutrality between 
England and France, which was all that England's 
course allowed them to ask. The Republican 
policy was a mixture of two opposites. It called 
for a prohibition of trade with England, or, at the 
least, for discriminating duties against English im- 
ports, and yet opposed any naval preparation for 
the war to which such a policy must have led. 
Parties w T ere so evenly divided, and the doubtful 
vote changed sides so frequently that in the middle 
of April, 1794, no decided result has been reached. 

10. An unlooked-for step was taken by the Presi- 
dent, April 16th. He nominated Chief Justice 
Jay to be Envoy Extraordinary to England, for 



36 American Politics. I 1 794 

the purpose of preserving peace by a new treaty. 
The Senate, where the Federalists had a small 
majority, confirmed the nomination. The Repub- 
licans of the House, on the 18th, endeavored to 
baulk the mission in advance by a resolution en- 
tirely prohibiting trade with England. The Sen- 
ate rejected the resolution, and Jay sailed for 
England. 

11. Party Contests were numerous through- 
out the Session. The Federalists succeeded in 
passing a system of indirect taxation to provide for 
the increased expenses of the Government, the 
Republicans voting for direct taxes. A Federalist 
bill to prevent such practices as Genet's was op- 
posed by the Republicans, and bitterly denounced 
by the Democratic clubs, but was passed with some 
modifications. Some of the Republicans again at- 
tempted, and again without success, to pass reso- 
lutions censuring Hamilton's management of the 
Treasury. The Republicans had been alarmed by 
a decision of the Supreme Court that an action 
brought by a citizen of the United States would lie 
against a State, just as against any other corpora- 
tion. At this Session, therefore, an Amendment 
was adopted, securing States against suit in United 
States Courts. It was. afterwards ratified by the 
necessary number of States, and became the Xlth 
Amendment, which has enabled so many States 
to repudiate debt with impunity. Congress ad- 
journed June 9th, 1794. Genet's actions had pre- 



I 79S-] Jays Treaty with England. 37 

viously been disavowed by a new Revolutionary 
Government in France, and Fauchet sent in his 
stead. 

12. Before Congress re-assembled the so-called 
Whiskey Insurrection against the enforcement 
of the Excise Law had been suppressed. It had 
no political results, except as it strengthened Fed- 
eralism, by strengthening popular sympathy with 
the Administration. It was also one cause of the 
downfall of the Democratic clubs, which Washing- 
ton had publicly and officially, though perhaps mis- 
takenly, declared to be the instigators of the Insur- 
rection. They thus lost popularity, and the over- 
throw of Robespierre and the French Jacobin clubs 
was soon followed by the ignominous death of their 
American imitations. 

13. Congress met November 3d, 1794. In Jan- 
Hid Congress, uary 1795, Hamilton felt com- 

2d Session. pelled to leave the Cabinet, 
and resume the practice of law in New York. His 
last official act was the arrangement of a plan of In- 
ternal Taxation, which was offered to Congress, 
and furnished material for debate throughout the 
Session. It was adopted against the opposition of 
most of the Republicans. Congress adjourned 
March 3d, 1795. 

14. Jay had concluded a Treaty with Eng- 
land, which did not satisfy him, but was the best 
that he could procure. It reached America March 
7th, and was sent to the Senate in Special Session 



38 American Politics. [ I 795 

June 8th. It was ratified by the necessary two- 
thirds majority, and only awaited the signature of 
the President to become law. Popular curiosity 
was stimulated by the secrecy of the debates. 
When, on the 29th of June, a Senator in violation 
of his word gave a partial copy of Jay's Treaty for 
publication, and it was found that by its terms 
England was still at liberty to impress American 
seamen, to harass American commerce, and to shut 
it out from the West India trade, the wrath of the 
Republicans rose to fever heat, and Federalists 
could hardly contrive an apology for a surrender 
with which they also were generally dissatisfied. 
In all the large cities public meetings condemned 
the treaty, and called upon the President to with- 
hold his signature. 

15. But The President felt that a treaty of 
some kind was necessary, and that no better one 
could then be obtained. He therefore signed it. 
Hitherto criticisms on Washington's policy had not 
been uncommon, but his action in signing Jay's 
Treaty brought out aspersions upon his private 
character, which were carried so far that he declared 
" he would rather be in his grave than in the Presi- 
dency." He was charged by the extreme Repub- 
licans with usurpation, treason to his country, and 
hostility to her interests. The continued sufferings 
of American prisoners in Algiers were ascribed to 
his criminal indifference. He was accused of 
having shown incapacity during the Revolution, and 



1796.] Debates on Jay's Treaty. 39 

of having embezzled the public funds while Presi- 
dent. He was threatened with impeachment, with 
assassination. Even the honored epithet so long 
given to him was burlesqued, and Washington was 
for a time known to the Republicans as " The Step- 
Father of his Country." And yet, within a year, 
his unyielding common sense was justified by a re- 
vival of trade which gained friends for Jay's Treaty, 
even among its formerly bitter opponents. 

16. Congress met December 7th, 1795, with a 
IVth Congress, small Federalist majority in 

1st Session. the Senate, and a Republican 

majority in the House, though even there the Feder- 
alists succeeded in choosing Jonathan Dayton, of 
New Jersey, Speaker. The Senate, in reply to the 
President's Message, echoed his words, but the Re- 
publican majority in the House, in order to censure 
the President indirectly, voted down the first sen- 
tence of their committee's draft of a reply, includ- 
ing an expression of "their confidence in the Presi- 
dent, and their approval of his course." 

17. March 1st, 1796, the President sent to Con- 
gress a copy of his proclamation, announcing to the 
people that the treaty with England, having been 
ratified by the Senate and signed by the President, 
had become law. In the House this caused dissat- 
isfaction, and, against the wishes of some of the 
moderate Republicans, a resolution was passed, 
March 2d, calling upon the President to send to the 
House all papers relating to Jay's Treaty. The 



40 American Politics, [1796 

President refused to do so, giving as his reason that 
the House was not a part of the treaty-making 
power of the Government. The House retorted by 
another resolution declaring its right to decide on 
the necessity of any treaty by which public money 
was to be expended. 

18. From the Federalist side of the House a reso- 
lution was thea offered, declaring that provision 
ought to be made by law for carrying the treaty into 
effect. The Debate upon this resolution, in which 
Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts, led the Federalists, 
lasted until April 29th. By that time public opinion 
had pronounced in favor of the treaty too emphati- 
cally to be disregarded just before a Presidential 
election. The Republican majority yielded and 
the resolution was passed. The beginning and the 
end of the Session were taken up by debates upon 
the revenue, in which an increase of duties upon 
imports was urged by the Federalists, but success- 
fully opposed by the Republicans. Congress ad- 
journed June 1st, 1796. On that day Tennessee, 
formerly a part of North Carolina, became a State 
of the Union. 

19. During the Summer of 1796 preparations 
were begun, and electors were nominated for the 
Presidential election in November. Washington's 
hold was stronger upon the people than upon the 
politicians, and he was importuned to accept a third 
term of office. Electors nominated by both parties 
were called upon to promise that, if elected, their 



1796.] Presidential Election. 41 

first votes should be given for Washington. His 
decision to retire to private life could not be al- 
tered, but he decided to publish it in a form which 
should always remain as his answer to the attacks 
upon him, which had been made, to use his own 
words, " in terms so exaggerated and indecent as 
could scarcely be applied to a Nero, a notorious 
defaulter, or even to a common pickpocket." 

20. Washington's Farewell Address to the 
American people is dated September 17th, 1796. 
It consists of a modest estimate of his own services 
to the new Government, a congratulation that the 
circumstances which gave a temporary value to those 
services were past, an appeal to the people to pre- 
serve intact the unity of the Government, to put 
down party spirit, and to make religion, education, 
and public good faith the basis of government, and, 
lastly, a needed warning against the admission of 
any foreign influence upon American councils. It 
can hardly be read without renewing the conviction 
that George Washington was an unconscious but 
sincere Federalist, though hardly a fair critic of 
party spirit, a modest Christian, a devoted lover of 
country, and a great, unselfish man. 

21. The Farewell Address was the preliminary to 
the first contested Presidential Election. The 
Constitution had fairly shown its merits. Its con- 
tinued existence was assured, and there was no 
longer any necessity for keeping the political peace 
between the two great parties. No formal nomina- 



42 American Politics. L l 79^ 

tions were made, but it was understood that the Re- 
publican electors would cast their votes for Thomas 
Jefferson, of Virginia, and Aaron Burr, of New 
York, and the Federalist electors for John Adams, 
of Massachusetts, and Thomas Pinckney, of Me&y- 
4a«th Hamilton's ardent political zeal had made 
so many enemies that he was not considered a suit- 
able candidate. The Federalists claimed support 
as the authors of the Government, the friends of 
neutrality, peace, and prosperity, and the direct in- 
heritors of Washington's policy. The Republicans 
claimed to be the friends of liberty and the rights 
of man, the advocates of economy and of the rights 
of the States, and refused to recognize their oppo- 
nents as the inheritors of any policy but that of 
England. The Presidential election took place in 
November, 1796, 1 and the French Minister under- 
took to influence it by an extraordinary " Address 
to the American People," in which he hinted that 
his Government would cease intercourse with the 
United States unless the Republicans were success- 
ful. Federalist electors were chosen in most of the 
Northern States, while the Southern States, with 
the exception of Maryland, generally chose Repub- 
licans. The result was a slight Federalist majority. 

22. Congress met December 5th, 1796, but its 
IVth Congress, proceedings gave little, op- 

2d Session. portunity for party contest. 

1 Until about 1824-1828 electors were generally chosen, not directly by 
the people, tut by the Legislatures of the various States. 



x 797-] Presidential Election. 43 

In the House an attempt was made to renew the 
last year's expression of want of confidence in 
Washington, but it was defeated. In February, 
1797, the electoral votes were counted, and were 
found to be, for John Adams 7 1, for Thomas Jeffer- 
son 68, for Thomas Pinckney 59, for Aaron Burr 
30, and the rest scattering. 1 John Adams was 
therefore declared to be elected President, and 
Thomas Jefferson Vice-President. The Execu- 
tive was thus Federalist, with a possibility of a Re- 
publican succession, in case of the death, disability, 
or impeachment and removal of the President. It 
was plain that a mode of election which offered so 
much temptation to the cupidity of party or the 
caprice of fortune was faulty, and could not endure. 
A further experience of its danger, however, was 
needed to enforce its amendment. Congress ad- 
journed March 3d, 1797. March 4th Adams and 
Jefferson were sworn into office. 

1 Two electors obstinately voted for George Washington. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THIRD ADMINISTRATION, 1797-180I. 

John Adams, President. Thomas Jefferson, Vice-President. 

Vth and Vlth Congresses. 

1. The beginning of Adams's Administration 
was marked by a more open manifestation of bad 
feeling on the part of the French Republic, 
which was ascribed by the Federalists to the anger 
of the French Directory on account of the Repub- 
lican defeat, and by the Republicans to the anxiety 
of two successive Federalist Administrations to 
be in close dependence upon England. In 1797, 
Monroe, an ardent Republican, who had been 
Minister to France, was recalled, and C. C. Pinck- 
ney was sent in his place. On Monroe's depar- 
ture from Paris the French Directory announced, 
in studied terms of affection for the American peo- 
ple and of contempt for the American Government, 
their intention to receive no more American Minis- 
ters until their grievances were redressed. Promi- 
nent among these grievances was Jay's Treaty. 
At the same time Pinckney was ordered to quit 
the territory of France at once. 
44 



1 797-1 T!ie x - YZ - Mission. 45 

2. Upon receipt of this news the President hastily 
Vth Congress, called an Extra Session of Con- 
Extra Session, gress for the 15th of May. 
Both branches had Federalist majorities, and Jona- 
than Dayton, of New Jersey, was chosen Speaker 
of the House. The main business of the Session 
was to listen to an Address of the President 
in which he announced his intention to send three 
envoys to France, as a last effort to obtain peace. 
Many of the Republicans considered the whole 
trouble to be the result of Federalist intrigues, but 
a majority of both Houses approved the President's 
course. Congress adjourned July 10th, 1797, and 
the envoys soon after departed for France. 
Through the Summer of 1797 parties remained 
as before, each accusing the other, perhaps with 
equal justice, of a willingness to sacrifice the inter- 
ests of America to those of a foreign country. A 
foreign traveler about this time said that there 
seemed to be in America many English, many 
French, but very few Americans. 

3. The envoys to France, after patiently enduring 
for months a treatment unworthy of the ambassadors 
of a free people, including a demand for a bribe to 
the French Directory, and a loan to the French Re- 
public's preliminaries to any negotiation, received 
peremptory orders to quit France, and returned 
with empty hands. Their mission is frequently 
called The X.Y.Z. Mission, from the letters 
concealing the names of those who demanded the 



46 American Politics. [_ l 79% 

bribes. In the mean time French attacks on Ameri- 
can commerce, which had hitherto been cloaked to 
some extent by a pretense of respect for interna- 
tional law, had now become an open warfare. 
American shipping papers were a sufficient warrant 
for the capture and condemnation of the vessels 
which carried them. 

4. Congress met November 13th, 1797. At first 
Vth Congress, the Republican disposition to 

ISt Session. tolerate almost any treatment 
from France was continued, and early in 1798 the 
House voted down a proposition to arm American 
vessels. April 8th the Senate voted to publish the 
X.Y.Z. letters, and the dispatches of the envoys. 
To England they seemed of such importance that 
they were sent everywhere in Europe to excite feel- 
ing against France. In America one burst of in- 
dignation from the Federalists converted many of 
the Republicans, and silenced the rest. " Millions 
for defense ; not one cent for tribute " became a 
rallying cry, in and out of Congress. 

5. Under the influence of the War Spirit a 
number of acts were passed to place the nation in 
readiness for hostilities. A provisional army was 
ordered, of which Washington was commissioned 
Lieutenant-General. American men-of-war were 
ordered to seize any French vessels which should 
commit depredations on American commerce. In- 
tercourse with France was suspended. The treaties 
with France were declared no longer binding upon 



1798-] Alien and Sedition Laws. 47 

the United States, and authority was given to the 
President to issue letters of marque and reprisal. 
So far, the acts passed were only the natural evi- 
dences of a nation's outraged dignity. But the 
Federalists, intoxicated by the possession of unre- 
strained power, and hurried on by an instinctive 
passion for strong government, proceeded to force 
through two acts which were well calculated to 
convince the popular mind of their disregard for 
the Constitution, They seem, indeed, to have been 
in the end the death warrant of the Federal party. 

6. June 25th the so-called Alien Law was 
passed. It authorized the President to order any 
alien whom he should judge to be dangerous to the 
peace and liberties of America to depart from the 
United States, and made provision for the fining 
and imprisonment of such aliens as should refuse 
to obey the President's order. July 14th the so- 
called Sedition Law was passed. It imposed a 
heavy fine and imprisonment upon such as should 
combine or conspire together to oppose any meas- 
ure of Government, and upon such as should utter 
any false, scandalous, or malicious writing against 
the Government, Congress, or President of the 
United States. This act was to remain in force 
until March 3d, 1,801. Congress adjourned July 
16th, 1798. 

7. These two tremendous statutes were such a 
stretch of power as had not been ventured upon 
since the Revolution. Without them, the open 



48 American Politics. \_ l 79% 

attempts of the French Directory to dictate a gov- 
ernment and policy to the United States, their dis- 
criminating kindness to the Republican member of 
the mission to France, and the patriotic and suc- 
cessful stand taken by the Federalist Administra- 
tion, would almost have insured the government to 
the Federal party for the future. It was evident 
that the. Republicans believed that these two stat- 
utes were aimed at them as a party, and were un- 
constitutional and in violation of the 1st Amend- 
ment, which prohibited Congress from passing any 
law to abridge freedom of speech or of the press. 
And it should have been evident to the Federalist 
leaders that, when the war feeling should subside,, 
popular opinion would incline to the Republican 
view t . unless the statutes were repealed as soon as 
the necessity for them was past. 

'8. It will be seen that, during the next year, 
France denied any knowledge of the agents who 
had demanded bribes, and hastened to conclude a 
peace. But, though preparations for war were then 
at an end, the Federalists persisted in enforcing 
prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Laws, 
even in the doubtful States, New York, Pennsyl- 
vania, and New Jersey. Though this excited pub- 
lic resentment, it came too late to influence the elec- 
tion for members of the Vlth Congress, in which 
the Federalists, by the help of the war feeling, were 
completely successful. Seeing no hope of present 
success in Congress, the Republican leaders deter* 



179^8.] Resolutions of 1798. 49 

mined, if possible, to entrench themselves in the 
State Legislatures, and, through them, to protest 
against measures which they were unable to resist. 
To this end a series of resolutions, the authorship 
of which is disputed, was adopted by the Legisla- 
ture of Kentucky, and a similar series, put in form 
by Madison, was adopted by the Legislature of 
Virginia. These are known as the Kentucky, 
and the Virginia, Resolutions of 1798. They 
are interesting as the first authorized proclamation 
of the Strict Constructionist party, though allow- 
ance must be made for the excited state of political 
feeling at the time of their passage. 

9. The Virginia Resolutions declared that 
the Constitution was a compact by which the States 
had surrendered only a limited portion of their 
powers ; that whenever the Federal Government 
undertook to step over the boundary of its dele- 
gated authority it was the right and the duty of the 
States to interpose, and maintain the rights which 
they had reserved to themselves ; that the Alien 
and Sedition Laws were an usurpation by the 
Federal Government of powers not granted to it, 
since the abridgment of liberty of speech or of the 
press had been expressly forbidden by the Consti- 
tution ; that the State of Virginia solemnly declared 
those laws to be unconstitutional, and appealed to 
the other States, to join in that declaration ; and 
that her Governor should be instructed to transmit 
copies of these resolutions to the Governors of 
4 



50 American Politics, D798 

other States to be laid before their Legislatures. 
The response from other States was unfavorable, 
and Virginia repeated her resolutions the next year, 
1799. 

10. The Kentucky Resolutions were to the 
same general effect as those of Virginia, but with 
the additional declaration that the States were one 
party to the compact, and the Federal Government 
was the other, and that each party must be the 
judge of infractions of the agreement, and of the 
mode and measure of redress. The next year the 
Kentucky Resolutions of 1799 were passed. They 
declared "nullification" to be " the rightful remedy"; 
but, as they announced at the same time that the 
commonwealth "bowed to the laws of the Union," 
while solemnly protesting against the obnoxious 
laws, it is apparent that they had in view no such 
" nullification " as that attempted by South Caro- 
lina in 1832. J The New England opposition to the 
Embargo in 1808 2 was a fair example of the first 
idea of "nullification" — a combination of a State 
legislature, executive, and judiciary to impede stub- 
bornly, but peaceably, the execution of an uncon- 
stitutional law. 

11. Congress met December 3d, 1798, with a 
Vth Congress, continued Federalist majority. 

2d Session. War against France had not 
been formally declared, but a species of warfare 
existed upon the ocean, in which American privat- 

1 See p. 120. a See pp. 71, 78. 



I 799-] Imperfect War with France. 51 

eers, armed merchantmen, and even ships of war 
engaged in conflicts with French vessels. Both 
parties agreed in voting an increase of the navy, 
but an increase of the army was earnestly opposed 
by the Republicans, who believed that this and simi- 
lar warlike measures were only urged by the Feder- 
alists from a desire for party aggrandizement by 
providing commissions for their party leaders. The 
President seems to have become at least a partial 
convert to this view, for in February, 1799, without 
consulting his Cabinet, and in spite of his expressed 
determination to send no more ministers to France 
until assured of a friendly reception, he suddenly 
appointed three envoys to that country. Two of 
the Cabinet protested against this action of the 
President. Their protest was sustained by leading 
Federalists throughout the country, and the Presi- 
dent began to lose, to some degree, the support of 
the party which had elected him. Congress ad- 
journed March 3d, 1799. 

12. The difficulties of the Federalists were now in- 
creased by an evident dissension between Hamilton, 
who was the real leader of the party, and Adams, 
who was its nominal head. No open quarrel had 
as yet taken place. But when the envoys to France, 
who had waited until November for assurances of a 
friendly reception, were ordered to depart by the 
President, again without consulting his Cabinet, his 
apparent eagerness for peace and distrust of Ham- 
ilton widened the breach between them. The 



52 American Politics. L ] 8oo 

envoys were successful in arranging a treaty with 
Napoleon Bonaparte, who was then at the head of 
the French Directory. 

13. Congress met December 2d, 1799, with a 
Vlth Congress, stronger Federalist majority. 

ISt Session. Theodore Sedgwick, of Massa- 
chusetts, a Federalist, was chosen Speaker -of the 
House. There was little party contest in this 
Session. The Federalist majority had been chosen 
during the war fever, immediately after the igno- 
minious return of the envoys to France, and neither 
represented nor felt the undercurrent of irritation 
which the continued enforcement of The Alien 
and Sedition Laws was increasing. The Repub- 
lican minority were kept in check, through their 
leaders, by Jefferson, who preferred to allow the 
popular excitement to work until the Presidential 
election of 1800. During the Session caucuses of 
Members of Congress nominated Presidential can- 
didates. 1 The Federalist candidates were John 
Adams, of Massachusetts, and C. C. Pinckney, of 
South Carolina, and the Republican candidates were 
Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, and Aaron Burr, of 
New York. Congress adjourned May 14th, 1800. 

14. The first important election took place in 
New York, April 28th, and resulted in the choice 
of a Republican Legislature, by whom electors 
were to be chosen. At this first token of Fede- 

1 Nominating Conventions were not called until 1832. 



l8oi.] Election by the House. 53 

ralist Defeat the slumbering animosities of the 
party broke forth. The President dismissed a 
part of his Cabinet, consisting of Hamilton's 
friends, whom he called a " British faction." Ham- 
ilton printed a severe attack upon the President, 
and endeavored to make arrangements for giving 
Pinckney a majority of Federalist electors, that he 
might be chosen President, and Adams Vice-Presi- 
dent. The Presidential Election took place in 
November, 1800. In spite of Federalist divisions 
the result was doubtful until the vote of South 
Carolina turned the scale, and gave the Republican 
electors a majority. 

15. Congress met in the new Federal city of 
Vlth Congress, Washington, November 17th, 

2d Session. 1800. The session was mainly 
occupied by The Undecided Presidential 
Election, caused by the defective provisions of 
the Constitution. In February, 1801, the electoral 
votes were counted, and were found to be, for Jef- 
ferson 73, for Burr 73, for Adams 65, for Pinckney 
64, and for John Jay 1. There was no name high- 
est on the list. Consequently there was no choice, 
and an election was to be made by the House of 
Representatives between the two highest candi- 
dates, each State having one vote. It is impossible 
to say why the Republican leaders, or electors, did 
not foresee this mischance. The difference of one 
vote between Adams and Pinckney would seem to 
show that at least one Federalist elector was acute 



54 American Politics. [1801 

enough to waste a vote and avoid a possible tie, 
for South Carolina's votes, if cast as was hoped by 
some Federalists for their candidates, would then 
have seated both these without trouble. 

16. The House was Federalist, but was restricted 
to a choice between two Republicans. Of the two, 
many Federalists preferred Burr, partly to keep 
the Presidency from their most dangerous enemy, 
Jefferson, and partly to baulk the evident intention 
of the Republicans. The balloting began February 
nth. Eight States voted for Jefferson, six for 
Burr, and two were without votes because of equal 
division among their members. There being six- 
teen States there was even yet No Election. 
Balloting continued with the same result for six 
days, and the Federalist majority was charged with 
a design to prolong the balloting in this way until 
March 4th, the day of inauguration, and then to 
make Chief Justice Jay provisional President. The 
charge was denied by the Federalists. Fortunately 
the trouble came to an end February 17th, when 
ten States voted for Jefferson, four for Burr, and 
two blank. Jefferson was then declared elected 
President, and Burr Vice-President. Congress 
adjourned March 3d, 1801, and March 4th Jeffer- 
son and Burr were sworn into office. 



CHAPTER V. 

FOURTH ADMINISTRATION, 180T-1805. 

Thomas Jefferson, President. Aaron Burr, Vice-President < 

VTIth and VHIth Congresses. 

1. Jefferson's Election completed the first 
great political revolution in the United States since 
1787, except that the Federalists still had control 
of the judiciary. The new President's first Inaug- 
ural Message announced the future policy of the 
Republican party to be the careful fostering of the 
State governments, the restriction of the powers of 
the Federal Government to their lowest constitu- 
tional limit, the immediate payment of the public 
debt, and the reduction of the army, the navy, the 
taxes, and the duties on imports, to the lowest 
available point. The Republicans were opposed 
to any currency but gold and silver, and some of 
their leaders even desired an Amendment to the 
Constitution denying to the Federal Government 
the power of borrowing money, believing that a 
yearly direct tax for the current expenses of the 
Government would compel the people to decide 
more carefully on questions of peace, war, and 

55 



56 American Politics, [1801 

finance. Upon most of the articles of Republican 
belief, the Federalists were more willing to give 
latitude and power to the Federal Government. 
But the hatred of the parties for each other was a 
little abated, though the Federalists still called their 
opponents Democrats and Jacobins, while the Re- 
publicans retorted with the name of " Black-Cock- 
ade Federalist," in allusion to the party badge worn 
by them in the time of the war fever of 1798. 

2. The Anticipations of the Federalists for 
the future of the country under Republican rule 
were naturally gloomy. The Federal party prob- 
ably contained the larger portion of the intellect, 
wealth, and culture of the country, and, in their 
honest opinion, the Government was now in bad 
hands. The President was " an atheist in religion, 
and a fanatic in politics," and the Vice-President 
was only more tolerable because less known. The 
party which supported them was composed of dis- 
organizes, Jacobins, and revolutionists. The Presi- 
dent felt it to be his duty to act so moderately as 
to give Federalist apprehensions no darker color, 
although he was determined to undo^so far as pos- 
sible, the centralizing measures of the last Admin- 
istration. With this view he took the first oppor- 
tunity after entering office, to issue Executive par- 
dons to those who were imprisoned under the Alien 
and Sedition Laws. 

3. A troublesome problem occupied the summer 
of 1801. The Republicans were clamorous for 



1801.] State of Parties. 57 

Offices, and none were vacant. They therefore 
demanded that Federalist office-holders should be 
removed to make room for Republican successors. 
The President followed the course he had previously 
marked out, removing no person merely for hold- 
ing Federalist opinions, but removing all office- 
holders who had used their official power for party 
purposes, or who had been appointed by President 
Adams after the result of the last election had be- 
come known. The supply of offices thus placed at 
his disposal satisfied the most pressing demands, 
and for the future he trusted to the natural de- 
crease in the ranks of the office-holders, of whom, 
however, he complained that " few died, and none 
resigned." 

4. Congress met December 7th, 1801, with a 
Vllth Congress, small Republican majority 

1st Session. in both branches. In the 

House Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, a Re- 
publican, was chosen Speaker. Instead of the Presi- 
dent's address in person to both Houses of Congress, 
which had hitherto been the rule, the President sent 
a written Message, as more suited to republican 
simplicity, and succeeding Presidents have followed 
the example. In the debates which followed the 
Message the Republicans advocated and carried 
reductions in the army, the navy, taxes and duties. 
Instead of the fourteen years' residence necessary 
for naturalization under a Federalist law, five years 
were substituted. 



58 American Politics. t^oi 

5. The remainder of the Session was occupied 
by debate on a proposed repeal of a Judiciary 
Law passed at the last Session, by which twenty- 
four new Federal Courts had been erected, with the 
proper complement of officers to each. The Re- 
publicans claimed that there had not been business 
enough to occupy the United States Courts already 
in existence ; that the bill had been hastily drawn 
up and passed, after the Republican success in the 
last election had been assured, only in order to 
provide offices for Federalist leaders, who were 
about to be driven from power; and that President 
Adams had been kept busy until midnight of his 
last day of office in signing commissions for the 
judges. All this seemed to the Republicans a gross 
abuse of power, and they were determined to oust 
the " midnight judges " by repealing the law. The 
Constitution seemed plainly to prohibit any such 
repeal, and the existence of the Republican party 
was based upon a strict construction of the Consti- 
tution. Party necessities and vindictiveness, how- 
ever, soon found available interpretations for the 
Constitution, and the law was repealed. The Fed- 
eral party, which had founded and nurtured the 
Federal Government, was thus driven from its last 
strong hold in it, and lost forever the control of 
national politics, though it retained its power in 
New England for about ten years afterward. Con- 
gress adjourned May 3d, 1802. 

6. In the Summer of i8ot news came from France 



i8o2.] Louisiana and France. 59 

which did much to cool the pro-French partizanship 
of even the most zealous Republicans. France had 
acquired from Spain the vast territory known as 
Louisiana, stretching from the mouth to the head 
of the Mississippi, and indefinitely Westward toward 
the Pacific. The United States were thus to be 
hemmed in by one of the great European belliger- 
ents on the North, and by another on the South and 
West, and the policies and alliances of Europe were 
to be extended to the Western Continent. The 
President at once directed the American Minister 
at Paris to lay the strongest remonstrances before 
the First Consul. He was ordered to declare 
that, while the present possession of Louisiana by 
a weak nation like Spain would be tolerated, its 
transfer to a strong, active, colonizing power like 
France would immediately drive the United States 
into close alliance with England, and that, in short, 
the foreign possessor of New Orleans must be the 
enemy of the United States. 

7. Congress met December 6th, 1802. The 
Vllth Congress, President's Message 
2d Session. stated that $8,000,000 of 

the public debt had been paid during the year, and 
called attention to Spain's unfriendly action in 
closing New Orleans, which she still controlled, 
against American commerce. Resolutions con- 
demning Spain's conduct were introduced and 
passed by the Republicans. A constitutional 
Amendment changing the mode of the Presidential 



60 American Politics. [1802 

election was debated, but did not obtain the neces- 
sary two-thirds vote. Some of the Republicans 
made an unsuccessful attempt to abolish the Mint, 
as a useless piece of expense, and the Federalists 
were equally unsuccessful in attempting to fasten a 
charge of mismanagement upon the Treasury. The 
rest of the Session was spent in considering the 
Yazoo Frauds, which had no party interest. Con^ 
gress adjourned March 3d, 1803. 

8. Ohio had become a State of the Union No- 
vember 29th, 1802. It was formed from the North- 
West Territory, which had been organized by an 
ordinance of July 13th, 1787. Article VI of this 
ordinance reads : " There shall be neither slavery 
nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory, 
otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof 
the party shall have been duly convicted." The 
ordinance of 1787 is noteworthy as an exercise by 
the Congress of the Confederacy of the right to 
exclude Slavery from the Territories. ' 

9. James Monroe had been sent to France to 
buy Florida and the island of Orleans. France 
was preparing for renewed war with Great Britain 
and was in need of money. Monroe therefore 
transcended his instructions, and made a bargain 

1 It will be found that the language of this ordinance was copied in the 
efforts made in 1819 (Missouri), 1846 (Wilmot Proviso), and 1865 (XHIth 
Amendment), to assert and maintain for the Federal Congress under the 
Constitution this power of regulating and abolishing Slavery in the Terri- 
tories of the United States, and finally, in the States as the result of civil 
war. 



1803.] The Louisiana Purchase. 61 

for all Louisiana for $15,000,000. The President 
at once agreed to it though he believed that the 
Constitution gave the Federal Government no power 
to purchase foreign territory and make it a part of 
the Union. But he likened his action to that of a 
guardian who makes an unauthorized purchase for 
the benefit of his ward, trusting that the latter will 
afterward ratify it. In this instance the ratifica- 
tion was prepared as an Amendment to the Consti- 
tion, but was never offered, the President's action 
having been in effect ratified by general acquies- 
cence in it. This course was imitated without 
question in several instances afterward. 

10. Congress met October 17th, 1803, having 
VHIth Congress, been called to an early session 

1st Session. by the President that there 

might be more time for discussing the French 
Treaty. Both branches had Republican majori- 
ties, and in the House Nathaniel Macon was again 
chosen Speaker. The Treaty was ratified, and 
appropriations made for its execution, after a de- 
bate which was almost a repetition of that on Jay's 
Treaty in 1795, eacn P ar ty> however, citing the 
arguments and resolutions then offered by the op- 
posite party. During this Session the manner of 
the Presidential election was amended to the form 
which it has at present. Having been ratified by 
the necessary number of States, this became the 
Xllth Amendment. Articles of impeachment 
were voted by the House against a Federalist 



62 American Politics. [1804 

Judge, Chase, of Maryland, for arbitrary and op- 
pressive conduct in trying cases under the Alien 
and Sedition Laws. Congress adjourned March 
27th, 1804. 

11. The Republicans offered the President and 
George Clinton of New York, as their Presidential 
candidates. Burr had come too near the Presi- 
dency in 1804 to be made prominent again with 
Jefferson's consent. He was therefore dropped, 
and Clinton took his place. The Federalists of- 
fered as their candidates Charles C. Pinckney, of 
South Carolina, and Rufus King, of New York. 
The Presidential Election in November re- 
sulted in the overwhelming defeat of the Federal- 
ists, who carried only Connecticut and Delaware, 
with two electors in Maryland. 

12. Congress met November 5th, 1804. The 
VHIth Congress, Session was mainly occupied 

2d Session. by the Trial of Judge 

Chase by the Senate, on articles of impeachment 
prepared by the House at its last Session. Unfor- 
tunately the trial became a party struggle. The 
Federalists espoused the cause of Judge Chase, 
and the Republicans were determined to convict 
him. Vice-President Burr, who presided at the 
trial, had shot Hamilton in a duel near New York 
in July, 1804, and thus deprived the Federalists of 
their ablest leader. But his impartiality and con- 
tempt for party demands during the Chase 'trial 
went far to induce them to condone his offense. 



1805.] Trial of Judge Chase, 63 

A sufficient number of Senators did not vote to 
condemn Judge Chase on any one charge, and he 
was found not guilty on all. The angry disappoint- 
ment of the Republicans led them to introduce 
several Amendments to make impeachment and 
conviction more easy and certain, but none were 
adopted. In February, 1805, the electoral votes 
were counted, and were found to be, 162 for Jeffer- 
son and Clinton, and 14 for Pinckney and King. 
Jefferson and Clinton were therefore declared 
elected. March 3d, 1805, Congress adjourned, and 
March 4th Jefferson and Clinton were sworn into 
office. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FIFTH ADMINISTRATION, 1805-1809. 

Thomas Jefferson, President. George Clinton, Vice-President, 

IXth and Xth Congresses. 

1. Congress met December 2d, 1805, with an 
IXth Congress, overwhelming Republican ma- 

ISt Session. jority in both branches. Na- 
thaniel Macon was again chosen Speaker in the 
House. Federalism still retained control of New 
England, with the exception of Vermont. In the 
other States it seemed to be dead or dying. But 
New England's influence was so much greater than 
its proportionate size that the party which con- 
trolled it was certain to be at least a strong minority 
in national politics. 

2. The Napoleonic wars still continued, and Great 
Britain and France were using every expedient to 
cripple each other, without regard to the rights of 
neutral nations. While the President was anxious 
to defend American commerce, he was averse to 
increasing the expenses of his Administration by 
building a navy. He therefore recommended, and 
Congress adopted, a plan for the building of a 

64 



1805.] The Randolph Faction. 65 

number of small gun-boats, as more economical 
than ships of war. This " Gun-boat System " 
was always hateful to the navy, and was a constant 
object of Federalist ridicule and attack. 

3. The President again called the attention of 
Congress to the unfriendly actions of the Spanish 
authorities at New Orleans. His Message on this 
subject was referred to a committee of which Ran- 
dolph, of Virginia, was chairman. Randolph had 
been one of the Republican leaders while the party 
was in opposition, but his irritable spirit disquali- 
fied him for heading an Administration party. He 
could attack, but could not defend. He had taken 
offense at the President's refusal to make him Min- 
ister to England, and immediately took sides with 
the Federalists, followed by a number of his friends, 
though not sufficient to give the Federalists a ma- 
jority. Randolph's committee reported resolutions 
which the Republicans voted down, on the ground 
that they were calculated to provoke a needless 
collision with Spain. A substitute was then passed 
authorizing the President to purchase the Floridas 
from Spain. 1 This was afterward modified by a 
resolution that it was advisable to exchange a part 
of Louisiana for East and West Florida. The 
Randolph faction, popularly called " Quids," gave 
fresh life to the Federalists in Congress, and made 
them an active and useful opposition party. 

4. Through the first three months of 1806 various 

j Thi§ was not. etf***«4, however, until iSig. 



66 American Politics, [1806 

resolutions were offered in Congress, loc king toward 
Retaliation upon England. They culminated 
in the adoption of an Act to prohibit the importa- 
tion of certain English goods after November 15th. 
The vote upon this bill (93 to 32 in the House, and 
19 to 9 in the Senate) is a fair statement of the 
Administration majority at this Session. Another 
unsuccessful attempt was made to facilitate the re- 
moval of Federal Judges. The increase of loose 
constructionist ideas among the Republicans was 
marked by the passage of a bill for the construc- 
tion of a National Road from Maryland to 
Ohio. 1 Congress adjourned April 21st, 1806. 

5. The summer of 1806 was spent by the " quids ' 
in efforts to bring Monroe back from his Mission to 
England, to be used as a Presidential candidate 
against Madison, whom the President was supposed 
to favor. The late Vice-President, Burr, came up 
again to public notice, by a mysterious expedition 
down the Mississippi, by which he hoped to retrieve 
his fallen fortunes. It was not known whether its 
object was colonization, an attack upon the Span- 
ish possessions, or the founding of an independent 
western empire. The President, by proclamation, 
cautioned all citizens not to engage in the enter- 
prise, and gave orders for Burr's arrest. 

6. Congress met December 1st, 1806. The Pres- 

1 This was the first appearance of the question of making Internal Im- 
provements at Federal Expense, which afterward:* divided parties fron^ 
1830 until 1856. 



1807.] Burrs Expedition. 6? 

IXth Congress, ident's Message called at- 
2d Session. tention to the growing excess 
of receipts over expenditures, and suggested 
Amendments to the Constitution giving Congress 
the doubted power to expend the surplus on roads, 
canals, and education. No action was taken upon 
them. The Act prohibiting importations from 
England, passed at the last Session, was suspended 
until July ist, 1807, and the President was given 
discretionary power to suspend it until December. 

7. January 22d, 1807, the President sent to Con- 
gress the dispatches which showed the progress of 
Burr's Expedition up to that time. The Senate, 
in great alarm, passed unanimously a bill to sus- 
pend the writ of habeas corpus for three months, a 
measure repugnant to all the principles of the domi- 
nant party. Three days afterward the House re- 
jected the bill, by a vote nearly unanimous. Con- 
gress adjourned March 3d, 1807. Burr's expedi- 
tion had by this time disbanded, and its leader was 
on his way to Virginia, to be tried for treason, his 
enterprise having been begun within the limits of 
that State. 

8. In December, 1806, a Treaty with England 
had been arranged, which was almost identical with 
Jay's treaty of 1795. As ^ ^ e ^ England at liberty 
to impress American seamen, and to search Ameri- 
can ships, the President rejected it, without laying 
it before the Senate, and tried further negotiation, 
but without success. His action was supported by 



68 American Politics. [1807 

the Republicans, and attacked by the Federalists, 
who were the commercial part of the community, 
and were anxious for almost any treaty with Eng- 
land. The rejection of this treaty embittered 
English feeling against the United States, and was 
probably a leading cause of the renewed English 
aggressions, the Embargo, and the War of 1812. 

9. Burr's Examination began in May, 1807, 
before the Grand Jury in Richmond, Va. It took 
a party aspect almost from the beginning. The 
Federalists considered Burr's arrest an Executive 
usurpation of power. The President was deter- 
mined that the result of the trial should justify his 
action, and became notorious for his interference 
in the management of the case. His letters to the 
District Attorney were frequent, and his anxiety for 
Burr's conviction roused the Federalists to greater 
exertions for Burr's acquittal. The counsel for de- 
fense even caused a writ to be served upon the 
President, commanding his personal attendance as 
a witness. The President refused to obey, on the 
ground of public inconvenience, and the matter was 
not pressed. The Grand Jury found an indictment 
against Burr. His trial came on in August, before 
Chief Justice Marshall, and resulted in his acquittal 
for want of jurisdiction. The administration was 
thus defeated, and abandoned any further earnest 
prosecution of Aaron Burr. 

10. In June, 1807, the British frigate Leopard, 
off fj^mptgr* Roads, had taken by force four sea* 



1807.] The Chesapeake Outrage. 69 

men from the United States frigate Chesapeake, 
after a shamefully feeble resistance. Both political 
parties joined heartily in the indignation excited by 
this outrage, and war with England would have 
been everywhere popular, for the day was past when 
parties were ready to go all lengths in support of 
either France or England. The President was 
anxious for peace, and left the matter to be settled, 
some years afterward, by negotiation. It would be 
out of place to discuss here the alternating attacks 
on neutral rights by the great European belliger- 
ents, before and after this date, the proclamation by 
England of a paper blockade of the whole French 
coast, the counter proclamation by France of a 
paper blockade of the British islands, the Orders in 
Council to the English navy to search neutral ves- 
sels for French goods, and the counter orders to 
the French navy to capture every vessel which 
should submit to such search. 1 England's power 
being the greater on the ocean, her aggressions bore 
most heavily on the United States, whose commerce 
was rapidly being destroyed. 

11. The President, by proclamation, had warned 
Xth Congress, all British armed vessels not to 
1st Session. enter American ports, and had 
called an early session of Congress. It met Octo- 
ber 26th, 1807, with a Republican majority in both 
branches. In the House a Republican, Joseph B. 
Varnum, of Massachusetts, was chosen Speaker. 

1 Jefferson, in a private letter, said that " England seemed to have be- 
come a den of pirates, and France a den of thieves." 



70 American Politics, [1808 

The President recommended a bill by which Ameri- 
can vessels should be prohibited from all foreign 
trade, and foreign vessels from taking cargoes 
from the United States; all coasting vessels should 
be required to give bonds to land their cargoes 
in the United States. This was the celebrated 
Kmbargo Bill, which destroyed, for the time, all 
American commerce, intensified party feeling, and 
even threatened the existence of the Union. It 
was passed by strict party votes, being opposed 
vehemently by the Federalists and quids, on the 
ground that it would injure the United States rather 
than England, and would complete the commercial 
ruin which foreign attacks had begun. Having 
given the President the power of suspending the 
Embargo Act whenever it should seem advisable to 
him to do so, Congress adjourned April 25th, 1808. 
12. Presidential Nominations were made at 
this Session by Congressional caucuses. The Re- 
publicans nominated James Madison, of Virginia, 
for President, and George Clinton, of New York, 
for Vice-President. Madison's chief competitors 
for the nomination were James Monroe, who was 
supported by the quids of the Virginia Assembly, 
and George Clinton, who was supported by a part 
of the New York Republicans. The Federalists 
nominated C. C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, for 
President, and Ruf us King, of New York, for Vice- 
President. The President had been requested by 
the Legislatures of most of the Republican States 
to accept a third term, but declined. 



J 808.] Presidential Election, — Embargo. 7 1 

13. During the summer of 1808 the Embargo 
began to bear so heavily on the commercial interests 
of New England and the Middle States that their 
complaints drowned other subjects of discussion, 
and took away much of the excitement of a Presi- 
dential election. The remaining strength of the 
Federalists was concentrated in these States, so 
that party bitterness aggravated financial distress. 
It was said that the Republican States had devised 
the Embargo as a substitute for war, because its ill 
effects would fall mainly upon the Federalist States. 
There was every indication that New England 
would obey it with reluctance. The choice, how- 
ever, lay between war, an embargo, or submission. 
For the latter there were very few advocates. The 
war party was divided, some of its members wish- 
ing for war against England, others for war against 
France, and still others for war against both. The 
great majority of the people still favored the 
Embargo, and the Presidential Election in No- 
vember resulted largely in favor of the Republi- 
cans. New England stood almost alone in choosing 
Federalist electors. 

14. Congress met November 7th, 1808. Its pro- 
Xth Congress, ceedings were confined to reso- 

2d Session. lutions and protests against 
French and English aggressions, and the rejection 
of Federalist resolutions to repeal the Embargo, 
until February, 1809. In that month John Quincy 
Adams, who had resigned the Massachusetts 
Senatorship because his support of the Embargo 



J 2 American Politics. [1809 

had been disapproved by his State Legislature, 
informed the President that the Embargo could 
no longer be enforced in New England, that the 
Federalist leaders had made all arrangements to 
break off from federal relations with the rest of 
the Union unless the Act was repealed, and that an 
agent from the Canadas was then in New England 
to offer the assistance of the English Government 
to the scheme. 1 

15. Adams's warning impressed the President 
and the Republican leaders so much that they at 
once secured the passage of a modification of the 
Embargo, known as the Non-Intercourse Act. 
By this the Embargo was repealed, after March 
4th, as to commerce with all nations excepting Eng- 
land and France. It was hoped that this would 
quiet the excitement in New England, without yield- 
ing the principle of the Embargo. 

16. In February the electoral votes were counted, 
and were found to be, for President, 122 for James 
Madison, 6 for George Clinton, and 47 for C. C. 
Pinckney, and for Vice-President, 113 for George 
Clinton, 47 for Rufus King, and 15 scattering. 
Madison and Clinton were therefore declared 
elected. March 3d, 1809, Congress adjourned, and 
March 4th Madison and Clinton were sworn into 
office. 



x Adams's accuracy has been denied, and it has even been asserted that 
his appointment, soon after, as Minister to Russia was the reward of his 
wilful falsification. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SIXTH ADMINISTRATION, 1809-1813. 

James Madison, President. George Clinton, Vice-President. 

Xlth and Xllth Congresses. 

1. The Difficulties with England were 
Xlth Congress, complicated, at the beginning 
Extra Session, of Madison's term of office, by 
an unfortunate mistake of the British Minister, Mr. 
Erskine, caused by his desire for peace. Shortly 
after the inauguration he informed the President 
that he was authorized by his Government to with- 
draw the objectionable orders to the English navy. 
The President therefore, by proclamation, sum- 
moned a Special Session of Congress to meet May 
22d, 1809, and suspended the Non-Intercourse 
Act, as applied to England, after June ioth. This 
he was authorized to do by the terms of the Act. 
Congress met on the day appointed, with a Repub- 
lican majority in both branches. In the House 
Speaker Varnum was re-elected. England had in 
the mean time disavowed her Minister's offer, and 
recalled him, and a new proclamation by the Presi- 
dent restored the Non-Intercourse Act as before. 
The Federalists represented the whole misunder- 
standing as a Republican trick to influence the 
73 



74 Arnericci7i Politics, [i8c>9 

elections. There being no business to occupy 
Congress, it adjourned June 28th. 

2. Congress met November 27th, 1809. The 
Xlth Congress, Republican majority was so 

ISt Session. large that every Administra- 
tion measure was promptly carried, and there was 
little party conflict. A continuance of the Non- 
Intercourse Act was voted. Mr. Erskine's suc- 
cessor had contradicted the Secretary of State so 
frequently and so offensively that Congress, by a 
strict party vote, passed a resolution declaring his 
language to be insolent, and requesting the Presi- 
dent to recognize him no longer. Congress ad- 
journed May 1st, 1810. 

3. Congress met December 3d, 1810. France 
Xlth Congress, had managed so adroitly as to 

2d Session. leave it in doubt whether her 
objectionable decrees had been withdrawn or not. 
The Republicans chose to consider them with- 
drawn, and repealed the Non-Intercourse Act, as 
applied to France. The President endeavored to 
induce England to withdraw her Orders in Coun^ 
cil, but this was refused on the ground that there 
was no evidence of any repeal by France. The 
Non-Intercourse Act was therefore continued 
against England. 

4. An effort was made at this Session to re- 
charter the National Bank, which had been 
chartered in 1791 for twenty years. Opposition to 
such a bank was a necessary article of belief 



1 8 1 1 .] Adoption of a War Policy. 75 

among Strict Constructionists. But the corpora- 
tion had so many Republican friends in Congress 
that a bill to re-charter it was favorably reported 
by the committees of both branches, and after long 
debate was defeated by a majority of only one vote 
in the House, and by the casting vote of the Vice- 
President in the Senate. Thereupon the Bank 
wound up its business, and ceased to act. Con- 
gress adjourned March 3d, 181 1. 

5. Congress met November 4th, 181 1. The Re- 
Xllth Congress, publican majority was still 

ISt Session. overwhelmingly large, but it 

contained several rising and energetic members, 
who afterward became party leaders, and who were 
now successfully urging upon the party a Change 
of Policy. Hitherto Jefferson and Madison had 
made it a peace party, and had carefully avcjded 
direct conflict with France or England. The cap- 
ture of over 900 American merchant vessels since 
1803 had been no more effectual than such isolated 
outrages as the Chesapeake case in rousing the 
Administration to the idea of forcible resistance. 
Under the new leaders the Republicans became a 
war party. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was chosen 
Speaker of the House. William H. Crawford, 
of Georgia, in the Senate, and John C. Calhoun, 
of South Carolina, in the House, became the recog- 
nized Congressional leaders of the party. The 
economical and retrenching policy of Jefferson was 
abandoned, and preparations were begun for hos- 



76 American Politics. [1812 

tiiities, against the opposition of the Federalists, 
and the timid or peace loving Republicans. Bills 
were passed to enlist men, to organize the militia, 
and to equip and enlarge the navy. 

6. The President was given to understand 
that his nomination for a second term of office de- 
pended upon his adoption of the war policy and 
that his refusal to do so would cause the nomina- 
tion of De Witt Clinton, of New York, in his stead. 
Thus pressed the President yielded, and was con- 
sequently renominated by the usual caucus of Re- 
publican members of Congress, with Elbridge 
Gerry, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President. Clin- 
ton refused to be bound by this bargain, and, hav- 
ing been nominated by a Republican caucus of the 
New York Legislature, persisted in his candidacy. 
To profit by this promising division among the 
Republicans, a caucus of leading Federalists, held 
in New York City, decided to support Clinton, with 
Jared Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

7. In March, 181 2, the President took the first 
step in fulfillment of his bargain by sending to 
Congress, with a special Message, certain docu- 
ments, which he had purchased from one John 
Henry for $50,000. Henry claimed to have been 
the agent sent from Canada in 1809 to detach the 
New England Federalists from their allegiance to 
the Union, and his documents purported to show 
the complicity of the British Government. The 



1812.] Declaration of War. J? 

British Minister solemnly denied all knowledge of, 
or belief in, any such agent, but Congress, by reso- 
lution, proclaimed Henry's documents authentic, 
and denounced England's perfidious attack on the 
unity of a friendly nation. The principal effect of 
this episode was to outrage and exasperate the 
Federalists of New England. 

8. As a preliminary to war an Embargo was 
laid upon American shipping for 90 days. The 
British Minister finally declared, May 30th, that his 
Government would not recede from its policy 
toward neutrals. Dispatches from the American 
agent in London informed the President that the 
same declaration had been made by the English 
Ministry in Parliament. The President therefore 
sent a Message to Congress, June 1st, reviewing 
the past and present difficulties with Great Britain. 
It was referred to a committee, whose report was a 
summary of American grievances against England; 
the impressment of American seamen, the Orders 
in Council, the system of paper blockades, and the 
refusal to settle American claims for damages. It 
concluded by recommending a declaration of 
war. 

9. An Act was consequently passed, and signed 
by the President, June 18th, declaring that a State 
of War existed between the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland and its dependencies, 
and the United States of America. Of the 98 
members who voted for the war 76 were from the 



78 American Politics. [1812 

South and West. On the following day the Presi- 
dent's proclamation announced that the war had 
begun. We have nothing to do with its events 
except as they influenced politics in the United 
States. It was soon learned that the Orders in 
Council had been revoked in London five days after 
the declaration of war, but the revocation came too 
late. Even if it had been made in time, the war 
party would probably have insisted upon the aban- 
donment by England of the right of search and im- 
pressment, and would have declared war on that 
issue. Congress adjourned July 6th, 1812. April 
30th Louisiana had become a State of the 
Union. 

10. The Presidential Election in November 
resulted in the success of a large majority of Re- 
publican electors, and of members of the XHIth 
Congress pledged to support the Administration and 
the war. But the Opposition to the War was 
manifested by every legal method from its very 
beginning. Immediately after the declaration the 
Federalist members of Congress had published 
their protest against it in an address to their con- 
stituents. Under the Act passed by Congress to 
embody the militia, requisitions were made by the 
President upon the Governors of the different 
States for their respective quotas. The Governors 
of Massachusetts and Connecticut refused to allow 
their militia to leave their States on the ground 
that the Federal Government could not constitu- 



1813.] Formation of a Peace Party. 79 

tionally call out the militia until an invasion had 
taken place, or the laws of the United States had 
been resisted. In this, as in many other instances 
throughout the war, the possession of power by the 
Republicans inclined them toward a loose con- 
struction of the Constitution, and the Federalists 
toward a strict construction of it. 

11. Congress met November 2d, T812. The 
Xllth Congress, large Republican majority 
2d Session. prevented any party contest. 

The Randolph faction, or Quids, had ceased to 
have a separate existence after its failure to nomi- 
nate Monroe. Most of its members were now sup- 
porters of the Administration. The remainder, 
with the Federalists and those Republicans who 
opposed the war, had formed a " Peace Party." 
But their defection was more than compensated by 
the number of Federalists whom it drove into po- 
litical union with the war party. In Congress both 
parties united in rewarding, encouraging, and in- 
creasing the Navy, whose brilliant exploits had 
intoxicated the whole nation with the unexpected 
consciousness that it alone, of all the nations of the 
earth, could match and master England upon her 
own element, the ocean. This Session was occu- 
pied mainly in measures necessary for the active 
prosecution of the war, which were all passed by 
party votes. In February the electoral votes were 
counted and were found to be, for President, 128 
for Madison, and 89 for Clinton, and, for Vice* 



80 American Politics. [ x 8i3 

President, 131 for Gerry, and 86 for Ingersoll. 
Madison and Gerry were therefore declared 
elected. March 3d, 1813, Congress adjourned, and 
March 4th Madison and Gerry were sworn into 
office. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1813-1817. 

James Madison, President. Elbridge Gerry, Vice-President. 

Xlllth and XlVth Congresses . 

1. Congress met May 24th, 1813, having been 
Xlllth Congress, summoned by the President 

Extra Session. to a Special Session to 

consider the difficulties encountered in raising 
money for the War. The President's Message also 
mentioned the proffered mediation of the Czar of 
Russia, which England afterward declined. In the 
House Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was chosen 
Speaker, and the vote (89 to 54) represents the 
Administration majority. The Republican ma- 
jority in the Senate was weakened by a faction 
opposed to the Administration. The business of 
this Session was mainly routine. Congress ad- 
journed August 2d. 

2. The Dislike to the War and its manage- 
ment became more apparent as it went on. The 
Connecticut Legislature had declared it to be the 
solemn and deliberate opinion of the people of that 
State that the war was unnecessary. So notorious 
was the general feeling of the Eastern States that 
England had endeavored to mark the political di- 

6 81 



82 American Politics. [1813 

vision between New England and the rest of the 
Union by exempting Massachusetts (which in- 
cluded the present State of Maine) Rhode Island, 
and New Hampshire, from the blockade of the 
Atlantic Coast. 

3. Congress met December 6th, 1813. This 
XHIth Congress, Session was also occupied 

ISt Session. chiefly with routine busi- 

ness, and in efforts to improve the condition of the 
finances. Illicit trade from the New England 
coast to the English ships had become so common 
that a New Embargo Act was passed, applying 
to all vessels, large or small. Congress adjourned 
April 18th, 1814. In August occurred the sack 
and burning of Washington by an English expedi- 
tion, an affair almost equally disgraceful to both 
nations. 1 

4. Congress met September 19th, 1814. Nego- 
XHIth Congress, tiations for Peace had 

2d Session. been begun in August. Na- 

poleon was, for the time, overthrown, and the 
American Government was anxious for almost any 
honorable peace, in preference to continuing the 
war with England. The Orders in Council had 
been revoked long before, and the American Com- 
missioners were instructed not to insist upon the 
other object of the war, the abandonment of the 
rights of search and impressment. The English 
demands rose as those of the United States fell. 

1 The President barely escaped capture. 



1813.] Opposition to the War. 83 

England now insisted that an independent Indian 
nation should be organized between Canada and 
the United States, and that the United States 
should maintain no fleet or military posts on the 
Great Lakes. 

5. The publication of these conditions in Octo- 
ber again roused the war feeling of the Republi- 
cans, and some of their leaders began to meditate 
measures which the strict constructionist principles 
of the party could not justify. The Secretary of 
War proposed the increase of the army by a draft, 
or conscription. The Secretary of the Navy pro- 
posed to introduce the English system of impress- 
ment of seamen. To Republicans generally such 
measures seemed unconstitutional, and they were 
rejected, though strongly urged by the Adminis- 
tration. Fresh discontent was excited by a bill 
offered in the Senate, allowing officers of the army 
to enlist minors over 18 years old without con- 
sent of their parents or guardians. The Connecti- 
cut Legislature ordered the Governor to resist the 
execution of these and similar measures, if they 
should become laws. 

6. The commercial distress in New England, the 
possession by the enemy of a large part of the Dis- 
trict of Maine, the fear of their advance along the 
coast, and the apparent neglect of the Federal Gov- 
ernment to provide any adequate means of resist- 
ance, had led the Legislature of Massachusetts, 
in October, to invite the other New England States 



84 American Politics. [ x 8i4 

to send delegates to Hartford, Connecticut, "to 
confer upon the subject of their public grievances." 
Delegates from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and 
Connecticut, and from parts of Vermont and New 
Hampshire, met at Hartford in December and re- 
mained in session for three weeks. In their Re- 
port to their State Legislatures they reviewed the 
state of the country, the origin and management 
of the war, and the strong measures lately pro- 
posed in Congress, and recommended several 
Amendments to the Constitution, chiefly with in- 
tent to restrict the powers of Congress over com- 
merce, and to prevent naturalized citizens from 
holding office. In default of the adoption of these 
Amendments, another convention was advised, " in 
order to decide on the course which a crisis so mo- 
mentous might seem to demand." 

7. This was the famous Hartford Convention. 
The peace which closely followed its adjournment 
removed all necessity or even desire for another 
session of it. Its objects seem to have been legiti- 
mate. But the unfortunate secrecy of its proceed- 
ings, and its somewhat ambiguous language, roused 
a popular suspicion, sufficient for the political ruin 
of its members, that a dissolution of the Union had 
been proposed, perhaps resolved upon, in its meet- 
ings. Some years afterward those concerned in it 
were compelled in self-defense to publish its jour- 
nal, in order to show that no treasonable design was 
officially proposed. It was then, however, too late, 



1814O Extinction of the Federal Party, 85 

for the popular opinion had become fixed. Neither 
the Federal party which originated, nor the Feder- 
alist politicians who composed the assembly were 
ever freed from the stigma left by the mysterious 
Hartford Convention. 

8. In February, 1815, the welcome and unex- 
pected news of Peace reached Congress. It was 
welcome to the Administration, whose inexperience 
in the conduct of the war had involved it in great 
financial straits, to the Federalists, who considered 
the war iniquitous, and even to the war party, who 
had begun to anticipate a single contest with Eng- 
land. Therefore the peace, which actually secured 
not one of the objects for which war had been de- 
clared, occasioned rejoicings which would have been 
more appropriate for a more successful termination 
of the war. The rest of this Session was neces- 
sarily spent in the active reduction of government 
to a peace establishment, with. the exception of 
the navy, and in the reduction of expenses. The 
Acts which had been necessary in preparing for or 
carrying on the war were repealed. Congress ad- 
journed March 3d, 1815. 

9. The close of the war marks the final Extinct- 
ion of the Federal Party. The few remaining 
Federalists from this time began to desist from any 
united party action. The whole people composed 
one party whose principles were neither those of 
the original Federal, nor those of the original Re- 
publican party, but a combination of both. The 



86 American Politics. [181 5 

cardinal principle of the Federal party, the preser- 
vation and perpetuity of the Federal Government, 
had been quietly accepted and adopted by the Re- 
publicans, while the Republican principle of limit- 
ing the Federal Government's powers and duties 
had been adoped by the Federalists when the Fed- 
eral Government had fallen into Republican hands. 
But, though the principles of the Federalists had 
made an abiding impression upon the form of gov- 
ernment, their party opposition to the war had made 
the name so unsavory that it soon began to fall 
into disuse. 

10. Congress met December 4th, 1815, with a 
XlVth Congress, large Republican majority 

ISt Session. in both branches. In the 

House Henry Clay was again chosen Speaker. 
This Session was occupied chiefly by the regula- 
tion of Internal Affairs, which occasioned but 
little party contest. Taxes were reduced, and 
slight changes were made in the Tariff. Some 
indications appeared, during the debate, of a 
growing feeling among Republicans that the Tariff 
ought to be so arranged as to give protection 
to those manufactures which had sprung up in 
America during the war, and while the tendency 
of the bill adopted was distinctly protective, its 
purpose was temporarily thwarted by the condition 
of trade. 

11. The spread of loose constructionist ideas 
among the Republicans was marked in April, 18 16, 



i8i 5-] The National Bank. 87 

by the passage of a bill for the charter of a Na- 
tional Bank, to expire in 1836. It was modeled 
upon the one which the Republicans had opposed 
in 1791 and 181 1. Hamilton's argument in favor 
of such a bank was republished by Republican 
newspapers with a warmth of approval which 
showed how far the party had forgotten its strict 
constructionist principles. Congress adjourned 
April 30th, 1816. 

