Part 4

It was then that Clay came to the front as Commoner of the nation, and it was his able, eloquent, and inspiring utterances and actions, aided by Senator Crawford, of Georgia, that saved the administration when it was apparently threatened with defeat. Madison was unwilling to accept war with England until it became clearly evident that he must declare war or give the Federalists a restoration to power, and it was only after he had been very earnestly appealed to by the men upon whom he had most to depend, that he sent a message to Congress pointing out the necessity of a declaration of war, to which both branches in secret sessions gave their approval.

It was not until after Madison had decided upon an aggressive war policy with England that the Congressional caucus was called to nominate Republican candidates for President and Vice-President. The caucus met on the 12th of May apparently without objection, and Madison was renominated by a unanimous vote, only one member present declining to vote. Clinton had died in office, and a new nomination had to be made for Vice-President. John Langdon, of New Hampshire, who was the first Senator to be President _pro tem._ of the body, was nominated for Vice-President, receiving 64 votes to 16 for Elbridge Gerry and 2 scattering. Langdon declined the nomination, and the second caucus was convened when Gerry was nominated by a vote of 74 to 3 scattering. While the proceedings of the caucus were apparently very harmonious, there was significance in the fact that some 50 Republican Senators and Representatives did not attend, only one being present from New York State.

The reason for the New York members declining to attend the caucus was soon developed by a counter movement, made in New York, to bring out DeWitt Clinton, who was the leader of the Republicans of that State, as the candidate in opposition to Madison. The Federalists had no part in making him the competitor of Madison, but they were quite willing, in their utter helplessness, to support any bolt against the omnipotence of the Republican caucus. Many of the Republicans thought that the administration was not sufficiently aggressive in its opposition to England, and many others opposed Madison and were ready to support Clinton or any other promising candidate who was entirely opposed to the war. Had Clinton acted in harmony with the Republicans and supported Madison, he would have been a very formidable competitor of Monroe for the succession, but in allowing himself to be made a candidate of the opposition, he entirely lost his position as a Republican leader.

Madison had been nominated by the Republican Congressional caucus on the 12th of May, and on the 29th of May a caucus of the Republican members of the New York Legislature was held, at which 91 of the 93 members were present, and they unanimously nominated Clinton as a candidate for President, and the Federalists gradually dropped into his support. The Federalists took no formal action for the selection of candidates until September, when a conference of the leaders of that party was held in New York, with representatives from 11 States, and that conference nominated Clinton for President with Jared Ingersoll for Vice-President.

The campaign logically drifted into a square issue between the war and the peace parties, and even with all the factional hostility to Madison in the Republican ranks, such an issue could result only in the success of the party that sustained the Government in its war with England. The Federalists carried a solid New England vote for Clinton with the exception of Vermont, that broke loose from her Federal moorings and cast her entire electoral vote for Madison. New York, with the largest electoral vote of any State, was carried chiefly by Clinton’s personal popularity, and New Jersey was lost to Madison in disregard of the popular vote of the State by a Federal Senate and House that was successful against a Republican majority by reason of the peculiar shaping of the legislative districts. The Legislature repealed the law for the choice of electors by a popular vote, and elected Federal electors by the Legislature. Had the popular vote of New Jersey prevailed, the vote between Madison and Clinton in the Electoral College would have been 136 for Madison to 81 for Clinton. The following is the vote as cast by the electoral colleges:

═══════════════╤═════════════════════╦══════════════════════ │ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT. ├──────────┬──────────╫──────────┬─────────── STATES. │ James │ DeWitt ║ Elbridge │ Jared │ Madison, │ Clinton, ║ Gerry, │ Ingersoll, │ Va. │ N. Y. ║ Mass. │ Penn. ───────────────┼──────────┼──────────╫──────────┼─────────── New Hampshire │ ―― │ 8 ║ 1 │ 7 Vermont │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― Massachusetts │ ―― │ 22 ║ 2 │ 20 Rhode Island │ ―― │ 4 ║ ―― │ 4 Connecticut │ ―― │ 9 ║ ―― │ 9 New York │ ―― │ 29 ║ ―― │ 29 New Jersey │ ―― │ 8 ║ ―― │ 8 Pennsylvania │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ―― Delaware │ ―― │ 4 ║ ―― │ 4 Maryland │ 6 │ 5 ║ 6 │ 5 Virginia │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ―― North Carolina │ 15 │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― South Carolina │ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― Georgia │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― Kentucky │ 12 │ ―― ║ 12 │ ―― Tennessee │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― Louisiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― Ohio │ 7 │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― ├──────────┼──────────╫──────────┼─────────── Total │ 128 │ 89 ║ 131 │ 86 ═══════════════╧══════════╧══════════╩══════════╧═══════════

