ss ,\^ >\\ ^^^^ , BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF 1891 .a.i//..^j:.. ' "^.^/^/PI. JK 1021.IM8T" '^"'^^^^"1' Library ^mnmZmmS''^^^' ^ '''story of natio _ 3 1924 020 331 223 ^ rw^ Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020331223 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS A HIS TOUT OF NATIONAL LEGISLATION AND POLITICAL EVENTS 1774-1895 BY JOSEPH WEST MOOEE NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 1895 /\-%\y^'i Copyriglit, 1895, by Harpeb & BROinERs. All rights reserved. PREFACE In this book I have endeavored to give, in a concise and popular form, a clear, interesting, and valuable account of the legislative and political affairs of the American people from the colonial period to the present time — to describe faithfully the great historic measures, the leading statesmen, and the not- able occurrences which have, one after the other, engaged the attention of the nation during the years of its development. The first chapter is somewhat like a prologue, and serves to inform the reader in a rapid manner of the English settlement of the country, and of the momentous events which led to the meeting of the First Continental Congress. Thereafter, the history goes on in consecutive style to narrate the movement for independence, the doings of the Eevolution, the making of the Constitution, the establishment of the Constitutional Gov- ernment, and all the important legislative proceedings from the First Congress of the United States to the close of the Fifty- third Congress. The origin and growth of parties, the memo- rable actions of Presidents, and innumerable other matters per- taining to the broad and diversified field of American politics are also described and discussed. The work is the result of patient, long-continued study of the best histoi'ical authorities, of liberal thought, of kindly disposition, and I believe it to be accurate in its statements and just in dealing with men and measures. Interwoven in the chapters are copious extracts from fa- mous speeches and debates, all gathered from the ofiicial reports and presumably correct in their phraseology. The chapter- iv PREFACE headings are largely descriptive of the topics under considera- tion. There are appendices containing a number of important state documents and other matter valuable for reference, and there is also a full index. While pursuing the studies for this history I made frequent use of the vast and wonderfully varied historical collections to be found in the great Library of Congress and the Department of State Library at "Washington. In the valuable material ex- amined in these libraries were ancient documents, official re- ports, letters, memoirs, newspapers, etc., not obtainable else- where. Much important information was secured from this material. As this work was prepared mainly for the general reader, I have thought it well to give greater attention to the narration and discussion of events than to their philosophy. I am in- clined to think that in these pages will be found all that the general reader will require, and something, perhaps, which may be acceptable to the scholar and the well-read person. Joseph "West Mooee. New Yoke, March, 1895. CONTENTS CHAPTER I The Discovery and Settlement of North America. — Historical Statement of the British Colonies on the American Continent. — The Early Colonial Gather- ings linown as Congresses. — The Albany Congress. — Benjamin Franklin's Plan of Union of the Colonies. — British Oppression. — The Stamp Act Con- gress. — "No Taxation Without Representation." — Destruction of Tea in Boston Harbor. — The Boston Port Bill and other Obnoxious Measures of the British Parliament. — Great Indignation throughout the Colonies. — Proposition for a Continental Congress Page 1 CHAPTER II The Colonies in 1774.— Styles of Dress and Ways of Living.— The Political Sit- uation. ^Massachusetts Defies England.- — Meeting of the Continental Con- gress at Philadelphia. — Life in the Quaker City. — The Carpenters' Hall Oc- cupied by the Congress.— Early Debates. — Patrick Henry's Patriotic Speecli. — The Distinguished Members of Congress. — The Bill of Rights. — Union of the Colonies. — The Articles of Association. — A Petition to King George and Addresses to the People of Great Britain and British America . 18 CHAPTER III Growth of a Strong National Spirit.— The Whigs and the Tories.— Continued British Oppression. — The Beginning of the Long Struggle for American Independence. — The Battle of Lexington. — Meeting of the Second Conti- nental Congress in the State-house at Philadelphia. — John Hancock chosen President of the Congress. — Preparations for War.— George Washington appointed Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. — His Modest Speech of Acceptance. — The Battle of Bunker Hill. — A Final Appeal to the King. — The Appeal Rejected. — Congress Advises the Colonies to form Independent Governments 39 CHAPTER IV Separation from Great Britain. — Wide-spread Discussion of the Matter. — A Strange Delay in Congress. — Common Seme, Thomas Paine's Celebrated Pamphlet Advocating Separation. — Virginia Instructs her Congressmen to Begin the Important Movement.— Richard Henry Lee's Resolutions for Independence. — A Strong Opposition Developed. — Some Forcible Speeches. — Congress Decides for Independence. — Thomas Jefferson Selected to Pre- vi CONTENTS pare a Draft of the Declaration of Independence.— His Declaration Agreed to after an Extended Debate.— Its Promulgation and Enthusiastic ReceptioQ by the People Pa-9e 55 CHAPTER V Congress during the War of the Revolution.- The Faithful Services of Patri- otic Men.— Various War Measures.— Large Issues of Bills of Credit. — Depreciation of the Continental Currency.— How Congress Obtained its Authority.— Treaty with France.— French Soldiers and Sailors Aid the Americans.— Extraordinary Power Conferred on General Washington.— Adoption of an American Flag.— Migrations of Congress to Escape Capture by the British.— Lengthy Discussion of a Plan of Confederation . . 68 CHAPTER VI The Congress of the Confederation.— Its Important Measures.— The Financial Difiaculties during the Revolution.— Robert Morris's "Bank for tlie United States of North America."— Triumph of the American Cause.— The Treaty of Peace.— General Washington Returns his Commission to Congress Sitting at Annapolis. — The Historical Scene in the Ancient Maryland Slate-bouse. —Washington's Speech and President Mifflin's Reply.— Lack of Authority in Congress after the War.— The Defects of the Confederation.- Proposi- tion for a Convention to Revise the Articles of Confederation. — The Fa- mous Ordinance for the Government of the Northwest Territory . . 7.5 CHAPTER VII Changing the Form of the Government. — The Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia.— An Assemblage of Distinguished Men.- The Various Plans of a New Constitution Submitted to the Convention. — Earnest Debates during a Long Session. — The Strong Conflicting Interests. — How the New Federal System was Constructed. — The Three Great Compromises, — After Considerable Difficulty the Constitution of the United States Perfected and Signed. — Submitting the Constitution to the People.— A Factious Opposi- tion to It.— The Constitution Ratified 93 CHAPTER VIII The Beginning of the New Constitutional Government. — Dissolution of the Continental Congress. — Meeting in New York of the First Congress of the United States under the Constitution. — How New York Appeared in 1789.^ The Federal Hall in Wall Street. — Organization of Congress. — The Roll of Members. — Counting the Electoral Votes for President and Vice-President. — Washington and Adams Notified of their Election. — Ovations to Wash- ington on his Journey to New York. — His Inauguration as the First Presi- dent of the United States. — His Inaugural Address 105 CHAPTER IX Obtaining a Revenue for the New Government.— The First Tariff Act. — The Policy of Protection. — Establishing the Executive Departments.— President CONTENTS \ll Wasliinglon's Cabinet.— The President's Power of Removal.— Tlie Supreme Court of the United States, — How Congress Appeared during a Session.— Tlie Compensation of Government Officials and Members of Congress.— Tlie Mace. — Reporting the Debates.- Prominent Statesmen.— Tlie Federalists and the Anti- Federalists.— How tlie Two Great Political Parties were Formed. — Their Diverging Principles.— The "Amendment Mongers." — Ten Amendments to the Constitution Page 133 CHAPTER X Trying to Make a Nation Happy. — President Washington's Social Relations with the People. — His System of Official Etiquette.— The Arduous Labors of the First President. — The United States in 1790. — Alexander Hamilton's Plan to Pay the Public Debt. — An Exciting Discussion in Congress. — As- sumption of the Indebtedness of the States Incurred during the Revolution- ary War. — The "Legislative Bargain" by which the National Capital was Located on the Potomac River. — Jefferson's Political Dinner-party. — The Act Establishing the Permanent Seat of the Government .... 134 CHAPTER XI Removal of Congress to Philadelphia. — The New Congress Hall. — The Unpop- ular Excise Law. — A Bank of the United States Chartered. — New States Admitted to the Union. — First Debates about Slavery. — The Fugitive-Slave Law. — Adoption of the Party Name of Democratic-Republican. — Jefferson becomes the Leader of the New Party.— How Washington was Criticised and Abused. — Philip Freneau and his Newspaper. — American Sympathy with the French Revolution. — Washington's Declaration of Neutrality, and the Excitement it Created. — Genet's Visit to the United States , . . 143 CHAPTER XII A Strong Feeling for War with England. — The Jay Treaty. — Its Ratification by the Senate and Approval by President Washington. — Great Public Dis- approval of the Treaty. — The President Assailed with a Storm of Vitupera- tion. — Washington's Farewell Address. — Administration of John Adams. — Trouble with France. — Tiie X. Y. Z. Mission. — The Unpopular Alien and Sedition Laws. — ^Denunciation of these Laws by the Legislatures of Ken- tucky and Virginia. — Their Famous Resolutions. — Death of Washington. — The Congressional Funeral Ceremony ... . 153 CHAPTER XIII The District of Columbia.— Removal of Congress to the New Federal City on the Potomac- Establishing the Permanent Seat of the Government. — The Agreement with the Original Landholders.— Pierre L'Enfant, the Designer of the City of Washington.— The Plan of the Capitol.— Laying the Corner- stone—Appearance of the Federal City in 1800.— President Adams's Wel- coming Speech to Congress. — Defeat of the Federalists. — Jefferson chosen President by the House of Representatives. — " Adams's Midnight Judges." —Inauguration of President Jefferson. — His Inaugural Address . . . 170 via CONTENTS CHAPTER XIV Ancient Official Forms and Ceremonies Abolished by President Jefferson. — How be Sent his First Message to Congress. — Democratic Simplicity. — Latrobe Appointed Architect of the Capitol. — His Meritorious Work. — Establishing the Library of Congress. — Exciting Discussion of the Yazoo Fraud. — Grave Charges Made against the Administration. — John Randolph, of Roanoke. — Amusing Stories of the Eccentric Virginia Statesman. — His Little Political Party, "the Quids." — The "Virginia Dynasty."— Acquiring a Vast Terri- tory. — Purchase of the Province of Louisiana from France . . Page 187 CHAPTER XV Impeachment Trial of Justice Samuel Chase.— Unsuccessful Attempt to Extend Slavery to the Northwest Territory. — Abolition of the Slave-trade. — Burr's Trial for Treason. — President Jefferson's Gun-boat System for the Navy. — Trouble with England. — The Embargo Act.' — Dissatisfaction in New England.- English Plot to Destroy the Union.— The War of 1812.— Brill- iant Achievements of the American Navy. — The Battle of Bladensburg. — Capture of the City of Washington by British Troops. — Burning of the Capitol .... 196 CHAPTER XVI Occupation by Congress of the " Great Hotel" and the "Old Capitol." — Prop- ositions to Remove the Seat of Government. — Restoration of the Capitol. — The New Halls of Congress. — The Hartford Convention. — The Treaty of Ghent. — Creation of a Great Bank of the United States. — The Tariff Act of 1816. — Increasing the Pay of Congressmen. — Changing the Design of the American Flag. — Purchase of Florida from Spain. — Bitter Struggle over the Admission of Missouri to the Union. — Great Excitement in Congress and throughout the Country. — The Missouri Compromises . . . 210 CHAPTER XVII The Presidential Election of 1820.— An " Era of Good Feeling."— Objection to the Counting of the Electoral Votes of Missouri. — The Origin and History of the Monroe Doctrine. — Various Applications of the Doctrine. — A Strong Demand for a New Protective Tariff. — Henry Clay's American System. — His Famous Speech on the Policy of Protecting Home Industries.— The Tariff of 1824.— The "Scrub Race for the Presidency." — John Quincy Adams Elected President by the House of Representatives .... 228 CHAPTER XVIII Brilliant Membership ot Congress during the First Quarter of the Century. — The Prominent Statesmen of this Period.— The " Great Triumvirate," Clay, Webster, and Calhoun. — Biographical Sketches and Personalities. — Emi- nent Legislators who Subsequently Filled High Offices in the Government. — Some Quaint Characters of the Olden Time. — Davy Crockett, the Ten- nessee Bear-hunter,— How he was Elected to Congress. — His Witty Sayings CONTENTS ix and Eccentricities.— The Peculiar Customs Prevailing in Both Houses of Congress Page 340 CHAPTER XIX Completion of the Work of Consolidating the American Republic— The So- called "Clay and Adams Bargain. "—John Randolph's Offensive Remarks. —Duel between Clay and Randolph.— Party Lines Newly Drawn.— The Democrats and the National Republicans.— The Question of Internal Im- provements by the Government. — The "Historic" Tariff Revision of 1828. — Advocating Nullification.— General Jackson Elected President. — What is known as the " Great Debate in the Senate," in 1830. — Hayne's Remarkable Speech and Webster's Celebrated Reply .... . . . 354 CHAPTER XX The Story of Nullification. — Convention of the People in South Carolina. — Passage of the Famous Ordinance of Nullification. — President Jackson's Proclamation of Warning. — Its Revision by James Madison. — Speeches in the United States Senate by John C. Calhoun, the Leader of the Nullifiers. — Stirring Debate upon "The Force Bill." — Calhoun's Resolutions on the Powers of the Government. — The Counter Resolutions. — Webster's Consti- tutional Argument. — Henry Clay's Efforts to Preserve the Union. — The Clay Compromise Tariff Act, -which Settled the Nullification Storm • 377 CHAPTER XXI The, Noted Bank of the United States. — Its Remarkable Development into a Huge, Uncontrollable Financial Power. — President Jackson's Opposition to what be termed "the Monster." — The War on the Bank. — A Severe Con- test about the Renewal of the Bank's Charter. — Jackson's Veto of the Re- chartering Act.— Removal of the Go vernment Deposits from the Bank.— Clay 's Senate Resolution Censuring President Jackson. — The President's Celebrated Protest. — Benton's Expunging Resolution. — How the Clay Resolution was E-^punged from the Senate Journal. — Downfall of the Bank .... 294 CHAPTER XXII The Distinguished Statesmen of the Second Quarter of the Century.— Members of Congress who became Presidents of the United States.— Abraham Lin- coln's Noted Humorous Speech on Military Coat-tails. — " To the Victor Belong the Spoils."— What a Witty Representative Said about a Congress- man's Life at this Period.— The Great Political Revolution of 1840.— The Tariff Act of 1843.— The Walker Low Tariff Act of 1846.— Other Tariffs. —Annexation of Texas and the Mexican War .... 310 CHAPTER XXIII The Slavery Question. — An Historical Review of Slavery in North America. — The Antislavery Movement.— Refusal of Congress to Receive Antislavery Petitions.— The Atberton Gag.— John Quincy Adams's Bold Stand for the Right of Petition.— Close of the Mexican War.— Exciting Discussions about X CONTENTS the Extension of Slavery to the Domain Acquired from Mexico. — The Wil- mot Proviso. — Doctrine of Popular or Squatter Sovereignty. — Clay's Com- promise Plan. — "Webster's Speech about Secession. — The Foote- Benton Quarrel.— The Compromise of 1850 Page 333 CHAPTER XXIV Renewed Agitation of the Slavery Question. — The Cuban Question. — The Kan- sas-Nebraska Bill Repealing the Missouri Compromise Line in Regard to Slavery. — Earnest Advocacy of the Bill by Stephen A. Douglas. — Passage of the Bill. — The Terrible Bloody Struggle in Kansas. — Vehement Debates in Congress.— Formation of the Republican Party.— Banks's Speakership Contest. — Charles Sumner Assaulted in the Senate Chamber. — Prominent Antislavery and Pro-slavery Statesmen. — Kansas Admitted to the Union as a State . 350 CHAPTER XXV Various Matters Preceding the Civil "War. — The Dred Scott Decision. — John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry. — Secession Utterances in Congress. — The Presidential Election of 1860. — Abraham Lincoln Elected President. — South Carolina Secedes from the Uuion. — President Buchanan Defines his Posi- tion. — The Crittenden Compromise Plan. — Proposed Amendment to the Constitution Relating to Slavery. — President Lincoln's Inaugural Address. — Formation of the Southern Confederacy. — Beginning of the "War . 371 CHAPTER XXVI The United States in 1861. — The Thirty-seventh Congress a Distinguished Body.— Breckinridge's Secession Speeches. — Men and Measures to Carry on the "War to Preserve the Union. — The Morrill Tariff. — Financial Matters. — A New System of Taxation. — National Banks. — The Mason and Slidell Affair.— Formation of the State of "West Virginia. — The Homestead Bill. — Compensated Emancipation in the Border States. — Slavery Abolished in the District of Columbia. — Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. — The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution Prohibiting Slavery . . 384 CHAPTER XXVII Continuation of tlie "War.— Re-election of President Lincoln. — His Second In- augural Address. — The Freedmen's Bureau. — Return of Peace. — Assassi- nation of Lincoln. — Reconstruction of the Southern States. — President Johnson's Plan.— The Civil Rights Bill. — "Warfare between the President and Congress. — Reconstruction Theories. — The Reconstruction Measure of Congress. — Purchase of Alaska. — The Reason for the Purchase. — Eminent Statesmen . 403 CHAPTER XXVIII Widening of the Breach between President Johnson and Congress.— The Tenure- of-Offlce Act. — No Removals from Office without the Consent of the Senate. — Johnson's Test of the Act. — Attempted Removal of Secretary Stanton ' from the "War Department. — Non-concurrence of the Senate in the Removal. CONTENTS XI — Impeachment of President Jolinson by the House of Representatives.— The Articles of Impeachment and Formal Proceedings. — -Details of the Trial of the President by the Senate for High Crimes and Misdemeanors . Page 418 CHAPTER XXIX Completion of the Work of Reconstructing the Southern States. — The Recon- struction Measures declared Constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United Slates. — Colored Voters in the South Outraged. — The "Ku-klux- klan." — Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. — Decision regarding the "Legal Tenders." — Unsuccessful Attempt to Annex San Domingo. — Passage of the "Force Bill." — Adjustment of the Alabama Claims. — The Amnesty Act. — The Liberal Republicans. — The Credit Mobilier Scandal Implicating Prominent Congressmen. — Tire Poland Committee of Investigation and its Report.— The " Salary Grab " 435 CHAPTER XXX Leading Members of Congress from 1870 to 1885. — James G. Blaine, the Dis- tinguished Republican Leader. — The Serious Charges against Him. — The Mulligan Letters. — A Remarkable Scene in the House of Representatives. — Roscoe Conkling. — The Celebrated Rencounter between Conkling and Blaine. — The "Father of the Senate" and the "Father of the House." — John Sherman's Long and Honorable Career in Congress. — Able Democrats who have Won Distinction. — The First Colored Senators and Representa- tives from the Southern States ... 450 CHAPTER XXXI Disordered Condition of Affairs in the South. — Presidential Election of 1876. — The Hayes-Tilden Complication. — The Electoral Commission and its Work. — The Bland Silver Bill. — "Stalwarts" and "Half-breeds." — Conkling's Resignation from the Senate.— Tlie Tariff Act of 1883.— Civil Service Re- form. — Morrison's Tariff Bill. — The French Spoliation Claims. — The Presi- dential Campaign of 1884. — Tlie Democrats Obtain Possession of the Gov- ernment ... . . . 469 CHAPTER XXXII Various Important Measures of Legislation. — New States Admitted to the Union. — President Cleveland's Notable Message on Tariff Reform. — The Mills Tariff Bill. — Mills's Speech in Advocacy of his Low-tarifi Measure. — The Presidential Election of 1888. — Return of the Republicans to Power. — The Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses. — The McKinley Tariff Bill.— McKinley's Speech on Protection to American Industries. — Passage of the McKinley Bill. — The Sherman Silver Pui'chase Act.— The Lodge Federal Election Bill 483 CHAPTER XXXIII The Fifty-second Congress.— The Presidential Election of 1893. — Settlement of the Behring Sea Controversy by Arbitration.— Decision of the Tribunal xil CONTENTS of Arbitration.— The Fifty-tliird Congress. — Eepeal of the Purchasing Clause of the Sherman Silver Act.— The Wilson Low Tariff Bill. — Wilson's Speech. — Action of the Senate Conservative Democrats. — Passage of the Senate Tariff Bill. — Eepeal of the Federal Election Laws. — The Hawaiian Annexation Project.— The Fall Elections of 1894 Page 497 CHAPTER XXXIV The Capitol at .Washington. — The Halls of Legislation. — The Apportionment of Representatives to the Several States. — Various Methods of the Houses of Congress. — Enormous Cost of the Yearly Sessions. — The Compensation and Mileage of Senators and Representatives. — A Host of Officials and Clerks. — Reporting the Proceedings of the National Legislature. — The Daily Routine of Business in the Senate. — The Executive Sessions. — Man- ner of Procedure in the House of Representatives. — Important Legislation of the Fifty-third Congress 509 List op Authohities ... . . .......... 521 Appendix A. Declaration of Independence 523 Appendix B. Articles of Confederation . 537 Appendix C. Constitution of the United States , . ..... 535 Appendix D. Washington's Farewell Address 553 Appendix E. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation ........ 565 Appendix F. Sessions of Congress, Speakers, etc 567 Index 573 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS CHAPTER I The Discovery and Settlement of North America. — Historical Statement of tlie British Colonies on the American Continent. — The Early Colo- nial Gatherings known as Congresses. — The Albany Congress. — Benjamin Franklin's Plan of Union of the Colonies.— British Op- pression. — The Stamp Act Congress. — "No Taxation without Repre- sentation." — Destruction of Tea in Boston Harbor. — The Boston Port Bill and other Obnoxious Measures of the British Parliament. — Great Indignation throughout the Colonies. — Proposition for a Continental Congress. Foe more than a hundred years the American Congress has been in existence as a distinct, national legislative body. Its parent stock was the Continental Congress, which existed in its several forms for nearly fifteen years, during Avhich the British colonies in North America, with the exception of Cana- da and ISTova Scotia, severed the ties that bound them to the mother - country and became an independent nation of free- men. Following the Continental Congress was the Congress of the United States under the Constitution, which in 1889 com- pleted its first century of arduous legislative work pertaining to the rise, progress, and development of a great republic. The story of the founding of the American Eepublic, and of the century of national legislation that followed, is exceedingly interesting and instructive, and no one can become familiar with it without being convinced that strong and enduring pa- ti-iotism was in the main the actuating force of the long line of able men who have guided the ship of state over the rather 1 2 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS tempestuous sea of American politics. In the following pages this story is told with more or less of details as the case seemed to require, the purpose being to show clearly every step of the way by which the nation has reached its present political con- dition. Tlie British colonies on the American Continent which after- wards became the American nation had been established for a long time before they achieved their independence. It was in 1498, six years after Christopher Columbus had discovered the ISTew World, that Sebastian Cabot — an Italian navigator who had been given authority by Henry the Seventh, of England, " to discover countries of the heathen unknown to Christians," and "to set up the king's banners there" — first discovered the shores of what are now the United States of America an5 took possession of them in the name of the British Crown. For nearly a century England made no effort to take advantage of Cabot's discovery. In 1585 Sir Walter Ealeigh made an un- successful attempt to plant an English colony in Virginia, or the " virgin land," as Queen EUzabeth called her vast American possessions. The colony was located on Eoanoke Island, in Albemarle Sound ; but the first party of colonists soon became discouraged and returned to England. Other colonists were sent to the island by Kaleigh, but they mysteriously disap- peared, and were supposed to have been killed by the Indians. Some years afterwards Commander Bartholomew Gosnold, who discovered and gave name to Cape Cod and Martha's Vine- yard, also made a vain attempt to establish a colony on the eastern coast. In 1606 James the First, the successor of Eliza- beth, put the greater part of the American domain into the hands of two extensive companies, known as the London Com- pany and the Pl^^nouth Company, that were organized to found colonies in the new country, to promote trade with Eng- land, and to reap what harvest they could from the " fair and fertile lands of America." From this time the colonization of North America Avas be- gun in earnest. At first all the country had the general name of Virginia ; but subsequently the region on the eastern coast was called New England, and other sections received other ENGLISH SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA 3 names. The first permanent English, settlement was made in the South, in 1607, by a hundred and five adventurous men who came to the E"ew World to seek the good-fortune denied them at home. They included " gentlemen, carpenters, and laborers," as they were classed in the list of the London Company, from which they received a charter to found a colony on Eoanoke Island. In the party was Captain John Smith, the famous English soldier, then less than thirty years old; and there were also Christopher Newport, Bartholomew Gosnold, Edward Wingfield, John Ratcliffe, and John Martin, all men of distinc- tion in England. The party sailed from London on December 19, 1606, in three small vessels — the Discovery, the Good Speed, and the Susan Constant — and succeeded in reaching the West Indies in the spring. Thence proceeding in search of Eoanoke Island, a great storm drove the little fleet into Chesapeake Bay. They sailed up this "Mother of Waters," as the Indians called it, and, entering the Powhatan (now the James) Eiver, went about fifty miles west of its mouth and landed on May 13, 1607. Here they started a village, which they named Jamestown in honor of King James. Shortly after landing they elected a governor and other oiRcials, made peace with the Indians, and took all the action necessary for the establish- ment of the Colony of Virginia, the first of the permanent English colonies in America. In 1620 a band of devout English people, numbering in all only one hundred and two souls, made a settlement on the "stern and rock -bound coast" of New England. They are commonly called Puritans, but they were, in fact, Separatists or Independents, an entirely different sect. The Puritans were members of the Established Church of England, but they de- sired a purer form of worship than that prevailing in the Church, which employed, under the name of Protestantism, some of the ancient ceremonies of the Eoman Catholic relig- ion. The Separatists were dissenters and had no connection with the National Church. They claimed the right to worship God as their consciences dictated, and as they were persecuted in their native land a number of them fled to Holland, where they set up their altars and abiding places and lived for many 4 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS years. "When the tide of emigration turned towards America the Separatists, tired of Hfe in Holland, determined to go to the new country, and accordingly secured the right to establish a colony on the banks of the Hudson Eiver. On September 6, 1620, the little band of Pilgrims set sail from the port of Plymouth, in England, in a small vessel named the Mayflower, and after a stormy and perilous passage arrived o£E Cape Cod on November 9th. When they discovered where they were they put their craft about and sailed southward for the mouth of the Hudson ; but, as a chronicler of the expedition has writ- ten, " falling in with dangerous breakers, and all, especially the women, being impatient to leave the ship," they decided to return and establish themselves on the Eastern coast. They sailed around the cape and entered the harbor known now as Provincetown. Before landing, the forty-one men in the party, among whom were John Carver, William Bradford, William Brewster, Edward Winslow, and Miles Standish, signed the following "Compact of Government" ; "In the name of God, Amen. — We, whose names are under- written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord. King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ire- land, king, defender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, and hon- or of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Yirginia, do by these presents, solemn- ly and mutually, in the presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body pol- itic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitu- tions, and offices from time to time as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience." This instrument, which in substance is purely democratic, was intended to be the foundation of the future government of the colony— the Pilgrim Eepublic, as it was subsequently called. It contains, for the first time in any written constitution, the THE ENGLISH COLONIES 5 grand principle that government should be entirely for the good of those governed. After exploring the western shore of Cape Cod for a month, the Pilgrims, on December 11, 1620 (old style), or December 21st {new style), finally landed on a convenient rock which stood at the entrance of a fine harbor — the historic Plymouth Eock — and "finding the adjacent land promising for tillage," estab- lished a village which they named New Plymouth. Thus was the second permanent English settlement made on American soil. During the half-centurj'- subsequent to the coming of the Pil- grim fathers and the establishment of the Plymouth Colony, a number of other English colonies were planted here and there in the central regions of America. Companies of Puritans founded the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Ehode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, and JSTew Haven (subse- quently incorporated into Connecticut). A company under the auspices of several English noblemen founded the colony of New Hampshire. New York, originally settled by the Dutch, be- came an English colony ; Pennsylvania was settled by Quakers under William Penn ; Maryland was settled by Enghsh Catho- lics under Lord Baltimore. And there were also established the colonies of New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In 1690 the Plymouth Colony — the mother colony of New England — was incorporated into the colony of Massachu- setts Bay. In 1Y33 the colony of Georgia, the last of the origi- nal thirteen English colonies, was established. French, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish settlements had been made in various parts of North America, but Great Britain claimed the jurisdiction over the entire country and the title to its lands by the right of original discovery. The English colonies were distinct communities, entirely in- dependent of one another. They were divided into three sec- tions, and were known as the New England, the Middle, and the Southern colonies. Each section had its own peculiar form of government, the authority for which Avas derived from the British crown, either by special charters or proprietary patents, or by direct royal control. In each colony there was a govern- G THE AMERICAN CONGRESS or (sometimes appointed by the crown and sometimes chosen by the people) and various other officials, a judiciary, and a leg- islative assembly. The colonists always maintained that they possessed all the " rights, liberties, and privileges " of English- men as secured by the Magna Charta and confirmed by the Bill of Eights, and that the fact that they were living in America did not nullify or lessen in the slightest degree their preroga- tives as natural-born subjects of Great Britain. lu May, 1643, commissioners from the colonies of Massachu- setts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven met at Bos- ton and signed Articles of Confederation, under the name of the United Colonies of New England. By these articles two delegates from each colony were to meet yearly for a confer- ence on all matters which were for the general good. This confederation was continued for forty - three years, greatly to the benefit of the colonists, especially in the matter of defence from the bloodthirsty savages by whom they were surround- ed. It is regarded as the germ of the Federal Union. The first call for a general congress of the colonies was made by Massachusetts in 1690. The Indian tribes called the Six Nations, assisted by the French settlers in Canada, -were committing depredations on the villages in the northern part of Massachusetts and of New York, and it was proposed to or- ganize an armed force for the common defence. In accordance with the call commissioners from five colonies met in the city of New York on May 1, 1690, and agreed to raise a force of eight hundred and fifty-five men to repel the French and Ind- ian invasion and to wrest Canada from the French. Each of the colonies of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, and Maryland was to furnish its quota of troops, and each colony was to have an equal share in the management of the campaign, which proved to be a disastrous one. Thereafter congresses were held by the colonies whenever it became necessary to make arrangements for the protection of their interior frontier. On June 19, 1754, a congress was held at the little Dutch city of Albany in the colony of New York, for the purpose of making certain treaties with the Ind- ians, and also for conference upon the question of a colonial ATTEMPT AT UNION 7 union for mutual protection and defence in anticipation of a war witli the Canadian French. This Congress was com- posed of twenty-five delegates from ISTew York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Ehode Island, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Among them were Benjamin Franklin, Eoger Wol- cott, Jr., Thomas Hutchinson, Stephen Hopkins, Theodore At- kinson, and others distinguished in colonial affairs. The Con- gress was in session for three months, and after arranging matters with the Indians, discussed at some length the pro- posed union of the colonies, which was declared to be " abso- lutely necessary." Several delegates submitted plans of union, but the plan drafted by Benjamin Franklin met with the most favor and was adopted by the Congress. Franklin's plan of union, which is generally called the "Al- bany plan," proposed to unite all the English colonies in Amer- ica under a general government, with headquarters at Phila- delphia. There was to be a president or governor -general appointed by the crown, and a gi-and council of delegates chosen by the colonial legislatures. The council was to choose its own speaker, was to levy taxes, enlist soldiers, and erect for- tifications, and was to have a sort of general power of legisla- tion. All the laws it should pass were to be approved by the crown. To the president was given the veto power, and also the right to nominate ofiicers of the army. Each colony was to retain absolutely its right of local legislation. The plan was submitted to the colonial legislatures and to the British Parliament, and was promptly rejected by both. It met with no favor from the people of the colonies or from the press. About the only newspaper of consequence that ap- proved of it was the Pennsylvania Gazette, published in Phil- adelphia and owned by Franklin. This journal printed a quaint picture of a huge serpent cut in pieces, each piece bear- ino- the name of a colony. At the bottom of the design was the legend " Unite or Die." The colonists believed the plan would give too much power to the crown; and Parliament, singularly enough, believed it would give too much power to the colonists. Therefore the first attempt at federal union failed. At the time Franklin formed his plan of union he was on 8 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the sunny side of fifty. Far and wide in the colonies he was known as a patriot and man of rare common-sense and prac- tical ability. He was born in Boston, on January 17, 1706, and his father was an obscure English tallow-chandler who had emigrated to America to enjoy greater religious liberty. Franklin learned the printer's trade in his brother's establish- ment in Boston, became a composer of ballads, and also a news- paper writer, and when he was only nineteen went to Philadel- phia to better his condition. He entered the city where he afterwards became so famous as the bells were ringing for church on a Sunday morning. He was friendless, and had only one silver dollar in his pocket. But young Franklin was not long without friends and mon- ey. He obtained work at his trade, and rapidly made a repu- tation as a skilful printer. He went to London and worked there awhile, but in 1726 he was back in Philadelphia, and soon thereafter had established a profitable printing business. After a few years riches came to him ; he became noted as the editor of the Pennsylvania Gazette, as a scholar and philoso- pher, and as a very pubhc - spirited man. He discovered, by means of flying a kite, that the lightning of the clouds was electricity, and invented the lightning-rod. He also invented what he called an " open stove for better warming of rooms and at the same time saving fuel." The " Franklin stove," with some improvements, is still in use. In 1732 Franklin first pub- lished his celebrated Poor PicharcTs Almanac, and this col- lection of shrewd wit and wisdom had a large sale in Europe as well as in America for twenty-five years, and brought him a great deal of money. He became postmaster of Philadel- phia in 1737, and in 1753 he was appointed by George the Second to be one of the two postmasters-general of America. Franklin was of medium height and stoutly built, with a fair complexion, gray e3^es, and a pleasant expression. He had a cheerful nature, and at times was very playful in his manner and witty in his talk. Such was the man who, in later years, gained a prominent place in the history of his country as a sagacious statesman and diplomat. COLONIAL TAXATION 9 Although the colonies would not agree to any plan of political union, they readily combined to give what aid they could to England in her seven years' war with France, which began in 1755, and resulted in the complete overthrow of the French rule in America. All the requisitions made by Eng- land on the colonial legislatures were promptly responded to, and during the war 25,000 American soldiers co-operated with the British, and performed good service. For twenty years or more previously the colonies had been developing rapidly and growing stronger, richer, and of more consequence to the moth- er-country. In fact, they were beginning to be looked upon as an exceedingly productive gold-mine, from which the British Government and her merchants and manufacturers would be likely in time to take a vast amount of treasure. The exports from England to America were enormous, and this rapidly ex- panding and seemingly unlimited commerce with the New World was the principal factor in the astonishing growth at this period of the commercial power of Great Britain. In 1763, soon after the Treaty of Paris, by which England re- ceived from France and Spain all their possessions in America except the western part of the province of Louisiana, which was given by France to Spain, the national debt of Great Britain was so large and the interest account so burdensome that a plan was devised by the British Ministry to raise addi- tional revenue by a direct tax on the colonies. For a long time England had endeavored in various waj's to regulate the colonial commerce by means of so-called " nav- igation acts," the object of which was to compel the colonists to buy and sell exclusively in the English markets ; and she had collected large sums in customs. American manufactures were also restricted and discouraged. These measures were deemed oppressive, and produced no little discontent and ill- feeling. While the colonists to a cei'tain extent admitted England's right to regulate their commerce and to collect cus- toms, they would not admit that she had any right to lay in- ternal or direct taxes. As far back as 1636 the legislature of the Plymouth colony had declared that "no taxes should be imposed but by consent of the body of freemen or their repre- 10 THE AMERICAN CONGEESS sentatives"; and later other colonies had made the declara- tion of no taxation without representation. This principle had been so well established that when it became known to the colonists that they were to be taxed directly for the support of the British Government, an intense spirit of opposition was developed. Eemonstrances and denials of the right to tax Americans were forwarded to Parliament. The agents and friends of the colonies in London did all they could to defeat the proposed obnoxious measure. Franklin, who was then acting as the London agent of Pennsylvania, told Lord Gren- ville, the originator of the plan of taxation, that " it would give great and just dissatisfaction to the people of the colo- nies to be taxed by a body in which they were not repre- sented." Associations were formed everywhere in America to discourage the use of English goods, in order that by thus acting injuriously on the merchants and manufacturers of England they would give their influence against the proposed tax. It was all to no purpose, however, for Parliament, in 1765, passed the famous measure of direct taxation known as the Stamp Act. By this act it was declared that every legal and commercial document used " in the British colonies and planta- tions in America," to be valid, must be written on parchment or paper bearing a royal stamp. Newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets were also to be stamped. The stamps were sim- ilar to those then used for the same purpose in England, and were small pieces of paper, on each of which was a picture of the crown of Great Britain and the motto, " Honi soit qui mal y pense." They ranged in value from six cents to fifty dol- lars, and were only to be obtained from the king's officials. As it was expected that the act would be violated, provision was made for inflicting penalties in any of the royal courts, trial by jury being abolished in these cases ; and an act was passed providing for the sending of troops to America to aid in collecting the stamp duties. The new scheme of taxation produced the greatest indio*- nation throughout the colonies. In some of the legislatures it was bitterly denounced. It called forth in the Virginia House CONFERENCE AT NEW YORK 11 of Burgesses Patrick Henry's celebrated resolutions declaring that the sole right to levy taxes upon the inhabitants of Vir- ginia was vested in the legislature of that colony. During his speech urging the passage of the resolutions the great orator boldly asserted that the king in assenting to the Stamp Act had played the part of a tyrant ; and then alluding to the fate of other tyrants he exclaimed in thrilhng tones, " Tarquin and Caesar had each his Brutus, Charles the First had his Crom- well, and George the Third—" Here he was interrupted by loud cries of "Treason!" "Treason!" "Treason!" from all parts of the legislative chamber. Pausing for a moment the intrepid Virginian calmly surveyed his timid compeers, and then said in an impressive manner, "And George the Third may profit by their example. If this be treason make the most of it." In the Massachusetts legislature on June 6, 1765, a resolu- tion introduced by James Otis, the fearless and brilliant pa- triot, was passed calling for a congress of delegates from all the colonies to meet at the city of New York, and " to consult together on the present circumstances of the colonies, and the difficulties to which they are and must be reduced by the operation of the acts of Parliament for levying duties and taxes on the colonies ; and to consider of a general and united, dutiful, loyal, and humble representation of their condition to His Majesty and to the Parliament, and to iinplore relief." The call was responded to by eight of the thirteen colonies ; and on the Yth of October, 1765, twenty -seven delegates from Massachusetts, Ehode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsyl- vania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina assembled in the City Hall in New York and formed what is usually des- ignated as the Stamp Act Congress. The