12. Presidential Candidates were nominated 
by the usual Congressional caucuses. Among the 
Republicans the Virginia influence, which had 
named the President for 24 of the 28 years since 
1789, was again successful in nominating James 
Monroe, his principal competitor being Wm. H. 
Crawford, of Georgia. Daniel D. Tompkins, of 
New York, was nominated for the Vice-Presidency. 
For President the Federalists supported Rufus 
King, of New York, but united on no one for the 
Vice-Presidency. The Presidential Election 
in November resulted in complete Republican suc- 
cess. Only three States, Massachusetts, Connecti- 
cut, and Delaware, chose Federalist electors. 

13. Congress met December 2d, 1816. Decem- 
XlVth Congress, ber nth, Indiana became 

2d Session. a State of the Union. This 

Session was almost without party contest. In Feb- 
ruary, 1817, the electoral votes were counted and 
were found to be, for President, 183 for Monroe, 
and 34 for King, and, for Vice-President, 183 for 



88 American Politics. [1816 

Tompkins, and 34 for various other persons. 
Monroe and Tompkins were therefore declared 
elected. March 3d, 181 7, Congress adjourned, 
and March 4th Monroe and Tompkins were sworn 
into office. 



CHAPTER IX. 

EIGHTH ADMINISTRATION, 1817-182I. 

James Monroe, President. Daniel D. Tompkins, Vice-President. 
XVth and XVlth Congresses. 

i. The President appointed a Republican Cabi- 
net. He had been urged to ignore parties in his 
appointments, but in his opinion the time had not 
yet come to do so. May 31st he began an extended 
tour through the Northern States, being the first 
President to imitate Washington's example in this 
respect. The welcome everywhere given him prob- 
ably helped to blot out the last remnant of Federal- 
ist opposition. 

2. Congress met December 1st, 181 7. The pro- 
XVth Congress, fessed Federalists were very 

1st Session. few. In the House Speaker 
Clay was re-elected almost unanimously. Decem- 
ber 10th Mississippi became a State of the Union. 1 

The first Act of this Session abolished the inter- 
nal taxes which had been imposed during the war. 
In his Message the President had taken occasion to 
recommend a Protective Tariff. The question 

1 Appendices C and F will show how carefully a new Free State was at 
once balanced by the creation of a new Slave State, in order to control the 
Senate. 

89 



90 American Politics. [1817 

was compromised, nearly unanimously, by the pass- 
age of a bill continuing for seven years the Tariff 
of 1816 on cottons and woolens, which was slightly 
protective. A proposition was made to use the 
dividends of the United States from the National 
Bank, instead of appropriations. It was postponed 
because of the opposition of Strict Constructionists. 
A resolution, supported by Clay, to recognize the 
South American Republics, formed by Spain's 
revolted colonies, was rejected. Congress ad- 
journed April 20th, 1818. 

3. It is plain that the all-powerful Republican 
party already contained the Nucleus of a New 
Party, and a leader for it in the person of Henry 
Clay. He had headed, or advocated, every attempt 
to increase the army and navy, to make the Tariff 
protective, to begin a system of general public im- 
provements at national expense, or to make the 
Federal Government prominent in foreign affairs, 
as the guardian of the infant Republics of South 
America. All of these measures seemed to Strict 
Constructionists either unconstitutional or unwise. 
Some of Clay's followers were only temporarily 
attracted by his personal influence, but the great 
majority were Loose Constructionists, Federalists 
in reality, though they would have disliked the 
name. 

4. The summer of 1818 was marked by Indian 
difficulties in Florida, which deserve mention be- 
cause their investigation took up much of the time 



I8i8.] The Seminole War. 91 

of the next Session of Congress. In quelling dis- 
turbances among the Georgia Indians Andrew 
Jackson had been systematically thwarted by the 
Spanish authorities of Florida. He therefore en- 
tered their territory, seized their principal towns, 
and captured and put to death, " as outlaws and 
pirates," Arbuthnot and Ambrister, two British sub- 
jects, who had led the Seminole Indians. 

5. Congress met November 16th, 1818. Decem- 
XVth Congress, ber 3d Illinois became a State 

2d Session. of the Union. In the House 

the Committee on Military Affairs offered two re- 
ports on The Seminole War. The majority 
report proposed a censure upon Jackson for his 
execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, declaring 
it unwise, unnecessary, and unjustifiable by the 
laws of war or of nations. The minority report 
approved his action. The majority report was re- 
jected by the House and postponed by the Senate. 
The contest was then transferred to the newspa- 
pers, where it raged violently. 

6. February 22d, 1819, a treaty was concluded 
by which Spain sold the Floridas to the United 
States for $5,000,000, and the United States aban- 
doned all claim to the territory West of the Sabine 
River (afterwards known as Texas), which had 
formed part of Louisiana as purchased from France. 1 
A territory worth ten Floridas was thus surren- 

1 Within thirty years the determination of the South to regain this aban- 
doned territory forced the United States into war with Mexico. 



92 American Politics. t 1 ^^ 

dered to Spain, and became a part of the Republic 
of Mexico two years later. 

7. At this Session the people of the Terri- 
tory of Missouri (a part of the Louisiana Pur- 
chase) applied for permission to form 3. State- gov- 
ernment. In the House an amendment was offered 
to the bill, forbidding Slavery or involuntary ser- 
vitude in Missouri, except as a punishment for 
crime. 1 Party lines were at once dropped. The 
members from the Free States voted for, and the 
members from the Slave States against, the amend- 
ment. It passed the Hous**,, was rejected by the 
Senate, and the bill was les*,. Congress adjourned 
March 3d, 1819. 

8. The application of Missouri thus suddenly 
brought up the Slavery Question, 2 which was to 
be argued and compromised for forty years, and 
then settled by civil war. Negro Slavery had ex- 
isted in all the colonies, and was even decided legal 
by the highest English court of law. In the North 
it had since been abolished in the States lying north 
of the dividing line run by the old surveyors, 
Mason and Dixon, between Maryland and Penn- 
sylvania. In the South it worked mildly, and was 
considered a necessary and hereditary evil. But 
the invention of Whitney's cotton gin in 1793 had 
made slave labor profitable, and had made Slavery 

x This was copied, in part, from the ordinance of 1787. 
2 Its appearance was so sudden, that Ex-President Jefferson said it 
Startled him " like a fire-bell in the night. 1 ' 



i8i9-] Slavery. — The Tariff. 93 

an institution to be defended and extended by the 
Southern States. While the Union was confined 
to the fringe of States along the Atlantic coast the 
Slavery question was not troublesome. And it was 
at first possible to unite the representatives of both 
sections in the admission of new States, by using 
the Ohio as a dividing line between the States in 
which Slavery should be forbidden, and those in 
which it should be allowed. But when the tides of 
emigration had crossed the Mississippi and had 
begun to fill the Louisiana Purchase, conflict was 
inevitable, for the dividing line was lost. In the 
House the members from the Free States were a 
majority. In the Senate the sections had been 
carefully equalized, but a few Northern Senators 
generally voted with the South, thus giving it a 
majority in that body. 

9. Congress met December 6th, 1819. The state 
XVIth Congress, of parties was unchanged. 
1st Session. In the House Speaker Clay 

was re-elected almost unanimously. December 
14th Alabama became a State of the Union. At 
this Session a Protective Tariff was passed by 
the House, but rejected by the Senate. The result, 
though it disappointed the Eastern manufacturers, 
who had confidently expected relief from Congress, 
shows a still further advance of loose construc- 
tionist principles in the dominant party. Strict 
Constructionists believed that the Constitution gave 
Congress power to lay duties only with the design 



94 American Politics. [1820 

to provide for the expenses of the Government and 
for the payment of the debt, and that the arrange- 
ment of duties for the benefit of any branch of 
manufactures was usurpation of a power not granted 
or implied. 1 Loose Constructionists believed that 
the power to regulate commerce and provide for 
the common defence implied the power to lay a 
Protective Tariff, and that any consequent benefit 
to manufacturers would be more than offset by the 
creation of a domestic market for agricultural 
products. 

10. At this Session Missouri again applied for 
permission to form a State government, and Maine 
(formerly a part of Massachusetts) made a first ap- 
plication for the same permission. The House 
passed the Maine bill without opposition, but by a 
sectional vote, again prohibited Slavery in Missouri. 
In the Senate, also by a sectional vote, the Maine 
bill and a Missouri bill permitting Slavery were 
united and then passed. This was for the purpose 
of compelling both bills to stand or fall together, 
and of throwing upon the House the responsibility 
for their acceptance or rejection. The House 
rejected the combined bills, as passed by the 
Senate, and adhered to its first action. 

11. The difficulty was settled by the famous 
Missouri Compromise of 1820, which was 

1 But there have been very few advocates of absolutely Free Trade 
(removal of all duties on imports), and the entire payment of Government 
expenses by internal taxation. The party distinction given in the text 
seems to have generally governed our political history. 



1820.] The Missouri Compromise. 95 

adopted by the active exertions of Clay and the 
moderate members from both sections. By this 
measure each section yielded a part of its demands, 
the Senate by permitting Maine and Missouri to 
be voted upon separately, and the House by per- 
mitting Slavery in Missouri. Both branches then 
united in forever prohibiting Slavery in all other 
territory north of the line of $6° 30'. * Maine was 
then admitted as a State of the Union, and the bill 
authorizing a State government to be formed in 
Missouri was passed. Congress adjourned May 
15th, 1820. 

12. No Presidential candidates were nominated 
this year, there being no opposition to the re-elec- 
tion of President Monroe and Vice-President Tomp- 
kins. All the electors chosen in the Presidential 
Election in November were Republican, but one 
of them refused to vote for Monroe, so that his 
election was not unanimous. 

13. Congress met November 13th, 1820. Speaker 
XVIth Congress, Clay resigned his position on 

2d Session. account of private affairs. 

After three days' balloting for a successor John W. 
Taylor, of New York, a Loose Constructionist, in 
favor of a Protective Tariff and an internal im- 
provement system, and opposed to extension of 

1 Thirty-five Southern members, who believed that Congress had no 
power to prohibit Slavery in the Territories, voted against the Missouri 
Compromise. John Randolph called it " a dirty bargain," and gave those 
who voted for it the name of " doughfaces." This title was always after* 
ward applied to Northern men " of Southern principles." 



96 American Politics. [1821 

Slavery, was chosen. His election shows the pro- 
gress of the division in the Republican party. It 
gave great offense to the Southern members, and 
they for a time debated a dissolution of the Union, 
a remedy which has been proposed at various 
times by almost every section for every variety of 
grievance. 

14. Missouri, having formed a State govern- 
ment, applied for admission. The application 
was rejected in the House by a sectional vote, on 
account of a clause in the constitution, prohibiting 
the entrance of free negroes into the State. 1 It 
was not until March 2d, 182 1, that this difficulty 
was settled, again by Clay's exertions. Missouri 
was then admitted, on condition that the State 
should never pass an act to interfere with the 
constitutional privileges of the citizens of other 
States. But the Legislature only accepted the 
condition in June, 1821. 

15. In February, 1821, the Electoral Votes 
were counted. It was known that Missouri, which 
claimed to be already a State, and protested against 
the right of Congress to reject her application, had 
chosen electors. It was also known that Southern 
members would make a vigorous effort to have these 
votes counted. After a stormy session on the day 
of counting, lasting in the House for several hours 
after the time appointed for joint meeting with the 
Senate, another compromise was effected. The 

I In some of the Northern States free negroes were citizens. 



1 82 1.] The Vote of Missouri. 97 

President of the Senate was directed, in case any 
objection should be made to the vote of Missouri, 
to announce that " if the votes of Missouri were 
counted, the number of votes for A. B. for Presi- 
dent would be so many, and if the votes of Mis- 
souri were not counted the number of votes for A. 
B. for President would be so many, and that in 
either case A. B. was elected. " There being no 
opposition to the Republican candidates, the result 
of course was foreknown. 

16. Considerable delay and confusion was caused 
in joint meeting by an unsuccessful attempt of 
some of the Southern members to renew the con- 
test, but the vote was finally announced as previ- 
ously agreed. There were 235 votes, including 
that of Missouri, and 232 without it. Not counting 
the vote of Missouri there were, for President, 228 
votes for James Monroe, and 1 for John Quincy 
Adams, and, for Vice-President, 215 votes for 
Daniel D. Tompkins, and 14 for various other per- 
sons. 1 Monroe and Tompkins were therefore 
declared elected. March 3d, 182 1, Congress ad- 
journed, and on Monday, March 5th, Monroe and 
Tompkins were sworn into office. 

1 Three electors had died before having an opportunity to vote. 



CHAPTER X. 

NINTH ADMINISTRATION, 1821-1825. 

Tames Monroe, President. Daniel D. Tompkins, Vice-President. 

XVIIth and XVIIIth Congresses. 

i. Monroe's election had been so nearly unani- 
mous, and party divisions had nominally so far dis- 
appeared, that this Administration is commonly 
called The Era of Good Feeling. In reality 
there was as much bad feeling between the Strict 
Constructionists and the Loose Constructionists of 
the Republican party as could have existed between 
two opposing parties. The want of regularly or- 
ganized parties had only the effect of making the 
next Presidential election a personal instead of a 
party contest, the worst form which a political 
struggle can take. 

2. Congress met December 3d, 1821. In the 
XVIIth Congress, House P. P. Barbour, of 
ISt Session. Virginia, a Strict Construc- 

tionist, was chosen Speaker. The Loose Construc- 
tionists, however, succeeded in passing a bill for 
the preservation of the Cumberland Road, but 
It was vetoed by the President, on the ground that 
98 



1 822.] The Tariff. — Monroe Doctrine. 99 

rt Congress do not possess the power, under the 
Constitution, to pass such a law." But his Mes- 
sage gave his opinion that an Amendment to the 
Constitution should be adopted, giving the Federal 
Government power to make improvements for great 
national purposes. The Strict Constructionists suc- 
ceeded in defeating further propositions to make 
surveys for a national canal system, and to make 
the Tariff more protective. Congress adjourned 
May 8th, 1822. 

3. Congress met December 2d, 1822. There was 
XVIIth Congress, little party contest at this 

2d Session. Session. The Strict Con- 

structionists defeated bills for an increase of the 
Tariff, and a renewed attempt to create a national 
canal system. All other bills necessary for the 
support of the Government were passed, generally 
by large majorities. Congress adjourned March 
3d, 1823. 

4. Congress met December 1st, 1823. Henry 
XVIIIth Congress, Clay, of Kentucky, who 

ISt Session. was now the leader of the 

Loose Constructionists in Congress, was chosen 
Speaker in the House. In his Message President 
Monroe mentioned the war then waged by Spain 
against her revolted colonies, and declared that the 
United States would neither interfere in any Euro- 
pean war, nor tolerate any attempt by any European 
power to acquire a controlling influence in this 
hemisphere, This, ha^s since been called the Mon- 



ioo American Politics. [1824 

roe Doctrine, and has passed into a settled rule 
of foreign policy for all American political parties. 

5. The President's Message showed that his 
views had slightly changed, for he incidentally re- 
commended Protection and Internal Improvements. 
The Loose Constructionists were in a majority in 
this Congress, and after a debate of more than two 
months the Tariff of 1824 was adopted by very 
small majorities. It was an advance on all pre- 
ceding Tariffs in its consistent design to exclude 
foreign competing goods from American markets. 
It was passed by the Northern members, except 
those from the North-East, against the almost 
unanimous vote of the Southern members, who 
considered it sectional, unconstitutional, and unjust. 
The Loose Constructionists were also successful in 
passing a bill for surveys for a National Canal 
System. Congress adjourned May 27th, 1824. 

6. An effort was made at this Session by the 
friends of William H. Crawford, of Georgia, to 
revive the Caucus System of nomination for 
the Presidency. Very few members of Congress 
obeyed their call for a caucus, and Crawford's 
nomination by this body really injured his chances 
of success. As there were no recognized parties, 
the Presidential election degenerated into a per- 
sonal contest, in which the leading candidates were 
Henry Clay, of Kentucky, Speaker of the House, 
John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, Secretary 
of State, William H. Crawford, of Georgia, Secre- 



1824.] The Presidential Election, 101 

tary of the Treasury, and Andrew Jackson, a pri- 
vate citizen of Tennessee. 1 Clay and Adams were 
Loose Constructionists. Crawford and Jackson 
were Strict Constructionists, but Jackson was ob- 
jectionable to the Crawford faction, on account of 
his leaning toward a Protective Tariff. John C. 
Calhoun, of South Carolina, Secretary of War, was 
generally supported for the Vice-Presidency by the 
friends of all the other candidates. The Pre- 
sidential Election in November gave no can- 
didate a majority of all the electors chosen, and 
therefore left the President to be chosen by the 
House of Representatives. 

7. Congress met December 6th, 1824. The yet 
XVIIIth Congress, undecided Presidential 
2d Session. election was almost the 

only party contest of the Session. In February, 
1825, the electoral votes were counted and were 
found to be, for President, 99 for Andrew Jackson, 
84 for John Quincy Adams, 41 for William H. 
Crawford, and 37 for Henry Clay, and, for Vice- 
President, 182 for John C. Calhoun, and 78 for 
various other persons. Calhoun was therefore 
declared elected Vice-President, and the House 
proceeded to choose a President from the three 
highest candidates, each State having one vote. 
As Clay stood fourth on the list he was not eligible, 
and it was natural that he and his friends should 
unite on John Quincy Adams, the other Loose Con- 

i Hence it is known as " the scrub race for the Presidency." 



102 American Politics, [1824 

structionist candidate. Through this coalition 13 
States voted for Adams, 7 for Jackson, and 4 for 
Crawford. Adams was therefore declared elected 
President. The feeling excited by this result still 
further increased the division between the Strict 
Constructionists and the Loose Constructionists 
who were soon to be openly opposing parties. 
March 3d, 1825, Congress adjourned, and March 
4th Adams and Calhoun were sworn into office. 



CHAPTER XI. 

TENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1825-1829. 

John Quincy Adams, President. John C. Calhoun, Vice-President. 
XlXth and XXth Congresses. 

i. From the very beginning of this Administra- 
tion both factions of the Strict Constructionists 
united in an opposition to the President, which 
became stronger through his whole term of office, 
until it overcame him. His ill-advised Nomina- 
tion of Clay to a post in his Cabinet gave color 
to the charge of a corrupt bargain between him 
and Clay, by w T hich, in return for the Clay vote 
in the House, Clay was to receive as he did the 
position of Secretary of State, then usually con- 
sidered a stepping stone to the Presidency. Clay 
angrily denied any such bargain, and the renewal 
of charges and denials, each with its appropriate 
arguments, gave abundant material for debate. 

2. The Clay and Adams factions soon united 
and took the distinctive party name of National 
Republicans. Some years afterward this name 
was changed to that of Whigs. They maintained 
the loose constructionist principles of the Fed- 
eralists, and, in addition, desired a Protective Tariff 
103 



104 American Politics. [1825 

and a system of public improvements at national 
expense. This policy was suggested by the Pre- 
sident's Inaugural, and repeated in his first Message. 

3. In October, 1825, the Tennessee Legislature 
nominated Jackson for the Presidency in 1828, and 
Jackson accepted the nomination. Crawford's con- 
tinued ill-health compelled his adherents to look 
elsewhere for a candidate, and they gradually united 
upon Jackson. At first the resulting coalition was 
known as " Jackson Men," but, as they began to 
take the character of a national party, they assumed 
the name of Democrats, by which they have since 
been known. They maintained the strict construc- 
tionist principles of the Republican party, though 
the Crawford faction in the South went further, and 
held the extreme ground of the Kentucky Resolu- 
tions of 1799. 1 This had already borne fruit in the 
case of the State of Georgia and the Cherokee 
Indians, in which a collision had almost taken place 
between the State and the Federal Government. 

4. Congress met December 5th, 1825. In the 
XlXth Congress, House John W. Taylor, of 

1st Session. New York, a Loose Con- 

structionist, was chosen Speaker. His small ma- 
jority (99-94) represents the Administration ma- 
jority in the House. In the Senate its majority was 
larger, but in both branches of Congress the " Jack- 
son men " and the Crawford faction united in a de- 
termined Opposition. One-third of the Session 

1 See page 50. 



1 826.] The Opposition. 105 

was taken up by the discussion of proposed changes 
in the manner of electing the President. It drifted 
off into an angry debate on the " Clay and Adams 
bargain," and came to no result. The Opposition 
also made a fruitless effort to limit the President's 
appointing power. 

5. Most of the measures proposed by the Pres- 
ident at this Session, or known to be favored by 
him, were passed with difficulty or failed altogether. 
In the Senate Vice-President Calhoun, who was dis- 
posed to act with the " Jackson men," had given 
them the majority on the committees. In the latter 
part of this. Session, therefore, the Senate took the 
then unusual step of depriving its presiding officer 
of the power of appointing committees. Much time 
was spent in debating the President's appointment 
of delegates to the Congress of American Republics 
at Panama. It was at length approved, and for- 
gotten almost immediately. Appropriations for 
internal improvements were increased. Congress 
adjourned May 22d, 1826. The summer of 1826 
was spent by the opposing factions in endeavors to 
recruit or cement their organizations. 

6. Congress met December 4th, 1826. The ob- 
XlXth Congress, structive spirit of the Op- 

2d Session. position was so determined 

that few measures of national importance were 
passed at this Session. The Administration's sup- 
porters in the House succeeded in passing a bill for 
an increase of the Tariff, but the Vice-President's 



106 American Politics. L l ^ 2 7 

casting vote defeated it in the Senate. The Op- 
position introduced bills, which were defeated, to 
divide a part of the revenue among the States, and 
to repay fines levied under the Sedition Act of 1798. 
Congress adjourned March 3d, 1827. 

7. This was the only Session of Congress in which 
the Adams Administration had even a nominal ma- 
jority. The election for members of the XXth 
Congress had resulted in the success of the 
Adams candidates, or National Republicans, in 
New England, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, In- 
diana, and Louisiana. In New York, Pennsylvania, 
and Illinois, and in every Southern State, with the 
exception of Louisiana, the Jackson candidates, or 
Democrats, were successful, and thus obtained con- 
trol of the House. 

8. From this time the idea of a connected system 
of roads and canals, to be built and maintained by 
the Federal Government, was abandoned, and its 
advocates confined themselves to voting for iso- 
lated public improvements in various parts of the 
country. But the demand for a higher Tariff than 
that of 1824 was brought still more strongly into 
politics by a National Convention of Protec- 
tionists, at Harrisburgh, Pa., July 30th, 1827. 
Many of the Democratic members elect to the XXth 
Congress from the North supported the National 
Republicans in their demand for Protection. The 
Strict Constructionists from the South were in 
favor of a Tariff for revenue only. The division 



1828.] The Opposition. — Protection. 1 07 

upon this point was therefore becoming one of sec- 
tions, rather than of parties. 

9. Congress met December 3d, 1827. In the 
XXth Congress, House Andrew Stevenson, of 

1st Session. Virginia, a Democrat, was 

chosen Speaker. This gave the Opposition the 
organization of the House and the appointment of 
its committees. In the Senate the hitherto doubtful 
members at once joined the Democrats, and the 
Opposition became a majority there also. The 
Debates at this Session were almost entirely 
political. A proposition to order a painting of 
Jackson's successful battle of New Orleans, and 
a counter proposition to investigate his execution of 
six insubordinate militiamen, were solemnly de- 
bated for a month. The increased expenditure of 
the Government was also the subject of long debate 
without result. 

10. The most important event of this Session was 
the success of the Protectionists in passing the 
Tariff of 1828, after a debate of six weeks. It 
was so protective as to be satisfactory to manufac- 
turers and very objectionable to the Southern 
States, where it was considered a legalized robbery. 
From this time the Nullification doctrine of the 
Kentucky Resolutions of 1799 gained strength 
rapidly in the South. Congress adjourned May 
26th, 1828. 

11. The Democratic candidates for the Presi- 
dential election in 1828 were Andrew Jackson, of 



108 American Politics. [1829 

Tennessee, and John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. 
The National Republican candidates were John 
Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, and Richard 
Rush, of Pennsylvania. 1 The candidates on both 
sides were nominated by common consent, or by 
State Legislatures. The system of Congressional 
caucuses had been abandoned, and that of National 
Conventions had not yet been adopted. The Pre- 
sidential Election in November resulted in the 
complete success of the Democratic electors. 

12. Congress met December 1st, 1828. In his 
XXth Congress, Message the President for the 

2d Session. first time earnestly advocated 

Protection. This Session was uneventful, as is 
usually the case after an exciting Presidential elec- 
tion. The Democratic majority were not disposed 
to obstruct the Administration while engaged in 
putting its affairs in order for its successor. After 
long debate upon their constitutionality, unusually 
large appropriations were voted for Internal Im- 
provements, and approved by the President. In 
February, 1829, the electoral votes were counted, 
and were found to be, for President, 178 for Jack- 
son, and 8$ for Adams, and, for Vice-President, 
171 for Calhoun, 7 for William Smith, of South 
Carolina, and 83 for Rush. Jackson and Cal- 
houn were therefore declared elected. March 3d, 
1829, Congress adjourned, and March 4th Jackson 
and Calhoun were sworn into office. 

1 It will be noticed that the candidates of both parties were " sectional.' 1 



CHAPTER XII. 

ELEVENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1829-1833. 

Andrew Jackson, President. John C. Calhoun, Vice-President. 

XXIst and XXIId Congresses, 

Popular vote for President in 1828 .• ■ Jackson (Dent.), 
647,231, Adams {Nat. Rep.) 509,097. 

1. Jackson's First Administration was 

stormy in both foreign and domestic relations. 
Serious disagreements with England as to com- 
merce with her colonies and the boundary between 
Maine and British America, and with France as to 
the payment of the long standing indemnity for 
French spoliations, repeatedly threatened war, but 
were all peaceably settled. At home the Adminis- 
tration was engaged in constant struggle with its 
opponents, the National Republicans, the Anti- 
Masons, and the United States Bank, and was 
abandoned by a part of its own party, the Loose 
Constructionists, who advocated Protection and 
Internal Improvements, and the Nullificationists. 
The President's final success came from the impos- 
sibility of a hearty union of his opponents, though 
many doubtful voters were attracted to him by his 

1 Hitherto electors had been generally chosen by the State Legislatures. 
After 1824 they were chosen generally by popular vote. South Carolina 
continued to choose electors by the State Legislature until 1868. 

X9Q 



no American Politics. [1829 

military achievements, by the undoubted sincerity 
of his intentions, and by natural sympathy for one 
man contending against odds. 

2. The National Republicans were in a min- 
ority in 1829, but were continually reinforced by 
loose constructionist Democrats. They never be- 
came a majority party, but, by combining with the 
other elements of opposition, were frequently able 
to thwart the President's plans, and even to censure 
his actions. Their leader was Henry Clay, now 
Senator from Kentucky. His popularity with his 
party was already great, though not so unbounded 
as afterward, when the Whig party almost became 
Clay's personal party. 

3. In 1826 William Morgan, of Batavia, New 
York, who had advertised a book exposing the 
secrets of Free Masonry, was kidnapped and never 
seen again. The crime was charged upon the 
society, and investigation, as it was alleged, was 
impeded by leading Free Masons. A party soon 
grew up in Western New York, pledged to oppose 
the election of any Free Mason to public office. 
The Anti-Masonic Party acquired influence in 
other States, and began to claim rank as a national 
political party. On most points its principles were 
those of the National Republicans. But Clay, as 
well as Jackson, was a Free Mason, and conse- 
quently to be opposed by this party. 1 

1 In 1832 it even nominated a Presidential ticket of its own, but, having 
no national principle of controlling importance, it soon after declined. 



1 829.] State of Parties. 1 1 1 

4. Financial mismanagement, and the distress 
growing out of the War of 181 2, had compelled 
Republicans in 18 16 to abandon their strict con- 
structionist principles and charter a National 
Bank for twenty years. It was empowered to hold 
$55,000,000 in property, to issue $35,000,000 in 
notes receivable by the United States as cash for 
aU debts, had the use without interest of the United 
States revenues deposited with it, and was not 
amenable to State Laws. It had friends and de- 
pendents in all parts of the Union, some seated in 
Congress, and many prominent in both parties. Its 
power seemed to Jackson anti-democratic, and his 
first Message opened upon it a war which soon 
drove it into politics, and ultimately destroyed it. 

5. Among Jackson's warmest supporters were 
many who were sufficiently loose constructionist 
in opinion to support Protection and Internal 
Improvements. Jackson himself had formerly 
been no opponent of either, and on that account 
had been objectionable to the Crawford faction. 
His increasing dislike to both became apparent 
soon after the meeting of Congress in 1829, and 
alienated many of his supporters. But these very 
generally returned to his support when he had 
yielded to necessity, and, at least in appearance, 
ceased his opposition to their favorite measures. 

6. The extreme Democracy of the South had 
only accepted Jackson because of the loss of their 
former leader, Crawford, As the progress of Jack- 



112 American Politics. [1829 

son's Administration showed that he could not 
be relied upon as a representative of their deter- 
mined hostility to Protection, they learned to regard 
Vice-President Calhoun as their leader. They 
had already acted upon the doctrines of the Ken- 
tucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798, 1 and the 
States of Georgia and South Carolina, through their 
Legislatures, had protested against the Tariff of 
1828 as unjust and unconstitutional. Finding that 
this protest had no effect upon other States of upon 
Congress, they advanced, during Jackson's first 
Administration, to the ground taken by the Ken- 
tucky Resolutions of 1799, 2 affirming the right of 
any State to declare null and void any Act of Con- 
gress which, the State being judge, appeared uncon- 
stitutional. This was the doctrine of Nullifica- 
tion, which grew to Secession in i860. 3 

7. After the first great party overthrow in the 
United States, the new President, Jefferson, though 
he found many Federalists in office, had been able 
to trust to time and the assured future supremacy 
of his party to bring about a change of occupants 
of public offices. Successive Presidents of the 
same political belief saw no necessity of changes. 
But Jackson, following a President who had almost 
created a hostile party, and being opposed by so 
many open and concealed enemies, decided to 



x See page 49. 2 See page 50. 

3 Its announcement in 1832 drew from Madison a protest against the use 
of Jefferson's name " as a pedestal for this colossal heresy," 



1829.] Removals from Office. 113 

fill every vacancy with a partisan of the Administra- 
tion, and, further, to create vacancies, whenever it 
should seem of party advantage, by exercising the 
almost unused privilege of Removal from Office. 
This made necessary, during the summer of 1829, 
the application of the comparatively novel theory 
of " rotation in office," ' by which nearly 500 post- 
masters were removed during Jackson's first year 
of office. The practice thus begun in self-defense 
has since been adopted by all parties in all elec- 
tions, great and small, national and local. 

8. Congress met December 7th, 1829, with a 
XXIst Congress, Democratic majority in both 

1st Session. branches. In the House 

Andrew Stevenson was again chosen Speaker. But 
his overwhelming majority (152-39) did not long 
cohere. The Presidents Message avoided the 
Tariff question, and advised the election of Presi- 
dent and Vice-President directly by the people, an 
inquiry into the constitutionality and advisability 
of renewing the Bank's charter in 1836, and the 
distribution of surplus revenue among the States in 
preference to using it for Internal Improvements. 
Such recommendations were enough to alienate 
many supporters of the Administration at once, 
and the committees to which they were referred 
reported in flat opposition to the President's views. 

9. In the Senate a resolution was introduced by 

1 Stated by Marcy, of New York, in the Senate, as the axiom that l * the 
spoils of the enemy belong to the victor." 



114 A merican Politics, [ 1 830 

Foote, of Connecticut, directing an inquiry into the 
expediency of limiting public land sales in future. 
The debate upon this apparently harmless reso- 
lution lasted intermittently for five months, and 
drifted off to a great variety of subjects, such as 
Slavery, Western and Southern grievances, New 
England Federalism, the relative powers of the 
State and Federal Governments, and Nullification. 
During its progress, in February, 1830, the doc- 
trine of Nullification was formally announced by 
Hayne, of South Carolina, in reply to Webster of 
Massachusetts, but limited, as yet, to peaceable 
resistance. The eloquence, learning, and party 
zeal of the " Great Debate in the Senate " 
as it has always been called, make it almost a politi- 
cal history of the United States up to~ts date. 

10. The case of the Cherokee Indians in 
Georgia was introduced at this Session. Under 
treaties with the United States these Indians held 
lands desired by the State. Acts were passed by 
the Legislature to open up the Indian country to 
white settlers, against the protest of the Indians. 
To settle the trouble an Act was passed at this 
Session to pay the Indians for their lands and to 
remove them beyond the Mississippi. It was op- 
posed with much feeling by the National Republi- 
cans, and failed to accomplish its purpose, for the 
Indians refused to sell their lands. 

11. A bill was passed at this Session authorizing 
a Government subscription to the stock of the 



1830.] Pocket Veto. — Nullification. 115 

Maysville Turnpike Road in Kentucky. The 
President, believing that Congress had no power to 
pass such a law, vetoed it. Two days before the 
adjournment of Congress two bills of a similar 
nature to that of the Maysville Turnpike bill were 
passed. The President could legally retain them 
for ten days before signing them. He did so, ana 
in the interval came the day previously fixed for 
the adjournment of Congress, while the bills re- 
mained, as it were, in the President's pocket, with- 
out force of law. This new method of veto, an- 
grily called a Pocket Veto, was employed by the 
President on several occasions afterward. Con- 
gress adjourned May 31st, 1830. 

12. April 13th, 1830, the leading Democrats at 
Washington gave a dinner to celebrate Jefferson's 
Birthday. At the close of the regular toasts, 
which had been so drawn as to suggest Nullifica- 
tion, the President rebuked the whole proceeding 
by giving a volunteer toast, " Our Federal Union : 
it must be preserved." The Vice-President re- 
torted with another to " Liberty, dearer than the 
Union." These counter defiances called the atten- 
tion of the whole country to the progress of Nulli- 
fication among Democratic leaders, and indirectly 
gave the Nullificationists warning to regard the 
President as an obstacle to their designs. Cal- 
houn, for whom Jackson had previously had a high 
regard, and from whose friends he had in great 
part formed his Cabinet, recognized the President's 



n6 American Politics. [1831 

growing suspicion and dislike of him, and spent 
the summer of 1830 in obtaining materials, by let- 
ter and otherwise, for a pamphlet criticism of Jack- 
son's course in the Seminole War of 1818. 

13. Congress met December 6th, 1830. The 
XXIst Congress, President's Message again 

2d Session. attacked the Bank, and ar- 

gued against the power of Congress to vote public 
money for any internal improvement that was local 
in its nature, and not beneficial to the country at 
large. The temper of Congress was not that of 
the President. A Harbor Improvement Bill 
was at once introduced and passed by majorities so 
large that the President yielded and signed it. He 
also signed other bills of a similar nature, making 
large appropriations for the improvement of roads 
and rivers, and for a light-house system. Much of 
this Session was taken up by the impeachment and 
trial of Judge Peck, of Missouri, which had no 
political bearing. Congress adjourned March 3d, 
1831. 

14. The long promised attack upon the Presi- 
dent by Vice-President Calhoun appeared in March, 
1831, and was followed by the Breaking up of 
the Cabinet. Its Calhoun element had for a long 
time lost the confidence of the President, who ap- 
parently trusted more to the advice of Van Buren, 
Secretary of State, and some private friends, com- 
monly called the Kitchen Cabinet. Van Buren, to 
whose machinations Calhoun attributed the bad 



1832.] The National Bank Struggle. 1 17 

feeling between himself and the President, at 
once resigned, and the other members of the Cab- 
inet, by request, followed his example. 1 

15. Congress met December 5th, 1831. The 
XXIId Congress, Senate, though doubtful at 

1st Session. first, proved to have an Op- 

position majority. In the House Speaker Steven- 
son, the Administration candidate, was re-elected 
by one vote (98-97). The President's Message 
attacked the Bank for the third time, and, although 
its charter still had five years to run, it felt com- 
pelled to begin the conflict. It therefore made 
application for a renewal of its charter. The 
President's supporters in the House asked for an 
investigation of the affairs of the Bank. The com- 
mittee appointed for this purpose made two reports, 
the majority approving, and the minority con- 
demning, the Bank's management. After long de- 
bate the bill to renew the charter passed both 
Houses, and was vetoed by the President, July 
10th, 1832. An effort to pass it over the veto 
lacked a two-thirds majority, and failed. The veto 
made many new friends and many new enemies for 
the President, but only increased the bitterness of 
the struggle between him and the Bank. 

16. In January, 1832, the Nomination of 
Martin Van Buren, of New York, late Secretary 
of State, to be minister to England, came up in the 

1 It was commonly believed, however, that the breaking up of the Cab- 
inet was precipitated by trouble between the families of its members. 



Ii8 American Politics. [1832 

Senate for confirmation. His nomination was re- 
jected, although he was already in England. The 
vote was so arranged as to make a tie (23-23), thus 
giving Vice-President Calhoun the " vengeance " of 
a casting vote on the rejection. The spiteful feel- 
ing shown by some of the Opposition probably 
made the rejection rather a benefit to Van Buren. 

17. At this Session a bill was passed and signed 
by the President, appropriating $1,200,000 for In- 
ternal Improvements. Another bill of a simi- 
lar nature was also passed, but was killed by a 
" pocket veto." The Tariff of 1832 was passed 
and signed by the President. It was intended and 
expected to pacify the continued discontent in the 
South, particularly in South Carolina. This it 
failed to accomplish, for, though it reduced the 
duties of 1828, it still recognized the principle of 
Protection. Congress adjourned July 14th, 1832. 

18. Presidential nominations were made this year 
for the first time by all the parties in National 
Conventions. All three Conventions were held 
at Baltimore. That of the Anti-Masons was held 
first, in September, 1831, in the hope of compelling 
the National Republicans to abandon Clay, and 
adopt the Anti-Masonic candidates. Judge Mc- 
Lean, of Ohio, having declined a nomination, Wil- 
liam Wirt, of Virginia, and Amos Ellmaker, of 
Pennsylvania, were nominated. In December, 
1831, the National Republican Convention nom- 
inated Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and John Ser- 



1832.] Nullification. 1 1 9 

geant, of Pennsylvania. The platform pronounced 
in favor of Internal Improvements, Protection, and 
the Bank, and against the Administration and its 
course in the Cherokee case. Jackson had already 
(in February, 1830) been renominated for the Presi- 
dency by his friends in the New York Legislature. 
In March, 1832, the Democratic National Conven- 
tion confirmed this renomination, and nominated 
Martin Van Buren, of New York, for the Vice- 
Presidency. For his success in gaining the nomin- 
ation Van Buren was indebted to Calhoun's " ven- 
geance. " 

19. In the Presidential Election in Novem- 
ber, South Carolina held sullenly off from both par- 
ties and chose electors pledged to candidates of her 
own, John Floyd, of Virginia, and Henry Lee, of 
Massachusetts. Anti-Masonic electors were chosen 
by Vermont alone. All the other States, with the 
exception of six, chose Democratic electors. But 
Jackson's popular majority was smaller than at his 
first election, and the Opposition, if it had been 
possible to unite it, might have defeated him. 

20. Southern politicians had perhaps only aimed 
at obtaining the repeal of the Tariff of 1828 by 
threats of Nullification and Secession. But when 
the modified Tariff of 1832 showed that Protection 
in some form was to be the settled policy of the 
Government, they had lost control of their consti- 
tuents, and were compelled to follow the current. 
In the case of the Cherokee Indians, the State of 



l2o American Politics. [ J 832 

Georgia had already nullified an Act of Congress, 
and refused obedience to the United States Su- 
preme Court. Emboldened by this example, and by 
the belief that the passage of Federal troops across 
Virginia and North Carolina would be forcibly re- 
sisted by those States, a State Convention, held at 
Columbia, S. C, November 19th, 1832, formally de- 
clared the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 to be "null, 
void, and no law, nor binding upon South Carolina, 
her officers and citizens, ,, made any appeal to the 
United States Supreme Court a punishable offense, 
prescribed an oath of obedience to this ordinance 
to be taken by all jurors and State officers, and con- 
cluded with a warning to the other States that any 
attempt at force would be followed by the secession 
of South Carolina from the Union. The Ordi- 
nance of Nullification was to take effect Feb- 
ruary 1st, 1833. In November the State Legisla- 
ture met and proceeded to make the State ready 
for war, and to pass various Acts re-assuming those 
powers which had been expressly abandoned under 
the Constitution. 

21. December 16, 1832, the President issued his 
Proclamation to the people of South Carolina. 
It reviewed the history of Nullification, shawed its 
treason, danger, and folly, and declared his un- 
flinching purpose of carrying out the laws in the 
face of any resistance whatever. He followed up 
his words by occupying Charleston Harbor with a 
naval force, and providing guards for the protec- 



l &33-] Compromise Tariff of 1833. 121 

tion of officials engaged in collecting the revenue 
under the Tariff of 1832. 

22. Congress met December 3d, 1832. Soon 
XXIId Congress, afterward Calhoun resigned 

2d Session. the Vice-Presidency, and be- 

came Senator from South Carolina. Early in 1833 
he took an opportunity to declare that his State had 
never intended forcible resistance to the Federal 
Government, and a meeting of leading Nullifiers in 
Charleston decided to yield to the collection of 
the revenue until after the adjournment of Con- 
gress. At this Session a Bill for Enforcing the 
Tariff 1 was passed and signed by the President. 
It provoked much angry declamation in South 
Carolina, tmt no secession. After long discussion 
of various proposed modifications of the Tariff, 
Clay's Compromise Tariff of 1833 was passed, 
and signed by the President. It provided for the 
gradual reduction of the Tariff until 1842, after 
which year the duties on all goods were to be 20 
per cent. The Nullificationists claimed this as a 
complete triumph, and the Anti-Tariff excitement 
in South Carolina ended at once. 

23. Not even Nullification could compel the Pres- 
ident to desist for a time from his warfare upon 
the United States Bank. In his Message at 
this Session he astonished Congress and the coun- 

1 Commonly called, in South Carolina, the " Bloody Bill." Its oppo- 
nents in the Senate refused to vote, with the exception of John Tyler, of 
Virginia. 



122 American Politics. [1833 

try by expressing doubts of the solvency of the 
Bank. He recommended a cessation of the depos- 
its of United States revenue in it, and a sale of the 
stock belonging to the United States. Both these 
propositions were easily defeated by the Congress- 
ional friends of the Bank. Clay's bill for the loan 
to the States of the proceeds of the sales of public 
lands was passed, but was disposed of by a " pocket 
veto." 

24. In February, 1833, the electoral votes were 
counted, and were found to be, for President, 219 
for Jackson, 49 for Clay, 11 for Floyd, and 7 for 
Wirt, and, for Vice-President, 189 for Van Buren, 
30 for William Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, 49 for Ser- 
geant, 11 for Lee, and 7 for Ellmaker. Jackson 
and Van Buren were therefore declared elected. 
March 2d, 1833, Congress adjourned, and March 
4th Jackson and Van Buren were sworn into office. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

TWELFTH ADMINISTRATION, 1833-1837. 

Andrew Jackson, President. Martin Van Buren, Vice-President. 
XXIIId and XXTVth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1832 : Jackson (P>em.) 
687,502, Clay (JVat. Pep.) 530,189. 

1. The Act of 1816, which created the Bank 
of the United States, required that the public mon- 
eys should be deposited in it, subject to removal 
at any time on the order of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, with the proviso that the Secretary should 
afterwards give Congress his reasons for such re- 
moval. At the last Session the President had 
recommended Congress to order the removal of 
the deposits from the Bank, and Congress, by large 
majorities, had refused to do so. The President, 
taking his re-election as a popular approval of his 
war upon the Bank, now determined to assume the 
responsibility of removal himself. 

2. With this view he removed (in the Spring of 
1833) tne Secretary of the Treasury, who would 
not consent to remove the deposits, and appointed 
William J. Duane, of Pennsylvania, in his place. 
He proved to be no more pliant than his predeces- 
sor. After many attempts to persuade him, the 

123 



1 24 A merican Politics. [ J 8 3 3 

President announced to the Cabinet his final de- 
cision that the deposits must be removed. The 
Reasons given were that the law gave the Secre- 
tary, not Congress, control of the deposits, that it 
was improper to leave them longer in a bank whose 
charter would so soon expire, that the Bank's funds 
had been largely used for political purposes, that 
its inability to pay all its depositors had been shown 
by its efforts to procure an extension of time from 
its creditors in Europe, and that its four Govern- 
ment directors had been systematically kept from 
knowledge of its management. Secretary Duane 
refused either to remove the deposits or to resign 
his office, and pronounced the proposed removal 
unnecessary, unwise, vindictive, arbitrary, and un- 
just. He was at once removed from office, and 
Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, appointed in his 
place. 

3. The necessary Orders for Removal were 
given by Secretary Taney. It was not strictly a 
removal, for all previous deposits were left in the 
Bank, to be drawn upon until exhausted. It was 
rather a cessation. The deposits were afterwards 
made in various State banks, 1 and the Bank of the 
United States was compelled to call in its loans. 
The commercial distress which followed in conse- 
quence probably strengthened the President in the 
end by giving a convincing proof of the Bank's 
power as an antagonist to the Government. 

1 Commonly called the " pet banks." 



I ^33-] Censure of the President. 125 

4. Congress met December 2d, 1833. In the 
XXIIId Congress, Senate the still existing 

ISt Session. alliance between the Na- 

tional Republicans and the Calhoun States Rights 
Democracy formed a majority against the Admin- 
istration and in favor of the Bank. In the House 
the strong Administration majority was shown by 
the re-election of Speaker Stevenson, Democrat, 
(142-61). The President's Message and the re- 
port of the Secretary of the Treasury defended the 
removal of the deposits. In the Senate Clay at 
once introduced condemnatory resolutions, which 
were debated for three months and then passed. 
The first declared the reasons given for the removal 
to be unsatisfactory and insufficient. The second 
was modified during the debate into a declaration 
that the President in removing the deposits " had 
assumed upon himself authority and power not 
conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in 
derogation of both/' To the Senate's Resolu- 
tion of Censure the President replied by a pro- 
test, on the ground that it accused him of perjury 
in violating his oath of office, and was thus an indi- 
rect and illegal method of impeachment, a con- 
demnation against which he had no opportunity to 
defend himself. The Senate refused to receive the 
protest or place it upon record. 

5. In the House the President's Message was 
followed by the appointment of a committee to in- 
vestigate the affairs of the Bank. The majority 



126 American Politics. D834 

report complained that the powers of the com- 
mittee had been so restricted by the Bank that a 
full investigation had been impossible. The minor- 
ity report approved the Bank and its management. 
In April the House passed resolutions that the 
Bank ought not to be re-chartered, and that the 
deposits ought not to be restored. In June the 
Senate resolution, condemning the reasons for the 
removal of the deposits, came to the House for 
concurrence, and was tabled. The long struggle 
was thus practically ended by the Success of the 
President. The Bank of the United States was 
soon afterward chartered by the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, but no longer had the funds of the United 
States at its disposal. 1 

6. Rejections of the President's Nomina- 
tions by the Senate were frequent at this Session. 
The four Government Directors of the Bank, who 
had joined the President in attacking it, were re- 
nominated by him, and rejected. The rejected 
names were again sent to the Senate, and again 
rejected. No more nominations for Government 
Directors were made at this Session. Secretary 
Taney's nomination was not sent to the Senate 
until June, 1834, and was then rejected. Speaker 
Stevenson's nomination to be Minister to England 

1 These were at first deposited in various State banks. In the Session 
of 1834-35 the '* Sub-Treasury plan " was suggested by the Opposition, 
and voted down by the Democrats. Later it was adopted by the Demo- 
crats, and made law against the Whig efforts to revive a National Bank. 
It has since remained in force. 



1 835.] The Sub-Treasury Man. 127 

was also rejected. An unsuccessful attempt was 
made to limit the President's appointing power, and 
his appointments to office for political reasons were 
severely condemned by the Senate. A committee 
of the House investigated the Post Office De- 
partment at this Session, and reported that it 
had been managed without frugality, system, intel- 
ligence, or adequate public utility. As the investi- 
gating committee was composed of supporters of 
the Administration, their report was decisive. A 
bill for reforming the Post Office Department was 
introduced and passed. Congress adjourned June 
30th, 1834. 

7. Congress met December 1st, 1834. There was 
XXI I Id Congress, little party contest at this 

2d Session. Session. Further appro- 

priations were made for Internal Improve- 
ments. Regulations were made to govern the 
deposit of public moneys in State banks. This 
system of deposit, called the State Bank Sys- 
tem, still received the support of the Democrats. 
The Opposition proposed at this Session the sys- 
tem afterwards known as the " Sub-Treasury plan," 
by which agents of the United States Treasury 
were to be appointed, wherever necessary, to re- 
ceive and disburse United States revenue, and to 
give suitable bonds for the performance of their 
duties. The Sub-Treasury plan was voted down. 
Congress adjourned March 3d, 1835. 

8. The President wished Vice-President Van 



128 American Politics. [1835 

Buren to be his successor. He therefore recom- 
mended that the Democratic nomination should be 
made in National Convention. This was opposed 
by the friends of the other Democratic candidate, 
Hugh L. White, of Tennessee, who had been nomi- 
nated by the Alabama Legislature. The Conven- 
tion, which met at Baltimore in May, 1835, was 
attended only by Van Buren delegates. It nomi- 
nated Martin Van Buren, of New York, and Rich- 
ard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, and adopted no 
platform. The friends of White supported John 
Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice-President. The Na- 
tional Republicans had by this time generally 
adopted the name of Whigs. 1 They generally 
supported the candidates nominated by the Whig 
and Anti-Masonic State Conventions of Pennsyl- 
vania, William H. Harrison, of Ohio, and Francis 
Granger, of New York. John McLean, of Ohio, 
and Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, were also 
nominated for the Presidency by the Legislatures 
of those States. All these nominations, however, 
were made over a year before the Presidential 
election took place. 

9. Congress met December 7th, 1835. In the 
XXIVth Congress, Senate the Opposition, 
1st Session. composed of Whigs, Nul- 

lification Democrats, and Anti-Masons, were at 

1 The name seems to have been first used by them in New York in the 
Winter of 1834-35. The name " Loco-foco " was at the same time given 
the Democrats by the Whigs. 



1836.] The Specie Circular. 129 

first a majority, but the Administration reversed 
this toward the end of the Session. In the 
House there was a strong Administration majority, 
divided into Van Buren and White factions. 
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, a Democrat, was 
chosen Speaker. The President's Message an- 
nounced that the National Debt would soon be 
paid off. The expected Surplus of Revenue 
caused long debate in Congress. In June, 1836, 
an Act was passed providing that, after January 
1st, 1837, all surplus revenue exceeding $5,000,000 
should be divided among the States as a loan, 
only to be recalled by direction of Congress. 1 
The President signed the bill. June 15th, 1836, 
Arkansas became a State, after some opposition 
to its application as irregular. Congress adjourned 
July 4 th, 1836. 

10. After the fall of the United States Bank a 
number of State banks had been formed, often with- 
out adequate capital, to supply the expected need 
of paper money. Their notes were used in large 
quantities for the purchase of public lands from the 
United States, and the Treasury was thus accumu- 
lating paper currency of doubtful worth. Soon 
after the adjournment of Congress the Secretary of 
the Treasury, by direction of the President, issued 
the so-called Specie Circular, ordering United 
States agents to receive in future only gold and 

1 This distribution amounted to $28,000,000, none of which was cvei 
recalled. It ceased in 1837 (pp. 133, 135). 



130 American Politics, [1837 

silver in payment for lands. This caused a de- 
mand for specie which could only be met by the 
banks in which the revenue was deposited. Other 
banks fell into difficulties which culminated in the 
"Panic of 1837. " 

11. The Opposition had hoped to throw the Presi- 
dential Election of 1836 into the House, but did 
not succeed in doing so, for a majority of Van 
Buren electors were chosen. The White electors 
carried the States of Georgia and Tennessee. The 
Whig vote had largely increased since the last 
election. 

12. Congress met December 5th, 1836. January 
XXIVth Congress, 26th, 1837, Michigan 

2d Session. became a State of the 

Union. In the Senate this Session was noteworthy 
for the final success of the President's supporters. 
When Clay's Resolution of Censure, against which 
the President had protested, was passed, Senator 
Benton, of Missouri, had given notice that he would 
offer a resolution each year to expunge it. At this 
Session his resolution was carried and put into 
effect at once. 1 

13. Texas, which had been bargained away by 
Southern votes in 1819, was now a prize which the 
South longed to regain, as an offset to the rapidly 
multiplying Northern States. It had become a 

1 The Resolution of 1834 on the Senate Journal was marked around by 
broad black lines, with the inscription " Expunged by order of the Senate 
this 16th day of January, 1837." 



1 8 3 7.] Slavery. 131 

part of the Mexican State of Coahuila, but was 
colonized by Americans, and then declared its 
independence. The President's Message advised 
Congress not to interfere in the struggle between 
Mexico and Texas. Nevertheless a resolution re- 
cognizing the independence of Texas was passed 
by the Senate, but failed in the House. 

14. In 1833 the National Anti-Slavery So- 
ciety had been formed, and its branches multi- 
plied rapidly. The renewal of the Slavery question 
alarmed the Southern States and many of the 
Northern people who considered any attack upon 
Slavery dangerous to the peace of the Union. 
From this time dates the existence of the party op- 
posed to Slavery in the United States, at first known 
as Abolitionists, A requisition was made by 
Georgia upon the State of New York for a leading 
Abolitionist, who had been indicted by a Georgia 
jury, and rewards were offered by citizens' com- 
mittees in the South for the bodies of others, dead 
or alive, but without success. Finally mob violence 
was resorted to in Boston and other Northern 
cities, to destroy Abolition printing presses, break 
up Abolition meetings, and intimidate Abolition 
orators. At least one person (Lovejoy) was shot 
to death. 

15. These lawless outrages only increased the 
zeal of the Abolitionists in offering Petitions to 
Congress to abolish Slavery in the District of 
Columbia, and in sending Abolitionist books and 



132 American Politics. [1837 

papers to every part of the country. At its last 
Session the House had resolved to lay all future 
petitions on the subject of Slavery upon the table, 
without further action or notice. At this Session 
the President's Message made indignant reference 
to the practice of sending Abolition documents 
through the United States mails. He recom- 
mended a bill to prohibit the practice in future. A 
bill was consequently introduced in the Senate, 
prohibiting any postmaster from knowingly putting 
any Abolition newspapers or documents into the 
mails. The bill was rejected. 

16. In February, 1837, the electoral votes were 
counted, and were found to be, for President, 170 
for Van Buren, 73 for Harrison, 26 for White, 14 
for Webster, and 1 1 for W. P. Mangum, of North 
Carolina, and, for Vice-President, 147 for Johnson, 
77 for Granger, 47 for Tyler, and 23 for William 
Smith, of Alabama. 1 Van Buren was therefore 
declared elected President. No candidate having 
received a majority of all the votes for Vice-Presi- 
dent, the Senate chose Richard M. Johnson. 
President Jackson issued a Farewell Address to 
the American People before leaving office. March 
3d, 1837, Congress adjourned, and March 4th Van 
Buren and Johnson ^ere sworn into office. 

I The three votes of Michigan for Van Buren and Johnson are included 
in the above count, though the State was not fully admitted until after the 
election. They did not affect the result. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THIRTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1837-184I. 

Martin Van Buren, President. Richard M. Johnson, Vice-President 
XXVth and XXVIth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1836 ; Dem. 761,549, 
Combined Opposition 736,656. 

1. The New Administration had taken Jack- 
son's Cabinet, and the President had declared his 
intention " to follow in the footsteps of his illustri- 
ous predecessor." He therefore caught the first full 
effects of the storm produced by Jackson's finan- 
cial policy, from which even Jackson's popularity 
and admitted honesty would hardly have saved 
him. The excessive amount of paper money in cir- 
culation had encouraged reckless speculation, and 
nominally raised property to more than its real 
value. The Specie Circular of 1836, by reviving 
the demand for gold and silver, had destroyed most 
of the banks which had not Government deposits 
at command. The demand for the deposits, for 
distribution among the States, completed the ruin 
of many of the " pet banks." They had treated the 
deposits as capital, to be used in loans to business 
men, and now had to return them. 

2. The sudden calling in of these loans began 

133 



134 American Politics. [1837 

the Panic of 1837, t0 which nothing comparable 
had before been seen in America. Early in May 
the New York City banks refused to pay gold ol 
silver for their notes, and the New York Legisla- 
ture authorized a suspension of specie payments 
throughout the State for one year. Banks in other 
cities at once suspended. May 15th, the President, 
by Proclamation, called an Extra Session of Con- 
gress, to meet September 4th, and consider and 
secure the financial interests of the Government. 
During the summer of 1837 the Panic continued 
its course, wrecking banks and corporations, bank- 
rupting business men, and violently reducing ficti- 
tious fortunes to their real value. 

3. Congress met September 4th, 1837. In the 
XXVth Congress, Senate there was an Ad- 
Extra Session. ministration majority. In 
the House James K. Polk of Tennessee, a Demo- 
crat, was re-elected Speaker, though the vote (116- 
103) shows a great increase of Whig members. 
Most of the Calhoun Democracy were now support- 
ing the Administration. The President's Mes- 
sage recommended that the Government should 
not interfere directly with the Panic, believing that 
it would finally right itself more safely and more 
easily. He also recommended the adoption by the 
Government of the " Sub-Treasury plan." 1 This 
was regarded by the Whigs, and by some of the 
Democrats, as an endeavor to break down all the 

1 See page 127. It is otherwise called the " Independent Treasury plan." 



1838.] The Sub-Treasury Bill. 135 

banks in the country. Its democratic opponents 
formed a temporary party, calling themselves Con- 
servatives, and generally voting with the Whigs 
on financial matters. A bill for the establishment 
of an Independent Treasury passed the Senate, 
but was tabled in the House by a combination of 
Whigs and Conservatives. Acts were passed to 
cease the distribution of revenue among the States, 
to authorize the issue of $10,000,000 in Treasury 
notes, and to give merchants further time on their 
revenue bonds. Congress adjourned October 16th. 

4. Congress met December 4th, 1837. The bill 
XXVth Congress, for the establishment of an 

1st Session. Independent Treasury 

was again pressed upon Congress by the Adminis- 
tration. It passed the Senate by a small majority, 
and was again defeated in the House by a Union 
of Whigs and Conservatives. The only measure 
for the relief of business passed at this Session was 
a joint resolution directing the Secretary of the 
Treasury to receive the notes of specie paying banks 
in payment for public lands, thus annulling the 
Specie Circular. The first open attempt to unite 
Texas to the United States was made at this Ses- 
sion, but failed. Congress adjourned July 9th, 
1838. 

5. Congress met December 3d, 1838. There 
XXVth Congress, was little party contest at 

2d Session. this Session. Discussion 

was confined mainly to the Seminole War in Florida, 



136 American Politics. Q1839 

for the prosecution of which large amounts had 
been voted, with little apparent prospect of a suc- 
cessful termination. The disinclination of Con- 
gress and the Administration to interfere in the 
financial troubles of the country, while it agreed 
with the strict constructionist theory of the powers 
of the Federal Government, operated to the disad- 
vantage of the Democratic party. Many of its 
former supporters were now ready to try Whig 
government. Congress adjourned March 3d, 1839. 
6. Congress met December 2d, 1839. Continu- 
XXVIth Congress, ous Whig Successes 
1st Session. had given them a fair pros- 

pect of a majority in the House. Outside of New 
Jersey 119 Democrats and 118 Whigs had been re- 
turned to the House. In New Jersey members of 
the House were at that time elected on a general 
ticket by the whole State. The five Whig candi- 
dates had certificates of election under the broad 
seal of the State, 1 while the five Democratic candi- 
dates contested their election on the ground of a 
miscount in one county. The admission of either 
delegation would give its party a majority in the 
House. For three days a disorderly debate con- 
tinued, there being no presiding officer until De- 
cember 5th, when John Quincy Adams was spas- 
modically chosen chairman pro tempore. Unsuc- 
cessful attempts to choose a Speaker were made 
for two weeks longer, many motions being voted 

I Hence this contest is often called the Broad Seal War. 



1 840.] Sub- Treasury Bill Passed. 137 

upon by both the New Jersey delegations. De- 
cember 17th, R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, a Sub- 
Treasury Whig, was chosen Speaker. The New 
Jersey Question was not settled until March, 
1840, when the Democratic delegation was seated, 
many Whigs not voting because of lack of time to 
examine the evidence in the case. 

7. The party contest over the organization of the 
House took up so much time that few measures of 
general interest were passed at this Session. The 
most notable event was the final success of the 
Independent Treasury Scheme, which had 
twice been rejected by the previous Congress. It 
was passed by both Houses, and signed by the 
President. 1 The " divorce of bank and state," 
which the President had been laboring to accom- 
plish, was thus successful. The strict construc- 
tionist policy of the President was also successful 
in the entire suspension of appropriations for Inter- 
nal Improvements. 2 Congress adjourned July 21st, 
1840. 

8. The Whig National Convention met at 
Harrisburgh, Pa., December 4th, 1839. It adopted 
no platform. For the purpose of uniting the Anti- 
Masonic and other opposition elements it reluct- 
antly abandoned Clay, and nominated William H. 

1 It will be seen that the Whigs at the next Session made unsuccessful 
attempts to substitute a National Bank for the Sub-Treasury plan. 