Louisiana was admitted into the Union on the 8th of April, 1812, and participated in the Presidential election, making 18 States. It will be seen that there was but one State that cast a divided electoral vote. Maryland continued to choose all but the electors at large by Congressional districts, and gave 6 votes to Madison and 5 to Clinton. North Carolina changed her method of electing by districts to the choice of electors by the Legislature, thus making her electoral vote solid. Gerry, the candidate for Vice-President on the ticket with Madison, received 3 more votes in the Electoral College than were given to Madison, one of which came from New Hampshire and two from Massachusetts.

THE MONROE ELECTIONS

1816–20

The election of James Monroe to the Presidency in 1816 and his re-election in 1820 did not rise to the dignity of political contests. The Federal party was practically overthrown by the success of the war with England, and after the close of the war Federalism never asserted itself as a political factor in national affairs. There were murmurings of discontent in the Republican organization, but the Federalists were then in the unenviable attitude of having sympathized with the enemy in a foreign war, and the prejudices of the patriotic people of the country were intensified against the action of the Hartford convention, for which the Federalists were held responsible.

Whether justly or unjustly, it was believed by the Republicans throughout the country that the Hartford conventionists had given “blue-light” signals to the enemy’s ships, and thereby hindered the escape of American vessels which were blockaded. The overthrow of Federalism was so complete that the party never again formally presented candidates for President and Vice-President, and the first Monroe election of 1816 would probably have been as unanimous in the Electoral College as was his second election but for the fact that the three Federal States which voted against Monroe did not hold popular elections for President at all, but chose their electors by the Legislature. Massachusetts, the home of Adams, that had always chosen Presidential electors by popular vote, repealed the law in 1816, so that there was not a single elector chosen by the people against Monroe.

While Monroe’s two elections and administrations are now pointed to as the “era of good feeling,” that has never been repeated in this country. Monroe himself did not reach the Presidency by the rosy path that would now be naturally accepted for him in his journey to the highest civil trust of the nation. The usual Congressional caucus was called on the 10th of March, 1816, asking the Republican Senators and Representatives to meet on the 12th for the purpose of nominating candidates for President and Vice-President. Only 58 of the 141 Republican members attended this meeting, and, instead of taking action, a resolution was passed calling a general caucus for the 16th, and at that caucus 118 members appeared. There were strong and widespread prejudices against the Congressional caucus system, and it was denounced by many prominent Republicans as “King Caucus” that sought to control the people in the selection of the highest officers.

[Illustration: JAMES MONROE]

Senator Crawford, of Georgia, who had been the leading Senator, as Clay was the leading Representative, in the support of the war during the Madison administration, was an aggressive candidate for President, and was more popular with the politicians generally throughout the country than was Monroe. Great anxiety was felt about the probable action of the caucus, as it was feared that Monroe might be overthrown, notwithstanding the fact that he was favored by both Jefferson and Madison. When the caucus met with twenty-three Republican absentees, the majority of whom absented themselves because they were positively opposed to the caucus system, Mr. Clay offered a resolution declaring it inexpedient to nominate candidates, but his proposition failed. He thus put himself on record as early as 1816 against the caucus system, and he rejected and took the field against it as a candidate in 1824.

The canvass between Monroe and Crawford was very animated, and Monroe succeeded by only 11 majority, the vote being 65 for Monroe and 54 for Crawford. Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, was nominated for Vice-President, receiving 20 votes more than were given to Monroe. The Crawford sentiment was strong in New York and New Jersey, as well as in North Carolina, Kentucky, and his native State of Georgia, and public meetings were held in different sections of the country after the nominations had been made, denouncing the caucus system, at one of which Roger B. Taney, who later became Chief Justice, was one of the aggressive opponents.

Had there been a formidable Federal party, it is doubtful whether Monroe’s election might not have been seriously imperilled, but the war feeling was too fresh in the minds of the people to tolerate anything that was in sympathy with that expiring political organization. The Republicans who were opposed to Monroe had to choose between falling in with the caucus nomination, and giving Monroe a unanimous support, or making a square fight as a bolting Republican faction, without permitting the aid of the Federalists. As that was impracticable, the Republican discontent gradually subsided and the election of Monroe was conceded by all.