colonies of New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, which did not respond to the call, were prevented from responding by their royal governors, who would not allow their legislatures to elect delegates. The colony of New Hampshire did not favor the proposition. The Stamp Act Congress was the first congress ever con- vened in America by the people, the others having assembled 12 THE AMERICAN CONGKESS by royal authority. It was composed of men able, patriotic, and learned. They were entirely loyal to the crown, but they were firm believers in and advocates of colonial rights, and were determined to make an emphatic protest against what they deemed was a wanton violation of them. Timothy Rug- gles, of Massachusetts, was chosen chairman of the Congress, and he was supported by such men as James Otis, Christo- pher Gadsden, Eobert E. Livingston, John Dickinson, Thomas Lynch, John Cruger, Thomas McKean, and others as patriotic, but not so well known. During a session of three weeks they discussed all the grievances of the colonies. John Cruger, who was then the Mayor of New York, wrote an address to Parliament, which the Congress adopted under the name of " The Declaration of Eights and Grievances of the Colonists in America." A petition to the king and a memorial to the peo- ple of Great Britain were also prepared. After stating the rights of the colonists as subjects of the crown, it Avas main- tained in the Declaration of Eights "that it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes should be imposed on them but with their own consent, given personally, or by their repre- sentatives ; that the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances cannot be, represented in the House of Commons, in Great Britain ; that the only representatives of the people of these colonies are persons chosen therein by themselves ; and that no taxes ever have been or can be con- stitutionally imposed on them but by their respective legislat- ures." It was further maintained that the act of Parliament imposing stamp duties had a "manifest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists"; and that "the in- crease, prosperity, and happiness of these colonies depend on the full and free enjoyment of their rights and liberties and an intercourse with Great Britain mutually affectionate and ad- vantageous." The repeal of the Stamp Act was demanded, and the English manufacturers and merchants were notified that until this were done the colonists would buy no more of their goods. The Stamp Act was to go into effect on November 1, 1765. THE STAMP ACT 13 As the time approached the popular feehng against it in- creased, and there were many violent demonstrations of this feeling. Some of the royal officials who were to distribute the stamps were mobbed, their houses forcibly entered, and their household goods destroyed. One official was burned in effigy. The strong, determined resistance to the odious tax caused great disorder and a feehng of uncertainty, and business and social affairs were seriously interfered with. "When November 1st arrived the church-bells in all the cities were tolled as if for a funeral, and emblems of mourning were displayed. In some places there were mock funeral processions. The Stamp Act was designated " The Foll}^ of England and the Euin of America." No amount of coercion could make the people buy the royal stamps, and there was indeed confusion worse con- founded. English goods were not purchased ; and, therefore, within a few weeks Parliament was compelled to repeal the obnoxious measure in order to save the trade with the col- onies. When the resolution to repeal the Stamp Act came up in Parliament in January, 1766, William Pitt, the great states- man, in speaking upon American affairs, said, "I rejoice that America has resisted." He maintained that taxation was no part of the governing or legislative power which Parliament had a right to exert over the colonies ; and Lord Camden, who earnestly advocated colonial rights, declared that " taxation and representation are inseparable." Their associates, how- ever, did not subscribe to this . doctrine. When Parliament passed the resolution of repeal it also passed what was called the " Declaratory Bill," which declared that Parliament had " a right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." In 1767 a new plan of taxing the colonies was conceived. A bill passed Parhament wnth scarcely any opposition in May of that year to lay duties on all tea, glass, paper, and painters' colors imported into America. This measure of indirect taxa- tion aroused nearly as much indignation as the Stamp Act, and within a short time agreements not to sell the articles on which duties were laid were generally signed by the merchants of the leading colonial cities. The people of Boston having 14 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS had several conflicts with the custom-house officers about the objectionable duties, British troops were sent to that city to preserve order. Two regiments arrived in September, 1768, and were quartered in the public buildings. The presence of the troops aroused the anger of the people, and served to keep in a glow the flame of discontent with the parent government. Everywhere in the colonies this discontent was manifested. Great Britain was no more called "a kind and indulgent moth- er," as had been the custom before she began her acts of oppression ; but the designation given to her was that of " a cruel and relentless tyrant." Colonial affairs for several years were in a turbulent and critical condition. The progress of the colonies was retarded, their prosperity was diminished, and they were apparently Avaiting for revolution. In 1773 occurred Boston's famous " tea-party." Two years before Parliament had removed all the duties laid in 1767, with the exception of a duty of threepence a pound on tea. The king declared "there must be one tax to keep up the right." The partial removal of taxation did not satisfy the colonists so long as England still claimed the right to tax them, and they demanded that the duty on tea be taken off. Until this were done they would not use " the invigorating weed from China's shore " ; and, in consequence, that article greatly accumulated in the London warehouses of the East India Company, then the only shipper of tea to England and her colonies. Finally, as a sort of compromise measure. Parliament gave the company per- mission to ship tea to America without paying the regular ex- port duty. A drawback was also allowed of all duties paid upon the importation of the tea to England. The company was to pay the threepence tax when the tea was entered in the co- lonial custom-houses. It was believed by the British Ministry that this scheme, by making tea cheaper in America than in England, would almost imperceptibly manoeuvre the colonists out of the principle they had so earnestly maintained. As soon as this arrangement was made, the East India Com- pany despatched across the Atlantic a number of ships laden with tea; but the patriotic colonists thoroughly understood the matter, and were not to be turned from the position they had BOSTON'S TEA-PARTT 15 taken. They determined to prevent the tea from being landed, well knowing that once it was on shore it would be sold to those who were not strong in their devotion to the no-taxation princi- ple, and the precedent established for the collection of the tax. When some of the tea ships arrived in the outer harbors of New York and Philadelphia, the pilots would not conduct them to the wharves, and they were compelled to return to England. Three ships filled with " superfine black tea " reached Boston in the latter part of November and the first part of December, 1773. As they were not permitted to unload, application was made to Governor Hutchinson for an order for them to return. The governor refused to give the order, declaring that the tea should be brought on shore. On the afternoon of the 16th of December the citizens of Boston assembled in the Old South Meeting-house to consider what disposition should be made of the tea, which was guarded by a committee in order to prevent any of it from being landed. During the discussion somebody significantly remarked, " Who knows how tea will mingle with salt-water?" and this remark appears to have been received with shouts of approval. A dep- utation was sent to the governor to ask him again if he would give an order for the tea ships to depart, and again he refused. When the refusal was announced to the assemblage, there ensued an exciting discussion, which was closed by Samuel Adams saying, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country." His remark was followed by a loud war-whoop from the gallery of the church, and the meeting hastily ad- journed. It was six o'clock and quite dark. Scarcely had the people come forth from the old church when a party of men disguised as Indians ran down the street shouting, " To Griifin's wharf ! Boston harbor a teapot to-night !" Many people followed, and when the disguised party reached the wharf they boarded the tea ships, and in less than three hours 312 chests of tea were broken up by them and thrown into the sea. Not an ounce of the " fragrant Bohea " was carried away. When the work of destruction was completed the " Indians " and their assistants marched quietly in procession through the central part of the 16 THE AMEEICAN CONGRESS town, and then dispersed. There was no disorder, and the nio-ht that followed was the stillest that Boston had known for a long time. The audacious deed caused great exultation in Boston the next day. Bells were rung, drums beaten, guns fired, and every joyous demonstration made. John Adams said in high glee, " Oh, this is the most magnificent movement of all !" and other distinguished Massachusetts patriots expressed the same delight. JSTew York and Philadelphia had enthusiastic celebrations for " Boston's tea-party," as everybody termed it ; and in the Southern cities there was also considerable ju- bilation. But Boston had to pay dearly for her tea-party. Shortly after the news reached England acts were passed by Parlia- ment closing the port of Boston to all commerce, removing the seat of government to Salem, providing for the appointment by the crown of all judges, councillors, and other functionaries of the colony, and virtually abrogating the charter of Massachu- setts. When the so-called "Boston Port Bill" and the "Eegu- lating Act " were announced there was forthwith aroused in the whole country a strong sympathy for Boston, and it was de- clared everywhere in conventions that the city should "be re- garded as suffering in the common cause." Great quantities of provisions and large sums of money were sent from every col- ony to the persecuted Boston people. Washington said at a con- vention in Virginia, " 1 am ready to raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march at their head for the relief of Boston." What was to be done under the circumstances ? The question was asked from Massachusetts to Georgia, for it was well un- derstood that this was an exigency of the gravest sort. There were serious deliberations upon the situation, and, finally, Yir- ginia, New York, and Rhode Island proposed a great Continen- tal Congress of delegates from all the colonies, to meet at one of the prominent cities and to consider the best mode of action. The proposition was accepted by the colonies, and it was left with Massachusetts to name the day and place of the meeting of the Congress. On the 17th of June, 1774, a resolution was sur- ADAMS'S RESOLUTION 17 reptitiously introduced by Samuel Adams in the Legislature of Massachusetts, then sitting at Salem, and passed before the king's officials could dissolve the body, appointing a Continen- tal Congress to meet at Philadelphia on the 1st of September, 177i. CHAPTER II The Colonies in 1774. — Styles of Dress and Ways of Living. — The Po- litical Situation. — Massachusetts Defies England. — Meeting of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. — Life in the Quaker City. — The Carpenters' Hall Occupied by the Congres.s. — Early Debates. — Patrick Henry's Patriotic Speech. — The Distinguished Members of Congress. — The Bill of Eights. — Union of the Colonies. — The Arti- cles of Association. — A Petition to King George and Addresses to the People of Great Britain and British America. At the time of the meeting of the Continental Congress the thirteen English colonies in North America that had re- solved not to submit to taxation by the British Government had a population of about three millions, and, it may be said, were rich enough and strong enough to take care of them- selves. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia led the others in population, enterprise, and wealth ; and in the first two colonies especially there had been remarkable progress in trade and commerce. Manufacturing had hardly begun, but the non-importation of English goods by the colonists generally since the trouble with the mother -country had tended to en- courage the making at home of the coarser grades of textile fabrics, and there was every indication that in a short time mills and other manufacturing concerns would be established in the Northern cities. Agriculture flourished in all the colo- nies, and there were many well-to-do planters and farmers. Slavery existed in New England and the middle colonies as well as in the South, and in some parts of the first-named sec- tions there were nearly as many slaves as in Virginia and the Carolinas. As a general thing the slaves were well cared for and kindly treated, and gave no sign that they were not happy and contented in bondage. The middle-class colonists usually lived in small wooden bouses, often unpainted, and ate coarse CONDITION OF AFFAIRS 19 food served on common dishes. Their houses were provided with substantial, if not very comfortable, furniture, and had a rather attractive appearance. Simplicity in dress and man- ner of living prevailed in this class. They were clad in linsey- woolsey or other ordinary woven fabrics, but the men always had one suit of broadcloth and the Avomen one fine silk or satin gown for " state " occasions, this costly apparel generally last- ing a lifetime. The wealthy and aristocratic class, which was rather numerous in some of the colonies, aped the ways and fashions of the English nobility. The men wore long, fine cloth coats with brass buttons, long satin waistcoats, rufiled shirts, cloth or satin knee-breeches, low shoes with great buc- kles, and jaunty, three-cornered hats, surmounting powdered hair combed back and tied in a queue. The women attired themselves in magnificent brocaded gowns, filled out with enor- mous hoops and trimmed with French lace and ribbons, dressed their hair high and had it powdered, and were as lavish in the display of diamonds as out latter-day dames. Their mansions, built of English bricks, were filled with rich, heavy furniture, usually of mahogany, good pictures, costly china, and solid sil- verware all brought from England, and they lived in a style that in many respects would be considered luxurious even now. The political situation in the colonies in the fall of 1774 may thus be described : It was felt that the lives and liberty of the colonists in all parts of America were put in jeopardy by the action of Great Britain in annulling the charter of Massa- chusetts, and there Avas a unanimous determination to resist this unwarrantable deed. All the colonies, except Georgia, had elected delegates to the Continental Congress. Geoi'gia, instead of electing delegates, had agreed to abide by the action of the Congress, whatever it might be. General Gage, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, had been appointed Governor of Massachusetts by King George, and had undertaken the rather difficult task of compelling the inhab- itants of that colony to respect the authority of the crown. He had filled Boston with troops, and the city resounded with the roll of the drum and the march of armed men. Town- meetings were forbidden, but they continued to be held despite 20 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the inhibition. The "Eegulating Act" was constantly de- fied. The king's judges were not allowed to hold court ; the king's councillors were forced to resign, so strong was the pub- lic feeling against them. When Governor Gage threatened to compel obedience to the act by the use of his troops, the peo- ple declared that if he did so his own head would be in danger, and directly set at work "to collect powder and ball." Min- ute-men were organized and held in readiness to march to the defence of Boston " at a minute's warning." One day when it was reported in the surrounding country that Gage's soldiers had fired on some people in Boston, several thousand minute- men forthwith started for the city "to give blood for blood," but they turned back when they learned that the report was untrue. A convention which caused Massachusetts to assume a defiant attitude was held at the village of Milton, in Suffolk County, and a series of resolutions written by Dr. Joseph War- ren, the eminent patriot of Boston who afterwards lost his life at the battle of Bunker Hill, was adopted without a dissent- ing voice. These resolutions, usually called the " Suffolk Ee- solves," which, it is said, " led the way to American indepen- dence," declared " that a king who violates the chartered rights of his people forfeits their allegiance." The oppressive acts of Parliament were declared null and void,, and it was resolved "that they be rejected as the attempts of a wicked administra- tion to enslave America." By the 1st of September, ITTtt, most of the delegates to the Continental Congress had arrived in Philadelphia and found quarters at the City Tavern, a hostelry famous for its "good entertainment for man and beast." The Quaker City was all agog over the meeting of the Congress, and the leading citizens gave the delegates a hearty welcome as they arrived. At this time what John Adams called " the happy, the peaceful, the elegant, the hospitable and polite city of Phila- delphia," was the most important place on the American Con- tinent, and had an extensive trade with England. It had been laid out with striking regularity in 1682, under the direction of William Penn, who had given it the Gi'eek name meaning brotherly love. Penn was a devoted follower of George Fox, FIRST SESSION IN PHILADELPHIA 21 the founder of the Society of Friends, and the new city on the Delaware Eiver soon became the headquarters in America of the Quakers, the Society of Friends in London sending to it many persons from time to time. In 1774 Philadelphia had about twenty thousand people, the majority of whom were Quakers. The city had some fine houses of brick and of stone and numerous wooden ones. It had a dozen cliurches, about three hundred shops, a few manufactories, one theatre, Avhere the play began at. six o'clock at night, and one daily news- paper, the Pennsylvania Packet, ^Y}l\ch. had been established in 1771 by John Dunlap. There were many wealthy families in the city, and those not Quakers lived in elegant style, gave elaborate dinners and balls, and socially were very gay. The Quakers were plain in dress and simple in living, but some of them gave generous entertainments. The people of Philadel- phia were more conservative, perhaps, than the people of Bos- ton or of the South, but they were verj-^ patriotic and earnestly supported the cause of the colonies. A few of the delegates to the Continental Congress had served in the Stamp Act Congress, but the greater number had never met before. As the Congress did not begin until Sep- tember 5th, they had an opportunity to become acquainted with one another and with the city. The State-house was offered to them for the sessions of the Congress, but as the use of it would have discommoded the Pennsylvania Assembly, then sitting, it was politely declined, and the hall of the " Hon- orable Society of Carpenters " was secured for the purpose. The Carpenters' Hall is an odd-looking structure, erected in 1770 of " small imported bricks, each alternate one glazed, giving a checkered appearance." It is still preserved in good condition, and stands in a little court in the central part of Philadelphia, a quaint relic of colonial days. The room occu- pied b}^ the Continental Congress is about forty-five feet square, and has a pillared alcove in the rear twenty-five feet wide and twelve feet deep. Some of the chairs and tables used by the Cono-ress have been preserved and are shown in the venerable building. At ten o'clock on the morning of September 5th the del- 22 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS egates formed in line in front of the City Tavern, and in solemn procession marched to the Carpenters' Hall and began the ses- sion of the Continental Congress. There were forty-four del- egates present, out of fifty-six chosen, as follows : John Sullivan and Nathaniel Folsom, of New Hampshire ; Thomas Cashing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Eobert Treat Paine, of Massachusetts ; Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward, of Ehode Island ; Eliphalet Dyer, Roger Sherman, and Silas Deane, of Connecticut ; James Duane, John Jay, Philip Livingston, Isaac Low, and William Floyd, of JSTew York ; James Kinsey, William Livingston, John Dehart, Stephen Crane, and Eichai'd Smith, of New Jersey ; Joseph Galloway, Samuel Ehodes, Thomas Mifflin, Charles Humphreys, John Morton, and Edward Biddle, of Pennsylvania ; Csesar Rodney, Thomas McKean, and George Read, of Delaware ; Robert Goldsborough, William Paca, and Samuel Chase, of Maryland ; Peyton Ran- dolph, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Ben- jamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, of Yirginia; Henry Middleton, John Rutledge, Christopher Gadsden, Thomas Lynch, and Edward Rutledge, of South Carolina. Subsequently the following delegates appeared, completing the Congress : Richard Caswell, William Hooper, and Joseph Hewes, of North Carolina ; Matthew Tilghman and Thomas Johnson, of Maryland ; Henry Wisner, John Alsop, John Herring, and Si- mon Boerum, of New York ; George Ross and John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania ; Richard Henry Lee, of Yirginia. The delegates unanimously elected Peyton Randolph, of Yirginia, president of the Congress, and Charles Thomson, of Philadelphia (although not a delegate), was chosen secretarj'-. Nothing was done on the first day except to organize, and to examine the credentials of the delegates. When he was elected to the Congress, Peyton Randolph was the Speaker of the Yirginia House of Burgesses, which office he continued to hold during his congressional term. For years he had been a prominent man in colonial affairs, and was highly esteemed for his sturdy patriotism and nobility of char- acter. He had been the king's attorney-general, was noted for SECRETARY THOMSON 23 his legal knowledge, and was well acquainted with the forms of parliamentary practice. He was fifty-three years old, large, fine - looking, dignified yet very complaisant, and presided at the sessions of the Congress with a great deal of tact and abil- ity. As the president of this august body— this "constellation of worthies," as it was designated — he was considered by the people the foremost man in the colonies ; and the epithet " Father of his Country " was first applied to him, as is shown in an article in the Gentlemen'' s Magazine of July, 17Y5. Charles Thomson, the Secretary of Congress, was greatly beloved by the people of Philadelphia, where he had lived for many years. He had come to America in 1730, a poor Irish lad of eleven years, had acquired a fine classical education, had been master of the Friends' Academy, had translated the Greek Testament, and had taken so earnest a part in colonial affairs that he was called " the life of the cause of liberty." He was also named by the Delaware Indians, with whom he had had dealings, " "Weh-wo-la-ent, or the man who speaks truth " ; and it is related that while he was Secretary of Congress it was the custom of the members " to call upon him to verify disputed points, by saying, ' Let us have truth or Thomson,' his word being considered equal to any other man's oath." Mr. Thom- son was a tall, slender man, with a long, thoughtful face, spar- kling eyes, and white hair combed straight down upon his head. He had not expected to be Secretary of Congress, and how he obtained the position he thus relates in one of his letters : " I was married to my second wife on a Thursday ; on the next Monday I came to town to pay my respects to my wife's family. Just as I alighted in Chestnut Street the door-keeper of Congress (then first met) accosted me with a message from them requesting my presence. Surprised at this, and not able to divine why I was wanted, I, however, bade my servant put up the horses and followed the messenger to the Carpenters' Hall and entered Congress. Here was, indeed, an august as- sembly, and deep thought and solemn anxiety were observable on their countenances. I walked up the aisle, and, standing opposite to the president, I bowed and told him I awaited his pleasure. He replied, ' Congress desire the favor of you, sir. 24 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS to make their minutes.' I bowed in acquiescence and took ray seat at the desk." And at the desk Secretary Thomson remained all through the period of the Continental Congress, almost fifteen years, having been unanimously chosen secretary each session. At the close of the first session he was presented by the delegates with a massive solid silver urn, inscribed, " In testimony of their esteem and approbation." The delegates to the Congress were appointed in some of the colonies by the legislatures, and in others by committees or conventions of the people. No special instructions were given them, and, therefore, they were left unhampered " to consult together and to act for the common good." They had assem- bled under the influence of common wrongs and a common sympath}^, and it was expected that they would agree upon a general plan of conduct which the colonies could adopt to meet tlie emergency. The Congress was opened on the third day with prayer by the Eev. Jacob Duche, of Christ Episcopal Church of Philadel- phia. In the voluminous diary which John Adams left behind him, and which was given to the world by his heirs, it is stated that in the evening of the second day of Congress a report had come that British ships were bombarding Boston. The diary says: " The public mind was deeply agitated. ' War !' ' War !' ' War !' was the cry. The members of Congress met the next morning in this agitated state. The Eev. Jacob Duche ap- peared with bis clerk and in his pontificals ; read several pray- ers ; then the psalm for the Yth day of the month — the 35th — which began, ' Plead thou my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me, and fight thou against them that fight against me. Lay hand upon the shield and buckler, and stand up to help me'; and then he unexpectedly to anybody struck out into an extemporary prayer for America, for the Congress, for Massachusetts, and especially for Boston, which was so fervent that it thrilled the bosom of every man present." The first discussion in Congress was about the method of voting, whether it should be by colonies, by the poll, or by in- terests. Finally it was decided that each colonv should have PATRICK HENRY'S SPEECH 25 but one vote, in order that all the colonies, lai-ge and small, should have equal representation. Among those who debated this matter was Patrick Henry, who had come to the Congress with so great a reputation as an orator and patriot that the members Avere eager to make his acquaintance and to hear him speak. Mr. Henry was born in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1736, his father being a highly respected Scotch planter. Patrick was a country merchant's clerk at first, then he studied law for six weeks, and succeeded in passing an examination after this slight preparation. For a number of years after his admission to the bar Mr. Henry was very poor and obscure, but he conquered all the difficulties of his youth, and rose to be one of the leading lawyers and poli- ticians of his colony. He was ardent and impulsive, and among the first to resist British oppression. The timid loyahsts, who were afraid his bold utterances would displease the king and that dreadful consequences would ensue, said he was " a very devil in politics." His oratorical efi'orts in the Virginia Assem- bl}'' caused him to be designated as " the Demosthenes of the age." He had a tall, lank, ungainly figure ; a long, thin, cadav- erous face, lighted with small blue eyes which had a peculiar twinkle, and he usually wore a brown wig unpowdered, a gray coat, leather knee-breeches, and yarn stockings. He was ge- nial and companionable, and quick to make friends, whom he held " with hooks of steel." Although Patrick Henry made a great reputation through- out the colonies by his speech during the debate upon the method of voting, the fame of the speech even coming down to the present time, there are only scanty records of it preserved. The Continental Congress sat with closed doors, and all its pro- ceedings were secret. Its journals were subsequently pubhshed, but they contain little besides motions and resolves and routine business. No official reports of the debates were ever pub- lished, and all that we know about them is what is stated in a fragmentary way in the letters and diaries of two or three members of the Congress. Wilham Wirt, in his Life of Pat- Tick Henry, printed many years ago, says of the famous speech that it " seemed more than that of mortal man. His counte- 26 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS nance was erect, his eye steady, his action noble. He sat down amidst murmurs of astonishment and approbation ; and as he had before been proclaimed the greatest orator of Virginia, he was now, on every hand, admitted to be the first orator of America." In his speech Mr. Henry recited some of the grievances of the colonies, and said that the Congress had " met in a time and on an occasion of great difficulty and distress." He said that "the public circumstances are like those of a man in deep embarrassment and trouble who calls his friends together to de- vise what is best to be done for his relief ; one Avould propose one thing, and another a different thing, whilst a third would think of something better suited to his unhappy circumstances, which he would embrace and think no more of the rejected schemes, with which he would have nothing to do." He be- lieved as this was the first general Congress, and as it was likely there would be occasion for more congresses, that a correct precedent should be established as to the manner of voting. He did not approve of the colonies having equal representa- tion, but he declared he should readily submit to the judgment of his compeers. In the course of his speech he advocated a true national spirit, in these words : " Fleets and armies and the present state of things show that the government is dis- solved. Where are your landmarks — your boundaries of colo- nies ? We are in a state of nature ! All distinctions are thrown down ; all America is thrown into one mass. The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New-Yorkers, and New- Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an Ameri- can." Besides the great orator of Virginia there were a number of distinguished men in the Congress. John Adams, who was himself one of the notable members, in writing to his wife from Philadelphia, said : " The Congress is such an assembly as never before came together, on a sudden, in any part of the world. Here are fortunes, abilities, learning, eloquence, acute- ness, equal to any I have met with in my life." John and Samuel Adams were able representatives of Mas- sachusetts. They were prominent as orators, as thinkers, as JOHN AND SAMUEL ADAMS 27 patriots. They were on the important committees, and took a leading part in all the work that was done. John Adams was born at Braintree, Mass., in 1735, and therefore was in his fortieth year at the time of his appearance in Philadelphia. He was a short, stout, rather irascible man, and had a round, ruddy face. He was the son of a well-to-do farmer of Puritan descent, was a graduate of Harvard College, the foremost edu- cational institution in the colonies, and for some time had been a lawyer with a good practice in the city of Boston. Early in his career he had distinguished himself by writing patriotic essays for the Boston Gazette, and by defending without pay persons charged with violating the Stamp Act. He had served in the Legislature of Massachusetts, and had gained a reputa- tion as a bold, sagacious law-maker. "When he came to the Con- gress he was fully prepared by education and experience for any legislative work. After three 3'ears' service as congress- man, he was appointed Minister to France, and subsequently became Minister to England, tlie first Vice-President, and the second President of the United States. Samuel Adams was the cousin of John Adams. He was born in Boston in 1Y22, and his father was a prominent mer- chant who lived in one of the finest mansions in the city. The father was an earnest patriot, and gave freely of his means and time to the cause of the colonies, and the son from boyhood was noted for his patriotic labors. Samuel was graduated from Harvard College, and after studying law for a while entered a counting-room to become a merchant. Later, in connection with his father, he established a malt-house. The cares of a large business did not prevent him from actively engaging in public affairs. He probably devoted too much time to them, for he failed as a maltster, became " desperately poor," and had to act as clerk to the legislature to support his family. He was called " Patriot Samuel Adams," because he strove so zeal- ously to make the people cognizant of their charter rights and privileges. He believed that the only sure remedy for all the colonial troubles was separation from Great Britain ; and, as he publicly advocated American independence years before any one else did, he was named in after-hfe the " Father of 28 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the Eevolution." He had a dignified presence, a " firm Puri- tan face," and was very impressive in his manner of speaking. He became Governor of Massachusetts after the Eevolution, and lived to a happy, serene old age. Eoger Sherman, of Connecticut, the learned shoemaker, judge, legislator, and enthusiastic advocate of colonial rights, was another distinguished member of the New England dele- gation to the Congress. Born in humble circumstances in 1721, he had no educational advantages in his youth, but by assidu- ously applying himself to books while working for a living at the shoemaker's bench, he had risen to become a judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut and a man of great influence in that colony. He remained in Congress for many years, and was the only member who signed all the important state docu- ments on which the American Eepublic was founded. He was tall and spare, slow in his utterances and a rather tedious speak- er; but he was wise and practical, and never failed in his devo- tion to the cause of freedom. In the Pennsylvania delegation was John Dickinson, the author of the celebrated " Letters from a Farmer," relating to colonial rights, which had had a large circulation throughout America, and had done much to educate the people to compre- hend the significance of the British encroachments. No man in the country at this time, not even Franklin or "Washington, was more widely or more favorably known. Mr. Dickinson was born in Maryland in 1732, his father being a wealthy Quaker farmer, and his mother a member of the distinguished Cadwal- lader family of Philadelphia. He resided in Philadelphia, where he practised law. He was tall and slender, with a handsome, scholarly face. He was a fascinating speaker, and at times would become exceedingly eloquent in his advocacy of American rights. The conservative, peace-loving Quakers of Philadel- phia, who Avere fearful that he would go too far in his contempt for the royal authority, attempted to alarm his mother so that she would remonstrate against his course. One day, it is stated, she said to him, " John, you will be hanged ; your estate will be confiscated ; you will leave your excellent wife a widow, and your charming children beggars and infamous." This Quaker LEE — HARRISON — RUTLEDGE 29 influence surrounding him Avas very strong, and it doubtless caused the strange conservatism he showed when the moment for decisive action had arrived. Eichard Henry Lee was one of the most impressive orators of the Congress, and toolc a leading part in the debates. He had a clear, melodious voice, and was graceful in his delivery. He was born in Virginia in 1Y32, and was a member of the illus- trious family raised in the Old Dominion by Eichard Lee, the noted English statesman, who left his native land for political reasons and established a new home on American soil. For a number of years Eichard Henry Lee had been a very active mem- ber of the Virginia House of Burgesses. As he had a large estate he had no need of a vocation for money-making, and therefore devoted his time to politics and literary matters. He had opposed the Stamp Act with all the vigor of a strong nat- ure stirred to its depths by intense indignation, and in other ways had shown by his zeal and courage in resisting the attempts of Great Britain to wrong the colonists that he possessed the true American spirit. He was tall and comely, genial and refined. Benjamin Harrison, the great-grandfather of ex-President Benjamin Harrison, was another Virginian of note. Born in 1730, he had been active in public life from early manhood, and it is said was with those " who so carefully nourished in Virgin- ia those sparks of freedom which were gradually extended over the continent." Mr. Harrison was a fine specimen of manly beauty, a large, muscular man, six feet in height, with a pleas- ant face glowing with health, a winning smile, and a clear, mu- sical voice. He had an intrepid nature, and gave much encour- agement to those about him by his hearty, enthusiastic words and confident manner. After his service in Congress he became Governor of Virginia. Edward and John Eutledge, of South Carolina, were gifted lawyers and eloquent orators. Christopher Gadsden — called "the frank, fearless Gadsden" — was a wealthy and learned merchant of Charleston, S. C. It is said that he was ac- quainted with seven languages and could read the Bible in the original tongues. Thomas McKean, of Delaware, held a high position as a lawyer and was a skilful debater. Thomas 30 THE AMEKICAN CONGRESS Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, was a man of large means and an ex- perienced legislator. He lived in the finest mansion in Phila- delphia, and entertained his fellow congressmen in an exceed- ingly hospitable manner. John Jay had the distinction of being the youngest member of the Congress. He was only twenty-nine, but had already obtained considerable prominence as a lawyer and politician in New York. Agreeable as a speak- er, wise in his counsels, and genial in his manner, he soon ob- tained popularity. George Washington took an important part in the delibera- tions. At this time he was a matured man of forty-two and the foremost soldier in America, having won great renown by his gallant service in the French and Indian wars. He had gained experience as a legislator in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and possessed in no small degree many of the qualities of the successful statesman. He was neither very learned nor eloquent, but, as Patrick Henry said, " If you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man upon the floor." As he was the commander of the Virginia troops, he appeared in his military uniform. He Avas six feet two inches in height, and had a large, muscular body, which, arrayed in a showy uniform, made him very con- spicuous. He and Harrison were the largest men in the Con- gress. Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Va., on February 22, 1732. His father, a wealthy planter, was from an ancient English family, and his mother was a Virginian. While but a boy the future great soldier and statesman was oc- cupied for several years in making an elaborate survey of the immense Western domain belonging to Lord Fairfax, and after- wards he performed considerable military service. At his fa- ther's death he inherited a fine property, and later came into possession of Mount Vernon. He married Martha Dandridge Custis, a beautiful and Avealthy widow, on January 7, 1759, and for a number of years cultivated his great Potomac estate and lived the usual life of a Virginia planter, little dreaming of the wonderful public career he was to have. He had a hand- some but grave face, and his manner was the perfection of courtly grace. "-- MASSACHUSETTS' COURSE APPROVED 31 On the 17th. of September, the resolutions of defiance to the crown, which were adopted by the convention at Milton, Suf- folk County, Mass., reference to which was made in the first part of this chapter, were presented to the Congress by Paul Kevere, who had come to Philadelphia as the special messenger of the convention. In response to this important declaration the Congress thus unanimously resolved : "That this assembly deeply feels the sufl'ering of their coun- trymen in the Massachusetts Bay, under the operation of the late unjust, cruel, and oppressive acts of the British Parliament; that they most thoroughly approve the wisdom and forti- tude with which opposition to their wicked ministerial meas- ures has hitherto been conducted ; and they earnestly recom- mend to their brethren a perseverance in the same firm and temperate conduct as expressed in the resolutions determined upon at a meeting of the delegates for the county of Suffollc, on Tuesday the 6th instant, trusting that the effect of the united efforts of North America in their behalf will carry such conviction to the British nation of the unwise, unjust, and ruinous policy of the present administration, as quickly to introduce better men and wiser measures." It was also resolved " that contributions from all the colonies for supplying the necessities and alleviating the distress of our brethren at Boston ought to be continued in such manner, and so long, as their occasion may require." Later in the session the Congress resolved " that this Con- gress approve the opposition of the inhabitants of Massachu- setts to the execution of the late acts of Parliament; and if the same shall be carried into execution by force, in such case all America ought to support them in their opposition." Joseph Galloway, one of the delegates from Pennsylvania, and an ex-speaker of the Assembly of that colony, was gener- ally credited with being a Tory and in the service of King Georce. He was a wealthy law\'er of Philadelphia, a friend of Franklin's, and a man of great intellectual ability. He offered in the Congress a plan of union of the colonies very similar to that offered by Franklin in the Albany Congress of 1754. Some believed that Galloway's plan would perpetuate 32 THE AMERICAN CONGEESS the dependence of the colonies on the mother- country, but others saw in it only an assurance of peace and greater pros- perity. The plan provided for a president-general to be ap- pointed by the crown, and a grand council of representatives to be chosen by the colonial assemblies. The council was to meet annually, and its acts were to be subject to revision by Parlia- ment; while it was to have the right, in turn, to veto the acts of Parliament relative to the colonies, and to have absolute power to regulate the internal police. Galloway's plan was heartily supported by Jay, Duane, the Rutledges, and others of the conservative element. Patrick Henry made a vehement speech against it, and it was also stoutly resisted by others of the Virginia and Massachusetts delegations. It was finally rejected by a close vote. ISTo men- tion of it was made in the journal of Congress. On September 22d it was resolved " that the Congress re- quest the merchants and others in the several colonies not to send to Great Britain any orders for goods, and to direct the execution of all orders already sent to be delayed or suspended, until the sense of the Congress on the means to be taken for the preservation of the liberties of America is made public." On September 27th Congress resolved "that from and after tlie first day of December next there be no importation into British America from Great Britain or Ireland of any goods, wares, or merchandise whatever, or from any other place of any such goods, wares, or merchandise as shall have been exported from Great Britain or Ireland ; and that no such goods, wares, or merchandise imported after the said first day of December next be used or purchased." On September 30th it was re- solved " that from and after the 10th day of September, 17T5, the exportation of all merchandise to Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies ought to cease, unless the grievances of America are redressed before that time." A committee, consisting of two delegates from each colony, which had been appointed " to state the rights of the colonies in general, the several instances in which these rights are vio- lated or infringed, and the means most proper to be pursued for obtaining a restoration of them," made a report in the form of BILL OF RIGHTS 33 resolutions covering the matter. After an animated debate of two days' duration, the resolutions were adopted by the Con- gress on the Uth of October. After stating the wrongs done under the obnoxious acts of Parliament, the resolutions recite in the form of a " Bill of Eights" certain "indubitable rights and liberties" of the colo- nists " which cannot be legally taken from them, altered, or abridged, by any power whatever, without their own con- sent, by their representatives in the several provincial legis- latures." It was resolved that the colonists "are entitled to life, liberty, and property ; and they have never ceded to any sov- ereign power whatever a right to dispose of either, with or without their consent ; that our ancestors, who first settled these colonies, were at the time of their emigration from the mother-country entitled to all the rights, liberties, and immu- nities of free and natural-born subjects within the realm of England; that by such emigration they by no means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those rights, but that thej' were, and their descendants now are, entitled to the exercise and enjoy- ment of all such of them as their local and other circumstances enable them to exercise and enjoy ; that the foundation of English liberty and of all free government is a right in the people to participate in their legislative council; and as the English colonists are not represented, and, from their local and other circumstances, cannot properly be represented, in the British Parliament, they are entitled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial legislatures, where their right of representation can alone be preserved in all cases of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the negative of their sovereign, in such manner as has been hereto- fore used and accustomed ; but from the necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual interests of both countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts of the British Parliament as are, lona fide, restrained to the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose of securing the com- mercial advantages of the whole empire to the mother-country, and the commercial benefits of its respective members, exclud- 34 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS ing every idea of taxation, internal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects in America without their consent." After enumerating the obnoxious acts of Parliament, the Bill of Eights closed thus : " To these grievous acts and measures Americans cannot submit, but in hopes their fellow-subjects in Great Britain will, on a revision of them, restore us to that state in which both countries found happiness and prosperity, we have for the pres- ent only resolved to pursue the following peaceful measures : 1. To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non- exportation agreement or association ; 2. To prepare an ad- dress to the people of Great Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America; and 3. To prepare a lo3'al address to his majesty." The first of these measures took the form of articles of union under the title of " The Association of the United Colo- nies." They were carefully prepared by a special committee, and signed by all the members of the Congress on October 20, 177J:. This was the first general union of the colonies and the beginning of the march towards independence. After a statement of the " grievances and distresses with which his majesty's American subjects are oppressed," the Articles of Association continue as follows : " To obtain redress of these grievances, which threaten de- struction to the lives, liberty, and property of his majesty's subjects in North America, we are of opinion that a non- importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement, faithfully adhered to, will prove the most speedy, effectual, and peaceable measure ; and, therefore, we do, for ourselves, and the inhabitants of the several colonies whom we represent, firmly agree and associate, under the sacred ties of virtue, honor, and love of our countrj^, as follows : " That from and after the first day of December next, we will not import into British America, from Great Britain or Ireland, any goods, wares, or merchandise whatsoever, or from any other place any such goods, wares, or merchandise as shall have been exported from Great Britain or Ireland ; nor will we, after that day, import any East India tea from any part of ADDKESS TO THE KING 35 the world ; nor any molasses, coffee, or pimento from the Brit- ish Plantations or from Dominica; nor wines from Madeira or the Western Islands; norforeio-n indio-o "The earnest desire we have not to injure our fellow- subjects in Great Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies, induces us to suspend non-exportation until the tenth day of Septem- ber, 1Y75 ; at which time, if the said acts and parts of acts of the British Parliament, before mentioned, are not repealed, we Avill not, directly or indirectly, export any merchandise or commodity whatsoever to Great Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies, except rice to Europe." Provision was made for enforcing the non - importation agreement, and in conclusion the members of Congress, for themselves and their constituents, agi'eed to adhere to the Articles of Association until the acts of Parliament com- plained of were repealed. The " loyal address " to King George, and the addresses to the people of Great Britain and the people of British America, explaining the state of affairs, were prepared by a committee consisting of Eichard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, John Jay, John Adams, John Dickinson, William Livingston, and John Eutledge. They were nearly a month at the work, and in the last part of October reported the addresses, which, after some revision, were adopted unanimously. Lee and Henry are cred- ited- with being the authors of the address to the king. It was prepared, however, after full instructions from the Congress. The other addresses were mainly prepared by Adams, Jay, and Dickinson. The address to the king was very respectful and even affec- tionate in tone. His most gracious majesty was asked to re- store the violated rights of the colonists, " who fly to the foot of his throne, and implore his clemency," and to give them the freedom they had enjoyed under his royal ancestors. The address said : "The apprehension of being degraded into a state of servi- tude, from the pre-eminent rank of English freemen, Avhile our minds retain the strongest love for liberty, and clearly fore- see the miseries preparing for us and our posterity, excites 36 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS emotions in our breasts which, though we cannot describe, we should not wish to conceaL FeeUng as men, and thinking as subjects, in the manner we do, silence would be disloj'alty. . . . Duty to your majesty, and regard for the preservation of our- selves and our posterity, the primary obligations of nature and of society command us to entreat your royal attention ; and, as your majesty enjoj^s the signal distinction of reigning over freemen, we apprehend the language of freemen cannot be dis- pleasing. Your royal indignation, we hope, will rather fall on those designing and dangerous men Avho, daringly interposing themselves between your royal person and your faithful sub- jects, and for several years past incessantly employed to dis- solve the bonds of society, by abusing your majesty's author- ity, misrepresenting your American subjects, and prosecuting the most desperate and irritating projects of oppression, have at length compelled us, by the force of accumulated injuries, too severe to be any longer tolerable, to disturb your majesty's repose by our complaints. These sentiments are extorted from hearts that much more willingly would bleed in your majesty's service. . . . We ask but for peace, liberty, and safety. We wish not a diminution of the prerogative, nor do we solicit the grant of any new right in our favor. Your royal authority over us, and our connection with Great Britain, we shall always carefully and zealously endeavor to support and maintain." In conclusion the king was implored, "as the loving father of your whole people, connected by the same bands of law, loy- alty, faith, and blood, though dwelling in various countries," not to suffer " the transcendent relation formed by these ties to be further violated, in uncertain expectation of effects that, if attained, never can compensate for the calamities through which they must be gained." In the address to the people of Great Britain it was claimed that the American colonists had all the rights of Englishmen. "Be not surprised," it was said, "that we, whose forefathers participated in all the rights, the liberties, and the constitutions you so justly boast of, and have carefully conveyed the same fair inheritance to us, should refuse to surrender them to men ADDEESSES TO THE PEOPLE 37 who found their claims on no principles of reason, and who prosecute them with a design, that, by having our lives and property in their power, they may, with the greater facility, enslave you. . . . Are not the proprietors of the soil of Great Britain lords of their own property ? Can it be taken away from them without their consent ? Will they yield it to the arbitrary disposal of any man, or number of men, Avhatever? You know they will not. Why, then, are the proprietors of America less lords of their property than you are of yours? Or why should they submit it to the disposal of your Parlia- ment or of any other parliament or council in the world not of their election 1 Can the intervention of the sea that divides us cause disparity in rights ? or can any reason be given why English subjects who live 3000 miles from the royal palace should enjoy less liberty than those who are 300 miles distant from it?" The address ended as follows: "We believe there is j'et much virtue, much justice, and much public spirit in the Eng- lish nation. To that justice we now appeal. You have been told that we are seditious, impatient of government, and de- sirous of independency. Be assured that these are not facts, but calumnies. Permit us to be as free as yourselves, and we shall esteem a union with you to be our greatest glory and our greatest happiness ; we shall ever be ready to contribute all in our power to the welfare of the empire ; we shall consider your enemies as our enemies, and your interest as our own. But, if you are determined that your ministers shall wantonly sport with the rights of mankind — if neither the voice of justice, the dictates of the law, the principles of the Constitution, nor the suggestions of humanity', can restrain your hands from shed- dino' human blood in such an impious cause, we must tell you that we will never submit to be hewers of wood or drawers of water for any ministry or nation in the world." The address to the people of Biitish Amei^ica contained an account of the oppressive measures of Parliament ; and, after commendin"- the spirit with which these measures had been resisted, urged the people to persevere in the defence of their rights and to be prepared for any emergency. It was hinted 38 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS that an emergency might arise that would put their "con- stancy severely to the test." On the 26th of October the First Continental Congress adjourned, after passing a resolution for another congress to be held on May 10, 1775. Its session had been harmonious, although there had been a great diversity of opinion among the delegates, most of whom cherished the hope of a speedy reconcihation with England. The large conservative element restrained the fiery enthusiasm of the radicals like Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, in the expectation that a concilia- tory course would be advantageous. But, as time showed, it had been ordained that the American Colonies could obtain their rights only by the terrible arbitrament of war. CHAPTER III Growth of a Strong National Spirit. — The Whigs and the Tories.— Con- tinued British Oppression. — The Beginning of the Long Struggle for American Independence. — The Battle of Lexington. — Meeting , of the Second Continental Congress in the State - house at Phila- delphia. — John Hancock chosen President of the Congress. — Prepa- rations for War. — George Washington appointed Commander-in- chief of the Continental Army. — His Modest Speech of Acceptance. —The Battle of Bunker Hill.— A Final Appeal to the King.— The Appeal Rejected. — Congress Advises the Colonics to form Inde- pendent Governments. Although the First Continental Congress had no authority to do anything except "to meet and confer," its measures seemed to have the force of laws. All the colonial legislatures approved of the Articles of Association, and most of the people gave them their entire approbation and scrupulously observed the non- importation agreement. Orders were issued that no goods made in England should be allowed to be lauded at any of the colonial ports after the time named in the Articles, but the orders were in some cases not fully obeyed. There was considerable smuggling, and British goods and East India tea were not entirely shut out of the colonies. The union under the Articles of Association produced a strong national feeling, and from New Hampshire to Georgia this feeling appeared to grow rapidly from week to week. Men were proud to call themselves Americans, and the phrase, " We are free - born Americans," was heard on all sides. During this time the political names of Whig and Tory, which had been used in England for many years, came into use in the colonies. The former name was applied to those who favored resisting British oppression even to the point of separa- tion from the parent country; the latter to those Avho adhered to the crown and fully respected its authority. Many of the 40 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS Tories or Loyalists held lucrative offices by royal favor, and they were not disposed to surrender the profits and advantages accruing from them. Others were opulent merchants or pro- fessional men, ^yho laughed at the idea of the thirteen weak colonies without an array or navy entering into a contest with a powerful government like that of Great Britain. The Tories condemned the proceedings of the Continental Congress and severely criticised its leaders. They were not a very large body in proportion to the whole, for the majority of the peo- ple were patriotic regardless of consequences ; but they caused much disturbance and were a serious drawback to the colonial cause for a long time. They published many pamphlets and cartoons in which the famous patriots were ridiculed; they had loyalist songs hawked in the streets of the principal cities, and in various other ways sought to gain supporters for their side. As a general thing the Whigs, or Patriots as they were often called, held the Tories in silent contempt ; but in some instances they assailed them and destroyed their prop- erty when their demonstrations went beyond the limit of en- durance. "When the addresses prepared by the Continental Congress were brought before the British Parliament, William Pitt, then Earl of Chatham, made a powerful speech in the House of Lords in favor of the ximericans. lie said : " The way must be immediately opened for reconciliation, or it will soon be too late. His majesty may indeed Avear his crown ; but the American jewel out of it, it will not be worth the wearing. They say you have no right to tax them without their consent. They say trulv. Eepresentation and taxation must go togeth- er — they are inseparable. . . . When your lordships look at the papers transmitted us from America ; when you consider their decenc}^, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must de- clare and avow that in all my reading and observation — and it has been my favorite study ; I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master-states of the world — that for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacit}'', and wisdom of conclu- sion, under such a complication of difficult circumstances, no BEGINNING OF WAR 41 nation or body of men can stand in preference to the General Congress assembled at Philadelphia." He urged that the Eeg- ulating Act, by which the charter of Massachusetts was virt- ually annulled, should be repealed, and that the British sol- diers be withdrawn from Boston. He afterwards introduced a bill to effect this, and one by which Parliament renounced for- ever the taxation of the colonies. Chatham's measures of conciliation did not suit Lord North and his party, who were then in power, and they failed of passage, though urged with force and eloquence. Petitions from the leading merchants of London in favor of the Ameri- cans were disrespectfully treated. Franklin and other colonial agents were refused a hearing in the House of Commons. Fi- nally, after long and exciting debates in both houses of Parlia- ment, an address to the king was adopted, which declared that " the Americans have long desired to become independent, and only waited for abihty and opportunity to accomplish their design. To prevent this, and to crush the monster in its birth, is the duty of every Englishman ; and this must be done at any price and at every hazard." In order to begin the " crushing " process, Parliament, in February, 17Y5, declared Massachusetts in rebellion, closed all the New England ports, and prohibited New England fisher- men from fishing on the Banks of Newfoundland. The British force at Boston was also largely increased. In the meantime Massachusetts had organized a large num- ber of minute - men, and held them in readiness to resist any attempt that Governor Gage should make to enforce the obnox- ious Eegulating Act. In every town in the colony the Ameri- can soldiers drilled daily ; and as many of them were veterans of the French and Indian wars, the patriot army was soon in an efficient condition. In Virginia the militia were made ready for active service under the supervision of Colonel Washing- ton. Only twentj'^-seven days before the battle of Lexington, in a convention held in Virginia to arrange for putting the colony in a state of defence, Patrick Henry uttered these pro- phetic words : " The war is actually begun ! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of 42 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS resoundinff arms !" "With thrillino: effect he said : " Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery ? Forbid it. Almighty God ! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death !" On the 19th of April, 1Y75, occurred the battle of Lexing- ton, where "the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world." This was the beginning of the long struggle for American independence. The battle came about in this wise : Governor Gage had received peremptory orders to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who had been " talking treason " at certain inter- dicted meetings of the patriots in Boston, and send them to England to be tried. It was ascertained that they were so- journing at the house of a friend in the village of Lexington ; and thither, on tlie night of April 18th, Governor Gage sent a regiment of his soldiers to take them prisoners and bring them to Boston. The soldiers were also to march to Concord and seize the military stores which had been collected there by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. Shortly before mid- night the British force secretly left Boston and took the high- road to Lexington. When their departure became known to the patriots in the city, Paul Eevere, crossing the Chai'les Biver in a small boat, secured a fleet horse and rode at a break- neck gallop through the country by a shorter route, arousing the people at every house he passed. " The regulars are com- ing ! turn out ! turn out !" he shouted, as he dashed along in the darkness of the night. In a short time alarm-bells Avei'e rung, signal- guns fired, and lights displayed in all that region, showing that the people were preparing to resist the invaders. Bevere reached the house where Adams and Hancock were staying about one o'clock in the morning of April 19th, in- formed them of their danger, and then sped away to Concord to warn the people there, that they might remove the military stores to a place of safety. When the advance guard of the British, under the com- mand of Major Pitcairn, reached Lexington, it was very nearly dawn. Here they found their progress barred by fifty minute- BATTLE OF LEXINGTON 43 men drawn up in battle-array on the village green. Hiding up to them Major Pitcairn shouted, " Disperse, you rebels, imme- diately ! Lay down your arms and disperse !" His command not being obeyed, he discharged his pistol at the Americans and ordered his soldiers to fire. The soldiers sent a volley into the ranks of the minute -men, killing eight and wounding ten. The fire was vigorously returned; and then the minute -men, seeing that it would be useless to cope with so large a force (the main body of the British troops having then arrived on the scene of the conflict), slowly i-etired to the woods, firing as they went. ISTot finding Adams or Hancock in the village (they having escaped several hours before), the British pro- ceeded to Concord. In this place they burned the court-house and did other damage, in their rage at finding that the military stores had been spirited away, and then turned back towards Lexington. The force of minute-men, who had been watching the march of the regulars from a hill near the village, had increased to about five hundred, and when it was seen that the enemy had stopped at the North Bridge, it was determined to give them battle. Accordingly, the Americans charged on the regulars and drove them from the bridge. A sort of desultory battle then occurred for a time, in which the British were routed, and at last compelled to flee in great disorder. The minute-men pursued them down the road towards Boston, pouring into them an incessant, galling fire as they fled. All that day the minute-men, who had been reinforced by large numbers from all the country-side, followed the retreating enemy, and from hour to hour there was much irregular fighting. It was sun- down when the demoi'alized and wellnigh exhausted "British troops succeeded in reaching Boston, having left on the way a large number of dead and wounded. Mounted couriers rapidly carried the news of the battle of Lexington over New England. " War has begun ! War has begun !" they cried as they rode from place to place ; and back on the wind came the ready response, " To arms, for liberty or death !" The colonial legislatures at once ordered the militia into active service, and shortly after the time that the British 44 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS troops had run pell-mell into Boston to escape the vengeance of the patriots, the city was besieged by a large army of colonists. It was at this juncture that the Second Continental Con- gress met at Philadelphia, on the 10th of May, 1775. The session was held in the State - house, a spacious two-story brick and stone edifice, with a Avooden tower, which had been erected in 1729 for the use of the Pennsylvania Assembly and the pro- vincial courts. After the promulgation of the Declaration of Independence the State-house was re-named Independence Hall, which name it has since retained. The edifice has been carefully preserved, and is to-day in much the same condition as when the Continental Congress occupied it. The hall in the first story, in Avhich the daily sessions of the Congress were held, still contains some of the chairs and tables used by the members. In the tower of the State-house hung a huge bell, inscribed " Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabi- tants thereof." This bell was originally cast in England and brought to Philadelphia in 1752. In removing it from the vessel it was very much damaged, and it was found necessary to recast it in Philadelphia. The inscription on it was sug- gested by Isaac ISTorris, Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly. About a year after the historic bell had rung out the glad tidings of American Independence, it was removed from the building and sunk in the Delaware Eiver, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the British when they occupied Phila- delphia. It remained in the river until the close of the Kevo- lutionary War, when it was restored to Independence Hall, where !t is now, an object of great veneration. The Second Continental Congress had all the authority and assumed all the functions of a government, the delegates deriv- ing their power from the people acting directly in their sov- ereign capacity. This " Kevolutionary Government," as it was termed, continued until the adoption of the Articles of Confed- eration in 1781. The President of Congress was considered the Chief Executive of the colonies, and was respected as such. The Second Congress was composed of nearly the same JOHN HANCOCK 45 members as the first. John and Samuel Adams, Eoger Sher- man, Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Jay, Richard Henry Lee, and John Dickinson were among the well-known names. Benjamin Franklin, just returned from a sojourn of several years in England, where he had done good service for the colonial cause, was present as a member of the Pennsyl- vania delegation. With the Massachusetts delegation came John Hancock, the distinguished patriot. Mr. Hancock was born at Quinoy, Mass., in 1Y37, and was the son of a learned and prominent clergyman. After gradu- ating from Harvard College, he became a merchant in Boston, and before he was thirty years old acquired a large fortune, partly by inheritance. He then retired from business and en- tered public life, soon becoming " a Whig of the first mag- nitude," as an ancient biographer says. He was as zealous a worker for the cause of liberty as Samuel Adams, and was called by Governor Gage " Adams's ready and willing tool." Mr. Hancock was a polite, refined, handsome man, fond of fine clothes " embroidered in gold and silver," rich living, and all elegant pleasures. He drove six beautiful bay horses to a "magnificent carriage, such as was then unknown in Amer- ica." He had been in Congress only a short time when he was chosen president in place of Peyton Eandolph, Avho had been installed in the ofiice at the beginning of the session, but who was obliged to resign on account of ill-health and return to Virginia. At the time that Mr. Hancock was named for the presidency, Benjamin Harrison was also named for it by the Virginia delegation, but he promptly declined, and urged Mr. Hancock's election. The story is told that Mr. Harrison, who was a man of great size and strength, seeing that President Hancock modestly hes- itated to take the chair, seized him in his muscular arms and bore him to the seat of honor as if he were a child, much to the amusement of the Congress. Depositing his precious burden safely, Mr. Harrison said, " Gentlemen, we will show mother Britain how little we care for her by making a Massachusetts man our president Avhom she has excluded from pardon by a public proclamation." 46 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS From the first the session of Congress was mainly occupied with war measures. A report of the battle of Lexington Avas received from Dr. Joseph Warren, President of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, and also reports of the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen, the Green Mountain soldier and eccentric philosopher, and of Crown Point by Seth Warner, another Green Mountain hero. On the 15th of June a motion was made by John Adams that Congress should adopt the army that had gathered in the vicinity of Boston and appoint a com- mander-in-chief. Mr. Adams says in his diary, " I rose in my place, and in as short a speech as the subject Avould admit represented the state of the colonies, the uncertainty in the minds of the people, their great expectation and anxiety, the distresses of the army, the danger of its dissolution, the diffi- culties of collecting another, and the probability that the Brit- ish army would take advantage of our delays, march out of Boston, and spread desolation as far as they could go." Mr. Adams's motion was adopted, and Thomas Johnson, of Mary- land, then nominated Col. George Washington to be com- mander-in-chief of the Continental army. In the journal of Congress prepared by Secretary Thomson the following state- ment regarding this matter is made : " The next day the President of Congress informed Colonel Washington that Congress had yesterday unanimously made choice of him to be commander-in-chief of the American forces, and requested that he would accept of that employment ; to which Colonel Washington, standing in his place, answered: " ' Mr. President : Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done me in the appointment, yet I feel great distress from a consciousness that my abilities and military experience Taay not be equal to the extensive and important trust. How- ever, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service and for support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their appro- bation. But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavora- ble to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declare, with the utmost BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 47 Sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with. As to pay, I beg leave to assure the Congress that, as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, .1 do not wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire.' " At this time Washington was in his forty-fourth year. On the day he received his appointment he said to Patrick Henry, " This day will be the commencement of the decline of my reputation." On the 17tli of June Congress issued a commission to Gen- eral Washington, which began as follows : " We, reposing spe- cial trust and confidence in your patriotism, valor, conduct, and fidelity, do by these presents constitute and appoint you to be general and commander-in-chief of the army of the united colonies, and of all the forces now raised or to be raised by them, and of all others who shall voluntarily offer their services and join the said army for the defence of American liberty and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof ; and you are here- by vested with full power and authority to act as you shall think for the good and welfare of the service." The delegates also resolved unanimously that they would maintain and assist Washington, and " adhere to him with their lives and fortunes in the same cause." Coincident with this important event in Congress was an important event in Massachusetts — the. battle of Bunker Hill. Ever since the conflict at Lexington the militia of New Eng- land had kept the British troops penned up in Boston. The lines of the Americans extended in a huge semicircle for twenty miles, and the total number of men engaged in the siege w^as estimated at about sixteen thousand. They were under the command of Gen. Artemas Ward, a Massachusetts soldier of considerable reputation. His headquarters were at Cambridge, where the buildings of Harvard College were placed at his dis- posal. In the latter part of May the enemy received a large reinforcement from England, increasing their numbey to 10,000 men. It was now determined by the British generals, among 48 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS whom were Howe. Burgoyne, and Clinton, to occupy some of the hills in the vicinity of Boston in order to prevent them from being occupied by the Americans, who could from these elevations shell the city and the ships of war in the harbor. The Americans, learning of this plan, resolved to forestall the British. Accordingly, during the night of June 16th a force of 1200 patriots, commanded by Colonel Prescott, left Cambridge with orders to take possession of and fortify Bunker Hill, in Charles- town. Arriving on the hill, Prescott thought it would be better to proceed to Breed's Hill, which was separated from Bunker Hill by a long ridge. On Breed's Hill the patriots threw up rude earthworks, which were discovered by the enemy early the next morning. The British ships of war at once opened fire on the works, and until afternoon kept up an incessant cannonade, without, however, doing any serious dam- age to the intrenched Americans. "When it Avas found that the cannonade had little or no effect, 3000 British soldiers, the flower of the army, were despatched from Boston to carry the hill by assault. During the day the Americans had been reinforced by two regiments commanded by General Putnam. The British columns, under the command of General Howe, advanced steadily up the hill, the officers shouting to the men that they would soon send the rustic soldiers fleeing. They were permitted to come within fifty feet of the works, wlien, suddenly, a raking, deadly fire was opened on them by the Americans. The splendid line of redcoats bravely' held to- gether for a while under the terrible shower of bullets, and then broke in utter confusion. They were rallied and again urged to the attack, and again were they driven back with a tremendous loss of life. After a long interval the third attack was made, and this time it was successful, as the ammunition of the Americans had given out, and they were, in consequence, forced to retreat, leaving the British in full possession of the hill. Although the Americans retreated, the battle was every- where considered almost the same as a victory for them. They had gallantly held the enemy in check, and had demonstrated beyond a doubt that the New England militia were fully the A WAR MANIFESTO 49 equals in fighting qucalities of the British veterans, and were formidable foes. It had been customary for the British and their supporters, the Tories, to speak in contempt of the Amer- ican soldiers ; but after the battle of Bunker Hill, in which one -third of the British force was killed and wounded, the words of contempt Avere heard no more. The news of the battle of Bunker Hill reached General Washington while he was on his way to Cambridge to take command of the Continental army. Congress immediately directed him to put the army in an efficient condition, and began to make extensive preparations for war. A committee was appointed "to devise ways and means" to enlist the mili- tia of the several colonies for the defence of America. Ar- temas "Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam were commissioned major-generals, and Horatio Gates, adju- tant-general. Kegulations for the army were adopted and military supplies ordered. To defray the war expenses, an issue of bills of credit to the amount of $2,000,000 was author- ized. This paper money, for which " the confederated colo- nies " were pledged, was called " Continental currency." Congress, on July 6, 1115, published a dignified manifesto, in which Avere given "the causes and necessity" for the taking up of arms by the colonies. The manifesto Avas ordered read to the army and ^iroclaimed in the toAvns and cities. After a clear, detailed statement of the " accumulated and unexampled outrages " the colonies had suffered, the manifesto concluded as f oUoAvs : " We are reduced to the alternatiA^e of choosing an uncon- ditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or re- sistance by force. The latter is our choice. We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as volun- tary slavery. Honor, justice, and humanity forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom Avhich Ave received from our gallant ancestors, and Avhich our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that Avretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them. 4 50 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS " Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is un- doubtedly attainable. "We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instances of the Divine favor towards us, that His providence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy until we were grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operations, and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. "With hearts fortified with these animating reflections we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties, being, with one mind, resolved to die freemen rather than live slaves." On the same day that the manifesto was issued. Congress authorized another address to be sent to King George, implor- ing him in loyal and humble terms to do justice to the colonies. This was done to satisfy the few conservatives, headed by John Dickinson, who believed that one more effort should be made for reconcihation with Great Britain. Some strong arguments were presented for the adoption of this course. John Jay, in a forcible speech, maintained that if people were called upon to take up arms against the king, " they ought to be persuaded that such a measure was unavoidable ; and should it be found necessary to separate from Great Britain, tlie conviction that no proper efforts to prevent such an event had been omitted would reconcile the consciences of many to a course of conduct which would otherwise be inconsistent with their oaths of alle- giance." Mr. Dickinson wrote the address, and advocated it even more zealously than Mr. Jay did. At first the greater num- ber of the delegates were much opposed to this " token of hu- mility," this "measure of imbecility," as the address was des- ignated. Bitter and sarcastic speeches were made against it by the radicals. They said it was absurd, after two battles had been fought on American soil and extensive preparations made WAR PREPARATIONS CONTINUED 51 for war, to send such an address to the king. But, finallj^, they yielded and the address Avas prepared. This concession A^as made because the radicals saw that Mr. Dickinson had set his heart upon the matter, and as they all highly esteemed him for his purity and integrity, and for his distinguished services to the colonial cause, tiiey concluded to gratify him by adopting his " Olive Branch," as he called it. The patriotic colonists re- ceived the address with some astonishment, but they had great confidence in the wisdom of Congress and few unkind com- ments were made. Several months elapsed before the fate of the address was known. Meanwhile Congress issued more paper money to pay the cost of its army in Massachusetts, arranged for military supplies from France, and generally continued its war prepara- tions, thus showing an entire lack of faith in reconciliation with Great Britain at this late hour. In Cambridge General Washington was earnestly work- ing to form a thoroughly efficient army out of the 16,000 poorly disciplined men who constituted his command, and at the same time was closely watching the British soldiers shut up in Boston. When his array should be in a satisfactory con- dition, he intended to force the British to action or drive them to their ships by shelling the city. He advised the two expe- ditions to Canada which Congress ordered about this time. The Canadian colonies, although strongly urged to, would not join with the other colonies in America in resisting Great Brit- ain ; and, as it was believed that they contemplated an inva- sion of the Northwestern frontier, means were taken to pre- vent it. In September, 1775, the colony of Georgia sent as delegates to Congress Archibald Bullock, John Houston, John J. Zubly, Noble Wimberly Jones, and Lyman Hall. As the colonies were now, for the first time, all represented in Congress, the title, "The Thirteen United Colonies," was assumed. Michael Hillegas and George Clymer Avere appointed treasurers of the colonies, Avith headquarters at Philadelphia. Benjamin Frank- lin Avas appointed postmaster-general Avith a salary of $1000 a year. He Avas authorized to open an office in Philadelphia, to 62 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS appoint his own assistants, and to establish "a line of posts from Falmouth, in l>lew England, to Savannah, in Georgia, with as many cross-posts as he shall think fit." As the British war -ships cruising on the New England coast were committing serious depredations on American com- merce, authority was given by Congress " to fit out armed ves- sels" to capture the ships of the enemy. These privateers soon appeared, and, as a writer of the time says, " alert and bold, they visited every sea, and annoyed British commerce, even in the very waters of their own island." Congress also ordered the establishment of a "navy of the United Colonies," to be commanded by Admiral Esek Hopkins, of Ehode Island. The navy was to consist of five ships of thirty-two guns, five of twenty-eight, and three of twenty-four — the whole to cost nearly a million dollars. The pay of the naval force was to range from admiral at $125 a month, and commander at $35 a month, to able seamen at $6. Divine service was to be held twice a day on board ship. If any one were " heard to swear, curse, or blaspheme the name of God," he was to be " punished by Avearing a wooden collar or some other shameful badge of distinction." If the offender were a commissioned ofiicer, he was to forfeit one shilling for each offence; if a seaman, he was to forfeit sixpence. For any vio- lation of the rules of discipline, seamen were to be punished by " twelve lashes upon the bare back with a cat-o'-nine-tails." - There is no record in the journals of Congress of what was- provided for the members of the navy to eat, but an account is given of the army ration. It was ordered that each soldier was to have daily one pound of beef or three-quarters of a pound of pork or one pound of salt fish ; one pound of bread or flour, one pint of milk, and one quart of spruce-beer or cider. Sugar, molasses, and candles were also provided. He was to have weekly one-half pint of rice or one pint of Indian meal. His uniform was to be paid for " by stopping out of " his monthly stipend of $6.66 the sum of $1.66. It is recorded that " a soldier who brings a good blanket to caiup should be al- lowed $2 for its use, and he may take it away at the close of the campaign." THE COLONIES DECLARED IN REBELLION 53 Oa the 20th of March, 1T76, a letter was received by Con- gress from General Washington, announcing that on the lYth of that month the British had evacuated Boston, and sailed to the north in their ships. Congress thereupon passed a resolu- tion of thanks to Washington and the officers and soldiers under hira "for their wise and spirited conduct in the siege and acquisition of Boston"; and it was ordered that "a gold medal be struck in commemoration of this great event," and presented to Washington. The American army had compelled the evacuation of Boston by mounting heavy siege guns on Dorchester Hill, and threatening a bombardment of the city. The British had attempted to drive the Americans from their intrenchments on the hill, but without success, and therefore were forced to flee. In connection with the threatened bombardment of Boston, it is related that Avhen Washington consulted with Congress as to its propriety, a motion was made to go into committee of the whole to enable President John Hancock to give his opinion, as he was personally interested in the matter. Mr. Hancock left the chair, and, addressing the chairman of the committee, said, " It is true, sir, that nearly all I have in the world is in the city of Boston; but if the expulsion of the British troops and the liberty of my country demand that my buildings be burned to ashes, issue the order and let the cannon blaze away." At length the news came from England that the second ad- dress to King George had been not only rejected by him, but treated with scorn and contempt. In his speech at the opening of Parliament, tire king had declared that the colonists should be considered as rebels and traitors, whose only object in taking up arms was to found a new empire on the American Continent. To compel their obedience to the crown, he advocated the severest measures. Parliament responded to the king's senti- ments by declaring the colonies in rebellion and prohibiting all trade with them. Authority was given to capture Ameri- can vessels, and to treat the crews "not as prisoners, but as slaves." It was decided to send 25,000 British troops to Amer- ica, and also 17,000 Hessians that the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, 54 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS in connection with other petty German princes, had agreed to furnish for a large monetary consideration. Witli this force it was deemed an easy matter to quell the colonial revolt. There was an outburst of indignation throughout the thir- teen united colonies when it was learned that foreign merce- naries had been secured to fight the Americans, and conser- vatives joined hands with radicals in prepai-ing to give the invading army a " warm " reception. Congress adopted articles of war, extended its military and naval work, advised the colo- nies, " where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs hath been hitherto established, to adopt such govern- ment as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their con- stituents in particular and America in general"; and day by day discussed the momentous question of separation from the mother-countrv. CHAPTER IV Separation from Great Britain. — Wide-spread Discussion of the Matter. — A Strange Delay in Congress. — Common Sense, Tliomas Paine's Celebrated Pamplilet Advocating Separation. — Virginia Instructs her Congressmen to Begin the Important Movement. — Kichard Henry Lee's Eesolutions for Independence. — A Strong Opposition Developed. — Some Forcible Speeches. — Congress Decides for Inde- pendence. — Thomas Jefferson Selected to Prepare a Draft of the Declaration of Independence. — His Declaration Agreed to After an Extended Debate. — Its Promulgation and Enthusiastic Eeception by the People. DuEiNG the spring of 17Y6 the advocates of American inde- pendence increased rapidly. I^ot only were they numerous in Massachusetts and Virginia, the most radical of the colonies, but in 'New York and Pennsylvania, .where the Tory element was larger than elsewhere, could be found no small number of enthusiastic believers in the bold measure. In every part of New England the people were largely in favor of throwing off the British yoke; while in the South, outside of Virginia, it was evident that any movement that should be made towards this end would be heartily supported. The Virginians were so enthusiastic for separation that their strong feeling seemed to impregnate the other Southern colonies, and