2 The tools, etc., belonging to the Government were ordered to be sold 
at auction. 



138 American Politics. [1840 

Harrison, of Ohio, and John Tyler, of Virginia. 1 
The Democratic National Convention met at 

Baltimore, May 5th, 1840, and adopted a strict 
constructionist platform, denying the power of 
Congress to carry on Internal Improvements, to 
protect manufactures, to charter a National Bank, 
or to interfere with Slavery in the States. It unan- 
imously renominated the President, but left nomi- 
nations for the Vice-Presidency to be made by the 
various States. The Abolitionists, or Liberty 
Party, made Presidential nominations November 
13th, 1839. The candidates were James G. Birney, 
of New York, and Francis Lemoyne, of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

9. The nomination of General Harrison, and the 
Whig attacks upon Van Buren and his financial 
policy, created an enthusiasm which Van Buren's 
nomination did not meet. Log-cabins and hard 
cider, which were supposed to be typical of Har- 
rison's frontier life, became popular with the Whigs, 
whose hopes were renewed by their success in the 
State elections of the summer and fall of 1840. At 
the Presidential Election in November the 
united opposition abundantly gratified their per- 
sonal hostility to Van Buren. The Whig electors 
were overwhelmingly successful. Democratic elec- 
tors were chosen by only two Northern, and five 

1 Tyler was a Strict Constructionist, a Calhoun Democrat, who had re- 
fused to follow the rest of his faction in supporting the Administration, 
His nomination was intended to gratify the Southern portion of the Oppo* 
sition by an office of much honor and little importance. 



1 84 1.] The Electoral Votes. 139 

Southern States. The new Abolition party did not 
succeed in choosing any electors, but polled a pop- 
ular vote of 7,609. 

10. Congress met December 7th, 1840. There 
XXVIth Congress, was little party contest 
2d Session. at this Session. In Feb- 

ruary, 1841, the electoral votes were counted, and 
were found to be, for President, 234 for Harrison, 
and 60 for Van Buren, and for Vice-President, 234 
for Tyler, 48 for Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, 
11 for L. W. Tazewell, of Virginia, and 1 for James 
K. Polk, of Tennessee. Harrison and Tyler were 
therefore declared elected. March 3d, 1841, Con- 
gress adjourned, and March 4th Harrison and 
Tyler were sworn into office. 



CHAPTER XV. 

FOURTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1841-1845. 

William Henry Harrison, President, John Tyler, Vice-President. 
XXVIIth and XXVIIIth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1840; Whig, 1,275,- 
017, Democratic, 1,128,702. 

1. The President's Inaugural Address 

condemned any excessive use of the veto power, 
the employment for political purposes of Executive 
control over public officials, and all Presidential 
experiments upon the currency. March 17th the 
President, by proclamation, called an Extra Session 
of Congress, to meet May 31st and consider the 
financial difficulties of the Government. Before 
any further developments of the President's policy 
could take place, a short illness resulted in his 
death, April 4th. According to law John Tyler 
became President. He retained President Harri- 
son's Cabinet, and promised to carry out his policy. 

2. Congress met May 31st, 1841. 1 In the House 
XXVIIth Congress, John White, of Kentucky, a 

Extra Session. Whig, was chosen Speaker. 
The Whigs at once began the change in financial 

1 Senate, 28 Whig, 22 Dem. House, 133 Whig, 108 Dem. 
I40 



1 84 1.] President Tylers Vetoes. 141 

policy to which they were pledged. A bill to abol- 
ish the Sub-Treasury of the previous Administra- 
tion was passed by both Houses and signed by the 
President. A bill to incorporate The Fiscal 
Bank of the United States was passed by both 
Houses. It was weeded of many of the objection- 
able features of the old United States Bank, but 
was hardly less odious to the Democrats. It was 
vetoed by the President. His objection was that 
the powers given to the Bank were such as he and 
the majority of the people believed it to be unwise 
and unconstitutional for Congress to grant. An 
effort to pass the bill over the veto did not receive 
a two-thirds majority. 

3. The Whig leaders, anxious to prevent a party 
disaster, asked from the President an outline of a 
bill which he would sign. After consultation with 
the Cabinet, it was given, and passed by both 
Houses. September 9th the President vetoed this 
bill also, and an attempt to pass it over the veto 
did not receive a two-thirds majority. The action 
of the President, in vetoing a bill drawn according 
to his own suggestions, and thus apparently pro- 
voking a contest with the party which had elected 
him, roused the unconcealed indignation of the 
Whigs. The Cabinet, with one exception, 1 at once 
resigned. The Whig members of Congress issued 
Addresses to the People, in which they de- 
tailed the reforms designed by the Whigs and im- 

1 Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Secretary of State. 



142 American Politics. [1842 

peded by the President, and declared that " all 
political connection between them and John Tyler 
was at an end from that day forth." At this Ses- 
sion an Act was passed to distribute the proceeds 
of the sales of public lands among the States. 
Congress adjourned September 13th, 1841. 

4. The President filled the vacancies in the 
Cabinet by appointing Whigs and Conservatives, 
His position was one of much difficulty. His strict 
constructionist opinions, which had prevented him 
from supporting Van Buren, would not allow him 
to approve a National Bank, and yet he had ac- 
cepted the Vice-Presidency from a party pledged 
to establish one. The over hasty declaration of 
war by the Whigs put a stop to his vacillations, and 
compelled him to rely upon support from the Demo- 
crats. But only a few members of Congress, com- 
monly known as " the corporal's guard," recognized 
Tyler as a leader. The Democrats only supported 
him as a means to success, and were encouraged in 
so doing by the State elections of 1841, w 7 hich were 
unfavorable to the Whigs. 

5. Congress met December 6th, 1841. Although 
XXVIIth Congress, Congress had decided to 

1st Session. refuse consideration to 

petitions for the abolition of Slavery, they continued 
to be sent. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, 
made himself prominent in presenting them to the 
House, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to 
censure him. In March, 1842, in the House, G 1 "^- 



1842.] Slavery. — The Tariff. 143 

dings, of Ohio, presented a set of resolutions 
which are noteworthy as containing the basis for 
the subsequent resistance to the extension of Slav- 
ery to the Territories. They declared that Slavery, 
being an abridgment of the natural rights of man, 
can exist only by force of positive municipal law, 
and is necessarily confined to the territorial juris- 
diction of the power creating it. For offering 
these resolutions the House censured their author. 
He resigned his seat, was re-elected at a special 
election in April, and again took his seat in the 
House early in May. 

6. The reduction of duties by the Compromise 
Tariff of 1833 had gone so far that the Government 
revenues were less than expenses. The Whig 
majority passed a bill continuing for the present 
the duties under the Tariff of 1833, and providing 
for the distribution of any surplus revenue among 
the States. The President vetoed it, on the 
ground that it was in violation of the Compromise 
of 1833 by which Protection was to cease after 
1842. A Tariff designed to afford a revenue was 
then passed by both Houses, still continuing the 
objectionable provision for the distribution of the 
surplus. This was also vetoed. In the House 
the Veto Message was referred to a committee, 
whose report condemned the President's undue 
assumption of power. Against this the President 
sent a formal protest. The bill was then passed 
by both Houses, without the distributing clause, 



144 American Politics. D843 

signed by the President, and became the Tariff 
of 1842. The Webster-Ashburton Treaty 

of August 9th, 1842, ended various controversies, 
settled the North-eastern boundary, stipulated 
for the suppression of the slave-trade, and in- 
augurated our system of extradition. Congress 
adjourned August 31st, 1842. 

7. Congress met December 5th, 1842. There 
XXVIIth Congress, was little party contest at 

2d Session. this Session. On its last 

day a few Anti-Slavery Whigs issued an address to 
the people, warning them that the scheme for the 
annexation of Texas had never been abandoned, 
but was still in progress, and that its success would 
result in and justify a dissolution of the Union. 
Congress adjourned March 3d, 1843. 

8. Congress met December 4th, 1843. ^ n tne 
XXVIIIth Congress, House John W. Jones, 

1st Session. of Virginia, a Democrat, 

was chosen Speaker. The majority in the Senate 
was Whig, and in the House Democratic, 1 and the 
consequent disagreement prevented united action, 
and encouraged the President in his reliance upon 
the Democrats. The President's Message had 
recommended that any appropriations for Internal 
Improvements should be made for the benefit of 
the Western States. Two bills were passed, the 
Eastern Harbor Bill, and the Western Harbor Bill. 
The President signed the Western Bill, and vetoed 

1 Senate, 28 Whig, 24 Dem. House, 142 Dem., 81 Whig. 



1 844.] Texas. — National Conventions. 145 

the Eastern Bill. An attempt to pass it over the 
veto did not receive a two-thirds majority. The 
Administration concluded a treaty with Texas, pro- 
viding for annexation. It was rejected by the 
Senate by a strong vote (35-16), all the Whigs and 
7 Democrats voting against it. Congress adjourned 
June 17th, 1844. 

9. The Annexation of Texas was now rapidly 
becoming a party question. The South was deter- 
mined to accomplish it. It was felt that if the South 
must stop at the Sabine (the Eastern boundary of 
Texas), while the North might spread unchecked 
beyond the Rocky Mountains, u the Southern scale 
must kick the beam," and the existence of Slavery 
would be endangered. Before the National Con- 
ventions met the views of the leading candidates 
upon the question of annexation had been asked 
and given. Van Buren guardedly announced him- 
self as opposed to the present annexation of Texas. 
Clay expressed himself more plainly to the same 
effect. 

10. The National Convention of the Liberty 
Party met at Buffalo, August 30th, 1843. It 
adopted a long series of resolutions, denouncing 
Slavery, and calling upon the Free States for penal 
laws to stop the return of fugitive slaves. It nom- 
inated James G. Birney, of Michigan, and Thomas 
Morris, of Ohio. The Whig National Con- 
vention met at Baltimore, May 1st, 1844, and 
adopted a concise loose constructionist platform, 

10 



146 American Politics. [1844 

advocating a national currency, a protective tariff, 
and a distribution of surplus revenue among the 
States. It nominated Henry Clay, of Kentucky, 
and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New York. The 
Democratic National Convention met at Bal- 
timore, May 27th, 1844, and again adopted its 
strict constructionist platform of 1840, with an ad- 
ditional article demanding the re-occupation of 
Oregon, and the re-annexation of Texas. A large 
majority of the delegates came pledged to vote for 
Van Buren, whose views on the Texas question 
did not satisfy the Southern delegates. They suc- 
ceeded in destroying his chances of a nomination 
by the adoption of the rule of two former Demo- 
cratic Conventions, that nominations must be made 
by a two-thirds vote. 1 Van Buren had a majority, 
but not two-thirds. After eight ballots his name 
was withdrawn, and the Convention nominated 
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, and Silas Wright, of 
New York. Wright declined, and George M. Dal- 
las, of Pennsylvania, was substituted. An abortive 
Convention of office-holders at Baltimore renomi- 
nated Tyler. He accepted the nomination, but 
soon withdrew. 

11. The Democratic party was thus committed 
to the annexation of Texas, though the demand for 
the Tariff of 1842, and for "the whole of Oregon 
or none, with or without war with England," helped 
to gain votes. Nevertheless Whig success seemed 

1 This has since been the rule in Democratic National Conventions. 



1 844.] Presidential Election. 147 

probable until the appearance of an unfortunate 
letter of Clay's, in which he tried to conciliate 
Southern Democrats by saying that he would be 
" glad to see " the annexation take place at some 
future time. By this ill-judged piece of diplomacy 
he gained no Democratic votes, for Polk was a 
warm advocate of annexation, and lost those of the 
extreme Anti-Slavery Whigs and Abolitionists, who 
purposely threw away on Birney and Morris a num- 
ber of votes which would have carried New York 
and thus elected Clay. They were therefore the 
real agents in the election of Polk, the annexation 
of Texas, and the extension of Slavery to a vast 
amount of new territory. 

12. The Presidential Election in November 
resulted in Democratic success. But it was the 
most closely contested election in our history, ex- 
cept those of 1800 and 1876, The result in 14 of 
the 26 States was doubtful for two days, and most 
of these chose Polk electors by very slender major- 
ities. In several of them the small Abolition vote 
would have turned the scale, and chosen Clay elec- 
tors. A majority of the members chosen to the 
XXIXth Congress were in favor of a lower Tariff 
than that of 1842. 

13. Congress met December 2d, 1844. A bill to 
XXVIIIth Congress, organize a territorial 

2d Session. government for Oregon, 

up to the line of 54° 40' North latitude, and be- 
yond the line claimed by England as the true 



148 American Politics. D845 

boundary, was passed by the House, but, as it pro- 
hibited Slavery, the Senate declined to consider it. 
The annexation of Texas took up most of the 
time of this Session. Mexico had abolished Slav- 
ery twenty years before, and therefore Texas was 
by Mexican law free territory. 1 Propositions to 
prohibit Slavery in Texas were voted down. The 
Joint Resolution to annex Texas was passed by 
both Houses, and signed by the President. It pro- 
hibited Slavery in any States to be formed from 
the territory of Texas north of the Missouri Com- 
promise Line (36 30' North latitude), and left the 
question to be settled by the people in States 
formed south of that line. 

14. Appropriations were made at this Session for 
both Eastern and Western harbors. The President 
disposed of them by a pocket veto. In February, 
1845, the electoral votes were counted and were 
found to be, for Polk and Dallas 170, and for Clay 
and Frelinghuysen 105. Polk and Dallas were 
therefore declared elected. March 3d, Florida 
became a State of the Union, and arrangements 
were made for the future admission of Iowa. The 
same day the President sent a messenger to secure 
the consent of Texas to the annexation. March 
3d, 1845, Congress adjourned, and March 4th, Polk 
and Dallas were sworn into office. 

i The Republic of Texas, however, had re-established Slavery by law. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

FIFTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1845-1849. 

James K. Polk, President. George M. Dallas, Vice-Presiden* 

XXTXth and XXXth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1 844. Dem. 1,337,243, 
Whig 1,299,068, Ab. 62,300. 

1. The policy of Rotation in Office, laid down 
by Jackson in 1829 and accepted by the Whigs in 
1841, was now finally established by the new Ad- 
ministration. It has been the rule since that time 
that every Presidential election shall be marked by 
a wholesale removal of office-holders, whose places 
are filled by friends of the new Administration. 

2. Annexation had been accepted by the Con- 
gress of Texas and by a Popular Convention. 
Mexico was so occupied by intestine dissensions 
and revolution that her exhibition of resentment 
was at first confined to a formal protest, and the 
withdrawal of her Minister from Washington. No 
aggressive movement was made by her even when 
United States troops under General Taylor occu- 
pied the Eastern bank of the Nueces River, beyond 
which Texas had never hitherto exercised juris- 
diction. 

3. Congress met December 1st, 1845, with a 

T 4 Q 



150 American Politics. [1846 

XXIXth Congress, Democratic majority in 
1st Session. both branches. 1 In the 

House John W. Davis, of Indiana, a Democrat, 
was chosen Speaker. The President's Message 
condemned all Anti-Slavery agitation, recom- 
mended a Sub-Treasury and a Tariff for Revenue, 
and spoke of the annexation of Texas as a matter 
which concerned only Texas and the United States. 
December 29th Texas became a State of the 
Union. December 31st an Act was passed extend- 
ing the United States revenue system over the 
doubtful territory beyond the Nueces River, and a 
revenue officer was appointed to reside in the new 
district. Even these steps did not induce hostili- 
ties. Mexico still declared her willingness to nego- 
tiate concerning the disputed territory between the 
Nueces and the Rio Grande. 

4. In March, 1846, Hostilities were precipi- 
tated by an order from the President to General 
Taylor to advance from the Nueces to the Rio 
Grande, and occupy the debatable district. He 
obeyed, and was thus brought face to face with 
Mexican troops. Early in May Arista, with 6000 
Mexicans, crossed the Rio Grande, attacked Taylor 
and his force of 2,300 men at Palo Alto, and was 
badly beaten. On the following day Taylor as- 
sumed the offensive, attacked Arista at Resaca de 
la Palma, and drove him in headlong retreat across 
the Rio Grande. 

I Senate, 30 Dem., 25 Whig. House, 142 Dem., 75 Whig, and 6 others. 



1846.] War with Mexico. 151 

5. May nth, 1846, the President sent a War 
Message to Congress in which he detailed the 
preliminary skirmishes on the Rio Grande, declared 
that Mexican troops had at last shed the blood of 
American citizens on American soil, and asked for 
a Declaration of War. A bill to recognize the ex- 
istence of war, and to appropriate $10,000,000 for 
its prosecution, was at once passed by both Houses. 
Its preamble was as follows: " Whereas, by the 
act of the Republic of Mexico, a state of war exists 
between that government and the United States/' 
This was considered a falsehood by the Whigs. 
They thought that President Polk had provoked 
hostilities by ordering the army into Mexican terri- 
tory. Nevertheless they generally voted, under 
protest, for the declaration, on the ground that the 
army had been forced into a perilous situation, and 
must be rescued. On the same ground they gen- 
erally supported the war until its conclusion. The 
Liberty party, particularly in New England, opposed 
the war bitterly. 1 

6. August 8th a Special Message from the Presi- 
dent asked for money with which to purchase terri- 
tory from Mexico, that the war might thus be set- 
tled by negotiation. Abillappropriating$2,ooo,ooo 
for this purpose at once brought up the Slavery 
question, for it was certain that any newly acquired 
territory would swarm with slave-holders, who 
would demand protection in the possession of their 

1 Their feeling is represented by Lowell's " Biglow Papers." 



152 American Politics. [1846 

slaves. In the House Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, on 
behalf of many Northern Democrats, offered an 
addition to the bill, applying to any newly acquired 
territory the provision of the Ordinance of 1787, 1 
that " neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude 
shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except 
for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly con- 
victed." This was the celebrated Wilmot Pro- 
viso. The Whigs and Northern Democrats united 
in favor of it, and it passed the House, but was 
sent to the Senate too late to be acted upon. 

7. During this Session war with England upon 
the Oregon Question seemed imminent. By 
the treaties of 1803 with France, and 1819 with 
Spain, the United States had acquired the rights of 
those powers on the Pacific coast, north of Cali- 
fornia. The Northern boundary of the ceded ter- 
ritory was unsettled. The United States claimed 
that the boundary was the line 54 40' North lati- 
tude. England claimed that it followed the Co- 
lumbia River. By a convention of 1827 the dis- 
puted territory had been held by both countries 
jointly, the arrangement being terminable by either 
country on twelve months' notice. The last Dem- 
ocratic Convention had demanded the " /^-occu- 
pation " of the whole of Oregon (up to 54 40'), 
with or without war with England. 2 The " /-^-an- 
nexation " of Texas having been accomplished, the 

1 See page 60. 

a Popularly summed up as l * fifty-four-forty-or-fight." 



1846.] Oregon,— The Tariff of 1846. 153 

Whigs now began to urge the Democrats to carry 
out their programme in regard to Oregon. Against 
the votes of the extreme Southern Democrats, the 
President was directed to give the requisite twelve 
months' notice to England. 

8. June 15th, 1846, the Oregon question was 
settled by a Treaty with England, by which 
the United States abandoned the line of 54 40', 
and accepted that of 49 North latitude as the 
Northern boundary. A bill to organize the Ter- 
ritory of Oregon, with the Wilmot Proviso attached, 
was passed by the House, against the votes of the 
Southern Democrats, but was not acted upon by 
the Senate. 

9. At this Session the Tariff of 1846 was passed 
by a party vote. It followed the strict construc- 
tionist theory in aiming at a list of duties sufficient 
only to provide revenue for the Government, with- 
out regard to Protection. A River and Harbor 
Improvement Bill was passed by both Houses. 
It was vetoed by the President on the ground that 
the Constitution did not, in his opinion, give the 
Federal Government any power to appropriate 
money for the purpose of making Internal Im- 
provements within the States. Congress adjourned 
August 13th, 1846. 

10. Congress met December 7th, 1846. Decern- 
XXIXth Congress, ber 28th, Iowa became a 

2d Session. State of the Union. The 

Presidents Message announced the continued 



154 American Politics. l l %47 

success of the American arms in Mexico, and 
argued that the Rio Grande should be considered 
the Western boundary of Texas. The necessary 
measures for the prosecution of the war took up 
most of the time of this Session. A bill appro- 
priating $3,000,000 for the purchase of territory 
from Mexico was passed by the House with the 
Wilmot Proviso attached. The Senate passed the 
bill, but without the Wilmot Proviso, and, after an 
unavailing struggle by the Whigs, the House adopt- 
ed the bill as it came from the Senate. The bill to 
organize the Territory of Oregon, with the Wilmot 
Proviso, was again passed by the House, and again 
left without action by the Senate. A motion in the 
House by a Southern member to recognize the 
Missouri Compromise Line (36 30') as extending 
to the Pacific was lost by a sectional vote, South 
against North. A River and Harbor Improvement 
Bill was again passed, but so near the end of the 
Session that the President was able to dispose of it 
by a " pocket veto." Congress adjourned March 
3d, 1847. 

11. Congress met December 6th, 1847, with a 
XXXth Congress, Democratic majority in the 
1st Session. Senate, and a Whig ma- 

jority in the House. 1 Robert C. Winthrop, of 
Massachusetts, a Whig, was chosen Speaker of the 
House. The subject of Internal Improve- 
ments was again brought up, and the House 

1 Senate, 35 Dem., 21 Whig. House, 117 Whig, 108 Dem. 



1348.] Peace with Mexico. 155 

resolved by a large majority that the General 
Government had the power to improve harbors and 
rivers for the advantage of commerce and for the 
common defense. A resolution embodying the 
substance of the Wilmot Proviso was tabled. It 
did not have, as in the last Congress, the whole 
Free State Democratic vote in its favor. 1 

12. Peace was made with Mexico in February, 
1848, and a large increase of territory was thereby 
gained by the United States. As a compromise 
between the advocates and the opponents of the 
extension of Slavery, a bill was passed by the 
Senate, establishing territorial governments in Ore- 
gon, New Mexico and California, with a provision 
that all questions concerning Slavery in those Ter- 
ritories should be referred to the United States 
Supreme Court for decision. It was voted for by 
the members from Slave States, and lost in the 
House. A bill was then passed in the House, by 
a sectional vote, to organize the Territory of 
Oregon, without Slavery. This was passed by 
the Senate, with an amendment declaring that the 
Missouri Compromise Line extended to the Pacific 
Ocean. This would have divided the United States 
into two parts, the Northern free, and the Southern 
slave. The amendment was rejected by the House, 
again by a sectional vote, and, the Senate with- 
drawing, the bill passed. Congress adjourned 

1 Twenty-five Free State Democrats voted against it. 



156 American Politics. [1848 

August 14th, 1848. May 29th Wisconsin had 
become a State of the Union. 

13. The Democratic National Convention 

met at Baltimore, May 22d, 1848. It renewed the 
strict constructionist platform of 1840 and 1844, 
and nominated Lewis Cass, of Michigan, and 
William O. Butler, of Kentucky. A resolution that 
Congress had no power to interfere with Slavery, 
either in the States or in the Territories, was voted 
down by a heavy majority. The Whig National 
Convention met at Philadelphia, June 7th, and 
nominated Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, and Mil- 
lard Fillmore, of New York. No platform was 
adopted, and resolutions affirming the Wilmot Pro- 
viso as a party principle were repeatedly voted 
down. It was thus evident that the Whigs were 
not ready to become an Anti-Slavery party, nor 
were the Democrats ready to become a Pro-Slavery 
party. The State of New York had sent two 
delegations to the Democratic Convention, the 
" Hunkers/' or Conservatives, who wished to leave 
the Slavery question in abeyance, and the " Barn- 
burners/' 1 or Free Soil Democrats, who opposed 
any further extension of Slavery into the Ter- 
ritories. The Convention admitted both, dividing 
the vote of New York between them. The Barn- 
burners withdrew, and attended the National Con- 
vention of a new party, the Free Soilers, at 

1 This was originally a term applied by their opponents to their supposed 
/evolutionary principles. It made no charge of practical arson. 



1848.] Presidential Election. 157 

Buffalo, August 9th. It adopted a platform declar- 
ing that Congress had no more power to make a 
slave than to make a king, and that there should 
be no more Slave States, and no more Slave Ter- 
ritories. It nominated Martin Van Buren, of New 
York, and Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts. 

14. The Free Soilers (or Free Democracy) were 
joined by the old Liberty party, and by many 
Democrats who were offended at the support given 
by Southern Democrats to the efforts to establish 
Slavery in the territory lately won from Mexico. 
In the South many former Democrats preferred a 
slave-holding candidate without a platform to a 
non slave-holding candidate on a platform in which 
support of Slavery had been voted down. The 
Presidential Election in November resulted in 
the success of the Whig electors in a majority both 
of the Free and of the Slave States. The belief of 
the Northern Democrats that they had been be- 
trayed by the Southern Democrats in the election 
had its natural effect in the next Session of Con- 
gress, where the Free State Democrats voted for 
every measure aimed at Slavery. 

15. Congress met December 5th, 1848. A bill 
XXXth Congress, to organize the Territories 

2d Session. of New Mexico and Cali- 

fornia, with the Wilmot Proviso, was passed by the 
House by a sectional vote, almost all the Free State 
Democrats voting for it. The Senate refused to 
consider it. The House then passed a resolution 



158 American Politics. [1849 

condemning the sale of slaves in Washington as 
" notoriously a reproach to our country throughout 
Christendom," which roused the indignation of 
Southern members. Late in the Session the Senate 
passed the General Appropriation Bill for govern- 
ment expenses, with a " rider," 1 organizing the 
Territories of New Mexico and California, 
permitting Slavery. Its object was to compel the 
House to yield, or leave the Government penniless. 
The House threw this responsibility back upon the 
Senate by substituting for its rider a provision that 
until July 4th, 1850, the existing Mexican laws of 
those Territories should remain in force. As 
.Mexico had abolished Slavery this would have 
made the new Territories free. On the last night 
of the Session the Senate unwillingly struck out its 
" rider " and the House substitute, and passed the 
Appropriation Bill as it originally came from the 
House. 

16. Another River and Harbor Improvement Bill 
was passed by the House, but was not acted upon 
by the Senate. In February, 1849, tne electoral 
votes were counted and were found to be, for Tay- 
lor and Fillmore 163, and for Cass and Butler 127. 
Taylor and Fillmore were therefore declared 
elected. March 3d, 1849, Congress adjourned, 
and March 5th Taylor and Fillmore were sworn 
into office. 

1 That is, an addition having no reference to the subject matter of the 
original bill. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

SIXTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1849-1853. 

Zachary Taylor, President. Millard Fillmore, Vice-President. 

XXXTst and XXXTId Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1 848 : Whig i ,360, 1 o 1 , 
Dem. 1,220,544, Free Soil 291,263. 

1. Taylor's Inauguration marks the beginning 
of a Process of Change which in a few years 
destroyed one of the two great parties, and changed 
the character of the other. The Free Soil Demo- 
crats, who opposed any extension of Slavery to the 
Territories, and had therefore abandoned the Dem- 
ocratic party, saw no reason for joining the Whig 
party, which had distinctly rejected the principle of 
the Wilmot Proviso. The consequent loss of the 
Democrats, in numbers, was more than balanced 
by the accession of Pro-Slavery Whigs whc made 
their new party progressively more Pro-Slavery. 
The Whig losses had no compensating gains. The 
disintegration of the party continued from its suc- 
cess in electing a slave-holding President in 1848 
until the rise of its anti-slavery successor in 1855- 

56. 

2. The accession of Pro-Slavery Whigs soon 

159 



160 American Politics. [1849 

brought prominently forward the doctrine which 
the last Democratic National Convention had voted 
down, that the Constitution gave Congress no 
power to interfere with Slavery in the Territories, 
and that the people of each Territory should allow 
or prohibit Slavery as they pleased. This was 
Squatter Sovereignty. 1 Of course it would 
follow from this that the Missouri Compromise of 
1820 was illegal and unconstitutional, as it abol- 
ished Slavery in the Territories North of 36 30'. 
But this consequence was not at first mentioned, 
and, perhaps, not thought of. 

3. As Squatter Sovereignty was a strict construc- 
tionist theory, it was more easy to force it upon 
the Democratic than upon the Whig party. From 
this time, therefore, Southern leaders aimed to con- 
trol the Democratic party more thoroughly, aban- 
doning its opponent after an effort to use it as an 
instrument in completing the work of Democracy. 2 
The struggle between the advocates of the Wilmot 
Proviso, which forbade Slavery in the new terri- 
tory, and of Squatter Sovereignty, which allowed 
its introduction, if desired by the people, was pre- 
cipitated by the Discovery of Gold in California. 
The consequent rush of immigration increased the 
population of California so rapidly that a State con- 
stitution was ratified November 13, 1849, expressly 
prohibiting Slavery. This practical application of 

1 Otherwise called Popular Sovereignty. 

2 At the Presidential Convention of 1852- 



1850.] The Compromise of 1850. 161 

Squatter Sovereignty was equally surprising and 
unwelcome to its first advocates. 

4. Congress met December 3d, 1849, with a Dem- 
XXXIst Congress, ocratic majority in the Sen- 

ISt Session. ate, and no party majority 

in the House, the Free Soilers holding the balance 
of power between the other two parties. 1 The Free 
Soilers refused to vote for either the Whig or the 
Democratic candidates for Speaker, and, after 62 
unavailing ballots in which no one had a majority 
of all the votes, it was agreed that the highest num- 
ber of votes should elect. The House then chose 
as Speaker Howell Cobb, of Georgia, a Democrat 
and an advocate of the extension of Slavery. 

5. California applied for admission as a State 
February 13th, 1850. Shortly before the applica- 
tion Clay had submitted a proposition to compro- 
mise the conflicting claims of the advocates of Slav- 
ery extension and of Slavery restriction. His pro- 
position included seven points : (1) the admission 
of any new States properly formed from Texas, 
(2) the admission of California, (3) the organiza- 
tion of the Territories of New Mexico and Utah, 
without the Wilmot Proviso (i.e. with Squatter Sov- 
ereignty), (4) the passage of the last two measures 
in one bill, (5) the payment of a money indemnity 
to Texas, (6) a more rigid Fugitive Slave Law, (7) 
the abolition of the slave trade, but not of Slavery, 

1 Senate, 35 Dem.,25 Whig, 2 Free Soilers. House, no Dem., 103 
Whig, 9 Free Soilers. 
II 



1 62 American Politics. [_ l %5° 

in the District of Columbia. This was the basis of 
the Compromise of 1850. It was opposed by 
the Whigs and Free Soilers, who considered it a 
surrender of free soil to the slave power, and by 
the extreme Southern Democrats, who considered 
it a surrender of the slave-holder's right to hold his 
property and slaves wherever he pleased to settle. 
But it was undoubtedly satisfactory to the great 
majority of the people, as averting civil war and 
disunion. 

6. The Compromise of 1850 was originally united 
in one bill. 1 It was debated throughout the Ses- 
sion, and gradually divided into a number of sep- 
arate bills. These were all passed, during the 
months of August and September, by both Houses, 
and became law. California thus became a State 
of the Union September 9th, 1850. Perhaps the 
most important, in its bearing upon future events, 
was the Fugitive Slave Law, which was much 
more stringent in its provisions than the one already 
in existence. It directed and encouraged the sur- 
render of fugitive slaves by United States Commis- 
sioners in the North, without any trial by jury, and 
commanded all good citizens to aid in making ar- 
rests. The work of chasing and arresting fugitive 
slaves in the Northern States was at once begun, 
and carried on diligently, often inhumanly. The 
consequent disgust and horror caused the passage, 
by some Northern Legislatures, of Personal Lib- 

1 Commonly called the Omnibus Bill, from its all-embracing nature. 



1 85 1.] An Interval of Calm. 163 

erty Laws, intended to protect free negroes falsely 
alleged to be fugitive slaves. Congress adjourned 
September 30th, 1850. 

7. July 9th President Taylor died, and Vice- 
President Fillmore became President in his 
stead. The change had no effect upon party con- 
tests, the Administration remaining Whig, as before. 

8. Congress met December 2d, 1850. There was 
XXXIst Congress, little party contest at this 

2d Session. Session. The questions 

of Tariff, Internal Improvements, and a National 
Bank, had, for a time at least, disappeared. On 
the question of Slavery, which had so suddenly 
sprung into controlling interest, neither party was 
ready to take a decided stand. The business of 
this Session was therefore confined to routine, with 
occasional debates on Slavery. Congress ad- 
journed March 3d, 185 1. 

9. Congress met December 1st, 185 1, with a 
XXXIId Congress, Democratic majority in 

1st Session. both branches. 1 In the 

House Linn Boyd, of Kentucky, a Democrat, was 
chosen Speaker. The increased Democratic major- 
ity in Congress marks the satisfaction with which 
the people generally had received the Compromise 
of 1850, as they understood it. There was little 
party contest at this Session. The question of 
Slavery was considered settled, and the Democratic 

1 Senate, 34 Dem., 23 Whigs, 3 Free Soilers. House, 140 Dem., 88 
Whies. 1 Free Soilers. 



164 American Politics. [ I 852 

majority generally supported the measures recom- 
mended by the Administration for carrying on the 
government. This Session, however, is noteworthy 
for the first mention of a measure destined to trans- 
fer the conflict between Slavery and its opponents 
to the country west of Missouri, stretching to the 
Rocky Mountains, and called, from its principal 
river, the Platte Country, 1 It had become a 
through route to California, and its population was 
increasing. It now applied for organization as a 
Territory, but the application was not acted upon. 
Congress adjourned August 31st, 1852. 

10. The Democratic National Convention 
met at Baltimore, June 1st, 1852. It renewed the 
strict constructionist platforms of preceding Con- 
ventions, endorsed the Kentucky and Virginia 
Resolutions of 1798, and pledged the Democratic 
party to the faithful observance of the Compromise 
of 1850, including the Fugitive Slave Law, and to 
a steady opposition to any agitation of the Slavery 
question. It nominated Franklin Pierce, of New 
Hampshire, and William R. King, of Alabama. 
The Whig National Convention met at Balti- 
more, June 16th. It adopted a loose construction- 
ist platform, more cautiously worded than those 
of former Conventions, and endorsed the Compro- 
mise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law in terms 
very similar to those of the Democratic platform. 
After a session of six days it nominated Winfield 

x Now called Kansas. 



1852.] Nebraska. 165 

Scott, of Virginia, and William A. Graham, of 
North Carolina. The Free Soil Democratic 
Convention met at Pittsburgh, August nth. It 
adopted a platform declaring Slavery to be a sin 
against God and a crime against man, and denounc- 
ing the Compromise of 1850, and the two parties 
who supported it. It nominated John P. Hale, of 
New Hampshire, and George W. Julian, of Indiana. 

n. The success of the Southern delegates in 
committing the Whig Convention to the support of 
the Compromise of 1850 did not injure the party 
so much at the time as it did afterward, when the 
real nature of that Compromise was declared. 1 At 
the Presidential Election in November its pop- 
ular vote was slightly increased since the previous 
election, although most of the Free Soil vote was 
drawn from it. Nevertheless the Whig electors 
carried only four States, 2 the other twenty-seven 
States choosing Democratic electors, though gen- 
erally by very small majorities. 

12. Congress met December 6th, 1852. A bill 
XXXI^d Congress, was passed by the House to 
2d Session. organize the Territory 

of Nebraska, with the same boundaries as 
the formerly proposed Territory of Platte. It was 
tabled in the Senate. The opposition to it came 
from Southern members who were preparing, but 

1 The Whig party was then forcibly said to have died " of an attempt to 
swallow the Fugitive Slave Law." 

2 Massachusetts, Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee. 



1 66 American Politics. [185 3 

were not yet ready to announce, their next advanced 
claim, that the Compromise of 1850 had superseded 
and voided that of 1820, abolished the prohibition 
of Slavery in the territory North of the Missouri 
Compromise Line (36 30' North latitude), and 
opened it to the operation of Squatter Sovereignty. 
In February, 1853, the electoral votes were counted, 
and were found to be, for Pierce and King 254, 
and for Scott and Graham 42. Pierce and King 
were therefore declared elected. March 3d, 1853, 
Congress adjourned, and March 4th Pierce was 
sworn into office. 1 

1 Vice-President King, on account of illness, was sworn into office after- 
ward. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

SEVENTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1853-1857. 

Franklin Pierce, President. William R. King", Vice-President. 

XXXIIId and XXXIVth Congresses . 

Popular vote for President in 1852 ; Dem. 1,601,. 
474, Whig 1,386,578, Free Soil 156,149. 

1. Congress met December 5th, 1853. The 
XXXIIId Congress, Democratic majority in 

ISt Session. both branches was in- 

creased. 1 In the House Speaker Boyd was again 
elected. The President's Message assured those 
who had elected him that he intended to carry out 
the Compromise of 1850, in all its parts. A Senate 
bill to organize the Territory of Nebraska 
was interfered with by a demand from a Southern 
Senator that the Missouri Compromise should not 
be so construed as to prohibit Slavery in the new 
Territory. The bill was at once dropped. But a 
sufficient number of Free State Democrats soon 
acquiesced in the Southern demand to make it a 
success. 

2, January 23d, 1854, the famous Kansas- 

1 Senate, 36 Dem., 20 Whigs, 2 Free Soilers. House, 159 Dem.- 71 
Whigs, 4 Free Soilers. 

167 



1 68 American Politics. [ X 8S4 

Nebraska Bill was introduced in the House. It 
divided the territory covered by the previous 
Nebraska bill into two Territories, one directly 
west of Missouri and between the parallels of 37 ° and 
40 , to be called Kansas, and the other north of this 
and between the parallels of 40 and 43 , to be called 
Nebraska. According to the Compromise of 1820 
both of these Territories were forever barred to 
Slavery. But this bill distinctly declared that the 
Compromise of 1820 was inconsistent with the 
constitutional principle of non-interference with 
Slavery by Congress, that it was therefore inoper- 
ative, void, and repealed by the Compromise of 
1850, and that hereafter each Territory, whether 
north or south of the parallel of 36 30', should 
admit or exclude Slavery as its people should 
decide. This bill was passed by the Senate, its 
only opponents being the Northern Whigs and 
Free Soilers. 

3. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill did not come up 
in the House until about two months later. The 
Southern Democrats and Southern Whigs united 
in favor of it. The Northern Democrats were 
evenly divided, 1 and the Northern Whigs and Free 
Soilers united against it. The division between 
the Democratic opponents and advocates of the 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill was soon healed. The 
division between Northern and Southern Whigs 
was final. The Northern Whigs at once repudiated 

1 There were 88 Northern Democratic votes, 44 for, and 44 against it. 



1 854.] The American Party. 169 

their old party name, and were called at first Anti- 
Nebraska Men. The Southern Whigs kept the 
party name alive a few years longer, but their 
principles on the controlling question of Slavery 
were so similar to those of the Southern Democracy 
that they can hardly be called a distinct party. 
Congress adjourned August 7th, 1854. 

4. A new party had by this time risen to active 
importance in American politics. It appeared in 
185 2, 1 in the form of a secret, oath-bound organi- 
zation, of whose name, nature, and objects, nothing 
was told even to its members until they had 
reached its higher degrees. Their consequent 
declaration that they knew nothing about it gave 
the society its popular name of Know Nothings. 
It accepted the name of the American Party. 
Its design was to oppose the easy naturalization of 
foreigners, and to aid the election of native-born 
citizens to office. Its nominations were made by 
secret conventions of delegates from the various 
lodges, and were voted for by all members under 
penalty of expulsion in case of refusal. At first, 
by endorsing the nominations of one or other of 
the two great parties, it decided many elections. 
After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, the 

1 The Hartford Convention had complained of the easy naturalization of 
foreigners. A " Native American " party had existed in New York City 
in 1835, but it was only local, and soon disappeared. In 1843 a new 
" Native American " party had arisen in New York City, and extended to 
Philadelphia. Its Whig members left it in 1844 because of its refusal to 
vote for Ciay, and it too disappeared. 



170 American Politics. [1856 

Know-Nothing organization was adopted by many 
Southern Whigs, who were unwilling to unite with 
the Democracy, and became, for a time, a national 
party. It carried nine of the State elections in 
1855, and in 1856 nominated Presidential candi- 
dates. After that time its Southern members 
gradually united with the Democracy, and the 
Know Nothing party disappeared from politics. 

5. Congress met December 4th, 1854. There was 
XXXIIId Congress, little party contest at this 

2d Session. Session, which was chiefly 

noteworthy for a revival of the question of In- 
ternal Improvements. It secured Democratic 
votes by providing for detached public improve- 
ments. A River and Harbor bill was passed by 
both Houses, but was vetoed by the President. 
Congress adjourned March 3d, 1855. 

6. Congress met December 3d, 1855, ' with a 
XXXI Vth Congress, Democratic majority in 

1st Session. the Senate. In the House 

the " Anti-Nebraska men " had a majority, but so 
many of them were Know Nothings that no candi- 
date could control their entire vote. After 130 
ballots for Speaker, lasting until February, 1856, it 
was agreed that the highest number of votes should 
elect, and N. P. Banks, Jr., of Massachusetts, an 
" Anti-Nebraska man," was chosen. The remain- 
ing time of this Session was occupied by the 

1 Senate, 34 Dem., 25 Opposition. House, 117 Anti-Nebraska, 79 Dem., 
37 Pro-Slavery Whigs. 



1856.] The Republican Party. 171 

Kansas Troubles, which will be referred to 
hereafter. A House Committee was sent to Kansas, 
and reported that no free or fair election had ever 
taken place in that Territory. The House voted 
an appropriation for the army, with a proviso for- 
bidding the use of the army to enforce the acts of 
the Pro-Slavery Kansas Legislature. 1 The Senate 
rejected the proviso, and during the disagreement 
between the Houses the time fixed for adjournment 
arrived, and Congress adjourned August 18th, 1856, 
leaving the Army Bill unpassed. The President 
at once called an Extra Session of Congress, in 
which the Army Bill, without the proviso, was 
passed, and Congress again adjourned August 30th, 
1856. 

7. Early in 1856 the " Anti-Nebraska men " had 
adopted the name of the Republican Party. 2 
The new name was at once recognized by the 
Democrats with the addition of a contemptuous 
adjective {Black Republican). It will be seen that 
the new party was a loose constructionist party, in- 
heriting the desire of the Federalists and Whigs 
for Protective Tariffs, Internal Improvements, and 
a system of National Bank Currency, and adding 
to them the further principle that the Federal 
Government had power to control Slavery in the 
Territories. The new party had therefore an as- 

1 See page 174. 

2 First proposed, it is said, by Governor Seward, of New York, late in 
1855- 



172 American Politics. [1855 

sured existence from the first, for its additional 
loose constructionist principle was the only logical 
answer to the strict constructionist principle still 
avowed by the Democrats, that Congress had no 
constitutional power to interfere for or against 
Slavery in the Territories. 

8. The attention of the whole country had now 
been turned to the struggle provoked by the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill, and the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise. The fertile soil of Kansas had been 
offered as a prize to be contended for by Free and 
Slave States, and both had accepted the contest. 
The Slave State settlers were first in the field. 
The slave-holders of Western Missouri, which shut 
off Kansas from the Free States, had crossed the 
border, pre-empted lands, and warned Free State 
immigrants not to pass through Missouri. The 
first election of a delegate to Congress took place 
November 29th, 1854, and was carried by organized 
bands of Missourians, who moved over the border 
on election day, voted, and returned at once to 
Missouri. The spring election of 1855, for a Ter- 
ritorial Legislature, was carried in the same 
fashion. In July, 1855, this Legislature, all Pro- 
Slavery, met at Pawnee, and adopted a State Con- 
stitution. To save trouble it adopted the laws 
of the State of Missouri entire, with a series of 
original statutes denouncing the penalty of death 
for nearly fifty offenses against Slavery. 

9. All through the spring and summer of 1855 



I 8SS-] The Kansas Struggle. 173 

Kansas was the scene of almost continuous con- 
flict, the Border Ruffians of Missouri endeavor- 
ing to drive out the Free State Settlers by 
murder and arson, and the Free State settlers 
retaliating. The cry of " bleeding Kansas " went 
through the North. Emigration societies were 
formed in the Free States to aid, arm, equip, and 
protect intending settlers. These, prevented from 
passing through Missouri, took a more Northern 
route through Iowa and Nebraska, and moved into 
Kansas like an invading army. The Southern 
States also sent parties of intending settlers. But 
these were not generally slave-holders, but young 
men anxious for excitement. They did not go to 
Kansas, as their opponents did, to plow, sow, 
gather crops and build up homes. Therefore, 
though their first rapid and violent movements 
were successful, their subsequent increase of re- 
sources and numbers was not equal to that of the 
Free State settlers. 

10. The Territory soon became practically 
divided into a Pro-Slavery district, and a Free 
State district. Leavenworth in the former, and 
Topeka and Lawrence in the latter, were the chief 
towns. September 5th, 1855, a Free State Con- 
vention at Topeka repudiated the Territorial 
Legislature and all its works, as the acts and deeds 
of Missourians alone. It also resolved to order a 
separate election for delegate to Congress, so as to 



174 American Politics. [^56 

force that body to decide the question 1 and to form 
a State government. January 15th, 1856, the Free 
State settlers elected State officers under the 
Topeka Free State Constitution. 3 

11. The Federal Executive now entered the 
field. January 24th, 1856, the President, in a 
Special Message to Congress, endorsed the Pro- 
Slavery Legislature and pronounced the attempt 
to form a Free State government, without the 
approval of the Federal authorities in the Territory, 
to be an act of rebellion. He then issued a proc- 
lamation, warning all persons engaged in disturb- 
ing the peace of Kansas to retire to their homes, 
and placed United States troops at the orders of 
Governor Shannon to enforce the (Pro-Slavery) 
laws of the Territory. 

12. The population of Kansas was now so large 
that very considerable armies were mustered on 
both sides, and a desultory civil war was kept up 
until nearly the end of the year. During its pro- 
gress two Free State towns, Lawrence and Ossawat- 
tomie, were sacked. July 4th, 1856, the Free State 
Legislature attempted to assemble at Topeka, but 
was at once dispersed by a body of United States 
troops, under orders from Washington. 3 Septem- 

1 The question was decided by the admission of the Pro-Slavery dele- 
gate. 

2 Under this (Topeka) Constitution Kansas applied for admission as a 
State and was rejected. 

3 For the consequent attempt of the House to limit this use of the army 
seepage 171. 



1856.] Assault upon Sumner. 175 

ber 9th, a new Governor, Geary of Pennsylvania, 
arrived and succeeded in keeping the peace to 
some extent by a mixture of temporizing and 
decided measures. By the end of the year he even 
claimed to have established order in the Territory. 

13. The heat of the Kansas discussion in Con- 
gress was marked by an Assault upon Charles 
Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts. In a 
speech on the Kansas question he had criticised 
Senator Butler, of South Carolina. After the 
Senate's adjournment, May 22d, 1856, Representa- 
tive Brooks, of South Carolina, a relative of Butler, 
entered the Senate chamber, struck Sumner sense- 
less to the floor, and then beat him so cruelly that 
an absence of several years in Europe was neces- 
sary for his recovery. The House passed a resolu- 
tion of censure upon Brooks, who immediately 
resigned, but was unanimously re-elected by his 
district. Massachusetts declined to choose another 
Senator, preferring to leave Sumner's empty chair 
as her silent protest against unpunished violence. 

14. The Know Nothing National Conven- 
tion met at Philadelphia, February 22d, 1856. It 
adopted a platform which declared that Americans 
must rule America, and that naturalization should 
be granted only after 21 years' residence, and con- 
demned the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. 
The Anti-Slavery delegates (one-fourth of all the 
Convention) withdrew because of a refusal to en- 
dorse the right of Congress to re-establish the 



176 American Politics. [1856 

Missouri Compromise Line. The Convention then 
nominated Millard Fillmore, of New York, and 
Andrew Jackson Donelson, of Tennessee. These 
nominations (but not the platform) were accepted 
by a convention of delegates from the remnants of 
the great Whig wreck, held at Baltimore, Septem- 
ber 17th. The Democratic National Conven- 
tion met at Cincinnati, June 2d, and adopted the 
strict constructionist platform of former Conven- 
tions. It added to it a condemnation of Know 
Nothingism, and an approval of the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill and the substitution of Squatter 
Sovereignty for the Compromise of 1820. 1 It nom- 
inated James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, and John 
C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky. The Republican 
National Convention met at Philadelphia, June 
17th, and adopted a loose constructionist platform. 
It declared in favor of Internal Improvements (in- 
cluding a Pacific Railway), and of the right and 
duty of Congress to prohibit Slavery and Polygamy 
in the Territories and admit Kansas as a Free 
State, and against the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise, the general policy of the Administration, 
and the extension of Slavery. Its nominations 
were John C. Fremont, of California, and William 
L. Dayton, of New Jersey. 



1 From this time party platforms become so long and ambiguous that 
only the most succinct abstract can be given. The reader is referred to 
Greeley's Political Text Book for i860, and to the Tribune, World, and 
Herald Almanacs since i860, for the platforms in full. 



1 857.] Presidential Election. 177 

15. The Know Nothings and Whigs had de- 
nounced both the Democrats and Republicans as 
sectional, or " geographical" parties. But Fill- 
more's supporters had no remedy to offer for the 
troubles caused by Slavery. In the Presidential 
Election in November, therefore, they carried but 
one State, Maryland. Democratic electors were 
chosen by the remaining fourteen Slave States, and 
by New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and 
California, giving them a majority of all. The 
remaining eleven Free States chose Republican 
electors. 1 No candidate had a majority of the 
popular vote. 

16. Congress met December 1st, 1856. 2 The 
XXXIVth Congress, sudden crystalization of 

2d Session. the various Anti-Slavery 

elements into the Republican party had slightly 
altered the political proportions of the House. 
There was no party majority, though the Republi- 
cans still had the greatest number of votes. At 
this Session grants of public lands were made to 
various Western and Southern States to aid the 
construction of new railroads. The Tariff of 
1857 was passed by both Houses, and became law. 
It reduced duties on imports to a rate lower than 
those of any Tariff since 1816. 

1 If Pennsylvania and Illinois had chosen Republican electors Fremont 
and Dayton would have been elected. 

2 Senate, 40 Dem., 15 Rep., 5 Kn. N. House, 108 Rep., 83 Dcm., 
43 Kn. N. 

12 



178 American Politics. \_ l %57 

17. The Kansas troubles took up much of the 
time of this Session. January 6th, 1857, the Free 
State Legislature again attempted to meet at 
Topeka, and was again dispersed by Federal inter- 
ference. Its presiding officer and many of its 
members were arrested by a United States deputy 
marshal. The Territorial, or Pro-Slavery, Legisla- 
ture quarreled with Gov. Geary, who resigned, and 
Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, was appointed in 
his stead. A resolution was passed by the House 
declaring the Acts of the Territorial Legislature 
cruel, oppressive, illegal, and void. It was tabled 
by the Senate. 

18. In February, 1857, the electoral votes were 
counted. The 5 votes of Wisconsin had not been 
cast on the 3d of December, as required by law, 
but on the 4th, and many members were disposed 
to debate their legality. But the presiding officer 
declared all debate out of order, and announced the 
votes, including those of Wisconsin, to be 174 for 
Buchanan and Breckinridge, 114 for Fremont and 
Dayton, and 8 for Fillmore and Donelson. Bu- 
chanan and Breckinridge were therefore de- 
clared elected. March 3d, 1857, Congress ad- 
journed, and March 4th Buchanan and Breckinridge 
were sworn into office. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

EIGHTEENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1857 l86l. 

James Buchanan, President. John C. Breckinridge, Vice-President 
XXXVth and XXXVIth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1857 .- Dem. 1,838,169, 
Rep. 1,341,264, Kn. N. 874,534. 

1. Two days after Buchanan's Inauguration the 
Supreme Court rendered final judgment in the 
Dred Scott Case. It had been decided in 
1856, but it had been thought best to reserve judg- 
ment until the excitement of the Presidential elec- 
tion should subside. This, though one of the most 
important cases ever decided in the United States, 
was originally a case of simple assault and battery. 
Dred Scott was a Missouri slave. His owner took 
him in 1834 to Illinois, a State in which Slavery 
was prohibited by statute, allowed him to marry 
and live there until 1838, and then took him to 
Minnesota, a Territory in which Slavery was pro- 
hibited by the Act of Congress of 1820, known as 
the Missouri Compromise. Thence his owner took 
him back to Missouri. Here he was whipped for 
some offense, and brought suit for damages, claim- 
179 



180 American Politics. [ l %57 

ing to have become a free man by his residence 
in Illinois and Minnesota. The owner's demurrer 
denied that the plaintiff was a citizen, or could 
sue, since he was descended from slave ancestors, 
and never had been set free. This was decided 
against him by the State Circuit Court of Missouri, 
and judgment given in favor of Dred Scott. By 
successive appeals the case finally reached the 
United States Supreme Court. 

2. The Decision of the Supreme Court star- 
tled the Northern States. It declared, in sub- 
stance, that the ancestors of negro slaves were not 
regarded as persons by the founders of the gov- 
ernment, but as chattels, as things, " who had no 
rights or privileges but such as those who held the 
the power and the government might choose to 
grant them " ; that Dred Scott, the plaintiff in 
error, was consequently no citizen of Missouri, but 
a thing, without standing in Court, and his case 
must be dismissed for want of jurisdiction ; and 
that his residence in Minnesota could avail him 
nothing, because the Act of Congress of 1820, 
prohibiting Slavery north of the parallel of 36 30', 
was unconstitutional and void, and could not pre- 
vent a slave-owner from settling in any Territory 
with all his property. The Court further took oc- 
casion to observe that Congress had no more 
right to prohibit the carrying of slaves into any 
State or Territory than it had to prohibit the car- 
rying thither of horses or any other property, for 



I857-] The Case of Dred Scott. 181 

slaves were property, whose secure possession was 
guaranteed by the Constitution. 1 

3. The Dred Scott decision marks the last at- 
tempt to decide the contest between Slavery 
Extension and Slavery Restriction by form 
of law, and from this time the course of events 
tends, with increasing rapidity, to a settlement by 
force. The first Compromise (in 1820) had pro- 
hibited Slavery in part of the Territories, leaving 
the question open as to the remainder. The next 
Compromise (in 1850-185 2) had opened all the 
Territories to Slavery, if established by Popular 
Sovereignty. In both of these the whole people had 
agreed. But the Dred Scott decision, in its logical 
consequences, opened all the Territories and all the 
Free States to at least a temporary establishment 
of Slavery, wherever a slave-owner might see fit to 
carry his slaves. It was plain that this would 
never be received as law by the Free States. The 
only practical results of the Dred Scott decision, 
therefore, were to show the failure of the Supreme 
Court as an arbiter, and to call the attention of the 
North to the impracticable demands of the slave- 
owners. It will be seen that the Northern (or 
Douglas) Democrats, who had supported the South 
heretofore, refused at this point to follow the 



1 On the contrary, the dissenting Justices of the Court, and the mass of 
the Northern people, considered slaves as a kind of property whose secure 
possession was guaranteed only by the State laws which made them prop- 
erty. Leaving the State they lost the guarantee afforded by State laws. 



1 82 American Politics, [1857 

Southern lead further, and chose rather to divide 
the party. 

4. By the representation given by the Constitution 
to three-fifths of the slave population, 1 the 300,000 
slave-owners had grown into a Slave Power. In 
1857 they controlled the South, the South con- 
trolled the Democratic party, and the Democratic 
party controlled the Union. They were becoming 
extremely doubtful of success in the Kansas strug- 
gle, where they were evidently overmatched by 
the superior power, resources, and enthusiasm of 
the Free States. They had not received the ex- 
pected increase of Slave States and United States 
Senators from the territories wrested from Mexico. 2 
Should they fail in making Kansas a Slave State, 
they saw but three available courses to pursue — to 
add Cuba to the Union as material for new Slave 
States, to acquire new and more populous territory 
south of Texas for the same purpose, or to re-open 
the African slave trade. Failing in all these, they 
desired a secession, or separation from the Free 
States, and the formation of an independent gov- 

1 By which the owner of ioo slaves was equal in political power to 60 
free citizens. 

2 By forming new Southern States to balance new Northern States, the 
two sections were carefully kept in equilibrium until 1845, when Texas 
was admitted, (See Appendices C and F). After that time five new North- 
ern States were admitted, and others were evidently almost ready for ap- 
plication, while no new Southern States could be formed to counterbalance 
them. The consequent impossibility of maintaining a future equality in 
the Senate seems to have been the primary cause of alarm in the South. 
For the present proportion in the Senate see Appendix G. 



1 857.] The Ostend Manifesto. 183 

ernment, in which Slavery would be secured from 
all attacks or restrictions. 

5. The Purchase of Cuba had been vainly at- 
tempted at various times since the inauguration of 
President Polk, and a growing disposition was ap- 
parent in the South to take it from Spain by force. 
In 1853, therefore, England and France asked the 
United States to join in a tripartite agreement to 
guarantee Cuba to Spain forever. The proposition 
was rejected. In 1854 the American Ministers to 
England, France, and Spain, meeting in the Bel- 
gian town of Ostend, had published the so-called 
Ostend Manifesto, which declared that there was 
no hope of safety or repose for the United States 
without the acquisition of Cuba. But, so long as 
England, France, and Spain were united in oppos- 
ing it, there was little hope for the South in the 
direction of Cuba. 

6. In 1851 began the Era of Filibustering 
Expeditions against Cuba and Central America, 
with the ultimate design of adding slave territory 
to the United States. Lopez, a Cuban, with 500 
men, sailed from New Orleans to conquer Cuba. 
He was defeated and executed, and his men im- 
prisoned. In 1855 William Walker, of Tennessee, 
sailed from New Orleans to conquer Centra) 
America. He was repeatedly defeated, but re- 
peatedly renewed his expeditions until i860, when 
he was captured by the English, tried and shot by 
the Honduras authorities. This ended filibustering, 



184 American Politics. [1857 

7. The re-opening of the African Slave Trade 

was already seriously demanded by many slave- 
owners. They believed that the South had been 
overpowered in the Kansas struggle because of 
her inability to pour slaves into the new Territory 
at once. There seemed a strong probability that 
Southern leaders would endeavor to obtain from 
the next Democratic Convention a declaration in 
favor of renewing the slave trade with Africa. 

8. Congress met December 7th, 1857, with a Dem- 
XXXVth Congress, ocratic majority in both 

1st Session. branches. 1 In the House 

James L. Orr, of South Carolina, a Democrat, was 
chosen Speaker. The debates of this Session 
were mainly upon the last scene in the Kansas 
struggle. Governor Walker had succeeded in per- 
suading the Free State settlers to recognize the 
Territorial Legislature so far as to take part in the 
election which it had ordered. The result gave 
them control of the Legislature. But a previously 
elected Pro-Slavery Convention, sitting at Lecomp- 
ton, went on to form a State Constitution. This 
was to be submitted to the people, but only votes 
" For the Constitution with Slavery," or " For the 
Constitution without Slavery," were to be received. 
Not being allowed in either event to vote against 
the Constitution, the Free State settlers refused to 
vote at all, and the Lecompton Constitution 

1 Senate, 39 Dem., 20 Rep., 5 Kn. N. House 131 Dem., 92 Rep., 14 

Kn. N. 



i857-] The Lecompton Constitution. 185 

with Slavery received 6000 majority. The new 
Territorial Legislature, however, ordered an elec- 
tion at which the people could vote for or against 
the Lecompton Constitution, and a majority of 
10,000 was cast against it. 1 

9. On the first day of the Session the Republi- 
can Congressmen united in publishing a protest 
against any effort to make Kansas a Slave State 
against the wish of her people. The Presidents 
Message argued in favor of receiving Kansas as 
a State under the Lecompton Constitution with 
Slavery, on the ground that the delegates had 
been chosen to form a State Constitution, and 
were not obligated to submit it to the people at all. 
This view was supported by the Southern members 
of Congress, and opposed by the Republicans and 
by a part of the Democrats, headed by Senator 
Douglas, of Illinois. 2 The Senate passed a bill ad- 
mitting Kansas as a State, under the Lecompton 
Constitution. The House passed the bill, with the 
proviso that the Constitution should again be sub- 
mitted to a popular vote. The Senate rejected 
the proviso. A conference committee recom- 
mended a compromise according to which a substi- 

1 But this vote was considered worthless by the advocates of the Le- 
compton Constitution, on the ground that the Territorial Legislature had 
no power to order it. 

2 " It is not satisfactory to me to have the President say, in his Message, 
that that Constitution is an admirable one. That is none of my business, 
and none of yours. You have no right to force an unexceptionable Consti- 
tution upon the people." — (Douglas, Speech in Senate.) 



1 86 American Politics. [1858 

tute for the land ordinance of the Lecompton Con- 
stitution was to be submitted to popular vote. In 
this form the bill was passed by both Houses, and 
became law. An attempt was made without suc- 
cess to appropriate public lands to the States for 
educational purposes. Congress adjourned June 
1st, 1858. 

10. Minnesota had become a State of the 
Union May nth, 1858. In the case of Kansas 
the land ordinance proposed by Congress was 
rejected by 10,000 majority, and a final disposition 
of the Lecompton Constitution was thus made. 
Kansas, therefore, still remained a Territory. In 
1859, at an election called by the Territorial Legis- 
lature, the people decided in favor of another Con- 
vention to form a State Constitution. This body 
met at Wyandot, in July, 1859, and adopted a State 
Constitution prohibiting Slavery. The Wyandot 
Constitution was submitted to the people and re- 
ceived a majority of 4000 in its favor. 

n. Congress met December 6th, 1858.* Party 
XXXVth Congress, contest at this Session 
2d Session. centred upon the Home- 

stead Bill, which gave heads of families the right 
to purchase 160 acres of public lands at $1.25 per 
acre. It was passed by the House, but postponed 



1 Party strength was unchanged except that n members of the House 
now classed as Anti-Lecompton Democrats, and 116 Democrats supported 
the Administration. 



1859O The Harper s Ferry Rising. 187 

by the Senate. The bill to appropriate public 
lands for educational purposes was passed, but 
vetoed by the President. Congress adjourned 
March 3rd, 1859. February 14th, 1859, Oregon 
had become a State of the Union. 