The Federalists made no nomination, but supported Rufus King, one of their old national candidates, and scattered their few votes for Vice-President, no two of the three States voting for the same candidate. Indiana had adopted a State Constitution in June, but was not formally admitted to the Union until the 11th of December, after the Presidential election had been held. The State, however, had voted for President, and elected three Republican electors for Monroe, but an animated dispute arose in Congress about counting the vote, because of the alleged ineligibility of Indiana to vote for President when not formally admitted into the Union, even though the people had adopted a State Constitution several months before the election. The two bodies separated, to enable the House to decide the issue, but finally the question was postponed by a nearly unanimous vote, and the Senate invited to return, when the vote was declared as follows:

══════════════╤═════════════╦═══════════════════════════════════════════ │ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT. ├───────┬─────╫─────────┬───────┬─────┬─────────┬───────── STATES. │James │Rufus║Daniel D.│John E.│James│John │Robert G. │Monroe,│King,║Tompkins,│Howard,│Ross,│Marshall,│Harper, │Va. │N. Y.║N. Y. │Md. │Penn.│Va. │Md. ──────────────┼───────┼─────╫─────────┼───────┼─────┼─────────┼───────── New Hampshire │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Vermont │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Massachusetts │ ―― │ 22 ║ ―― │ 22 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Rhode Island │ 4 │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― Connecticut │ ―― │ 9 ║ ―― │ ―― │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― New York │ 29 │ ―― ║ 29 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Jersey │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Pennsylvania │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Delaware │ ―― │ 3 ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 3 Maryland │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Virginia │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― North Carolina│ 15 │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― South Carolina│ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Georgia │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kentucky │ 12 │ ―― ║ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Tennessee │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Louisiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Ohio │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Indiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ├───────┼─────╫─────────┼───────┼─────┼─────────┼───────── Total │ 183 │ 34 ║ 183 │ 22 │ 5 │ 4 │ 3 ══════════════╧═══════╧═════╩═════════╧═══════╧═════╧═════════╧═════════

Monroe’s re-election in 1820 presents the singular political spectacle of his success without having been formally nominated by any party, and without a single electoral vote being chosen against him. That had occurred in Washington’s two elections, but it was not believed possible that, with the bitter partisan disputes which immediately followed Washington’s retirement, any man could ever be chosen for the Presidency without more or less of a contest. Monroe’s administration had no serious political or diplomatic problem to confront it, and the country was rapidly recovering from the war and proud of the achievements of the American army and navy in the second contest with the English.

Monroe was naturally cautious and conservative. There was nothing aggressive in the policy of his administration, and really no occasion to invite aggression. The Federal Party was practically extinct, and the Republicans were in thorough accord with the Monroe administration. A feeble movement was made early in 1820 to supersede Monroe, but it never attained importance, and even those who attempted it denied responsibility for it. The usual Republican Congressional caucus was called, and very few members took the trouble to attend it, as there was really nothing to do; and it was deemed better for the party to accept Monroe and Tompkins for re-election than to have formal nominations made by a very few representatives of the party. Monroe and Tompkins were thus accepted without any formalities whatever as the Republican candidates for President and Vice-President, and no opposing candidates were presented in any way whatever of which I can find any record or tradition. Monroe thus ran in 1820, as Washington did at both his elections, without opposition, and every electoral vote of the nation was chosen for him.

Five new States had been admitted and participated in the election of 1820. Mississippi came in December, 1817; Illinois in December, 1818; Alabama in December, 1819; Maine in March, 1820, and Missouri had adopted a Constitution in July, 1820, and although not formally admitted into the Union until August, 1821, the vote of that State was counted, as was the vote of Indiana in 1816. The following is the official vote as announced by Congress:

═══════════════╤═══════════════════╦══════════════════════════════════════════════ │ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT. ├───────┬───────────╫─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬───────┬──────── STATES. │James │John Quincy║Daniel D.│Richard │Robert G.│Richard│Daniel │Monroe,│Adams, ║Tompkins,│Stockton,│Harper, │Rush, │Rodney, │Va. │Mass. ║N. Y. │N. J. │Md. │Penn. │Del. ───────────────┼───────┼───────────╫─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────┼──────── Maine │ 9 │ ―― ║ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Hampshire │ 7 │ 1 ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― Vermont │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Massachusetts │ 15 │ ―― ║ 7 │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Rhode Island │ 4 │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Connecticut │ 9 │ ―― ║ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New York │ 29 │ ―― ║ 29 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Jersey │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Pennsylvania[5]│ 24 │ ―― ║ 24 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Delaware │ 4 │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 Maryland │ 11 │ ―― ║ 10 │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― Virginia │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― North Carolina │ 15 │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― South Carolina │ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Georgia │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Alabama │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Mississippi[5] │ 2 │ ―― ║ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Louisiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kentucky │ 12 │ ―― ║ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Tennessee[5] │ 7 │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Ohio │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Indiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Illinois │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Missouri │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ├───────┼───────────╫─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────┼──────── Total │ 231 │ 1 ║ 218 │ 8 │ 1 │ 1 │ 4 ═══════════════╧═══════╧═══════════╩═════════╧═════════╧═════════╧═══════╧════════