produce a greater amount of patriotism than, it is likely, would otherwise have been the case. In Congress, however, most of the delegates were rather disposed to allow the Ship of State to drift awhile before heading her for the strange, new port of Independence. They counselled delay when their constituents urged immediate action. Singular as it may now seem, there were many congress- men who could not be brought to understand that there was any prevalent desire among the colonists to renounce the dominion of the crown. They thought the greater number 56 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS simply wished to establish their constitutional rights as British subjects, being willing even to shed their blood for the attain- ment of this object ; but that they seriously entertained the idea of separating from the parent country and establishing an independent republic, they did not believe. Even "Wash- ington had said, not many months before, " I am well satisfied that no such thing as independence is desired; on the contrary, that it is the ai-dent wish of the warmest advocates for liberty that peace and tranquillity, on constitutional grounds, may be restored and the horrors of civil war prevented." And Franklin, just before leaving England, had informed Lord Chatham that the colonies had " no idea of setting up an independent govern- ment." In fact, it may be said that Samuel Adams, Eichard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, and Christopher Gadsden were about the only prominent patriots who had advocated separa- tion from the very beginning of the trouble with Great Britain. They were considered too radical, however, and their views for a long time made very little impression. But after the rejection of the second address to the king there was a decided change of sentiment in regard to separa- tion. The fact that an army of hirelings was coming to try to subjugate the colonies caused many of those who had previ- ously opposed separation to be earnestly in favor of it, and to urge that it be declared speedily. The timid and the indiffer- ent and the indolent members of Congress suddenly began to look at the matter with a better understanding of the public feeling. A prominent Tory said to a congressman, " You have all gone far enough to be treated as rebels, and may expect to be in a state of pendency [that is, to be hanged] whether you declare for independency or not." George Mason, the eloquent and patriotic Virginian, said, "When the last dutiful and humble petition from Congress received no other answer than declaring us rebels and out of the king's protection, I, from that moment, looked forward to a revolution and indepen- dence." The principal topic of the country was independence, and in every patriotic home it was earnestly discussed. The newspapers contained long essays upon it, and pamphlets de- voted to the subject appeared by the dozen. PAINE' S PAMPHLET 57 The most important of the pamphlets was one entitled Common Sense, which was pubhshed in Philadelphia in Jan- uary, 1Y76, and had a large circulation throughout the country. The author was Thomas Paine, at this time the editor of the well-known Pennsylvania Magazine. Mr. Paine was born in England in 1737, and had come to America in 1774 by the advice of Franklin, who had met him in London and had been greatly attracted to him by I'eason of his literary ability. Franklin gave to Mr. Paine letters of introduction to friends in Philadelphia, and with these letters the gifted writer soon ob- tained a substantial footing in the Quaker City. He made the acquaintance of Dr. Benjamin Push, a rich young physician and ardent patriot, who subsequently entered Congress and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ; and the doctor, being at the time very enthusiastic about separation from England, suggested to Mr. Paine that he should prepare a pamphlet on the subject. Mr. Paine consented, and wrote the work hastily at Dr. Rush's residence. He intended to call it Plain Tricth, but Dr. Push suggested Common Sense, and with this title it appeared and immediately obtained remark- able popularity. In the pamphlet Mr. Paine argued in plain language that ever}'' one could understand the need and the ad- vantage of separating from the mother-country. He demon- strated the entire practicability of the act, and showed that nothing short of it would be likely to bring a lasting peace and prosperity to the colonies. The pamphlet is said to have converted thousands and brought them to desire American independence. " It did won- ders, worked miracles," one writer says. It made Mr. Paine's reputation, and gained for him the admiration and friendship of the leading colonists. Afterwards he published a small periodi- cal called The American Crisis, in aid of the patriot cause. The first number of this periodical began thus : " These are the times that try men's souls." Mr. Paine served for a few months in the American army during the Eevolutionary War, and for a short term was also secretary of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs. In the early part of 1776 some of the colonies, acting on the 58 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS advice of Congress to disregard the authority of the crown, established independent governments of the people. In the other colonies the crown officials still held sway, but their authority was waning, and it was evident that it must soon cease. After waiting in vain for a lono: time for Conoress of its own volition to declare for independence, Virginia instructed her congressmen to introduce such a measure. Accordingly, on the 7th of June, 1776, Eichard Henry Lee, the chairman of the Virginia delegation, offered the following resolutions in Congress : " Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ; that they are ab- solved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Brit- ain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. " Resolved, That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign alliances. " Resolved, That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective colonies for their consideration and approbation." In offering the resolutions Mr. Lee made an exceedingly elo- quent speech. He spoke of the rights of the colonists which had been violated again and again by the imperious mother- land, and of their ability to wage a war for independence. In glowing words he urged that immediate action be taken on the resolutions. " Why still deliberate?" he said. " Let this happy day give birth to an American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and conquer, but to re-establish the reign of peace and law." John Adams also spoke in favor of immediate action ; but as there was some important army business to be attended to that day. Congress decided to postpone the consideration of Mr. Lee's resolutions until the following day (Saturday), when they were taken up and debated earnestly. A strong opposition to independence was developed during this debate. The leading opponents were John Dickinson, John Jay, Edward Kutledge, and Eobert Morris, the last-named a rich DEBATE ON INDEPENDENCE 59 merchant of Philadelphia, who had been in Congress for a few months. They and others argued with much force that the colo- nists were in no way prepared for what was likely to be a long and severe contest with Great Britain, which was powerful on land and sea ; that they had no well-organized army or navy, no suf- ficient supply of munitions of war or any way of getting a sup- ply. Moreover, nothing was known as to the course likely to be pursued by France and other European nations in regard to this matter. Mr. Morris thought the measure would inevitably dissolve the colonial union, as he did not believe one-half of the colonies would ratify it. Mr. Dickinson pleaded for more time to try to effect a reconciliation with England ; and Mr. Jay, echoing this plea, maintained that conciliatory measures would be far better for all concerned. For independence spoke up earnestly Lee and Henry and the Adamses, Franklin, Jefferson, Sherman, and others who firmly believed that any other action at this time would be highly detrimental to the colonial interests. They urged Con- gress to respect the will of the people ; for it was quite evident, they affirmed, despite the opinions of some of the delegates, that in all sections of the land the majority of the colonists were in favor of independence, and would heartily support such a meas- ure. The debate was continued all day and at times was very animated. Unfortunately, only fragmentary statements of it have been preserved. At last the matter was postponed until the following Monday. The journal of Congress of Monday, June 10, 1776, says : " Agreeable to order, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their further considera- tion the resolutions to them referred ; and, after some time spent thereon, the president resumed the chair and Mr. Harri- son reported that the committee have had under consideration the matters referred to them, and have come to a resolution thereon, which they directed him to report. " The resolution agreed to in committee of the whole being read, " Resolved, That the consideration of the first resolution be postponed to Monday, the first day of July next; and in the 60 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS mean\vhile, that no time be lost, in case the Congress agree thereto, that a committee be appointed to prepare a Declara- tion to the effect of the first resolution, which is in these words : ' That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ; that they are absolved from all alle- giance to the British, crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.' " On the following day it was resolved that the committee to prepare the Declaration should consist of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Koger Sherman, and Robert E. Livingston. As Eichard Henry Lee was obliged to return to Yirginia at once on account of the serious illness of his wife, he was not, by his request, appointed a member of this com- mittee, as he should have been by parliamentary usage, being the author of the resolution for independence. Thomas Jefferson, who was chosen chairman of the select committee on the Declaration, was elected to Congress from Virginia in place of Peyton Eandolph, who had resigned. Mi: Jefferson had been a member for less than a year, but in that short time had won a distinguished position. He was born at Shad well, Va., on April 2, 1743, his father being a well-edu- cated, public-spirited, opulent planter of Albemarle County. He received a collegiate education and adopted law as his pro- fession. When he was twenty-six he became a member of the Virginia Assembly. He married Martha Skelton, a charming and wealthy young wido\v of good family, and shortly after his marriage went to live on his beautiful estate known as Mon- ticello, which in after-years became nearly as famous as Mount Vernon, the home of Washington. Mr. Jefferson entered Con- gress on June 21, 1T75, and was warmly greeted, as he had at this time an extensive reputation as the author of a series of patriotic essays " full of genuine American sentiment," and the leading patriots from other sections of the country were desir- ous of making his acquaintance. He was not gifted as an ora- tor and seldom spoke in Congress, but he performed a great deal of important committee work with discretion and untiring energy. Always very agreeable, always courteous, this tall, DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 61 slim, refined young Virginian, with "yellowish-red hair" and a face with a " sunny aspect," soon became one of the most pop- ular congressmen. John Adams tells how Mr. JefPerson came to be selected to prepare the Declaration of Independence. " The committee had several meetings," he says, " in which were proposed the articles of which the- Declaration was to consist, and minutes were made of them. The committee then appointed Jefferson and me to draw them up and clothe them in a proper dress." The question now arose as to whether Mr. Adams or Mr. Jefferson should prepare the draft of the document. Mr. Adams states that Mr. Jefferson desired him to take the min- utes to his lodgings and do the work. "This I declined for several reasons," he says. " I had a great opinion of the ele- gance of his pen and none at all of my own. I therefore in- sisted that no hesitation should be made on his part. He urged me ao-ain to make the draft. I said, ' I will not.' ' You should do it.' ' Oh, no.' ' Why will you not ? You ought to do it.' ' I will not.' ' Why V ' Eeasons enough.' ' What can be your reasons ?' ' Reason lirst, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can.' ' Well,' said Jefferson, ' if you are decided, I will do as well as I can.' ' Very well. When you have drawn it up, we will have a meeting.' " Mr. Jefferson set at work at once in his lodgings in Phila- delphia, and within a short time completed the draft of the immortal document. After a few verbal corrections by Adams and Franklin the draft was presented to the full committee. Mr. Adams says : " It was read, and I do not remember that Franklin or Sherman criticised anything. We were all in haste. Congress was impatient, and the instrument was reported in Jefferson's handwriting as he first drew it." On Monday, the 1st of July, the day appointed for the consideration of Lee's resolution respecting independence, Con- gress took up the matter. After a debate lasting "nine hours, until evening, without pause or refreshment," as Mr. Jefferson 62 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS has recorded, further consideration of the resolution was jjost- poned, " at the request of a colony," until the following day. During this extended debate, of which very little has been preserved, John Adams spoke of the justice, necessity, and ad- vantage of immediate separation from Great Britain, and Mr. Dickinson of the desirability of making further efforts to ef- fect a compromise. Afterwards, in writing about Lee's resolution, IVIr. Jefferson said: " Jolm Adams was the pillar of its support on the floor of Congress — its ablest advocate and defender against the multi- farious assaults it encountered. He was our Colossus on the floor, not graceful, not elegant, not ahvaj's fluent in his public addresses ; yet he came out with a power, both of thought and expression, that moved us from our seats." The first thing that Congress did on Tuesday, the 2d of July, was to pass the resolution under consideration the day before. The strong opposition exhibited at first had diminished, and the resolution was passed by the votes of twelve colonies. The del- egates from New York, although they Avere in favor of the res- olution, did not vote. They had not received any instructions from the legislature of their State in regard to this matter, and therefore "asked leave to withdraw from the question, which was given them." The resolution declared the United Colonies free and independent states, and dissolved all political connec- tion with Great Britain. Congress having thus declared for independence, resolved that on the next day, the 3d, it would go into committee of the whole to " consider the draft of the Declaration of Indepen- dence, or form of announcing it to the world," which had been reported on June 28th from the special committee. The sessions of the 3d and 4th of July were entirely devoted to the Declaration. Mr. Jefferson's draft was subjected to so close and critical an examination that the author expressed him- self as being afraid there would be nothing left of it but the mere skeleton. Each allegation, each statement of principles, each phrase even, was dissected by the keen minds there assembled, who were very desirous of giving to the world an instrument that would stand the test of the severe, hostile criticism sure to DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 63 follow its publication. There were some verbal alterations, a little condensation, and a few important changes, which were made in order to harmonize certain conflicting interests. In re- gard to this, Mr. Jefferson says in his "Memoirs" : " The pusil- lanimous idea that we had friends in England worth keeping on terms with still haunted the minds of many. For this reason those passages which conveyed censure on the people of Eng- land Avere struck out lest they should give them ofl'ence. The clause, too, reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of Africa was struck out in compliance to South Carolina and Georgia, which had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and which, on the contrary, wished to continue it." The slavery clause alluded to by Mr. Jefferson Avas as fol- lows : " He [King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and lib- erty in the persons of a distant people, who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel pow- ers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. De- termined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable com- merce. And that this assemblage of horrors might Avant no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them by murdering the people on Avhom he also obtruded them ; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another." About two o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th of July — that glorious day ever to be commemorated by Americans — the committee of the whole finished the consideration of the Decla- ration, and it was reported to the Congress by Benjamin Har- rison, the chairman of the committee. The Declaration was then read by Secretary Thomson, and Avas agreed to. In beginninff the Declaration stated as a great funda- mental truth that " all men are created equal ; that they are 64 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov- erned ; that whenever any form of government becomes de- structive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its founda- tions on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and hap- piness." It was maintained that the " long train of abuses and usur- pations " on the part of Great Britain evinced a design to estab- lish an absolute tyranny over the colonies, and, therefore, they were constrained to alter their system of government. After reciting the many grievous acts of the king, the Declaration asserted that " a prince, whose character is thus marked bj'- every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." " Nor have Ave been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren," the Declaration continued. "... "We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usur- pations, which would inevitably interrupt our connection and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of jus- tice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them as Ave hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war ; in peace, friends." The Declaration closed as follows : " We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Su- preme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 65 to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish com- merce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this Declara- tion, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Provi- dence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." * The Declaration, it is stated by Mr. Jefferson, was signed in Congress on the 4th of July " by every member present except Mr. Dickinson." "When President Hancock affixed his conspic- uous signature to the document he laughingly said, " There ! I think old Mother Britain can see that without her spectacles !" On the 8th of July a copy of the Declaration signed by Presi- dent Hancock and attested by Secretary Thomson was sent to each of the colonial assemblies with the following letter: * ' ' Philadelphia, July 8th, 1776. " Gentlemen, — Although it is not possible to foresee the consequences of human action, yet it is nevertheless a duty we owe ourselves and posterity, in all our public councils, to decide in the best manner vre are able, and to trust the event to that Being who controls both causes and events so as to bring about his own determinations. Impressed with this sentiment, and at the same time fully convinced that our affairs may take a more favorable turn, the Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve all connection between Great Britain and the American colonies, and to declare them Free and Independent States, as3'ou will jserceive by the enclosed Declaration, which I am directed by Congress to transmit to you, and to request you will have it proclaimed in your colony in the way you shall think most proper. The important consequences to the Ameri- can States from this Declaration of Independence, considered as the ground and foundation of a future Government, will naturally suggest the propriety of proclaiming it in such a manner as that the people may be universally informed of it. "I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your most obedient and very humble ' "John Hancock, President." The Declaration was published in the Evening Post, of Philadelphia, on the 8th of July, and shortly thereafter ap- peared in the other American newspapers. At noon, on the 8th, it was publicly read from a high platform in the yard of the State-house in Philadelphia, by John Nixon, a member of *For the full text of the Declaration of Independence, see Appendix A. 6 06 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the Pennsylvania Council of Safety ; and as his clear voice ut- tered the stirring sentences there were now and then enthusias- tic cheers from the vast assemblage present. After the reading the huge bell in the tower of the State-house rang out jubilant peals. Many years later, John Harmer, a veteran soldier of the Eevolution, who had heard Nixon read the Declaration, and had listened with high delight to the ringing of the State-house bell, said : " Ah ! that's the trumpet that told the Britishers a tale of vengeance ! I can recollect the day that old bell was rung for independence. Everybody was expecting the king's troops Avould be coming here soon, and would sack and burn the place ; but the largest number of us were patriots and knew the king was a tyrant, and so we did not care much whether he bame or not. How the people did crowd around the State- house on the day the Declaration was proclaimed ! Bells were rung all over town and guns were fired, but above them all could be heard the heavy, deep sound of this old bell, that rang as if it meant something." In each of the thirteen newly created states the Declara- tion was received with joyous demonstrations. Church-bells were rung, cannon were fired, the militia paraded, and there were fii'eworks and grand illuminations. The legislatures heartily indorsed the Declaration, and agreed to ratify any measures Congi-ess might find necessary in carrying it out; and the majority of the people everywhere gave it full and cordial support. On the 19th of July Congress passed a resolution to have the Declaration engrossed on pai'chment and signed by ever3^ mem- ber. The journal of Congress of August 2, 17Y6, says, "The Declaration being engrossed and compared at the table, was signed by all the members." Afterwards, for several months, new members of Congress were allowed to sign. It is related that when the members assembled at the secre- tary's table to sign the parchment on the 2d of August, Presi- dent Hancock said to them, " We must be unanimous ; there must be no pulling different ways ; we must all hang together." DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 67 " Yes," remarked Franklin quickly ; " we must all hang to- gether, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." After Elbridge Gerry, who was a slender man, had affixed his signature, the large-framed Harrison said to him, "When the hanging-time comes, I shall have the advantage of you ; I am so heavy, it will be all over with me in a minute, but you will be kicking in the air half an hour after I am gone." In January, 17Y7, attested copies of the Declaration, with the names of all the signers, were sent by Congress to the thir- teen states to be recorded in their archives. The Declaration was also printed on a large sheet called a " broadside," and publicly circulated everywhere. CHAPTER V Congress during tlie War of the Revolution. — The Faithful Services of. Patriotic Men. — Various War Measures. — Large Issues of Bills of Credit. — Depreciation of the Continental Currency. — How Congress Obtained its Authority. — Treaty with France. — French Soldiers and Sailors Aid the Americans. — Extraordinary Power Conferred on General Washington. — Adoption' of an Anaerican Flag. — Migrations of Congress to Escape Capture by the British. — Lengthy Discussion of a Plan of Confederation. Theke was a long and severe struggle before the indepen- dence of the United States was achieved. The war of the Eevolution, which began with the battle of Lexington, on April 19, lYYS, and virtually finished with the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, on October 19, 1781, was carried on by the Americans under great disadvantages. When we ex- amine that strangely unequal contest by means of the pages of history, we cannot help wondering that the forces of Eng- land — sti-ong, thoroughly equipped, generally well managed — did not in a few months destroy the puny, badly disciplined, half-clothed, and half-starved Continental army, and coerce the rebellious colonies to return to their allegiance. With every- thing against them, the Americans fought as only heroes can fight, and finally won the arduous struggle after a display of noble valor and patient endurance such as the Avorld has rarely seen. It is not the purpose to describe the events of the Eevolu- tion, except where Congress was connected with them. In the early part of the war there were many periods of great depres- sion, as the American arms were not often victorious. The Continental Congress at this time contained many of the dis- tinguished men who had given the country the benefit of their wisdom and experience during all the years of protesting against DURING THE REVOLUTION 69 the oppressions of England ; and now that independence had been declared and war actually entei^ed upon, they sacrificed their personal interests, and gave freely of their time and means to advance the patriot cause. They were environed with difficul- ties which required their best eiiorts to meet, but they never appeared to lose hope or courage, and held to their course un- dismayed. The army had constantly to be supplied with great quantities of provisions and clothing and munitions of war, and recruits had to be secured to take the places of the soldiers dis- abled in battle. Congress was the only body that possessed any authority to govern the country and to prosecute the war, and, consequently, it had to devise all the ways and means nec- essary to meet the obligations and exigencies constantly arising. A great deal of money had to be raised, and as Congress could not levy direct taxes, it had to resort to forced loans. Bills of credit for large amounts were issued almost daily, until at one time there was in circulation more than two hundred million dollars of this unsubstantial " Continental currency," as it was called. This paper money at last became so greatly depreci- ated that it was said "four months' pay of a private in the army would not procure his family a single bushel of wheat, and the pay of a colonel would not purchase oats for his horse." Congress also established a lottery, issued commissary and quar- ter-master certificates and interest indents, obtained foreign loans, and in various other ways provided for the sustenance of the American army and navy. The authority of the Continental Congress at this period is thus clearly defined by James A. Garfield in one of his works : " By the Declaration of Independence the sovereignty of the colonies was withdrawn from the British crown and lodged in the Continental Congress. No one of the colonies was ever independent or sovereign. ISTo one colony declared itself inde- pendent of Great Britain ; nor was the Declaration made by all the colonies together as colonies. It was made in the name and by the authority of the good people of the colonies as one na- tion. By that act they created, not independent States, but an independent Nation, and named it ' The United States of Amer- ica' ; and, by the consent of the people, the sovereignty of the 70 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS new nation was lodged in the Continental Congress. Thiis is true not only in point of law, but as an historical fact. The Congress became the only legislative, executive, and judicial power of the nation ; the array became the army of the Conti- nental Congress. One of its regiments, which was recruited from the nation generally, was called 'Congress's Own,' as a sort of reply to the 'King's Own,' a royal regiment stationed at Boston. Officers were commissioned by Congress, and were sworn to obey its orders. The President of Congress was the chief executive officer of the nation. The chairmen of commit- tees were heads of the executive departments. A committee sat as judges in admiralty and prize cases. The power of Con- gress was unlimited by any law or regulation, except the con- sent of the people themselves." As Congress desired to induce France to espouse the Amer- ican cause, it appointed three commissioners to the French court in the persons of Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee. The commissioners were instructed to procure military supplies, to obtain a loan of $2,000,000, and to do all they could to induce the French government to recognize the independence of the United States and to give them a helping hand. At first nothing could be done towards an alliance, as France, jealous of England, was glad to have her engaged in a war which would doubtless be a long one, and which would necessarily waste her resources and diminish her commercial power. Moreover, the French ministry had very little confi- dence in the ultimate success of the Americans. Many secret promises were made to the commissioners, but nothing came of them until after the capture by General Gates of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga on the lYth of October, 1777. This great victory for the Americans, the first of any importance, caused a profound sensation in Europe, and was accepted as good evi- dence that England could not conquer the United States. It induced the Frencli court openly to declare in favor of the Americans. On the 6th of February, .1778, by a formal treaty, France acknowledged the Independence of the United States, and within a short time thereafter French troops and ships of war and French officers of high rank and noble families, among DURING THE EEVOLUTION Yl whom were Lafayette and Kochambeau, came to America to take part in the war. Congress made Lafayette a major-gen- eral of the Continental army ; and Washington, conceiving an ardent affection for the gallant young marquis, Avho had left wealth and honors at home to share the hardships and dangers of the patriots in their struggle for existence as a nation, re- ceived him into his family almost as a son, and to the end of his life regarded him with something like parental fondness. In order to have a more efficient army, and to carry on the war more advantageously. Congress, in December, 17Y6, in- vested Washington with extraordinary powers in addition to those conferred on him as commander-in-chief. This additional authority made him for many months a sort of military dicta- tor, but there is no record of any instance where he abused his power. He had absolute power, it is stated, "to levy and organize sixteen battalions of infantry, in addition to those already ordered, and to appoint their officers ; to raise and equip three thousand light -horse, three regiments of artillery, and a corps of engineers, and to establish their pay ; to call into service the militia of the several states ; to displace and appoint all officers under the rank of brigadier- general, and to fill up all vacancies in every department of the army ; to take whatever he might want for the use of the army at his own price, even if its sale should be refused ; and to arrest and con- fine persons who should refuse to take Continental moneJ^" On June U, lYYY, Congress resolved that " the flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternately red and white ; that the union shall be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." This flag was at once unfurled by General Washington, and took its place as the American standard. From December 20, 1776, to July 2, 1778, the sessions of Congress were held first in Baltimore, and then in Philadel- phia, Lancaster, and York, a return being made to Philadelphia on the last-named date. Congress was compelled to go from place to place to avoid capture by the British troops. For many months Congress had been considering, at inter- vals, " a form of confederation to be entered into between the 72 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS free, sovereign, and independent states." As far back as the 12tli of Jul}^, 1776, a committee specially appointed to prepare such a form had reported certain " Articles of Confederation," which were debated until the 20th of August, when they were laid aside, and not taken up again until April 8, 1777. From this date until November the Articles were discussed whenever there were no war measures pending. The discussions of this weighty subject were frequently of a very exciting nature. A confederation was absolutely necessary, but it was found ex- ceedingly difficult to decide as to the relative positions of the large and small states, and also as to taxation, the boundaries of the Western lands, commerce, and other important matters. Finally, the Articles, considerably amended, were agreed to on the 15th of November, 1777, and two daj's later were transmit- ted by Heni'y Laurens, President of Congress, to the legislat- ures of the states to be ratified. The legislatures were re- quested to give their delegates in Congress "competent power" to sign the Articles. Within a short time New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia had ratified the Articles, and instructed their delegates to sign them, which they did in July, 1778. In the same month Congress made an earnest ap- peal to the three backward states to ratif}^ " and so conclude the glorious compact." Finally, the delegates from New Jersey signed in November, 1778; those from Delaware in May, 1779; and those from Maryland on the 1st of March, 1781. All the delegates in Congress "solemnly plighted the faith" of their respective constituents that they would inviolably observe the conditions of the confederation. The reason that New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland were indisposed at first to ratify the Articles was because no provision was made in them for divid- ing among all the states the vast unoccupied territor}^ in the western part of the country ; and they ratified at last only when assurance had been given them that the states which claimed this territory by authority of their charters as colonies would relinquish their claims. Congress announced to the world that all the states had ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 73 signed the Articles of Confederation by a discharge of cannon in the yard of Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, at noonday on the 1st of March, 1781. It was enthusiastically declared that " this day will be memorable in the annals of America to the latest posterity." The " Confederation and Perpetual Union" thus agreed to was described as " a firm league of friendship," entered into for the " mutual and general welfare " of the thirteen United States of America. The states were to retain their " sov- ereignty, freedom, and independence, and eveiy power, juris- diction, and right" which was not expressly delegated to Con- gress. The governing body of the American Kepublic was to be a Congress, which was to meet annually in November, and to which each State could send not less than two nor more than seven delegates. The legislature of each State was to choose the delegates, who could be recalled at any time and others sent in their stead. Each State, regardless of population or importance, was to have but one vote in the Congress. The delegates were to choose one of their number as President of Congress, and he was to serve for one year. They were also to choose a " Committee of States," consisting of one delegate from each State, and this committee was to sit during the re- cess of Congress to direct affairs. Such civil officers as were needed to carry on the pubhc business were also to be ap- pointed. The " United States, in Congress assembled," Avas to have the " sole and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war," except where a State was actually invaded by enemies, or expected to be invaded, and the danger was so im- minent as not to admit of delay ; of sending and receiving am- bassadors, entering into treaties and alliances, of establishing courts for the trial of felonies and piracies committed on the high seas, and for deciding as to captures on land and water. It was also to decide, as a court of last resort, all disputes and differences among the states concerning boundaries, jurisdic- tion, etc. It was given the right to " ascertain the necessary 74 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS suras of money to be raised for the service of the United States," and to appropriate such sums as were needed to defray the pubhc expenses. All charges of war, and all other ex- penses that should be incurred for the common defence or gen- eral welfare, and allowed by Congress, were to be defrayed out of a " common treasury," which was to be supplied by the sev- eral states, in proportion to their wealth, as Congress should direct. Congress could issue bills and borrow money on the credit of the United States, and regulate the " alloy and value of coin struck" by any of the states or by its own authority. It could build and equip a navy, and make requisitions upon the states for as many soldiers as it wanted ; and the legislatures of the states were required to " raise the men, clothe, arm, and equip them in a soldier-like manner, at the expense of the United States," and forward them to the place designated by Congress, which could appoint all the oificers, except regi- mental officers, both of the land and naval forces, make rules and regulations for the army and navy, and direct their ope- rations. Congress could fix the standard of weights and measures, regulate trade and affairs with the Indians, establish post-offices throughout the country, and exact such postage as was neces- sary to pay the expenses of the offices. The votes of nine states were required to enact the important measures. Each State was to abide by the decision of Congress on all questions submitted to it under the Articles of Confederation.* * For the full text of the Articles of Confederation, see Appendix B. CHAPTER VI The Congress of the Confederation.— Its Important Measures.— The Fi- nancial Difficulties during the Eevolution.— Eobert Morris's " Bank for the United States of North America."— Triumph of the Ameri- can Cause. — The Treaty of Peace. — General Washington Eeturns His Commission to Congress Sitting at Annapolis. — The Historical Scene in the Ancient Maryland State-house. — Washington's Speech and President Mifflin's Reply. — Lack of Authority in Congress after the War. — The Defects of the Confederation. — Proposition for a Convention to Ecvise the Articles of Confederation. — -The Famous Ordinance for the Government of the Northwest Territory. On March 2, 1Y81, Congress began to act under the Arti- cles of Confederation, and thereafter it was generally called the " Congress of the Confederation." It never entirely lost, however, its original designation of the Continental Congress. Ever since the meeting of what is properly called the Third Continental Congress, which began on December 20, 1776, the national legislature had been almost constantly in session. At rare intervals a short recess would be taken, but there was no adjournment for any lengthy period. The exigencies of the Eevolution compelled Congress to keep together, in order to be ready for immediate action whenever it was required. There was a constant change of membership, as the State legis- latures elected the delegates for different terms, and frequent- ly recalled them before their terms had expired. Each State compensated its own delegates, the compensation varying in different sections of the country, but never exceeding twenty dollars a day and expenses, which sumAvas paid by the State of Yirginia. The presidents of Congress had fine houses provided for them at the places where Congress met, and were allowed large sums of money for servants and household stores. Some of the presidents drew as much as $17,000 a year, and none "kept house" on less than i^lO,000. As a general thing, the 76 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS delegates to Congress were well-to-do, and quite often very wealthy lawyers, merchants, and planters. They were nearly always men of ability, culture, and experience in the political affairs of their states. As each State under the Articles of Confederation could send seven delegates to Congress and no more, it follows that ninety-one made up the full number ; but the attendance at any session seldom exceeded twenty-five or thirty. From 1778 to 1783, Congress met in Independence Hall, in Philadelphia. The spacious apartment in the first story, Avhere it held its sessions, was rather plainly furnished. There was no attempt at decoration, except that on the walls were hung large engravings of Washington and other eminent American soldiers, and a printed " broadside " of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, which had been signed in that very apartment. Ar- ranged in a semicircle in the centre of the floor were thirteen small mahogany tables covered with green cloth. At each of these tables sat during a session the chairman of a State dele- gation, while the other members of the delegations occupied comfortable mahogany chairs in the rear of the tables. The President of Congress was seated at a large desk on a low plat- form in front of the tables, and near him was seated the Secre- tary of Congress. The delegates sat with their hats on, after the manner of the British Parliament. They were usually richly attired, and some of them were exceedingly gorgeous in embroidered satin coats and small-clothes, and ruffled shirts adorned with precious stones. They were dignified, very cour- teous to one another, and polite in debate. Long speeches were the rule, and some of the delegates were noted for their ability to talk for hours. The debates were generally pro- longed even to tediousness, and plenty of time was taken to arrive at a decision upon most matters under consideration. During the latter part of the Revolutionary War Congress had many financial difficulties. Its requisitions on the State legislatures were not promptly attended to, and the bills of credit it had issued so profusely to pay the war expenses be- came almost Avorthless. All military supplies were held at ex- orbitant prices, and finally could be obtained only for specie THE BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA 11 or foreign bank-notes. In consequence of the inability of Con- gress to furnish supplies, the army, while in the midst of an arduous campaign, was deprived of food and clothing, and the wonder is that Washington and his generals could have held the soldiers to their work during this time of great privation. Capitalists in France, Spain, and Holland, from whom several million dollars had been obtained, became uneasy because the interest on their loans was not promptly forthcoming, and re- fused to advance another dollar to the American government. To obtain the means to purchase 3,000,000 rations which were immediately needed by the army at Trenton, Congress authorized Eobert Morris, George Clymer, and other patriotic gentlemen of \vealth to establish a temporary bank in Phila- delphia. This was really the first "national" bank established in the United States. It was called the " Bank of Pennsyl- vania," and was located in the Carpenters' Hall where the First Continental Congress had been held. In an ancient history of Philadelphia it is stated that the projectors of the bank "lent their credit in the form of bonds. Each bound himself for the payment thereof if necessary to fulfil the engagements and discharge the notes and contracts of the bank. These securities were to be extended to £300,000, Pennsylvania currency, in specie. Two directors were to be chosen to conduct a regular banking business. They were au- thorized to borrow money on the credit of the bank for six months or less, and to grant special notes bearing interest at six per cent, to the lenders. Congress was to reimburse them from time to time for the sums advanced. If money did not come in fast enough, the bond issuers were to lend a proportionate sum of their subscriptions in cash. The directors were to apply all moneys borrowed and all received from Congress to the sole pur- pose of purchasing provisions for the use of the Continental army, to transportation, and to discharging their notes and ex- penses. The sureties were to choose factors to make the pur- chases. Ten per cent, in cash was required from the loaners to start the bank. Notes were to be issued for payments as fast as they would be taken by their creditors. When Congress should reimburse the bank the notes were to be paid off and cancelled, "78 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS accounts settled, and the bank wound up. The directors, fac- tors, and others employed were to be allowed compensation by Congress, but none of them meant to derive the least jaecuniary advantage at that present time ; nor do we know that they ever did receive a penny for their services, invaluable at the time." The bank was successful in its object, and continued in ex- istence from July, 1780, until the establishment by Kobert Morris of his "Bank for the United States of North America," which was sanctioned by Congi-ess because "the exigencies of the United States rendered it indispensably necessarj^," and went into operation in Philadelphia, in 1781. Morris's bank had a large capital, was ably managed, and existed for a number of years greatly to the benefit of the government for which it acted in a monetary capacity. Kobert Morris, after distinguished service in Congress, was at this time the Superintendent of Finance of the United States. He had made millions by extensive commercial and financial op- erations, and was generally accounted the greatest financier in the country. During the Eevolution he had nearly two hundred ships captured by British privateers, but in spite of this heavy loss he realized so large a profit on the cargoes of his ships that escaped capture that he said, after the Avar, he had "come out about even." He rendered the United States invaluable financial service during a very critical period. Franklin, who was the American Minister at the court of France, by a series of skilful diplomatic measures also came to the relief of Congress in its pecuniary stress. He first secured a gift of more than $1,000,000 from Louis XVI., and then suc- ceeded in obtaining a loan of $2,000,000 from Holland upon the guarantee of the French monarch. The funds raised at home and in Europe were expended with prudence and econo- my, and under the new and better financial system established by Eobert Morris the credit of the United States to a con- siderable extent was restored. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis's army at Yorktown, on October 19, 1781, virtually brought the long and burden- some war to a close. The country was filled with joy beyond TREATY OF PEACE T9 measure at the complete triumph of the American cause, and in every city and village there was a jubilant celebration. When the good news was received by Congress, the members went in solemn procession to the Dutch Lutheran Church in Phila- delphia, and gave praise to God for the great victory. After the victory at Yorktown there was a cessation of hostilities. Negotiations for peace were begun at Paris, and on September 3, 1Y83, a treaty of peace was signed. In the following ISTovember the British army sailed for home, and the American array was disbanded. The first article of the Treaty of 1783, or the Treaty of Peace, as it is often called, reads as follows : " His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States — namely, Xew Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Ehode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylva- nia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Car- olina, and Georgia — to be free, sovereign, and independent states ; and that he treats with them as such ; and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the govern- ment, proprietary and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof." Thus was the independence of the United States acknowl- edged by the mother-country, after an exhausting and terrible conflict, in Avhich the patriots had encountered danger, toil, and great sufl'ering to establish upon a permanent basis the doctrines they had so courageously' proclaimed in 1776. " The times that tried men's souls are over," said Thomas Paine in the last number of his periodical, the American Crisis. General Washington took leave of his officers on December 4, 1783, in New York, and immediately departed for Annapolis, where Congress was sitting in the ancient Maryland State- house, to return his commission as commander-in-chief. He arrived at Annapolis on Saturday the 20th, having received ovations from the people all along the route, who hailed him as the savior of the country. On the following Monday he was entertained at a magnificent dinner given by Congress in his honor; and on Tuesday, December 23d, he was accorded a public audience in the legislative chamber, which was thronged 80 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS with delegates and spectators, among Avhom was Martha Washington, accompanied by her two grandchildren, Nelly and Parke Custis. Outside the State-house there were many people, who ever and anon filled the air with enthusiastic cheers for the Hero of the Nation. "Washington entered the chamber escorted by his staff-offi- cers. He was met by Secretary Thomson, who led the party to seats. All the delegates uncovered, a yevy unusual honor, and then Thomas Mifflin, the President of Congress, rose and informed Washington that Congress was ready to receive his communication. The illustrious chieftain was attired in the full uniform of his rank, and carried a sheathed sword in his left hand, while in his right he held his commission and a copy of the address he Avas about to make. When he rose and ad- vanced in a dignified manner to the president's desk, he pre- sented a majestic appearance. Bowing to the president, to the twenty -one delegates present, and to the spectators, he said: "Me. President : The great events on wliicli my resignation depended having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my sincere con- gratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retir- ing from the service of my country. "Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respect- able nation, I resign with satisfaction the appointment I accepted with diffi- dence — a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task ; which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our cause, the sup- port of the supreme power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven. "The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine ex- pectations, and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence and the as- sistance I liave received from my countrymen increases with every review of the momentous contest. " While I repeat my obligations to the army in general, I should do injus- tice to my own feelings not to acknowledge, in this place, the peculiar services and distinguished merits of the gentlemen who have been attached to my per- son during the war. It was impossible the choice of confidential officers to compose my family should have been more fortunate. Permit me, sir, to rec- ommend, in particular, those wlio have continued in the service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of Congress. " I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them to his holy keeping. ADDRESS TO WASHINGTON 81 "Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great thea- tre of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I liere offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public lite." Washington then delivered to President Mifflin his conimis- sioQ and a copy of his address, and resumed his seat. When the president began his reply, Washington rose and remained standing until its conclusion. The reply M-as as follows : " SiK : The United States in Congress assembled receive, with emotions too affecting for utterance, tlie solemn resignation of tlie authorities under whicli you have led their troops vfilh success through a perilous and doubtful war. Called upon by your country to defend its invaded rights, you accepted the sa- cred charge, before it had formed alliances, and whilst it was without funds or a government to support you. You have conducted the great military contest witli wisdom and fortitude, invariably regarding the rights of the civil power through all disasters and changes. You have, by the love and confidence of your fellow-citizens, enabled them to display their martial genius and transmit their fame to posterity. You have persevered till these United Slates, aided by a magnanimous king and nation, have been enabled, under a just Providence, to close the war in freedom, safety, and independence ; on which happy event we sincerely join you in congratulations. "Having defended the standard of liberty in this new world; having taught a lesson useful to those who inflict and to those who feel oppression, you retire from the great theatre of action with the blessings of your fellow-citizens ; but the glory of your virtues will not terminate with your military command ; it will continue to animate remotest ages. "We feci willi you our obligations to the army in general, and will partic- ularly charge ourselves with the interests of those confidential officers who have attended your person to this affecting moment. "We join you in commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, beseeching him to dispose the hearts and minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity afforded them of becoming a happy and respectable nation. And for you we address to him our earnest prayers, that a life so beloved may be fostered with all his care ; that your days may be liappy as they have been illustrious ; and that he will finally give you that re- ward which this world cannot give." After this ceremony, which greatly affected all present, "the first citizen of the United States," as Luzerne very properly des- ignated Washington, hurried away to Mount Yernon, where he arrived in time to participate in the Christmas festivities. Dur- ing the eight years' war he had been able to visit his beautiful Virginia home but once, and he gladly returned to it now- with 6 82 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the expectration that he should never again be compelled to leave it to assume public duties. Although Congress had en- acted that the commander of the army should receive $500 a month for his services, "Washington declined to accept any compensation. He asked only that the sum which he had ex- pended from his private purse for his expenses, a careful ac- count of which he had kept, should be returned to him, which was done. After sitting at Annapolis for a year, the Congress of the Confederation removed to Trenton, N. J., in November, 1784, and thence to ]^ew York, where it began its sessions in the old City Hall, in January, 1785. Here it remained for four years, or until it Avas dissolved by the change of government consequent on the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. A wretched state of affairs succeeded the Revolution, and it soon became manifest that the Articles of Confederation, or " league of friendship," as they Avere frequently called, were en- tirely inadequate to the proper government of the countrj^. An indebtedness exceeding forty millions of dollars liad been incurred by the war, and a considerable part of this amount was due to the brave men who had fought for independence. Congress had not the power of taxation. It could not raise money either by an excise or by a tariff on imports ; it could only borrow money or issue bills of credit. To borrow money was exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for Congress at this time, and the bills of credit it issued were nearly worthless. Consequently it had no way to discharge the burdensome na- tional debt, and could only recommend certain measures for this purpose to the State legislatures for their ratification. But all the states had heavy war debts of their own to provide for, and were generally in an impoverished condition. Everywhere in the country trade and commerce and agriculture were badly depressed ; the exalted patriotic feeling which had existed dur- ing the Revolution was gone, and the people w^ere so busy re- pairing the damage the Avar had done that they Avere not very much inclined to pay attention to the Avants of the general gOA^ernment. The recommendations and requisitions of Con- DEFECTS OF THE CONFEDERATION 83 gress were scarcely heeded by the State legislatures ; or if per- chance they were heeded, it was usually only to disapprove of them. As Congress could not raise the money, the interest on the public securities was not paid, and the little credit the gov- ernment possessed was thereby entirely ruined both at home and abroad. There were bitter quarrels among the states in regard to the regulation of trade. Oppressive tariff and tonnage laws were enacted by the legislatures, which caused the commercial intercourse among the different sections of the country to be exceedingly difficult and usually unprofitable. Congress could not remed}^ this great evil, nor the evil of a variety of State regulations concerning foreign commerce. Indeed, it was so feeble and inefficient that it gradually lost the respect of the nation. Some states refused to send delegates to the sessions in !N"ew York ; some of the ablest delegates, disgusted with the impotency of national legislation, resigned. Congress was to- tally unable, by lack of State co-operation, to carry out certain provisions of the Treaty of 1783 ; and, therefore, England put stumbling-blocks in the way of the national prosperity in retal- iation for this disregard of the terms of the compact. It was evident to every thoughtful man that something must be done quickly to allay the popular discontent, and to check the drift towards anarchy, by giving a definite power to the federal government, or else the new American republic would be likely to collapse. The Confederation was called by Washington " a half-starved, limping government, always moving upon crutches and tottering at every step." He said also : " It is as clear to me as A, B, C, that an extension of federal powers would make us one of the most happy, wealthy, respectable, and powerful nations that ever inhabited the ter- restrial globe. "Without this we shall soon be everything which is the direct reverse." The Articles of Confederation were de- fective because they required some of the most important meas- ures in Congress, particularly those concerning the finances, to be passed by a two-thirds vote, thus enabling any five of the states to defeat very necessary legislation. Their most fatal defect, however, was the lack of power given to Congress to 84 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS compel the states to meet its requisitions. Congress could call upon a State for this or that thing, but no way was provided for it to compel a State to obey its call. Among the earnest advocates of a reformation of the gov- ernment were three young men who afterwards became very distinguished in American history. They were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and James Monroe. Mr. Hamilton was a short, slender man, with an attractive, intellectual face and large brilliant eyes. He was a pleasing orator, and pos- sessed a great deal of what is nowadays described as " per- sonal magnetism." He w^as born on the Island of Nevis, in the West Indies, in 1T51, and his father was Scotch and his mother French. "When a boy of fifteen he was sent to New York to become a student in King's (now Columbia) College, and when only seventeen he distinguished himself by earnestly advocat- ing the colonial cause both with tongue and pen, some of his orations and essaj^s having remarkable effect and doing great service for the patriots. He became an American citizen and served in the Revolution, first as an aide to General Washing- ton and then as the colonel of a regiment that won distinction at the siege of Yorktown. After the war he became a lawyer, and in 1Y82 he entered Congress. Mr. Madison was a chubby, rosy -faced, sweet-tempered young Virginian of large ability, who had gone into Congress in 1780 well equipped for legislative duties. After his term of three years, during which he was noted for his sound judg- ment and extensive knowledge of English history and constitu- tional law, he vacated his seat, returned to Virginia, and be- came a very active member of her legislature. He was born in 1T51, was a graduate of Princeton College, and a lawj'er by profession. Early in life he had made himself prominent in tlie politics of his native State. He had carefully studied political science, and had an intimate acquaintance with the an- cient forms of government. In 1Y82 he re-entered Congress and served for two years. He was rather slow and grave of speech, and had a very modest way of expressing his opinion ; yet none of the noted orators of Congress could equal him as a clear, impressive debater, and his remarks always commanded JAMES MONROE 85 much attention and had a great deal of effect. He had a calm face, which was seldom ruffled with passion, and keen blue eyes. He always wore plain black clothes, and never powdered his hair. His estate in Yirginia, known as Montpelier, yielded him a large income, and he ranked among the wealthy planters of that commonwealth. Mr. Monroe was the youngest of the trio. He was born in 1758, in Westmoreland County, Va., famous as the birth- place of Washington, the Lees, and other distinguished Virgin- ians. He became a student in the College of William and Mary, but left his books when the Revolution began and joined the patriot army, serving with credit for several years. He studied law, was admitted to the Virginia bar, and entered politics, soon becoming conspicuous among the young states- men of the Old Dominion. He served in Congress from 1783 to 1786. He was tall and well-formed, quiet and dignified in manner, and simple in dress. He had little talent as an orator or writer, but his sensible views upon public questions, his spot- less integrity and rare devotion to duty, made him an influen- tial man in Congress and elsewhere. Fully realizing the impending danger to the American Union from the impotency of Congress under the Articles of Confederation, these sagacious young statesmen, in connection with others both in and out of the national legislature, sought to effect a radical change in the form of government. For some months nothing came of their labors ; but at length Mr. Madison secured the passage by the Virginia Assembly of a resolution calling for a meeting of commissioners from all the states at Annapolis on the 17th of September, 1786, to discuss the best methods to obtain a uniform commer- cial system, which was greatly needed. Out of this meeting came a proposition for a convention to reform the Confed- eration. At the time appointed commissioners from only five states were present at Annapolis, and therefore it was thought hard- ly worth while to begin the discussion of commercial matters. Instead, a committee \vas chosen to prepare an address to the states. The address was written by Alexander Hamilton, who 86 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS represented New York, and was unanimously adopted. After describing the bad condition of national affairs, the address de- clares : " That there are important defects in the system of the fed- eral government is acknowledged by the acts of all those states which have concurred in the present meeting ; that the defects, upon a closer examination, may be found greater and more numerous than even these acts imply, is at least so far probable, from the embarrassments which characterize the present state of our national affairs, foreign and domestic, as may reasonably be supposed to merit a deliberate and candid discussion of some mode which will unite the sentiments and councils of all the states. In the choice of the mode, your commissioners are of the opinion that a convention of deputies from the different states, for the special and sole purpose of entering into this investigation, and digesting a plan for sup- plying such defects as may be discovered to exist, will be en- titled to a preference, from considerations which Avill occur without being pai'ticularized." It was therefore proposed that the states should appoint commissioners " to meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next, to take into consideration the situation of the United States, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the Constitution of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union ; and to report such an act for that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled as, wdien agreed to by them, and after- wards confirmed by the legislature of every State, Avill effect- ually provide for the same." The address was brought to the attention of Congress in the hope of obtaining its sanction to the proposed convention. There was a lengthy discussion of the matter, during Avhich it Avas argued that the Annapolis meeting being "an irregular body had no right to propose changes in the organic law of the land," and that the legislatures of the states " could not pro]ierly confirm the acts of such a body or take notice of them." Finally, Congress discarded the address, and on the 21st of February, 1787, took the matter of a convention into RESOLUTION FOK A CONVENTION 87 its own hands. Without much, if any, opposition the following resolution was passed : " Whereas, there is provision in the Articles of Confedera- tion and Perpetual Union for making alterations therein, by the assent of a Congress of the United States and of the leg- islatures of the several states ; and whereas experience hath evinced that there are defects in the present Confederation, as a means to remedy which several of the states, and particu- larly the State of New York, bj' express instructions to their delegates in Congress, have suggested a convention for the pur- poses expressed in the following resolution ; and such conven- tion appearing to be the most probable means of establishing in these states a firm national government ; " Resolved, That, in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a convention of dele- gates, who shall have been appointed by the several states, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revis- ing the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the states, render the federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union." This convention was held, but instead of revising the Arti- cles of Confederation, as Congress had directed, it formed the Constitution of the United States. How the great work was done is fully described in the next chapter. The famous " Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio," which was passed by the Congress of the Confederation, in 1787, was a political measure of great and enduring consequence. It was preceded, in 178-i, by a series of resolutions or an ordinance, concerning the same matter, which came from the pen of the author of the Declaration of Independence. The history of these measures is interesting. By the diplomatic skill of Franklin, Adams, and Jay, the American commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Peace, in 17S3, all the vast region extending northward and westward 88 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS from the Alleghany Mountains to the Mississippi River was, by the treaty, ceded to the United States by Great Britain. The greater part of this " waste and uncultivated territory," com- monly known as the " Crown lands," because they had been lield by the British crown, was claimed by the State of Yir- ginia by virtue of the rather indefinite royal patents issued to her original settlers. New York, Massachusetts, and Connecti- cut also claimed certain portions of this wilderness. The other states met these claims with a joatriotic and forcible plea. They argued that as all the thirteen American commonwealths had united in the effort to break the British rule, they should now all equally share in the advantages gained by the war ; and, therefore, tliese Western lands should be given to Congress, to be held in trust for the benefit of the whole nation. Congress took up the matter, and recommended " to the several states in the Union having claims to the Western ter- ritory to make liberal cessions of a portion thereof to the Unit- ed States." On the 10th of October, 1780, Congress resolved that any of the unappropriated lands so ceded in pursuance of its recommendation should " be disposed of for the common benefit of the United States, and be settled and formed into distinct republican states, which shall become members of the Federal Union, and have the same rights of sovereignty, free- dom, and independence as the other states." The lands were to be granted and settled at such times, and under such regula- tions, as should be agreed on by Congress. JSTew York was the first State to relinquish claim to the Western lands, but the three other states followed in good time. In all the deeds of cession the condition was made that the ceded lands should be considered " as a common fund for the use and benefit of such of the United States as had become or should become members of the Confederation, and should be faithfully and hona fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever." Yirginia, in her deed of cession, reserved a certain tract for the benefit of her soldiers; and Connecticut, in her deed, reserved land on the border of Lake Erie, which was thereafter known as the " Western Re- serve of Connecticut," and is now a part of the State of Ohio. THE ORDINANCE OF 17g4 89 As there had been a number of settlements made on the Western lands adjacent to the Ohio Eiver, Congress, in 1784, appointed a committee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Samuel Chase, of Maryland, and David Howell, of Ehode Island, " to prepare a plan, consistent with the princi- ples of the Confederation, for connecting with the Union by a temporary government the purchasers and inhabitants of the Northwest Territory, until their numbers and circumstances shall entitle them to form a permanent constitution for them- selves and, as citizens of a free, sovereign, and independent State, to be admitted to a representation in the Union." ilr. Jefferson was the chairman of the committee, and the plan or series of resolutions they reported originated with him. By Mr. Jefferson's plan it was proposed to divide the terri- tory into ten new states, which were to be given high-sounding classical names after the fashion of the time. In each of these states the settlers were to be allowed to organize a pi'ovisional government at once, under the authority of Congress ; and whenever there should be a population of twenty thousand they could organize a permanent government. Whenever any of the new states should have a popidation equal to that of any of the original states, it could be admitted into the Union by a two-thirds vote in Congress. The new states were required to remain forever a part of the United States ; to have republican forms of government with universal suffrage ; and to pay their share of the federal debt. In this plan it was provided " That after tlie year 1800 of the Christian era there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said states, otherw^ise tlian in the pun- ishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been convicted to have been personally guilty." On the 19th of April, 1784, during the discussion of the plan in Congress, Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, moved that the prohibition of slavery be stricken out. The question on the motion was put, according to the form then in use, in this way : " Shall the words moved to be struck out stand V Six states — New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ehode Island, Con- necticut, New York, and Pennsylvania — voted in the affirmative ; 90 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS and three states — Virginia, Maryland, and Soutti Carolina — ■ voted in the negative. No delegates from Delaware or Geor- gia were present. Only one delegate was present from New Jersey, and he voted aye ; but, under the rules, the vote of the State could not be counted, as two delegates were not present. North Carolina was divided and lost her vote. As it required the assent of seven states to retain the slavery prohibition, Mr. Spaight's motion was, therefore, agreed to. Mr. Jefferson was greatly chagrined at the result of the vote. His plan, thus amended, was accepted by Congress, and out of it was formed what is known as the " Ordinance of 17Si," which was enacted in April of that year. The Ordinance of lYStt remained in force for three years, but no attempt was ever made to establish the proposed new states ; and the great Northwestern domain, with settlements here and there along the Ohio, was very little governed under the ordinance. In September, 1786, Congress appointed a com- mittee, composed of Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, Edward Carrington and Kichard Henry Lee, of Virginia, to draft a new ordinance for the government of the territory. The com- mittee had the matter in their hands for a number of months, and with the help of Mr. Jefferson's plan and several other plans which had been presented to Congress during the pre- vious two years, constructed an ordinance which was finally passed on July 13, 1787. The Ordinance of 1787 has been called " a great charter of rights." As Daniel "Webster said, " It fixed forever the char- acter of the population in the vast regions northwest of the Ohio, by excluding from them involuntary servitude." The ordinance provided that the territory should have for its tem- porary government a governor, a secretary, and a court of three judges, all to be appointed by Congress. There was also to be a legislature which was to elect a delegate to Con- gress. The territory was eventually to be divided into not less than three nor more than five new states, the boundaries of which were indicated. Within these boundaries are now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wiscon- sin. Whenever any of the new states should have 60,000 in- ORDINANCE OF 1787 91 habitants, it could form a permanent government and enter tlie Union. One of the "articles of compact between the original states and the people and states of the said territor}'," which was forever to " remain unalterable, unless by common consent," was the following : " Aeticle VI. — There shall be neither slavery nor involun- tary sei'vitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the pun- ishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly con- victed : Provided, always, that any person escaping into the same, from Avhom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original states, such fugitive may be lawfully re- claimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor as aforesaid." The Southern States made no objection to this article, and all the delegates in Congress at the time voted for the ordi- nance, with the exception of Abraham Yates, of New York. He had himself recorded in the negative, though for what reason no one to this day has been able to find out. It is said that to Nathan Dane belongs the honor of having written the ordinance ; but it is quite evident that whoever wrote it availed himself of Mr. Jefferson's plan, and of much that had been pi-e- viously discussed in Congress. Mr. Dane, it is likely, is enti- tled only to the credit of having arranged and put in proper form other men's ideas. Mr. Jefferson had nothing to do with the construction of the ordinance, as he was in France in ITSY. About the time of the passage of the Ordinance of 1TS7, Congress sold 5,000,000 acres of the Northwest Territory to colonization companies for $3,500,000. One of these compa- nies was the Ohio Company, organized in New England, of which Dr. Manasseh Cutler was the agent. By the efforts of this company the State of Ohio was subsequently formed. In August, 1789, the First Congress of the United States under the Constitution passed an act confirming the Ordinance of 178Y, and giving it fuU force and validity. CHAPTER VII Changing the Form of the Government. — The Constitutional Conven- tion at Philadelphia. — An Assemblage of Distinguished Men. — The Various Plans of a New Constitution Submitted to the Con- vention. — Earnest Debates during a Long Session. — The Strong Conflicting Interests. — How the New Federal System was Con- structed. — The Three Great Compromises. — After Considerable Dif- ficulty the Constitution of the United States Perfected and Signed. —Submitting the Constitution to the People. — A Factious Opposi- tion to It. — The Constitution Ratified. All the State legislatures, except that of Rhode Island, elected delegates to the Constitutional Convention appointed by Congress to revise and amend the Articles of Confederation. Khode Island, for some unknown reason, sullenly kept aloof from the important movement. The Confederation had proved a failure, and clear-headed, liberal, and patriotic men in every section of the country realized the necessity of a stronger and more eflBcient government. Some there were, narrow-minded, short-sighted men, who were fearful that if more power were given to Congress, the rights of the states would be violated. For this reason they opposed the convention ; but their op- position was ineffectual because the people in general, ISTorth and South, took the liberal view and heartily supported the project. The convention was appointed for the 14th of May, 1787, but it was not until the 25th of that month that the delegates of seven states (a quorum) were present in. Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, to begin the deliberations. General Washing- ton, who had left his plantation very reluctantly to become a member of the Virginia delegation, was unanimously chosen president of the convention, and William Jackson, of New York, was chosen secretary. The states represented at first were New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Yir- THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 93 ginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. On the 28th of May the delegates from Massachusetts and Connecticut ar- rived. The delegates from Georgia arrived on the 31st of Maj^, and those from Maryland on the 2d of June. It was not until the 23d of July that the delegates from New Hampshire arrived. When the roll Avas completed it Avas found there were fifty-four members of the convention, as follows : John Langdon and Nicholas Gilman, of New Hampshire; Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Eufus King, and Caleb Strong, of Massachusetts ; "William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut ; Eobert Yates, Alexander Plamilton, and John Lansing, of New York ; Will- iam Livingston, David Brearly, William Paterson, and Jona- than Dayton, of New Jersey ; Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Eobert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared IngersoU, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris, of Pennsylvania; George Eead, Gunning Bedford, John Dickin- son, Eichard Bassett, and Jacob Broom, of Delaware ; James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer, and Luther Martin, of Maryland ; George Washington, Edmund Eandolph, John Blair, James Madison, George Mason, George Wythe, and James McClurg, of Vir- ginia ; Alexander Martin, William Eichardson Davie, William Blount, Eichard Dobbs Spaight, and Hugh Williamson, of North Carolina ; John Eutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, and Pierce Butler, of South Carolina ; Will- iam FeAV, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, and WiUiam Houston, of Georgia. It was indeed a notable gathering, as even a cursory read- ing of the names Avill show. Many of these men had served their country long and ably. They had been brave, faithful soldiers ; they had been reliable, sagacious legislators ; they had been true patriots in the times that tried men's souls. Now by reason of the grievous condition of national affairs, they had assembled to concoct a plan by which the nascent American nation could be assured of a long and prosperous existence. Benjamin Franklin, in his eighty-second year, was the oldest, and Jonathan Dayton, in his twenty-sixth year, was the 94 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS youngest member of the convention. The sessions were held with closed doors and all the delegates were pledged to secrecy. Copious notes of the debates were taken by James Madison for his own use, and many j^ears afterwards these notes were pub- lished by the government together with the official records of the convention. Chief -justice Yates, of New York, and Luther Martin, of Maryland, two of the delegates, also made reports of the proceedings, which were printed ; so that there exists to-day considerable information of the body that gave us the Constitution. From the beginning of its sessions the trend of the conven- tion was towards a new form of government. Washington, Madison, Franklin, Hamilton, Pinckney, and other prominent delegates were greatly in favor of a change from the weak confederation of states to a strong national government, or government of the people. The convention had been called to revise the Articles of Confederation, but no attempt was made to do so, as it was soon ascertained that the majority of the delegates were disposed to create a new and distinct federal system. It was suggested by a conservative delegate that in order to gain the favor of the people it would be well to adopt "a plan composed of palliatives and half measures." When Washington heard this injudicious suggestion, he left the presi- dent's chair and spoke earnestly against it. During his speech he uttered these memorable words : " It is too probable that no plan we propose will be adopted. Perhaps another dreadful conflict is to be sustained. If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work ? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair ; the event is in the hand of God." After this admirable speech nothing more was heard of '• palliatives and half measures." On the 29th of May, Edmund Eandolph, then Governor of Virginia and a man of great prom- inence in the political world, addressed the convention in regard to the serious defects of the Confederation, and, in behalf of his State, presented a series of resolutions which he declared should be adopted as leading principles on which to form a stronger and better government. The " Virginia plan," as the THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 95 resolutions were designated, was largely the work of James Mad- ison, and, as it formed a considerable part of the groundwork of the Constitution subsequently adopted, it caused him in later years to receive the appellation of "Father of the Constitution." By the Virginia plan it was proposed to have a national government, with a National Legislature of two branches. The members of the first branch were to be elected by the people of the states according to population, and the members of the sec- ond branch were to be chosen by those of the first out of a certain number of nominations made by the State legislatures. To execute the national laws and to carry on the government, there w^as to be an Executive Council chosen by the National Legislature for a specified term, and to be ineligible for a sec- ond term. There was to be a National Judiciary, the members of which were to hold their offices for life. The members of the National Legislature were to vote as individuals and not as states, as was done in the Continental Congress. Ample power was to be given to the National Legislature to legislate for the needs of the government and to enforce its acts. Pro- vision was made for the admission of new states, etc. On the same day that the Virginia plan was presented, Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, a gallant soldier of the Pevolution, submitted a draft of a constitution of the United States. In the main Pinckney's constitution was based on the principles of the Virginia plan, but it had a number of different features, some of which were afterwards incorporated into the Constitution which was finall}^ adopted. It provided for a President of the United States with the title of " His Excel- lency," and a Congress of two houses, one to be called the House of Delegates and the other the Senate. The Virginia plan and Pinckney's draft (sometimes called the " South Carolina plan ") were referred to the committee of the whole, where they were discussed for nearly t^vo weeks. At last a series of resolutions based on the two plans submitted was reported back to the convention. It was intended to use these resolutions as a sort of foundation on which to erect a suitable constitutional structure. They were, in part, as follows : "Jiesolved,' That a national government ought to be estab- 96 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS lished, consisting of a supreme legislature, judiciary, and execu- tive ; that the ISTational Legislature ought to consist of two branches ; that the members of the first branch ought to be elected by the people of the several states, for the term of three years ; that the members of the second branch ought to be chosen by the individual legislatures, and to hold their oiBces for a term sufficient to insure their independency — namely, seven years ; that the members of both branches ought to receive fixed stijsends by which they may be compensated for the devotion of their time to public service, to be paid out of the national treasury ; that each branch ought to possess the right of orig- inating acts ; that the jSTational Legislature ought to be empow- ered to enjoy the legislative rights vested in Congress by the Confederation, and, moreover, to legislate in all cases to which the separate states are incompetent, or in which the harmony of the United States may be interrupted by the exercise of in- dividual legislation." It was resolved " that the right of suffrage in the National Legislature ought not to be according to the rule established in the Articles of Confederation, but according to some equita- ble ratio of representation — namely, in proportion to the whole number of white and other free citizens and inhabitants, of every age, sex, and condition, including those bound to servitude for a term of years, and three-fifths of all other persons not comprehended in the foregoing description, except Indians not paying taxes in each State." It was resolved " that a National Executive be instituted to 'consist of a single person, to be chosen by the National Legis- lature for a term of seven years ; with power to carry into exe- cution the national laws ; to appoint to offices in cases not otherwise provided for ; to be ineligible the second time ; and to be removable on impeachment, and conviction of malprac- tice, or neglect of duty ; to receive a fixed stipend, by which he may be compensated for the devotion of his time to public service, to be paid out of the national treasury." The Na- tional Executive was to have the " right to negative any legis- lative act, which shall not be afterwards passed, unless by two- thirds part of each branch of the National Legislature." THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONTENTION 91 It was resolved to establish a National Judiciary, " the judges of which to be appointed by the second branch of the National Legislature, and to hold their offices during good be- havior." It was resolved, lastly, that the new Constitution " ought at a proper time or times, after the approbation of CoDgress, to be submitted to an assembly or assemblies of representatives, recommended by the several legislatures, to be expressly chosen by the people to consider and decide thereon." While the convention was discussing these resolutions, Will- iam Paterson, in behalf of the delegates from ISTew Jersey and from two or thi-ee other states, the delegations of which were divided in sentiment, presented what is termed the " New Jer- sey plan." By this plan it was proposed that Congress should remain a single body, and should represent the states, each of which was to have one vote. Congress was to be given full power to regulate commerce, to raise money by taxation, and to enforce its requisitions. There was to be an Executive Coun- cil for the management of the affairs of the government, and a Supreme Judiciary. Madison, Hamilton, and several other prominent delegates strongly opposed the New Jersey plan. Mr. Hamilton made an impressive speech, at the close of which he submitted a plan of his own. He favored a Congress of two branches with suffi- cient power to regulate the affairs of the country, but proposed that the members of the second branch, or Senate, should be elected for life by electors chosen by the people of the states, which were to be divided into election districts for this purpose. He also proposed that the supreme executive authority of the United States should be vested in a Governor to be elected for life. Another marked feature of his plan was that all the gov- ernors of the states should be chosen by the general government. The convention went again into committee of the whole to consider the two new plans. After very little discussion they were rejected, and then the committee again reported the reso- lutions which had been reported before. The work of constructing the new system of government was now begun. Without very much debate it was agreed to 7 98 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS have a Congress of two branches ; but the proposition to elect the members according to population and to give each member a vote ^YSiS strenuously opposed by many of the delegates, who demanded that all the states should have equal suffrage, as in the Continental Congress. For a long time there was a perfect storm of debate, and frequently the convention was "on the verge of dissolution, scarce held together by the strength of a hair," as a delegate afterwards wrote. It was declared that under the proposed system the rich and populous states of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia would entirely con- trol the other and smaller states ; that it was " a system of slavery which bound hand and foot ten states of the Union, and placed them at the mercy of the other three." Finally, the vexed question was settled by a compromise. It was agreed that in the first branch of Congress each State should be repre- sented by one member for every 40,000 (afterwards changed to 80,000) of its inhabitants; and that in the second branch each State should be represented by only two members. The mem- bers of both branches were to vote as individuals. There was also " a torrent of words " in regard to the mat- ter of counting the population of each State for the representa- tion in Congress and for the purpose of direct taxation. It was proposed at first to exclude slaves from the count, as in all the states where they were held they were regarded as proper- ty and had no suffrage ; but as some of the Southern states made serious objection to this, it was agreed, by another com- promise, that every five slaves should be counted as equal to only three freemen. After these difficult matters had been satisfactorily disposed of the convention went on with its work easily until the 24th of July, when it referred all its proceedings to what was called a " committee of detail," which was charged with the duty of making a draft of a constitution " conformably to the proceed- ings aforesaid." Then the convention adjourned until the 6th of August, and the delegates who had the scheme of the new government dearly at heart rejoiced with exceedingly great joy, because they were now certain that success would crown their efforts. THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 99 When the convention met after the adjournment the com- mittee of detail reported the draft of a constitution, which began as follows : " We, the people of the states of New Hampshire, Massa- chusetts, Ehode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecti- cut, New York, 'New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- land, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, do ordain, declare, and establish the following Constitution for the government of ourselves and our posterity." Then it went on to state that " the style of this government shall be, ' The United States of America' " ; that "the government shall con- sist of supreme legislative, executive, and judicial powers " ; and that "the legislative power shall be vested in a Congress, to consist of two separate and distinct bodies of men, a House of Eepresentatives and a Senate ; each of which shall, in all cases, have a negative on the other." The Eepresentatives were to be elected by the people every second year, and the Senators were to be chosen by the State legislatures for six years, each legislature choosing two. Congress was given power to lay and collect taxes, to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states, to coin money, etc. Article 10 of this Constitution Avas as follows : " The execu- tive power of the United States shall be vested in a single person. His style shall be, ' The President of the United States of America ' ; and his title shall be, ' His Excellency.' He shall be elected by ballot by the Legislature. He shall hold his office during the term of seven years ; but shall not be elected a second time." Article 11 was as follows : " The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as shall, when necessary, from time to time, be constituted by the Legislature of the United States. The judges of the Supreme Court, and of the inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior." For several weeks the convention discussed the Constitution , reported by the committee of detail, and gave it a thorough over- hauHng. Many important changes were made. The term of the President of the United States was reduced to four years, 100 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS and he was made eligible for re-election. The ofBce of Yice- President was created and the electoral system was devised. By another compromise it was agreed that Congress should have full power to regulate foreign and domestic commerce, and that the African slave-trade should continue until 1808. The first agreement was supposed to benefit the Eastern States, which had a great deal of shipping; and the second to benefit South Carolina and Georgia, which desired to obtain additions to their slave population. The whole subject of slavery was brought up, and an ineffectual efi^ort made to authorize the general govern- ment, from time to time, to make regulations for the gradual abolition of " the nefarious institution," Avhich was declared to be " a national curse entailed by England." On September 8th the amended draft of the Constitution wa^ given to a commit- tee of five " to revise the style of, and arrange, the articles agreed to by the House." Gouverneur Morris was a member of this committee, and, it is stated, nearly all the work of ar- ranging the Constitution in the form we now have it was done by him. The " committee on style " reported on the 13th of September, and four daj'^s later the Constitution was signed.