12. In 1859 some of the extreme Abolitionists 
determined to try the Southern policy of filibuster- 
ing- John Brown, a native of Connecticut, 1 had 
gone to Kansas in 1855, and settled in the town of 
Ossawattomie. Here he became so noted as a 
leader in carrying the war into the Pro-slavery 
district that rewards for his arrest were offered by 
the Governor and the President. He thereupon 
left Kansas, and in July, 1859, settled at Harper's 
Ferry, Va., with the desperate intention of begin- 
ning a general insurrection of the slave race. His 
family and some of his Kansas associates were with 
him. October 17th, having matured their plans 
and prepared arms, they seized the town of Har- 
per's Ferry, and the United States Arsenal, with 
all the arms contained in it. The news created a 
wild alarm in the South. Virginia and Maryland 
militia were hurried to Harper's Ferry. After a 
spirited defense, most of Brown's associates were 
shot, and their wounded leader and a few others 
were taken prisoners, tried, and hanged by the 
State of Virginia. John Brown's execution took 
place December 2d, 1859. 

1 He had for some time lived in " John Brown's Tract" in New York. 



1 88 American Politics. [i860 

13. Congress met December 5th, 1859/ with a 
XXXVIth Congress, Democratic majority in 

1st Session. the Senate. In the 

House the Republican vote was the largest, but 
there was no party majority. Balloting for a 
Speaker was continued for eight weeks, inter- 
rupted by angry debates upon a recently published 
Abolitionist 2 book called " The Impending Crisis 
in the South/' and upon the Harper's Ferry insur- 
rection. February 1st, i860, William Pennington, 
of New Jersey, a Republican, was chosen Speaker. 
In the Senate resolutions were at once introduced 
affirming, in substance, that Congress and Terri- 
torial Legislatures had no power to prohibit Slavery 
in the Territories. They were debated, at inter- 
vals, for nearly four months, and then passed by a 
party vote. 

14. A most unpleasant feature of this Session 
was the so-called Covode Investigation by a 
committee of the House. Two members of the 
House 3 had declared in debate that they had been 
offered inducements by the Administration to vote 
for the Lecompton Bill, and a committee of five 
was appointed, on motion of Covode, of Pennsyl- 
vania, to investigate the charge. The President 
protested against the investigation. After a 

1 Senate, 38 Dem., 25 Rep., 2 Kn. N. House, 109 Rep., 86 Dem., 13 
Anti-Lecompton Dem., 22 Kn. N. 

2 The term " Abolitionist " was then one of reproach. It is hardly nec- 
essary to say that it is not so used in the text. 

3 Hickman and G. B. Adrain. 



i860.] The Homestead Bill. 189 

tedious investigation of three months the Republi- 
can majority reported that the Administration had 
been guilty of bribing members of Congress and 
editors of newspapers to favor the Lecompton Bill. 
The Democratic minority defended and exonerated 
the President. No further action was taken in the 
matter. 

15. The Homestead Bill, which was passed 
at the last Session, was again passed by the House. 
The Senate passed a substitute, to which the 
House agreed, giving public lands to actual settlers 
at 25 cents per acre. It was vetoed by the Presi- 
dent on the ground that it was unjust to the older 
States in really giving away lands to the newer 
States. 1 Th^ application of Kansas for admission 
as a State under the Wyandot Constitution 2 was 
approved by the House, but rejected by the Senate. 
Consequently Kansas still remained a Territory. 
Congress adjourned June 18th, i860. 

16. The Democratic National Convention 
met at Charleston, S. C, April 23d, i860. The 
proceedings were stormy, and resulted in the split- 
ting of the Convention and the party into two dis- 
tinct fragments, through the refusal of the North- 
ern (or Douglas) Democrats to agree to the de- 

t The Senate substitute seems to have been purposely drawn so as to 
provoke a veto, if possible. The Southern opposition to a Homestead 
Bill seems to have come from the apprehension that it would increase im- 
migration in the North-West, and thus increase the Free State representa 
tion in the Senate. 

« See page 186. 



190 American Politics. [i860 

mands of the Southern wing. Both factions re- 
affirmed the strict constructionist platforms of past 
Conventions, and declared for a Pacific Railway 
and for the acquisition of Cuba. The Southern 
delegates offered additional resolutions affirming 
the doctrine of the Dred Scott decision, that neither 
Congress nor the Territorial Legislatures had a 
right to prohibit Slavery in the Territories. The 
Douglas Democrats, refusing to abandon Popular 
Sovereignty openly, offered a resolution that the 
party would abide by the decisions of the Supreme 
Court. The Convention adopted the Douglas 
platform, whereupon the delegations from many 
Southern States successively protested and with- 
drew. The Convention then proceeded to ballot 
fifty-seven times for candidates without a choice, 
and adjourned to meet again at Baltimore, June 
18th. When it re-assembled several new Douglas 
delegations were admitted, whereupon the few re- 
maining Southern delegates also withdrew. The 
Convention then nominated Stephen A. Douglas, 
of Illinois, and Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia. 
17. The Seceding* Delegates had at once or- 
ganized a new Convention in Charleston, adopted 
their platform, and adjourned to meet again in 
Richmond, Va., June nth. Here they adjourned 
again, re-assembled at Baltimore, June 28th, and 
nominated John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, 
and Joseph Lane, of Oregon. The former Ameri- 
can (or Know Nothing) party, now calling itself 



i860.] National Conventions, 191 

the Constitutional Union Party, held its Na- 
tional Convention at Baltimore, May 19th, and 
adopted an evasive platform, declaring as its polit* 
ical principles " The Constitution of the country, 
the Union of the States, and the enforcement of 
the laws." It nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, 
and Edward Everett of Massachusetts. The 
Republican National Convention met at Chi- 
cago, May 16th, and adopted a loose construction- 
ist platform. This outspoken document quoted 
the Declaration of Independence as to the freedom 
and equality of all men ; denounced Democratic 
threats of disunion, and Democratic administration 
in Kansas and at Washington ; declared that free- 
dom was the normal condition of the Territories, 
which Congress was bound to preserve and defend ; 
and pronounced in favor of Protection, Internal 
Improvements, the Homestead Bill, and a Pacific 
Railway. It nominated Abraham Lincoln, of Illi- 
nois, and Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine. 

18. Four Parties were now in the field. The 
Bell platform meant simply to evade the question 
of Slavery altogether. The Lincoln platform 
avowed a purpose to exclude Slavery from the 
Territories at any cost. The Breckinridge plat- 
form avowed a purpose to carry Slavery into the 
Territories at any cost. The Douglas platform 
aimed to throw the responsibility of a decision of 
±e Slavery question upon the Supreme Court, or 
upon the people of the Territories, or anywhere, 



192 American Politics. [i860 

in short, except upon the Democratic party. The 
discordant efforts of the three parties opposed to 
the Republicans only made Lincoln's election more 
certain, and at the Presidential Election in 
November Republican electors were chosen by 
every Free State but one, 1 giving them a majority 
of all the electoral votes. No candidate had a 
majority of the popular vote. Breckinridge elec- 
tors were chosen by most of the Southern States. 

19. The South Carolina Legislature, which had 
met to choose electors, 2 remained in session until 
Lincoln's election was assured. It then called a 
State Convention and adjourned. The South Caro- 
lina Senators and office-holders in the Federal 
service at once resigned. December 20th the Con- 
vention unanimously passed an Ordinance of 
Secession, entitled " An Ordinance to dissolve 
the union between the State of South Carolina and 
other States united with her in the compact entitled 
the Constitution of the United States of America." 
Copies of this Ordinance were sent to the other 
Slave States, and commissioners appointed to treat 
for the division of national property and of the 
public debt. 

20, This bold step of the little State of South 
Carolina was relied upon, and with good reason, by 
the disunionists of the South to " fire the Southern 
heart," and urge on Secession by other States. 

1 New Jersey, where four Lincoln and three Douglas electors were ;h Dsen. 

2 See page iog„ 



i86i.] Secession, — Compromise. 193 

Under the spur of an unwillingness to abandon 
their smaller sister, other Slave States rapidly came 
abreast of her. Before the end of January, 1861, 
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, 
and Texas had passed Ordinances of Secession. 
Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, and the Bor- 
der States still refused to join their more Southern 
neighbors. 

21. Congress met December 3d, i860. The 
XXXVIth Congress, President's Mes- 

2d Session. sage stated his ina- 

bility to find judges or officers in the South to issue 
or execute process against offenders, and his own 
opinion, and that of the Attorney-General, that 
under such circumstances it was impossible legally 
to compel a State's obedience. The Message ar- 
gued against the right of Secession much as did 
Jackson's Nullification Proclamation in 1832. But 
the latter closed with a warning, to which the 
known character of its author added convincing 
force, that blood would flow if the laws were resisted. 
President Buchanan's Message, on the contrary, 
summed up the whole matter by saying, in effect, 
that he knew not what to do, for he did not believe 
that Congress could constitutionally make war 
upon a State. 

22. It would be wearisome to detail the long list 
of propositions for compromise and conciliation 
with which this Session was chiefly occupied. The 
one which seemed most likely to succeed was the 

13 



194 American Politics. [1861 

Crittenden Compromise. 1 Its main provisions 
were that Slavery should be prohibited north of the 
parallel of $6° 30', and recognized and never inter- 
fered with by Congress south of that line, and that 
the Federal Government should pay for slaves res- 
cued from officers after arrest. These provisions 
were to be made a part of the Constitution, and 
were never to be altered or amended while the 
Union existed. This measure failed to receive the 
Republican vote, without which the Southern mem- 
bers refused to entertain it. 

23. February 4th, 1861, a Peace Congress, 
composed of delegates from 13 Free and 7 Border 
States, met at Washington at the request of the 
Virginia Legislature. It adopted and reported to 
Congress a number of resolutions making various 
concessions to Southern demands. Congress threw 
all these aside, and passed, as a substitute, an 
Amendment to the Constitution proposed by Senator 
Douglas, which forbade Congress ever to interfere 
with Slavery in the States. 2 

24. While these measures were being uselessly 
debated, the work of Secession was pressed with 
energy and ability. Time which should have been 
spent in making the Federal Government ready to 
assert its supremacy was wasted in dallying with 
theoretical cures for incurable evils. Even during 
the debates the occasional farewells and departures 

1 So called from its proposer, John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky. 

2 This Amendment was never adopted by the necessary number of States, 



1 86 1.] The Confederate States. 195 

of Southern Senators and Representatives would 
announce that another State had seceded without 
waiting to be conciliated. In February, 186 1, a 
Convention of delegates from the seceding States 
met at Montgomery, Ala., and formed a govern- 
ment called the Confederate States of Amer- 
ica. Its organization was a tribute to the excel- 
lence of the Constitution of 1787, for it mainly 
copied that instrument, except that it recognized 
Slavery and forbade Protective Tariffs. Jefferson 
Davis, of Mississippi, and Alexander H. Stephens, 
of Georgia, were chosen President and Vice-Presi- 
dent. A Cabinet was at once appointed, and 
arrangements were hastily made to organize an 
army, navy, and treasury. United States forts, 
arsenals, and arms were seized, and batteries were 
prepared for the reduction of the forts which 
resisted, particularly Fort Sumter, in Charleston 
Harbor. 

25. As soon as a sufficient number of Southern 
members of Congress had withdrawn to give the 
Republicans a majority in both Houses, Kansas 
was admitted as a State under the Wyandot Free 
State Constitution, and the Territories of Ne- 
vada, Colorado, and Dakota were organized 
without mention of Slavery, thus giving the South 
the benefit of the Dred Scott decision therein. The 
so-called Morrill Tariff of 1861 was also passed 
by both Houses and became law. Its great object 
was the protection of manufactures, revenue being 



196 American Politics. [1861 

a secondary consideration. 1 In February, 1861, the 
electoral votes were counted, and were found to be 
for Lincoln and Hamlin 180, for Breckinridge and 
Lane 72, for Bell and Everett 39, and for Douglas 
and Johnson 12. Lincoln and Hamlin were 
therefore declared elected. After authorizing a 
loan and an issue of Treasury notes, this dismal 
Session of Congress adjourned March 3d, 1861, 
and March 4th Lincoln and Hamlin were sworn 
into office. 

1 From this time the subject of Internal Improvements drops out of 
politics. Both parties appear to recognize the right of Congress to appro- 
priate money for isolated public improvements, and the project of a con- 
nected system of canals, etc., has not yet been formally revived. 



CHAPTER XX. 

NINETEENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1861-1865. 

Abraham Lincoln, President. Hannibal Hamlin, Vice-President, 

XXXVIIth and XXXVIIIth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1 8 6 o : Rep . 1,866,352, 
Const. Union 589,581, Dem. 2,220,920 {Douglas 
i,375> x 57> Breckinridge 845,763). 

1. When the New Administration entered 
office affairs seemed aimost desperate. Seven 
States had already revolted, and others were noto- 
riously ready to join them upon the first attempt to 
exert the National authority. Part of the Federal 
army had surrendered, and most of the remainder 
were beleaguered in isolated forts. The Federal 
ships of war had generally been sent to distant seas. 
Many of the experienced officers of the army and 
navy had taken service under the rebellious Con- 
federacy. A large part of the Federal munitions of 
war, having been previously transferred to Southern 
arsenals, had fallen into the hands of the insurgents. 
The Federal Treasury, by defalcation and pecula- 
tion, was nearly bankrupt. The public servants, 
like those of a dying king, seemed anxious only to 
secure as much plunder as possible and decamp. 
In the South the numbers of those who desired 
IQ7 



198 American Politics. [1861 

a permanent Southern Confederacy were being 
increased daily by accessions from those who had 
at first intended only to remain out of the Union long 
enough to secure guarantees for the future safety 
of Slavery c And yet men of all parties in the North, 
blind to the certainty of approaching war, were 
still busied with plans to conciliate the revolted 
States by any concession except that of nationaliz- 
ing Slavery. 

2. The announced purpose of the President to 
re-supply Fort Sumter precipitated an attack 
upon it by the rebel forces around it. After a 
bombardment of thirty hours, the American flag, for 
the first time in its history, was lowered under the 
fire of insurgent citizens, and the fort surrendered, 
April 14th, 1861. The news woke the North as if 
from a trance. The mass of the Democracy were 
even more furious than the Republicans. The 
Southern States were no longer " erring sisters," to 
be gently conciliated. The whole North clamored 
for arms, for leaders, for legal authorization to bring 
the South back to law, order, and obedience, at the 
point of the bayonet. 

3. Civil War had fairly begun. For the first 
time the government, in time of war, was under 
the control of a loose constructionist party, for the 
war Democrats soon became absorbed into the 
Republican organization, and the resulting fusion 
frequently took the name of the Union Party. 
The experiment was hazardous. In previous wars 



1 86 1.] Civil War. 199 

the Democratic party, though trammeled by its 
strict constructionist theories, had been driven to 
strain the Constitution to conform to the necessities 
of the hour. But the sobering responsibilities of 
power, and the active (though often ill-timed) 
opposition of the Peace Democrats, checked the 
loose constructionist theories of the dominant party, 
and brought the Constitution through a dreadful 
struggle of four years with less change than might 
have been anticipated. 

4. The President at once called for 75,000 volun- 
teers, and summoned an Extra Session of Congress. 
Through the spring of 1861 the State governments 
of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Ark- 
ansas, which had hitherto refused to secede, fol- 
lowed the same general line of action. Military 
Leagues were made with the Confederacy ; Con- 
federate troops were then allowed to swarm over 
their territory ; and finally, by their aid and coun- 
tenance, Ordinances of Secession were passed. 
Efforts to carry out this plan in Delaware, Mary- 
land, Kentucky, and Missouri, were not successful. 
By the time set for the meeting of Congress the 
line had been distinctly drawn, and the rebellion 
was general in the States of Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Ten- 
nessee. 1 

1 About 40 Counties of Western Virginia refused to be bound by the 
action of the rest of the State, and formed a Legislature which claimed to 



200 American Politics, [1861 

5. Congress met July 4th, 1861, with a Republi- 
XXXVIIth Congress, can majority in both 
Extra Session. branches. 1 Only the 
Free States and the Border States were represented. 
In the House Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, a 
Republican, was chosen Speaker. In the Senate 
three Senators, who had absented themselves to 
take part in the rebellion, were expelled. The 
House voted to consider at this Session only bills 
concerning the military, naval, and financial opera- 
tions of the Government. The energy of the pro- 
ceedings was only stimulated by the disastrous 
battle of Bull Run, July 21st. Bills were passed 
by both Houses to close the Southern ports against 
commerce, to authorize a loan, to appropriate money 
for the army and navy, to call out 500,000 volun- 
teers, to define and punish conspiracy against the 
United States, and to confiscate all private prop- 
erty, including slaves, employed against the United 
States. The Tariff Act of August 5th, 1861, again 
increased the duties on imports. The House, by a 
heavy majority (12 1-5), pledged itself to vote any 
amount of money and any number of men necessary 
to put down the rebellion. Propositions looking 
to negotiations for peace were constantly offered 

be the real Legislature of Virginia. This body gave the assent required 
by the Constitution to the formation of a new State, at first called Kanawha, 
afterwards West Virginia. Congress recognized their right to do so, and 
admitted the new State in 1862. 

1 Senate, Rep. 31, Dem. 11, Union 5. House, Rep. 106, Dem. 42, 
Union 28. 



1 86 1.] War Measures. 201 

by extreme Democrats, and as constantly voted 
down by heavy majorities on the ground that nego- 
tiation with armed rebellion was unconstitutional. 
Congress adjourned August 6th, 1861. 

6. From the beginning of the war the Federal 
Government was embarrassed by the question of 
Fugitive Slaves. August 31st General John C. 
Fremont had declared the slaves of Missouri rebels 
free men, but this was overruled and annulled by 
the President. In Virginia General Benjamin F. 
Butler had announced that slaves were " contra- 
band of war," and consequently liable to confisca- 
tion by military law. Elsewhere in the Federal 
lines slave-owners, on proving property, were gen- 
erally given possession of their fugitive slaves. 
The disposition of the North was to put down the 
rebellion, without any interference with the Southern 
" institution " of Slavery. But it was plain that 
any long continuance of the rebellion would inevi- 
tably rouse the temper of the Free States, and pro- 
voke hostility to Slavery itself. 

7. Congress met December 2d, 1861. Slavery 
XXXVIIth Congress, and The Prosecu- 

ist Session. tion of the War 

occupied the Session. Bills were passed by both 
Houses to punish treason, to free slaves employed 
against the Government, to provide for the con- 
struction of a Pacific Railway and Telegraph, and 
to donate public lands to the various States for 
the benefit of Agricultural Colleges. The army was 



202 American Politics, [ l ^3 

forbidden to surrender fugitive slaves. The Home- 
stead Bill 1 was brought up again and passed. 
Provision was made for the United States represen- 
tation by consuls in the negro states of Hayti 
and Liberia. A stringent form of oath 2 was pre- 
scribed, to be taken by United States officials and 
beneficiaries. The Act of February 25th, 1862, 
provided for a legal-tender National Paper Cur- 
rency (commonly called " greenbacks "). It more 
than took the place of the favorite measure of the 
Federalists and Whigs, a National Bank. Most 
of these measures were passed by party votes.' 
The Tariff Act of December 24th, 1861, again 
increased the duties on imports. Congress ad- 
journed July 17th, 1862. 

8. During the summer of 1862 the President at 
last determined to use Slavery itself as a means 
either of coercion or of punishment. By procla- 
mation, therefore, September 22d, 1862, he warned 
the revolting States, that unless they should return 
to their allegiance by January 1st, 1863, he would, 
as an act of military necessity, declare the slaves in 
those States to be free men. As this Proclamation 
had no effect, he issued his Emancipation Proc- 
lamation, January 1st, 1863, in the terms pre- 
viously announced. 3 The two years of civil war 

1 See page 186. 

2 Commonly called the " Iron Clad Oath." 

3 It did not apply to the slaves in States not in rebellion, nor to the por- 
tions of rebellious States then conquered. For these an Amendment to 
the Constitution was necessary (see p. 206). 



1863.] Emancipation, 203 

had so developed anti-slavery feeling in the North 
that the Emancipation Proclamation excited no 
such opposition as would have met it if proposed in 
1861. Nevertheless, it caused a temporary falling 
off in the Republican vote. 

9. Congress met December 1st, 1862. Under the 
XXXVIIth Congress, pressure of Military 

2d Session. Necessity the Acts of 

this Session were based upon a looser construction 
of the Constitution than those of the previous Ses- 
sion. An Act was passed to legitimate the suspen- 
sion of the writ of Habeas Corpus. A Draft or 
Conscription Act, more sweeping than that pro- 
posed in 1814, 1 was adopted. It provided that a 
part of the able-bodied citizens should be drawn by 
lot for service in the army. Land grafts were 
made to Kansas, and the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury was authorized to obtain further loans. Ap- 
propriations for this year amounted to about $972,- 
000,000. Congress adjourned March 3d, 1863. 
West Virginia had become a State of the Union, 
December 31st, 1862. 

10. By the Writ of Habeas Corpus, in sub- 
stance, an imprisoned person obtains an examina- 
tion before the courts and a release, if his imprison- 
ment is shown to be without warrant of law. Its 
Suspension was considered necessary on account 
of the number of Northern courts disposed to re- 
sist military arrests of suspected persons. It is 

1 See p. 83. 



204 American Politico* [1864 

certain, however, that the summary arrests and im- 
prisonments in United States forts, the seizures of 
newspapers, and the dispersions of public meet- 
ings, which followed the suspension of the writ of 
Habeas Corpus, did much to increase the opposi- 
tion vote for a time. The month of July, 1863, 
was notable for the sickening scenes of the three 
days' Draft Riot in New York City, originating in 
resistance to the Conscription Act of the last Ses- 
sion. It was forcibly suppressed, and the draft 
was carried out. 

11. Congress met December 7th, 1863, with a 
XXXVIIIth Congress, Republican majority 
ISt Session. in both branches. 

In the House Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, a 
Republican, was chosen Speaker. Both Houses 
passed the Internal Revenue Law, for the col- 
lection of a revenue from domestic manufactures, 
etc., the Income Tax Law, levying a tax of five 
per cent, on incomes over $600, and the National 
Bank Law, creating a system of banks to take 
the place of State banks. The Draft and Home- 
stead Laws were amended and strengthened, and 
the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was abolished. A 
proposed Xlllth Amendment to the Constitution 
abolishing Slavery was adopted by the Senate, but 
did not receive a two-thirds majority in the House. 
Congress adjourned July 2, 1864. 

1 Senate, 36 Rep., 14 Dem House, 102 Rep., 75 Dem., 9 " Border 
States men." 



1864.] National Conventions. 205 

12. A Convention of Radical Men, who con- 
sidered President Lincoln timid and irresolute, and 
who wished to deal with rebellion and rebels more 
harshly, met at Cleveland, Ohio, May 31st, 1864, 
and nominated John C. Fremont, of California, and 
John C. Cochrane, of New York. 1 The Republi- 
can National Convention met at Baltimore, 
June 7th, and adopted a platform declaring war 
upon Slavery, and demanding that no terms but un- 
conditional surrender should be given to the rebel- 
lious States. It nominated Abraham Lincoln, of 
Illinois, and Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee. 2 The 
Democratic National Convention met at Chi- 
cago, August 29th. It came under the control of 
the Peace Democracy, 3 and declared in its platform 
that it was the sense of the American people that 
after four years of failure to restore the Union by 
war, during which the Constitution had been vio- 
lated in all its parts under the plea of military nec- 
essity, a cessation of hostilities ought to be ob- 
tained. It nominated George B. McClellan, of 
New Jersey, and George H. Pendleton, of Ohio. 

13. The Democratic party was thus committed to 
the declaration that the war was a failure. This 
drove the doubtful votes into support of the Re- 

1 They afterwards withdrew in favor of the Republican candidates. 

2 Johnson's nomination was exactly parallel with that of Tyler by the 
Whigs. Both were Strict Constructionists by nature, temporarily adrift 
without a party, and offered by the Loose Constructionist party a place 
rather of honor than importance, to secure Opposition votes. 

3 Called by the Union party " Copperheads," from a well-known North- 
ern snake. 



206 American Politics. [^65 

publican candidates, and assured their success. In 
the Presidential Election in November Repub- 
lican electors were chosen by all the States not in 
rebellion except New Jersey, Delaware, and Ken- 
tucky. The membership of the XXXIXth Con- 
gress was also overwhelmingly Republican. 

14. Congress met December 6th, 1864. In Feb- 
XXXVIIIth Congress, ruary, 1865, the House 
2d Session. finally passed the 

XHIth Amendment which had failed at the last 
Session to receive a two-thirds majority. 1 It was 
modeled on the language of the Ordinance of 1 7 8 7 , 2 
which thus, after a struggle of nearly eighty years 
became the law of the land. A Joint Resolution 
was passed by both Houses, declaring that the re- 
bellious States were in such condition that no valid 
election had been held in them for electors, and 
that no electoral votes from them should be 
counted. The electoral votes were counted, and 
were found to be for Lincoln and Johnson 212, and 
for McClellan and Pendleton 21. Lincoln and 
Johnson were therefore declared elected. At 
this Session the Freedmen's Bureau Bill was 
passed. It organized a bureau for the protection 
of freedmen and refugees from the South. March 
3d, 1865, Congress adjourned, and March 4th Lin- 
coln and Johnson were sworn into office. 

1 This was ratified by three-fourths of the States, and was proclaimed to 
be in force, December 18th, 1865. 

2 See page 204. This provision of the ordinance of 1787 had been imi- 
tated in 1820 (Missouri) and in 1846 (Wilmot Proviso). 



CHAPTER XXI. 

TWENTIETH ADMINISTRATION, 1865-1869. 

Abraham Iiinuoin, President. Andrew Johnson, Vice-President 
XXXIXth and XLth Congresses. 

Popular vote- for President in 1864: Rep. 2,216,067, 
Bern. 1,808,725. 

1. The gentleness, kindliness, and greatness of 
mind of President Lincoln were just beginning 
to win general appreciation when he fell by assas- 
sination, April 14th, 1865. The rebel army of 
Northern Virginia had previously surrendered, and 
the other rebel armies rapidly followed its example. 
On the death of President Lincoln, Andrew 
Johnson succeeded to his office, and to his diffi- 
cult task, the reconstruction of the rebellious 
States. 

2. The Constitution had made no provision 
for the reception of a State which had formally 
claimed the right to secede, and renounced its 
membership in the Union. To admit them at 
once to their former position would have been to 
give the negro race to the control of their former 
masters. The claims of the negroes to security in 
their lately granted freedom seemed to the mass of 
Northern people superior to all theoretical argu- 

207 



208 American Politics. [^65 

ments on the relations of the States to the Federal 
Government. They believed that the rebellious 
States should be kept in a position approaching 
that of Territories, until Congress should be satis- 
fied of the safety of the negroes and re-admit them 
to the Union. 

3. To President Johnson, a Strict Constructionist 
by nature, the idea that a State could be punished for 
treason by a Federal Congress was incomprehen- 
sible. His Policy of Reconstruction was to 
punish individuals, if necessary, for treason, but to 
re-install the States at once in all the powers held 
by them before rebellion, and this policy he en- 
deavored to carry out by successive Proclamations. 
He declared all the Southern ports open to com- 
merce, except four in Texas. He proclaimed am- 
nesty and pardon to all persons engaged in the 
rebellion, except fourteen classes of leaders, who 
were to make special applications for pardon. He 
restored the writ of Habeas Corpus in the Northern 
States, and appointed Provisional Governors for 
the rebellious States, with the purpose of organiz- 
ing permanent governments as soon as possible. 

4. The Republican State Conventions of 
1865 generally approved the President's policy, so 
far as it had been developed, but stipulated that the 
Southern States should be held under provisional 
governments until they should recognize and accept 
the results of the war, including the freedom and pro- 
tection of the negroes. Unfortunately, the license 



1865.] Reconstruction. 209 

of camp life had left many of the Southern whites 
with but slight disposition to live on terms of po- 
litical equality with the former slaves. Cases of 
outrage became common, so that the new Congress, 
which was overwhelmingly Republican, came to- 
gether with a fixed determination to protect the 
negroes at any cost. The party leaders seem to have 
been suspicious of President Johnson's willingness 
to disregard " State Rights " in assisting them. 

5. Congress met December 4th, 1865, with a Re- 
XXXIXth Congress, publican majority in both 

1st Session. branches/sufficient, if nec- 

essary, to carry any bill over the President veto. 
In the House Speaker Colfax was re-elected. In 
February, 1866, a supplementary Freedman's 
Bureau Bill was passed by both Houses. It 
aimed at the further assistance of the freedmen, 
but was vetoed by the President on the grounds 
that it provided for unlimited distribution of lands 
to them, that it tended to keep the minds of the 
negroes restless and uneasy, and that it had been 
passed by a Congress which was without represen- 
tatives from the Southern States. An effort to 
pass the bill over the veto did not receive the full 
party vote, and consequently did not obtain a two- 
thirds majority. It was now evident that there 
was at least a disagreement between the President 
and the party which had elected him. 

6. An open rupture followed the passage of the 

1 Senate, 40 Rep., 11 Dem. House, 145 Rep., 40 Dem, 
14 



210 American Politics. [1865 

Civil Rights Bill in March. It was designed to 
make freedmen citizens of the United States 1 (with 
the right to sue and be sued, to make contracts, 
etc.), and to punish by fine and imprisonment any 
person interfering with those rights. It gave Fed- 
eral courts exclusive cognizance of offenses against 
the Act, and Federal officers the power of arresting 
and holding offenders to bail. The bill was vetoed. 
The reasons given were that it gave Federal citizen- 
ship to 4,000,000 human beings just released from 
bondage ; that it attempted to give the law where 
the States had their own rights ; that it overrode 
thj State courts, and created a swarm of Federal 
officials charged with the power of arrest for the 
discriminating protection of the black race. The 
bill was passed over the veto and became law. 

7. For the purpose of securing the principle aimed 
at in the Civil Rights Bill by making it a part of 
the Constitution, both Houses adopted the XlVth 
Amendment in June. 2 The President informed 
Congress of his disapproval of it. A Homestead 
Bill was passed, applying previous Homestead Bills 
to public lands in the South. It was agreed by both 
Houses that no delegation from any of the States 
lately in rebellion should be received by either 
House until both Houses should unite in declaring 
such State again a member of the Union. 

1 But this did not carry the right to vote. For that, another Amend- 
ment was necessary. 

2 Ratified by three-fourths of the States and declared in force Juiy zmb, 
1868. 



1 866.] Second Freedmen s Bureau Bill. 211 

8. In July the Second Freedmen's Bureau 

Bill was passed by both Houses. It continued the 
bureau for two years, provided for selling lands 
to the freedmen at a low rate, reserved the prop- 
erty of the late Confederate Government for their 
education, and ordered the President to give mili- 
tary protection to the negroes whenever they were 
molested. It was vetoed by the President. The 
reasons given were that it gave the President too 
much power ; that the civil courts were perfectly 
able to do all that the bureau aimed at in the way 
of protection ; and that the bureau had become a 
political machine, by which the negroes were used 
for the personal advantage of its officers. The bill 
was passed over the veto and became law. After 
reducing the army and the revenue tax- and reviv- 
ing the grade of General of the Army, Congress 
adjourned July 28th, 1866. 

9. The Conflict between the President and the 
Republican majority had now become open and 
angry. The Republican National Committee ex- 
pelled its chairman and two of its members, who 
had sided with the President. It also issued an 
Address to the Party, defining the issues 
between Congress and the President. It called 
the attention of the people to the fact that the 
Constitution made no provisions for the treatment 
of insurgent States forcibly reduced to obedience, 1 

1 But this " break " would have been of little importance, but for the 
legacy left by Slavery, the freedmen. This ,vas the element of the ques- 
tion which caused the trouble, and not the defect in the Constitution. 



212 American Politics. [1866 

and claimed that the Republican plan for tiding 
over this obstacle was wise and honest, inasmuch 
as it would " give loyalty a fair start. " It is asserted 
that, under the President's plan, the whites lately 
in rebellion would seize the reins of power, reduce 
the blacks to real slavery under some plausible 
name, and retain representation for them, while deny- 
ing their political rights. 

10. Congress met December 3d, 1866. The con- 
XXXIXth Congress, flict between the Legisla- 

2d Session. tive and the Executive 

was renewed at once. The first bill of the Session, 
giving negroes the right to vote in the District 
of Columbia, was vetoed and passed over the veto. 
Early in the Session a Resolution to impeach Presi- 
dent Johnson was adopted by the House, and a 
committee appointed to take testimony. But upon 
their report the House decided that the grounds of 
impeachment were not sufficient, and thus this reso- 
lution was finally lost. 

11. The main feature of this Session was a per- 
sistent effort to Limit the President's Power, 
originating in the fear that he designed some attack 
upon the privileges, or perhaps the existence, of the 
Legislative. In January, 1867, a bill was passed 
which took from the President the power given by 
the Act of July, 1862, to proclaim general amnesty. 1 



1 The President denied the right of Congress to do so, and proceeded to 
issue further Proclamations of Amnesty, claiming the right under the 
Constitution- 



1 866.] The President and Congress. 21% 

Provision was made for the meeting of the XLth 
and all succeeding Congresses immediately after 
the adjournment of the preceding Congress. 1 
Authority was given to the clerk of the House, be- 
fore its meeting, to make out a roll of regularly 
elected members, who alone should take part in the 
organization of the House. 2 The Army Appro- 
priation Bill was passed with a " rider " which 
took from the President the command of the army by 
providing that his orders to it should only be given 
through the General of the Army, who should not 
be removed without the previous approval of the 
Senate. It also disbanded all the militia of the 
States lately in rebellion. The President informed 
Congress that he signed the bill that the appropria- 
tion might not be lost, but that he protested against 
the " rider," because it deprived him of the com- 
mand of the army, and eleven States of their militia, 
both of which were guaranteed by the Constitution. 
12. In February a bill for the admission of the 
State of Nebraska was passed over the veto. It 
provided that the new State should never deny the 
right of voting to any person because of his race 
or color. Bills were also passed to give Federal 
courts the power to issue writs of Habeas Corpus 
when any person was deprived of liberty. 

i This was done by the XLth Congress, but abandoned after President 
Johnson's term of office. 

2 To prevent the organization of any pseudo-Congress by Northern 
Democrats and Southern claimants of admission. Fortunately this ar- 
rangement has not yet caused any dispute as to the organization of the 
House. 



214 A wierican Politics. L l ^7 

13. March 2d, 1867, the Bill to provide Effi- 
cient Governments for the Insurrectionary 
States was passed over the veto. It embodied 
all the claims of Congress to control the re-admis- 
sion of the Southern States. It divided them into 
military districts, each under the government of a 
Brigadier-General, who should protect the rights of 
all persons. Each State was to remain under this 
military government until a State Convention, cho- 
sen without regard to race or color, should form a 
State government and ratify the XlVth Amend- 
ment. When this should be done Congress engaged 
to re-admit the State to the Union. 

14. The same day the so-called Tenure of Of- 
fice Bill was passed over the veto. It reversed 
all previous legislation upon the doubtful point of 
the President's power to remove officials without 
the consent of the Senate. Hitherto, from the time 
of the 1st Congress, it had been held that the con- 
sent of the Senate was necessary in making an 
appointment, but that the power of removal was 
wholly in the President. Under this interpretation 
it was feared that there would be a wholesale 
removal of public officials after Congress should 
adjourn. This bill provided that civil officers 
should hold office until their successors should 
qualify ; that the Cabinet should hold over the 
President's term of office, and should only be 
removable with the Senate's approval ; that, while. 
Congress was not in session, the President might 



1867.] Tenure of Office. 215 

suspend (not remove) any official ; but that if the 
Senate at its next session did not concur in the sus- 
pension the suspended official should resume his 
office ; and that the President might fill any vacancy 
by death or resignation while Congress was not in 
session. Every removal, appointment, or accept- 
ance or exercise of office contrary to the provisions 
of this Act, was declared to be " a high misdemea- 
nor," ■ and punishable by fine and imprisonment, 
or both. Congress adjourned March 3d, 1867. 
Nebraska had become a State of the Union 
March 1st. 

15. Three Extra Sessions of Congress were 
XLth Congress, held this year. The first met 
Extra Sessions. March 4th, and adjourned 
March 30th, 1867. The second met July 3d, and 
adjourned July 20th. The third met November 
21st, and adjourned at the opening of the first 
Regular Session. The Republican majority in both 
branches was continued, and, though slightly re- 
duced, was sufficient to overrule the veto, if neces- 
sary. 2 In the House Speaker Colfax was re-elected. 
These almost continuous Sessions were mainly for 
the purpose of keeping a check upon the Southern 
policy of the President. The work of reconstruc- 
tion by Congress had been fully laid out by the last 
Session. It was only necessary for this Session to 
secure its accomplishment. 

1 Apparently with a view to future impeachment. 

2 Senate, Rep. 40, Dem. 14. House, 138 Rep., 47 Dem, 



2i6 American Politics, [i 

16. Congress met December 2d, 1867. The prin- 
XLth Congress, cipal topic of interest at this 

1st Session. Session was the train of events 
which led to the impeachment of the President. 
August 5th, 1867, he had notified Edwin M. 
Stanton, Secretary of War, whom he particularly 
disliked, that " public considerations of a high char- 
acter " compelled him to ask the Secretary to resign. 
Stanton ironically replied that " public considera- 
tions of high character " forbade him to resign. 
He was therefore suspended, under the provisions 
of the Tenure of Office Bill, until Congress should 
meet, and the General of the Army, U. S. Grant, 
was appointed Secretary of War ad interim. Stanton 
protested that he denied the President's right to 
remove him, but would yield to superior force. 

17. January 14th, 1868, the Senate refused to agree 
to Stanton's removal. General Grant at once aban- 
doned the office, and Stanton again took possession. 
The President now determined to disobey the Ten- 
ure of Office Bill, and force an issue with Congress. 
February 21st he again removed Stanton, and 
appointed General Lorenzo Thomas in his place. 
The same day the Senate voted that the removal 
was illegal. General Thomas, however, accepted 
the appointment, and gave Stanton notice to quit. 
Stanton held to his office, and sent the notice to 
the Speaker of the House. Thereupon the House, 
February 24th, resolved that the President be 
Impeached before the Senate for high crimes 
and misdemeanors 



1 868.] Impeachment of the President. 2\J 

18. March 5th The Trial of the Impeach- 
ment was begun before the Senate sitting as a 
Court of Impeachment, with Chief Justice Chase, 
of the Supreme Court, in the chair. The Articles 
of Impeachment were mainly for violation of the 
Tenure of Office Bill. During the early part of 
the trial the President made a tour of the North 
and West, and in many passionate speeches to the 
crowds which met him denounced the XLth Con- 
gress as " no Congress," referring to its refusal to 
admit the delegations from Southern States. The 
House made these and other imprudent utterances 
the basis of additional Articles of Impeachment. 

19. The trial lasted until May 16th, when three 
of the main Articles were voted on. The vote 
stood 35 for conviction and 19 for acquittal, 7 reg- 
ular and 4 Administration Republicans voting in 
the minority. It was thus apparent that there was 
not a two-thirds majority for conviction. The Sen- 
ate, therefore, not waiting to vote on the remaining 
Articles, adjourned sine die, and the trial was aban- 
doned. Chief Justice Chase directed a verdict of 
acquittal to be entered, and Stanton resigned his 
office. Congress adjourned July 27th, 1868. 

20. The Presidential contest between the two 
parties naturally turned upon the right of Congress 
to fill the gap in the Constitution, and lay down 
rules for the re-admission of the revolting States. 
Its right to do so was inferred by the loose con- 
structionist party, and denied by the strict construe- 



218 American Politics. [1868 

tionist party. The Republican National Con- 
vention met at Chicago, May 20th, 1868, and 
adopted a platform holding that the Southern 
States had abandoned and lost their positions in 
the Union by seceding, and could only be re- 
admitted on terms satisfactory to Congress. It 
approved the terms offered, and declared that it was 
the business of Congress to protect equal suffrage 
in the South. It nominated Ulysses S. Grant, 
of Illinois, and Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana. The 
Democratic National Convention met at 
New York City, July 4th, and adopted a platform 
demanding that the Southern States should imme- 
diately and unconditionally be given the represen- 
tation in Congress and the power of self-government 
guaranteed by the Constitution, and that the regu- 
lation of suffrage should be left to the States. It 
nominated Horatio Seymour, of New York, and 
Francis P. Blair, of Missouri. 

21. At the Presidential Election inNovember 1 
Democratic electors were chosen by New York, 
New Jersey, Oregon, and by five Southern States. 
All the other States which were allowed to vote 2 
chose Republican electors. As the issue between 
the parties was distinctly made, the result of the 
election would seem to settle the rule that any State 
which formally casts off allegiance to the Federal 

1 Alleged to have been carried by frauds in New York City. 

2 Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas had not yet complied with 
the conditions of Congress for re-admission. 



1869.] Presidential Election. 219 

Government, and is compelled to submit, must be 
re-admitted by Congress in much the same manner 
as a Territory applying for admission as a State. 

22. Congress met December 7th, 1868. There 
XLth Congress, was little party contest at this 

2d Session. Session. In February, 1869, 
the electoral votes were counted, and were found to 
be, for Grant and Colfax 214, and for Seymour and 
Blair 80, if the vote of Georgia were allowed, and 
71 without it. As the vote of Georgia did not 
affect the result the question was left undecided. 
Grant and Colfax were therefore declared elected. 
February 26th the XVth Amendment to the 
Constitution, guaranteeing the right "of suffrage, 
without regard to race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude, was adopted by Congress. March 3d, 
1869, Congress adjourned, and March 4th Grant 
and Colfax were sworn into office. 

1 Ratified by three-fourths of the States, and declared in force March 
30th, 187©. 



CHAPTER XXIT. 

TWENTY-FIRST ADMINISTRATION, 1869-1873. 

Ulysses S. Grant, President. Schuyler Colfax, Vice-President 

XLIst andXIilld Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1868 : Rep. 3,015,071, 
Dem. 2,709,613. 

1. Congress met March 4th, 1869, with a 
XLIst Congress, Republican majority in both 
Extra Session. branches. 1 James G. Blaine, 
of Maine, a Republican, was chosen Speaker in 
the House. The principal business of the Session 
was the confirmation by the Senate of the new 
President's nominations to positions in the Cabinet, 2 
and debate as to Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia, 
which had not yet ratified the XlVth Amendment 
or been reconstructed. April 10th a bill was passed 
authorizing the people of these States to vote upon 
the constitutions already prepared for them by State 
conventions, and to elect State officers and mem- 
bers of Congress. A new condition, however, was 
imposed upon their ultimate re-admission ; their 

1 Senate, 58 Rep., 10 Dem., 8 vacancies ; House, 149 Rep., 64 Dem., 25 
vacancies. Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, and Georgia were not represented. 

2 Except that of A. T. Stewart, of New York, as Secretary of the Treas- 
ury. He was ineligible by statute, being engaged in commerce, and his 
name was withdrawn. 

220 



1870.1 Reconstruction. 221 

Legislatures were required to ratify the XVth as 
well as the XlVth Amendment. Congress adjourned 
April 10th. During the year the Supreme Court, 
in the important case of Texas vs. White, 1 ren- 
dered a decision sustaining Reconstruction by 
Congress. The Court held that the ordinances of 
secession had been absolutely null ; that the seced- 
ing States had never been "out of the Union" ; 
that they had, however, during and after their 
rebellion, no State governments " competent to 
represent the State in its relations with the National 
Government " ; and that Congress had the power 
to re-establish the broken relations of a rebellious 
State to the Union. 

2. Congress met December 6th, 1869. The Presi- 
XLIst Congress, dent's Message announced 

ISt Session. that Virginia had fulfilled 

the conditions precedent to recognition. Before 
the close of the Session, Mississippi, Texas, and 
Georgia had also fulfilled the conditions, and the 
formal work of Reconstruction was completed by 
the re-admission of the last-named State in July, 

1870. 2 The ratifications of the XVth Amendment 

1 7 Wall., 700. 

2 Tennessee was re-admitted July 24th, 1866, and Arkansas June 22d, 
1868. The act of June 25th, 1868, provided for the admission of North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, as 
soon as they should have fulfilled the conditions imposed by the Acts of 
Marcn, 1867 (see p. 214) ; and these States (except Georgia) were succes- 
sively admitted without further legislation. Virginia, as above stated, was 
re-admitted January 25th, 1870. Mississippi February 23d, 1870, and Texas 
March 30th, 1870. Georgia, after a partial re-admission, had declared 



222 American Politics. L l ^7° 

by these States made it a part of the Constitution, 1 
and a bill was passed to enforce it by making penal 
any interference, by force or by fraud, with the 
exercise of the right of suffrage as extended by the 
Amendment, and by authorizing the President to 
use the army to prevent violations of the Act. An 
Act was also passed to amend the naturalization 
laws ; it made it penal to obtain, use, dispose of, or 
register or vote upon a false or fraudulent certifi- 
cate of naturalization, authorized the appointment 
of Federal supervisors of elections, in cities of over 
20,000 inhabitants, with the power of summary 
arrest for any offence committed in their view, and 
extended the privilege of naturalization to alien 
Africans. Congress adjourned July 15th, 1870. 
At the December Term of 1869 the Supreme 
Court had decided that the action of Congress in 
1862, in giving a legal-tender character to the 
paper currency, 2 was unconstitutional. In March, 
1870, after the complexion of the Court had been 
changed by the appointment of two new Justices, 3 
the legal-tender question was again introduced in 
another case, and the previous decision was reversed 
by the votes of the two new Justices. 

negroes incapable of holding office ; the State was therefore admitted by 
special Act, July 15th, 1870, after revoking her objectionable action and 
also ratifying the XVth Amendment. 

1 See p. 219. 

2 See p. 202. Chief Justice S. P. Chase, who delivered the opinion, 
had been Secretary of the Treasury in 1862, but had not originated the 
legal-tender feature of the currency. 

3 One was a new appointment under a law creating an additional Jus- 
ticeship ; the other was appointed in place of a Justice who had resigned. 



1870.] The Ku Klux Klan. 223 

3. The Reconstruction Acts of March, 1867, had 
prohibited persons disabled from holding office by 
the XlVth Amendment, as it was then proposed, 
from taking part in the State conventions held 
under the Act ; and this disability had been 
extended and perpetuated in the new constitutions 
of some of the Southern States, particularly South 
Carolina, Louisiana, and Arkansas, by prohibiting 
the exercise of the suffrage by any person still 
under disability to hold office by the XlVth Amend- 
ment. Shortly before the Presidential election of 
1868 it appears that a secret, oath-bound organi- 
zation was formed in Tennessee under the name 
of the Ku Klux Klan, 1 mainly composed of 
persons under disabilities, and having for its object 
the terrorizing of white and colored Republican 
voters by murder, maiming, or whipping. The 
organization spread rapidly into other Southern 
States, but naturally found its most congenial loca- 
tion in the three States above named. Throughout 
the summer of 1870 a Senate committee took evi- 
dence on the subject, which convinced the Repub- 
lican majority that " the issue between government 
and anarchy " in the South was fairly presented. 
The Democratic minority, while it deplored the 
" detestable and wicked outrages " which it had 
found, believed that their number had been grossly 
exaggerated for political purposes. 

1 Known by various other names. See Century Mag., xxviii, 398. 



224 American Politics. [187 1 

4. Congress met December 5th, 1870, and in 
XLIst Congress, January, 1871, by the admis- 
2d Session. sion of the Georgia mem- 

bers, all the States were represented in Congress 
for the first time since December, i860. 1 The 
President's message dealt largely with a project 
for annexing to the United States the West Indian 
Republic of San Domingo, or Dominica. A 
treaty for that purpose had been negotiated 
between the Presidents of the two Republics, Sep- 
tember 4th, 1869, but had been rejected by the 
Senate at its last Session ; and President Grant 
now suggested an annexation by joint resolution, 
as in the case of Texas, 2 which would require only 
a majority vote in the Senate. A joint resolution 
was passed authorizing the President to appoint 
three commissioners to examine the condition of 
San Domingo and the feeling of its people for or 
against annexation. An Act was passed to enforce 
the XVth Amendment ; it extended the powers of 
Federal supervisors, marshals, and deputy-marshals 
over elections and registrations, gave Federal Cir- 
cuit Courts exclusive jurisdiction over all cases 
arising under the Act, and empowered them to 
punish any State officer who should proceed in 
such cases in contempt of their jurisdiction. A 

1 Congress was now divided politically as follows : Senate, 61 Rep., 13 
Dem.; House, 172 Rep., 71 Dem. 

2 To this it was objected that only a State could be annexed by joint 
resolution, and that a Territory, as San Domingo was intended to be, 
could be acquired only by treaty, if at all. 



1871.] The Force Bill. 225 

Senate committee was appointed to investigate the 
condition of the Southern States, and Congress 
adjourned, March 4th, 1871. During this year the 
long-standing Alabama Claims of the United 
States upon Great Britain, arising from the depre- 
dations of Anglo-rebel privateers, were referred to 
arbitration by the Treaty of Washington of May 
8th, 1871. 1 

5. Congress met March 4th, 1871, 2 with a Repub- 
XLIId Congress, lican majority in both 

Extra Session. branches. 3 In the House, 
James G. Blaine, of Maine, a Republican, was 
chosen Speaker. The main business of the Ses- 
sion was the appointment of a committee of seven 
Senators and fourteen Representatives to inquire 
into the condition of the late insurrectionary 
States, 4 and the passage of a very sweeping Act to 
enforce the XlVth Amendment. 5 This Act allowed 
suit in Federal courts by the party injured against 
any person who should in any way deprive another 
of the rights of a citizen ; it made it a penal offence 

i_Ratified by the Senate, May 24th, 1871. The arbitrators, appointed 
by Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Great Britain, and the United States, 
awarded the United States $15,500,000, in gross, as damages, September 
14th, 1872. 

2 This was the last Congress which met by law immediately after the 
expiration of the preceding Congress (see p. 213). 

3 Senate, 57 Rep., 17 Dem.; House, 138 Rep., 103 Dem. 

4 Often called the " Ku Klux Committee." 

5 Often called the " Force Bill." There is a striking similarity between 
the second section of the Act and the first section of the Sedition Law of 
1798. Both were passed on the same ground, the actual existence of war^ 
foreign in 1798 (see p. 47). and domestic in 1871. 

15 



226 American Politics. [1871 

to conspire to take away from any person the rights 
of a citizen ; it provided that inability, neglect, or 
refusal of any State to suppress such conspiracy, 
to protect the rights of its citizens, or to call upon 
the President for aid, should be " deemed a denial 
by such State of the equal protection of the laws " 
under the XlVth Amendment ; it declared such 
conspiracies, if not suppressed by the authorities, 
" a rebellion against the Government of the United 
States" ; it authorized the President, " when in his 
judgment the public safety shall require it," to 
suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus 
in any district, and suppress the insurrection by 
means of the army and navy ; 1 and it excluded 
from the jury-box any person " who shall, in the 
judgment of the court, be in complicity with any 
such combination or conspiracy." The authorit)' 
to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas 
corpus was to cease after the end of the next regu- 
lar Session of Congress. Congress adjourned April 
20th, 1871. 

6. The system of " rotation in office " 2 had, since 
1829, taken from the people at large the ownership 
of the offices filled by appointment of the Presi- 
dent, and vested it practically in the politicians, in 
and out of Congress, who controlled the President's 
party. An Act of March 3d, 187 1, authorized the 

1 In October and November, 1871, a number of counties in South Caro- 
lina were brought under the provisions of this section by the President's 
proclamation. 2 See page 113. 



1872.] Civil Service Reform, 227 

President to begin a reform in the Civil Service, 

for which thinking men of all parties had long 
been unanimously anxious. Under its provisions 
the President appointed a board of Civil Service 
Commissioners to provide for the examination of 
applicants for minor offices, and to relieve him and 
his Cabinet from the necessity of deciding upon 
such applications. The system was begun January 
1st, 1872, and, though under many limitations and 
discouragements, continued in operation for nearly 
three years with the emphatic commendation of 
the Cabinet and the President ; but in December, 
1874, despite two direct appeals from President 
Grant, Congress refused to make any further appro- 
priation for the system, and it was abandoned. 
Although since revived, it has not been carried to 
the full extent of its original design. 

7. Congress met December 4th, 187 1. Much of 
XLIId Congress, the time of the Session was 
1st Session. consumed in efforts to pass 

a bill to remove the political disabilities imposed 
by the XlVth Amendment. It was introduced by 
the Democrats in various forms, but was regularly 
amended by the Republicans by the addition to it 
of Senator Sumner's Supplementary Civil Rights 
Bill, intended to prevent discrimination against 
negroes by common carriers and other licensed or 
chartered public servants. The combined bills 
(now requiring a two-thirds vote) were then as 
regularly voted down by the Democrats. It was 



228 American Politics. [ l %7 2 

not until May 22d, 1872, that a separate Amnesty 
Bill became law. 1 A general Election Law for 
the whole country, after being lost in the Hou.se, 
was placed by the Senate as a "rider " 2 upon the 
Civil Appropriation Bill, and so passed, but with a 
proviso that the Federal supervisors of elections 
appointed under it should have no power of arrest. 
A bill to extend the habeas corpus section of the 
Force Bill of the last Session until the end of the 
next Session was passed by the Senate, but lost in 
the House. Congress adjourned June 10th, 1872. 
8. In 1870 the Republican party in Missouri had 
split into two parts. The " Radical " wing wished 
to maintain for the present the disqualifications 
imposed on the late rebels by the State Constitu- 
tion during the war; the " liberal" wing, headed 
by B. Gratz Brown and Carl Schurz, wished to 
abolish these disqualifications and substitute "uni- 
versal amnesty and universal enfranchisement." 
Supported by the Democrats, the Liberal Re- 
publicans carried the State, though opposed by 
the Federal office-holders and the influence of the 
Administration. This success stimulated a reac- 
tion in the National Republican party, many of 
whose members believed that the powers of the 
Federal Government over the local concerns of the 
States had already been enforced up to or beyond 
constitutional limits, that the various enforcement 

1 About 750 persons, who had held the highest positions under the U. S» 
Government were excepted from its provisions. a See p. 158. 



1872.] The Liberal Republican Movement. 229 

Acts were designed rather for the political advance- 
ment of President Grant's personal adherents than 
for the benefit of the country, the freedmen, or 
even of the Republican party ; and that the efforts 
to police the Southern States by the force of the 
Federal Government ought to cease. In the spring 
of 187 1 the Liberal Republicans and Democrats 
of Ohio began to show symptoms of common feel- 
ing on these subjects, and during the summer the 
" Liberal " movement continued to develop within 
the Republican party. January 24th, 1872, the 
Missouri Liberals issued a call for a National Con- 
vention at Cincinnati in the following May. 

9. The Liberal Republican National Con- 
vention met at Cincinnati May 1st, 1872, and 
adopted a platform pledging the party to maintain 
the Union of the States, emancipation, enfran- 
chisement, the last three Amendments, universal 
amnesty, the writ of habeas corpus, and the duty of 
a thorough civil service reform. In respect to the 
relative merits of protection and free trade, the 
Convention confessed itself irreconcilably divided, 
and remitted the decision of the question to the 
people in their Congressional elections. So far, 
although the Convention was itself a revolt from 
the ordinary party methods, and although many of 
its members were inexperienced, unmanageable, 
and not representative of any important body of 
voters, its action had been very skilfully suited to 
its acceptance by the subsequent Democratic Con- 



230 American Politics, t J ^73 

vention. After six ballots, however, in most of 
which C. F. Adams, of Massachusetts, led, the 
friends of other candidates threw their votes for 
Horace Greeley, 1 of New York, and he was nomi- 
nated by 482 votes to 187 for Adams. B. Gratz 
Brown, of Missouri, was nominated for Vice-Presi- 
dent. Some of the " Liberal " leaders endeavored 
afterward, without success, to substitute other can- 
didates for those nominated. The Republican 
National Convention met at Philadelphia, June 
5th, renominated President Grant unanimously, 
and nominated Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, 
for the Vice-Presidency by 364^ votes to 321^ for 
Schuyler Colfax. The platform detailed the party's 
past achievements, approved civil service reform 
and the suppression of disorders in the South, and 
demanded complete equality for all men through- 
out the country. The Democratic National 
Convention met at Baltimore, June 9th, and by 
a nearly unanimous vote adopted the Cincinnati 
platform and candidates. A few recalcitrant 
Democrats 2 met at Louisville, Ky., September 3d, 
and nominated Charles O'Conor, of New York, 
and John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts. 3 The 
result of the election was the success of the Repub- 

1 He had been, during his whole political life, an ardent protectionist 
and an unsparing critic of his Democratic opponents, through the columns 
of the newspaper of which he was editor. 

2 Usually called " straight-outs." 

3 The candidates declined the nomination, but about 30,000 scattering 
votes were cast for them. 



1 873.] The Credit Mobilier. 231 

lican candidates by an increased popular and elec- 
toral majority, due mainly to the refusal of very 
many Democrats to vote for Greeley. 

10. Congress met December 2d, 1872. 1 In the 
XLIId Congress, House, on the first day of 
2d Session. the Session, the Speaker 

called attention to the charges made by the Demo- 
crats, during the campaign, that the Vice-President, 
the Vice-President elect, the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, several Senators, the Speaker of the House, 
and a large number of Representatives had been 
bribed, during the years 1867 and 1868, by presents 
of stock in a corporation known as the Credit 
Mobilier, 2 to vote and act for the benefit of the 
Union Pacific Railroad Company. On his motion^ 
an investigating committee was appointed, L. P. 
Poland, of Vermont, being chairman. The Poland 
Committee reported February 18th, 1873, recom- 
mending the expulsion of Oakes Ames, of Massa- 
chusetts, for " selling to members of Congress 
shares of the stock of the Credit Mobilier below 
their real value, with intent thereby to influence the 
votes of such members," and of James Brooks, of 
New York, for receiving such stock. The House 
modified the proposed expulsion into an " absolute 
condemnation " of the conduct of both members. 3 
An Act was passed to abolish the franking privi- 

1 Senate, 51 Rep., 23 Dem. and Lib.; House, 133 Rep., no Dem. and Lib. 
a Organized to contract for building the Union Pacific Railroad. 
3 Both members died within three months afterward. 



232 American Politics. [1873 

lege, and another to increase the salaries of officers 
of the Government. The President's salary was 
increased from $25,000 to $50,000, and that of 
Senators and Representatives from $5000 to $7500 
per annum. This last feature of the Act proved 
very unpopular, as it was made to apply to the 
salaries of the Congressmen who passed the bill, 1 
and it was commonly known as the Salary Grab. 
In February, 1873, the Electoral votes were counted 
and were found to be, for President, Grant, 286, 
T. A. Hendricks, of Indiana, 42, and 21 scatter- 
ing, 2 and for Vice-President, Wilson 286, Brown 
47, and 19 scattering. The votes of Louisiana 
and Arkansas were rejected by concurrence of 
both Houses. 3 

11. At this session appeared the first case of 
conflict of State governments in the South. The 
reconstructed State constitutions, in order to guard 
against intimidation by disfranchised citizens, had 
generally provided for Returning Boards, usu- 
ally composed of three State officers and two 
citizens specified by name in the constitution. The 
Returning Board was empowered to canvass the 
votes, to reject the votes of all counties (or par- 
ishes) where they should judge force or fraud had 

1 In so doing, however, it followed precedent. 

2 Greeley died November 29th, 1872, and the Democratic and Liberal 
electors were compelled, on their day of voting, December 4th, to vote 
for other persons. Three electors in Georgia voted for Horace Greeley, 
but their votes were not counted, the Houses non-concurring. 

3 See p. 238. 



1 873,] Returning Boards. 233 

been used, and to declare the results of all elections. 
In Louisiana successive removals and appointments 
of State officers by the Governor, for the purpose 
of controlling the Returning Board, had resulted in 
the formation of two bodies, each claiming to be 
the legitimate Returning Board. Two State Legis- 
latures and governments, one (Democratic) headed 
by Governor John McEnery, the other (Republi- 
can) headed by Governor W. P. Kellogg, were thus 
declared elected. Kellogg, who apparently con- 
trolled the Federal District Judge, Durell, brought 
suit before him against his political opponents, and 
obtained an order, illegitimately given, that the 
Federal marshal should seize the building used as 
a State House and prevent the meeting of the 
McEnery Legislature. Both governments, how- 
ever, were inaugurated, and each claimed recogni- 
tion by Congress. The Senate committee reported 
that DurelPs conduct was most reprehensible, that 
Louisiana had no real government, that the McEnery 
government was most nearly a government of right, 
and that the Kellogg government was most nearly 
a government in fact. A bill declaring the election 
of November 4th, 1872, null and void, and provid- 
ing for a new election under the direction of Judge 
Woods, the Federal Circuit Judge, was introduced 
in the Senate, but was lost by a close vote. Con- 
gress adjourned March 3d, 1873, an( l March 4th 
Grant and Wilson were sworn into office. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

TWENTY-SECOND ADMINISTRATION, 1873-1877. 

TTlysses S. Grant, President. Henry "Wilson, Vice-President. 

Xlillld and XLIVth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1872 : Rep. 3,597,070, 
Dem. 2,834,079. 

1. President Grant's Inaugural stated that> 
while still believing in the advisability of the 
annexation of San Domingo, he had dropped 
the project since its rejection by the Senate. Dur- 
ing this year the proposition was renewed in the 
form of an application by San Domingo for the 
establishment of a protectorate over it by the 
United States ; but shortly afterward President 
Baez, who had been the chief Dominican advocate 
of annexation, was driven from San Domingo by a 
revolution, and this unpopular scheme came to an 
end. In April 1873, the Supreme Court, in the 
Slaughter-House Cases, 1 began the authorita- 
tive construction of the XlVth and XVth Amend- 
ments. The opinion of the court held that these 
Amendments only placed the special privileges of 
citizens of the United States under the protection 

1 16 Wall., 36. They were so called because they arose from the incor- 
poration by Louisiana of a Slaughter-House Company, with an entire 
monopoly of the business in New Orleans and its vicinity. 