[5] One elector in each of the States of Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Tennessee died after appointment, and before the meetings of the electors.

It will be seen that a single electoral vote was cast against Monroe in the New Hampshire Electoral College. The whole 8 electors were chosen as Monroe men, and would have voted for him had it been necessary to elect him, but one of the New Hampshire electors gave as his reason for voting for John Quincy Adams for President and Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President, that he was unwilling that any other President than Washington should receive a unanimous electoral vote.

Monroe’s administrations were uneventful beyond the assertion of what has ever since been known as the Monroe Doctrine, that was evolved by Monroe and John Quincy Adams, his Secretary of State, and the first serious contest in Congress over the Slavery issue, growing out of the admission of Missouri as a State. After the admission of Louisiana as a State the remainder of the territory embracing the Louisiana purchase was organized as the Territory of Missouri, and in 1818 the portion of the territory now embraced in the State of Missouri applied for admission into the Union as a State. In 1819 the House passed a bill for the admission of Missouri, with a clause prohibiting slavery, but it was not accepted by the Senate.

In 1820 the Senate sent a bill to the House for the admission of Maine, and authorizing the organization of the State of Missouri. The House had already passed a bill for the admission of Maine, but it refused to accept the Senate’s provision relating to Missouri. There was very violent agitation on the Slavery question for some time, and many feared that it would end in the disruption of the Union; but Clay became the pacificator, and chiefly by his efforts what has ever since been known as the Missouri Compromise was accepted, admitting Missouri as a slave State, but prohibiting slavery in all of the Louisiana territory north of 36 degrees and 30 minutes north latitude. This compromise did not fully satisfy either side, but it was accepted, and on the 10th of August, 1821, President Monroe proclaimed the admission of Missouri into the Union.

Monroe had the most unruffled period of rule ever known in the history of the Republic. Washington, with all his omnipotence, was fearfully beset by factional strife and the wrangles of ambition on every side, and there was no period of his two administrations in which he was not greatly fretted by the persistent and often desperate disputes among those who should have been his friends; but Monroe had an entirely peaceful reign, with the single exception of the slavery dispute over the Missouri question, and at the close of his term he retired to his home in Virginia entirely exhausted in fortune. For several years he acted as a Justice of the Peace, but his severely straitened circumstances finally compelled him to make his home with his son-in-law in New York, where he died in 1831, and, like Jefferson and Adams, on the 4th of July.

THE ADAMS-JACKSON-CRAWFORD-CLAY CONTEST

1824

With the re-election of Monroe in 1820, the Federal party had perished as a political factor; “King Caucus,” as the Congressional caucus for nominating national candidates had been generally designated, had fulfilled its mission, and none pretended that it could be revived to name the successor of Monroe. As Federalism was unfelt and unfeared, and as the Congressional caucus had lost its prestige and power, the Presidential field of 1824 invited a free-for-all race, and the discussion of the succession began actively as early as 1822. It seems unaccountable that the Republicans, after having had the benefit of the Congressional caucus to concentrate their vote on national candidates, did not conceive the idea of a general conference of representative Republicans from the different States to unite them on candidates for President and Vice-President, but no national convention was ever held by any party until the anti-Masons inaugurated it in Philadelphia in 1830, two years before the Presidential election of 1832.

[Illustration: JOHN QUINCY ADAMS]

As there was practically no Federal party, none but Republicans were discussed for the succession to Monroe. It is a common but erroneous idea that John Quincy Adams was in harmony with the Federal sentiment of his State and New England generally. After having filled a number of important offices, principally in diplomatic circles, he was elected to the United States Senate as a Federalist by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1802, but he heartily supported the administration of Jefferson, resulting in instructions passed by the Legislature demanding that he should change his political policy. He refused to obey the Legislative instructions, but resigned his seat in the Senate, and thenceforth he acted uniformly with the Republicans, and was Secretary of State during the eight years of Monroe’s administration.