* Three prominent members of the convention — Elbridge Gerry, Edmund Randolph, and George Mason — refused to sign the Constitution, although they were present when the signing took place. The changes made in the Yirginia plan before it was adopted did not suit Eandolph and Mason ; and Gerry ob- jected to certain features of the Constitution which he thought infringed the rights of the states. Twelve members of the con- vention, for one reason or another, departed for their homes before the Constitution was ready to be signed. They were Oliver Ellsworth, George Wythe, Luther Martin, Caleb Strong, Robert Yates, John Lansing, John Francis Mercer, James Mc- Clurg, Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, William Pierce, and William Houston. The Constitution had thirty- nine signers — able, patriotic men who rejoiced that to them had been allotted the distinguished work of forming the great char- ter of American rights and liberties. *For the full text of the Constitution, see Appendix C. THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 101 It is related of Franklin, who was then the highly honored President of Pennsylvania, that, old and feeble as he was, and burdened with the cares of office, he did not fail to be present every day in the convention during its long session of four months. He took part in the debates and strove earnestly to perfect the Constitution. At times he had been fearful that the convention would dissolve without accomplishing anything ; -and when, after much toil and trouble, the Constitution was signed, his joy was unbounded. Mr. Madison, in his Reports of the Delates in the Federal Con- vention, says that " whilst the last members were signing, Dr. Franklin, looking towards the President's chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him that painters had found it difficult to distin- guish in their art a rising from a setting sun. ' I have,' said he, ' often and often in the course of the session and the vicis- situdes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that be- hind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting ; but now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising, not a setting, sun.' " The convention adjourned on the 17th of September, 1Y8Y, after passing the following resolutions : '■'■Resolved, That the Constitution be laid before the United States in Congress assembled, and that it is the opinion of this convention that it should afterwards be submitted to a conven- tion of delegates, chosen in each State by the people thereof, under the recommendation of its legislature, for their assent and ratification ; and that each convention assenting to and ratify- ing the same should give notice thereof to the United States in Congress assembled. '^Resolved, That it is the opinion of this convention, that as soon as the conventions of nine states shall have ratified this Constitution, the United States in Congress assembled should fix a day on which electors should be appointed by the states which shall have ratified the same, and a day on which elec- tors should assemble to vote for the Pi-esident, and the time and place for commencing proceedings under this Constitution. That after such publication the electors should be appointed. 102 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS and the Senators and Eepresentatives elected; that the electors should meet on the day fixed for the election of the President, and should transmit their votes, certified, signed, sealed, and directed as the Constitution requires, to the Secretary of the United States in Congress assembled ; that the Senators and Eepresentatives should convene at the time and place assigned ; that the Senators should appoint a President of the Senate, for the sole purpose of receiving, opening, and counting the votes for President ; and that, after he shall be chosen, the Congress, together with the President, should, without delay, proceed to execute this Constitution." General Washington, as President of the Convention, at once transmitted the Constitution to the President of Congress with the following letter : " In Convention, September 17, 1787. "Sir: We have now the honor to submit to the consideration of the United States in Congress assembled that Constitution which has appeared to us the most advisable. " The friends of our country liave long seen and desired that the power of making war, peace, and treaties, that of levying money and regulating com- merce, and the correspondent executive and judicial authorities, should be fully and eflectually vested in the General Government of the Union ; but the im- propriety of delegating such extensive trust to one body of men is evident ; hence results the necessity of a different organization. " It is obviously impracticable, in the Federal Government of these states, to secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each, and yet provide for the interest and safety of all. Individuals entering into society must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest. The magnitude of the sacrifice must depend as well on situation and circumstance as on the object to be obtained. It is at all times difHcult to draw with precision the line between those rights which must be surrendered and those which may be reserved ; and on the present occasion this difficulty was increased by a difference among the several states as to their situation, extent, habits, and particular interests. " In all our deliberations on this subject we kept steadily in our view that which appears to us the greatest interest of every true American — the con- solidation of our Union — in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our national existence. This important consideration, seriously and deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the convention to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude than might have been otherwise expected ; and thus the Constitution which we now present is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our polit- ical situation rendered indispensable. " That it will meet the full and entire approbation of every State is not. THE CONSTITUTION DISCUSSED 103 perhaps, to be expcctecL; but each will doublless consider that, had her interest been alone consulted, the consequences might have been particularly disagree- able or injurious to others ; that it is liable to as few exceptions as could reason- ably have been expected we hope and believe ; that it may promote the lasting welfare of that country so dear to us all, and secure her freedom and happiness, is our most ardent wish. " With great respect, we have the honor to be, sir, your excellency's most obedient humble servants. " By unanimous order of the convention. "GEORGE WASHINGTON, Pi-eaident. " Ilis Excellency the Pkesident op Conoress." The Constitution was received in Congress, tlien sitting in New Yorlc, on the 20th of September, and was discussed in a very earnest manner for eight days. Eichard Henry Lee and a few otliers opposed it on the ground tliat it would cause a consolidation of political power in the general government which would tend to destroy the independence of the states. The friends of the Constitution gave it a strong support, and, finally. Congress ordered it to be transmitted to the State legis- latures. The Constitution was published in all parts of the country, and for months was discussed by the press and the people in an exhaustive manner. Its opponents issued countless pam- phlets, squibs, and caricatures, and many violent stump speeches were made against it. In one pamphlet the Constitution Avas called the " stepping-stone to monarchy " and " consolidated tyranny"; in another it was denounced as "inimical to the lib- erties of a free people"; and it was quite common to describe it by opprobrious terms. Richard Frothingham says in his his- tory* that the mass of the people appeared to welcome the Constitution heartil3% but that " thei'e were in all the states classes of individuals, some jealous of any enlargement of federal authority, which they regarded in the light of a foreign juris- diction and very much as they had done the authority of the mother-country under the colonial regime; others, admitting the urgent necessity of reform, thought every desirable object might be attained by granting a few additional powers to Congress as * Frothingliam's Riae of the liepubUc of the United States. 104 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS organized under the Articles of Confederation, without giving to the federal authority the faculty of direct action upon individu- als, which they apprehended would lead to a subversion of the State governments, and, finally, to a consolidation of the states under one central and absorbing control." At this time there appeared in the Independent Gazetteer, a daily newspaper published in New York, a series of bright and forcible essays explaining the Constitution and advocating its adoption. They were republished by the leading newspapers of the country and quickly became famous. They appeared under the title of " The Federalist," and Avere signed " Publius." It was soon ascertained that the authors were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Eightj'-five essays in all were published, of which, it is believed, Mr. Hamilton wrote fifty-one, Mr. Madison twenty-nine, and Mr. Jay five. They were subse- quently issued in book form, and are to-day considered a very valuable commentary on the Constitution. There is no doubt that they had great influence when they were first printed. Delaware was the first State to ratify the Constitution ; and within eio:ht months from the time this little commonwealth had set her seal of approval on the document all the other states, with the exception of North Carolina and Ehode Island, had ratified. On the 2d of July, 1788, the President of Con- gress laid before that body the ratifications of nine states, and a committee was at once appointed "to leport an act for putting the said Constitution into operation." On the 4th of July the adoption of the Constitution was enthusiastically celebrated all over the United States. There were great and magnificent processions, barbecues, bonfires, and all sorts of jubilations. Only once before in America had there been seen such demonstrations of joy, and that was when the Declaration of Independence was promulgated. The peo- ple rejoiced so heartily because they believed that the Union would be enduring and the country prosperous and happy under the new government to be established. CHAPTER VIII The Beginning of the New Constitutional Government. — Dissolution of the Continental Congress. — Meeting in New York of the First Congress of the United States under the Constitution. — How New York Appeared in 1789. — The Federal Hall in Wall Street.— Organ- ization of Congress. — The Eoll of Members. — Counting the Elec- toral Votes for President and Vice-President. — Washington and Adams Notified of their Election. — Ovations to Washington on His Journey to New York. — His Inauguration as the First Presi- dent of the United States. — His Inaugural Address. The Constitutional Government of the United States went into operation in 1Y89. On the 13th of September of the pre- ceding year the Congress of tlie Confederation passed this reso- lution : '■'■Resolved, That the first "Wednesday in January next be the day for appointing electors in the several states whicli before the said day shall have ratified the Constitution ; that the first Wednesday in February next be the day for the elec- tors to assemble in their respective states and vote for a Presi- dent ; and that the first Wednesday in March next be the time, and the present seat of Congress (New York) the place, for com- mencing the proceedings under the said Constitution." In eleven states the Constitution had been ratified, by conventions of the people. Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Georgia ratified, one after another, without imposing any con- ditions or making any recommendations. In the Massachusetts convention there was, at first, considerable opposition to the Constitution, and even the true patriot Samuel Adams, who was a member of the convention, did not entirely approve of the great instrument, and withheld his support until he had a clearer understanding of its beneficial effect. But Massachu- setts finally took the sixth place among the states, attaching to her ratification a declaration that certain amendments " were 106 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS necessary to remove the fears and allay the apprehensions of the people." These amendments were nine in number, the most important being one which declared " that all power not expressly delegated by the Constitution should be reserved to the several states to be by them exercised "; and one which de- clared "that Congress do not lay direct taxes, except when funds arising from impost and excise are insufficient, nor then till they have first made a requisition on each of the states for its quota, and the states have neglected or refused to pay their proportion." Maryland, the seventh State, ratified without any recommenda- tion. Then came South Carolina and New Hampshire with a number of amendments very similar to those proposed by Massachusetts. Virginia was the tenth State to ratify. In her convention the Constitution was opposed by Patrick Henry, who made a passionate speech against it, declaring that it vio- lated State rights and was based on monarchical principles. To the ratification of Virginia was annexed a declaration of rights, which was, in substance, that the people may resume the powers of government when they are perverted and abused to their injury and oppression ; that every power not granted remains with them and at their will ; that no right can be cancelled, abridged, or restrained by Congress, the President, or any department or officer of the United States, except where the power is given by the Constitution for these purposes; and that the rights of conscience and of the press cannot be so re- strained, modified, or cancelled. New York was the eleventh State to ratify, and her ratification was accompanied by a dec- laration of rights and a number of proposed amendments. One of the amendments was "that Congress should not impose an excise on any article of the growth, production, or manufact- ure of the United States." For months North Carolina and Phode Island were reaUy out of the Union, as they did not ratify the Constitution before the new government was inaugurated. The Constitution met with great opposition in both states. In the former, when she ratified in November, 1789, a resolution was passed declaring that a bill of rights should be attached to the Constitution, and several amendments were proposed. When Ehode Island rati- END OF THE CONFEDERATION 107 fied, in May, 1790, thirteen months after the installation of the first President, she, too, wanted a bill of rights, and submitted a long list of amendments. The Congress of the Confederation, which was the last of the assemblages which altogether make up the Continental Con- gress, had its final roll-call on the 10th of October, 1788. Only twenty delegates answered to their names, and there was no quorum of states. The Congress which for almost fifteen years had been the supreme governing power of the country was now practically at an end, although the First Congress under the Constitution, which succeeded it, did not meet until nearly five months later. Every day four or five delegates would meet in the room in the City Hall, in New York, where the old Congress had sat for four years, have Secretary Thom- son record their names in the journal, and then, after a little chat, they would go off to the amusements of the town. On the 2d of March, 1789, only one delegate appeared, and the Conti- nental Congress quietly ended its existence. It has been elo- quently said : " There was no beat of drums, no waving of flags, no noisy proclamations of heralds, when the Congress went out of life ; but what a record has it left of patriotic, self-sacrificing service, and what a legacy of priceless worth in the Constitu- tion, which, through its agency, is bequeathed to our posterity for evermore !" Precisely at sunset on the 3d of March, 1789, thirteen guns were fired from the old fort on the Battery, in ISTew York, to indicate that the Confederation had come to an end ; and pre- cisely at sunrise on the 4th of March, and also at noon and at night, salutes were fired and the bells of the churches were rung to welcome the birth of the new constitutional govern- ment. The new government was heartily greeted by the masses everywhere in the United States. One patriot ex- claimed : " After a long night of political apprehension comes the dawn of national happiness " ; and another thought that the country would " again thrive, the farmer meet immediately a ready market for his produce, manufactures flourish, and peace and prosperity adorn our land." JSTew York, in 1789, was a thrifty little city of some 25,000 108 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS inhabitants. It extended from the Battery not much farther than Chambers Street, a distance of about a mile. Beyond Chambers Street was the open country, covered with farms and cow-pastures. liere and there in the upper part of the city were spacious mansions occupied b}^ the wealthy citizens. The business centre did not extend beyond Yesey Street. There was a "Broad "Way," stretching from the Battery to Chambers Street, but above that point the thoroughfare was called Great George Sti'eet or Eoad. The " Bowery Lane " was a pleasant rural drive. Among the inhabitants of the city were many Dutch, and the language of Holland was heard in the streets almost as much as English. The city had an extensive com- merce, and was rapidly developing into a formidable rival of Philadelphia, which was then the leading city in the United States. There were a number of churches — the most prominent being Trinity, St. Paul's, and the Old Dutch Church — and many excellent schools and other institutions of learning. The business buildings were numerous and, in the main, of good architecture, and the residences were often rather handsome. There was one theatre, where capital acting could be seen ; and several famous old taverns, where those convivially inclined could be entertained. The historical old City Hall, in Wall Street at the head of Broad, where the Sub-Treasury of the United States now stands, had been elaborately prepared for the use of the First Congress under the Constitution. The building was erected of brick and stone in 1700, at a cost of $20,000, and was considered " a very imposing structure." Here the mayor had his office, and here the common council, the courts, the public librarj'', and even the county jail were located. The Stamp Act Congress of 1765 was held here, and also many of the sessions of the Continental Congress. "When it was determined to transform the old build- ing into a " Federal Kail " for the new Congress, the merchants of New York subscribed $32,500 for the purpose, and the work of construction was given into the hands of Major Piei're Charles L'Enfant, a Parisian engineer and architect, who had come to America in 1777, and had served Avith honor in the French con- tingent commanded by.Comte d'Estaing. After the war L'Ea- THE FEDERAL HALL 109 fant settled in New York and followed bis profession. He de- signed St. Paul's Church and other buildings, and finally won immortality by designing the beautiful city of Washington. L'Enfant made the Federal Hall very handsome and very con- venient, and the people of ISTew York were greatly pleased to be able to give Congress such an abode. In the old-time publication entitled the National Register is this description of the building : "The basement was Tuscau, pierced with seven openings, massive pillars in the centre supporting four Doric columns and a pediment. The frieze was so divided as to admit thirteen stars in metopes. These, with the American eagle and other insignia, the tablets over the windows filled with the thirteen arrows and the olive-branches united, were considered sufficient to mark it as a building designated for national purposes. "Entering from Broad Street the visitor found himself in a plainly fur- nished square room flagged with stone. This was always free to the public, being usually thronged during the sessions of Congress. From this public room entrance was gained to the vestibule leading into the Room of Represent- atives. This latter apartment was paved in marble, as was also the Senate Chamber on the right. " The Representatives' Room was both spacious and elegant, being sixty- one feet by fifty-eight in its dimensions, and thirty-six feet to the ceiling. It was octagonal in form, the sides being rounded in the manner of niches, which gave a graceful variety to the interior. The windows were large, and placed sixteen feet from tlie floor, all of the walls below them being wainscoted, inter- rupted by the four chimneys. In the panels between the windows trophies were carved and the letters ' U. S.' in a monogramic cipher, surrounded by wreaths of laurel. The Speaker's chair was placed on a dais opposite to the great entrance door, while the members' chairs were ranged in two semicircular rows. On either side of the Speaker's chair were narrow galleries for the ac- commodation of spectators, though their capacity did not exceed two hundred persons. " The Senate Chamber was forty by thirty feet, and the height was only twenty feet, though, the ceiling being arched, this defect was not so noticeable. Three windows were placed in the front and back walls, those in front opening on an open gallery twelve feet deep, which overlooked Broad and Wall streets. The decorations of the Senate Chamber wore severely simple. They were mainly pilasters of an order invented by Major L'Enfant. The marble used, was from American quarries. This selection was made in the belief that they were equal in shades and polish to any European specimens. " Besides tliese halls of Congress there were also committee-rooms, spa- cious lobbies, and a guard-room on the floor above, for it was then the custom for the regular army to protect the building and its occupants." 110 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS The Senate Chamber and the Hall of Eepresentatives pre- sented an exceedingly handsome appearance, ^Yith fine mahog- any desks and chairs, national flags in festoons, and large paintings. The chairs of the presiding officers had rich silken canopies over them. It was appointed that Congress should meet on the 4th of March, but on that day only eight Senators and thirteen Eep- resentatives were present in Federal Hall. The House of Eep- resentatives did not have a quorum until the 1st of April, nor the Senate until the 6th. This was, doubtless, partly owing to the severity of the weather, which made the roads heavy and hindered travel. "When the roll of Congress was finally made up for the first session it stood as follows, only eleven states being represented : SENATE. Oliver Ellsworth and William S. Johnson, of Connecticut; Richard Bas- sett and George Read, of Delaware ; William Pew and James Gunn, of Geoigia ; Charles Carroll and John Henry, of Maryland ; Tristam Dalton and Caleb Strong, of Massachusetts ; John Langdon and Paine Wingate, of New Hampshire; Jonathan Elmer and William Paterson, of New Jersey; Rufus King and Philip Schuyler, of New York ; William Maclay and Robert Morris, of Pennsylvania ; Pierce Butler and Ralph Izard, of South Carolina ; William Grayson and Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia. HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIVES. Benjamin Himtington, Roger Sherman, Jonathan Sturges, Jonathan Trum- bull, and Jeremiah AVadsworth, of Connecticut ; John Vining, of Delaware ; Abraham Baldwin, James Jackson, and George Matthews, of Georgia ; Daniel Carroll, Benjamin Contee, George Gale, Joshua Seney, William Smith, and Michael Jenifer Stone, of Maryland ; Fisher Ames, Elbridge Gerry, Benjamin Goodhue, Jonathan Grout, George Leonard, George Partridge, Theodore Sedg- wick, and George Thatcher, of Massachusetts ; Abiel Poster, Nicholas Gilman, and Samuel Livcrmore, of New Hampshire ; Elias Bnudinot, Lambert Cad- walader, Thomas Sinnickson, and James Schureman, of New Jersey ; Egbert Benson, William Floyd, John Hathorn, John Lawrence, Peter Sylvester, and Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, of New York ; George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsim- ons, Thomas Hartley, Daniel Hiester, Frederick A. Muhlenberg, Peter Muhlen- berg, Thomas Scott, and Henry Wynkoop, of Pennsylvania ; Edanus Burke, Daniel Hiiger, William Smith, Thomas Simrter, and Thomas Tudor Tucker, of South Carolina ; Theodorick Bland, John Brown, Isaac Cole, William B. Giles, Richard Bland Lee, James Madison, Andrew Moore, John Page, Josiah Parker, and Alexander White, of Virginia. The Senate elected John Langdon, of ITew Hampshire, tern- THE ELECTORAL VOTES COUNTED 111 porary President ; and the House elected Frederick A. Muhlen- berg, of Pennsylvania, Speaker. Mr. Langdon was forty-eight years old, and possessed of a winning address and good abili- t^r. He was famous as a Eevolutionary patriot, had been gov- ernor of his State, and a member of the Continental Congress and of the Federal Convention. Mr. Muhlenberg was a Lu- theran clergyman who had turned statesman. He was thirty- nine, and a bright, energetic man of large experience in pohtics, having been a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly and of the Continental Congress. He was a son of the distinguished Bishop Muhlenberg, and a brother of General Peter Muhlen- berg, of Eevolutionary fame. Samuel Alyne Otis, of Massa- chusetts, a brother of the patriot, James Otis, was chosen Secre- tary of the Senate, and served continuously in this capacity for more than twenty-five years. John Beckley, of Virginia, was chosen Clerk of the House. When Congress had completed its organization, both houses met in joint session to count the electoral votes cast in the sev- eral states a few weeks before, for President and Vice-Presi- dent of the United States. It was found that George Wash- ington had received sixty-nine votes for President, the whole number cast ; and that John Adams had received thirty-four votes for Vice-President. Ten other men also received thirty- four votes for the latter office. When the counting of votes Avas finished the following certificate was issued : " BE IT KNOWN, That tlie Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, being convened in the City and State of New Yorlc, the sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, the underwritten appointed President of the Senate for the sole purpose of receiving, opening, and counting the votes of the electors, did, in the presence of the said Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certifi- cates and count all the votes of the electors for a President and for a Vice- President ; by which it appears that GEORGE WASHINGTON, ESQ., was unanimously elected, agreeably to the Constitulion, to the oflBce of PRESI- DENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. " In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal. "John Lakgdon." A similar certificate was issued for the election of John Adams to the office of Vice-President. 112 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS Charles Thomson, the greatly esteemed Secretary of the Continental Congress, was sent to carry the certificate of elec- tion to General Washington at Mount Vernon ; and Sylvanus Bourne was sent on a like errand to Mr. Adams at Brain- tree, Mass. Both messengers set out on Tuesday, the 7th of April, and Mr. Bourne reached Braintree on the following Thursday evening. On the next Monday, Mr. Adams started for New York, where he arrived in just a week. On the way he was received with "federal honors," and escorted from town to town by militia companies. Pie was inducted into office as Vice-President of the United States on the 21st of April. He made a very excellent address to the Senate upon assuming the presidency of that body, in which he said : " It is with great satisfaction that I congratulate the peo- ple of America on the formation of a national Constitution, and the fair prospect of a consistent administration of laws ; on the acquisition of a House of Eepresentatives chosen by themselves; of a Senate, also, composed by their own legis- latures ; and on the prospect of an executive authority, in the hands of one whose portrait I shall not attempt to draw. "Were I blessed with powers to do justice to his character, it would be impossible to increase the confidence or affection of his country, or make the smallest addition to his glory. This can only be effected by a discharge of the present exalted trust, on the same principles, with the same abilities and virt- ues, which have uniformly appeared in all his former con- duct, public or private. May I, nevertheless, be indulged to inquire, if we look over the catalogue of the first magistrates of nations, whether they have been denominated presidents or consuls, kings or princes, where shall we find one whose over- ruling good-fortune has so completely united all hearts and all voices in his favor, who enjoyed the esteem and admiration of foreign nations and his fellow-citizens with equal unanimity ? Qualities so uncommon are no common blessing to the country that possesses them. By those great qualities, and their be- nign effects, has Providence marked out the head of this nation with a hand so distinctly visible as to have been seen by all men, and mistaken by none. ... A trust of the greatest OVATIONS TO THE PRESIDENT-ELECT 113 magnitude is committed to this legislature, and the eyes of the world are upon you. Your country expects from the results of your deliberations, in concurrence with the other branches of government, consideration abroad and content- ment at home — prosperity, order, justice, peace, and libert}^ And may the providence of Almighty God assist you to an- swer their just expectations." Although he made the journey as speedily as possible, it took Mr. Thomson an entire week to reach Mount Vernon. "When Washington received the notification of his election to the presidency, he said he was " much affected by this fresh proof of my country's esteem and confidence," and announced that he should be ready " to set out the day after to-morrow." He made a farewell visit to his aged mother and received her blessing; and on the 16th of April, in company with Mr. Thomson and Colonel David Humphreys, he departed for New York to assume the exalted oiRce to which a grateful country had called him. On the day he left home he wrote these lines in his diary: "About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and domestic felicity ; and, with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sen- sations than I have words to express, set out for New York with the best disposition to render service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its expec- tations." The journey northward of the President-elect was one long ovation. Everywhere the people turned out in great crowds to do him honor. In Baltimore and Philadelphia the demon- strations were magnificent. The reception at Trenton had a unique feature. At the end of a bridge over which Washing- ton and his party crossed into the New Jersey village, was a gigantic arch covered with evergreens and inscribed, " The De- fender of the Mothers will also Protect their Daughters." Near the arch stood a large number of richly dressed women, and immediately in front of them were their daughters clad in white and holding baskets of flowers. When Washington ap- proached he stopped his horse and gracefully saluted the group. The women then sang the following ode composed for the 114 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS occasion, while their daughters strewed the beloved hero's pathway with fragrant flowers : " Welcome, mighty chief, once more ! "Welcome to this grateful shore ! Now no mercenary foe Aims again the fatal blow, Aims at thee the fatal blow. "Virgins fair and matrons grave. Those thy conquering arms did save, Build for thee triumphal bowers. Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers. Strew your hero's way with flowers !" We are told that Washington was "affected to tears" by this beautiful incident. Before he left Trenton he wrote a note of thanks " to the matrons and young ladies who received him in so novel and grateful a manner," saying that he should al- ways remember " the white-i-obed choir who met him with the gratulatory song." When the village of Elizabethport was reached, the pres- idential party was met by a committee from Congress, and con- veyed up the ba}'' to New York in a gorgeous barge manned by well-known masters of vessels. Elias Boudinot, who was one of the congressional committee, thus graphically describes the scene : "When we drew near to the mouth of the Kills a number of boats with various flags came up with us and dropped in our wake. Soon after we entered the bay General Knox and several othei- oflicers in a large barge presented themselves with their splendid colors. Boat after boat, sloop after sloop, gayly dressed in all their naval ornaments, added to our train and made a most splendid appearance. Before we got to Bed- loe's Island a large sloop came with full sail on our starboard bow, when there stood up about twenty gentlemen and ladies, who with most excellent voices sung an elegant ode, prepared for the purpose, to the tune of ' God save the King,' welcoming their great chief to the seat of government. On its conclusion we saluted them with our hats, and then they with the sur- OVATIONS TO THE PRESIDENT-ELECT 115 rounding boats gave us three cheers. Soon after, another boat came under our stern and presented us with a number of cop- ies of a second ode, and immediately about a dozen gentlemen began to sing it, in parts, as we passed along. Our worthy President was greatly affected with these tokens of profound respect. As we approached the harbor our train increased, and the huzzaing and shouts of joy seemed to add life to this brilliant scene. At this moment a number of porpoises came playing amongst us, as if they had risen up to know what was the cause of all this happiness. "We now discovered the shores to be crowded with thou- sands of people — men, women, and children ; nay, I maj^ vent- ure to say tens of thousands. From the fort to the place of landing, although near half a mile, you could see little else along the shore, in the streets, and on board every vessel but heads, standing as thick as ears of corn before the harvest. The vessels in the harbor made a most superb appearance in- deed, dressed in all their pomp of attire. The Spanish ship of war, the Galveston, in a moment, on a signal given, discovered twenty-seven or twenty-eight different colors, of all nations, on every part of the rigging, and paid us the compliment of thir- teen guns, with her yards all manned, as did also another ves- sel in the harbor, the North Carolina, displaying colors in the same manner. We soon arrived at the ferry stairs, where there were many thousands of the citizens waiting with all the eagerness of expectation to welcome our excellent patriot to that shore which he regained from a powerful enemy by his valor and good conduct. We found the stairs covered wath carpeting and the rails hung with crimson. The President, being preceded by the committee, was received by the govern- or and the citizens in the most brilliant manner." An imposing procession of military and distinguished civil- ians was formed, and Washington, dressed in a blue coat, buff waistcoat and breeches, was escorted through crowded streets profusely decorated with flags, wreaths of flowers, and ever- greens, to a mansion in Franklin Square which Congress had fitted up at a cost of $10,000 expressly for the use of the Pres- ident. In the evening the city was handsomely illuminated. 116 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS and crowds filled the streets cheering enthusiastically for Washington and the new government. It was " a day of ex- travagant joy," as one has said ; and some there were who even declared that they were "now ready to die contented, nothing being wanted to complete their happiness, previous to this au- spicious period, but the sight of the savior of the country." A week passed before Washington was installed in office. Meanwhile he kindly received the members of Congress, many of his old army companions, the notables of New York, and strangers who had come to the city from all parts of the Union to witness the novel sight of the inauguration of the first President of the United States. Hew York had never before had so many visitors. Every tavern and every boarding-house was filled to overflowing, and even the private residences had more guests than they could comfortably accommodate. " We shall remain here, even if we have to sleep in tents, as so many will have to do," a lady wrote to a friend. It was finally determined to have the inauguration on Thursday, the 30th of April, and an elaborate ceremonial was arranged for the occasion. Among other things it was decided that on the eventful day the members of both houses of Con- gress should assemble in their respective chambers precisely at noon, and that the Eepresentatives, preceded by the Speaker, should proceed to the Senate Chamber, where the Yice-Presi- dent and the Senators should rise and receive them. Upon the arrival of Washington the Yice-President was to receive him at the door of the chamber and conduct him to a seat, and then was to inform him that Congress was ready to witness his taking of the oath prescribed by the Constitution. The question came up of how the President should be addressed. "I arose in my place," says John Adams in his diary, "and asked the advice of the Senate in what form I should address him; whether I should say, 'Mr. Washington,' 'Mr. Presi- dent,' ' Sir,' ' May it please your Excellency,' or what else ? I observed that it had been common while he commanded the army to call him ' His Excellency,' but I was free to own it would appear to me better to give him no title but ' Sir ' or ' Mr. President ' than to put him on a level with a governor WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION 117 of Bermuda, or one of his own ambassadors, or a governor of any one of our states." This matter of a title for the chief magistrate had been dis- cussed with considerable earnestness in the newspapers and in social circles for several months previous to the time it came up in Congress. It was said that plain, unpretentious Roger Sherman had even " set his head at work to devise some style of address more novel and dignified than ' Excellency.' " A committee of the two houses of Congress, appointed to consid- er the subject, recommended that the President be called " His Iliglmess the President of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties" ; but as the House of Eepresenta- tives would not accept this bombastic appellation, it was finally resolved that the "form of address" should be "the President of the United States, without addition of title," and that he should be addressed as " Mr. President." This simple address has been retained to the present day. The inaugural ceremonies began with a national salute early on the morning of April 30th. The bells of the churches pealed merrily, the American flag was everywhere displayed, and the streets were soon filled with gayly dressed crowds " ab- solutely frantic with patriotic fervor," as a chronicler informs us. Military companies with bands playing lively airs paraded the central thoroughfares ; there was an incessant explosion of fire - arms accompanied by wild huzzas ; stages and packets ar- rived crowded with eager sight-seers from the country; and by noon it could indeed be said that " the city was seething with excitement." A newspaper of the day says, "At nine o'clock in the morning all the churches in the city were opened, and the people, in prodigious numbers, thronged these sacred tem- ples, and with one voice put up their prayers to Almighty God for the safety of the President." At noon Washington left his residence for the Federal Hall. He rode in what is described as "a handsome state chariot drawn by four horses," and was escorted by a troop of horse and several companies of infantry, the congressional committee of reception, and a number of dignitaries. All along the route the people greeted him with fervent exclamations of delight. 