234 



1 874.] Louisiana. 235 

of the Federal Constitution and Government ; that 
the powers of the States over the privileges of their 
own citizens had not been changed ; and that the 
great objects of the Amendments were the freedom 
and protection of the former slave race. 

2. Congress met December 1st, 1873, the Repub- 
XLIIId Congress, lican majority being con- 
ist Session, tinued in both branches. 1 

In the House, Speaker Blaine was re-elected. The 
increase of pay to members of Congress at the 
preceding Congress was repealed. A bill which 
purported to " fix the amount of United States 
notes," but which increased their total amount, 
was passed by both Houses, but was vetoed by the 
President and failed to become law. The bill for 
the establishment of a republican form of govern- 
ment in Louisiana 2 was again introduced in the 
Senate, but came to no final action. Congress 
adjourned June 23d, 1874. In 1867 a secret order, 
known as Patrons of Husbandry, had been 
formed in Washington, and its subordinate lodges, 
or Granges, 3 had since spread all over the country. 
Its object was co-operation among farmers in pur- 
chasing and in other business interests. In its 
nature it was not political, but the high freight 
rates of Western railroads brought them into con- 
flicts with its members, which colored the politics 
of Western States during the years 1873 and 1874, 

1 Senate, 50 Rep., 24 Dera. and Lib.; House, 198 Rep , 93 Dem.and Lib. 

2 See p. 233. 3 Hence, its members were often called Grangers, 



236 American Politics. [ J 874 

and led to several unsuccessful attempts to induce 
Congress to pass transportation laws for the regu- 
lation of inter-State commerce and freight rates. 

3. During this and the subsequent four years, 
perjury became so fundamental a feature in the 
politics of Louisiana that it is extremely difficult 
to give any exact account of the continuing diffi- 
culties in that State. 1 It seems certain, on the one 
hand, that the Democrats, or McEnery party, had 
resolved themselves into a " white man's party," 
and that outrages and massacres of negroes, such 
as those at Colfax and Coushatta, had become a 
recognized factor in politics ; and, on the other 
hand, that the Kellogg, or Republican, government 
was sustained only by the decisions of a Federal 
judge of very doubtful character, by the consequent 
support of Federal troops, by the scandalous exe- 
cution of the registration laws, and by the reckless 
counting of a partisan Returning Board. In brief, 
the contest lay between force and fraud for the 
control of the State. September 14th, 1874, the 
McEnery party suddenly rose in arms, seized the 
State offices, and forced the Kellogg government 
to take refuge in the Custom House. On the 
same day Kellogg called upon the President for 
Federal troops, which were furnished to him. 2 The 

1 The fairest account available has been followed, the report of the sub- 
committee of the House of Representatives, consisting of two Republicans 
and one Democrat, January 14th, 1875. 

2 This was justified by the President and his supporters under Art. IV., 
§ 4, of th^ Constitution (see p. 313); his opponents generally admitted the 



1 875.] Louisiana. 237 

McEnery government refused to resist Federal 
authority, and the Kellogg government was rein- 
stalled at once. In January, 1875, the Legislature 
was organized. The McEnery party, in a hasty 
and disorderly fashion, seated their Representatives 
from contested districts, gained control of the 
House, and elected the Speaker, whereupon Kellogg 
sent United States soldiers, under General de 
Trobriand, who turned out the members just 
seated. The Kellogg party, then having a majority, 
elected their Speaker, the McEnery party with- 
drew, and again two Legislatures were organized. 1 
4. Congress met December 7th, 1874. The 
XLIIId Congress, President's Message dealt 
2d Session. largely with the case of 

Louisiana, and his Special Message of January 
13th, 1875, went still more fully into the case, 
defending his action in it, and appealed to Con- 
gress to take some action which would relieve him 
from the " exceedingly unpalatable " duty of sup- 
porting Southern State governments by the use of 
Federal troops. At the close of the Session, there- 
fore, by resolution, the House endorsed the Kellogg 
government, and the Senate approved the Presi- 
dent's course in Louisiana. An Act for the 
Resumption of Specie Payments was passed 

justification so far, but denied that a political struggle in the Legislature 
was a case of " domestic violence " to be settled by Federal troops. 

1 The difficulty was left, as far as regarded the Legislature, to W. A. 
Wheeler (afterward Vice-President), and, after his " adjustment " of it, 
the party conflict smouldered until the summer of 1876, when it was 
renewed. 



238 American Politics. [1875 

which provided that on and after January 1st, 1879, 
the Secretary of the Treasury should redeem 
United States legal-tender notes in coin ; but it 
left open the question whether these legal-tender 
notes, up to $300,000,000, should be reissued after 
redemption. Senator Sumner's Supplementary 
Civil Rights Bill became law. 1 A large part of 
the Session was taken up in considering the mode 
of election of the President and Vice-President. 
A great many of the possible dangers and difficul- 
ties, as they occurred in 1876-77, were already 
plainly foreseen and discussed in the debates, but 
Congress did nothing to avoid them. Senator 
Morton, of Indiana, 2 introduced an Amendment to 
the Constitution, providing for the general choice 
of electors by districts, and a resolution to abolish 
the Twenty-Second Joint Rule, 3 under which 
the counting of electoral votes had been conducted 
since 1865, but neither was adopted. Congress 
adjourned March 4th, 1875. During the year an 
extensive Whiskey Ring was unearthed in the 
West ; it was an association, or series of associa- 
tions, of distillers and Federal officials for the 
purpose of defrauding the Government of a large 

1 See p. 227. Senator Sumner, the original framer of the bill, had died, 
March nth, 1874. 

a His speeches in these debates are almost a history of the workings of 
the electoral system up to date. 

3 This, a rule adopted by both Houses, February 6th, 1865, provided in 
effect that any electoral vote, to which objection should be made by any 
member, should only be counted if both Houses agreed to count it: a non« 
concurrence, therefore, operated as a rejection of the vote (see p. 241). 



1 875.] State Elections. 239 

amount of the tax imposed on distilled spirits, and, 
further, of employing a part of the proceeds in 
political corruption. On the trial of the indict- 
ments a number of Federal officers were convicted, 
and O. E. Babcock, the President's private secre- 
tary, was acquitted. 

5. In the South the Democrats, generally taking 
the name of Conservatives, had by this time gained 
control of all the State governments except those 
of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. In 
some of the States the Republican government had, 
as in Louisiana, called upon the President for help 
before surrendering their positions. From Arkan- 
sas calls for troops had been made by Elisha 
Baxter, April 19th, 1874, and by Joseph Brooks, 
April 20th, each claiming to be the legitimate 
Governor. On the supersedure of both of them 
by the adoption of a new State Constitution, 
October 13th, 1874, V. V. Smith, Baxter's Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, claiming to be Governor by Baxter's 
abdication, called upon the President for troops ; 
but, as he fled the State immediately afterward, no 
answer was given. In Mississippi the Legislature 
called upon the President for troops, December 
18th, 1874, to suppress rioting in Warren County, 
and the President answered by a proclamation 
warning rioters to disperse. The call for troops 
was repeated, September 8th, 1875, by Governor 
A. Ames, but was refused. The Governor was 
advised to assemble the Legislature and make some 



240 American Politics. [1875 

effort to preserve the peace of his own State, the 
President's language seeming to show that his 
patience had been exhausted. 1 

6. The State elections of 1874-75 and the elec- 
tions for members of the XLIVth Congress, to meet 
in December, 1875, showed a sudden and remark-^ 
able change of political sentiment. 3 They resulted 
in the almost universal defeat of Republican can- 
didates for State officers, even Massachusetts elect- 
ing a Democratic Governor, and the election of a 
great majority of Democrats to the House of Rep- 
resentatives. The Republicans considered the 
result due largely to the violent suppression of the 
colored Republican vote in the South ; the Demo- 
crats attributed it entirely to the popular disgust 
in the North at the continuance of enforcement 
Acts and efforts to " dragoon " the South. Both 
causes seem to have been operative, assisted by the 
financial distress which began to be felt in 1873, and 
which is always apt to react upon the popular vote, 
to the prejudice of the party in power. 

7. Congress met December 6th, 1875, with a 
XLIVth Congress, Republican majority in the 

1st Session. Senate and a Democratic 



i " The whole public are tired out with these annual autumnal out- 
breaks in the South, and the great majority are ready now to condemn any 
interference on the part of the Government. I heartily wish that peace 
and good order may be restored without issuing the proclamation. But if 
it is issued, I shall instruct the commander of the forces to have no child's 
play." 

2 The elections were popularly called the "tidal wave." 



1876.] The Centennial. 241 

majority in the House, 1 where M. C. Kerr, of In- 
diana, was chosen Speaker. The President's Mes- 
sage was devoted mainly to foreign affairs and to a 
natural recognition of the great material progress 
made by the nation during its first century of exis- 
tence. The Session was marked by an evident 
increase of anxiety as to the possible occurrence of 
some occasion for dispute between the Democratic 
House and the Republican Senate about the result 
of the impending Presidential election ; but party 
jealousy, and fear of losing any party advantage 
from the Southern situation, prevented any remedial 
action. Morton's Amendment to the Consti- 
tution, 2 and several other Amendments, with the 
same general object, were introduced, but not 
passed. Morton's bill to provide for the counting 
of the electoral votes met with the same fate. The 
Senate abolished the Twenty-Second Joint Rule, 
so that the electoral count was now left without any 
provisions whatever for its government. The so- 
called Blaine Amendment, prohibiting the ap- 
propriation of public school money by any State to 
sectarian schools, passed the House but did not 
secure a two-thirds vote in the Senate. 3 An unlim- 
ited Amnesty Bill failed to secure a two-thirds 
vote in the House. A bill to reduce the President's 
salary to $25,000 yearly after March 4th, 1877, 
passed both Houses, but was vetoed and failed to 

1 Senate, 42 Rep., 29 Dem., 2 Ind. ; House, 182 Dem., no Rep. 

2 See p. 238. . 3 The vote stood 28 to 16 in favor. 

16 



242 American Politics. L l ^7^ 

become law. An appropriation of $1,500,000 was 
made to the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. 
The Secretary of War, W. W. Belknap, was im- 
peached by the House on a charge of having 
received bribes for the appointment of a post-trader 
at Fort Sill. The general vote in the Senate was 
36 to 25 for conviction, 1 and as this was not two- 
thirds he was acquitted. Congress adjourned 
August 15th, 1876. The end of the first, and the 
beginning of the second, century of the separate 
national existence of the United States was marked 
by the opening of the Centennial Exhibition 
at Philadelphia, 2 and by an unusually general cele- 
bration, July 4th. Colorado became a State of 
the Union August 1st, 1876. 

8. The Independent National Convention 
met at Indianapolis, May 17th, 1876. Its platform 
demanded the repeal of the Act for resumption of 
specie payments, and the issue of United States 
notes (" greenbacks " 3 ), convertible into bonds on 
demand, as the currency of the country. It nomi- 
nated Peter Cooper, of New York, for President, and 
Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio, for Vice-President. 4 The 
Republican National Convention met at Cin- 
cinnati, June 14th, and adopted a platform which 

1 He had anticipated impeachment by resigning in the forenoon of the 
day on which he was impeached, and most of the Senators who voted Not 
Guilty stated that they did so on the ground that he was then a private 
citizen and not subject to impeachment. 2 May 10th, 1876. 

3 Hence this was usually called the Greenback Party. 

4 Newton Booth, of California, was first nominated for Vice-President 
but declined. 



1 876.] Presidential Nominations. 243 

reviewed the party's past achievements, charged 
the Democratic party with treason, imbecility, false- 
hood, and subservience to former rebels, com- 
mended the resumption of specie payments, and 
demanded the immediate and vigorous exercise of 
Federal powers to secure the rights of American 
citizens everywhere throughout the country. Much 
excitement had been caused by the alleged design 
of President Grant to secure for himself a Third 
Term, but his name was not presented to the 
Convention for the Presidential nomination. On 
the first six ballots James G. Blaine, of Maine, led 
all the other candidates ; on the seventh ballot 
Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, was nominated by 
384 votes, to 351 for Blaine and 21 for B. H. Bris- 
tow of Kentucky. William A. Wheeler, of New 
York, was nominated for Vice-President. The 
Democratic National Convention met at St. 
Louis, June 28th, and adopted a platform entirely 
filled with denunciation of the Republican party 
for corruption, mismanagement, personal govern- 
ment and sectional hatred, and by demands for 
reform ; included in these was a demand for the 
repeal of the specie resumption Act until proper 
preparation should be made for its successful en- 
forcement. On the second Presidential ballot, 
Samuel J. Tilden had 535 votes to 203 for all others, 
and was nominated. His leading competitor, 
Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, was nominated 
for Vice-President. 



244 American Politics. V l ^7^ 

9. The nomination of Hayes sensibly strength- 
ened the Republican party. A strong section of its 
members had held a preliminary meeting, May 15th, 1 
and resolved to support no candidate not pledged 
to Civil Service Reform. Their warm support was at 
once gained by the unexpected emphasis with which 
the nominee advocated the cessation of the sale 
of appointments to office for party services. The 
Democratic chances were increased by the evident 
certainty of the choice of Democratic electors in 
all of the Southern States excepting three. In one 
of these, South Carolina, the Legislature had long 
been extravagant and corrupt, and the Presidential 
campaign was complicated with a final and desper- 
ate effort by the whites to secure control of the 
State government. In the course of it a massacre 
of a negro militia force at Hamburgh, 2 and another 
at Ellenton, induced a call for Federal troops by 
the Governor, and these were placed at his disposal 
by the President. The Presidential election 
took place November 7th, 1876. Democratic elec- 
tors were chosen by Connecticut, New York, New 
Jersey, and Indiana in the North, and by all the 
Southern States except South Carolina, Florida, 
and Louisiana ; Republican electors were chosen 
by South Carolina 3 in the South, and by all the 

1 The so-called Fifth Avenue Hotel Conference. 

2 July 9th. 

3 This State was also claimed at first by the Democrats, but their mem- 
bers of the Congressional investigating committee agreed that the State 
had chosen Republican electors. 



1876.] Presidential Election. 245 

Northern States except those named above. The 
undisputed results ' of the election were therefore 
184 electoral votes for Tilden and Hendricks, and 
172 for Hayes and Wheeler, and the whole result 
of the election hinged upon the final declaration of 
the results in Florida and Louisiana, that is, upon 
the decisions of the Returning Boards of those 
States, and upon the disputed vote of Oregon. 

10. As soon as the state of affairs in the doubt- 
ful States was discovered, a large number of promi- 
nent citizens from the North went to the State 
capitals to oversee the count, by invitation of 
President Grant and of the Democratic National 
Committee. The four electoral votes of Florida 
were decided by the Returning Board to be Repub- 
lican by a majority of 926 ; this result was reached 
by casting out the votes of various precincts and 
counties. The State Supreme Court then ordered 
the Board to declare the result of " the face of the 
returns," 2 without casting out any. The Board 

1 The Republicans alleged that very many of the Southern electoral 
votes had been obtained for the Democratic candidates by the violent sup- 
pression of the colored vote, but did not formally dispute the count of 
these votes. The Democrats disputed the count of many individual 
Republican electoral votes in the North, on the ground that the electors 
who cast them were Federal office-holders ; but in these cases the 
ineligible electors regularly resigned before acting and were re-chosen by 
the electoral colleges to fill the resulting vacancies. The statement above 
is therefore made as " undisputed." It does not include the single vote 
of Oregon. 

2 What the real " face of the returns " was is doubtful. Those acknowl- 
edged by the Board and those claimed by the Democrats agree very 
closely, except as to Baker County. From this county two returns were 
sent : (i) 130 Rep., 89 Dem., Rep. maj. 41 : and (2) 143 Rep., 238 Dem., 



246 American Politics. [^76 

again met, cast out the votes of certain other pre- 
cincts and counties, and declared a Republican 
majority of 206. Before this was done, however, 
the day appointed for the voting of the electors had 
come, and the Republican electors met and voted. 
In Louisiana the Democratic electors protested 
without effect against the refusal of the Returning 
Board to add a Democrat to their number, as the 
law required, and against their refusal to canvass 
all the votes in public. After a three-weeks' ses- 
sion, and many changes in the returns, the Board 
declared the Republican electors successful by an 
average majority of about 4000 ; the Democrats 
claimed 8000 majority on the face of the returns. 1 
McEnery, claiming to be Governor, gave the 
Democratic electors a certificate of election ; in 
Florida the Attorney-General, as one of the Return- 
ing Board, signed the Democratic certificate. In 
both States the Republican Governor signed the 
certificates of the Republican electors. In Ore- 
gon the three Republican electors had a majority, 
but, on the claim that one of them was a Federal 
office-holder and ineligible, the Democratic Gover- 
nor gave a certificate of the election of one Demo- 



Dem. maj. 95. The former was taken by the Board, while the latter was 
claimed by the Democrats. As the sum total of the votes of all the other 
counties, as acknowledged by both parties, is almost an exact tie on the 
face of the returns, it will be seen that the gist of the difficulty lies in the 
double return from Baker County. 

1 (Returns, average) Rep. 75,759, Dem. 83,635, Dem. maj., 7876 ; (Re- 
turning Board, average) Rep. 74,436, Dem. 70,505, Rep. maj. 3931. 



1 877.] Electoral Commission, 247 

cratic and two Republican electors. The three 
Republican electors were certified by the Secretary 
of State, who was the canvassing officer of the 
State by statute. 

11. Congress met December 5th, 1876. The 
XLIVth Congress, President's Message de- 
2d Session. precated harsh judgment 

for any mistakes of judgment which he had made 
in his two terms of office, and attributed them 
mainly to the subordinates whose appointment had 
been forced upon him by Congressmen. In the 
House, S. J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, was chosen 
Speaker in place of Speaker Kerr, who had died 
during the summer. The session was almost 
entirely taken up by the Disputed Presidential 
Election. It was evident that neither House 
would consent to the adoption of a joint rule for 
the count which should seem to operate against the 
candidates of its majority. Extreme Republicans 
were beginning to advance the idea that the Vice- 
President, who was to open the certificates, was 
also to decide between two returns ; extreme 
Democrats argued the right of the House to decide 
when the emergency had arrived in which it was to 
elect a President. As a compromise, the Elec- 
toral Commission was created by act of January 
29th, 1877 ; it was to consist of five members 
chosen by the House, five by the Senate, and five 
Justices of the Supreme Court. Double returns, 
and all returns to which objection should be made, 



248 American Politics. \_ l $77 

were to be referred to this commission, whose deci- 
sion was to be final unless reversed by the vote of 
both Houses. The general rule held by the Com- 
mission was that it was only empowered to canvass 
electoral votes, not popular votes, and to decide 
whether the Governor had certified those electors 
who had been declared elected by the canvassing 
authority of the State. It thus ascertained that in 
Louisiana and Florida the Governors had certified 
the legitimate electors, while in Oregon the Gover- 
nor had not. In all these cases the House voted 
to reject, and the Senate to sustain, the Commis- 
sion's decision, and the decision was therefore sus- 
tained in favor of the Republican electors. In the 
case of South Carolina, and in those of electors 
objected to as Federal office-holders, the Commis- 
sion also decided in favor of the Republican 
electors, and the decision was not reversed by 
concurrent vote of both Houses. All the thirteen 
doubtful votes 1 thus fell to the Republican candi- 
dates, and the result was declared 2 to be 185 votes 
for Hayes and Wheeler, and 184 votes for Tilden 
and Hendricks. Hayes and Wheeler were there- 
fore declared elected. March 3d, 1877, Congress 
adjourned, and March 4th, Hayes and Wheeler were 
sworn into office. 

1 Florida 4, Louisiana 8, Oregon 1. 

2 After 4 o'clock in the rnr>-ni ng r f March 2d. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

TWENTY-THIRD ADMINISTRATION, 1877-1881. 

Rutherford B. Hayes, Presi- William A. Wheeler, Vice 

dent. President. 

XliVth and XI/VTth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1876 : Dem. 4,284,757, 
Rep. 4,033,9s - 1 
1. In Florida the State Supreme Court had per- 
sisted in compelling a count upon the face of the 
returns of the votes for State officers, and the 
Democratic State government was thus finally 
declared elected and inaugurated, although the 
Returning Board had at first given the election to 
the Republican candidates. In South Carolina 
and Louisiana President Hayes, soon after his 
inauguration, ordered the Federal troops to be 
withdrawn, 2 and the Democratic State governments 
at once took possession without resistance. It was 
charged that the President had thereby impeached 
his own title to the Presidency, which " rested upon 
the action of the same Returning Boards which 
had declared the Republican Governors elected." 

1 In Florida and Louisiana the Returning Board count has been taken. 

2 Similar orders were given in March by President Grant, but were not 
executed. 

249 



2 50 American Politics. [1877 

It must be noted, however, that electors are to be 
chosen " in such manner as the Legislature of the 
State may direct," and that the power of a Legis- 
lature to commit the choice of electors to a Return- 
ing Board may be admitted without admitting its 
power to delegate the choice of State officers to 
the same hands. During the summer extensive 
Railroad Strikes and other disorders caused 
considerable alarm and loss of property and life, 
but were successfully suppressed by the State 
authorities, assisted, wherever necessary, by United 
States troops. 

2. Congress met October 15th, 1 1877, having 
XLVth Congress, been called to an early 
1st Session. Session by a proclamation 

of the President, in consequence of the failure of 
the preceding Congress to pass the appropriation 
for the army. The Senate was still Republican 
and the House Democratic. In the House Speaker 
Randall was re-elected by 149 votes to 132 for 
James A. Garfield, of Ohio. The most striking 
action of the Session was the passage of the Bland 
Silver Bill. The Act of July 14th, 1870, to 
refund the national debt, had made all bonds 
issued under it payable in " coin"; and the Act of 
February 12th, 1873, nac * " demonetized" the silver 
dollar, that is, had dropped it from the list of 
United States coins. Since that time the value of 
silver, as compared with gold, had been very 

1 Senate, Rep. 39, Dem. 36, Ind. 1 ; House, Dem. 153, Rep, 140. 



1878.] Bland Silver Bill 2%\ 

steadily falling, and a strong feeling had grown up 
in both parties that the silver dollar should be 
restored to the list of coins and used, at least in 
part, for the payment of bonds. The Bland Bill 
provided for the resumption of the coinage of the 
silver dollar of 412^ grains (worth then about 92 
cents), made it a legal tender for public and private 
debts, and directed its coinage at the rate of not 
less than $2,000,000 or more than $4,000,000 
monthly. It was vetoed, and was passed over the 
veto by heavy majorities. An Act was passed for- 
bidding the further retirement of United States 
notes. An Army Appropriation Bill was passed 
containing a proviso that it should not be lawful 
to employ any part of the army as a posse comitatus, 
except as expressly authorized by the Constitution 
or by Act of Congress. A House committee, com- 
monly known as the Potter Committee, 1 was 
appointed to investigate the alleged frauds in the 
Southern States. Congress adjourned June 20th, 
1878. An unexpected result of the Potter Com- 
mittee's investigation was the discovery of a num- 
ber of Cipher Telegrams 2 from persons nearly 
connected with Mr. Tilden, having for their object 
the bribery of the Returning Boards. Mr. Tilden 
denied that he was a party to these negotiations. 

3. From the beginning of his Administration, 
President Hayes had not the hearty support of any 

1 So-called from its chairman, Clarkson N. Potter, of New York. 

2 These were mainly translated in the office of the New York Tribune. 



252 American Politics. [ l %7& 

party in Congress. To many of the Republicans, 
who had grown up under the enforcement system, 
his withdrawal of Federal troops from Southern 
States, and his efforts to conciliate the South in 
other ways, seemed to be weak, wavering, and 
" Sunday-school politics "; very great feeling was 
excited among the Democrats by his appointment 
of members of the Returning Board to Federal 
offices ; his partial efforts to free himself from the 
control which Congressmen had gradually acquired 
over appointments deprived him of much of a 
President's usual influence over Congress ; and the 
sudden rise to prominence of financial questions, 
on which neither party was thoroughly united, left 
him without any general or coherent party support. 
Many Administration measures were defeated, 
and others were only carried by Democratic votes. 
Nevertheless, President Hayes's term of office was 
of incalculable benefit to the country as a breathing- 
spell, and a relief from the almost intolerable vio- 
lence of party contest. During these two years 
the Greenback or National Party, which was 
mainly opposed to the proposed resumption of 
specie payments, had largely increased its popular 
votes. In 1876 it had polled 80,000 votes; in the 
State elections of 1878 this was increased to over 
1,000,000. Specie payments for United States 
notes were resumed without difficulty, January 1st, 
1879. 
4. Congress met December 2d, 1878. The Presi* 



I879-] Hayes Administration. 253 

XLVth Congress, dent's Message urged upon 
2d Session. the attention of Congress 

the alleged continuance of intimidation of negro 
voters in the South. The only important legisla- 
tion of the Session was an Act authorizing the 
refunding of the national debt at four per cent, 
interest, and an Act giving arrears of pensions to 
those who had not yet filed applications. Con- 
gress adjourned March 4th, 1879, without passing 
die Army Appropriation Bill, owing to an 
endeavor by the House to add as a " rider" 1 to it 
a bill to repeal the general election law. 2 

5. Congress met March 18th, 1879, having been 
XLVIth Congress, summoned to an extra Ses- 

Extra Session. sion by a Proclamation of 
the President. Both branches had Democratic 
majorities, 3 and in the House Speaker Randall was 
re-elected. The Warner Silver Bill, provid- 
ing for the unlimited coinage of silver, was passed 
by the House, but the Senate Finance Committee 
refused to report it. The main business of the 
Session was with the Appropriation Bills, to all 
of which the Democratic majority added " riders " 
for the purpose of carrying out a reduction of 
Federal power. To the Army Bill a rider was 
added repealing the existing permission to the 
army to " keep the peace at the polls"; to the 
Legislative Bill was added another, repealing the 

1 See p. 158. 2 See p. 228. 

3 Senate, Dem. 42, Rep. 33, Ind. 1; House, Dem. 149, Rep. 130, Nat. 14. 



254 American Politics. [1880 

authority giving to Federal supervisors to count 
the votes at Congressional elections, and to Federal 
marshals to arrest at the polls ; and to the Judic- 
iary Bill was added another, forbidding the pay- 
ment of Federal marshals for " services in con- 
nection with elections." All these were opposed 
by the Republicans as efforts to coerce a co-ordi- 
nate branch of the Government by refusing appro- 
priations, were vetoed by the President, and failed 
to become law. Having finally passed the Appro- 
priation Bills without riders, Congress adjourned 
July 1st, 1879. During the summer a considerable 
Negro Exodus took place from the South to 
the Northwest. It was ascribed by Republicans to 
Southern ill-treatment of negroes, and by Demo- 
crats to the operations of railroad agents. 

6. Congress met December 1st, 1879. The 
XLVIth Congress, President's Message ad- 
ist Session. vised Congress not to leg- 

islate further at present in regard to the coinage r 
recommended the retirement of legal tenders, and 
urged the necessity of reform in the civil service. 
No important political action was taken except the 
passage of a law to prevent the use of the army to 
keep the peace at the polls, but with the proviso 
that it should not be construed to prevent the con- 
stitutional use of the army to suppress domestic 
violence in a State. The " riders " of the last Ses- 
sion were again added to Appropriation and Defi- 
ciency Bills, but were again vetoed and failed to 



1880.] Presidential Electio7t. 255 

become law. The Democratic opposition to the 
General Election Law was very much weak- 
ened by a Supreme Court decision during the Ses- 
sion, upholding the constitutionality of the law. 
Congress adjourned June 16th, 1880. Not one 
effective step had yet been taken, by statute or 
amendment, to avoid the recurrence of a disputed 
electoral count such as that of 1876. The Repub- 
licans were unwilling to entrust the count entirely 
to the control of a Democratic Congress, and 
neither party was willing to entrust the final and 
absolute decision upon the validity of a State's 
electoral votes to the highest judicial authority of 
the State itself. 1 The attempted counting-out of 
the Republican majority in the Legislature of 
Maine, by the Governor and Council, in the win- 
ter of 1878-79, had emphasized the danger by 
showing the possibility of double returns from 
some Northern State ; but nothing was done. 

7. The Republican National Convention 
met June 5th, 1880, at Chicago. The Grant ma- 
jority in the State Conventions of New York, 
Pennsylvania, and Illinois had ordered their dele- 
gates to cast the entire vote of their States for ex- 
President Grant, without regard to the preferences 
of individual districts. The Convention, however, 
refused to recognize the unit rule, and absolved 
the delegates from obedience to it. The platform 

1 This, the proposition of Senator Edmunds, of Vermont, would seem 
to be in strict pursuance of the intention of the electoral system. 



256 American Politics. [1880 

detailed the party's achievements in the past, de- 
nounced the Democratic party and the " Solid 
South," and favored a protective tariff, the protec- 
tion of all citizens in all their rights by Federal 
power, and the restriction of Chinese immigration. 
On the thirty-sixth ballot, June 8th, James A. Gar- 
field, of Ohio, was nominated for President. His 
nomination was the result of the sudden union of the 
Blaine, Sherman, and other delegates against those 
delegates, about 306 in number, who voted steadily 
for Grant to the end. Chester A. Arthur, of New 
York, was nominated for Vice-President. The 
Greenback-Labor National Convention met 
at Chicago, June 9th, and adopted a platform 
which claimed for the Government the entire con- 
trol of the issue of money, and condemned the 
grant of any such power to corporations, the con- 
tinuance of grants of lands to railroads, and the 
immigration of Chinese. It nominated James B. 
Weaver, of Iowa, for President, and B. J. Cham- 
bers, of Texas, for Vice-President. The Demo- 
cratic National Convention met at Cincinnati, 
June 22d, and adopted a strict construction plat- 
form. It called for home rule, honest money 
(" gold and silver, and paper convertible into coin 
on demand " *), a revenue tariff, and permission to 
purchase ships abroad, and denounced the " fraud 
of 1876-77" and the Administration's " claim of a 

1 The latter part of this definition would hardly have been accepted by 
the original, or Jeffersonian, Democracy. 



i88o.] Presidential Election. 257 

right to surround the ballot-boxes with troops." It 
nominated Winfield S. Hancock, of Pennsylvania, 
for President, on the second ballot, and William 
H. English, of Indiana, for Vice-President. In the 
Presidential election in November, Democratic 
electors were chosen by all the Southern States, 
and by New Jersey, California, 1 and Nevada in the 
North ; all the other States chose Republican elec- 
tors. On the entire popular vote the Republicans 
had a slight plurality, neither party having a ma- 
jority. The Greenback vote did not affect the re- 
sult, except in California, Indiana, and New Jer- 
sey, where it prevented either party from having a 
majority. The Congressional elections gave the 
Republicans a majority of one over all in the 
House of Representatives, 2 which was. to meet in 
December, 1881. 

8. Congress met December 6th, 1880. The 
XLVIth Congress, principal business of the 
2d Session. Session was to count the 

electoral votes, as to which there was, luckily, no 
doubtful question of vital importance to either 
party. Georgia had as yet neglected to alter her 
State law, as passed under the Confederacy, by 
which her electors met and voted on the second 
Wednesday of December instead of the first Wed- 
nesday, as required by Federal law. Both parties 
amicably agreed to count the vote of Georgia " in 

1 One Democratic elector in California was defeated. 

2 Rep. 147, Dem. 136, Grb. 9, Ind. 1. 

17 



258 American Politics. [188 1 

the alternative/' ' declaring that Garfield and Ar- 
thur had 214 votes, that Hancock and English had 
155 votes if the vote of Georgia were counted, and 
144 votes if the vote of Georgia were not counted, 
and that in either case Garfield and Arthur were 
elected. Congress adjourned March 3d, i88i,and 
March 4th Garfield and Arthur were sworn into 
office. 

2 See p. 97. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION, 1881-1885. 

James A. Garfield, President. Chester A. Arthur, Vice-President t 
XT/VIIth and XXiVIIIth Congresses. 

Popular Vote for President in 1880 ; Rep. 4,442,950, 
Dent. 4,442,035, National (Greenback) 306,867, 
Scattering 12,576. 

1. An extra session of the Senate, to consider 
XLVIIth Congress, the new Presi- 
Senate, 1st Extra Session, dent's nominations 
to office, met immediately after the inauguration. 
In actual membership the parties were a tie, 1 but the 
casting vote of the Vice-President gave the Re- 
publicans a majority. They at once undertook to 
change the employees of the Senate, as the Demo- 
crats had done on obtaining control of the Senate. 
The Democrats resisted the attempt on the ground 
that the Senate, at its extra session, ought to 
attend only to the specific business for which it 
had been summoned ; and, there being no rules in 
the Senate to limit debate, the dispute was pro- 
longed for many weeks, to the neglect of all other 

1 Dem. 37, Rep. 37, Ind. 2. The independent vote was divided between 
the two parties. 

259 



260 American Politics. [1881 

business. The sudden resignation of the two Re- 
publican Senators 1 from New York, because of a 
disagreement with the President as to certain 
appointments in their State, left the Democrats 
in the majority, and the Senate, having confirmed 
the President's nominations, adjourned May 24th, 
1881. The attention of the whole people was 
again called to the necessity of Civil-Service 
Reform — which had long been formally approved 
by both parties and faithfully executed by neither — 
by the crime of a disappointed office-seeker in shoot- 
ing the President, with intent to kill him, July 2d, 
1881. September 19th, President Garfield died, 
and Vice-President Arthur became President in 
his stead. The assassin, after trial and conviction, 
was hanged in the following year. 

2. A second extra session of the Senate met 
XLVIIth Congress, after the death of 

Senate, 2d Extra Session. President Garfield, 
to consider the nominations of his successor to 
offices in the Cabinet and elsewhere. Thomas F. 
Bayard was succeeded by David Davis, an Inde- 
pendent, as President of the Senate, and Arthur's 
Cabinet nominations were confirmed. Robert Lin- 
coln was the only one of Garfield's Cabinet 
ultimately retained. 

3. Congress met December 5th, 1881. 2 In the 

1 Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Piatt. 

2 Senate, Dem. 37, Rep. 37, Ind. 2 ; House, Rep. 147, Dem. 136, Grb. 9, 
Jnd, x. 



1 882.] Tariff Commission. 261 

XLVIIth Congress, House the Republicans 
1st Session. had a majority of one 

over all others, and J. Warren Keifer was chosen 
Speaker. The President's Message fulfilled the 
expectations which the country had formed after the 
announcement of his Cabinet. It took high ground 
concerning Civil Service Reform, recommend- 
ing important legislation with reference to strength- 
ening and applying the principle. It contained 
also a forcible presentation of the necessity of fur- 
ther action on the part of Congress with reference 
to Mormonism and the cessation of silver coinage. 
A new Apportionment Act was passed, based 
on the census of 1880. The ratio of representa- 
tion was fixed at one Congressman to 151,912 
inhabitants. This raised the membership of the 
House to 325, and the total electoral vote to 401. 
The Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Bill was passed 
and became a law. There was much discussion of 
the demand made for the exclusion of the Chinese. 
A bill was finally prepared, passed, and signed by 
the President, which prohibited immigration from 
China for ten years. A River and Harbor Bill 
providing for extraordinary appropriations was 
passed over the President's veto. The most im- 
portant political question was the reduction of the 
Tariff, and provision was made for the appoint- 
ment of a Commission to bring in a report on the 
matter. Such was the general prosperity of the 
whole country, notably of the South, that the 



262 American Politics. [1883 

receipts for revenue were far larger than the nec- 
essary expenditures of the government, whose 
creditors refused to receive their money before it 
was due, and the increasing surplus made evident 
the necessity for a reduction of taxation. Congress 
adjourned August 8th, 1882. In 1881 was cele- 
brated the centennial anniversary of the surrender 
at Yorktown. British representatives were present, 
and the British flag was saluted by order of the 
President. In 1882 the Mississippi overflowed its 
banks in a flood so disastrous as to drive nearly 
100,000 people from their homes for a time. The 
State elections held in the fall were favorable to 
the Democrats, and Chas. J Folger, who was avow- 
edly the Administration candidate for Governor of 
New York, was defeated by Grover Cleveland. 

4. Congress met December 4th, 1882. The Pen- 
XLVIIth Congress, dleton Civil Service 
2d Session. Bill was debated, passed 

and approved. It could not under the Constitution 
curtail the President's power of appointment, but it 
allowed the President to create a board of exami- 
ners, and to make appointments from those who 
were recommended by them. The Act was imme- 
diately enforced and faithfully executed by Arthur. 
The principle of Civil Service Reform was thereby 
established as a question not only in National but 
in State politics. On the report of the Tariff 
Commission a bill was passed and approved, but 
the execution of its provisions did not reduce the 



1884.] Knights of Labor. 263 

revenue as much as was expected, and the question 
remained an open one. Congress adjourned March 
4th, 1883. 

5. The year 1883 was politically uneventful. But 
about this time the growth of corporations in num- 
bers and wealth made it clear that the old Trade 
Unions of labor were not radical enough to cope 
successfully with the new force developed by capi- 
tal. Accordingly, to meet the imperfectly under- 
stood but much dreaded consequences of the 
"pool," the "trust," and the "black-list," a local 
Philadelphia society, the Knights of Labor, 
numbering at this time 52,000 members, suddenly 
sprang into prominence, proposing the union of all 
kinds and classes of labor into one organization, so 
as to paralyze if needful the industry of the whole 
country to redress the wrongs of the humblest 
workingman. 

Windstorms or cyclones wrought great havoc 
during this and the following year in both the 
West and South. 

6. Congress met December 3d, 1883. ' Edmunds 
XLVIIIth Congress, of Vermont was elected 

ISt Session. temporary President of the 

Senate. But the Democrats controlled the House, 
and chose J. G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, as Speaker. 
The most important legislation proposed was the 
Presidential Succession Bill, whereby the suc- 

1 Senate, Rep. 40, Dem. 36 ; House, Dem. 200, Ind. Dem. 4 ; Rep. 116; 
Readjuster (Rep.) 4 ; Grb, 1. 



264 American Politics. [1884 

cessors to the office of President, in case of his dis- 
ability or removal by violent or natural causes, were 
to be the Vice-President, the temporary President 
of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives and the Cabinet Secretaries according to 
the seniority of the various Departments. The bill 
with changes did not pass until 1885. There was 
also introduced and passed by the Senate the Blair 
Educational Bill, to distribute from the national 
Treasury certain sums for promoting education in 
various States according to the proportion of illi- 
teracy in the population. This proposition has 
been before every succeeding Congress until the 
present time (1890), but has never received the 
approval of the House of Representatives, and has 
recently (1890) been rejected by the Senate. An 
attempt at a reduction of Tariff duties was made 
by the so-called Morrison Horizontal Reduc- 
tion Bill, which was defeated in the House by 
the combined votes, of the Republicans and the 
Randall or Protectionist Democrats. The Tariff 
was, therefore, the most important question in the 
next Presidential election. Congress adjourned 
July 7th, 1884. 

7. About this time popular discontent with the 
administration of justice in many parts of the coun- 
try began to be acute. In many cases the laws 
themselves were defective, in others the juries were 
composed of unfit men. It also occurred that 
injured persons, having no confidence in the results 
of litigation took the law into their own hands and 



1884O Presidential Election. 265 

were not punished. The Cincinnati Riots of 

1884 originated in discontent with such a state of 
things, but as is the case in all such risings the 
wildest excesses were committed. They lasted 
several days. 

The combination of laborers against corporations 
went steadily forward under the Knights of Labor, 
and the " boycott " was imported from Ireland as a 
means of coercion. By its workings any employer 
thought to be oppressive in dealing with members 
of any labor organization was punished by a re- 
fusal to purchase his products wherever found. 
The announcement of a boycott was made as pub- 
lic and as offensive as possible. 

8. The Republican National Convention 
met at Chicago on June 3d, 1884. It nominated 
James G. Blaine, of Maine, and John A. Logan, of 
Illinois, for President and Vice-President respect- 
ively. The platform pledged the party to a reduc- 
tion of the surplus and to the principle of pro- 
tection, lo the control of corporations by con- 
gressional regulation of inter-state commerce, to 
the settlement of the labor difficulties by the organ- 
ization of a national labor bureau, and to Civil 
Service Reform. It charged the Democrats with 
fraud and violence in dealing with the negro vote 
in the South, and emphasized the loose-construc- 
tionist view of State rights. 

The Democratic National Convention met 
at St. Louis on July 8th. The platform was 
remarkable for its recognition of loose-construe- 



266 American Politics. [1884 

tionist views in the party. It demanded a change 
of administration in the interests of pure adminis- 
tration, evaded the question of protection but prom- 
ised a reduction of tariff duties and legislation 
looking to the control of corporations in the inter- 
ests of labor. It arraigned the Republican policy 
as having destroyed the merchant marine, and 
also promised Chinese exclusion. It promised Civil 
Service Reform and announced an " American 
continental policy, based upon more intimate com- 
mercial and political relations with the fifteen re- 
publics, but entangling alliance with none." The 
nominations were Grover Cleveland, of New York, 
for President, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of 
Indiana, for Vice-President. The National or 
People's (" Greenback ") Convention nomi- 
nated Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, and 
A. M. West, of Mississippi, for President and Vice- 
President, on a platform demanding the substitu- 
tion of greenbacks for National bank notes in 
order to make money "cheap," and denouncing 
monopolies. The Prohibition Convention nom- 
inated John P. St. John, of Kansas, and William 
Daniel, of Maryland. The platform demanded 
the entire suppression of the manufacture and sale 
of all intoxicating drinks, and enunciated the princi- 
ple of Woman Suffrage. Nominations were also 
made by the Woman Suffrage party and the Ameri- 
can Alliance. 

The ensuing contest was very vigorous, and was 
embittered by disgraceful attacks upon the per- 



1884.] Democratic Success. 267 

sonal character of each of the two leading candi- 
dates. It was also marked by the unsuccessful 
attempt to form an Independent party to support 
Cleveland. After the election in November it 
was found that the Democrats had 183 electoral 
votes and the Republicans 182, without those of 
New York, and that none had been chosen by 
either the Prohibition or the People's party. In 
that State the result was doubtful for two days, the 
vote being very close. The official count showed 
a small majority for the Democrats, and gave, 
therefore, 36 electoral votes to them. This result 
was due in part to the Prohibitionists, and in part 
to the independent voters, or " Mugwumps/' as they 
were commonly called, who were influential and 
active although without an organization. Ths 
elections for Representatives in the Congress 
which was to meet in December, 1885, resulted in 
a Democratic majority of forty. 

9. Congress met December 1st, 1884. The ses- 
XLVIIIth Congress, sion was very unevent- 
2d Session. ful, and the general 

feeling of the country, which was one of expecta- 
tion, was reflected in both the Administration and 
in Congress. The President's message, however, 
recommended a cessation in the coining of silver. 
It was also proposed in the House to increase the 
number of Cabinet officers by changing the Bureau 
of Agriculture into a Department. Congress ad- 
journed March 4th, 1885, and Cleveland and Hen- 
dricks were sworn into office. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

TWENTY-FIFTH ADMINISTRATION, 1885-1889. 

Orover Cleveland, President. Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President, 
XTJXth and Lth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1 884. Dem. 4,9 1 1 ,0 1 y 9 
Rep. 4,848,334, Prohib. 151,809, Peoples i33> 82 5- 

1. During the spring and summer of 1885 the 
most important political question was that of the 
Civil Service. For the first time in more than 
fifty years no sweeping changes in the non-political 
offices were made. The Pendleton Act was obeyed 
in spirit, and its principle was applied to many 
offices not covered by it. In a few instances only 
changes were made " for the good of the service," 
where the charges against the officers removed 
were not made public, and the President was 
charged with acting upon the ' spoils ' system of 
distributing offices and violating the Tenure of 
Office Act. Many famous men died during this 
period, among others Grant, McClellan, and the 
Vice-President, Hendricks. The death of the latter 
again called attention to the importance of regu- 
lating the Presidential succession. 

2. Congress met December 16th, 1885. * The 

1 Senate, Rep. 41, Dem. 35. House, Dem. 182, Rep. 138, People's 2 $ 
Vacancies 3. 

268 



1885.] Presidential Succession. 269 

XLlXth Congress, President's Message con- 
ist Session. tained four recommenda- 

tions of importance — the reduction of Tariff duties, 
the extension of Civil Service Reform, the regulation 
of the Presidental succession, and the appointment 
of a commission to settle the Fisheries Disputes 
with Great Britain. John Sherman was elected 
temporary President of the Senate, and Speaker J. 
G. Carlisle was re-elected in the House. This Ses- 
sion of Congress was unusually fruitless in completed 
legislation. The only bills of importance which 
became laws were the Presidential Succession 
Bill, naming the Vice-President and the Secretaries 
of the Departments in the order of establishment, 
as successors in case of the disability or death of 
those preceding them, provided that such Secretaries 
be constitutionally eligible, the Increased Pensions 
Bill, and the Bill increasing the Navy. The Presi- 
dent vetoed over one hundred Acts of Congress, 
about ninety of which were private pension bills. 
There was a sharp contest between the Pres- 
ident and the Senate in regard to suspensions 
and nominations, which resulted in a practical vic- 
tory for the former. This was really a matter of 
political tactics, for the Administration did not lay 
before the Senate the papers containing the reasons 
for removal as it demanded, and as the legal terms 
of many of the suspended officials had expired, the 
President formally withdrew his nominations and 
sent them in again as new ones. The logic of 



270 American Politics. [1886 

events thus brought about their confirmation. The 
Democrats prepared a Tariff Bill, but failed to 
secure its consideration. Congress adjourned 
August 5th, 1886. 

3. The Civil Service Commission was fully 
organized about April 1st, and entered upon its 
work with judgment and zeal. The examining 
boards were reformed so as to free them from direct 
or indirect political influence. Their investigation 
of the Custom House in New York discovered the 
boldest violations of the spirit of the law, and 
resulted in the resignation of the Collector. The 
commission further regulated the relations of local 
boards to itself in the matter of records and 
reports, and perfected a plan for promotion. The 
President did all in his power to second their 
efforts ; he officially warned all office-holders against 
attempts to control local politics, and appointed a 
Republican to be chief-examiner for the Civil Ser- 
vice commission. Public sentiment was in general 
favorable to the reform, but much unsuccessful 
hostility to it was shown in the Senate. 

4. By this time the numbers of the Knights of 
Labor had grown to 600,000. Labor troubles were 
widespread, and strikes of a serious nature occurred 
throughout the country. Desperate agitators, who 
called themselves Anarchists, made demonstra- 
tions in Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York. The 
leaders of the Chicago rioters were indicted for 
murder, seven were found guilty, and four of them 



1 886.] Electoral Count Act. 271 

were hanged. In other cities they were punished 
according to the nature of their offense. The 
officers of the Knights of Labor organization 
showed much good sense and moderation in their 
published orders, but they were unable to control 
the baser elements in the society. It began, there- 
fore, to lose whatever good reputation it had ac- 
quired. The courts dealt the "boycott " a severe 
blow by convicting of conspiracy many of those who 
engaged in it, and punishing them by imprison- 
ment for terms varying from three months to four 
years. The President in a special message to Con- 
gress recommended arbitration by a permanent 
Commission of Labor as the means of settling all 
controversies between labor and capital. 

5. The Second Session of the Forty-ninth Con- 
XLIXth Congress, gress began on December 
2d Session. 6th, 1886. The President's 

Message emphasized the importance of reducing 
the surplus revenue, and recommended lowering 
the duties on the necessities of life and on raw ma- 
terials. It also commended the working of the 
Civil Service Law as the " surest guarantee of the 
safety and success of American institutions." Later 
the papers concerning the Canadian Fisheries 
Dispute were laid before Congress, with a state- 
ment from the Administration that it would de- 
mand damages for the seizure of American fishing 
vessels. Several very important measures became 
law. The Electoral Count Act permits Con- 



272 American Politics. [1886 

gress to go behind the returns only when a State 
fails to settle its own disputes. The Free Delivery 
System of the Post Office Department was materially 
extended ; the Trade Dollar was withdrawn from 
circulation ; lands were granted in severalty to the 
Indians ; private claims w T ere ordered henceforth to 
be referred to the Court of Claims ; and the Presi- 
dent was authorized to take severe retaliatory meas- 
ures against Canada. The Dependent Pension 
Bill, granting twelve dollars a month to every hon- 
orably discharged war veteran of not less than three 
months' service, who was at the time dependent on 
his own daily labor or on others for support, was 
vetoed by the President, as were also many private 
pension bills. The Morrison Tariff Bill, which had 
been prepared the year before by the majority of 
the Democrats, was again offered for consideration, 
but the movement was defeated as before by the 
Republicans and protection Democrats. The Anti- 
Polygamy Bill became law without the Presi- 
dent's signature. It was more radical in its meas- 
ures than any previous law, and made the status of 
polygamy criminal. The Tenure of Office Law was 
repealed. During the closing days of the Session, 
Senator Sherman resigned the temporary Presidency 
of the Senate, and was succeeded in that office by 
J. J. Ingalls of Kansas. 

6. By far the most important action of the Session 
was the passage and approval of the Inter-State 
Commerce Act. This law created a Commission 



1887.] Inter-State Commerce Act. 273 

of five members, to be appointed by the President 
and confirmed by the Senate. It has authority to 
call for books, papers, etc., to summon witnesses, 
and to appeal to the Courts for assistance in cases 
of disobedience. The Commissioners, moreover, 
must not be in anyway pecuniarily interested in the 
stocks or bonds of corporations affected by the Act, 
nor in their employment. The chief provisions of 
the law forbid discrimination in rates and the pool- 
ing of freights by different and competing railroads, 
or dividing between them the aggregate or any 
proportion of the earnings of such railroads. 
The penalty is a fine of $500 for each offence, but 
relief authorizing (in special cases) a less charge for 
a u long haul," than for a " short haul," may from 
time to time be granted by the Commission. In 
accordance with the statute the Commission was 
constituted on March 226. by the appointment of 
men of recognized ability and discretion. The. 
operation of the law has given general satisfaction. 
Congress adjourned March 3d, 1887. The Con- 
gressional elections of the autumn resulted in a 
somewhat diminished Democratic majority in the 
House. Contested elections for the Senate in sev- 
eral Legislatures made its political character un- 
certain. 

7. The Administration did not satisfy the reform- 
ers in the further development of reform in official 
appointments, but they admitted that, nevertheless, 
the " spoils " system was seriously shaken. During 



274 American Politics. [1887 

the summer there were two great strikes, both 
unsuccessful, in the building trade. The labor 
. movement began to lose support because of the 
pronounced socialism of many of its leaders. 
The Knights of Labor diminished in influence, 
and their numbers decreased by nearly two hun- 
dred thousand within the year. This was due in 
a measure to the increasing strength of a rival 
society, the American Federation of Labor. 

The celebration in Philadelphia, September 15-17, 
of the centenary of the Federal Constitution was a 
notable event. Larger numbers participated, either 
as on-lookers or in the parades and public exer- 
cises, than in any previous centennial celebration. 

8. When the Fiftieth Congress 1 met, on December 
Lth Congress, 5th, 1887, it was found that the 

1st Session. Senate was almost equally divid- 
ed, with one independent vote, and that in the 
House the Democrats had a majority of eleven 
over all others. Speaker Carlisle was again re- 
elected. The President's Message was devoted 
exclusively to one topic, the Tariff, He estimated 
that the surplus would be $140,000,000 on June, 
30th, 1888. He denounced the existing tariff laws 
as " the vicious, inequitable, and illogical source 
of unnecessary taxation/' and demanded as a rem- 
edy the abolition of duties on raw materials, 
arguing especially in favor of the removal of 
the duty on wool. This was the longest Session 

1 Senate, Rep. 39, Dem. 37; House, Dem. 168. Rep. 153, Ind. 4. 



1 888.] The Tariff. 275 

of Congress ever held, but it was not fruitful of 
important legislation. One Act made permanent 
the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to 
purchase bonds with the surplus in the Treasury. 
The largest River and Harbor appropriation ever 
made ($22,227,000) became law without the 
President's signature. Bills were also passed 
authorizing the President to arrange for an Ail- 
American Congress and for an International Ma- 
rine Conference ; the necessary appropriations 
being contained in the Acts. The former was to 
consist of delegates from all independent govern- 
ments in North, Central, and South America. The 
latter was to be a conference between the marine 
nations of the world to devise means for assuring 
greater safety for life and property at sea. The 
Blair Educational Bill again passed the Senate by 
a diminished majority, but was defeated in the 
House. A new tariff measure known as the Mills 
Bill was passed by the House. Its most impor- 
tant feature was the removal of the duty on wool, 
and it was estimated that this, with other less im- 
portant changes, would reduce the customs duties 
by $50,000,000. The Senate Finance Committee 
introduced a substitute, repealing the tobacco tax 
and reducing the sugar duty one-half. By these 
means the revenue would be diminished by $65,- 
000,000. A Fisheries Treaty with England had 
been negotiated, but it was unsatisfactory to New 
England and was rejected by the Senate. The 



2j6 American Politics. [1888 

President then asked for powers to visit upon Can- 
ada the severest form of retaliation, by stopping 
the transhipment of Canadian goods in bond 
across the United States. A bill granting the power 
was passed as a party measure in the House, but 
the Senate by referring it to a committee virtually 
ended any possibility of action. A new treaty with 
China, prohibiting the entrance of Chinese labor 
into the United States for twenty years, was rati- 
fied by the Senate and rejected by China. There- 
upon a new Chinese Exclusion Bill of the ut- 
most stringency was passed by both Houses and 
approved by the President. Congress adjourned 
October 20th, 1888. 

9. The cause of Civil Service Reform was 
theoretically furthered by an executive order en- 
larging the scope of the classified service, and by the 
complete revision and marked improvement of the 
rules and regulations, but there began to be wide- 
spread distrust of the practical methods of party 
managers, and the unpunished partisan activity of 
office-holders was notorious. Labor troubles di- 
minished in number and importance, although 
there was one very serious railroad strike and some 
dangerous agitation. The most important reform 
movement of the time was the initiation by Massa- 
chusetts, Wisconsin, and a few other States, of a 
new method of voting intended to secure secrecy 
and prevent bribery. This Ballot Reform makes 
steady headway, although there has been much op- 



1 888.] Presidential Election. 2JJ 

position. The Supreme Court decided that the 
law in Washington Territory extending the suffrage 
to women was unconstitutional. The cause of 
Temperance was much strengthened by political 
and judicial action in New York, New Jersey, and 
Pennsylvania, although it has since been somewhat 
discredited by the extreme views of some of its 
supporters, and has been weakened temporarily by 
the unexampled activity of its opponents. 

10. The Democratic National Convention 
assembled at St. Louis, on June 5th, 1888. Presi- 
dent Cleveland was renominated unanimously and 
by acclamation, and Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, 
was nominated for Vice-President on the first bal- 
lot. The platform indorsed the Administration, 
for the inauguration of honest reform in the Civil 
Service and for its efficiency, emphatically ap- 
proving the President's message in regard to rev- 
enue reform, and declared that " domestic indus- 
tries should not and need not be endangered by 
the reduction and correction of the burdens of tax- 
ation." The Republican National Convention 
met in Chicago, June 19th. Once in February, 
and again in May, letters had been published from 
Mr. Blaine, who was in Europe, declaring that he 
could not accept a nomination to the Presidency, 
but in spite of that fact there were still many in the 
Convention who hoped that the party could unite 
on no other candidate. On the third day, however, 
and after seven ballots, Benjamin Harrison, of In- 



278 American Politics. [1 

diana, and Levi P. Morton, of New York, were 
nominated for President and Vice-President re- 
spectively. The platform charged the party in 
power with suppression of the ballot in the South, 
inefficiency in its foreign policy, abuse of the veto 
power, and a desire to destroy " the general busi- 
ness, the labor and the farming interests of the 
country,'' by its tariff legislation. It favored pro- 
tection as the American system, and " the entire 
repeal of internal taxes rather than the surrender of 
any part of our protective system." It claimed for 
the Republican party the inauguration of Civil Ser- 
vice Reform, and demanded its extension in order 
to avoid a the dangers to free institutions which 
lurk in the power of official patronage." The 
Prohibition National Convention was held in 
Indianapolis on May 31st. Its nominations were 
Clinton B. Fisk, of New Jersey, for President, and 
John A. Brooks, of Missouri, for Vice-President. 
The platform declared that " the manufacture, im- 
portation, exportation, and sale of alcoholic bever- 
ages should be made public crimes, and punished 
as such," and demanded the abolition of the Inter- 
nal Revenue System, and the reduction of import 
duties. Other nominations were announced as 
having been made by the . Equal Rights party, 
the United Labor party, the Union Labor party, 
and the American party. The campaign was less 
acrimonious than the preceding one, but was 
marked by the use of money to an unprecedented 



1889.] Admission of States. 279 

extent. The result of the election was the success 
of the Republicans by a majority of 65 in a total 
electoral vote of 401. The contest again turned on 
the vote of New York, 

11. Congress met December 3, 1888. The Pres- 
Lth Congress, ident's message was an ampli- 
2d Session. fication of his former argument 
for a change in the tariff. It also reviewed our 
foreign relations and the condition of the Depart- 
ments. To the already existing Executive Depart- 
ments was added a new one, that of Agriculture. 
An Act was also passed providing for the admission 
as new States of North and South Dakota, 
Washington, and Montana. A new Tariff 
bill was passed by the Senate, differing from the 
preceding one by substituting ad valorem for 
specific duties. In the House a report was pres- 
ented declaring this substitution for the House 
(Mills) Bill unconstitutional. A contest between 
the representatives of the two factions of the De- 
mocrats prevented further action. In December 
the President extended the scope of the classified 
Civil Service to the railway mail service, and in 
spite of some adverse action in various quarters, 
steady and sure progress was made in the reform, 
both State and National. Congress adjourned 
March 4th, 1889, and Harrison and Morton were 
sworn into office. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

TWENTY-SIXTH ADMINISTRATION, 1889-1893. 

Benjamin Harrison, President. Levi P. Morton, Vice-President. 
Xilst and Iilld Congresses. 

Popular vote for President i?i 1888: De?n . 5,536,- 
524, Rep, 5,441,923, Prohib. 246,406, Labor 
144,608. 

1. When Congress met on December 2d, 1888, ] 
List Congress, the executive and legisla- 

Ist Session. tive departments of the 

Government were Republican throughout. It was 
determined to change the rules of the House so 
as to expedite business. Accordingly, after much 
heated discussion, thg Speaker was authorized to 
count as present for the purposes of a quorum 
all who were in the chamber, whether answering 
to the roll-call or not; he was also permitted to 
disregard dilatory motions. In his message 
President Harrison emphasized the importance 
of the Protective policy, and a commission, of 
which William McKinley of Ohio was the head, 
began the preparation of a bill to be presented 
for action at the earliest possible date. Its es- 

1 Senate, Rep. 51,, Dem. 37. House, Rep. 176', Dem. 155, " Wheeler," 1. 
280 



1889.] The McKinley Tariff Bill. 281 

sential features were to be a reduction of the 
revenue and the maintenance of Protection. 
Levi P. Morton took his seat as presiding officer 
of the Senate, and Thomas B. Reed of Maine 
was chosen Speaker of the House. The legisla- 
tion of this session was important. The McKin- 
ley Tariff Bill laid high duties on such foreign 
goods as came into competition with home man- 
ufactures, and admitted free those which did not. 
The Senate amended it by authorizing the Presi- 
dent to impose duties on certain free goods 
whenever the country of origin imposed duties 
" reciprocally unequal and unreasonable" on 
certain of our exports. With this Reciprocity 
clause added, the bill became a law. The Bland- 
Allison law of 1878 w T as repealed, and the Sher- 
man Law was enacted. By it the Government 
was required to purchase 4,500,000 ounces of sil- 
ver monthly, and issue legal-tender treasury 
notes, redeemable on demand in gold or silver to 
the full value of the bullion. In response to a 
recommendation of the President's message for 
increase of pensions, the Dependent Parents 
and Disabilities Act was passed. The effect 
was to increase the number of pensioners from 
537,944 in 1890 to 976,014 in 1897, and the 
annual expenditure from $72,052,143 to $141,- 
263,880 during the same period. In 1894 the 
expenditure for pensions was over $160,000,000, 
about $20,000,000 less than half the total appro- 



282 American Politics. [189O 

priations for national purposes. The Navy Ap- 
propriation Act authorized the expenditure of 
$25,000,000 for the increase of the Navy. The 
excess of expenditures by the Fifty-first Congress 
over those of its predecessors was$iyo, 000,000; its 
total appropriations were about $1,000,000,000, 
and this lavishness has, so far, been continued. 
Chicago was designated as the site of the Colum- 
bian Exposition in celebration of the four hun- 
dredth anniversary of the discovery of America 
by Columbus. Congress adjourned on October 
1st, 1890. Idaho and Wyoming were admitted 
as new States, the latter after warm debate as to 
the clause in its Constitution granting the suf- 
frage to women. A portion of the Indian Terri- 
tory was organized as Oklahoma and opened to 
settlement in 1891. 

2. The Civil Service Act was obeyed in 
spirit by President Harrison, and well adminis- 
tered by the Commission. This policy received 
the hearty support of public opinion in spite of 
the remnants of hostility displayed in various 
quarters. The final count of the Eleventh 
Census made the total population of the United 
States on June 1st, 1890, 62,622,250, an increase 
of somewhat less than 25 per cent, over the fig- 
ures of the Tenth. The negro population had 
increased less than 14 per cent. The geographi- 
cal center of population was in southern Indiana. 
In Kansas the Farmers' Alliance met in conven- 



1890.] The "Peoples Party!' 283 

tion during September, 1890, with the Knights 
of Labor, and nominated a State ticket, which 
was elected. The combination also secured five 
out of seven Congressmen and one United States 
Senator. They formulated as demands for na- 
tional legislation : the free and unlimited coinage 
of silver to increase the currency, a sub-treas- 
ury scheme for loaning Government funds to 
farmers on the security of non-perishable farm 
produce at 2 per cent., and a land mortgage 
scheme enabling the owner of from 10 to 320 
acres of land, half of which was under cultiva- 
tion, to borrow from the Government treasury 
notes equal to half the assessed value of land 
and buildings. The "People's Party " was or- 
ganized on an expansion of this basis during 
1891, and its members were generally known as 
" Populists." This movement was due to dis- 
satisfaction with the legislation of the Fifty-first 
Congress and to serious agricultural depression. 
3. T^ie Second Session of the Fifty-first Con- 
List Congress, gress began on Decem- 
2d Session. ber 1st, 1890. Although 
alarmed by the ever-growing symptoms of dis- 
content throughout the country, Congress felt 
itself committed to the policy of creating a New 
Navy, and further appropriated $16,500,000 for 
new vessels and equipments. Otherwise it was 
economical during the Second Session. A new 
apportionment of representatives was made on 



284 American Politics. [1890 

the basis of a total number of 356. Immigra- 
tion Legislation was amended so as to exclude, 
under very severe penalties, idiots, insane, crimi- 
nals, and assisted immigrants. New Circuit 
Judgeships and Circuit Courts of Appeals were 
created, and the Inter-State Commerce Law was 
amended so as to enlarge the powers of the Com- 
mission. The most important act was that con- 
cerning International Copyright, which under 
certain limitations finally admits the rights of 
foreign authors, giving them the enjoyment of 
their property within our boundaries. 

4. The widespread agitation for the free coin- 
age of silver led to forming and carrying out a plan 
for an International Monetary Conference : 
it met in Brussels, but resulted in disagreement. 
The dispute with England concerning the re- 
spective rights and conduct of Canadian and 
American sealers in the Bering Sea was tempo- 
rarily adjusted by declaring a close season, by 
appointing a joint patrol, and by making arrange- 
ments for submitting the matter to international 
arbitration. A riot in New Orleans resulted in 
the murder of several Italian subjects. The 
Federal Government expressed regret, but dis- 
claimed responsibility: this resulted in a rupture 
of diplomatic relations with Italy; the breach 
was not clpsed until an appropriation of $25,- 
000 was made as an indemnity to the families of 
the dead and as a token of our good will to 



1 89 1.] Elections of 1890. 285 

Italy. United States sailors from the Balti- 
more were assaulted by a mob in Valparaiso, 
and one was killed : reparation was obtained from 
Chili, but only upon a peremptory demand made 
after unavailing and long continued negotiation. 

5. In the elections of 1890 the Republicans 
met with overwhelming defeat. They lost the 
legislatures of New York and Wisconsin, and a 
large Democratic majority was secured in the 
House of Representatives. Congress 1 met on 
Llld Congress, December 7th, 1891, and 

1st Session. Charles F. Crisp of Geor- 

gia was elected Speaker. The situation ren- 
dered impossible the passage of any bills along 
the line of strict party policy. Acts were passed 
enforcing reciprocal relations with Canada, regu- 
lating the redemption of National Bank notes, 
excluding Chinese emigrants for ten years, mak- 
ing eight hours a day's labor for workingmen in 
Government employment, regulating the admin- 
istration of the pension bureau, admitting foreign- 
built ships to American register under certain 
conditions, and appropriating funds for the Co- 
lumbian Exposition. Treaties of reciprocity with 
eleven foreign countries were proclaimed by the 
President and the operations of the McKinley 
Tariff Bill were adjusted by slight changes. Con- 
gress adjourned on August 5th, 1892. 

1 Senate, Rep. 47, Dem. 39, Independents, 2. House, Dem. 235, Rep. 
88, Farmers' Alliance, 9. 



286 American Politics, [1892 

6. The Civil Service Commission reported 
that politics had virtually disappeared as a factor 
in appointments to the classified service of the 
Government. Patronage was abolished in the 
navy yards and from a portion of the Indian 
service. The efforts of the Commission to pre- 
vent the soliciting of political contributions from 
office-holders were partially successful. The work 
of Ballot Reform was conspicuously advanced 
by the further adoption of what is known as the 
Australian system of secret voting in a sufficient 
number of States to raise the total to twenty- 
four. Many distinguished men died during this 
period; notably George Bancroft, the historian, 
Admiral Porter, and General Sherman. The 
Anti-Polygamy law was enforced so rigidly in 
Utah that the Mormons in general conference 
formally renounced the institution. In thirteen 
States acts were passed which either constituted 
eight hours a lawful day's work on State or 
municipal work, or made an advance in that 
direction. About half the States enacted laws 
against boycotting and black-listing, and in the 
same number the organization of labor bureaus 
was completed. 

7. The Republican National Convention 
met at Minneapolis on June 7th, 1893. Presi- 
dent Harrison was renominated on the first 
ballot, and Whitelaw Reid of New York was 
nominated for Vice-President by acclamation. 



1892.] National Conventions. 287 

Xhe platform indorsed Protection, Reciprocity, 
the use of both gold and silver as the standard 
money under such provisions as would secure 
the parity of the two metals, emphasized 
the Monroe doctrine, and called for further 
restriction of immigration. The Democratic 
National Convention met at Chicago on 
June 20th. Mr. Cleveland was nominated 
for President on the first ballot and, likewise, 
General Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois. The 
platform affirmed the allegiance of the party 
to the principles of Jefferson, deplored the tend- 
ency to centralize all power at Washington, 
asserted the principle of tariff for revenue, in- 
dorsed the idea of reciprocity, and advocated the 
free coinage of both gold and silver on condition 
that the unit be of equal intrinsic and interchange- 
able value, or on a basis of safe international agree- 
ment and legislation to secure the equal power 
of every dollar; it approved civil service reform 
and the restriction of immigration. The national' 
convention of the People's Party assembled at 
Omaha on July 2d. General James B. Weaver 
was nominated for President on the first ballot 
and James G. Field secured the nomination for 
Vice-President. The platform set forth the 
existing discontent and its causes, demanded 
government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, 
and telephones, free coinage of gold and silver 
at the ratio of 16 to 1, a circulation of at least 



288 American Politics. [1892 

fifty dollars per head of the population, a gradu- 
ated income tax, the establishment of postal 
savings banks, and the reclamation of all land 
held by aliens and by corporations in excess 
of their needs. The Prohibition National 
Convention met at Cincinnati on June 29th. 
There was a marked divergence of opinion as 
to fusion with the People's Party, but finally 
General John Bidwell was nominated for Presi- 
dent and the Rev. J. B. Cranfill for Vice- 
President. The platform demanded a cur- 
rency issued directly by Government, a tariff for 
defense against the tariffs of other countries, 
direct taxation for necessary revenue, the sup- 
pression of stock-jobbing methods and of the 
liquor traffic, the suffrage for women, govern- 
ment control of railroads and telegraphs, one 
day of rest in seven for everybody, the restric- 
tion of immigration, and the prohibition of alien 
land ownership. During the summer there were 
serious labor riots near Pittsburgh and Buffalo. 
Small bands of detectives were employed in the 
former, and the latter were suppressed by military 
force. Much blood was shed, and there was 
a general outcry for some peaceful method of 
settling labor disputes. The elections turned 
on Protection. They were quiet and resulted 
in a sweeping victory for the Democrats, who 
secured 277 of the 444 electoral votes. 

8. There was little legislation of the first im- 



1892.] Proposed Annexatiori of Hawaii* 289 

portance in the Second Session of the Fifty- 
Llld Congress, second Congress, which 

2d Session. began on December 5th. 

A revolution had occurred in Hawaii by which 
the monarchy was overthrown and a treaty for 
the annexation of the islands to the United 
States was laid before the Senate, but its friends 
could not secure action on it. An extradition 
treaty with Russia was ratified, which called 
forth emphatic protests from those who feared it 
might be construed so as not to protect political 
offenders. The state of the Treasury and falling 
off of the revenue began to cause uneasiness, as 
did also the steady and growing drain of gold 
from the Treasury. The regular appropriations 
were made toward the close of the session and 
amounted to over five hundred millions, thus 
equaling the record for extravagance of the 
preceding Congress. Some modifications in the 
direction of further stringency were enacted in 
the Immigration Bill. Congress adjourned March 
4th, 1893, and Cleveland and Stevenson were 
sworn into office, 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION, 1893-1897. 

3-rover Cleveland, President. Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice-President, 
Lillld and LilVth Congresses. 

Popular vote for President in 1892: Dem. 5,554,267, 
Rep. 5,175,201, Peoples 1,042,531, Prohib. 

1. When Cleveland and Stevenson were inau- 
gurated there was apparent prosperity — agri- 
cultural, commercial, and industrial — throughout 
the country. But the seeds of panic had been 
sown in the unstable and vacillating financial 
policy which expediency had imposed upon the 
country. In 1875 tne Treasury was authorized 
to buy specie with money obtained from special 
bond issues and to use it for the redemption of 
United States notes. In 1878 it was ordered 
that greenbacks thus redeemed should not be 
destroyed, but reissued and kept in circulation. 
In pursuance of this policy the Treasury created 
a special fund designed to average a hundred 
million, and in July, 1892, it was fourteen 
million above that sum. Under the law of 1890 
silver was purchased with notes exchangeable 
290 



1 893.] The Columbian Exposition. 291 

for " coin," a word held by the Treasury to mean 
gold. In 1890, therefore, there were in circula- 
tion not only three hundred and forty-six millions 
of greenbacks, but a hundred and fifty of silver 
notes, all redeemable in gold, and the latter sum 
must under the Sherman law rapidly increase. 
The price per ounce of silver had fallen in ten 
years from $1.30 to $0.81, and the intrinsic value 
of a dollar was $0.67. These two facts made our 
obligations seem strangely disproportionate to 
our ability to meet them; foreigners sold our 
stocks and bonds in our markets and our own 
people realized on their securities in gold, which 
they hoarded. The reserve fund in this way 
began to shrink, and for the first time fell below 
the average, reaching ninety-seven millions. A 
disastrous panic was the result, more than 
three hundred banks suspended, manufactories 
shut down, and there was widespread distress. 
The only enterprise of importance which did not 
seem to feel the depression was the Columbian 
Exposition, which opened May 1st, 1893, and 
closed October 30th, after a career of brilliant 
and unbroken success. 

2. The Democrats had won a decided victory 
LUId Congress, and, for the first time 

Special Session. since 1861, Executive, 

House, and Senate were all Democratic, 1 the lat- 



1 Senate, Dem. 44, Rep. 36, People's 5, three vacancies; House, Dem. 
219, Rep. 124, People's 12, one vacancy. 



292 American Politics, [^93 

ter by a slight and somewhat doubtful, but yet 
workable, majority. Yielding to a general de- 
mand for the repeal of the silver clause in the 
Sherman Act the President called a special 
session of Congress, which met on August 7th. 
Mr. Crisp was re-elected Speaker of the House. 
The people of the States and Territories whose 
prosperity was believed to depend on silver- 
mining agitated powerfully to create a senti- 
ment in favor of the free coinage of silver by the 
United States mints, in case the purchase clause 
of the Sherman Act should be repealed. The 
struggle in Congress, therefore, was long and 
bitter, but on November 1st the repeal was 
passed. By this time the panic had somewhat 
subsided, but there was no revival of trade. The 
only other completed legislation was an act 
further restricting Chinese immigration. Con- 
gress adjourned on November 3d. 

3. The first regular session of the Fifty-third 
Congress began on December 4th, 1893. In ac- 
Lllld Congress, cordance with the Demo- 

ist Session. cratic platform, a new 

tariff measure, known as the Wilson Bill, was 
at once introduced into the House. During the 
debates in that body the Senate passed a bill, 
already approved by the House, for the repeal 
of the Federal Election Laws, and thus dis- 
appeared the last of the Reconstruction meas- 
ures. There was a long struggle between the 



1 894.] Sales of Bonds. 293 

House and Senate over the details of the tariff 
legislation, and the President was in sympathy 
with the former. As finally passed on August 
13th, 1894, the measure reduced the rates of 
duty on many imports, put wool on the free list, 
and diminished the tax on many other raw 
materials; it also contained a provision for tax- 
ing incomes over $4000. The bill became a law 
without the President's signature, and in the 
spring of 1895- the Supreme Court pronounced 
the Income Tax unconstitutional. Reciprocity 
was abolished except in so far as consistent with 
the new Act. There was an unsuccessful effort 
to compel the silver coinage of the Seignorage 
or difference in value between the cost of the 
silver purchased under the Sherman Act and its 
coined value. Congress adjourned on August 
28th, 1894. 

4. Before long it was clear that the system of 
taxation could neither maintain the gold reserve 
nor meet current expenses, and the country was 
greatly agitated by Sales of Bonds, ordered by 
the President. There were four such sales — Jan- 
uary and November, 1894, February, 1895, and 
January, 1896. The national debt was thus in- 
creased by about two hundred and sixty-two 
millions. The Supreme Court, by decision, 
ordered the restoration to the Mormon Church 
of its property under a repeal of the act of 
Congress confiscating it, and amnesty was ex- 



294 American Politics. [1894 

tended to Mormons who had been guilty of 
polygamy. The suffrage was given to women 
in Colorado. During the winter of 1893-94 
" Armies of the unemployed " were organized 
in various places for the purpose of marching on 
Washington to demand aid from Congress. One 
such rabble, numbering about 350, succeeded 
in entering Washington but they were checked 
by the police, and while attempting to incite 
a riot the leader was arrested. Other bands 
were dispersed in their efforts to steal trans- 
portation from the railways. There was a 
continuous and successful effort to sustain 
the Civil Service Commission in the appli- 
cation and extension of the merit system. 
Hostile comment was aroused by the appoint- 
ment to a diplomatic position of one who had 
contributed largely to the Democratic campaign 
fund, but the contributor, finding himself in a 
false position, withdrew his name, and the fear 
of great offices being virtually at the disposal of 
the highest bidder subsided. The revolution in 
Hawaii having been completed, the Administra- 
tion began a careful examination of the facts, and 
an extended report on .the situation created much 
opposition to annexation. 

5. In April began an extensive Strike of Coal 
Miners, and in five States the militia were called 
out to suppress violence. Federal marshals and 
troops interfered to protect the railways. Be- 



1 895.] Strikes. 295 

fore this strike was successfully ended by agree- 
ment in June, the employees of the Pullman 
Company struck against a reduction of wages in 
May, and the American Railway Union took 
up their cause, ordering a boycott of all Pullman 
cars. This resulted in serious interference with 
railway traffic between Chicago and California. 
The mails being delayed by the serious rioting 
and destruction of property, President Cleveland 
sent regulars to assist the militia, and proclaimed 
a state of insurrection, first in Illinois and after- 
ward in the district further west. The strike 
ended on August 3d, and the action of the Presi- 
dent, though widely discussed, was supported by 
public opinion and by both Houses of Congress. 
Offenders were indicted for rebellion and crimi- 
nal conspiracy. In January, 1895, there was a 
serious strike of the street railway employees of 
Brooklyn, but order was maintained by two 
brigades of militia. A commission was appointed 
by the President to investigate the Railway 
Strike; it recommended a permanent strike com- 
mission whose decisions should be enforcible by 
the courts. The indicted labor leaders were 
sentenced to short terms in jail. The "armies 
of the unemployed " steadily disintegrated. 

6. Congress opened on December 3d, 1894, 

LUId Congress, and adjourned on March 

2d Session. 3d, 1895. There was 

little legislation beyond the routine. A bill 



296 American Politics. [1895 

was introduced to incorporate a company for 
building the Nicaragua Ship Canal, and under 
its provisions the United States were to guarantee 
its bonds and hold seventy out of a hundred 
millions of capital stock. The friends of a strong 
foreign policy secured its passage in the Senate, 
but it was not taken up by the House. The 
latter passed the Compulsory Arbitration Bill 
without division. The New Navy was further 
increased by appropriations for two first-class 
battle-ships. The total appropriations of the 
Fifty-third Congress were thirty-seven millions 
less than those of its predecessor, the difference 
being largely in the pension account. The 
Administration made two energetic efforts to 
effect a Currency Reform by disconnecting 
the Treasury from any issue or re-issue of legal- 
tender notes. Both failed, owing to the opposi- 
tion of those who favored the funding of the 
paper currency. The New York sub-treasury 
was within twenty-four hours of suspending gold 
payments when the second bond issue was taken 
up by a syndicate of bankers at 104^. As the 
price of these bonds in the public market rose 
almost immediately to 118, violent attacks were 
made on the transaction. The Deficit in the 
Revenue continued, and there was a growing 
sentiment, in Congress and out, favoring the free 
coinage of silver. 

7. The State elections of 1894 gave an over- 



1 895.] Venezuelan Boundary Dispute. 297 

whelming triumph to the Republicans, not only 
for State officers, but for Congress. The officers 
of a secret association, founded five years pre- 
viously to resist the influence of foreigners and, 
in particular, of Roman Catholics upon American 
life, and known as the American Protective 
Association, claimed this result as in part due 
to their efforts. But this was problematical, and 
neither of the great parties was willing to 
affiliate with the new power. 

The first session of the Fifty-fourth Congress 
LIVth Congress, opened on December 2d, 
1st Session. and the House organized 

by electing Thomas B. Reed as Speaker. 1 The 
rules were so adjusted that, in case a quorum 
failed to vote, the sergeant-at-arms could bring 
absentees before the House until the clerk noted 
a sufficient number as present. The Senate re- 
organized its committees on December 30th. 
The most important question was the Vene- 
zuelan Boundary Dispute. During the year 
this difficulty between Great Britain and Vene- 
zuela, which was of fifty years' standing, was 
brought to "an acute stage" by what Venezuela 
claimed were encroachments on its border from 
the side of British Guiana. A long diplomatic 
correspondence between our Government and 
that of Great Britain on the question of our atti- 

1 Senate, Rep. 43, Dem. 39, Independents 6. House, Rep. 248, Dem. 
104, Independents and People's 7, vacant 1. 



298 American Politics. [^95 

tude under the Monroe doctrine ended in the 
appointment of a commission to determine the 
true boundary line of Venezuela, and a declara- 
tion that any attempt on the part of Great 
Britain to exercise jurisdiction within such a 
line as determined would be regarded by the 
United States as a " willful aggression upon its 
rights and interests." This was considered at 
home and abroad as a threat of war and created 
great excitement. The correspondence was laid 
before Congress in a Presidential message dated 
December 17th. The war scare depressed the 
money markets and lowered the gold reserve ten 
millions in three weeks, and a new bond issue 
followed. Congress promptly appropriated funds 
for the commission, and abortive attempts were 
made at financial legislation. Equally vain were 
the efforts made by Congress to define the 
Monroe doctrine. The Cuban Insurrection, 
which had broken out in 1894, also attracted 
attention, and resolutions favoring the recog- 
nition of belligerent rights for the rebels passed 
both Houses. A concurrent resolution was 
passed urging the President to secure their rights 
to unoffending Christians and American citizens 
in Turkey; this was due to the outrages in 
Armenia. The navy appropriation bill provided 
for three new battle-ships. Congress adjourned 
on June nth. 

8. The Venezuelan boundary dispute was set- 



1896.] National Conventions. 299 

tied without an appeal to arms by an agreement 
that, except in cases where fifty years' occupation 
had given title by prescription, all the territory 
in dispute should be submitted to arbitration. 
Simultaneously negotiations were opened for a 
general treaty of arbitration between the United 
States and Great Britain, and just before the 
close of the administration such a treaty was laid 
before the Senate; it failed of ratification. The 
claims of the Canadian sealers were adjusted 
under the award of the court on June 3d. Fre- 
quent efforts being made by civilians to furnish 
arms to the Cuban insurgents, the President 
announced and enforced a policy of strict neu- 
trality. Utah was admitted to the Union by 
proclamation in January. 

9. The political discussions of the year turned 
almost exclusively on the question of the free 
coinage of silver. When the Republican Na- 
tional Convention met in St. Louis on June 
16th, the platform declared in favor of protec- 
tion and reciprocity, and against free coinage, 
except by international agreement. Thirty-four 
opposing delegates withdrew. William McKin- 
ley of Ohio was nominated for President on the 
first ballot, and Garrett A. Hobart of New Jer- 
sey secured the nomination for Vice-President. 
The Democratic National Convention met in 
Chicago on July 7th. The great majority of the 
delegates favored free coinage, and a call for 



300 American Politics. [1896 

that measure was embodied in the platform. 
W. J. Bryan of Nebraska was nominated for 
President on the fifth ballot, and Arthur Sewall 
of Maine was nominated for Vice-President. 
Both parties incorporated other "planks" in 
their platform, but the only real issue in the 
election was the free coinage of silver. The 
National Convention of the People's Party 
met at St. Louis on July 22d, and after discuss- 
ing a coalition with the Democrats, rejected 
Sewall's candidacy as that of a capitalist: they 
then nominated Thomas E. Watson of Georgia 
for Vice-President, and indorsed the nomination 
of Bryan for President. The platform was sub- 
stantially that of the Democrats. The managers 
arranged for fusion with the Democrats on the 
election tickets, so that all votes for President 
should go to Bryan, three-fifths of those for Vice- 
President to Sewall, and the other two-fifths 
to Watson. In consequence of the platform 
adopted at Chicago, the so-called "sound- 
money " Democrats held a Convention of the 
" National Democratic Party " at Indian- 
apolis on September 2d, declared for a single 
gold standard of monetary measure, and unani- 
mously nominated J. M. Palmer of Illinois and 
S. B. Buckner of Kentucky for President and 
Vice-President respectively. The Prohibition 
National Convention met at Pittsburgh on 
May 2d, and nominated as its candidates Joshua 



1896.] Relations with Spain. 301 

Levering of Maryland and Hale Johnson of Illi-, 
nois. There was a discussion as to approving 
free coinage, which resulted in a division, and 
the minority nominated Charles E. Bentley of 
Nebraska for President and J. H. Southgate of 
North Carolina for Vice-President. The Social- 
ist Labor Party met at New York on July 9th, 
and nominated Charles H. Matchett of New 
York for President, with Matthew Maguire of 
New Jersey for Vice-President. The ensuing 
campaign was conducted amid great excitement 
as a campaign of education. The election re- 
sulted in the success of the Republicans by a 
majority of 95 in the Electoral College. 

10. The Second Session of the Fifty-fourth 
LIVth Congress, Congress opened on De- 
2d Session. cember 7th. The Presi- 

dent's message called attention to our Relations 
with Spain and Cuba, indicating that the 
nature of the struggle might eventually compel 
us to overlook our obligations to Spain for the 
sake of higher ones. This tempted the friends 
of Cuba to force an issue in Congress, but the 
effort was fruitless. There was little legislation 
of the first importance, even the appropriation 
bills failed to pass in their entirety. This was 
due to the determination of McKinley, which 
was well known, to call an extra session of the 
next Congress as soon as possible after his in- 
auguration. An Immigration Bill passed both 



302 American Politics. \_ l %97 

Houses, but was vetoed by the President. The 
Nicaragua Canal Bill was withdrawn. Congress 
adjourned on March 4th, and McKinley and 
Hobart were sworn into office. 1 



1 Popular vote for President in 1896 : Rep. 7,105,729, Dem. and Peo- 
ple's 6,491,977, Nat. Dem. 133,554, Prohib. 142,491, Social. Labor 39,222. 



APPENDIX A. 
Articles of Confederation. 

Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union 
between the States of New Hampshire, Massa- 
chusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania, Delaware^ Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia. 
Article I. — The style of this Confederacy shall 
be, " The United States of America." 

Article II. — Each State retains its sovereignty, 
freedom, and independence, and every power, 
jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Con- 
federation expressly delegated to the United States 
in Congress assembled. 

Article III. — The said States hereby severally 
enter into a firm league of friendship with each 
other, for their common defense, the security of 
their liberties, and their mutual and general wel- 
fare, binding themselves to assist each other against 
all force offered to or attacks made upon them, or 
any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, 
trade, or any other pretense whatever. 

303 



304 Appendix A. 

Article IV. — The better to secure and perpet- 
uate mutual friendship and intercourse among the 
people of the different States in this Union, the 
free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, 
vagabonds, and fugitives from justice excepted, 
shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of 
free citizens in the several States ; and the people 
of each State shall have free ingress and regress to 
and from any other State, and shall enioy therein 
all the privileges of trade and commerce subject to 
the same duties, impositions and restrictions as 
the inhabitants thereof respectively ; provided that 
such restrictions shall not extend so far as to pre- 
vent the removal of property imported into any 
State to any other State of which the owner is an 
inhabitant ; provided also, that no imposition, 
duties, or restriction shall be laid by any State on 
the property of the United States or either of them. 
If any person guilty of, or charged with, treason, 
felony, or other high misdemeanor in any State 
shall flee from justice and be found in any of the 
United States, he shall, upon demand of the gover- 
nor or executive power of the State from which he 
fled, be delivered up and removed to the State 
having jurisdiction of his offense. Full faith and 
credit shall be given in each of these States to the 
records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts 
and magistrates of every other State. 

Article V. — For the more convenient manage- 
ment of the general interests of the United 



Articles of Confederation. 305 

States, delegates shall be annually appointed in 
such manner as the Legislature of each State shall 
direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in 
November, in every year, vnth a power reserved to 
each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, 
at any time within the year, and to send others in 
their stead for the remainder of the year. No 
State shall be represented in Congress by less than 
two, nor by more than seven members ; and no 
person shall be capable of being a delegate for 
more than three years in any term of six years ; 
nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable 
of holding any office under the United States for 
which he, or another for his benefit, receives any 
salary, fees, or emolument of any kind. Each 
State shall maintain its own delegates in any meet- 
ing of the States and while they act as members of 
the Committee of the States. In determining 
questions in the United States in Congress assem- 
bled, each State shall have one vote. Freedom of 
speech and debate in Congress shall not be im- 
peached or questioned in any court or place out of 
Congress ; and the members of Congress shall be 
protected in their persons from arrests and impris- 
onment during the time of their going to and 
from, and attendance on, Congress, except for 
treason, felony, or breach of the peace. 

Article VI. — No State, without the consent of 
the United States, in Congress assembled, shall 
send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, 



306 Appendix A. 

or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance, 
or treaty with any king, prince, or state ; nor shall 
any person holding any office of profit or trust 
under the United States, or any of them, accept of 
any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind 
whatever from any king, prince, or foreign state ; 
nor shall the United States, in Congress assembled, 
or any of them, grant any title of nobility. 

No two or more States shall enter into any 
treaty, confederation, or alliance whatever between 
them, without the consent of the United States, in 
Congress assembled, specifying accurately the pur- 
poses for which the same is to be entered into, and 
how long it shall continue. 

No State shall lay any imposts or duties which 
may interfere with any stipulations in treaties 
entered into by the United States, in Congress 
assembled, with any king, prince, or state, in pur- 
suance of any treaties already proposed by Con- 
gress to the courts of France and Spain. 

No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of 
peace by any State, except such number only as 
shall be deemed necessary by the United States, in 
Congress assembled, for the defense of such State 
or its trade, nor shall any body of forces be kept 
up by any State in time of peace, except such num- 
ber only as, in the judgment of the United States, 
in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite 
to garrison the forts necessary for the defense of 
such State ; but every State shall always keep up a 



Articles of Confederation. 307 

well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently 
armed and accoutered, and shall provide and con- 
stantly have ready for use in public stores a due 
number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper 
quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage. 

No State shall engage in any war without the 
consent of the United States, in Congress assem- 
bled, unless such State be actually invaded by ene- 
mies, or shall have received certain advice of a 
resolution being formed by some nation of Indians 
to invade such State, and the danger is so immi- 
nent as not to admit of a delay till the United 
States, in Congress assembled, can be consulted ; 
nor shall any State grant commissions to any ships 
or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, 
except it be after a declaration of war by the 
United States, in Congress assembled, and then 
only against the kingdom or state, and the subjects 
thereof, against which war has been so declared, 
and under such regulations as shall be established 
by the United States, in Congress assembled, 
unless such State be infested by pirates, in which 
case vessels of war may be fitted out for that occa- 
sion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, 
or until the United States, in Congress assembled, 
shall determine otherwise. 

Article VII. — When land forces are raised by 
any State for the common defense, all officers of or 
under the rank of Colonel shall be appointed by the 
Legislature of each State respectively by whom 



308 Appendix A. 

such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as 
such State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be 
filled up by the State which first made the appoint- 
ment. 

Article VIII. — All charges of war, and all 
other expenses that shall be incurred for the com- 
mon defense or general welfare, and allowed by 
the United States, in Congress assembled, shall be 
defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be 
supplied by the several States in proportion to the 
value of land within each State, granted to, or sur- 
veyed for, any person, as such land and the build- 
ings and improvements thereon shall be estimated, 
according to such mode as the United States, in 
Congress assembled, shall, from time to time, direct 
and appoint. The taxes for paying that proportion 
shall be laid and levied by the authority and direc- 
tion of the Legislatures of the several States, 
within the time agreed upon by the United States, 
in Congress assembled. 

Article IX. — The United States, in Congress 
assembled, shall have the sole and exclusive right 
and power of determining on peace and war, except 
in the cases mentioned in the sixth Article ; of 
sending and receiving ambassadors ; entering into 
treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty of 
commerce shall be made, whereby the legislative 
power of the respective States shall be restrained 
from imposing such imposts and duties on foreign- 
ers as their own people are subjected to, or from 



Articles of Confederation. 309 

prohibiting the exportation or importation of any 
species of goods or commodities whatever ; of 
establishing rules for deciding, in all cases, what 
captures on land and water shall be legal, and in 
what manner prizes taken by land or naval forces 
in the service of the United States shall be divided 
or appropriated ; of granting letters of marque and 
reprisal in times of peace ; appointing courts for 
the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas ; and establishing courts for receiving 
and determining finally appeals in all cases of cap- 
tures ; provided that no member of Congress shall 
be appointed a judge of any of the said courts. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall 
also be the last resort on appeal in all disputes and 
differences now subsisting, or that hereafter may 
arise between two or more States concerning 
boundary, jurisdiction, or any other cause what- 
ever ; which authority shall always be exercised in 
the manner following : Whenever the legislative 
or executive authority, or lawful agent of any 
State in controversy with another, shall present a 
petition to Congress, stating the matter in question, 
and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall be 
given by order of Congress to the legislative or 
executive authority of the other State in contro- 
versy, and a day assigned for the appearance of 
the parties by their lawful agents, who shall then 
be directed to appoint, by joint consent, commis- 
sioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing 



3 10 Appendix A. 

and determining the matter in question ; but if 
they cannot agree, Congress shall name three per- 
sons out of each of the United States, and from 
the list of such persons each party shall alternately 
strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the 
number shall be reduced to thirteen ; and from 
that number not less than seven nor more than nine 
names, as Congress shall direct, shall, in the pres- 
ence of Congress, be drawn out by lot : and the 
persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five of 
them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear 
and finally determine the controversy, so always as 
a major part of the judges who shall hear the 
cause shall agree in the determination ; and if 
either party shall neglect to attend at the day 
appointed, without showing reasons which Congress 
shall judge sufficient, or being present, shall refuse 
to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate 
three persons out of each State, and the secretary 
of Congress shall strike in behalf of such party 
absent or refusing ; and the judgment and sentence 
of the court, to be appointed in the manner before 
prescribed, shall be final and conclusive ; and if 
any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the 
authority of such court, or to appear or defend 
their claim or cause, the court shall nevertheless 
proceed to pronounce sentence or judgment, which 
shall in like manner be final and decisive ; the 
judgment or sentence and other proceedings being 
in either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged 



Articles of Confederation. 3 1 1 

among the acts of Congress for the security of the 
parties concerned ; provided, that every commis- 
sioner, before he sits in judgment, shall take an 
oath, to be administered by one of the judges of 
the supreme or superior court of the State where 
the cause shall be tried, "well and truly to hear 
and determine the matter in question, according to 
the best of his judgment, without favor, affection, 
or hope of reward. " Provided, also, that no State 
shall be deprived of territory for the benefit of the 
United States. 

All controversies concerning the private right of 
soil claimed under different grants of two or more 
States, whose jurisdictions, as they may respect 
such lands and the State which passed such grants 
are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being 
at the same time claimed to have originated antece- 
dent to such settlement of jurisdiction, shall, on the 
petition of either party to the Congress of the 
United States, be finally determined, as near as 
may be, in the same manner as is before prescribed 
for deciding disputes respecting territorial juris- 
diction between different States. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall 
also have the sole and conclusive right and power 
of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by 
their own authority, or by that of the respective 
States ; fixing the standard of weights and meas- 
ures throughout the United States ; regulating 
the trade and managing all affairs with th<* 



3*2 Appendix A. 

Indians, not members of any of the States ; 
provided that the legislative right of any State, 
within its own limits, be not infringed or violated ; 
establishing and regulating post offices from one 
State to another, throughout all the United States, 
and exacting such postage on the papers passing 
through the same as may be requisite to defray the 
expenses of the said office ; appointing all officers 
of the land forces in the service of the United 
States, excepting regimental officers ; appointing 
all the officers of the naval forces, and commission- 
ing all officers whatever in the service of the United 
States ; making rules for the government and regu- 
lation of the said land and naval forces, and 
directing their operations. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall 
have authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the 
recess of Congress, to be denominated, "A Com- 
mittee of the States," and to consist of one dele- 
gate from each State, and to appoint such other 
committes and civil officers as may be necessary 
for managing the general affairs of the United 
States under their direction ; to appoint one of 
their number to preside ; provided that no person 
be allowed to serve in the office of president more 
than one year in any term of three years ; to ascer- 
tain the necessary sums of money to be raised for 
the service of the United States, and to appropriate 
and apply the same for defraying the public expen- 
ses ; to borrow money or emit bills on the credit 



Articles of Confederation. 313 

of the United States, transmitting every half year 
to the respective States an account of the sums of 
money so borrowed or emitted ; to build and equip 
a navy ; to agree upon the number of land forces, 
and to make requisitions from each State for its 
quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabi- 
tants in such State, which requisition shall be bind- 
ing ; and thereupon the Legislature of each State 
shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men, 
and clothe, arm, and equip them in a soldier-like 
manner, at the expense of the United States ; and 
the officers and men so clothed, armed, and 
equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and 
within the time agreed on by the United States, in 
Congress assembled ; but if the United States, in 
Congress assembled, shall, on consideration of 
circumstances, judge proper that any State should 
not raise men, or should raise a smaller number 
than its quota, and that any other State should 
raise a greater number of men than the quota 
thereof, such extra number shall be raised, offi- 
cered, clothed, armed, and equipped in the same 
manner as the quota of such State, unless the 
Legislature of such State shall judge that such 
extra number can not be safely spared out of the 
same, in which case they shall raise, officer, clothe, 
arm, and equip as many of such extra number as 
they judge can be safely spared, and the officers 
and men so clothed, armed, and equipped shall 
march to the place appointed, and within the time 



314 Appendix A. 

agreed on by the United States, in Congress 
assembled. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall 
never engage in war, nor grant letters of marque 
and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into any 
treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate 
the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and ex- 
penses necessary for the defense and welfare of the 
United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor 
borrow money on the credit of the United States, 
nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the num- 
ber of vessels of war to be built or purchased, or 
the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor 
appoint a commander-in-chief of the army or navy, 
unless nine States assent to the same, nor shall a 
question on any other point, except for adjourning 
from day to day, be determined, unless by the 
votes of a majority of the United States, in Con- 
gress assembled. 

The Congress of the United States shall have 
power to adjourn to any time within the year, and 
to any place within the United States, so that no 
period of adjournment be for a longer duration 
than the space of six months, and shall publish 
the journal of their proceedings monthly, except 
such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances, 
or military operations as in their judgment require 
secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the delegates 
of each State, on any question, shall be entered 
on the journal when it is desired by any delegate ; 



Articles of Confederation. 315 

and the delegates of a State, or any of them, 
at his or their request, shall be furnished with a 
transcript of the said journal, except such parts as 
are above excepted, to lay before the Legislatures 
of the several States. 

Article X. — The Committee of the States, or 
any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in 
the recess of Congress, such of the powers of Con- 
gress as the United States, in Congress assembled, 
by the consent of nine States, shall, from time to 
time, think expedient to vest them with ; provided 
that no power be delegated to the said Committee, 
for the exercise of which, by the Articles of Con- 
federation, the voice of nine States in the Congress 
of the United States as assembled is requisite. 

Article XI. — Canada, acceding to this Confed- 
eration, and joining in the measures of the United 
States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to, all 
the advantages of this Union ; but no other colony 
shall be admitted into the same, unless such ad- 
mission be agreed to by nine States. 

Article XII. — All bills of credit emitted, mon- 
eys borrowed, and debts contracted by or under the 
authority of Congress, before the assembling of the 
United States, in pursuance of the present Confed- 
eration, shall be deemed and considered as a charge 
against the United States, for payment and satis- 
faction whereof the said United States and the 
public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. 

Article XIII. — Every State shall abide by the 



316 Appendix A. 

determination of the United States, in Congress 
assembled, on all questions which by this Confed- 
eration are submitted to them. And the Articles 
of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed 
by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual ; 
nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be 
made in any of* them, unless such alteration be 
agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and 
be afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of 
every State. 

And whereas it hath pleased the great Gover- 
nor of the world to incline the hearts of the Legis- 
latures we respectively represent in Congress to 
approve of, and to authorize us to ratify, the said 
Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, 
know ye, that we, the undersigned delegates, by 
virtue of the power and authority to us given for 
that purpose, do, by these presents, in the name 
and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully 
and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of 
the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual 
Union, and all and singular the matters and things 
contained. And we do further solemnly plight and 
engage the faith of our respective constituents, 
that they shall abide by the determinations of the 
United States, in Congress assembled, on all ques- 
tions which by the said Confederation are submit- 
ted to them ; and that the Articles thereof shall be 
inviolably observed by the States we respectively 
represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual. 



Articles of Confederation. 317 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands 
in Congress. Done at Philadelphia, in the State of 
Pennsylvania, the ninth day of July, in the year of 
our Lord 1778, and in the third year of the Inde- 
pendence of America. 



APPENDIX B. 

Constitution of the United States of 
America. 

Preamble. 1 

We the people of the United States, in order to 
form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure 
domestic tranquillity, provide for the common de- 
fence, promote the general welfare, and secure the 
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, 
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the 
United States of America. 

Article I. Legislative Department. 
Section I. Congress in General? 

All legislative powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which 
shall consist of a Senate and House of Represen- 
tatives. 

Section II. House of Representatives. 
i. The House of Representatives shall be com- 
posed of members chosen every second year by the 
people of the several States, and the electors in 

i Compare the Preamble with Confederation Articles I and III. 
3 Compare Article I, §§ I-VII with Confed. Article V. 

3 J 9 



3 2 ° Appendix B. 

each State shall have the qualifications requisite 
for electors of the most numerous branch of the 
State Legislature. 

2. No person shall be a representative who shall 
not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, 
and been seven years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant 
of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be ap- 
portioned among the several States which may 
be included within this Union, according to their 
respective numbers, which shall be determined by 
adding to the whole number of free persons, includ- 
ing those bound to service for a term of years, and 
excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other 
persons. The actual enumeration shall be made 
within three years after the first meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every sub- 
sequent term of ten years, in such manner as the)' 
shall by law direct. The number of representatives 
shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, 
but each State shall have at least one representa- 
tive ; and until such enumeration shall be made, 
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to 
choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, 
New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, 
Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North 
Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia 
three. 



The Constitution. 3 21 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation 
from any State, the executive authority thereof shall 
issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

5, The House of Representatives shall choose 
their speaker and other officers, and shall have the 
sole power of impeachment. 

Section III. Senate. 

1. The Senate of the United States shall be com- 
posed of two senators from each State, chosen by 
the Legislature thereof for six years, and each sen- 
ator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in 
consequence of the first election, they shall be di- 
vided, as equally as may be, into three classes. The 
seats of the senators of the first class shall be va- 
cated at the expiration of the second year, of the 
second class at the expiration of the fourth year, 
and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth 
year, so that one-third may be chosen every second 
year ; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or 
otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of 
any State, the executive thereof may make tempo- 
rary appointments until the next meeting of the 
Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine 
years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for 
which he shall be chosen. 



322 Appendix B. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall 
be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, 
unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, 
and also a president//^ tempore, in the absence of 
the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the 
office of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all 
impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they 
shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President 
of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall 
preside : and no person shall be convicted without 
the concurrence of two-thirds of the members 
present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not 
extend further than to removal from office, and dis- 
qualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 
trust, or profit under the United States : but the 
party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and 
subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punish- 
ment, according to law. . ^ 

Section IV. Both Houses. 

i. The times, places, and manner of holding elec- 
tions for senators and representatives shall be pre- 
scribed in each State by the Legislature thereof ; 
but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or 
alter such regulations, except as to the place of 
choosing senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in 



The Constitution. 3 2 3 

every year, and such meeting shall be on the first 
Monday in December, unless they shall by law 
appoint a different day. 

Section V. The Houses Separately. 
i. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, 
returns, and qualifications of its own members, and 
a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do 
business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from 
day to day, and may be authorized to compel the 
attendance of absent members, in such manner and 
under such penalties as each house may provide. 

2. Each house may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish its members for disorderly 
behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, 
expel a member. 

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceed- 
ings, and from time to time publish the same, 
excepting such parts as may in their judgment re- 
quire secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the mem- 
bers of either house, on any question, shall, at the 
desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on 
the journal. 

4. Neither house during the session of Congress 
shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for 
more than three days, nor to any other place than 
that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Section VI. Disabilities of Members. 
1. The senators and representatives shall receive 
a compensation for their services, to be ascertained 



3 2 4 Appendix B. 

by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United 
States. They shall in all cases, except treason, 
felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from 
arrest during their attendance at the session of 
their respective houses, and in going to and return- 
ing from the same ; and for any speech or debate 
in either house, they shall not be questioned in any 
other place. 

2. No senator or representative shall, during the 
time for which he was elected, be appointed to any 
civil office under the authority of the United States, 
which shall have been created, or the emoluments 
whereof shall have been increased, during such 
time ; and no person holding any office under the 
United States, shall be a member of either house 
during his continuance in office. 

Section VII. Mode of Passing Laws. 

i. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in 
the House of Representatives ; but the Senate may 
propose or concur with amendments, as on other 
bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House 
of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it 
become a law, be presented to the President of 
the United States. If he approve, he shall sign it ; 
but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to 
that house in which it shall have originated, who 
shall enter the objections at large on their journal, 
and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such recon* 



The Constitution. 3 2 5 

sideration two-thirds of that house shall agree to 
pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the 
objections, to the other house, by which it shall 
likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two- 
thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in 
all such cases the votes of both houses shall be 
determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
persons voting for and against the bill shall be 
entered on the journal of each house respectively. 
If any bill shall not be returned by the President 
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall 
have been presented to him, the same shall be a 
law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the 
Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, 
in which case it shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the 
concurrence of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives may be necessary (except on a question 
of adjournment) shall be presented to the President 
of the United States ; and before the same shall 
take effect, shall be approved by him, or being 
disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
according to the rules and limitations prescribed in 
the case of a bill. 

Section VIII. Powers granted to Congress} 

The Congress shall have power : 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and 
excises to pay the debts and provide for the com- 

1 Compare §§ VIII and IX with Confed. Art. IX ; clause 1 of § VIII with 
Confed. Art. VIII ; and clause 12 of § VIII with Confed. Art. VII. 



3 26 Appendix B. 

mon defence and general welfare of the United 
States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall 
be uniform throughout the United States ; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United 
States ; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, 
and among the several States, and with the Indian 
tribes ; 

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, 
and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, 
throughout the United States ; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, 
and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights 
and measures ; 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeit- 
ing the securities and current coin of the United 
States ; 

7. To establish post offices and post roads ; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful 
arts, by securing for limited times to authors and 
inventors the exclusive right to their respective 
writings and discoveries. 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
Court ; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies 
committed on the high seas, and offences against 
the law of nations ; 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and 
reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on 
land and water ; 

12. To raise and support armies ; but no appro- 



The Constitution. 3 2 7 

priation of money to that use shall be for a longer 
term than two years ; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy ; 

14. To make rules for the government and regu- 
lation of the land and naval forces ; 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to 
execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrec- 
tions, and repel invasions ; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disci- 
plining the militia, and for governing such part of 
them as may be employed in the service of the 
United States, reserving to the States respectively 
the appointment of the officers, and the authority 
of training the militia according to the discipline 
prescribed by Congress ; 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases 
whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten 
miles square) as may, by cession of particular 
States and the acceptance of Congress, become the 
seat of government of the United States, and to 
exercise like authority over all places purchased, 
by the consent of the Legislature of the State in 
which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful 
buildings ; and 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary 
and proper for carrying into execution the fore- 
going powers, and all other powers vested by this 
Constitution in the government of the United 
States, or in any department or officer thereof. 



3 28 Appendix J5. 

Section IX. Powers denied to the United States, 

i. The migration or importation of such persons 
as any of the States now existing shall think proper 
to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress 
prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight ; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each 
person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall 
not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion 
or invasion the public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law shall 
be passed. 

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, 
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration 
herein before directed to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles ex- 
ported from any State. 

6. No preference shall be given by any regula- 
tion of commerce or revenue to the ports of one 
State over those of another ; nor shall vessels 
bound to or from one State, be obliged to enter, 
clear, or pay duties in another. 

7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury 
but in consequence of appropriations made by law ; 
and a regular statement and account of the receipts 
and expenditures of all public money shall be pub- 
lished from time to time. 

8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the 



The Constitution. 3 2 9 

United States ; and no person holding any office 
of profit or trust under them, shall, without the 
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, 
emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, 
from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Section X. Powers denied to the States} 

i. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, 
or confederation ; grant letters of marque and 
reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make 
any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in pay- 
ment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex-post- 
facto law, or law impairing the obligation of con- 
tracts ; or grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Con- 
gress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or ex- 
ports, except what may be absolutely necessary for 
executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce 
of all duties and imposts laid by any State on 
imports or exports shall be for the use of the 
treasury of the United States, and all such laws 
shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Con- 
gress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships 
of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement 
or compact with another State or with a foreign 
power, or engage in war unless actually invaded, 

1 Compare Article I, § X, with Confed. Art. VI. 
20 



33° Appendix B. 

or in such imminent danger as will not admit of 
delay. 

Article II. Executive Department. 1 
Section I. President and Vice-President. 

i. The executive power shall be vested in a 
President of the United States of America. 

He shall hold his office during the term of four 
years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen 
for the same term, be elected, as follows : 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as 
the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of 
electors, equal to the whole number of senators and 
representatives to which the State may be entitled 
in the Congress : but no senator or representative, 
or person holding an office of trust or profit under 
the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 

3. [The electors shall meet in their respective 
States and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom 
one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same 
State with themselves. And they shall make a list 
of all the persons voted for, and of the number of 
votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, 
and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government 
of the United States, directed to the President of 
the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in 
the presence of the Senate and House of Represen- 
tatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall 

1 Compare Article II with Confed. Art. X- 



The Constitution. 33 l 

then be counted. The person having the greatest 
number of votes shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of elec- 
tors appointed ; and it there be more than one who 
have such majority, and have an equal number of 
votes, then the House of Representatives shall 
immediately choose by ballot one of them for 
President ; and if no person have a majority, then, 
from the five highest on the list, the said House 
shall in like manner choose the President. But in 
choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by 
States, the representation from each State having 
one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist 
of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
States, and a majority of all the States shall be 
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the 
choice of the President, the person having the 
greatest number of votes of the electors shall be 
the Vice-President. But if there should remain 
two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall 
choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.] 1 

4. The Congress may determine the time of 
choosing the electors, and the day on which they 
shall give their votes, which day shall be the same 
throughout the United States. 

5. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a 
citizen of the United States at the time of the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to 
the office of President ; neither shall any person be 

1 Altered by the Xllth Amendment. 



33 2 Appendix B. 

eligible to that office who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen 
years a resident within the United States. 

6. In case of the removal of the President from 
office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to 
discharge the powers and duties of the said office, 
the same shall devolve on the Vice-President ; and 
the Congress may by law provide for the case of 
removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the 
President and Vice-President, declaring what officer 
shall then act as President, and such officer shall 
act accordingly until the disability be removed, or 
a President shall be elected. 

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive 
for his services a compensation, which shall neither 
be increased nor diminished during the period for 
which he shall have been elected, and he shall not 
receive within that period any other emolument 
from the United States, or any of them. 

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, 
he shall take the following oath or affirmation : 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith- 
fully execute the office of President of the United 
States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, 
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United 
States/' 

Section II. Powers of the President. 

1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of 
the army and navy of the United States, and of the 
militia of the several States when called into the 



The Constitution. 333 

actual service of the United States ; he may require 
the opinion in writing of the principal officer in 
each of the executive departments upon any sub- 
ject relating to the duties of their respective offices ; 
and he shall have power to grant reprieves and 
pardons for offenses against the United States, ex- 
cept in cases of impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, pro- 
vided two-thirds of the senators present concur ; 
and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambas- 
sadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges 
of the supreme Court, and all other officers of the 
United States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for and which shall be estab- 
lished by law ; but the Congress may by law vest 
the appointment of such inferior officers as they 
think proper in the President alone, in the courts 
of law, or in the heads of departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all 
vacancies that may happen during the recess of the 
Senate, by granting commissions, which shall ex- 
pire at the end of their next session. 

Section III. Duties of the President. 

He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress 
information of the state of the Union, and recom- 
mend to their consideration such measures as he 
shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on 



334 Appendix B. 

extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or 
either of them ; and in case of disagreement be- 
tween them, with respect to the time of adjourn- 
ment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall 
think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and 
other public ministers ; he shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission 
all the officers of the United States. 

Section IV. Impeachment of the President. 

The President, Vice-President, and all civil 
officers of the United States shall be removed 
from office on impeachment for and conviction of 
treason, bribery, or other high crimes and mis- 
demeanors. 

Article III. Judicial Department. 1 
Section I United States Courts. 

The judicial power of the United States shall be 
vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior 
courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain 
and establish. The judges, both of the supreme 
and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during 
good behavior ; and shall, at stated times, receive 
for their services, a compensation, which shall 
not be diminished during their continuance in 
office. 

i The Confederacy had no such provision as Article III of the Constitu- 
tion, except the attempt to make a Congressional Court in Confed. Art. IX. 



The Constitution. 335 



Section II. Jurisdiction of the United States Courts. 

i. The judicial power shall extend to all cases 
in law and equity arising under this Constitution, 
the laws of the United States, and treaties made 
or which shall be made, under their authority ; to 
all cases affecting ambassadors, other public minis- 
ters, and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and 
maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which 
the United States shall be a party ; to contro- 
versies between two or more States ; between a 
State and citizens of another State ; between citi- 
zens of different States ; between citizens of the 
same State claiming lands under grants of different 
States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, 
and foreign States, citizens, or subjects. 1 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
ministers and consuls, and those in which a State 
shall be a party, the supreme Court shall have 
original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before 
mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate 
jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such ex- 
ceptions and under such regulations as the Con- 
gress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of im- 
peachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall 
be held in the State where the said crimes shall 
have been committed ; but when not committed 

1 Altered by Xlth Amendment. 



33 6 Appendix B. 

within any State, the trial shall be at such place or 
places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Section III. Treason. 

i. Treason against the United States shall con- 
sist only in levying war against them, or in adher- 
ing to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on 
the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt 
act, or on confession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the 
punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason 
shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, ex- 
cept during the life of the person attainted. 

Article IV. The States and the Federal 
Government. 1 

Section I. State Records. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each State 
to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings 
of every other State. And the Congress may, by 
general laws, prescribe the manner in which such 
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and 
the effect thereof. 

Section II. Privileges of Citizens, etc. 

i. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to 
all privileges and immunities of citizens in the 
several States. 

I Compare Article IV with Confed. Art. IV. 



The Constitution. 337 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, 
felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice 
and be found in another State, shall, on demand of 
the executive authority of the State from which he 
fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State 
having jurisdiction of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one State, 
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, 
shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, 
but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to 
whom such service or labor may be due. 

Section III. New States and Territories. 1 

i. New States may be admitted by the Congress 
into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed 
or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 
State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of 
two or more States, or parts of States, without the 
consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned, 
as well as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of, 
and make all needful rules and regulations respect- 
ing the territory or other property belonging to 
the United States ; and nothing in this Constitu- 
tion shall be so construed as to prejudice any 
claims of the United States or of any particular 
State. 

i Compare Article IV, § III, with Confed. Art. XI. 



338 Appendix B. 

Section IV. Guarantee to the States. 

The United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a republican form of govern- 
ment, and shall protect each of them against inva- 
sion ; and, on application of the Legislature, or of 
the executive (when the Legislature cannot be 
convened), against domestic violence. 

Article V. Power of Amendment. 1 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both 
Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose 
amendments to this Constitution, or, on the appli- 
cation of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the sev- 
eral States, shall call a convention for proposing 
amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid 
to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitu- 
tion, when ratified by the Legislatures of three- 
fourths of the several States, or by conventions in 
three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode 
of ratification may be proposed by the Congress ; 
provided that no amendment which may be made 
prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth 
clauses in the ninth section of the first Article ; and 
that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived 
of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

i Compare Article V with Confed. Art. XIII (last sentence) 



The Constitution. 339 

Article VI. Public Debt, Supremacy of the 
Constitution, Oath of Office, Religious 
Test. 1 

i. All debts contracted and engagements entered 
into before the adoption of this Constitution shall 
be as valid against the United States under this 
Constitution's under the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United 
States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and 
all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
law of the land ; and the judges in every State 
shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitu- 
tion or laws of any State to the contrary notwith- 
standing. 

3. The senators and representatives before-men- 
tioned, and the members of the several State Leg- 
islatures, and all executive and judicial officers, 
both of the United States and of the several States, 
shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support 
this Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever 
be required as a qualification to any office or public 
trust under the United States. 

Article VII. Ratification of the Consti- 
tution. 
The ratification of the Conventions of nine 

1 Compare Article VI, clause i, with Confed. Art. XII ; and clauses 2 
and 3 with Confed. Art. XIII and addendum, " And whereas," etc. 



34° Appendix B. 

States, shall be sufficient for the establishment of 
this Constitution between the States so ratifying 
the same. 

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent 
of the States present the seventeenth day of Sep- 
tember in the year of our Lord one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-seven and of the Independence 
of the United States of America the twelfth. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 
Article I. 
Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- 
lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exer- 
cise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech, 
or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably 
to assemble, and to petition the government for a 
redress of grievances. 

Article II. 
A well regulated militia being necessary to the 
security of a free state, the right of the people to 
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

Article III. 
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered 
in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor 
in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed 
by law. 



The Constitution. 34 l 



Article IV. 
The right of the people to be secure in their per- 
sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreason- 
ble searches and seizures shall not be violated, and 
no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, 
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly 
describing the place to be searched, and the per- 
sons or things to be seized. 

Article V. 
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, 
or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present- 
ment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases 
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia 
when in actual service in time of war or public 
danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the 
same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or 
limb ; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, 
to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived 
of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law ; nor shall private property be taken for public 
use without just compensation. 

Article VI. 
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall 
enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an 
impartial jury of the State and district wherein the 
crime shall have been committed, which district 
shall have been previously ascertained by law, and 



34 2 Appendix B. 

to be informed of the nature and cause of the accu- 
sation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against 
him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor ; and to have the assistance 
of counsel for his defense. 

Article VII. 
In suits at common law, where the value in con- 
troversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of 
trial by jury shall be preserved ; and no fact tried 
by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
court of the United States than according to the 
rules of the common law. 

Article VIII. 
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor exces- 
sive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punish- 
ments inflicted. 

Article IX. 
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain 
rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
others retained by the people. 

Article X. 1 
The powers notdelegated to the United States by 
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, 
are reserved to the States respectively or to the 
people. 

i Compare the Xth Amendment with Confed. Art. II. The first ten 
Amendments were proposed by Congress, September 25th, 1789, and 
declared in force, December 15th, 1791. 



The Constitution. 343 



Article XI. 1 

The judicial power of the United States shall 
not be construed to extend to any suit in law or 
equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of 
the United States by citizens of another State, or 
by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 

Article XII. 2 

1. The electors shall meet in their respective 
States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice- 
President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an 
inhabitant of the same State with themselves ; they 
shall name in their ballots the person voted for as 
President, and in distinct ballots the person voted 
for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct 
lists of all persons voted for as President, and of 
all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the 
number of votes for each, which lists they shall 
sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 
government of the United States, directed to the 
President of the Senate ; — the President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, 
and the votes shall then be counted ; — the person 
having the greatest number of votes for President, 

1 Proposed by Congress March 5th, 1794, and declared in force January 
8th, 1798. 

2 Proposed by Congress December 12th, 1803, an( * declared in force Sep- 
tember 25th, 1804. 



344 Appendix B. 

shall be the President, if such number be a majority 
of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if 
no person have such majority, then from the per- 
sons having the highest numbers, not exceeding 
three, on the list of those voted for as President, 
the House of Representatives shall choose imme- 
diately by ballot the President. But in choosing 
the President, the votes shall be taken by states, 
the representation from each state having one 
vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a 
member or members from two-thirds of the States, 
and a majority of all the States shall be necessary 
to a choice. And if the House of Representatives 
shall not choose a President, whenever the right of 
choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth 
day of March next following, then the Vice-Presi- 
dent shall act as President, as in the case of 
death or other constitutional disability of the 
President. 

2. The person having the greatest number of 
votes as Vice-President shall be the Vice-President ? 
if such number be a majority of the whole number 
of electors appointed, and if no person have a 
majority, then from the two highest numbers on 
the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President ; 
a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two- 
thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a 
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to 
a choice. 

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the 



The Constitution. 345 

office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice- 
President of the United States. 

Article XIII. 1 

i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime whereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist 
within the United States, or any place subject to 
their jurisdiction. 

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 

Article XIV. 2 

i. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are 
citizens of the United States and of the State 
wherein they reside. No State shall make or 
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges 
or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor 
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, 
or property, without due process of law; nor deny 
to any person within its jurisdiction the equal pro- 
tection of the laws. 

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among 
the several States according to their respective 
numbers, counting the whole number of persons in 
each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when 

i Proposed by Congress February ist, 1865, and declared in force De- 
cember 18th, 1865. 

2 Proposed by Congress June 16th, 1866, and declared in force July 28th, 
1868. 

21 



346 Appendix B. 

the right to vote at any election for the choice of 
electors for President and Vice-President of the 
United States, representatives in Congress, the 
executive and judicial officers of a State, or the 
members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to 
any of the male inhabitants of such State, being 
twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United 
States, or in any way abridged, except for partici- 
pation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of rep- 
resentation therein shall be reduced in the propor- 
tion which the number of such male citizens shall 
bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty- 
one years of age in such State. 

3. No person shall be a senator or representative 
in Congress, or elector of President or Vice-Presi- 
dent, or hold any office, civil or military, under 
the United States, or under any State, who, having 
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, 
or as an officer of the United States, or as a mem- 
ber of any State Legislature, or as an executive 
or judicial officer of any State, to support the Con- 
stitution of the United States, shall have engaged 
in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or 
given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof. But 
Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each 
House, remove such disability. 

4. The validity of the public debt of the United 
States, authorized by law, including debts incurred 
for payment of pensions and bounties for services 
in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not 



The Constitution. 347 

be questioned. But neither the United States nor 
any State shall assume or pay any debt or obliga- 
tion incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion 
against the United States, or any claim for the loss 
or emancipation of any slave ; but all such debts, 
obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and 
void. 

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by 
appropriate legislation,the provisions of this article. 

Article XV. 1 

1. The right of the citizens of the United States 
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the 
United States or any State on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude. 

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce 
this article by appropriate legislation. 

1 Proposed by Congress February 26th, 1869, and declared in force March 
30th, 1870. 



348 



Appendix C. 



APPENDIX C. 

Admission of the States. 1 



io. 
ii. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 
16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 
20. 



Delaware, 2 Dec. 7, 1787. 
Pennsylvania, 2 Dec. 12, 

1787. 
New Jersey, 2 Dec. 18, 

1787. 
Georgia, 2 Jan. 2, 1788. 
Connecticut, 2 Jan. 9, 1788. 
Massachusetts, 2 Feb. 7, 

1788. 
Maryland, 2 April28,i788. 
South Carolina, 2 May 23, 

1788. 
New Hampshire, 2 June 

21, I788. 

Virginia, 2 June 26, 1788. 
New York, 2 July 26, 1788. 
North Carolina, 2 Nov. 21, 

1789. 
Rhode Island, 2 May 29, 

1790. 
Vermont, March 4, 1791. 
Kentucky, June I, 1792. 
Tennessee, June I, 1796. 
Ohio, Nov. 29, 1802. 
Louisiana, April 30, 18 12. 
Indiana, Dec. 11, 1816. 
Mississippi, Dec. 10, 

1817. 