118 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS He was received with great ceremony at the Federal Hall, and conducted to the Senate Chamber, where Yice-President Adams thus addressed hira : " Sir, the Senate and the House of Repre- sentatives of the United States are ready to attend you to take the oath required by the Constitution, which will be adminis- tered by the Chancellor of the State of New York." "Washing- ton replied, " I am ready to proceed." The Vice-President then conducted him to the lai'ge balcony in front of the Senate Chamber, Avhere the vast throng assembled in Wall and Broad streets could witness the ceremony. A graphic and perhaps the most authentic account of Wash- ington taking the oath is to be found in a letter Avritten by Eliza Quincy, from which the following is quoted : " I was on the roof of the first house in Broad Street, and so near Washington that I could almost hear him speak. The windows and the roofs of the houses were crowded, and in the streets the throng was so dense that it seemed as if one might literally walk on the heads of the people. The balcony of the hall was in full view of this assembled multitude. In the cen- tre of it was placed a table with a rich covering of red velvet, and upon this, on a crimson velvet cushion, lay a large and ele- gant Bible. This was all the paraphernalia for the august scene. All eyes were fixed upon the balcony, where at the appointed hour Washington entered, accompanied by the Chancellor of the State of New York, who Avas to administer the oath, by John Adams, Yice-President, Governor Clinton, and many other distinguished men. By the great body of the people he had probably never been seen except as a military hero. The first in war was now to be the first in peace. His entrance on the balcony Avas announced by universal shouts of joy and wel- come. His appearance Avas most solemn and dignified. Ad- vancing to the fi'ont of the balcony, he laid his hand on his heart, boAA'ed several times, and then retired to an arm-chair near the table. The populace appeared to understand that the scene had OA^ercome him, and AA^ere at once hushed in profound silence. "After a fcAV moments Washington arose and came forward. Chancellor Livingston read the oath, according to the form pi'e- WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION 119 scribed by the Constitution, and Washington repeated it. Mr. Otis, the Secretary of the Senate, then took the Bible and raised it to the lips of Washington, who stooped and kissed the book. At this moment a signal was given, by raising a flag upon the cupola of the Federal Hall, for a general discharge of the artil- lery at the Battery. All the bells in the city rang out a peal of joy, and the assembled multitude sent forth a universal shout. The President again bowed to the people, and then retired from a scene such as the proudest monarch never enjoyed." In another account we find it stated tliat " Washington wore a suit of dark-brown cloth of American manufacture, Avith white silk stockings. On his feet were large, square shoes with silver buckles set with diamonds. His hair was powdered, brushed back, and tied in a queue. At his side hung a long sword with an ornamental hilt. . . . When Washington bowed to kiss the Bible he said solemnly ' I swear,' adding fervently, with closed eyes, ' so help me God.' ' It is done,' said the chancellor, who, turning to the spellbound throng below, exclaimed, ' Long live George Washington, President of the United States.' This was the signal for the outburst of pent-up joy and patriotism." President Washington returned to the Senate Chamber and read his inaugural address, as follows : " Fellow-citizens op the Senate and op the House op Representa- tives, — Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could liave filled me with greater anxieties than Ihat of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with llie fondest predi- lection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years; a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary, as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of fre- quent interruptions in my health, to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being snflficient to awaken in the wisest and most ex- perienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature, and unpractised in the duties of civil administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this contlict of emotions, all I dare aver is, that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected. AH I dare hope is, that if, in executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a 120 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me, and its consequences be judged by my country, with some share of the partiality in which they originated. " Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the pub- lic summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe — who presides in the councils of nations — and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benedic- tion may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invis- ible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the Unit- ed States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of provi- dential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the sys- tem of their united government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary con- sent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble an- ticipation of the future blessings which the past seems to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence. " By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty of the President ' to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.' The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject, further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled; and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more con- genial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recom- mendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as, on the one side, no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests ; so, on an- other, that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the pre-eminence of free govern- WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION 121 ment be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire ; since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happi- ness — between duty and advantage — between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felic- ity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of govern- ment are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experi- ment intrusted to the hands of the American people. " Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power delegat- ed by the fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present juncture, by the nature of objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them. Instead of un- dertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from oiHcial opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good; for I assure myself, that while you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of an united and effective government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience, a reverence for the char acteristic rights of freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, will suffi- ciently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be more impregnably fortified, or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted. " To the preceding observations I have one to add, which will be most prop- erly addressed to the House of Representatives. It concerns myself, and will, therefore, be as brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liber- ties, the light in which I contemplated my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance de- parted; and being still under the impressions which produced it, 1 must decline, as inapplicable to myself, any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department; and must accordingly pray tliat the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed may, during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual ex- penditures as the public good mny be thought to require. "Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the human race in humble supplication that, since he has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and disposi- tions for deciding, with unparalleled unanimity, on a form of government for the security of their Union and the advancement of their happiness, so his 122 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS diviue blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this government must depend." Senator Maclay, of Pennsylvania, who heard Washington's inaugural address, says in his interesting little book entitled Sketches of Delate : " This great man was agitated and embarrassed more than ever he was by the levelled cannon or pointed musket. He trembled, and several times could scarce make out to read, though it must be supposed he had often read it before. He made a flourish with his right hand, which left rather an un- gainly impression. I sincerely, for my part, wished all set ceremony in the hands of dancing-masters, and that this first of men had read off his address in the plain manner, without ever taking his eyes from the paper; for I feel hurt that he was not first in everything." After the address President Washington, accompanied by Yice- President Adams, the members of Congress, and many others, and attended by the military, proceeded on foot to St. Paul's Church, where there was an impressive service, after which the President was taken to his residence in the " state chariot." In the evening the city was brilliantly illuminated, and there was a fine display of fireworks. The inaugural ball was postponed until May 7th, Avhen it took place at the City Assembly Kooms. It is related that Washington attended the ball and danced in two cotillions. CHAPTER IX Obtaining a Revenue for the New Government. — The First TarifE Act. — ■ The Policy of Protection. — Establishing the Executive Departments. — President Washington's Cabinet. — The President's Power of Re- moval. — The Supreme Court of the United States. — How Congress Appeared during a Session. — The Compensation of Government Of- ficials and Members of Congress. — The Mace. — Reporting the De- bates. — Prominent Statesmen. — ^The Federalists and the Anti-Feder- alists. — How the Two Great Political Parties were Formed. — Their Diverging Principles. — The "Amendment Mongers." — Ten Amend- ments to the Constitution. Shortly after the inauguration of President "Washington, both houses of Congress called on him at his residence and de- livered complimentary addresses in response to his inaugural address. The President told the congressmen, among other things, that he was ready to join with them " in the arduous but pleasing task of attempting to make a nation happy." It was first necessary to obtain a revenue suflBcient for the sup- port of the new " partly federal and partly national " govern- ment, as Madison designated it, that had just gone into opera- tion ; and also for the purpose of paying the interest on the public debt, which had not been paid for several years. The Treasury that had come from the old Continental government contained little or no money, and how to replenish it was the momentous question. It was estimated that the government would require at least $600,000 a year to pay its ordinary ex- penses, and that a very large sum would also be needed to pay the interest on the public securities and to provide for their gradual extinguishment. Early in the session of Congress a resolution was intro- duced in the House of Eepresentatives by James Madison, Avhich declared that "certain duties ought to be levied on 124 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of vessels." In presenting the resolution Mr. Madison said: "The Union, by the establishment of a more effective government, having recovered from the state of imbecilitj'^ that heretofore prevented a performance of its duty, ought, in its first act, to revive those principles of honor and honesty that have too long lain dormant. The deficiency in our Treasury has been too notorious to make it necessary for me to animadvert on the subject. Let us content ourselves ■with endeavoring to remedy the evil. To do this a national revenue must be obtained ; but the system must be such a one that, while it secures the object of revenue, it shall not be op- pressive to our constituents." After extended debates in both houses, during which the subject of protection to American manufactures and agricult- ure was very generally discussed, an act was passed laying ad valorem duties ranging from 5 to 15 per cent., and also small specific duties on nearly all articles imported. It was declared in the preamble to the act that it was " necessary for the sup- port of the government, for the discharge of the debt of the United States, and the encouragement and protection of manu- factures that duties be laid on goods, wares, and merchandise imported." The act was approved on July 4, 1Y89. It was the second act passed by Congress, the first having been an act prescribing the form of oath to be taken by members of the federal government, of the State legislatures, etc., to support the Constitution of the United States. A Tonnage Act was also passed, by which foreign vessels bringing goods into the United States were to pay a duty of fifty cents a ton, while American vessels were to pay only six cents a ton. It was argued that this discrimination in favor of American shipping would " bring it forward to that perfection so essential to American safety." It was stated at the time of the passage of the Tariff Act that " the principles which governed in the final adjustment of the duties on imported goods were to impose the highest per centum on articles not considered necessary and which were deemed luxuries, and to fix the amount less on goods and products of ordinary consumption among all classes of people ; EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS CREATED 125 a regard Avas also had to such articles as were then, or might be, manufactured in the United States ; and thus a higher duty- was ordered, with a view to encourage the enterprise and indus- try of American citizens." The Tariff Act and the Tonnage Act went into operation in August, 1789, and in a short time gave the government ample means. In some months the duties on imports amounted to $200,000. Having thus provided for a sufficient revenue, Congress proceeded to create three executive departments — namely, the Department of Foreign Affairs (afterwards named the Depart- ment of State), the Treasury Department, and the Department of War. Thomas Jefferson, who had been since his retirement from the Continental Congress, Governor of Virginia and Min- ister to France, w^as selected by President Washington to be Secretary of Foreign Affairs (afterwards called Secretary of State). Alexander Hamilton was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. He was at the time practising law in New York, and had never shown any particular aptitude for finance. Af- ter assuming control of the Treasury he rapidly developed a ■wonderful genius for financial matters. General Henry Knox, the famous Massachusetts soldier, was appointed Secretary of War ; and Edmund Randolph, the eminent Virginia lawyer, ■was appointed Attorney-general, but the Department of Jus- tice over which the Attorney - general now presides was not created until 1870. These officials were to be the confidential advisers of the President, and were denominated the Presi- dent's Cabinet, or Cabinet Council. Congress decided to give the President an annual compensation of $25,000 ; the Vice- President, $5000 ; the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, $3500 ; and the other Cabinet officers, $3000. The affairs of the navy were in charge of the Department of War until 1798, when the Department of the Navy was cre- ated ; and the affairs of the Post-office Avere in charge of the Treasury Department until 1794, the Postmaster-general being an officer of that department. It was not until 1829 that the Postmaster-general became a member of the Cabinet. The Constitution gives the President the power to appoint all the important officers of the government " by and with the 126 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS advice and consent of the Senate " ; but whether the President alone or the President and the Senate combined should have the power of removal is not expressed in the great charter. Congress, after a discussion lasting nearly a week, passed a special act by a rather close vote conferring the power of removal upon the President alone. During the discussion of the matter it was held by Eoger Sherman, Elbridge Gerry, and not a few of the other members of Congress, that " as the President and the Senate were associated in making ap- pointments, the fair inference was that they must agree in removals." They thought it would be " dangerous to liber- ty " for the great power of removal to be vested in the Presi- dent alone, and they argued that if this were done it would make the ofBcers of the government " mere instruments of the President's will." On the other side, there Avere arguments to show that it would be an improper restraint on the President to require the consent of the Senate in the removal of ofBcers for Avhose conduct the President Avas, in a great measure, re- sponsible ; and that it Avas really necessary that the President should haA^e poAver to remove an incompetent or unfaithful officer " without consulting the Senate, Avho Avould be absent often from the seat of government for half the year, and who could not possibly be sufficiently acquainted Avith the ability of the incumbent or the circumstances of the case to form an ac- curate and just opinion." By Act of Congress the federal judiciary was created at this time. This Avas arranged to consist of a Supreme Court of the United States, and a number of Circuit and District Courts extending throughout the country. President Washington ap- pointed John Jay, of 'New York, to be the first Chief-Justice of the United States ; and John Putledge, of South Carolina, James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, William Cushing, of Massachu- setts, Kobert H. Harrison, of Maryland, and John Blair, of Vir- ginia, to be Associate Justices. The salary of the chief-justice was fixed at $4000 a year, and the salaries of the associate jus- tices at $3500. The daily sessions of Congress Avere conducted with a great deal of formality in both houses. The Senate sat Avith closed COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS, ETC. 127 doors, and all its proceedings were exceedingly decorous. The Senators were generally very richly dressed, and most of them were dignified even to the point of absurdity. The House of Kepresentatives was open to the public, and as it had a num- ber of eloquent orators and a great many interesting debates, its galleries were usually well filled. The Eepresentatives were as fond of fine raiment and carefully powdered wigs as the Senators, and, in the main, were dignified ; but many of their discussions were exciting and produced a current of strong feel- ing which sometimes culminated in a parliamentary battle not unlike the battles to be seen in the Congress of the present day. It was the custom for the heads of the executive de- partments to attend the sessions of Congress, to explain mat- ters and make suggestions ; and even President Washington visited the Senate on two occasions to advise with the Senators about the terms of a treaty which was being negotiated with certain Indians. The compensation of the members of Congress was fixed at $6 for each day's actual attendance in Congress, and ^6 for ev- ery twenty miles travelled in going to or returning from a ses- sion. The President^ro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Kepresentatives were each allowed $12 a day. The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House were each given an annual salary of $1500, and in addition $2 for each day of the congressional session. The House appointed a Sergeant-at-Arms, and made his pay $3 a daj'. The door-keep- ers were paid $750 a year. A mace was provided for the Sergeant-at-Arms as a "proper symbol of his office." It was placed on the Speaker's table dur- ing the sitting of the House, and under the table when the House was in committee of the whole. When the Sergeant-at- Arms was executing the commands of the Speaker he was re- quired to bear aloft the mace in his hands. This symbol of au- thority was designed after the Roman fasces. It was a bundle of ebony rods fastened with transverse bands of silver, having on its top a silver globe surmounted by a silver eagle. The debates of the House were reported by short -hand writers and printed in the Congressional Register, an unofficial 128 THE AMERICAN COTSTGRESS publication, and in the newspapers. The reporters were al- lowed access to the floor of the House, and generally had seats in front of the Speaker s platform. The Eepresentatives fre- quently complained that the reports published were " glaring deviations from truth" and full of "great misconceptions," often " distorting the arguments from the true meaning," and " imputing to some gentlemen arguments contradictory and for- eign to the subject, and which were never advanced." At last a motion was made to prohibit the publication of reports. It was discussed with considerable earnestness, and then was with- drawn " with the hope that the reporters and printers would be more cautious in the future as to their publications, and study a greater degree of accuracy and impartiality." The Senators were not troubled in this way, as no reports of the debates of the Senate were allowed to be printed for a num- ber of sessions. The Senate rigidly excluded the public and even members of the House of Eepresentatives from its chamber, and deliberated in secret, investing all its proceedings with a mystery which now seems ridiculous. On the 30th of April, 1Y90, a resolution was offered in the Senate " that the doors of the Senate Chamber shall be open when the Senate is sitting in its legislative capacity, to the end that such of the citizens of the United States as may choose to hear the debates of this house may have an opportunity of doing so." This resolution was rejected, and, two years later, a motion to open the doors to Eepresentatives met with the same fate. The Senate kept its doors closed to outsiders until December 9, 1795, when it re- solved "that, in conformity to a resolution of the Senate of the United States, passed on the 20th of February, 1794, the gallerj' of the Senate Chamber be permitted to be opened every morn- ing, subject to the restrictions in said resolution mentioned." The " restrictions " were that the doors should be closed " in such cases as may, in the opinion of the Senate, require se- crecy." Ever since that time the public have been admitted to the Senate gallery except during what are called "executive sessions," that is, sessions in Avhich communications from the President of the United States in reference to treaties, appoint- ments, etc., are discussed. PROMINENT MEMBERS 129 About the first thing that the congressmen did was to pro- vide themselves with newspapers, to be paid for out of the pub- lic treasury. "When the matter was first proposed a committee was appointed to consider it. This committee made a report which reads rather curiously now. After stating that " public economy requires that the expenses of the government be re- trenched," the report says : " But as your committee consider the publication of newspapers to be highly beneficial in dissem- inating useful knowledge throughout the United States and de- serving of public encouragement, they recommend that each member of Congress be supplied, at the public expense, with one paper, leaving the choice of the same to each member." Among the prominent members of the First Congress who have not been previously described in these pages were El- bridge Qerry, Oliver Ellsworth, Fisher Ames, Jonathan Trum- bull, William Paterson, Elias Boudinot, Kufus King, George Clymer, Charles Carroll, and Pierce Butler. Elbridge Gerry was a Massachusetts man of great ability. He was born in 1744, of English parents, was a graduate of Harvard College, and had acquired wealth as a merchant. Entering public life while a young man as a member of the legislature of his State, he had served for six years in the Continental Congress, where he had had the supreme honor and privilege of signing the Declaration of Independence. He was also a member of the Constitutional Convention, but did not sign the Constitution. In after-life he became Minister to France, Governor of Massa- chusetts, and Vice-President of the United States. The name of this able statesman has come down to poster- ity inseparably connected with the political device known as " Gerrymandering," which is the art of arranging the voting districts of a State in such a way that they will give the party in power the control of the elections. When Mr. Gerry was Gov- ernor of Massachusetts, in 1812, he was the leader of the oppo- sition to the Federal party, and it was mainly by his efforts that a bill was passed by the legislature rearranging the elec- tion districts of the State in the interest of the Democratic- Eepublicans. One of the rearranged districts had a very pecul- iar shape on the map of the State. Gilbert Stuart, the famous 9 130 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS artist, while in the sanctum of a Boston editor one day, cleverly- added legs and eyes to this district as it was outlined on the map, and then exclaimed, " ISTow this looks like a salamander." " Better say ' Gerrj^mander,' " was the reply of the editor. The name stuck, and thus Governor Gerry was immortalized. Fisher Ames was also from Massachusetts, and had defeated Samuel Adams in the race for Congress. He was thirty-one j'ears old, and was noted as a scholar and orator. Some of his speeches in Congress, particularly his speech on Jay's treaty Avith England, were exceedingly brilliant and effective. Oliver Ellsworth was a Connecticut lawyer of forty-three years, who had been a member of the Continental Congress and of the Con- stitutional Convention, and was distinguished for rare intellect- ual gifts. He afterwards became Chief-Justice of the United States. Jonathan Trumbull was another Connecticut man. He was forty-nine, a Harvard graduate, and had served as aide-de- camp to Washington during the Revolution. He became Speaker of the House, United States Senator, and Governor of Connect- icut. William Paterson, of JSTew Jersey, was an eminent law- yer, forty-four years old, who subsequently became governor of his State and for thirteen years served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Elias Boudinot, also of Isevr Jersey, was forty-nine, and a man of great distinction. He had taken an active part in the Revolution, and had been one of the presidents of the Continental Congress. He was widely known as a philanthropist. Rufus King was born in Maine in 1755. He served in the Revolution, in the Continen- tal Congress, and in the Constitutional Convention. He re- moved to New York in 1788, and represented that State in the Senate. He was highly esteemed as a lawyer and statesman. George Clymer, a prominent merchant and banker of Phila- delphia, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen- dence. He was an earnest patriot, and had suffered for the ^cause of liberty. His services in Congress were very valua- ble. Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, Md., was another signer of the Declaration, and he lived to be the last survivor of the noble band who boldly affixed their names to that instrument. He was a member of a distinguished Irish family, and possessed FEDERALISTS AND ANTI-FEDERALISTS 131 great .wealth. He was learned in law and literature, and had considerable fame as a writer on politics. Pierce Butler, of South Carolina, an Irishman of illustrious family, served as Sen- ator for nine years. He was a capable legislator, and acquired a well-merited prominence. The United States at this time was divided politically into two great factions known as the Federalists and Anti-Fed- eralists. Before the holding of the Constitutional Convention nothing that resembled a political party was to be found in the country save, possibly, the "Whigs and the Tories, who had sometimes formed political divisions during the Eevolutionary period. From time to time there had been in all the states various political combinations organized expressly to act upon local issues, and occasionally in a small way on national affairs, but nothing like a great party had grown out of these combina- tions. But when the new Constitution was submitted to the people for their ratification the political organizations desig- nated the Federalists and Anti-Federalists Avere developed. At this time the Federalists were the only supporters of the Con- stitution, and they earnestly urged its adoption because they desired an efficient federal government "fitted to make itself respected abroad and obeyed at home," and dreaded, as one has said, " the excess of popular democratic passions, tending con- stantly to anarchy." The Anti - Federalists bitterly opposed the Constitution, on the ground that it violated the sovereignty of the states and created a strong central government, which they believed would ultimately prove as despotic as that from which the country had been freed by the Revolution. But after the majority of the people had decided to adopt the Con- stitution, most of the Anti-Federalists, like good American citi- zens, yielded to the popular will and joined with the Federalists in establishing the new government provided for by the great instrument, but they differed with the latter in the construction of its clauses. The Federalists believed in a broad or, as it was generally termed, a loose construction of the Constitution. They main- tained with Alexander Hamilton, their great leader, that the nascent government could not properly carry on its work of 132 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS consolidating the league of discordant states into a compact, prosperous, and powerful nation without a liberal interpretation of the organic law. They favored the assuming of all necessary power under the claim of providing for the general welfare ; and anything that Avas for the general welfare was right, according to their way of thinking. A strong government controlled by an energetic executive they favored, and they sought in all ways to increase the executive power. The Anti-Federalists held to a strict consti'uction of the Constitution — to the very letter of the law — in order to prevent the federal government from having too great a concentration of power, which they feared would destroy the rights of the states. They were for leaving all power, when practicable, in the hands of the people. As Chief-Justice Marshall says, " they attached themselves to the State authorities, viewed all powers of Congress with jealousy, and assented reluctantly to measures which would enable the head to act in any respect indepen- dently of its members." The Federalists had a large majority in Congress, but they were disposed to legislate in a spirit of compromise. The}' seemed to follow Washington's great example. A] though he was a Federalist in spirit, if not in name, and fully believed in a vigorous central government, he sought to harmonize the two parties by making Jefferson and Eandolph, two extreme Anti- Federalists, members of his Cabinet. Before Congress had scarcely begun its session amendments to the Constitution were oifered by the Anti-Federalists, who appeared strangely apprehensive that the government might suddenly change into something like a limited monarchy, and, therefore, ought to have at once greater restrictions put upon it. These " amendment mongers," as they were called by the Federalists, offered no less than seventy-seven amendments ; but Congress, in consequence of the press of other matters, was reluctant to consider any of them. Finally, James Madison, under the spur of a forcible demand from the legislatures of Virginia and New York that a convention should be called to propose amendments to be submitted to the states for their ratification, brought in a series of amendments of his own CLOSE OF FIRST SESSION 133 which would, he believed, "do away with every objection that had been lodged against the Constitution by its most bitter enemies." After a long discussion Congress adopted twelve amendments and sent them to the states, which ratified ten of them, and they became a part of the Constitution on the 15th of December, 1Y91. These amendments prohibit Congress from making any laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, etc., and are somewhat like a bill of rights.* The two amendments not rati- fied i"eferred to the pay of congressmen and the number of the members of the House of Representatives. On the 29th of September, 1789, Congress closed its first session. Shortly before adjournment a resolution was passed requesting the President to appoint a day of public thanksgiv- ing and praj'er, to be observed " by acknowledging with grate- ful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, espe- cially by affording them an opportunity peacefully to establish a constitution of government for their safety and happiness." * For the full text of the amendments, see Appendix 0. CHAPTER X Trying to Make a Nation Happy. — President Washington's Social Eo- lations with the People. — His System of Official Etiquette. — The Arduous Labors of the First President. — The United States in 1790. — Alexander Hamilton's Plan to Pay the Public Debt. — An Exciting Discussion in Congress. — Assumption of the Indebtedness of the States Incurred during the Kevolutionary War. — The " Leg- islative Bargain" by which the National Capital was Located on the Potomac Eiver. — Jefferson's Political Dinner-party. — The Act Establishing the Permanent Seat of the Government. While Congress was busily engaged in constructing tlie ma- chinery of the government, President Washington was no less busy in arranging a system of official and social etiquette, which he deemed essential to the proper conduct of his high office. From the first he had been beset by office-seekers who had caused him a great deal of annoyance, and he had been often sorely perplexed about the official discipline and social propriety which should govern the intercourse of the President with Con- gress, the executive departments, and the people. To aid him in this difficulty he sent letters to Vice-President Adams, Chief- Justice Jay, Secretary Hamilton, and others, asking them for advice and suggestions, and from their answers combined with his own ideas he arranged the ceremonial which, with a few changes, has been in vogue at the Executive Mansion ever since. The President's relations with Congress have entirely changed. From Washington's time until the beginning of the administration of Jefferson it was the custom for the President to appear before both houses of Congress in joint convention at the opening of the yearly session, and deliver what was called the " annual address." Afterwards each house Avould adopt an address in reply, to be dehvered to the President at the Execu- tive Mansion. ISTow the " President's Message," which is sent THE PRESIDENT'S SOCIAL RELATIONS 135 to Congress to be read in both houses by clerks, takes the place of the annual address. In making up the rules by Avhich he should regulate his so- cial relations with the people, Washington concluded that he should be under no obligations to make or return social calls. In order, however, to maintain social intercourse with his fel- low-citizens, he decided to give a public reception every Tues- day afternoon. At these I'eceptions full-dress was required. "Washington's dress is thus described by a writer of this period : " He wore his hair powdered and gathered behind in a silk bag. His coat and breeches were of plain black velvet ; he wore a white or pearl-colored vest and yellow gloves, and had a cocked hat in his hand ; he had silver knee and shoe buckles and a long sword, with a finely wrought and glittering steel hilt. The coat was Avorn over this sword, which had a scabbard of polished white leather." Washington received his guests with a digni- fied bow, but never shoolc hands even with his most intimate friends. Mrs. Washington held receptions on Friday evenings, and at these the President " appeared as a private citizen with neither hat nor sword ; conversing without restraint and gener- ally with ladies." It is said that at Mrs. Washington's recep- tions " the guests were seated, and tea and coffee Avere handed round with plain and plum cake. The company were expected to retire early. ' The general retires at nine, and I usually pre- cede him,' Mrs. Washington would say." The presidents of the Continental Congress were accus- tomed to ask nearly everybody to dinner, and, it Avas said, " the}^ kept a sort of public table." Washington thought this custom Avas hardly dignified enough for a President, and, therefore, abolished it. He gave one public dinner a Aveek, to Avhich Avere invited tlie high ofiicials of the government, mem- bers of Congress, and distinguished citizens and foreigners. The dinners Avere so very plain that few Avere found to " rave " OA'er them. Of one dinner it was Avritten : " The President said grace, and then we dined on boiled leg of mutton with a few vegetables. After a simple dessert, one glass of Avine Avas of- fered each guest, and Avhen it had been drunk the President rose and led the Avay to the draAving-room." 136 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS At this time "Washington was fifty-seven years old — a fine- ly proportioned, muscular man of great dignity combined with ease and complacency. In one of her famous letters Mrs. John Adams says of him, "In Washington the gentleman and soldier look agreeably blended. Modesty marks every line and feat- ure of his face " This hero and sage had entered upon a task infinitely greater than any he had ever undertaken before. He had led the American people in successful revolution, and now was to build for them — " amid the angry conflict of passion and prejudice and unreasonable apprehension, the incredulity of many, and the grave doubt of all " — a government which should be complete, satisfactory, and permanent. He labored at this task day and night. Great difficulties surrounded him. Fisher Ames said : "The cares and labors of the President were inces- sant ; his exhortations, example, and authority were emploj'ed to excite zeal and activity for the public service ; able officers were selected only for their merits, and some of them remark- ably distinguished themselves by their successful management of the public business. The government was administered with such integrity, without mystery, and in so prosperous a course that it seemed to be wholly employed in acts of beneficence." When we consider the jealousies and lack of harmony pro- duced by the rival theories of government, and the difiiculty of Avoiding the opposing forces, it seems wonderful indeed that the first President should have been so successful in laying the broad lines on which the American nation has been constructed. It is the glory of Washington that he not only achieved the inde- pendence of his country, but that he also properly started its liberal constitutional government. The United States Avhich Washington governed had an area of only 865,000 square miles, and a population of only 3,600,000. There were nearly Y00,000 negro slaves. Three- fourths of the country was uninhabited. Little was known of the wilderness northwest of the Ohio Eiver or west of the State of Georgia. On the north and east of the American boundary -lines Great Britain had vast possessions, and on the south and west Spain held a large territory. The revenue of the United States amounted yearly to only $5,000,000, the ex- FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC DEBT 137 ports to $20,000,000, and the imports to nearly the same. The three great cities, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, had in the aggregate only a little more than 100,000 people. Truly, it was a small and insignificant nation, but even then it was stirring with a vigorous life, and had begun in earnest that wonderful progress which is unsurpassed in modern history. The second session of the First Congress began on the 4th of January, 1Y90, and shortly afterwards Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, submitted a report about the indebt- edness of the United States, in conformity to a resolution passed by the House of Representatives at the previous session. In the report Mr. Hamilton stated that the domestic debt amounted to $42,414,085, and the foreign debt to $11,Y10,378. The debts of the states, incurred for the general defence during the Revolutionary "War, were estimated at $25,000,000. Mr. Hamilton proposed, in order " to support and preserve the public credit," that the government should assume the entire State indebtedness, and then should assume and fund the whole national debt, arranging for its payment, principal and interest, by means of the surplus revenue from the duties on imports, the proceeds of the sale of the public lands, etc. Several plans for funding and paying the debt Avere submitted for the consid- eration of Congress. There was no objection to paying the principal and interest of the foreign debt in full, but there was serious objection to paying the domestic debt in this manner. The public securi- ties had greatly depreciated, and were largely held by spec- ulators who had bought them "for a song," and who would make immense fortunes if they were paid in full. After long debates, which were remarkable only for displays of violent party spirit, the House of Representatives agreed to pay both the foreign and the domestic debt in full as recommended by Mr. Hamilton, it being believed by the majority in Congress that such action on the part of the government would largely strengthen the national credit, which proved to be the case. The proposition to assume the debts of the states was bit- terly opposed by many of the members from the Southern States, who held that it was unconstitutional. The members 138 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS from the Eastern and the Middle States favored the assumption. They argued that as the states had incurred the debts for the common cause, it was, therefore, right and proper that the Avhole nation should be responsible for them. The proposition Avas adopted in the committee of the whole of the House, after a tempestuous discussion, by a vote of 31 to 26 ; but the opposi- tion, having been reinforced by the arrival of seven Representa- tives from North Carolina — that State having just ratified the Constitution and entered the Union — voted it down by a major- ity of two Avhen it came before the House. The Funding Bill without the assumption clause Avas then passed and sent to the Senate for its concurrence. The Senate, after careful consideration of the subject, re- stored the assumption clause stricken out by the House, and then passed the Funding Bill. This Avas the result of a " legisla^ five bargain " in connection AA'ith the location of the permanent seat of the goA^ernment, Avhich measure Avas before Congress at this time. The details of the matter are interesting. The question of a national capital had been agitated for some years. It Avas belicA^ed that the goA^ernment should have a permanent seat in a district especially set apart for it, and a clause to that effect had been inserted in the Constitution. The Continental Congress, on the 23d of December, 1784, had passed a resolution for the appointment of commissioners " to lay out a district on the Delaware Eiver, near the LoAver Falls, for a federal town, a federal House for Congress and for the executive officers thereof, and houses for the President and the Secretaries of Foreign Affairs, War, the Marine, and the Treasury " ; but no money was appropriated for the purpose, and, therefore, the resolution Avas not carried into effect. In 1788 the General Assembly of Maryland passed "an Act to cede to Congress and the United States any district not exceed- ing ten miles square Avhich the Congress may fix upon and accept for the seat of government of the United States " ; and the General Assembly of Virginia, in 1789, passed a similar act. Shortly after the meeting of the First Congress of the United States, in 1789, numerous petitions were received pray- SEAT OF THE GOVERNMENT 139 iiig for the speedy settlement of the question of the permanent seat of the government. It was a hard question to settle. The Northern members of Congress did not want the national capital located in Maryland or Virginia; the Southern mem- bers preferred to have it located somewhere on the Potomac Eiver. On August 27, 1789, a resolution was adopted in the House of Representatives " that a permanent residence ought to be fixed for the general government of the United States at some convenient place as near the centre of wealth, population, and extent of territory as may be consistent with convenience to the navigation of the Atlantic Ocean, and have due regard to the particular situation of the Western country." Then fol- lowed a long and bitter wrangle, during which a Northern member moved that the capital city be located at "some con- venient place on the east bank of the Susquehanna Eiver in Pennsylvania," and a member from Virginia moved that the Potomac region be selected. The latter motion was voted down, and then the House adopted a resolution for the appoint- ment of commissioners to report the most ehgible site on the Susquehanna for the government district. The resolution went to the Senate, but, after discussing the matter for three days, the Senators decided not to accept the Susquehanna site. On the 26th of September, 1789, the Senate passed a bill locating the permanent seat of the government on the Delaware Eiver at Germantown, a suburb of Pliiladelphia. The House, after an exciting debate, concurred in this bill with an amendment providing that the Pennsylvania laws then in force in the district to be ceded to the United States should be continued until Congress should otherwise provide. The bill was then sent back to the Senate for its concurrence in the amendment, but as Congress was about to conclude its annual session, and as there were many important matters to be con- sidered in the Senate, the bill was laid on the table until the next session. No one seemed to care for the Germantown Bill after that, and it was never brought up again. In May, 1790, a bill was introduced in the Senate to locate the seat of the government on the eastern bank of the Potomac, but it was rejected by a 140 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS vote of 9 to 15. Some two weeks afterwards Hamilton's Fund- ing Bill came before the Senate, and an arrangement was made that the clause assuming the State debts should be restored to the bill and the bill should be passed, in consideration of the Senate also