Illinois, Dec. 3, 1818. 
Alabama, Dec. 14, 18 19. 
Maine, March 15, 1820. 
Missouri, Aug. 10, 1821. 
Arkansas, June 15, 1836. 
Michigan, Jan. 26, 1837. 
Florida, March 3, 1845. 
Texas, Dec. 29, 1845. 
Iowa, Dec. 28, 1846. 
Wisconsin, May 29, 1848. 
California, Sept. 9, 1850. 
Minnesota, May 11, 1858 
Oregon, Feb. 14, 1859. 
Kansas, Jan, 29, 1861. 
West Virginia, June 19, 

1863. 
Nevada, Oct. 31, 1864. 
Nebraska, March 1, 1867 
Colorado, Aug. 1, 1876. 
North Dakota, Nov. 3, 

1889. 
South Dakota, Nov. 3, 

1889. 
Montana, Nov. 8, 1889. 
Washington, Nov. 11, 

1889. 
Idaho, July 3, 1890. 
Wyoming, July 7, 1890. 



45. Utah, Jan. 4, i£ 



1 The dates given, after the first thirteen States, are those upon which 
the admissions took effect. 

2 Ratified the Constitution and became States. 



Votes for President, 1 789-1 888. 349 



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John Adams, 
John Jay, 
R. H. Harrison, 
John Rutledge, 
John Hancock, 
George Clinton, 
Samuel Huntington, 
John Milton, 
Benjamin Lincoln, 
James Armstrong, 
Edward Telfair, 
Vacancies, 


Party. 






CO 




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350 



Appendix D. 



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1 


George Washington, 
John Adams, 
George Clinton, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Aaron Burr, 
Vacancies, 

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Thomas Jefferson, 
Thomas Pinckney, 
Aaron Burr, 
Samuel Adams, 
Oliver Ellsworth, 
George Clinton, 
John Jay, 
James Iredell, 
George Washington, 
John Henry, 


! 

H4 


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Federalist, 
Republican, 

Federalist, 
Republican, 
Federalist, 
Republican, 




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Votes for President, 1789-1888, 351 



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352 



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Votes for President, 1789-1S 



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354 



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356 



Appendix D. 



•p*Jojo»i3 


M in M oo tnvO 

MM MM MM 


£ 
1 

Ph 

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fa 


S. F. Cary, 
R. T. Stewart, 

Chester A. Arthur, 
Wm. H. English, 
B. J, Chambers, 

T. A. Hendricks, 
John A. Logan, 
Wm Daniel, 
A. M. West, 

Levi P. Morton, 
AllenG.Thurman, 


'lBJ0}D3ia 


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m m m co coo 

N M MM MM 


Popular 
Vote. 


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Green C. Smith, 

James A. Garfield, 
W. S. Hancock, 
James B. Weaver, 
Scattering, 

Grover Cleveland, 
Jas. G. Blaine, 
J. P. St. John, 

B. F. Butler, 

Benj. Harrison, 
Grover Cleveland, 

C. B. Fisk, 
A. J. Streeter, 


Ph 


"Greenback," 
"Prohibition," 

Republican, 
Democratic, 
"Greenback," 

Democratic, 
Republican, 
Prohibition, 
Labor, 

Republican, 
Democratic, 
Prohibition, 
Union Labor, 




O M M 

en ti- ^. 


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1880 

1884 
1888 



Votes for President, 1 892-1 896. 357 



•[Bjojoaia 


Mnw m co CO 
r^ tj- in t^ r> 

N H W M 


V 

33 

u 

u 

0) 



> 




A. E. Stevenson, 
Whitelaw Reid, 
James G. Field, 
J. B. Cranfill, 
C. H. Matchett, 

Garrett A. Hobart, 
Arthur Sewall, 
Thos. E. Watson, 
Hale Johnson, 
J. H. Southgate, 
Matthew Maguire, 
S. B. Buckner, 


•rejo:p3|3[ 


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vomOn Min ,_J i-i 

in in m r^o —^^^ 


•S3^5S 


co in-o eo c< 


For President. 


Grover Cleveland, 
Benj. Harrison, 
James B. Weaver, 
John Bidwell, 
Simon Wing, 

William McKinley, 
William J. Bryan, 
William J. Bryan, 
Joshua Levering, 
Chas. E. Bentley, 
Chas. B. Matchett, 
John M. Palmer, 


Ph 


Democratic, 

Republican, 

People's, 

Prohibition, 

Socialist-Labor, 

Republican, 

Democratic, 

People's, 

Prohibition, 

Nat. Prohibition, 

Socialist-Labor, 

Nat. Democratic, 


•S3J0A -J3313 




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CO GO 



358 



Appendix E. 



APPENDIX E. 

Population of the Sections, 1790-1860. 



Year, 


Free States. 


Slave States. 


I79O 


1,968,453 


I,9 6 I,374 


l8oo 


2,684,616 


2,621,316 


l8lO 


3>758,9IO 


3,480,902 


1820 


S, I 5 2 ,372 


4,485,819 


183O 


7,006,399 


5,848,312 


1840 


9,733,922 


7,334,433 


1850 


13,599,488 


9, 66 3*997 


i860 


19,128,418 


12,315,372 



Congressional Representation, 1790-1860. 359 



APPENDIX F. 



Congressional Representation of the Seo 
tions, 1790-1860. 



Year. 


Senate. 


House. 


Free States. 


Slave States. 


Free States. 


Slave States. 


I79O 


14 


12 


35 


30 


1792 


16 


14 


57 


48 


I796 


16 


16 


57 


49 


180O 


16 


16 


57 


49 


1804 


18 


16 


77 


65 


1808 


18 


16 


77 


65 


l8l2 


18 


18 


103 


79 


l8l6 


20 


18 


104 


79 


1820 


24 


24 


J °5 


82 


1824 


24 


24 


123 


90 


1828 


24 


24 


123 


90 


1832 


24 


24 


141 


99 


1836 


26 


26 


142 


100 


1840 


26 


26 


142 


100 


1844 


26 


26 


*35 


98 


1848 


30 


30 


i39 


91 


1852 


32 


30 


144 


90 


l8 5 6 


32 


30 


144 


90 


i860 


36 


30 


i47 


90 



f^" To find the Electoral Votes, add together the number of Senators 
and Representatives. 



360 



Appendix G. 



APPENDIX G. 
The Sections in 1870. 



Sections. 



The South: (Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., 
Ky., La., Md , Miss., N. C, S. C, 
Tenn., Tex., Va .. W. V.), 

The North-west : (111., la., Ind.. Ks., 
Mich., Minn., Mo., Neb., O., Wis.), 

The Middle States : (Del., N. J., N. 
Y., PeniO, 

New England : (Conn., Mass., Me., 
N. H., R. I., Vt.), 

The Pacific : (Cal., Col., Nev., Or.), 

Total, 



Population 
in 1870. 


V 

rt 
c 
u 

CO 


V 
w 

3 
O 


12,032,225 


28 


92 


12,702,299 


20 


98 


8,941,625 


8 


68 


3,187,924 
889,789 


12 

8 


28 

7 


38,925,598 


76 


293 



120 
118 

76 

40 
15 



$5g~ The total population includes Territories and Indians. 

The Sections in 1880. 



Sections. 



The South 

The North-west. . . 
The Middle States, 

New England 

The Pacific. ... 

Total 



Population 



16,188,757 

17,229,810 

10,644,233 

4,010,438 

1,296,367 



50,155,783 



6 


V 






a 


3 


c 


O 


0) 

CO 


w 


28 


106 


20 


114 


8 


70 


12 


26 


8 


9 


76 


325 



134 

134 

78 

38 

17 

401 



J^^The total population includes Territories and Indians, 
tionment Act of Feb. 25th, 1882, took effect March 3d, 1883. 



The Appor* 



The Sections in 1890. 



361 



APPENDIX G.— Continued. 
The Sections in i8qo. 



Sections. 


Population 
in 1890. 


V 

c 

V 


V 

6 





> 


The South 


19,370,094 

22,362,279 

12,869,293 

4,700,745 

2,814,400 

62,830,155 


28 
24 

8 

12 

18 


111 

128 
73 
27 
18 


139 


The North-west 


152 


The Middle States 


81 


New England 


39 
36 


The Pacific 




Total 


90 


357 


447 



j^P^The new States of Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and 
Utah are classed with the Pacific States. The Dakotas are classed with 
the North-west. The total population includes the Territories. The 
Apportionment Act of Feb. 7th, 1891, took effect March 3d, 1893. 



APPENDIX H. 
Cabinet Officers of the Administrations. 

I. and II.; 1789-1797 (page 19). 

Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, Virginia, Septem- 
ber 26th, 1789 ; Edmund Randolph, Virginia, January 2d, 
1794 ; Timothy Pickering, Pennsylvania, December 10th, 1795. 
Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, New York, 
September nth, 1789; Oliver Wolcott, Connecticut, Febru- 
ary 2d, 1795. Secretary of War, Henry Knox, Massachu- 
setts, September 12th, 1789 ; Timothy Pickering, Pennsyl- 
vania, January 2d, 1795 ; James McHenry, Maryland, 
January 27th, 1796. Attorney-General, Edmund Ran- 
dolph, Virginia, September 26th, 1789 ; William Bradford, 
Pennsylvania, January 27th, 1794 ; Charles Lee, Virginia, 
December 10th, 1795. Postmaster-General, 1 E. Hazard, 
January 28th, 1782-September 29th, 1789; Samuel Osgood, 
Massachusetts, September 29th, 1789 ; Timothy Pickering, 
Pennsylvania, August 12th, 1791 ; Joseph Habersham, Geor- 
gia, February 25th, 1795. 

III.; 1797-1801 (page 44). 

Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, continued ; John 
Marshall, Virginia, May 13th, 1800. Secretary of Treas- 
ury, Oliver Wolcott, continued ; Samuel Dexter, Massachu- 
setts, January 1st, 1801. Secretary of War, James 
McHenry, continued ; Samuel Dexter, Massachusetts, May 

1 Not a Cabinet officer, but a subordinate of the Treasury Department 
until 1829. 

303 



364 American Politics. 

13th, 1800; Roger Griswold, Connecticut, February 3d, 1801. 
Secretary of Navy, 1 George Cabot, Massachusetts, May 3d, 
1798 ; Benjamin Stoddert, Maryland, May 21st, 1798. 
Attorney-General, Charles Lee, continued ; Theophilus 
Parsons, Massachusetts, February 20th, 1 801. Postmaster- 
General, Joseph Habersham, continued. 

IV. and V.; 1 801-1809 (page 55)- 
Secretary of State, James Madison, Virginia, March 5th, 
1 801. Secretary of Treasury, Samuel Dexter, continued ; 
Albert Gallatin, Pennsylvania, May 14th, 1801. Secretary 
of War, Henry Dearborn, Massachusetts, March 5th, 1801. 
Secretary of Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, continued ; Robert 
Smith, Maryland, July 15th, 1 801 ; Jacob Crowninshield, 
Massachusetts, May 3d, 1805. Attorney-General, Levi 
Lincoln, Massachusetts, March 5th, 1801 ; Robert Smith, 
Maryland, March 3d, 1805 ; John Breckinridge, Kentucky, 
August 7th, 1805 ; Caesar A. Rodney, Pennsylvania, January 
20th, 1807. Postmaster-General, Joseph Habersham, con- 
tinued ; Gideon Granger, Connecticut, November 28th, 1801. 

VI. and VII.; 1809-1817 (page 73). 
Secretary of State, Robert Smith, Maryland, March 6th, 
1809; James Monroe, Virginia, April 2d, 1811. Secretary 
of Treasury, Albert Gallatin, continued ; George W. Camp- 
bell, Tennessee, February 9th, 1814 ; A. J. Dallas, Pennsyl- 
vania, October 6th, 18 14 ; William H. Crawford, Georgia, 
October 22d, 18 16. Secretary of War, William Eustis, 
Massachusetts, March 7th, 1809 ; John Armstrong, New- 
York, January 13th, 18 13 ; James Monroe, Virginia, Septem- 

1 Naval affairs were under the control of the Secretary of War until a 
separate Navy Department was organized by Act of April 30th, 1798. The 
Acts organizing the other Departments were of the following dates : 
State, September 15th, 1789; Treasury, September 2d, 1789; War, 
August 7th, 1789. The Attorney-General's duties were regulated by the 
Judiciary Act of September 24th, 1789. Interior, March 3d, 1849. For 
the establishment of the Department of Agriculture, see page 279. 



Cabi?iet Officers of the Administrations. 365 

ber 27th, 1 8 14 ; William H. Crawford, Georgia, August 1st, 
18 1 5. Secretary of Navy, Paul Hamilton, South Carolina, 
March 7th, 1809 ; William Jones, Pennsylvania, January 
12th, 1813; B. W. Crowninshield, Massachusetts, December 
19th, 1814. Attorney-General, C. A. Rodney, continued ; 
William Pinckney, Maryland, December nth, 1811 ; Rich- 
ard Rush, Pennsylvania, February 10th, 18 14. Postmaster- 
General, Gideon Granger, continued ; Return J. Meigs, 
Ohio, March 17th, 18 14. 

VIII. and IX.; 1817-1825 (page 89). 
Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, Massachusetts, 
March 5th, 1817. Secretary of Treasury, William H. 
Crawford, continued. Secretary of War, George Graham, 
Virginia, April 7th, 181 7 ; John C. Calhoun, South Caro- 
lina, October 8th, 1817. Secretary of Navy, B. W. 
Crowninshield, continued ; Smith Thompson, New York, 
November 9th, 1818 ; John Rogers, Massachusetts, Septem- 
ber 1st, 1823 ; Samuel L. Southard, New Jersey, September 
16th, 1823. Attorney-General, Richard Rush, continued ; 
William Wirt, Virginia, November 13th, 18 17. Postmaster- 
General, R. J. Meigs, continued ; John McLean, Ohio, June 
26th, 1823. 

X.; 1825-1829 (page 103). 

Secretary of State, Henry Clay, Kentucky, March 7th, 
1825. Secretary of Treasury, Richard Rush, Pennsyl- 
vania, March 7th, 1825. Secretary of War, James Bar- 
bour, Virginia, March 7th, 1825 ; Peter B. Porter, New York. 
May 26th, 1828. Secretary of Navy, S. L. Southard, 
continued. Attorney-General, William Wirt, continued. 
Postmaster-General, John McLean, continued. 

XL and XII.; 1829-1837 (page 109). 

Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren, New York, 
March 6th, 1829 ; Edward Livingston, Louisiana, May 24th, 



366 American Politics. 

1831 ; Louis McLane, Delaware, May 29th, 1833 ; John 
Forsyth, Georgia, June 27th, 1834. Secretary of Treas- 
ury, Samuel D. Ingham, Pennsylvania, March 6th, 1829 ; Louis 
McLane, Delaware, August 8th, 1831 ; William J. Duane, 
Pennsylvania, May 29th, 1833 ; Roger B. Taney, Maryland, 
September 23d, 1833 J Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, 
June 27th, 1834. Secretary of War, John H. Eaton, Tea- 
nessee, March gth, 1829; Lewis Cass, Michigan, August 1st, 
1831 ; Benjamin F. Butler, New York, March 3d, 1837. 
Secretary of Navy, John Branch, North Carolina, March 
9th, 1829 ; Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, May 23d, 1831 ; 
Mahlon Dickerson, New Jersey, June 30th, 1834. Attorney- 
General, John M. Berrien, Georgia, March gth, 1839 \ Roger 
B. Taney, Maryland, July 20th, 1831 ; Benjamin F. Butler, 
New York, November 15th, 1833. Postmaster-General, 
William T. Barry, Kentucky, March 9th, 1829 ; Amos Ken- 
dall, Kentucky, May 1st, 1835. 

XIII.; 1837-1841 (page 133). 

Secretary of State, John Forsyth, continued. Secretary 
of "Treasury, Levi Woodbury, continued. Secretary of 
War, Joel R. Poinsett, South Carolina, March 7th, 1837. 
Secretary of Navy, Mahlon Dickerson, continued ; James 
K. Paulding, New York, June 25th, 1838. Attorney-Gen- 
eral, Benjamin F. Butler, continued ; Felix Grundy, Ten- 
nessee, July 5th, 1838 ; Henry D. Gilpin, Pennsylvania, Jan- 
uary nth, 1840. Postmaster-General, Amos Kendall, 
continued ; John M. Niles, Connecticut, May 19th, 1840. 

XIV.; 1841-1845 (page 140). 

Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, Massachusetts, 
March 5th, 1841 ; Hugh S. Legare, South Carolina, May 9th, 
1843 ; A. P. Upshur, Virginia, July 24th, 1843 ; John C. Cal- 
houn, South Carolina, March 6th, 1844. Secretary of 
Treasury, Thomas Ewing, Ohio, March 5th, 1841 ; Walter 



Cabinet Officers of the Administrations. 367 

Forward, Pennsylvania, September 13th, 1841 ; John C. 
Spencer, New York, March 3d, 1843 , George M. Bibb, Ken- 
tucky, June 15th, 1844. Secretary of War, John Bell, 
Tennessee, March 5th, 1841 ; John McLean, Ohio, Septem- 
ber 13th, 1 841 ; John C. Spencer, New York, October 12th, 
1841 ; James M. Porter, Pennsylvania, March 8th, 1843 ; 
William Wilkins, Pennsylvania, February 15th, 1844. Sec- 
retary of Navy, G. E. Badger, North Carolina, March 5th, 
1841 ; A. P. Upshur, Virginia, September 13th, 1841 ; David 
Henshaw, Massachusetts, July 24th, 1843 ; T. W. Gilmer, 
Virginia, February 15th, 1844 \ J onn Y. Mason, Virginia, 
March 14th, 1844. Attorney-General, John J. Crittenden, 
Kentucky, March 5th, 1841 ; Hugh S. Legare, South Caro- 
lina, September 13th, 1841 ; John Nelson, Maryland, July 
1st, 1843. Postmaster-General, Francis Granger, New 
York, March 6th, 1841 ; Charles A. Wickliffe, Kentucky, 
September 13th, 1841. 

XV.; 1845-1849 (page 149). 
Secretary of State, James Buchanan, Pennsylvania, 
March 6th, 1845. Secretary of Treasury, Robert J. Wal- 
ker, Mississippi, March 6th, 1845. Secretary of War, 
William L. Marcy, New York, March 6th, 1845. Secretary 
of Navy, George Bancroft, Massachusetts, March 10th, 1845 ; 
John Y. Mason, Virginia, September 9th, 1846. Attorney- 
General, John Y. Mason, Virginia, March 5th, 1845 ; Nathan 
Clifford, Maine, October 17th, 1846. Postmaster-General, 
Cave Johnson, Tennessee, March 6th, 1845. 

XVI.; 1859-1853 (page 159). 

Secretary of State, John M. Clayton, Delaware, March 
7th, 1849 ; Daniel Webster, Massachusetts, July 22d, 1850 ; 
Edward Everett, Massachusetts, December 6th, 1852. Sec- 
retary of Treasury, W. M. Meredith, Pennsylvania, March 
8th, 1849; Thomas Corwin, Ohio, July 23d, 1850. Secre- 
tary of State, George W. Crawford, Georgia, March 8th, 



3^8 American Politics. 

1849 ; Winfield Scott (ad interiin) t July 23d, 1850 ; Charles 
M. Conrad, Louisiana, August 15th, 1850, Secretary of 
Navy, William B. Preston, Virginia, March 8th, 1849 ; 
William A. Graham, North Carolina, July 22d, 1850 ; J. P. 
Kennedy, Maryland, July 22d, 1852. Secretary of Inte- 
rior, 1 Thomas H. Ewing, Ohio, March 8th, 1849 ; A. H. H. 
Stuart, Virginia, September 12th, 1850. Attorney-General, 
Reverdy Johnson, Maryland, March 8th, 1849 ; John J. 
Crittenden, Kentucky, July 22d, 1850. Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, Jacob Collamer, Vermont, March 8th, 1849 ; Nathan K. 
Hall, New York, July 23d, 1850 ; S. D. Hubbard, Connecti- 
cut, August 31st, 1852. 

XVII.; 1853-1857 (page 167). 

Secretary of State, William L. Marcy, New York, March 
7th, 1853. Secretary of Treasury, James Guthrie, Ken- 
tucky, March 7th, 1853. Secretary of War, Jefferson 
Davis, Mississippi, March 7th, 1853. Secretary of Navy, 
James C. Dobbin, North Carolina, March 7th, 1853. Secre- 
tary of Interior, Robert McClelland, Michigan, March 7th, 
1853. Attorney-General, Caleb Cushing, Massachusetts, 
March 7th, 1853. Postmaster-General, James Campbell, 
Pennsylvania, March 7th, 1853. 

XVIII. ; 1857-1861 (page 179). 

Secretary of State, Lewis Cass, Michigan, March 6th, 
!857; J. S. Black, Pennsylvania, December 17th, i860. Sec- 
retary of Treasury, Howell Cobb, Georgia, March 6th, 
1857 ; Philip F. Thomas, Maryland, December 12th, i860 ; 
John A. Dix, New York, January nth, 1 861. Secretary of 
War, John B. Floyd, Virginia, March 6th, 1857 ; Joseph 
Holt, Kentucky, January 18th, 1 861. Secretary of Navy, 
Isaac Toucey, Connecticut, March 6th, 1857. Secretary of 
Interior, Jacob Thompson, Mississippi, March 6th, 1857. 

1 Organized by Act of March 3d, 1849. 



Cabinet Officers of the Administrations. 369 

Attorney-General, J. S. Black, Pennsylvania, March 6th, 
1857 ; E. M. Stanton, Pennsylvania, December 20th, i860. 
Postmaster-General, Aaron V. Brown, Tennessee, March 
6th, 1857 ; Joseph Holt, Kentucky, March 14th, 1859 \ Hora- 
tio King, Maine, February 12th, 1861. 

XIX. and XX.; 1861-1869 (page 197). 
Secretary of State, William H. Seward, New York, 
March 5th, 1 861. Secretary of Treasury, S. P. Chase, 
Ohio, March 5th, 1861 ; W. P. Fessenden, Maine, July 1st, 
1864 ; Hugh McCulloch, Indiana, March 7th, 1865. Secre- 
tary of War, Simon Cameron, Pennsylvania, March 5th, 
1861 ; Edwin M. Stanton, Pennsylvania, January 15th, 1862 ; 
U. S, Grant (ad interim), 1 August 12th, 1867 ; Edwin M. 
Stanton (reinstated), January 14th, 1868 ; J. M. Scofield, Illi- 
nois, May 28th, 1868. Secretary of Navy, Gideon Welles, 
Connecticut, March 5 th, 1861. Secretary of Interior, Caleb 
P. Smith, March 5th, 1861 ; John P. Usher, Indiana, January 
8th, 1863 ; James Harlan, Iowa, May 15th, 1865 ; O. H 
Browning, Illinois, July 27th, 1866. Attorney-General 
Edward Bates, Missouri, March 5th, 1861 ; Titian J. Coffee 
June 22d, 1863 ; James Speed, Kentucky, December 2d 
1864 ; Henry Stanbery, Ohio, July 23d, i860 ; William M 
Evarts, New York, July 15, 1868. Postmaster-General 
Montgomery Blair, Maryland, March 5th, 1861 ; William 
Dennison, Ohio, September 24th, 1864 ; Alexander W. Ran- 
dall, Wisconsin, July 25th, 1866. 

XXI. AND XXII. : 1869-1877 (page 220). 
Secretary of State, E. B. Washburne, Illinois, March 5th, 
1869 ; Hamilton Fish, New York, March nth, 1869. Secre- 
tary of Treasury, George S. Boutwell, Massachusetts, March 
nth, 1869 ; William A. Richardson, Massachusetts, March 
17th, 1873 ; Benjamin H. Bristow, Kentucky, June 2d, 1874; 
Lot M. Merrill, Maine, June 21st, 1876. Secretary of War, 

i See p. 216. 



37° American Politics. 

John A. Rawlins, Illinois, March nth, 1869; William T. Sher- 
man, Ohio, September 9th, 1869; William W. Belknap, Iowa, 
October 25th, 1869 ; Alphonso Taft, Ohio, March 8th, 1876 ; 
J. D. Cameron, Pennsylvania, May 22d, 1876. Secretary of 
Navy, Adolph E. Borie, Pennsylvania, March 5th, 1869 ; 
George M. Robeson, New Jersey, June 25th, 1869. Secretary 
of Interior, John D. Cox, Ohio, March 5th, 1869 ; Columbus 
Delano, Ohio, November 1st, 1870; Zachariah Chandler, Mich- 
igan, October 19th, 1875. Attorney-General, E. R. Hoar, 
Massachusetts, March 5th, 1869; Amos TVAkerman, Georgia, 
June 23d, 1870; George H. Williams, Oregon, December 14th, 
1871 ; Edwards Pierrepont, New York, April 26th, 1875 ; Al- 
phonso Taft, Ohio, May 22d, 1876. Postmaster-General, 
J. A. J. Creswell, Maryland, March 5th, 1869; Marshall Jewell, 
Connecticut, August 24th, 1874 \ James M. Tyner, Indiana, 
July 12th, 1876. 

XXIII.; 1877-1881 (page 249). 
Secretary of State, William M. Evarts, New York, March 
12th, 1877. Secretary of Treasury, John Sherman, Ohio, 
March 8th, 1877. Secretary of War, George W. McCrary, 
Iowa, March 12th, 1877 ; Alexander Ramsey, Minnesota, De- 
cember 12th, 1879. Secretary of Navy, Richard W. Thomp- 
son, Indiana, March 12th, 1877 \ Nathan Goff, Jr., West Vir- 
ginia, January 6th, 188 1. Secretary of Interior, Carl Schurz, 
Missouri, March 12th, 1877. Attorney-General, Charles 
Devens, Massachusetts, March r2th, 1877. Postmaster- 
General, David M. Key, Tennessee, March 12th, 1877 ; 
Horace Maynard, Tennessee, August 25th, 1880. 

XXIV.; 1881-1885 (page 259). 
Secretary of State, James G. Blaine, Maine, March 5th, 
1 881 ; Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, New Jersey, December 
12th, 1881. Secretary of Treasury, William H. Windom, 
Minnesota, March 5th, 1881 ; Charles J. Folger, New York, 
October 27th, 1881. Secretary of War, Robert T. Lincoln, 



Cabinet Officers of the Administrations. 371 

Illinois, March 5th, 1881. Secretary of Navy, W. H, Hunt, 
Louisiana, March 5th, 1881 ; Wm. E. Chandler, New Hamp- 
shire, April 1 2th, 1882. Secretary of Interior, S. J. Kirkwood, 
Iowa, March 5th, 1881 ; Henry M.Teller, Colo., April 6th, 1882. 
Attorney-General, Wayne MacVeagh, Pennsylvania, March 
5th, 1 88 1 ; Benjamin H. Brewster, Pennsylvania, December 
16th, 188 1. Postmaster-General, Thomas L. James, New 
York, March 5th, 1881 ; Timothy O. Howe, Wisconsin, Decem- 
ber 20th, 1881 ; W. Q. Gresham, Indiana, April 3rd, 1883 ; 
Frank Hatton, Iowa, October 14th, 1884. 

XXV.; 1885-1889 (page 268). 
Secretary of State, Thomas F. Bayard, Delaware, March 
6th, 1885. Secretary of Treasury, Daniel Manning, New 
York, March 6th ; 1885 ; Charles S. Fairchild, New York, 
April 1st, 1887. Secretary of War, William C. Endicott, 
Massachusetts, March 6th, 1885. Secretary of Navy, Will- 
iam C. Whitney, New York, March 6th, 1885. Secretary 
of Interior, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, Mississippi, March 6th, 1885; 
William F. Vilas, Wisconsin, January 16th, 1888. Attorney- 
General, Augustus H. Garland, Arkansas, March 6th, 1885. 
Postmaster-General, William F. Vilas, Wisconsin, March 
6th, 1885 ; Don M. Dickinson, Michigan, January 16th, 1888. 

XXVI.; 1889-1893 (page 280). 
Secretary of State, 1 James G. Blaine, Maine, March 7th, 
1889 ; John W. Foster, Indiana, June 29th, 1892. Secretary 
of the Treasury, William Windom, Minnesota, March 7th, 
1889 ; Charles Foster, Ohio, February 25th, 1891. Secretary 
of War, Redfieid Proctor, Vermont, March 7th, 1889; 
Stephen B. Elkins, West Virginia, December 24th, 1891. 
Attorney-General, W. H. H. Miller, Indiana, March 7th, 
1889. Postmaster-General, John Wanamaker, Pennsylva- 
nia, March 7th, 1889. Secretary of the Navy, Benj. F. 
Tracy, New York, March 7th, 1889. Secretary of the 

1 The Cabinet is here arranged in the order of succession for the Presi- 
dency according to Act of XLIXth Congress, which does not, however, 
include the Secretary of Agriculture. 



37 2 American Politics. 

Interior, John W. Noble, Missouri, March 7th, 1889. Sec- 
retary of Agriculture, Jere. M. Rusk, Wisconsin, March 
7th, 1889. 

XXVII.; 1893-1897 (page 290). 
Secretary of State, Walter Q. Gresham, Illinois, March 
7th, 1893 ; Richard Olney, Massachusetts, June 10th, 1895. 
Secretary of the Treasury, John G. Carlisle, Kentucky, 
March 7th, 1893. Secretary of War, Daniel S. Lamont, 
New York, March 7th, 1893. Attorney-General, Richard 
Olney, Massachusetts, March 7th, 1893 ; Judson Harmon, 
Ohio, June nth, 1895. Postmaster-General, Wilson S. 
Bissell, New York, March 7th, 1893 ; William L. Wilson, 
West Virginia, April 3d, 1895. Secretary of the Navy, 
Hilary A. Herbert, Alabama, March 7th, 1893. Secretary 
of the Interior, Hoke Smith, Georgia, March 7th, 1893 ; 
David R. Francis, Missouri, September 3d, 1896. Secretary 
of Agriculture, Julius Sterling Morton, Nebraska, March 

7th, 1893. 

XXVIII.; 1897. 

Secretary of State, John Sherman, Ohio, March 6th, 
1897 ; William R. Day, Ohio, April 26th, 1898. Secretary 
of the Treasury, Lyman J. Gage, Illinois, March 6th, 1897. 
Secretary of War, Russell A. Alger, Michigan, March 6th, 

1897. Attorney-General, Joseph McKenna, California, 
March 6th, 1897 ; John W. Griggs, New Jersey, January 31st, 

1898. Postmaster-General, James A. Gary, Maryland, 
March 6th, 1897 ; Charles Emory Smith, Pennsylvania, April 
21st, 1898. Secretary of the Navy, John D. Long, Massa- 
chusetts, March 6th, % 1897. Secretary of the Interior, 
Cornelius N. Bliss, New York, March 6th, 1897. Secretary 
of Agriculture, James Wilson, Iowa, March 6th, 1897. 



INDEX. 



INDEX. 



Abolitionists, the, 131, 132, 138, 

139, 140-145, 147-150, 187, 188 
Abolition of slavery, 18, 201-204 
Adams, Charles Francis, 157, 230, 

354 
Adams, John, 19, 28, 29, 42, 43, 52, 

53i 58, 349-351 I President, 43-54; 

Vice-President, 19-43 
Adams, John Quincy, 71, 72, 97, 

100-106, 108, 109, 136, 142, 352, 353, 

365 ; President, 102-108 
Adams, John Quincy, Jr., 230, 355 
Adams, Samuel, 350 
Admission of States, 348 
Adrain, G. B., 188 
African slave trade, 12, 144, 161, 

182, 184 
Africans, naturalization of, 222 
Agricultural colleges, 201 
Agricultural depression, 283 
Agricultural prosperity, 290 
Agriculture, Bureau of, 267, 279; 

Department of, 267, 279 
Akerman, Amos T., 370 
Alabama, 128, 355 ; admitted, 93, 

348 ; secedes, 193, 199 ; re-ad- 
mitted, 221 
Alabama Claims, 225 
Alexander I., Czar of Russia, 81 
Alger, Russell A., 372 
Algiers, 9, 34, 38 ; declares war 

against the United States, 9 
Alien and sedition laws, 47-50, 

56, 62, 106, 225 
Aliens, 84, 169, 222, 288, 297 
All-American Congress, 275 

Ambrister, , execution of, 91 

American Alliance, 266 
American commerce, 9, 34, 36, 38, 

39, 46, 59, 64, 69-71, 75, 84, 86, 109, 

266 
American Continental policy, 

266 



American Federation of Labor, 
274 

American fisheries, 271 

American Party, 169, 190, 278, 354. 
See also Know - Nothing 
Party 

American Protective Associa- 
tion, 297 

American Railway Union, 295 

American Republics, Congress 
of, 105 

American tariff system, 22 

American Whigs, 5, 6 

Ames, Gov. A., 239 

Ames, Fisher, 40 

Ames, Oakes, 231 

Amnesty, 208, 212, 228, 229, 241, 293 

Anarchists, 270, 271 

Annapolis, Convention at (1786), 
10 

Annexation: of Florida, 91 ; of 
Louisiana, 61 ; of Texas. 145-148 

Anti-Federal Party, 1, 15-17, 
20-24, 25-28. See also Demo- 
cratic-Republican Party 

Anti-Lecompton Democrats, 186, 
188 

Anti-Masonic Party, 109, no, 118, 
119, 128, 137, 353 

Anti-Nebraska Men, 169-171 

Anti-Polygamy bill, 261, 272, 286 

Anti-Slavery Society, 131 

Appointment, Presidential pow- 
er of, 105, 127, 247, 252, 262 

Apportionment Acts, 26, 261, 
283, 360, 361 

Arbitration, 271, 296 

Arbuthnot, , execution of, 91 

Arista, General, 150 

Arkansas, 193, 232, 239, 355 ; ad- 
mitted, 129, 348 ; secedes, 199 ; 
re-admitted/ 221 ; suffrage in, 
223 ; election troubles, 239 



376 



Index. 



Armenian outrages, 298 

" Armies of the Unemployed," 

294, 295 
Armstrong, James, 349 
Armstrong, John, 364 
Army. See United STATES 

Army 
Army of Northern Virginia, 207 
Arrears of pensions, 253 
Arthur, Chester A., 256, 258-262, 

267 ; Vice-President, 258-260, 

356 ; President, 260-267 
Articles of Confederation, 7-10, 

3?3-3i7 _ 
Ashburton Treaty, 144 
Australian method of voting, 



Babcock, O. E., 239 

Badger, G. E., 367 

Baez, Buenaventura, 234 

Baker County, Fla., the elec- 
toral count in, 245, 246 

Ballot reform, 276, 278, 286 

Baltimore, national conventions 
in, 118, 128, 138, 145, 146, 156, 164, 
176, 190, 191, 205, 230 

44 Baltimore," the, attack on sail- 
ors of, 285 

Bancroft, George, 286 

Bank, National, the first, 24, 25, 
74, 75 ; the second, 87, 90 ; over- 
thrown by Jackson, 111-126 ; 
substitute for, 141 

Bank of the United States. See 
National Bank ; United 
States Bank 

Banks, suspension of, 291 

Banks, Nathaniel P., Jr., 170, 355 

Barbour, James, 365 

Barbour, P. P., 98 

Barnburners, 156 

Barry, William T., 366 

Bates, Edward, 369* 

Battles : Bull Run, 200 ; New 
Orleans, 107 ; Palo Alto, 150 ; 
Resaca de la Palma, 150 

Baxter, Elisha, 239 

Bayard, Thomas F., 260, 371 

Belknap, W. W., 242, 370 

Bell, John, 191, 196, 354, 367 

Bentley, Charles E., 301. 357 

Benton, Thomas H., 130 

Bering Sea, 284 

Berrien, John M., 366 

Bibb, George M., 367 

Bidwell, Gen. John, 288, 357 

44 Biglow Papers," 151 



44 Billion-Dollar Congress," 282 

Bill of Rights, 21 

Birney, James G., 138, 145, 147, 

353* 354 
Bissell, Wilson S., 372 
Black, James, 355 
Black, Jere. S., 368, 369 
Black Cockade Federalists, 56 
" Black List," the, 263, 286 
Black Republican, 171 
Blaine, James G., 220, 225, 231, 235, 

243, 256, 265, 277, 356, 370, 371 
Blaine Amendment, 241 
Blair, Francis P., 218, 219, 355 
Blair, Montgomery, 369" 
Blair educational bill, 264, 275 
Bland-Allison law. See Bland 

Silver Bill 
Bland silver bill, 250, 251, 281 
Bliss, Cornelius N., 372 
Blockades, 69, 77, 82, 200, 208 
Bloody bill, the, 121 
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 52, 59, 82 
Bonds, 250, 251 ; purchase of, 275 ; 

sales of, 290, 293, 296, 298 
Booth, Newton, 242 
Border Ruffians, 172, 173 
Border States Men, 204 
Borie, Adolph E., 370 
Boston, Mass., 32, 131 
Boundary disputes, 109, 144, 146, 

Ml, 150-154 
Boutwell, George S., 231, 369 
Boycott, the, 265, 271, 286 
Boyd, Linn, 163, 167 
Bradford, William, 363 
Bramlette, T. E., 355 
Branch, John, 366 
Brazil, 225 

Breckinridge, John, 364 
Breckinridge, John C, 176, 178, 

190-192, 196, 197, 354 
Brewster, Benjamin H., 371 
Bribery, 188, 189, 231, 239, 242, 278 
Bristow, Benjamin H., 243, 369 
British colonies, United States 

commerce with, 109 
British Guiana, 297 
Broad Constructionist Party, 2 
Broad Seal War, 136 
Brooks, James, 231 
Brooks, John A., 278 



Brooks, Joseph, 239 
Brooks, Preston S., 



i75 



Brown, Aaron V., 369 

Brown, B. Gratz, 228, 230, 232, 355 

Brown, John, 187 

Browning, O. H., 369 



Index. 



377 



Brussels Monetary Conference, 

284 
Bryan, William J., 300, 357 
Buchanan, James, 176, 178, 179, 
185, 187-189, 193, 354, 367 ; Pres- 
ident, 178-196 
Buckner, Simon B., 300, 357 
Buffalo, N. Y., national conven- 
tions at, 145, 157 ; labor riots 
at, 288 
Bullion, 281. See also Gold ; 

Silver 
Bull Run, battle of, 200 
Bureau of Agriculture, 267 
Burr, Aaron, 29, 42, 43, 52-54, 56, 
62, 66-68, 350, 351 ; Vice-Pres- 
ident, 53-63 
Butler, Andrew Pickens, 175 
Butler, Benjamin F., of Mas- 
sachusetts, 201, 266, 356 
Butler, Benjamin F., of New 

York, 366 
Butler, William O., 156, 158, 354 

Cabinets, 363-372 
Cabot, George, 364 
Calhoun, John C, 75, 101-103, 105, 
108, 109, 112, 115, 116, 118, 119, 121, 
125, 134, 138, 352, 353, 365, 366; 
Vice-President, 108-121 
California, 152, 155, 157, 158, 160, 
161, 164, 177, 257 ; admitted, 162, 
348 ; labor riots-, 295 
Calls for troops, 199, 200, 203 
Cameron, J. D., 370 
Cameron, Simon, 369 
"Campaign of Education," 301 
Campbell, George W., 364 
Campbell, James, 368 
Canada, 59, 72, 76, 83, 109 ; re- 
taliation against, 272, 276 ; 
boundary dispute, 109 ; fish- 
eries, 269, 271 ; sealers, 284, 
299 ; reciprocity with, 285 
Canal, Nicaraguan ship, 296, 302 
Canals, 67, 99, 100, 106, 196 
Capital, the national, 23, 24, 53 
Capital and labor, 263, 265, 266, 

270, 271, 274, 276 
Carlisle, John G., 263, 269, 274, 372 
Cary, Samuel F., 242, 356 
Cass, Lewis, 156, 158, 354, 366, 368 
Caucus nominations, 52, 100, 108 
Censure : of Brooks, 175 ; of Gid- 
dings, 143 ; of Jackson, 125, 130 
Census, the eleventh, 282 
Centenary of the Constitution 
(1887), 274 



Centennial Exhibition (1876), 242 

Central America, 183, 275 

Central government, 2, 3, 7, 12- 
14, 21, 56, 287 

Chambers, B. T„ 256, 356 

Chandler, William E., 371 

Chandler, Zacharias, 370 

Charleston, S. C, Federal oc- 
cupation of harbor (1832), 120 ', 
nominating convention at, 189, 
190 ; in the civil war, 195 

Chase, Salmon P., 217, 222, 369 

Chase, Samuel, impeachment of, 
61-63 

Cheap money, 266 

Cherokee Indian case, 104, 114, 
119 

Chesapeake Bay, 10 

14 Chesapeake," and u Leopard " 
affair, 68, 69, 75 

Chicago, 111., nominating con- 
ventions at, 191, 205, 218, 255, 
256, 265, 277, 287, 299, 300 ; an- 
archist riots, 270 ; Columbian 
Exposition, 282, 285, 291 ; labor 
riots, 295 

Chili, 285 

Chinese exclusion, 256, 261, 266, 
276, 285, 292 

Cincinnati, Ohio, nominating 
conventions at, 176, 229, 230, 
242, 256, 288 ; riots at, 265 

Cipher telegrams, 251 

Circuit courts, 284 

Civil Rights bill, 210, 227, 238 

Civil service, introduction of 
the spoils system, 112, 113, 149 : 
reform under Grant, 227, 229, 
230 ; attention called to, 244, 
254, 260, 265, 266 ; approved by 
Arthur, 261 ; Pendleton Act, 
262, 268 ; under Cleveland, 268- 
271, 273, 276-279, 294 ; Civil Ser- 
vice Commission, 270, 282, 286, 
294 ; dissatisfaction with, 273 ; 
extension of, 276, 278, 279 ; re- 
port of Civil Service Commis- 
sion, 286 ; the Commission sus- 
tained, 294 ; under Harrison, 
282, 286, 287 

Civil war, the, 25, 60, 92, 198-207 

Clay, Henry, 75, 81, 86, 89, 90, 93, 
95, 96, 99-101, 103, 105, no, 118, 
121-123. 125, 130, 137, 145-148, 161. 
1691 353i 354* 365 

Clayton, John M., 367 

Cleveland, Grover, 262, 266-277, 
279, 287, 289, 292, 293, 295, 298, 299, 



378 



Index. 



Cleveland, Grover— continued 

301, 302, 356, 357; President, 

267-279, 289-302 
Cleveland, Ohio, nominating 

convention at, 205 
Clifford, Nathan, 367 
Clinton, De Witt, 76, 79, 352 
Clinton, George, 28, 29, 62, 63, 70, 

72, 349-351 ; Vice-President, 63- 

79 
Coahuila, 131 
Coal-mine strikes, 294 
Cobb, Howell, 161, 368 
Cochrane, John C, 205 
Coffee, Titian J., 369 
"Coin," the word, 291 
Coinage, 250, 251, 253, 254, 261, 267, 

272, 283, 287, 292-294, 296, 299-3OI 

Colfax, Schuyler, 204, 209, 215, 
218-220, 230, 231, 355 ; Vice-Presi- 
dent, 219-233 

Colfax, La., outrages at, 236 

Collamer, Jacob, 368 

Colonial times, 3-6 

Colorado, 195 ; admitted, 242, 
348 

Colored vote, 240, 245, 253, 265 

Color line, the, 227 

Colquitt, A. H., 355 

Columbia, S. C., Nullification 
convention at, 120 

Columbian Exposition, 282, 285, 
291 

Columbia River, 152 

Commerce, State regulation of, 
8 ; Federal regulation and im- 
provement of, 21, 84, 94, 155. 
See also American Com- 
merce ; Interstate Com- 
merce ; Shipping 

Commercial distress, 83, 290-292. 
See also Financial Distress 

Commercial prosperity, 290 

Commercial treaties,' 9. See 
also Jay's Treaty ; Trea- 
ties 

Compromises : of 1820 (Missouri), 
60, 94, 95, 148, 154, 155, 160, 166- 
168, 172, 175, 176, 179, 181, 206 ; of 
1850, 162-168, 181 ; of i860 (Crit- 
tenden), 194 

Compromise tariff of 1833, 121, 
J 43 

Compulsory arbitration bill, 296 

Confederate States, 194, 197-199, 
206, 257 

Confederation, Articles of, 7 et 
seq., 303-317 ; revision of, 10 



Confiscation, 200, 201 ; of Mor- 
mon property, 293 

Congress, Peace, 194 

Congress, United States. See 
United States Congress 

Congressional representation of 
the sections, 358 

Congress of American Repub- 
lics, 105 

Congress of the Confederacy, 17 

Conkling, Roscoe, 260 

Connecticut, 62, 78, 81, 83, 84, 87, 
244 ; ratified the Constitution, 
348. See also Hartford Con- 
vention 

Conrad, Charles M., 368 

Conscription, 83, 203, 204 

Conservatives, 135, 142, 156, 239 

Conspiracy, 200, 226, 271, 295 

Constitution. See United 
States Constitution 

Constitutional Convention of 
1787 j 10 et seq. 

Constitutional Union Party, 191, 

" iQ7» 354 . * 

" Contraband of war," 201 

Convention of Officeholders, 146 

Convention of 1786, 10 

Convention of 1787, 10 et seq. 

Convention of 1827, 152 

Conventions, Federal Constitu- 
tional, in the States, 16 

Conventions, nominating, 108, 
118, 119, 128, 137, 138, 145, 146, 156, 
157, 160, 164, 165, 175, 176, 189-191, 
205, 208, 218, 229, 230, 242, 243, 255, 
256, 265, 266, 277, 278, 286-288, 299- 
301 

Cooper, Peter, 242, 356 

Copperheads, 205 

Copyright, international, 284 

Corporal's Guard, 142 

Corporations, 256, 263, 265, 266, 
273, 288 

Corwin, Thomas, 367 

Court of Claims, 272 

Courts, United States. See 
United States Courts 

Coushatta, La., outrages at, 236 

Covode investigation, 188, 189 

Cox, John D., 370 

Cranfill, J. B., 288, 357 

Crawford, George W., 367 

Crawford, William H., 75, 87, 100- 
102, 104, in, 352, 364, 365 

Credit Mobilier, 231 

Creswell, J. A. T., 370 

Crisp, Charles F., 285, 292 



Index. 



m 



Crittenden, John J., 194, 367, 368 
Crittenden Compromise, 194 
Crowninshield, B. W., 365 
Crowninshield, Jacob, 364 
Cuba, 182, 183, igo, 298, 299, 301 
Cumberland Road, 98 
Currency, 25, 55, 129, 133, 134, 140, 
146, 171, 202, 222, 242, 250, 251, 
253, 256, 266, 267, 281, 283, 287, 288, 
290, 291. See also Coinage ; 
Gold; Legal Tender; Pa- 
per Currency ; Silver 
Currency reform, 296 
Cushing, Caleb, 368 
Cyclones, 263 

Dakota, 195, See also North 
Dakota ; South Dakota 

Dallas, A. J., 364 

Dallas, George M., 146, 148, 354 ; 
Vice-President, 148-158 

Daniel, William, 266, 356 

Davis, David, 260, 355 

Davis, Jefferson, 195, 368 ; Pres- 
ident of Confederate States, 
195 

Davis, John W., 150 

Day, William R., 372 

Dayton, Jonathan, 39, 45 

Dayton, William L., 176-178, 354 

Dearborn, Henry, 364 

Declaration of Independence, 21, 
191 

Defalcations, 197 

Defective administration of 
justice, 264 

Deficiency of revenue, 291, 293, 
296 

Delano, Columbus, 370 

Delaware, 62, 87, 106, 206; stays 
in the Union, 199 ; ratifies the 
Constitution, 348 

Democratic clubs, 32, 36, 37 

Democratic Party, 27, 104, 106- 
iii, 113, 115, 119, 125-129, 133, 134, 
136-138, 140-142, 144-147, 149, 150, 
152-157, 159-165, 167-172, 176, 177, 
179, 181, 182, 184-T86, 188-192, 197- 
201, 204, 205, 207, 209, 213, 215, 218, 
220, 223-225, 227-236, 239-241, 243- 
2 47» 249, 250, 252, 253, 255-257, 259, 
260, 262-265, 267, 268, 270, 272-274, 

277, 279, 280, 285, 287, 288, 290, 291, 

294, 297, 299, 300, 302, 353-357 ; 

nominating conventions, 119, 
128, 138, 146, 156, 164, 176, 189, 190, 
205, 218, 230, 243, 256, 265, 266, 277, 
287, 299, 300 ; overthrows the 



Democratic Party— continued 
United States Bank, 113-126 ; 
supports war with Mexico, 
146 ; ruled by Southern mem- 
bers, 167, 182 ; division of, 190 ; 
opposes war against the 
South, 205 ; opposes Recon- 
struction by Congress, 218 ; 
sudden increase of influence, 
240 ; supports reduction of the 
tariff, 277 

Democratic-Republican Party, 
founded, 1, 27 ; first great 
success, 53, 56, 57 ; supports 
war with England, 76 ; divi- 
sion of, 86. See also Demo- 
cratic Party 

Demonetization of silver, 250, 261 

Dennison, William, 369 

Department of Agriculture, 267, 

2 79 

Dependent Parents and Dis- 
abilities Act, 281 

Dependent Pension bill, 272 

De Trobriand, Gen., 237 

Devens, Charles, 370 

Dexter, Samuel, 363, 364 

Dickerson, Mahlon, 366 

Dickinson, Don M., 371 

Diplomatists, offensive, 31-33, 

_37» 74 

Direct taxation, 36, 55, 288 

Disputed elections, 18, 53, 54, 101, 

102, 245-249 
District of Columbia, 131, 162, 

212 
Division of Surplus Revenue, 

106, 113, 129, 135, 142, 143, 146 
Dix, John A., 368 
Dobbin, James C, 368 
" Domestic violence," 237, 254 
Dominica, 224, 234 
Donelson, Andrew Jackson, 176, 

178,354 
Dough-Faces, 95 
Douglas, Stephen A., 181, 185, 

189, 190-192, 194, 196, 197, 354 
Draft Acts : of 1814, 83 ; of 1863, 

203, 204 
Draft riots, 204 

Dred Scott case, 179-181, 190, 195 
Duane, William J., 123, 124, 366 
Durell, Judge, 233, 236 

Eagle, the American, 32 
Eastern harbor bill, 144, 145, 148 
Eaton, John H., 366 
Edmunds, George F., 255, 261, 263 



38o 



Index. 



Education, 67, 186, 187, 211, 241, 

264 
Eight-hours movement, 285, 286, 
Election frauds, 232, 236, 244-248, 

251, 265 
Election laws, general, 59, 60, 61, 

222, 224, 228, 253-255 
Elections, Presidential, pro- 
posed popular method, 113 ; 

dangers of, 238 
Electoral Commission, the, 247, 

248 
Electoral Count Act, 271, 272 
Electoral counts, 19, 29, 43, 53, 54, 

63? 72, 79, 80, 87, 96, 97, 101, 102, 

108, 122, 132, 139, 148, 158, 166, 178, 
196, 206, 219, 232, 245-249, 255, 257, 
258, 267, 279, 288, 301 

Electoral methods, 238, 241, 250, 

255 
Electoral votes, 261, 349-357, 359- 

361 
Electors, mode of choosing, 19, 

109, 330, 343 

Elkms, Stephen B., 371 ' 

Ellenton, S. C, negro massacre 

at, 244 
Ellmaker, Amos, 118, 122, 353 
Ellsworth, Oliver, 350 
Emancipation, 18, 201-204, 229 
Embargo Act, 50, 68, 70-72, 76, 82. 
See also Non-Intercourse 
Act 
Emigration societies, 173 
Endicott, William C , 371 
Enfranchisement, 228, 229 
England, 4-6, 9, 20, 21, 33, 39, 42, 
44, 46, 53* 59> 6 °i 64-79, 81, 92, 117, 
118, 126, 146, 147, 152, 153, 183, 262, 
284 ; war with France, 30 et 
seq., 69 ; war with United 
States (1812), 68, 77-79, 81-86; 
difficulties with, 73, 77, 109, 152, 
153, 284, 297-299 ; peace with, 85; 
Treaty of 1783, 9, 34 ; Treaty 
of 1795 (Jay's), 37-40, 44, 61, 67 ; 
Treaty of 1846, 153 ; Treaty of 
1871 (Washington), Alabama 
Claims, 225 ; fisheries treaty, 
275 ; Canadian sealing trou- 
bles, 284, 299 ; Venezuela boun- 
dary dispute, 297-299. See also 
Alabama Claims ; Canada ; 
Fisheries Disputes; Revo- 
lution 
English, W. H., 257, 258, 356 
Enlistment, 83 
Equality, 230 



Equal Rights Party, 278 

Equal suffrage, 218 

Era of Good Feeling, 98 

Erskine, , 73 

European power in America, 59, 
99 

Eustis, William, 364 

Evarts, William M., 369, 370 

Everett, Edward, 191, 196, 354, 367 

Ewing, Thomas, 366, 368 

Excise law, 25, 37 

Executive power, 68, 124, 125, 140, 
143. See also Federal Pow- 
ers 

Extradition, 144, 289 

Fairchild, Charles S., 371 

Farewell Addresses : of George 
Washington, 41 ; of Andrew 
Jackson, 132 

Farmers' Alliance, 282, 283, 285 

Farm loans, 283 

Fauchet, Citizen, 37 

Federal election laws, 292 

" Federalists," the, 17 

Federal judiciary, 12, 55, 58, 66, 
222, 284 

Federal Party, 2, 15-17, 20, 21, 24- 
28, 35-48, 50-58, 60-62, 64-66, 68, 70- 
73i 76-79> 85-87, 89, 90, 103, 114, 171, 
202, 350-352 ; first great defeat, 
52, 53, 56 ; its last stronghold, 
58 ; opposes the embargo, 70- 
72 ; opposes the war with Eng- 
land, 78, 79 ; becomes extinct, 
85, 86, 89 

Federal powers, 8-10, 12 et seq., 
20, 23-26, 47, 49, 50, 55, 56, 60, 61, 
67, 68, 78, 79, 83, 84, 90, 93-96, 99, 
108, 113-116, 136, 138, 141, 153, 155, 
156, 160, 168, 171-176, 178, 180, 190, 
191, 194, 196, 197, 203, 204, 208, 221, 
222, 224, 228, 229, 234-237, 243, 244, 
253, 254, 256, 271, 287, 294, 295 

Federal supervision of elec- 
tions, 222, 224, 228, 233, 236, 237, 
239, 244, 252-254, 256, 257, 292 

Fessenden, W. P., 369 

Field, James G., 287, 357 

Fifth Avenue Hotel Conference, 

244 
" Fifty-four-forty or fight," 147, 

152 
Filibustering, 183, 187 
Fillmore, Millard, 156, 158, 159, 

163, 176-178, 354; Vice-President, 

158-163 ; President, 163-166 
Financial distress, 71, 85, in, 124, 



Index, 



381 



Financial distress— continued 

130, 133, 134, 136, 140, 197, 240, 290- 

292. See also COMMERCIAL 

Distress ; Panics 
Fiscal Bank of the United States, 

141 
Fish, Hamilton, 369 
Fisheries dispute, 269, 271, 275 
Fisheries treaty rejected, 275 
Fisk, Clinton B., 278, 356 
Florida, 60, 65, 90, 91, 135, 239, 244- 

246, 248, 249, 355 ; purchase, 91 ; 

admitted, 148, 348 ; secedes, 

193, 199 ; re-admitted, 221 
Floyd, John, 119, 122, 353 
Floyd, John B., 368 
Folger, Charles J., 262, 370 
Foote, Samuel A., his resolution, 

113 
Force bill, 225, 228 
Forced loans, 25 
Foreign alliances, 41 
Foreign policy, 278, 296 
Foreign relations, 279 
Forsyth, John, 366 
Fort Sill, 242 
Fort Sumter, 195, 198 
Forward, Walter, 367 
Foster, Charles, 371 
Foster, John W., 371 
France, 30-37, 42, 44-46, 48, 50-52* 

58-61, 64, 69, 71, 72, 74, 75, 109, 

152, 183 ; war with England, 30 

et seq., 60, 64, 69 ; war with 

Spain, 33 ; treaties with ; 

(1778), 30, 31 ; (1803), 61, 152 ; 

claims against, 109 
Francis, David R., 372 
Franking privilege, 231 
Free coinage, 287, 292, 296, 299-301 
Free delivery system, 272 
Free Democracy, 354. See Free 

Soil Party 
Freedmen's Bureau, 206, 209, 211 
Freedom of religion, 21 ; of 

speech, 21, 48, 49 ; of person, 

21 ; of property, 21 ; of press, 

48, 49 
Freemasonry, the crusade 

against, no 
Free negroes, 96, 163, 201, 207-212, 

229, 235 
Free-Soil Party, 156, 157, 159, 161- 

163, 165, 167, 168, 354 
Free States, population, 358 
Free-State settlers (Kansas), 173, 

174, 184 
Free trade, 94, 229 



Freight rates, 235, 236, 273 
Frelinghuysen, Frederick T., 370 
Frelinghuysen, Theodore, 146, 

148, 354 
Fremont, John C, 176-178, 201, 205, 

354 
French Revolution, 27, 30,32 
Fugitive slave law, 145, 161-165, 

204 
Fugitive slaves, 201 

Gage, Lyman J., 372 

Gallatin, Albert, 364 

Garfield, James A., 250, 256, 258- 
260, 356 ; President, 258-260 

Garland, Augustus H., 371 

Gary, James A., 372 

Geary, John White, 175, 178 

Genet, Citizen, 31-33, 36 

Geographical parties, 177 

Georgia, 32, 91, 104, 112, 114, 120, 
130, 131, 218-221, 232, 257, 258, 355; 
protests against the tariff, 
112 ; secedes, 193, 199 ; re-ad- 
mitted, 221, 222/224; ratified 
Constitution, 348 

Ger^, Elbridge, 76, 80, 352 ; Vice- 
President, 80-88 

Giddings, J. R , 142, 143 

Gilmer, T. W., 367 

Gilpin, Henry D., 366 

Goff, Nathan, Jr., 370 

Gold, 55, 129, 133, 134, 160, 256, 281, 
287, 289, 291, 296, 300 

Gold reserve, 290, 291, 293, 298 

Government loans on farm 
property, 283 

Government ownership of trans- 
portation systems, 287, 288 

Graham, George, 365 

Graham, William Alexander, 
165, 166, 354, 368 

Granger, Francis, 128, 132, 353, 
367 

Granger, Gideon, 364, 365 

Grangers, 235 

Grant, U. S., 216, 218-222, 224, 227, 
229, 230, 232-237, 239-241, 243, 245, 
247, 249, 255, 256, 268, 355, 369; 
President, 219-248 

Great Britain. See England 

Great Debate in the Senate, 114 

Great Lakes, the, 83 

Greeley, Horace, 230-232, 355; his 
Political Text Book, 176 

Greenback-Labor Party, 256 

Greenback Party, 242, 252, 253, 
257, 259, 260, 263, 266, 356 



382 



Index. 



Greenbacks, 25, 202, 222, 242, 266, 
290, 291. See also CURRENCY; 
Legal Tender 

Gresham, Walter Q., 371, 372 

Griggs, John W., 372 

Griswold, Roger, 364 

Groesbeck, W. S., 355 

Grow, Galusha A., 200 

Growth of the nation, 282 

Grundy, Felix, 366 

Guiteau, Charles J., 260 

Gunboat system, 65 

Guthrie, James, 368 

Habeas corpus, 67, 203, 204, 208, 
213, 226, 228, 229 

Habersham, Joseph, 363, 364 

Hale, John P., 165, 354 

Hall, Nathan K., 368 

Hamburgh, S. C, negro mas- 
sacre at, 244 

Hamilton, Alexander, 17, 20, 22- 
25, 27, 28, 36, 37, 42, 51, 53, 62, 87; 
settlement of the public debt, 
22-24 » Secretary of the Trea- 
sury, 20-25, 2 7i 28, 363 

Hamilton, Paul, 365 

Hamlin, Hannibal, 191, 196, 197, 
354; Vice-President, 196-206 

Hancock, John, 349 

Hancock, Winfield Scott, 257, 258, 
356 

Harbors and rivers, 116, 144, 148, 
i53- x 55i x 58, 170* 261, 275 

Hard Cider Campaign, 138 

Harlan, James, 369 

Harmon, Judson, 372 

Harper, Robert G., 352 

Harper's Ferry, 187, 188 

Harrisburgh, Pa., National Con- 
vention of Protectionists, 106; 
Whig Convention (1839), 137 

Harrison, Benjamin, 277, 279-282, 
285, 286, 356, 357 ; President, 279- 
289 

Harrison, R. H., 349 

Harrison, William Henry, 128, 
132, 137-140, 353 ; President, 139, 
140 

Hartford Convention, 84, 85, 169 

Hatton, Frank, 371 

Hawaii, 289, 295 

Hayes, Rutherford B., 243-245, 
248, 249, 251-254, 355 ; President, 
248-258 

Hayne, Robert Y., 114 

Hayti, 202 

Hazard, E., 363 



Helper's " Impending Crisis, ' 
188 

Hendricks, Thomas A., 232, 243, 
245, 248, 266-268, 355, 356; Vice- 
President, 267, 268 

Henry, John, 350 

Henry documents, 76, 77 

Henshaw, David, 367 

Herbert, Hilary A., 372 

Hickman, , 188 

High protective tariff system, 22 

Hoar, E. R., 370 

Hobart, Garrett A., 299, 357; 
Vice-President, 302 

Holland, 30 

Holt, Joseph, 368, 369 

Home rule, 256 

Homestead bill, 186, 189, 191, 202, 
204, 210 

Honduras, 183 

"Honest money," 256 

Howard, John E., 352 

Howe, Timothy O., 371 

Hubbard, S. D., 368 

Hunkers, 156 

Hunt, W. H., 371 

Hunter, R. M. T., 137 

Huntington, Samuel, 349 

Idaho, 361 ; admitted, 282, 348 

Illinois, 106, 177, 179, 180, 255 ; ad- 
mitted, 91, 348 ; labor riots in, 
295 

Immigration, 189, 284, 287-289, 301 

Impeachments : W. W. Belknap, 
242 ; Samuel Chase, 61-63 ; 
Andrew Johnson, 212, 216, 217; 
Judge Peck, 116; George Wash- 
ington threatened with, 39 

''Impending Crisis" (Helper's), 
188 

Impressment of American sea- 
men, 34, 38, 67-69, 77, 78, 82, 83 

Income tax, 204, 288, 293 

Increased pensions bill, 269, 281 

Independence, 6, 7 

Independent Party, 242, 253, 257, 
259, 260, 263, 267, 274, 297 

Independent Treasury plan, 126, 
127, 134. i35i i37 

Indiana, 106, 177, 244, 257 ; ad- 
mitted, 87, 348 ; the center of 
population, 282 

Indianapolis, nominating con- 
ventions at, 242, 278, 300 

Indian Nation, proposed estab- 
lishment of an, between the 
United States and Canada, 83 



Index. 



383 



Indians, 34, 83, 90, 91, 104, 114, 116, 
119, 272. See also CHEROKEE 
Nation; Seminole War 

Indian Territory, 282 

Industrial prosperity, 290 

Inevitable conflict, the, 93 

Ingalls, John J., 272 

Ingersoll, Jared, 76, 80, 352 

Ingham, Samuel D., 366 

Internal improvements, 2, 14, 
66, 67, 90, 95, 98-100, 104-106, 108, 
109, hi, 113-116, 118, 119, 127, 137, 
138, 144, 148, i53- I 55 5 158, 163, 170, 
171, 176, 191, 196, 261, 275 

Internal revenue, 9, 37, 55, 57, 86, 
89, 94, 204, 211, 278 

International copyright, 284 

International Marine Confer- 
ence, 275 

International Monetary Confer- 
ence, 284 

Interstate commerce, 236, 265, 
272, 273, 284 

Intimidation of voters, 223, 225, 
226, 236, 245, 253 

Iowa, 148, 173 ; admitted, 153, 348 

Iredell, James, 350 

Iron-clad oath, 202 

Italy, 225, 284, 285 

Jackson, Andrew, 91, 101, 102, 104, 
106-113, 115-127, 129-133, 149, 193, 
352, 353 ; President, 108-132; ad- 
vocates protection, 108 ; dis- 
like to the tariff and internal 
improvements, in 

Jackson Men, 104-106 

Jacobinism, 32, 37, 56 

James, Thomas L., 371 

Jay, John, 17, 21, 33, 35-40. 53» 54, 

, 34Q-35I 

Jay's Treaty, 37-40, 44, 61, 67 

Jefferson, Thomas, 21, 25, 27-29, 
32, 35, 42, 43, 52-57, 59, 61-70, 72, 
75, 92, 112, 115, 287, 350, 351, 363 ; 
Vice-President, 43-54 ; Presi- 
dent, 54-72, 112 

Jenkins, Charles J., 355 

44 John Brown's Tract/' N. Y., 187 

Jewell, Marshall, 370 

Johnson, Andrew, 205-217, 355 ; 
Vice-President, 206, 207 ; Presi- 
dent, 207-219 ; impeachment, 
212, 216, 217 

Johnson, Cave, 367 

Johnson, Hale, 301, 357 

Johnson, Herschel v., 190, 196, 
354 



ohnson, Reverdy, 368 

ohnson, Richard M., 128, 132, 133. 
13Q1 353 1 Vice-President, 132- 
139 
Johnson, S., 351 
Jones, John W., 144 
Jones, William, 365 

udiciary law, 58 
^ulian, George W., 165, 354, 355 
Jury, trial by, 2 
Justice, miscarriages of, 264 

Kanawha, 200 

Kansas, 164, 167-169, 171-176, 178, 
182, 184-187, 189, 191, 203, 282, 283 ; 
Pawnee Constitution, 172 ; 
Topeka Constitution, 173 ; 
Lecompton Constitution, 184- 
186 ; Wyandot Constitution, 
186, 189, 195 ; admitted, 195, 348 

Kansas-Nebraska bill, 167-169, 
176. See also Kansas; Ne- 
braska 

Keifer, John W., 261 

Kellogg, W. P., 233, 236, 237 

Kendall, Amos, 366 

Kennedy, J. P., 368 

Kentucky, 26, 115, 165, 206 ; ad- 
mitted, 26, 348 ; stays in Union, 
199 

Kentucky Resolutions : of 1798, 
49, 112, 164; of 1799, 49, 50, 104, 
107, 112 

Kerr, Michael C, 241, 247 

Key, David M., 377 

King, Horatio, 369 

King, Rufus, 33, 62, 63, 70, 72, 87, 
35i, 352 

King, William R., 164, 166, 354; 
Vice-President, 166-178 

Kirkwood, S. J., 371 

Kitchen Cabinet, 116, 117 

Knights of Labor, 263, 265, 270, 
271, 274, 283 

Know-Nothing Party, 169, 170, 
175-177, 184, 188, 190. See also 
Constitutional Union 
Party 

Knox, Henry, 21, 363 

Ku-Klux Committee, 225 

Ku-Klux Klan, 223, 225 

Labor, 263, 270, 271, 274, 276, 278, 

280, 285, 286, 288 
Labor, Commission of, 271 
Labor parties, 278, 356 
Labor riots, 270, 271, 276, 288, 294, 

295 



384 



Index. 



Lamar, Lucius Q. C, 371 

Lamont, Daniel S., 372 

Land grants, 203, 256 

Land-mortgage scheme, 283 

Lane, Joseph, 190, 196, 354 

Langdon, John, 351 

Lawrence, Kan., 173 

Leavenworth, Kan., 173 

Lecompton bill, the, 188, 189 

Lecompton Constitution (Kan- 
sas), 184-186 

Lee, Charles, 363, 364 

Lee, Henry, 119, 122, 353 

Legal tender, 202, 222, 238, 251, 
254, 281, 296 

Legare, Hugh S., 366, 367 

Lemoyne, Francis, 138 

"Leopard " and " Chesapeake " 
affa,ir, 68, 69, 75 

Letters of marque. See Priva- 
teering 

Levering, Joshua, 300, 301, 357 

Liberal Republicans, 228-232, 235, 
355 

Liberia, 202 

Liberty Party, 138, 145, 151, 157, 
353> 354 

Lighthouse system, 116 

Lincoln, Abraham, 191, 192, 196- 
199, 201, 202, 205-207, 354, 355 ; 
President, 196-208 

Lincoln, Benjamin, 349 

Lincoln, Levi, 364 

Lincoln, Robert T., 260, 370 

Livingston, Edward, 365 

Local government, 4, 6 

Loco-Foco Party, 128 

Logan, John A., 265, 356 

Log Cabin campaign, 138 

Long, John D., 372 

" Long and short haul," 273 

Loose construction, 2, 13, 14, 
25, 66, 79, 86, 87, 90, 93-95* 98, 
100-104, 109-111, 145, 164, 171, 
172, 176, 191, 198, 199, 203, 205, 
217, 265 

Lopez expedition, 183 

Louisiana, 59, 65, 91, 106, 232, 234- 
2371 239, 244-246, 248, 249, 355 ; 
admitted, 78, 348 ; secedes, 193, 
199 ; re-admitted, 221 ; suffrage 
in, 223, 233-237 ; outrages in, 
236, 237 

Louisiana Purchase, 61, 91-93 

Louisville, Ky., nominating con- 
vention at, 230 

Lovejoy, Elijah P., 131 

Lowell, James Russell, 151 



McClellan, George B., 205, 206, 

268, 355 
McClelland, Robert, 368 
McCrary, George W., 370 
McCulloch, Hugh, 369 
McEnery, John, 233, 236, 237, 246 
Machen, Willis B., 355 
McHenry, James, 363 
McKenna, Joseph, 372 
McKinley, William, 280, 281, 299, 
301, 302, 357 ; the tariff bill, 280, 
281, 285 ; President, 302 
McLane, Louis, 123, 366 
McLean, John, 118, 128, 365, 367 
Macon, Nathaniel, 57, 61, 64, 

352 
McVeagh, Wayne, 371 
Madison, James, 11, 14, 17, 22, 35, 
49, 66, 70, 72-82, 112, 351, 352, 364 ; 
President, 72-87 
Maguire, Matthew, 301, 357 
Maine, 82, 83, 94, 95, 109, 255 ; ad- 
mitted, 95, 348 ; boundary dis- 
pute, 109, 144 
Mangum, W. P., 132, 353 
Manning, Daniel, 371 
Manufactures, encouragement 
and protection of, 22, 86, 93-95, 
106, 107, 138, 195, 281. See also 
Protection ; Tariff 
Marcy, William L., 113, 367, 368 
Marshall, John, 68, 352, 363 
Maryland, 42, 62, 66, 92, 177, 187 ; 
condemns the Articles of Con- 
federation, 10; stays in the 
Union, 199 ; ratines the Consti- 
tution, 348 
Mason, John Y., 367 
Mason and Dixon's line, 92 
Massachusetts, 19, 21, 71, 72, 78, 
82-84, 87, 94, 128, 165, 175, 240 ; 
opposes the Constitution, 16 ; 
opposes the Embargo, 71, 72 ; 
threatens secession, 72 ; bal- 
lot reform, 276 ; ratines the 
Constitution, 348 
" Massachusetts Plan," 16 
Massacres of negroes, 236, 244 
Matchett, Charles H., 301, 357 
Maynard, Horace, 370 
Maysville Road bill, 114, 115 
Meigs, Return J., 365 
Meredith, W. M., 367 
Messages, the origin of Presi- 
dential, at opening of Con- 
gress, 57 
Mexico, 91, 92, 131, 148-150, 157, 182 ; 
war with, 91, 150-155 



Index. 



385 



Michigan, 132 ; admitted, 130, 

132, 348 
Middle States, 71, 360, 361 
"Midnight Judges," 58 
Military government, 214 
Military leagues, 199 
Militia, 76, 78, 79, 107, 199, 213, 244, 



M 



288, 294, 295 

iller, W. H. H., 371 



Mills, Roger Quarles, the tariff 
bill, 275, 279 

Milton, John, 349 

Milwaukee, anarchist troubles 
in, 270 

Minneapolis, nominating con- 
vention in, 286 

Minnesota, 179, 180 ; admitted, 
186, 348 

Mint, the, 60 

Mississippi, 218, 220, 355 ; ad- 
mitted, 89, 348 ; secedes, 193, 
199 ; re-admitted, 221 ; election 
troubles, 239 

Mississippi River, 59,66, 93, 114; 
floods in, 262 

Missouri, 60, 92, 94-97, 164, 168, 172, 
x 73> J 79» *8o, 201, 228, 229 ; ad- 
mitted, 96, 348 ; stays m the 
Union, 199 

Missouri Compromise, 60, 94-96, 
148, 154, 155, 160, 166-168, 172, 175, 
176, 179, 181, 206 

Monarchy, leanings toward, 15 

Monetary Conference, Interna- 
tional, 284 

Monopolies, 266 

Monroe, James, 44, 59, 60, 66, 70, 
79, 87-89, 95, 97-101, 351, 352, 364 ; 
President, 88-102 

Monroe doctrine, 99, 100, 287, 298 

Montana, 361; admitted, 279, 348 

Montgomery, Ala., secession 
convention at, 195 

Morgan, William, no 

Mormonism, 261, 286, 293, 294 

Morrill, Justin S., tariff of 1861, 
195 

Morrill, Lot M., 369 

Morris, Thomas, 145, 147 

Morrison, William R., 264, 272 

Morrison tariff bill, 264* 272 

Morton, Julius S., 372 

Morton, Levi P., 278-281, 356 ; 
Vice-President, 279-289 

Morton, Oliver P., 238 ; proposed 
amendment to the constitu- 
tion, 238, 241 ; electoral count 
bill, 241 



Mount Vernon, Va., 20 

Mugwumps, 267 

Muhlenberg, Frederick A., 20, 

33 

Napoleon Bonaparte, 52, 59, 82 
Napoleonic wars, 64, 69 
National Anti-Slavery Society, 

National Bank. See UNITED 
States Bank 

National banking system, 2, 171, 
204, 266, 285 

National canal system, 99, 100, 
106, 196 

National capital, the, 23, 24, 53. 
See also Washington, D. C. 

National conventions. See CON- 
VENTIONS, Nominating 

National credit, 9, 22, 24, 41, 55 

National currency, 146, 202. See 
also Coinage ; Currency ; 
Greenbacks; Legal Tender; 
Silver 

National debt, 22-24, 55i 59» 94i 
129, 192, 200, 203, 250, 253, 293 

National defense, 9, 13, 94, 155 

National Democratic Party, 300, 
302, 357 

National Labor Bureau, 265 

National Party. See Green- 
back Party 

National Republican Party, 103, 
106, 108-110, 114, 118, 125, 128, 353. 
See also Whig Party 

National roads, 66, 98, 106. See 
also Cumberland Road; 
Maysville Road 

Naturalization, 57, 84, 169, 175, 222 

Navy. See United States 
Navy 

Nebraska, 165, 167-173, 176; ad- 
mitted, 213, 215, 348 

Negroes, 207, 222, 227, 244, 253, 254, 
265, 282. See also Abolition; 
Emancipation; Freedmen's 
Bureau; Free Negroes; 
Slavery 

Negro exodus, 254 

Nelson, John, 367 

Neutrality between France and 
England, 31-33, 35; between 
Spain and Cuba, 299 

Nevada, 195, 257; admitted, 348 

New England, 3, 4, 50, 58, 64, 71, 
72, 76, 77, 81-83, 106, 114, 151, 275, 
360, 361; the charters of, 3, 
4. See also its component 
States 



3 86 



Index. 



New Hampshire, 82, 84; ratified 
the Constitution, 348 

New Hampshire Grants, 25 

New Jersey, 48, 106, 136, 137, 177, 
192, 206, 218, 244, 257, 277; rati- 
fied the Constitution, 348 

11 New Jersey Plan," the, 11 

New Mexico, 155, 157, 158, 161 

New Orleans, 59, 60, 65, 107, 183, 
234; riots, 284' 

New York (city), 169, 204; meet- 
ing of Congress of 1789 at, 17, 
19; panic of 1837, 134; custom- 
house violations of law, 270; 
anarchistic troubles, 270 ; fi- 
nancial distress at the Sub- 
Treasury, 296; election frauds, 
218; nominating conventions 
at, 218, 301 

New York (State), 17, 25, 48, 52, 
70, 76, 106, no, 119, 131, 134, 147, 
156, 218, 244, 255, 260, 262, 267, 277, 
279, 285, 349; rejects proposed 
tariff legislation, 9; opposes 
the Constitution, 16; Anti- 
Masonry crusade, no; ratified 
constitution, 348 

"New York Herald," 176 

" New York Tribune, "176, 230, 251 

"New York World," 176 

Nicaragua ship canal, 296, 302 

Niles, John M., 366 

Noble, John W., 372 

Non-Intercourse Act, 72-74 

North, Lord, 5 

North, the sectional line of 
slavery, 92, 93 

North Carolina, 16, 17, 22, 23, 40, 
120, 193, 349, 355; secedes, 199; 
re-admitted, 221; ratifies Con- 
stitution, 348 

North Dakota, 361; admitted, 
27Q1 348 

Northeast boundary dispute, 
109, 144 

Northwest Section, 360, 361 

Northwest Territory, 34, 60 

Nueces River, 149, 150 

Nullification, the Kentucky 
scheme of, 50, 107, 109, 112, 114, 
115, 120, 193; the New England 
idea, 50; in South Carolina, 
50; Jackson's proclamation 
against, 120, 193 

Oath, the iron- clad, 202 
Obstruction, 105 
O'Conor, Charles, 230, 355 



Office, tenure of, 57, 58, 84, 112, 
113, 127, 140, 149, 202, 214-217, 226, 
227, 268, 272 

Ohio, 66, 106, 128, 143, 229; admit- 
ted, 60, 348 

Ohio River, 93 

Oklahoma Territory, 282 

Olney, Richard, 372 

Omaha, Neb., nominating con- 
vention in, 287 

Omnibus bill, the, 162 

Orders in Council, 69, 74, 77, 78, 
82 

Ordinances: of 1787, 60, 92, 152, 
206; of Nullification, 120; of Se- 
cession, iq2, 193, 221 

Oregon, 146, 147, 152-155, 218, 245, 
246, 248; admitted, 187, 348 

Orleans, island of, 60 

Orr, James L., 184 

Osgood, Samuel, 363 

Ossawattomie, Kan., 174, 187 

Ostend Manifesto, 183 

Pacific coast, 154, 155 

Pacific railways, 176, 177, 190, 
191, 201, 231 

Pacific States, 360, 361 

Pacific telegraph, 201 

Palmer, John M., 300, 355, 357 

Palo Alto, battle of, 150 

Pan-American Congress, 275. 
See also Congress of 
American Republics 

Panama, Congress of American 
Republics at, 105 

Panics : of 1837, 130, 133-135 ; of 
1893, 290-292 

Paper blockades, 69, 77 

Paper currency, 129, 133, 202, 222, 
256, 296 

Parsons, Theophilus, 364 

Party Names : Abolitionist, 131 ; 
American, 278 ; American 
(Know-Nothing), 169 ; Ameri- 
can Alliance, 266 ; American 
Whig, 5, 6 ; Anti-Federalist, 15, 
20 ; Anti-Lecompton Demo- 
crats, 186 ; Anti-Masonic, 109, 
no; Anti-Nebraska, 169; 
Barnburners, 156 ; Border 
States Men, 204 ; Conservative, 
*35i 239 ; Constitutional Union, 
191 ; Copperheads, 205 ; Dem- 
ocratic ("Jackson Men"), 
104 ; Democratic-Republican, 
1, 2, 27 ; Equal Rights, 278 ; 
Farmers' Alliance, 282 ; Feder- 



Index. 



387 



Party Names— continued 
alist, 2, 15 ; Free Democracy, 
157; Free -Soil, 156; Greenback 
242, 252 ; Greenback-Labor, 
256 ; Hunker, 156 ; Independent, 
or Greenback, 242 ; Independ- 
ent, or Mugwump, 267 ; Jack- 
son Men, 104 ; Know-Nothing - , 
169 ; Liberal Republican, 228 ; 
Liberty, 138 ; Loco-foco, 128; 
Mugwump, 267 ; National, 242, 
252 ; National Democratic, 
300; National Prohibition, 357 ; 
National Republican, 103; 
Native American, 169 ; Peace 
Democrats, 199 ; People's, 267 ; 
Prohibition, 266 ; Quids, 65 ; 
Radical Men, 205 ; Read- 
justee, 263 ; Republican, 27, 
171 ; Republican (Democratic- 
Republican), 27, 104 ; Sound- 
Money Democrats,3oo;Straight- 
Out, 230 ; Temperance, 355 ; 
Union, 198, 200 ; United Labor, 
278 ; Whig, 2, 5, 103, 128 ; 
Woman Suffrage, 266 

Party organization, 26 

Party platforms, 176, 205, 218, 
229, 230, 242, 243, 255, 256, 265, 266, 
277, 278, 287, 288, 299-301 

Patronage, 278, 286 

Patrons of Husbandry, 235 

Patterson, William, n 

Paulding, James K., 366 

Pawnee Constitution (Kansas), 
172. See also Kansas 

Peace Congress of 1861, 194 

Peace Democrats, 199, 205 

Peace Party, 79 

Peck, Judge, impeachment of, 
116 

Peculation of national funds, 
197 

Pendleton, George H., 205, 206, 
262, 355 

Pendleton civil service bill, 
262, 268 

Pennington, William, 188 

Pennsylvania, 20, 48, 92, 106, 126, 
128, 177, 255, 277 ; ratified the 
Constitution, 348 

Pensions, 253, 269, 272, 281, 285, 
296. See also Dependent 
Parents, etc.; Dependent 
Pensions 

People's Party, 267, 268, 283, 287, 
288, 290, 291, 297, 300, 302, 357 

Person, freedom of, 4, 21 



Personal politics, 98, 100, 266, 267 

Personal liberty laws, 162, 163 

Pet banks, 124, 133 

Philadelphia, 22J 24, 32, 169, 263; 
Convention of 1787, 10; nomi- 
nating conventions in, 156, 175, 
176, 230 ; Centennial Exhibition, 
241 ; Centenary of the Consti- 
tution, 274 

Pickering, Timothy, 363 

Pierce, Franklin, 164, 166, 170, 171, 
i74> 354 I President, 166-178 

Pierrepont, Edwards, 370 

Pinckney, Charles C, 44, 52, 53, 
62, 63, 70, 72, 351 

Pinckney, Thomas, 42, 43, 350 

Pinckney, William, 365 

Pirates, 34 

Pittsburgh, Pa., nominating 
conventions at, 165, 300; labor 
riots at, 288 

Piatt, Thomas C, 260 

Platte Country, the, 164, 165. See 
also Kansas 

Pocket veto, 115, 118, 122, 148, 154 

Poinsett, Joel R., 366 

Poland, Luke P., 231 

Poland Committee, 231 

Political contributions, 286 

Political corruption, 239 

Political disabilities, 223, 226-228 

Political outrages, 223, 226, 230, 
236, 237 

Political parties, origin of, 3 

Polk, James K., 129, 134, 139, 
146-151, 153, 154, 183, 353, 354; 
President, 148-158 

Polygamy, 176, 261, 272, 286, 294 

Pooling of railroad freights, 273 

" Pools," 263 

Popular sovereignty, 4-6, 160, 
181, igo. See also SQUATTER 
Sovereignty 

Popular votes (Presidential), 
109, 123, 133, 139, 140, 149, 159, 165, 
167, 177, 192, 197, 207, 220, 234, 249, 
257, 259 ; (Presidential and Vice 
Presidential), 352-357 

Population, 282 ; of the sections, 
358-361 

Populist, 283. See also People's 
Party 

Porter, Admiral David D., 286 

Porter, James M., 367 

Porter Peter B., 365 

Portugal, 34 

Posse comitatus, 251 

Postal savings banks, 288 



388 



Index. 



Post office, 5, 113, 127, 132, 272, 

279» 2 95 

Post roads, 13, 98, 106, 116 

Potomac River, 24 

Potter, Clarkson N., 251 

Potter Committee, 251 

Presidential elections, dangers 
of, 238 

Presidential elections : (1789) 
17, J 9, 349 5 (1792) 28, 29, 350 ; 
(1796) 4i~43i 35°, 35i 5 (1800) 18, 
52-55, 35i ; (1804) 62, 63, 351 ; 
(1808)70-72, 351 ; (1812) 78-80, 352; 
(1816) 87, 88, 352 ; (1820) 95-97, 352; 
(1824) 101, 102, 352, 353 ; (1828) 
104, 107-109, 353 ; (1832) 118, 119, 
122, 123, 353 ; (1836) 128, 130, 132, 
i33« 353 ; (1840) 137-140, 353 ; 
(1844) 146-149, 354 5 (1848) 156-159, 
354 ; (1852) 164-167, 354 ; (1856) 
175-179, 354 ; (i860) 189, 192, 196, 
197, 354 J (1864) 205-207, 355; (1868) 
218-220, 355 ; (1872) 229-233, 355 ; 
(1876) 238, 244-249, 355, 356 ; (1880) 
255-259, 356 ; (1884) 265-268, 356 ; 
(1888) 277-280, 356 ; (1892) 286-290, 

J 57 ; (1896) 299-302, 357. See also 
)isputed Elections ; Elec- 
toral Counts ; Electoral 
Votes ; Popular Votes 

Presidential salary, 232, 241 

Presidential succession, 263, 264, 
269, 371 

Preston, William B., 368 

Private claims, 272 

Privateering, 31, 32, 47, 50, 51, 225 

Private pension bills, 269, 272 

Proctor, Redfield, 371 

Prohibition Party, 266-268, 278- 

280, 288, 290, 300-302, 356, 357 
Property, freedom of, 21 
Prosperity, 261, 262, 290 
Protection, 2, 22, 86, 89, 93-95, 99- 

101, 103, 106-109, III, 112, 118, 
119, 138, 146, 153, 171, 191, 195, 
229, 256, 264-266, 272, 278, 280, 

281, 287, 288, 299. See also 
Tariff 

Protectionists, National Conven- 
tion of, 106 

Provisional governments, 208, 214 

Public debt, Hamilton's settle- 
ment of, 22-24 5 deplorable 
condition of, 8, 9. See also 
National Debt 

Public improvements. See IN- 
TERNAL Improvements; Riv- 
ers and Harbors 



Public lands, 114, 122, 129, 130, 
135, 142, 177, 186, 187, 189, 201, 203, 
209-211, 254, 272 

Public moneys, 123-127, 133, 241 

Public schools, 241. See also 
Education 

Publius, 17 

Pullman Company strike, 295 

Quids, 65, 66, 70, 79 

Radical Men, 205 

Railroads, 176, 177, 235, 250, 256, 

273, 287, 288, 294, 295. See also 
Pacific Railroads 

Railroad strikes, 250, 276, 288, 
294, 295 

Railway mail service, 279 

Ramsey, Alexander, 370 

Randall, Alexander W., 369 

Randall, Samuel J., 247, 250, 253, 
264 

Randolph, Edmund, n, 21, 25, 363 

Randoph, John, 65, 79, 95 

Rates of representation, 11, 12, 
18,2, 261, 283, 360, 361 

Ratio of gold to silver, 287 

Rawlins, John A., 370 

Readjusters, 263 

Re-admission of seceding States, 
207 et seq. 

Reciprocity, 281, 285, 287, 288, 293, 
299 

Reconstruction, 207 et seq., 223, 
232 ; completed, 221, 222, 292 

Redemption of national-bank 
notes, 285 

Reed, Thomas Brackett, 281, 297 

Reid, Whitelaw, 286, 357 

Religion, freedom of, 21 

Removal from office, 113, 124, 214, 
215. See also OFFICE, TENURE 
of; Spoils System 

Representation, principles of, 
11, 12, 182, 261, 283, 360, 361 

Republican Party of 1791, 27, 28, 
3 1 , 33, 35-4o, 42-46, 48, 51-66, 68-76, 
78, 79, 81, 83, 86, 87, 89, 90, 95-98, 
104, in, 350-353. See also DEM- 
OCRATIC-REPUBLICAN Party 

Republican Party of 1856, 171, 
176, 177, 179, 184, 185, 188, 189, 191, 
192, 194, 195, 197, 198, 200, 203-209, 
211, 212, 215, 217, 218, 220, 223-225, 
227-231, 233-236, 239-250, 252-255, 
257, 259-261, 263, 265-268, 270, 272, 

274, 277-280, 285, 286, 290, 291, 297, 
299, 301, 302 ; origin, 171 ; first 



Index. 



389 



Republican Party of i8$6—cont. 
great success, 192 ; manages 
the war against the South, 
198 et seq.; quarrels with Pres. 
Johnson, 211, 212 ; accom- 
plishes Reconstruction by- 
Congress, 214 ; opposes reduc- 
tion of protective duties, 278 

Repudiation, 36 

Resumption of specie payments, 
237, 238, 242, 243, 252 

Retaliation, 35, 66, 272, 276 

Returning-bbards, 232, 233, 236, 
245, 246, 249-252 

Revenue, collection of, 24, 28, 40, 
127, 143, 262, 263, 288, 289, 296 ; 
division of surplus, 106, 113, 
129, 135, 142, i43» x 46 

Revenue bonds extended, 135 

Revolution, 3-6, 8, 27, 38 

Rhode Island, 10, 16, 17, 24, 82, 84, 
349 ; ratified Constitution, 348 

Richardson, William A., 369 

Richmond, Va., nominating 
convention at, 190 

Riders, 158, 171, 213, 228, 253, 254 

Right of search, 34, 38, 67-69, 77, 
78, 82 

Rights of citizenship, 225, 226, 
243, 256 

Rio Grande, 150, 151, 154 

Rivers and harbors, 116, 144, 148, 
i53-i55> 158, 170* 261, 275 

Roads, 67, 116 

Robeson, George M., 370 

Robespierre, Maximilien, 37 

Rocky Mountains, 145, 164 

Rodney, Caesar A., 364, 365 

Rodney, Daniel, 352 

Rogers, John, 365 

Roman Catholics, 297 

Ross, James, 352 

Rotation in office, 113, 149, 226. 
See also Office, Tenure of ; 
Spoils System 

Rush, Richard, 108, 352, 353, 365 

Rusk, Jere. M., 372 

Russia, 81, 289 

Rutledge, John, 349 

Sabine River, 91, 145 
St. John, John P., 266, 356 
St. Louis, nominating conven- 
tions at, 243, 265, 277, 299, 300 
Salary grab, 232, 235 
San Domingo, 224, 234 
Sanford, Nathan, 352 
Savings banks, 288 



Schofield, John M., 369 

Schurz, Carl, 228, 370 

Scott, Winfield, 164-166, 354, 368 

Sealing difficulties, 284 

Secession, threatened and 
actual, 112, 119, 120, 144, 162, 
182, 191-195, 197-199, 207, 218, 
221 

Secretaries of Departments, 363- 
372 

Sectarian schools, 241 

Sectional parties, 177, 243 

Sectional votes, 42, 92-97, 100, 106- 
108, 154, 155, 157, 165 

Sedgwick, Theodore, 52 

Sedition and alien laws, 47-50, 
56, 62, 106, 225 

Seigniorage, 293 

Seminole war, 90, 91, 116, 135 

Sergeant, John, 118, 122, 353 

Sewall, Arthur, 300, 357 

Seward, William H., 171, 369 

Seymour, Horatio, 218, 219, 355 

Shannon, Gov., 174 

Sherman, John, 256, 269, 272, 281, 
37°> 372 

Sherman, Gen. W. T., 286, 370 

Sherman law, 281, 291-293 

Shipping, 256, 266, 285 

Sill, Fort, 242 

Silver, 55, 130, 133,134, 256, 281, 283, 
287, 290-293; coinage, 250, 251, 
253, 261, 267, 272, 283, 287, 292-294, 
296, 299-301; demonetization of, 
250; price, 291 

Silver notes, 291 

" Sixteen to one," 287 

Slaughter-house cases, 234 

Slave power, 182 

Slavery, 2, 18, 33, 92, 96, 114, 131, 
132, 138, 142-145, 147, 148, 151, 152, 
155-169, 171-188, 190-195, 198, 200- 
205; in the Territories, 2, 60, 92- 
95, 143, 147, 148, 152-158, 160-162, 
164, 166-168, 171-176, 178-181, 184- 
186, 188-191, 194, 211, 212 

Slaves, as a basis of representa- 
tation, 11, 12, 182 

Slave States, population, 358 

Slave trade, 12, 144, 161, 182, 184 

Smith, Caleb P., 369 

Smith, Charles Emory, 372 

Smith, Green C, 356 

Smith, Hoke, 372 

Smith, Robert, 364 

Smith, V. V., 239 

Smith, William, of Alabama, 132, 
353 



390 



Index. 



Smith, William, of South Caro- 
lina, 108 

Socialism, 274 

Socialist Labor Party, 301, 302, 357 

41 Solid South," the, 256 

Sound-Money Democrats, 300 

South, the sectional line of 
slavery, 92, 93; the section of 
the, 360, 361 

South American republics, 90, 
99, 266, 275 

Southard, Samuel L., 365 

South Carolina, 50, 52, 54, 109-112, 
118-121, 175, 192, 239, 244, 248, 249, 
355; protests against the ta- 
riff, 112; secedes, 192, 199; re-ad- 
mitted, 221; suffrage in, 223, 
226; ratines the Constitution, 
348. See also Nullification 

South Dakota, admitted, 279, 348 

Southgate, J. H., 301, 357 

Spain, 33, 59, 65, 66, 90-92, 99, 183, 
301; war with France, 33 ; 
treaty with (1819), 91, 152 

Speakers: Banks, N. P., Jr., 170, 
Barbour, P. P., 98; Blaine, 
James G., 220, 225, 231, 235; 
Boyd, Linn, 163, 167; Carlisle, 
John G., 263, 269, 274; Clay, 
Henry, 75, 81, 86, 89, 93, 95, 99, 
100; Cobb, Howell, 161; Colfax, 
Schuyler, 204, 209, 215; Crisp, 
Charles F., 285, 292; Davis, John 
W., 150; Dayton, Jonathan, 
39, 45; Grow, Galusha A., 200; 
Hunter, R. M. T., 136 ; Jones, 
John W., 144; Keifer, John 
Warren, 261; Kerr, Michael C, 
241; Macon, Nathaniel, 57, 61, 
64; Muhlenberg, Frederick A., 
20, 33; Orr, James L., 184; Pen- 
nington, William, 188; Polk, 
James K., 129, 134; Randall, 
Samuel J., 247, 250, 253; Reed, 
Thomas Brackett, 281, 297; 
Sedgwick, Theodore, 52; Ste- 
venson, Andrew, 107, 113, 117; 
Taylor, John W., 95, 104; Trum- 
bull, Jonathan, 25; Varnum, 
Joseph B., 69, 73; White, John, 
140; Winthrop, Robert C, 154 

Special bond issues, 290 

Specie circular, 129, 133, 135 

Specie payments, 129, 130, 134, 
*35> 237, 238, 242, 243, 252, 290 

Speculation, 133 

Speech, freedom of, 21 

Speed, James, 369 



Spencer, John C, 367 

Spoils system, 56, 57, 58, 8g, iz2, 
.113, 140, 149, 226, 244, 260, 268, 273, 
276, 278 

Squatter sovereignty, 160, 161, 
166, 176, igo 

Stanbery, Henry, 369 

Stanton, Edwin M M 216, 217, 369 

State bank system, 126, 127, 129, 
130, 133, 134, 204 

State debts, 22, 23 

State government, 6 et seq. 

State rights and sovereignty, 6- 
10, 12, 13, 36, 42, 49, 55, 104, 112, 
114, 125, 180-183, 208-210, 218, 235, 
265 

States, jealousy between, 6 et 
seq. 

States-Rights Democracy, 125 

"Stepfather of his Country, 
the," 39 

Stephens, Alexander H., 195 

Stevenson, Adlai E., 287, 289, 290, 
357; Vice-President, 289-302 

Stevenson, Andrew, 107, 113, 117, 
125, 126 

Stewart, A. T., 220 

Stewart, R. T., 356 

Stock- jobbing, 288 

Stockton, Richard, 352 

Stoddert, Benjamin, 364 

Straight- Outs, 230 

Streeter, A. J., 356 

Strict Construction, 1, 2, 13, 14, 
16, 25, 49, 58, 75, 79, 83, 87, 90, 93, 
94, 98, 99, 101-104, 106, in, 136- 
138, 142, 146, 153, 156, 160, 164, 172, 
176, 190, 199, 205, 208, 217, 256 

Strike Commission, 295 

Strikes, 250, 270, 274, 276, 288, 294, 
295. See also Black-List; 
Boycott; Capital and La- 
bor; Labor; Railroads 

Stuart, A. H. H., 368 

Sub-Treasury system, 126, 127, 

134, 137, 141, 150, 283, 296 
Suffrage, 218, 219, 222, 223-226. 

See also WOMAN SUFFRAGE 
Sugar, 275 

Sumner, Charles, 175, 227, 238 
Sumter, Fort, 195, 198 
14 Sunday-school politics," 252 
Supplementary Civil Rights bill, 

227, 238 
Surplus revenue, 106, 113, 129, 

135, 142, 143, 146, 262, 265, 271, 274, 
2751 277 

Switzerland, 225 



Index. 



39* 



Taft, Alphonso, 370 

Taney, Roger B., 124, 126, 366 

Tariff : proposal of amendment 
to Articles of Confederation 
defeated, 9; act of July 4, 1789, 
21, 22; proposed prohibitory 
duties on English goods, 35 ; 
debates on, 40; for revenue 
only, 106, 143, 150, 153, 256, 287; 
reduction of tariff duties, 55, 
57, 177; increase of tariff du- 
ties, 26, 86; compromise on, 89, 
90; tariff of 1816, 90, 177; Clay 
favors protection, 90; defeat 
of a protective tariff (1820), 93; 
views of the two parties on, 
93, 94; increase of tariff du- 
ties defeated (1822), 99; (1826), 
105; tariff of 1824, 100; tariff 
of 1828, 107, 112, 119, 120; Jack- 
son's dislike to, hi; protest of 
Georgia and South Carolina 
against, 112; tariff of 1832, 118 
-121; Whig platform of 1832 
on, 119; discontent in South 
Carolina with, 118-121; de- 
clared null and void by South 
Carolina, 120; bill for enforc- 
ing, i2i ; compromise tariff 
of 1833, I2I » 143; tariff bill 
vetoed, 143; tariff of 1842, 
144, 146; revenue tariff rec- 
ommended by Polk, 150; tariff 
of 1846, 153; favored by the 
Republican Party, 171; tariff 
of 1857, 177; favored by Re- 
publican platforms, 191, 256; 
Morrill tariff of 1861, 195; du- 
ties increased, 200, 202; rev- 
enue tariff favored by Demo- 
cratic platform, 256; reduction 
of, 261, 262, 266; report of the 
Tariff Commission of 1883, 
262; messages by Cleveland 
on, 269, 271, 274, 279; failure of 
Democrats to reduce, 270; 
Morrison's horizontal reduc- 
tion bill defeated, 264, 272; 
Mills bill, 275; Democratic 
platform on, 277; Republican 
platform on, 278; Senate sub- 
stitute bill, 279; McKinley bill, 
280, 281, 285; for defense 
against other tariffs, 288; Wil- 
son bill, 292, 293 

Taxation, by local vote, 4; the 
first idea of, 7; indirect, 36; 
direct, 36, 55, 288; internal, 37, 



Taxation— continued 
89; reduction of, 55, 57, 86, 89, 
262, 274, 278; insufficient, 293 

Taxes, collection of, 24 

Taylor, John W., 95, 104 

Taylor, Zachary, 14Q, 150, 156, 158, 
159, 163, 354; President, 158-163 

Tazewell, L. W., 139, 353 

Telegraphs, 287, 288 

Telephones, 287 

Telfair, Edward, 349 

Teller, Henry M., 371 

Temperance, 277. See also Pro- 
hibition 

Temperance Party, 355 

Tennessee, 104, 130, 165, 193, 223, 
355; admitted, 40, 348; secedes, 
199; re-admitted, 221 

Tenure of office, 57, 58, 84, 112, 
113, 127, 140, 149, 202, 214-217, 226, 
227, 268, 272 

Territories, slavery in, 2, 60, 92- 

Texas, 91, 130, 131, 135, 144-150* 152, 
154, 161, 182, 208, 218, 220, 224, 355; 
admitted, 150, 348; secedes, 
193, 199; re-admitted, 221 

Texas versus White, 221 

Third term, 40, 243 

Thomas, Lorenzo, 216 

Thomas, Philip F., 368 

Thompson, Jacob, 368 

Thompson, Richard W., 370 

Thompson, Smith, 365 

Thurman, Allen G., 277, 356 

"Tidal wave, the," 240 

Tilden, Samuel J., 243, 245, 248, 
251, 355 

Tobacco, 275 

Tompkins, Daniel D., 87-89, 95, 
97* 98, 352; Vice-President, 88- 
102 

Topeka, Kan., 173, 174, 178 

Topeka Constitution (Kansas), 
173, 174 

Tory, 5, 6 

Toucey, Isaac, 368 

Town system of government, 3, 
4 

Tracy, Benjamin F., 371 

Trade dollar, 272 

Trade unions, 263 

Transportation, 235, 236. See also 
Canals; Interstate Com- 
merce; National Roads; 
Railroads; Shipping 

Treason, 201, 208 

Treasury notes, 196, 281 



39^ 



Index. 



Treaties: with England, (1783), 
9, 34; (1842— Webster-Ashbur- 
ton), 144; (1846), 153; (1871, 
Washington), 225; with France, 
(1778), 3°» 31; (1803), 61, 152; with 
Spain, (1819), 91, 152; with 
Texas, (1844), 145 

Treaty-making power, 7-9, 40 

Trial by jury, 4 

Trobriand, Gen. de, 237 

Trumbull, Jonathan, 25 

Trusts, 263 

Turkey, outrages in, 298 

Twenty-second Joint Rule, the, 
238, 241 

Tyler, John, 121, 128, 132, 138-144, 
146, 148, 205, 353; Vice-Presi- 
dent, 139, 140; President, 140-148 

Tyner, James M., 370 

Union, weakness of and threats 
to dissolve the, 8, 84, 96 

Union Labor Party, 278, 356 

Union Pacific Railroad Co., 231 

Union Party, 198, 200, 205 

United Labor Party, 278 

United States, original form of 
government, 1; growth of the 
country, 17 

United States army, 9, 26, 46, 51, 
55* 57» 76, 83, 90, 171, 174, 197, 200, 
201, 211, 213, 222, 226, 236, 237, 244, 
249-254, 257, 294, 295 

United States Bank, 24, 25, 74, 75, 
87, 90, 109, in, 113, 116, 117, IIQ, 
121-126, 129, 137, 138, 141, 142, 202 

United States bonds, 290, 291 

United States Congress, n; the 
first idea of, 7 et seq.; powers 
of, 13, 14, 24, 31, 99, 112, 114-116, 
123, 141, 156, 157, 160, 168, 172, 175, 
176, 180, 190, 191, 193, 194, 196, 
208, 221 (see also Federal 
Powers); the Constitution 
submitted to, 16; bribery in, 
188, 189; Congresses, their acts 
and party elements; I, 19-25; 

ii» 25-33; in, 33-39; IV, ,39-44; 

V, 45-52; VI, 48, 52-57; VII, 57- 
61; VIII, 61-63; IX, 64-69; X,6 9 ~ 
72; XI, 73-75; XII, 75-80; XIII, 
81-86; XIV, 86-88; XV, 89-93; 
XVI, 93-97; XVII, 98, 99; 
XVIII, 99-102; XIX, 104-106; 
XX,io6-io8; XXI, 113-117; XXII, 
117-122; XXIII, 125-128; XXIV, 
128-132; XXV, 134-136; XXVI, 

136-139; xxvii,i4o-i 4 4;xxviii, 



United States Congress— cont. 
144-148; XXIX, 150-154; XXX, 
154-158; XXXI, 161-163; XXXII, 
163-166; XXXIII, . 167-170; 
XXXIV, 170-178; XXXV, 184- 
187; XXXVI, 188-196; XXXVII, 
199-204; XXXVIII, 204-206; 
XXXIX, 209-215; XL, 215-219; 
XLI, 220-225; XLII, 225-233; 
XLIII, 235-240; XLlV, 240-248; 
XLV, 250-253; XLVI» 253-258; 
XLVII, 259-263; XLVIII, 263- 
267; XLIX, 268-274; L, 274-279; 
LI, 280-285; LII» 285-289; LIII, 
291-297; LIV, 297-302 

United States Constitution, u, 
12, 16, 20, 22, 24, 41, 195, 202, 205, 
207, 213; interpretation and 
limitations of, 1, 2, 13, 14, 16, 17, 
20, 49, 50, 58, 93, 94, 99, 108, 153, 
160, 168, 172, 180, 181, 201, 203, 234- 
236 (see also Federal Pow- 
ers; Loose Construction; 
Strict Construction); the 
preamble, 13; signing the, 14; 
a compromise, 14: adoption, 
16, 17; straining tne, 199, 205; 
Centenary of, 274; text of, 319 
-347; Amendments: I, 17, 21, 48, 
340; II, 17, 21, 340; III, 17, 21, 
340; IV, 17, 21, 341; V, 17, 21, 
341; VI, 17, 21, 341; VII, 17, 21 

342; VIII, 17, 21, 342; IX, 17, 21, 

342; X, 17, 21, 342; XI, 17, 36, 
343; XII, 61, 343; XIII, 18, 60, 
204, 206, 229, 345; XIV, 18, 210, 
214, 220, 221, 223, 225-227, 229, 234, 
235, 345; XV, 18, 219-222, 224, 229, 
234, 235, 347 

United States courts, 12, 55, 58, 
120, 155, 179-181, 191, 210, 213, 221, 
222, 224, 225, 234, 247, 255, 284. 
See also Federal Judiciary 

United States House of Repre- 
sentatives, Presidential elec- 
tions by, 53, 54, 101, 102; rules 
of, 280, 297. For political com- 
plexion, etc., of, see United 
States Congress 

United States mails, 295. See 
also Post Office; Post 
Roads 

United States mint, 292. See also 
Coinage; Gold; Silver 

United States navy, 9, 35, 46, 51, 
55. 57. 64, 65, 76, 79, 83, 85, 90, 120, 
197, 200, 226, 269, 282, 283, 285, 
286, 296, 298, 364 



Index. 



393 



United States Senate, the Great 
Debate in the, 114; the assault 
on Sumner, 175. For political 
complexion, etc., see United 
States Congress 

Unit rule, the, 255 

Upshur, A. P., 366, 367 

Usher, John P., 369 

Utah, 161, 286, 361; admitted, 299. 
See also Anti-Polygamy 
Bill; Mormonism; Poly- 
gamy 

Valparaiso, Chili, riot in, 285 

Van Buren, Martin, 116-119, 122, 
123, 127-129, 132-134, 137-139, 142, 
145, 146, 157, 353, 354, 365 ; Vice- 
President, 122-132 ; President, 
132-139 

Varnum, Joseph B., 69, 73 

Venezuelan boundary dispute, 
297-299 

Vermont, 25, 64, 84, 119, 165 ; 
admitted, 25, 348 

Vetoes and veto power, 98, 115, 
117, 118, 140, 141, 143-145, 148, 153, 
154, 170, 187, 189, 209-215, 235, 241, 
251, 254, 261, 269, 272, 278, 302 

Vice-President, method of elect- 
ing:, 19 

Vilas, William F., 371 

Virginia, 10, n, 17, 19, 26, 28, 49, 50, 
67, 70, 87, 120, 187, 194, 218, 220, 
355 ; condemns the articles of 
Confederation, 10; the "Vir- 
ginia plan," 11 ; opposes the 
Constitution, 16 ; Resolutions 
of 1798, 49, 112, 164 ; Resolutions 
of 1799, 49 ; secedes, 199 ; re- 
admitted, 221; ratines the Con- 
stitution, 348 

Volunteers, 199, 200 



"Walker, Robert J., 178, 184, 367 
Walker, William, 183 
Wanamaker, John, 371 
War, power of declaring, 31 
War Department, 21, 216. See 

also Stanton, Edwin M. 
Warner silver bill, 253 
War of 1812, 68, 77-79, 81-86, in 
Warren County, Miss., riots in, 

239 
Washburne, Emory B., 369 
Washington, George, 19, 20, 25, 

2 8-33» 35> 37 - 43» 46, 89, 349, 350 ; 

presides at Convention of 1787, 



Washington, George— continued 
n ; President, 19-43; aspersions 
on his character, 38, 39, 41 ; 
Farewell Address, 41 
Washington, D. C, 23, 24, 53, 115, 
158, 194 ; sacked and burned, 
82 ; " Armies of the Unem- 
ployed "in, 294 
Washington, Treaty of, 225 
Washington Territory, 277, 361 ; 

admitted as State, 279, 348 
.Watson, Thomas E., 300, 357 
Weaver, James B., 256, 287, 356, 

Webster, Daniel, 114, 128, 132, 

141, 144, 353, 366, 367 
Webster- Ashburton Treaty, 144 
Welles, Gideon, 369 
West, A. M., 266, 356 
Western harbor bill, 144, 148 
West India commerce, 38 
West Virginia, 199, 200 ; admit- 
ted, 200, 203, 348 
Wheeler, William A., 237, 243, 245, 
248, 249, 355 ; Vice-President, 
248-258 
Whig, 5, 6 

Whig Party, 2, 103, no, 126, 130, 
134-138, 140-147, 149-154, 156, 157, 
159-165, 167-171, 176, 177, 202, 205, 
353, 354 *• origin, 128 ; first great 
success, 138 ; quarrels with 
Tyler, 141, 142; decline, 159, 165, 
168, 169, 176 
Whiskey Insurrection, 37 
Whiskey Ring, 238, 239 
White, Hugh L., 128-130, 132, 353 
White, John, 140 
White League. See Ku Klux 

Klan 
"White Man's Party," 236 
Whitney, William C., 371 
Whitney's cotton gin, 92 
Wickliffe, Charles A., 367 
Wilkins, William, 122, 353, 367 
Williams, George H., 370 
Wilmot Proviso, 60, 152-157, 159- 

161, 206 
Wilson, Henry, 230-234, 247, 355 ; 

Vice-President, 233-248 
Wilson, James, 372 
Wilson, William, Sr., 372 
Wilson tariff bill, 292, 293 
Windom, William H., 370, 371 
Windstorms, 263 
Wing, Simon, 357 
Winthrop, Robert C, 154 
Wirt, William, 118, 122, 353, 365 



394 



Index, 



Wisconsin, 178, 285 ; admitted, 

156, 348 ; ballot reform, 276 
Wolcott, Oliver, 363 
Woman suffrage, 266, 277, 282, 288 
Woodbury, Levi, 366 
Woods, Judge, 233 
Wool, 274, 275, 293 
Wright, Silas, 146 



Wyandot Constitution (Kansas), 

186, i8q, 195 
Wyoming, 361 ; admitted, 282, 

348 
XYZ Mission, 45, 46 

Yazoo frauds, 60 
Yorktown celebration, 262 



JOHNSTON'S (ALEXANDER) HISTORIES. 

History of the United States. For Schools. With an 
introductory History of the Discovery and English Coloniza- 
tion of North America. With Maps, Plans, Illustrations, and 
Questions. By Alexander Johnston, Professor in Princeton 
College, author of a " History of American Politics," etc., 
etc. i2mo. 473 pp. Teachers' price, $1.00; by mail, $1.15. 
Allowance for old book, 30 cents. 

" A history of the Nation, with an introductory sketch of discovery 
and colonization, and not, as so many text-books are, a history of the 
colonial period \ with an appendix on national development." 

In his preface the author says: — " There are already in existence 
books in abundance which tell stories in the manner attractive to pupils 
at the most imaginative period of life ; and the pupil's mind, if properly 
directed by the teacher, will turn to them naturally and derive more 
satisfaction and instruction from them than can be gained from any 
school history of usable compass. It hardly seems wise for a school 
history to force itself into a hopeless competition in a field which 
has already been so fully pre-empted. History is a task and a method 
of mental discipline ; our school histories attempt to relieve it as no 
one attempts to relieve grammar or arithmetic, by story telling. The 
reason generally advanced for the transfer of the stirring stories of the 
past out of the reading book or general reading into the school his- 
tories is that they stimulate the minds of pupils to an emulation of the 
great deeds which are narrated. In isolated cases the reason may be 
valid ; there may have been cases in which the mind of the pupil has 
been thus stimulated with useful effect. But the mass of pupils have 
no opportunity to exhibit any such result ; their need is to learn from 
the history of the past how best to perform the simple and homely 
duties of good citizenship, 

44 The design of this book then, is to group those events which seem 
likely to shed light on the responsibilities of the citizen to the present 
or future, and to give the student the light in connection with the 
event. In this process the effort has been made with caution and with 
a studied simplicity of language, to interest the pupil in the wonderful 
development of the United States and the difficult economic problems 
which have grown out of it. And in every place where it has seemed pos- 
sible, the attention of the pupil has been directed to the peculiar circum- 
tances and limitations of the time under consideration, and to the; idea 
of growth to be attained by a comparison witlrthe present. For much 
the same reasons, other topics, not essential to the main subject, such 
as the tribal institutions of the Aborigines, and the Spanish conquests 
of Mexico and Peru, have been left untouched. And, in narrating the 
wars of the United States, while the effort has been made to give the 
pupil a definite idea of the purposes, plans, and results of campaigns, 
it has not seemed best to cumber the narration with a catalogue of 
engagements and commanders, whose very names are only a spring of 
confusion to the mind of the pupil." 



JOHNSTON'S (A.) HISTORIES.— (Continued.) 

The book is in use in over Three Hundred leading schools, from a 
few of which reports are printed below, in connection with decided ex- 
pressions of opinion from prominent specialists. Both the Ha?'vard 
University and the University of Michigan catalogues suggest the 
book to students presenting themselves for admission. 

From Mr. John Fiske, the well-known writer and lecturer on 
United States History : — Incomparably the best short history of the 
United States with which I am acquainted. 

From R. Hudson, Prof essor of History in University of Michigan, 
Ann Arbor ; — I regard Johnston's "History of the United States," 
as the best text-book for use in High Schools that has yet been pub- 
lished. 

From Dr. A. B. Hart, Instructor in History in Harvard Uni- 
versity: — The " History," so far as I have examined it, seems de- 
cidedly the best school history of the United States which has appeared. 

From Moses Coit Tyler, Professor of History, Cornell Univer- 
sity : — Its great feature — that of subordinating our colonial history to 
our national history — is certainly wise and beneficial, if not carried 
too far ; while its terse but always clear language, and the force with 
which it puts forward the essential facts in each historic situation, make 
it an effective text-book. 

From Woodrow Wilson, Professor in Bryn Mawr College : — Its 
special excellence, in my eyes, is its subordination of "drum and 
trumpet" to those questions, constitutional and social, which have 
given drum and trumpet their occasional employment. 

From James Monroe, Professor in Oberlin College : — I approve of 
the substitution of important facts, political, military, or economic — in 
other words, of real history — for the romantic stories that have filled so 
large a space in our school-books. On the whole, I know of no school 
history of the United States which includes so much that is necessary 
to know, and excludes so much that is not. 

From J. Macy, Professor of History, Iowa College : — I have ex- 
amined Prof. Johnston's " History of the United States," and have used 
it in my classes, and it seems to me, on the whole, the most satisfactory 
school history with which I am acquainted. 

From Geo. W. Knight, Professor in Ohio State University : — 
Nearly a year's use with classes has conclusively proved to me that my 
first estimate of the book was correct. It is, I think, decidedly the best 
book in the field for thorough class-work in United States history. One 
of the valuable features of the work is the prominent and lucid treat- 
ment of the political history of the country. Another is the condensa- 
tion of the colonial history into shorter space than in any other book. 
It might be still further condensed, I think, with advantage. The book 
has proved more satisfactory in all regards than any we have previously 
used. 

From Charles H. Livermore, Teacher in Hopkins Grammar 
School, New Haven, Ct. : — After using Johnston's " History of the 
United States " in the class-room for one year, I am able to commend 
it as the best text-book of the kind which I have found. 



JOHNSTON'S (A.) HISTORIES.— {Continued.) 

From Charles H. Cooper, Professor in Carleton College, North- 
fields Minn. : — I have found Johnston's " History of the United 
States " a very satisfactory text-book. 

From Augustine Jones, Friends* School, Providence, R. I. : — We 
have introduced Alexander Johnston's " History of the United States," 
and have no doubt that it is the best book for practical use made yet. 
The method, the element of presenting the subjects by well-defined 
periods and topics, the cross-references bringing; the whole work into 
unity of purpose, and giving the events a real living and breathing ex- 
istence as we follow the stages of progress in the story, are merit enough 
to give it the highest rank as a school-book. 

From R. H. Halsey, Principal of High School, Oshkosh, Wis. .•— 
I have looked in vain in any other text-book of United States history 
for the clear and simple presentation of many principles in the political 
history of our government with which every school-child should be 
familiar ; in Prof. Johnston's book they are introduced so naturally, 
and in such simple and appropriate language, that they are within the 
mental grasp of any grammar-school pupil of average ability. 

From H. W. Jones, Professor in Kenyon College: — I place it before 
all other*school histories of the United States with which I am acquaint- 
ed, as being, on the whole, the most useful of any. 

From C. W. Pearson, Professor of History^ Northwestern Uni- 
versity, Bvanston, III. : — Johnston's is one of the very few elementary 
histories from which an American boy may learn something at least 
of the other side of every great question, and see that foreign nations 
and defeated parties acted upon intelligible motives, and were not, as 
some of the so-called histories would lead one to suppose, utterly and 
irredeemably base and stupid. 

From Julia A. King, Teacher in State Normal School, Ypsilanti, 
Mich. : — We have been using Johnston for a term now, and are well 
pleased with the results. Our method here is the topical one and we 
have found this book to serve excellently well as a foundation. The 
numerous cross-references are quite invaluable for us and I cannot 
speak in too strong terms of the maps. 

From Lewis A. Rhoades, Teacher in High School, Ann Arbor^ 
Mich.: — I have used Prof. Johnston's "United States" for three 
terms and regard it as the best text-book upon the subject. The work 
is taken up in our school during the last term of the first year or the 
first term of the second year's work in the High School, and the average 
age of the pupils is probably, about fifteen years. They seem to find 
no difficulty in comprehending the author's style, and find the plan of 
the book logical and clear. 

From J. D. Crawford, Professor in University of Ilfinois.— 
Without neglecting the ordinary statements of histories of the United 
States for schools, and without political bias, the author seems to have 
attempted to bring forward practical lessons that our youth must learn 
or our citizens remain ignorant of their duties. I should be very well 
satisfied that youth in whom I am interested, should learn their history 
and infer their responsibilities from this work. 



JOHNSTON'S (A.) HISTORIES.— {Continued,) 

From Silas Y. Gillan, Teacher in State Normal School, Milwau- 
kee, Wis : — Johnston's " United States History" gives excellent satis- 
faction. There is no school history with which I am acquainted that 1 
can more heartily recommend. I frequently call the attention of teach- 
ers to the fact that the author's preface to Johnston's History is an 
able and sensible article on the teaching of this branch. 

From The Nation : — Prof. Johnston's book strikes us as pre-emi- 
nently manly — for that matter, womanly, too ; it is not the childish 
article which would apparently suit some " eminent educationists " who 
think a teacher's business is to amuse the little ones, and keep them 

amused up to the time when they have children of their own 

The best school history, it seems to us, which has yet been presented 
to the public. 

From the Wisconsin School Journal :— We find it not dry and 
hard, but interesting with an interest which appeals not to the imagi- 
nation, but to the understanding. Great principles pertaining to the 
currency, the tariff, and so on, are simply and clearly stated, and their 
practical workings made manifest. There is a place for the anecdotal 
and descriptive history in primary schools, and we should be glad to 
see it given more general prominence there. This book, however, be- 
longs to higher grades. It will do good service if it helps to bring 
about a recognition of the distinction between picturesque and rational 
history, and the place of each in school. 

From The Critic : — We have known more than one historian to be 
satisfied, because he was talking to youthful minds, with stating the 
cause of the Civil War to have been the firing on Fort Sumter, or the 
implied infomation that the South was ' 4 mad " because Lincoln was 
elected. In Prof. Johnston's new method, it must be a very dull stu- 
dent who does not see the war coming for many years before Sumter 
was fired on. We cannot better give our impression of the whole book 
than by drawing attention to the single feature of it as an illustration 
of its whole excellent plan. 

From the Magazine of American History:— Among the numer- 
ous short histories of the United States prepared for the use of teachers 
and classes in our schools, the one before us is destined to hold the 
highest place. Professor Johnston has taken a broader and more com- 
prehensive view of the subject than any of his predecessors. He has 
written with a studied simplicity of language which is in itself high 
literary art, and has grouped the leading events in our history — exactly 
such as the pupil ought to know about — in the clear-cut and agreeable 
style which cannot fail to secure attention from those it is desired to 
benefit. He has not made a story-book. We cordially commend the 
good judgment and taste with which he has passed lightly over the 
Indian wars and adventures of the colonial period, that hitherto have 
occupied an inordinately large portion of our school histories, and 
given the essential facts relative to the formation of our national gov- 
ernment, the growth of the states, the administrations of our presi- 
dents, with the leading events in each, and the responsibilities of the 
American citizen to the present and future. The colonial period is 
here, for the first time in a work of this character well-proportioned to 
our national history. 



JOHNSTON'S (A.) HISTORIES.— {Continued.) 

History of American Politics. By Alexander John- 
ston, Professor in Princeton College. New Edition enlarged. 
i6mo. (Handbooks for Students and General Readers.) 
355 PP. 

" The design of the book is not to present the politics of the States, or to 
criticise party management, but to make our national political history easily- 
available to young men. It is of interest to the whole republic that young 
citizens should be able to learn that true national party differences have 
a history and a recognized basis of existence, and should be prevented from 
following factitious party differences, contrived for personal objects by sel- 
fish men. If, for this purpose, this book shall be considered worthy to serve 
as an introduction to the larger works already in existence, its object will 
be accomplished." — Extract from the Preface to the First Edition. 

From Dr. A. B. Hart, Professor of History in Harvard University : — 
The "American Politics" is the only required text-book in the course in 
United States history in this college, and seems almost indispensable. 

From Anson D. Morse, Professor in Amherst College : — For several years 
the " American Politics " has been the only text-book in American history 
required at Amherst. 

From John J. Tigert, Professor in Vanderbilt University, Tenn.: — The 
simplicity, accuracy, and thoroughness of the book commend it. I have 
adopted it as a text, and it will so appear in our next announcement. 

From the Nation : — It would not be possible to get at the facts which are 
here accumulated, arranged in the most orderly manner, in a very clear and 
absolutely colorless narrative, in a small duodecimo, without turning over at 
least a dozen larger works. We cannot commend Mr. Johnston's little book 
too highly. . 

From Harper's Monthly. — Clear, condensed, dispassionate. The design 
of the work is not to criticise party management, but to make the facts of 
our political history easily available, and to teach our younger citizens that 
true national party differences have a history and recognized basis of exist- 
ence. The author has done his work intelligently and with an impartiality 
that should invite confidence. 

Some of the more prominent colleges in which this work is used as a text- 
book are the following : 



Harvard University, Mass. 
Dartmouth College, N. H. 
Hamilton College, N. Y. 
Vanderbilt University, Tenn. 
University of Pennsylvania. 
Kenyon College, Ohio. 
University of Iowa. 
University of Missouri. 
Beloit College, Wis. 
Presbyterian University, Tenn. 



Princeton College, N. J. 
Amherst College, Mass. 
Union College, N. Y. 
University of North Carolina. 
University of the South Tenn. 
Haverford College, Pa. 
University of Ohio. 
Wofford College, S. C. 
Colby University, Me. 
Western College, la. 



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