passing a bill to establish the national capital on the Potomac. Accordingly, on June 28, 1T90, a bill was pre- sented to the Senate locating the permanent seat of the gov- ernment in a district not exceeding ten miles square " on the river Potomac, at some space between the mouths of the Eastern Branch and Conococheague." All the Southern Sena- tors voted for it, together with two Senators from Pennsyl- vania, one from New Jersey, and one from New Hampshire, the vote being 16 yeas to 9 nays. The House concurred in this bill by a vote of 32 to 29, and also in the Funding Bill as it was passed by the Senate in accordance with the bargain that had been made. Jefferson and Hamilton were the master-spirits of this legis- lative bargain, and the former, in writing about it years after- wards at his Virginia home, said : " The great and trying question [the assumption of the State debts] was lost in the House of Pepresentatives. . . . Hamilton was in despair. As I was going to the President's one day I met him in the street. He walked me backward and forward before the President's door for half an hour. He painted pa- thetically the temper into whicli the legislature had been wrought ; the disgust of those who were called the creditor states ; the danger of the secession of their members and of the separation of the states. He observed that the members of the administration ought to act in concert ; that though this question was not of my department, yet a common duty should make it a common concern ; that the President was the centre on which all administrative questions ultimately rested, and that all of us should rally around him and support with joint efforts measures approved by him ; and that, the question having been lost by a small majority only, it was probable that an appeal from me to the judgment and discretion of some of my friends might effect a change in the vote. " I told him that I was really a stranger to the whole sub- A LEGISLATIVE BARGAIN 141 ject; that not having yet informed myself of the system of finance adopted, I knew not how far this was a necessary se- quence ; that undoubtedly if its rejection endangered a disso- lution of our Union at its incipient stage, I should deem that the most unfortunate of all consequences, to avert which all partial and temporary evils should be yielded. I proposed to him, however, to dine with me the next day, and I would invite another friend or two — bring them into conference together — and I thought it impossible that reasonable men, consulting together coolly, could fail, by some mutual sacrifices of opinion, to form a compromise which was to save the Union. " The discussion took place. I could take no part in it but an exhortatory one, because I was a stranger to the circum- stances which should govern it. But it was finally agreed that whatever importance had been attached to the rejection of the proposition, the preservation of the Union and of concord among the states was more important, and that, therefore, it would be better that the vote of rejection should be rescinded, to effect which some members should change their votes. But it was observed that this pill would be peculiarly bitter to the Southern States, and that some concomitant measure should be adopted to sweeten it a little to them. There had been propo- sitions to fix the seat of government either at Philadelphia or at Georgetown on the Potomac, and it Avas thought that by giving it to Philadelphia for ten years, and to Georgetown permanently afterwai-ds, this might, as an anodyne, calm in some degree, the ferment which might be excited by the other measure alone. So two of the Potomac members (White and Lee, but the former with a revulsion of stomach almost convul- sive) agreed to change their votes, and Hamilton undertook to carry the other point. In doing this, the influence he had es- tablished over the Eastern members, with the agencj^ of Eobert JVIorris over those of the Middle States, effected his side of the engagement, and so the assumption was passed." Secretary Hamilton's plan of hquidating the debts of the old Confederation, Avhich has been called " a monument of statesmanship," had the effect to restore the public credit at once, and enabled the United States to emerge from its finan- 142 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS cial slough of despond. Capitalists furnished the government with sufficient money to liquidate the foreign and domestic in- debtedness, and these new loans were funded in such a way that they were not a burden. Debts of the states to the amount of $18,271, Y86 were assumed. This solution of the dif- ficult financial problem gave a wonderful impetus to trade and manufactures, and started the nation upon a flourishing careei;. The Southwestern lands held by the State of ISTorth Caro- lina were ceded to the United States at this session of Con- gress, and a government for this territory similar to that of the ISTorthwestern Territory was established. Slavery, how- ever, Avas not prohibited in the Southwestern Territory, as it was in the ISTorthwestern. The act for establishing the permanent seat of the federal government, which was passed by Congress on July 9, 1790, provided for the selection by the President of " a district of ter- ritory," ten miles square, somewhere on the Potomac River, in the region beginning at the mouth of the Eastern Branch or Anacostia Piver, and extending many miles to the northwest. The President was authorized to appoint three commissioners to survey, " define and limit " the district selected, and prior to December, 1800, they w^ere required to provide in this district " suitable buildings for the accommodation of Congress and of the President, and for the public offices of the Government of the United States." For defraying the expenses of the purchase of the land and the erection of the buildings, the President was " authorized and requested to accept grants of money." It was further provided that on the first Monday of Decem- ber, 1790, the seat of government should be removed from New York to Philadelphia, where it was to remain until December, 1800, when it was to be transferred to the new Potomac dis- trict. CHAPTER XI Removal of Congress to Philadelphia. — The New Congress Hall. — The Unpopular Excise Law. — A Bank of the United States Chartered. — New States Admitted to the Union. — First Debates about Slavery. — The Fugitive-Slave Law. — Adoption of the Party Name of Demo- cratic-Republican. — Jefferson becomes the Leader of the New Party. — How Washington was Criticised and Abused. — Philip Freneau and His Newspaper. — American Sympathy with the French Revolu- tion. — Washington's Declaration of Neutrality, and the Excitement it Created. — Genet's Visit to the United States. The First Congress had three sessions, the last of which be- gan in Philadelphia on the 6th of December, 1790, the govern- ment having removed to that city a short time before. A substantial brick building, erected on the southeast corner of Chestnut and Sixth streets for a court-house, had been tendered to Congress by the authorities of Philadelphia, and Major L'Enfant had put it in order. The House of Representatives occupied the entire first floor. Its hall was furnished with ma- hogany desks and chairs resting on a velvet carpet, and the walls were adorned with the national flag and portraits of dis- tinguished Americans. Near the centre of the western wall stood the Speaker's chair, which was of mahogany, upholstered in leather ornamented with brass nails, and had no canopy. The Senate had a handsomely furnished chamber in the second story, where also were various rooms used by the committees and officers of Congress. In a Philadelphia newspaper of 1791 is this statement : " In a very plain chair without canopy, and with a small mahogany table before him, festooned at the sides and front with green silk, Mr. Adams, the Yice- President, presides as President of the Senate. Among the Senators is observed constantly during the debates the most delightful silence, the most beautiful order, 144 THK AMERICAN CONGRESS gravity, and personal dignity of manner. They all appear ev- ery morning full - powdered and dressed in the richest material. The very atmosphere of the chamber seems to inspire wisdom, mildness, and condescension. Should any of the Senators so far forget for a moment as to be the cause of a protracted whisper while another was addressing the Yice-President, three gentle raps with his silver pencil-case by Mr. Adams immediately re- stored everything to repose and the most respectful attention. The Senators, in their courtesy, present a most striking contrast to the independent loquacity of the Eepresentatives below stairs, most of whom persist in wearing, while in their seats and dur- ing the debates, their ample cocked hats, placed ' fore and aft ' upon their heads." Soon after the beginning of this session of Congress an act was passed, after a long and protraicted debate, increasing the duties on imported liquors, tea, and coffee, and, in addition, lay- ing a duty on home-distilled spirits in order to provide sufficient funds to pay the interest on the State debts assumed by the na- tional government. The excise or internal-revenue part of this act was unpopular in certain sections of the country. In west- ern Pennsylvania, where considerable whiskey was distilled, the people rebelled against the excise, and the legislatures of Penn- sylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina denounced the Assumption Act in strong terms. The most important measure presented at this session was Alexander Hamilton's plan of a Bank of the United States, to act as the financial agent of the government. The Bank of North America, which had been incorporated by the Continental Con- gress in 1781, and which had given invaluable financial aid to the government during the latter part of the Revolutionary "War and for some years after, was at this time acting under a charter from the State of Pennsylvania. Having only a small capital, it could not take charge of the government finances, and a new and greater bank was deemed necessary. The Fed- eralists earnestly supported Plamilton's plan, but the Anti-Fed- eralists, who were strongly opposing all the financial measures of the administration, fought against it on the ground that it was unconstitutional, because the power of establishing a bank BANK OF THE UNITED STATES 145 ■was not granted to Congress. The Federalists maintained, however, that as Congress had the power "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper " for the collection of the revenue, it was entirely within its constitutional rights to charter a bank to aid in this purpose. The Bank Act was passed and sent to President "Washington for his approval. lie favored it, but before signing requested the written opinions of his Cabinet as to its constitutionality. Secretaries Plamilton and Knox approved of the act. Mr. Hamilton submitted an elaborate argument to show that a government bank was constitutional. He declared that in addi- tion to the express powers, which were well understood. Con- gress had implied powers and resultant powers, which, though not so w^ell understood, were just as clearly given in the Consti- tution. By the implied powers and the resultant powers, he argued, Congress had full authority to charter an institution which would care for the finances of the government. Secretary Jefferson and Attorney-general Eandolph viewed the act from the Anti-Federalist stand-point, and of course dis- approved of it. Mr. Jefferson held that Congress had only two powers — those expressed in the Constitution, and those abso- lutely necessary to carry out the express powers. As a govern- ment bank was not absolutely necessary, although it might be convenient. Congress had no power, he said, to charter one. Washington signed the act on February 25, 1Y91, and the Bank of the United States created b}'' it was located in Phila- delphia, with branches in other places, and had a prosperous existence until 1811, when Congress, having then a strong Democratic-Eepublican majority, refused to renew its charter, which had been limited to twenty years. The bank had a cap- ital of ten million dollars, of which two millions were subscribed by the government, and its notes were legal tender for public and private debts. It was very ably managed, and made annual dividends averaging about sixteen per cent. Its stock, as may be supposed, commanded a high price. During its career it re- ceived and disbursed more than one hundred million dollars of the public money, and in many ways it was of great benefit to the government. 10 146 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS A national mint was established by Secretary Hamilton, and during the five years that he was at the head of the Treas- ury Department, he so fully developed the national system of collecting, keeping, and disbursing the public funds that it has not since been found necessary to make many important changes in the system. It was of Hamilton that Daniel Webster made his famous remark : " He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth ; he touched the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its feet." The number of states was increased by the admission into the Union of Yerraont, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The first was formed from territory originally claimed by JSTew York, but relinquished, the second from a part of Yirgiuia, and the third from the territory ceded to the United States by North Carolina. Yermont was admitted in 1791, Kentucky in 1792, and Tennessee in 1796. During Washington's first term the subject of negro slavery was introduced in Congress. Numerous petitions — one of which was from the " Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Aboli- tion of Slavery," and bore the name of Benjamin Franklin — were presented praying for the abolition of the slave-trade. The petitions were referred to a special committee of the House of Representatives, which reported that Congress had no authority, prior to the year 1808, to prohibit " the migra- tion or importation of such persons as any of the states should think proper to admit " ; and also that Congress had " no au- thority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them in any of the states." This report received the sanction of the House in March, 1790. There were exciting debates about slavery, the forerunner of what was to come many years after. In February, 1792, Congress passed an act for the return of fugitive slaves to their masters. The Fugitive-Slave Act, or as it was entitled, " An act respecting fugitives from justice and persons escaping from the service of their masters," was passed in the Senate without any opposition, and in the House by a vote of 48 to 7. It provided : FUGITIVE-SLAVE ACT 147 " That when a person held to labor in any of the United States, or in either of the territories on the northwest or south of the river Ohio, under the laws thereof, shall escape into any other of the said states or territories, the person to whom such labor or service may be due, his agent or attorney, is hereby empowered to seize or arrest such fugitive from labor, and to take him or her before any judge of the Circuit or District courts of the United States residing or being within the State, or before any magistrate of a county, city, or town corporate, wherein such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof, to the satisfaction of such judge or magistrate, either by oral testimony or affidavit taken before and certified by a mag- istrate of any such State or Territory, that the person so seized or arrested doth, under the laws of the State or Terri- tory from which he or she fled, owe service or labor to the person claiming him or her, it shall be the duty of such judge or magistrate to give a certificate thereof to such claimant, his agent or attorney, which shall be sufficient warrant for re- moving the said fugitive from labor to the State or Territory from which he or she fled. " That any person who shall knowingly and willingly ob- struct or hinder such claimant, his agent or attorney, in so seizing or arresting such fugitive from labor, or shall rescue such fugitive from such claimant, his agent or attorney, when so arrested, pursuant to the authority herein given or declared ; or shall harbor or conceal such person, after notice that he or she was a fugitive from labor, as aforesaid, shall, for either of the said offences, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars." There was a constant display of violent party spirit in Con- gress for a number of years subsequent to 1Y92. The Anti- Federalists increased rapidly throughout the country, became well organized, sent their ablest men to the national legislature, and presented a formidable opposition to the measures of the Federalists. For a long time the old party name had been un- suitable, and, at the suggestion of Thomas Jefferson, the name of Democratic - Eepublican was substituted for that of Anti- Federalist. Some members of the party had been called Dem- 148 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS ocrats and some Republicans, and Mr. Jefferson thought the compound name would be satisfactory to all. The party con- tinued to bear this name until about 1828, when it was abbre- viated to Democratic. A strict construction of the Constitution ^Yas advocated by the Democratic-Republicans. They believed in limiting the powers of the government and increasing the strength and influence of the people in the administration of affairs. The people, they said, are the only source of legitimate political power. They were for an extension of suffrage, which at this time Avas somewhat restricted ; and they were very ear- nest in the advocacy of an economical expenditure of the pub- lic monej''. This was Mr. Jefferson's doctrine — the "Jefferso- nian democracy" — and the distinguished Virginian became the leader of the party, and, in fact, may be called the founder of it. He certainly impressed on it his own marked individ- uality. Alexander Hamilton, that great financial genius, and John Adams led the Federalists, who were characterized by their broad, free construction of the Constitution, and by their con- tinual efforts to augment the strength of the government. They advocated a liberal expenditure of the public money wherever it would do good to the country; they favored the establishment of a standing army and a navy and the creation of new offices. Both parties had unanimously concurred in the election of Washington to the presidency, but during his administration they were fully developed, and began a severe contest for supremacy. Jefferson and Hamilton seemed to have developed a bitter antagonism, and neither lost an opportunity to injure the fair fame of the other. In later years Mr. Jefferson wrote, " Hamilton and I were pitted against each other every day in the Cabinet like two fighting -cocks." There is no doubt that Washington was made very unhappy because of the deter- mined hostility of his two principal officials, and moreover was greatly mortified to find his kind remonstrances and exhortations ineffectual in reconciling them. It is indispu- table that the President had cause for complaint against Mr. Jefferson, and the wonder is that the latter should have SCURRILOUS ATTACKS ON WASHINGTON 149 remained in an administration the measures of which he was opposing, and for which he was continually expressing con- tempt. At this period the newspapers of the country were noted for their attacks on public personages, and they " indiscrimi- nately assaulted the most spotless characters, and paid no re- spect to exalted services or venerable age." The principal Fed- eralist paper in Philadelphia was Fenno's United States Gazette, and the leading opposition sheet was the National Gazette, edited by Philip Freneau, known as the poet of the Eevolution. Freneau was of Huguenot descent — a neat, dapper gentleman of culture, with a sweet voice and captivating smile, who was employed as a translating clerk in the Department of State. His paper made scurrilous attacks on Washington and Hamil- ton, charging them with endeavoring to form a monarchical government, and even with having used the public funds con- trary to law. Washington's receptions were described as " a poor attempt to ape royalty," and Mrs. Washington's levees were sneered at. All the time that his paper was fiercely abusing the President and the Federahst officials Freneau was drawing a salary from the government, and, despite all pro- tests, was sustained and held securely in his place by Secretary of State Jefferson. It is now known that Mr. Jefferson even wrote or inspired some of the most scandalous articles printed in Freneau's Gazette, although he always professed great friend- ship and admiration for the President. It appears that Wash- ington knew this fact, and this knowledge may have prompted him to declare one day in a moment of passion that " Jefferson is a profound hypocrite." It may be said in excuse of Mr. Jefferson's rather singular behavior at this period of his life, that he had come from a long residence in France, and, in the words of an intimate friend, " he was really a monomaniac on the subject of miscalled French ' democracy.' He was thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the radical French revolutionists." He afterwards recovered from this "fitful fever," and advocated most of the measures that he had opposed while a member of Washington's Cabinet — great and noble measures which restored the public credit, 150 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS securely welded the nation, and raised it to a bigh, honorable place in the estimation of the world. Washington was re-elected President, and had scarcely en- tered upon his second term when be was embarrassed by new political complications arising from the French Eevolution, -which had begun in 1789, and the progress of which had been watched with intense interest by the American people. War against England was declared by the French Eepublic. Im- mediately thereafter a strong feeling arose in the United States that this country should become the ally of France, and make common cause with her in the war. The Democratic- Eepublicans favored the cause of the French revolutionists, although deprecating their ferocity and cruelty. They hoped that eventually good order would be restored in the republic of France, and that it would enjoy the blessings of a free gov- ernment. Many of the Democratic-Republicans maintained that the Treaty of 1Y78, which bound the United States and France to offensive as well as defensive aUiance, was still in force, and that under it the Americans were obliged in honor to give assistance to the French in their struggle for freedom. The Federalists, on the other hand, advocated a strict neu- trality. They insisted that the treaty with France was nulli- fied by the revolutionary change of government in that coun- trj^ Shocked at the terrible crimes of the French rulers, and alarmed at their system of disorganization, the Federalists urged Washington to issue a proclamation of neutrahty at once, in order that the United States should not be involved in the war. A meeting of the President's Cabinet was called, and as it was found that all the members, including even Secretary Jefferson, were in favor of the proclamation, it was issued. The proclamation is known as Washington's " Declaration of Neutrality." It forbade American citizens to take part in any hostilities on behalf of or against any of the belligerent powers, and Avarned them against conv^eying to the dominions of any of the powers any of those articles " deemed contraband by the modern usage of nations." There is no doubt that the Declaration of Neutrality was a very judicious measure, but it was received by a large number CITIZEN- GENET 151 of the American people with great indignation, and, was con- sidered "a stretcla of power." A flame of anger seemed to sweep from one State to another. The Democratic-Eepubhoan newspapers asserted that the Declaration was unconstitutional, because to forbid war included the power to declare war, and that power belonged only to Congress and could not be exer- cised by the President. Secretary Plamilton was credited with the authorship of the Declaration, and Freneau called him " the legislative dictator of the Union." Washington was bitterly denounced, and the shower of vile epithets that was poured upon him at this time for his wise and courageous action is a matter of amazement to the student of histor3^ During this excitement Edmund Genet, commonly called Citizen Genet, who had been appointed by the French Eepub- lic Minister to the United States, arrived at Charleston, S. C, in April, 1793. He was enthusiastically welcomed by the Democratic -Eepublicans, and, doubtless misled by his flatter- ing reception, almost immediately began to urge the people to defy the proclaimed neutrality. He caused privateers to be fitted out to capture English vessels, and performed other un- lawful acts. When he reached Philadelphia he was greeted by those who favored the French cause with "the most extravagant marks of joy," but the President gave him a cool reception and informed him that he must cease his violations of neutralitJ^ He persisted in his audacious conduct, however, and for several months was a source of great annoyance, embarrassment, and even danger to the administration, as he was strongly support- ed by the Democratic-Kepublicans, who seemed to be in the majority in the country. On one occasion he said that he should " appeal from the government to the people." The condition of affairs is shown in this extract from a letter written by John Adams : " You certainly never felt the terrorism excited by Genet in 1793, when ten thousand people in the streets of Philadelphia day after day threatened to drag Washin.gio}i out of his house and effect a revolution in the gov- ernment, or else compel it to declare war in favor of the French Revolution and against England. The coolest and the firm- est minds even among the Quakers in Philadelphia have given 152 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS their opinions to me that nothing but the yellow-fever, which removed Dr. Hutchinson and Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant from this world, could have saved the United States from a fatal revolution of government." Genet was recalled upon the demand of "Washington, and Congress finally approved of the neutrality measure and passed an act prohibiting the citizens of the United States from all military expeditions, on land or sea, against any foreign nations with which the United States were at peace ; and from receiv- ing and acting under any commissions for such hostile purposes. CHAPTER XII A Strong Feeling for War witli England. — The Jay Treaty. — Its Eat- ification by the Senate and Approval by President Washington. — Great Public Disapproval of the Treaty. — The President Assailed with a Storm of Vituperation. — Washington's Farewell Address. — Administration of John Adams. — Trouble with France. — The X. Y. Z. Mission. — The Unpopular Alien and Sedition Laws. — Denuncia- tion of these Laws by the Legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia. — Their Famous Resolutions. — Death of Washington. — The Congres- sional Funeral Ceremony. The intense feeling against England which prevailed in the United States during Genet's visit and for some time there- after had been developing, it may be said, ever since the for- mer country had refused to carry out certain provisions of the Treaty of Peace of 1783. England, although obligated by the treaty, had declined to evacuate the mihtary posts she had es- tablished during the Eevolutionary War on the south side of the great Western lakes which form the northern boundary of the United States. By holding these posts she was enabled to control a number of powerful Indian tribes, and to obtain a lucrative trade with them. It was believed that her agents had incited these savages to hostilities against the United States. England had also declined to pay for the many slaves her troops had carried off when they sailed from the country. American ships had been searched and American seamen im- pressed to serve on British ships of war ; and, to crown all, American ships bound for France with grain had been seized by British cruisers and confiscated, thus violating the principle of neutrality firmly held in the United States that "free ships shall make free goods." In regard to this principle it was maintained by the American government that it had been well established by both reason and usage "that when two nations 154 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS went to war those who chose to live in peace retained their natural rights to pursue their agriculture, manufactures, and other ordinary vocations ; to carry the produce of their indus- try for exchange to all nations, belligerents or neutrals, as usu- al ; to go and to come freely, without injury or molestation." England sought to justify her action in holding the Western forts on the ground that the United States had neglected to en- force the clauses of the treaty requiring the confiscated estates of the Tories to be returned to them, and requiring the Amer- icans to pay the British merchants all debts contracted before the war ; but as to the other obnoxious measures she made no pretence of justification. It required Washington's utmost efforts to maintain the Declaration of Neutrality. War with England was insisted upon, in Congi'ess and out. England had almost destroyed American commerce ; she had deliberately insulted the nation, and continually in her intercourse with it assumed a haughty, irritating manner. It is no wonder, then, that many of the Federalists as well as the Democratic-Eepublicans raised their voices for war. Congress passed an act laying an embargo on British goods, and acts providing for the raising of a provi- sional army and the erecting of fortifications to protect the sea- ports. Several measures of severe retaliation were proposed, but during the discussion of them England revoked the order for the capture of American vessels and plainly intimated that she would negotiate a new treaty. Washington, who was very desirous of averting war by any honorable means, immediately commissioned Chief-Justice Jay to go to England to negotiate with the British government. The treaty which Jay negotiated was the cause of much in- dignation throughout the United States. After the Senate had confirmed it in June, 1795, an indiscreet Senator gave out a copy for publication. Meetings were immediately held in the principal cities to pi'otest against it, and the President was urged not to affix his signature to the document. The treaty provided that the Western military posts should be speedily evacuated, that compensation should be made for the illegal seizures of American vessels, and that the government of the ABUSE OF WASHINGTON 155 United States should hold $3,000,000 in trust for the payment of the English creditors of the Americans. But the treaty did not forbid the searching of American vessels, which the British government claimed as a right ; it did not provide for the payment of slaves carried away, and it restricted the United States in its lucrative commerce Avith the West Indies. For these reasons the majority of the American people, Demo- cratic-Kepublicans and Federalists alike, Avere bitterly opposed to it. Washington believed, however, that the treaty was the best that could be obtained under the existing circumstances, and would at least prevent war, and therefore signed it despite the popular clamor. Forthwith the Father of his Country was assailed with a storm of vituperation, which for malignity, for indecency and offensiveness, has had no parallel in American political his- tory. The newspapers were filled with scandalous articles about Washington's conduct of public affairs, and on the street, in public meetings, and everywhere that the indignant oppo- nents of the treaty assembled, vile calumnies upon his private life and character were freely and continually uttered. He was called "a panderer to the evil designs of Great Britain"; he was charged with having violated the Constitution in au- thorizing the negotiation of a treaty without first laying the matter before the Senate, and he was even threatened with impeachment. Thomas Paine had the audacity to write to him that he was " treacherous in private friendship, and a hypocrite in public," and that "the world will be puzzled to decide whether you are an apostate or impostor ; whether you have abandoned good principles, or whether you ever had any." So malevolent and cruel were the accusations and asper- sions that Washington exclaimed in great bitterness of spirit, " I would rather be in my grave than in the presidency." In a letter to Jefferson he wrote : " I am accused of being the enemy of America, and subject to the influence of a foreign country, and to prove which every act of my administration is tortured, and the grossest and most insidious misrepresentation of them made by giving one side only of a subject, and that too 156 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS in such exaggerated and indecent terms as could scarcely be ap- plied to a Nero, to a notorious defaulter, or even to a common pickpocket." Jay and Hamilton also came in for a very liberal share of abuse, and the former was hanged in effigy in several cities. Within a year, however, the treaty produced a revival of com- merce, and in many ways proved of considerable advantage to the country, and its opponents, we are told, were thoroughly ashamed of themselves for their treatment of the President and his friends. Having firmly refused a third term of office, Washington, on the 17th of September, 1796, issued a farewell address to the American people in anticipation of his leaving public life for- ever in the following March. Both houses of Congress made appropriate responses to the President's address, and resolu- tions of thanks for his " wise, firm, and patriotic administra- tion" Avere passed. Washington's Farewell Address is justly regarded as a classic American state paper. It is known that Madison and Hamil- ton gave some aid to him in its preparation. It is a document of more than six thousand words, and is described by Washing- ton as the " counsels of an old and affectionate fi'iend," who hopes they " may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good," and "now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, and to guard against the impostures of pretended pa- triotism." In his address Washington first announced his resolution to retire from the presidency, and then said that he had " contrib- uted towards the organization and administration of the gov- ernment the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable." He acknowledged a "debt of gratitude" to his country for the many honors conferred on him, and said that if benefits had resulted from his services, "let it always be re- membered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious — vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS 157 — in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism — the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected." He hoped that the Union and the brotherly affection would be perpetual ; that the Constitution would be sacredly main- tained, and that its administration in every department would be stamped Avith wisdom and virtue. He declared that respect for the authority of the Constitution, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, Avere duties enjoined by the funda- mental maxims of true liberty, and that all obstruction to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, Avith the real design to direct, con- trol, counteract, or aAve the regulation and action of the consti- tuted authorities, were destructive of this fundamental princi- ple and of fatal tendency. He urged the preservation of the unity of government Avhich constituted his countrymen one people. " The name of Ameri- can, Avhich belongs to you in j'our national capacity," he said, " must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight dif- ferences of opinion, you ha\^e the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together ; the independence and liberty you pos- sess are the work of joint councils and joint efiforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes." The baneful effects of party spirit he deprecated, as tending to " distract the public councils, enfeeble the public administration, agitate the community Avith ill-founded jealousies and kindred animosities." Religion and morality he deemed indispensable supports to political prosperi- ty. He advised good faith towards all nations ; but, Avhile cul- tivating a liberal intercourse Avith foreign governments, he be- lieved it Avould be well to guard against the insidious wiles of foreign influence — to haA'e as little political connection with other nations as possible. In closing Washington said : " Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sen- 158 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS sible of my ou'n defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fer- vently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence ; and that after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the man- sions of rest." * In reviewing the career of the first President, Pitkin, the historian, says : " The personal influence of Washington, due alike to his wisdom, his virtues, and his eminent services, was of the utmost importance in the first working of the new govern- ment. During the eight years of his administration all differ- ences with foreign nations had been peaceably settled except those with France ; and at home the Indian tribes had been pacified. Public and private credit was restored; ample provi- sion made for the security and ultimate payment of the public debt ; American tonnage had nearly doubled ; the exports had increased from nineteen to more than fifty-six millions of dol- lars ; the imports in about the same proportion ; and the amount of revenue from imports had exceeded the most sanguine calcu- lations. The population had increased from three and a half to five millions ; and agriculture and all the industrial interests of the country were in a flourishing state." When John Adams became President, in 1797, the only drawback to the general prosperity was the trouble with France. President Adams was an earnest Federalist, and fully in sympa- thy with the neutrality policy of the previous administration. Shortly after his election the French Directory, failing to involve the United States in the European Avars, and greatly incensed at the Jay Treaty, authorized the seizure and confiscation of Ameri- can ships and their cargoes, and peremptorily ordered Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, the American Minister, to quit France. President Adams convened Congress, by proclamation, on the * For the full text of Wasliington's Farewell Address, see Appendix D. TKOUBLE WITH FRANCE 159 15th of May, 1797, and in a spirited speech gave that body an account of the indignities offered to the United States by the French government. He said that while he intended to make an effort to adjust the differences with France by amicable ne- gotiation, the threatening aspect of affairs rendered it his imper- ative duty to recommend effectual measures of defence. "While Congress was considering the various measures recommended, President Adams commissioned Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry to be envoys to France to settle the points of difference between the two nations. The mission of these envoys is termed " The X. Y. Z. Mission," be- cause these initials were used by agents of the French Di- rectory when they had correspondence with the Americans in regard to paying France a large sum of money " to buy a peace." It was when the demand for a bribe was made by the Frenchmen that Mr. Pinckney is said to have uttered those memorable words, " Millions for defence ; not one cent for trib- ute." Finally, after many insults, the envoys were obliged to leave France without having accomplished anything. Not being able to obtain peace. Congress at once prepared for war, but did not formally declare it. An army was raised and Washington was appointed its commander. Several engagements between American and French ships of war took place. Before the con- flict had proceeded very far the French Directory was over- thrown, and Napoleon Bonaparte became the ruler of France. Negotiations were begun with him for a treaty, which was made in September, 1800. What are known as the " Alien and Sedition laws," which were passed by Congress in the summer of 1798, aroused a great deal of indignation, and caused the Federal party, which had ad- vocated them, to become exceedingly unpopular. These laws arose from the trouble with France, and were intended to coun- teract the schemes of the emissaries of the French Directory who were located in the large cities of the United States, and who continually abused the President and Congress, and excited the opposition of the people to the government. The "Act Concerning Aliens " provided : " That it shall be lawful for the President of the United 160 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS States at any time during the continuance of this act [two years] to order all such aliens as he shall deem dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof, to depart out of the territory of the United States within such time as shall be expressed in, such order; which order shall be served on such alien by delivering him a copy thereof, or leaving the same at his usual abode. . . . And in case any alien so ordered to depart shall be found at large within the United States after the time limited in such order for his departure, and not having obtained a license from the President to reside therein, or, having ob- tained such license, shall not have conformed thereto, every such alien shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three years, and shall never after be admitted to become a citizen of the United States : Provided always, and be it further enacted, that if any alien, so ordered to depart, shall prove to the satisfaction of the President, by evidence to be taken before such person or persons as the President shall direct, who are for that purpose hereby authorized to administer oaths, that no injury or danger to the United States will arise from suffering such alien to reside therein, the President may grant a license to such alien to remain within the United States for such time as he shall judge proper, and at such place as he shall designate. And the President may also require of such alien to enter into a bond to the United States, in such penal sum as he may direct, with one or more sufficient sureties, to the satisfac- tion of the person authorized by the President to take the same, conditioned for the good behavior of such alien during his residence in the United States, and not violating his license, which license the President may revoke whenever he shall think proper." In the " Sedition Law," or, as it was entitled, " An act in addition to the act entitled ' An act for the punishment of cer- tain crimes against the United States,' " it was provided : " That if any persons shall unlawfully combine or conspire together with intent to oppose any measure or measures of the government of the United States which are or shall be directed . THE SEDITION LAW 161 by proper authority, or to impede tlie operation of any law of the United States, or to intimidate or prevent any person, hold- ing a place or oflBce in or under the government of the United States, from undertaking, performing, or executing his trust or duty, and if any person or persons, with intent as aforesaid, shall counsel, advise, or attempt to procure, any insurrection, riot, unlawful assembly, or combination, whether such conspir- acy, threatening, counsel, advice, or attempt shall have the pro- posed effect or not, he or they shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, on conviction before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and by imprisonment dur- ing a term not less than six months, nor exceeding five years ; and further, at the discretion of the court, may be holden to find sureties for his good behavior, in such sum and for such time as the said court may direct." It was also provided : " That if any person shall write, print, utter, or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered, or pub- lished, or shall, knowingly and willinglv, assist or aid in writ- ing, printing, uttering, or publishing, any false, scandalous, and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either House of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to de- fame the said government, or either house of the said Con- gress, or the said President, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute ; or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States ; or to stir up sedition within the United States ; or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or re- sisting any law of the United States, or any act of the Presi- dent of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the Constitution of the Unit- ed States ; or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act ; or to aid, encourage, or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against the United States, their people or government ; then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished 11 162 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprison- ment not exceeding two years." An act was also passed extending the time of residence in the United States for foreigners who desired to be naturalized from five to fourteen years. "Alien enemies" were forbidden naturalization. The Alien and Sedition laws were passionately denounced by the Democratic-Eepublicans, who declared that " this unwar- ranted assumption of power" was indisputable evidence that the Federalists had not the slightest regard for the Consti- tution. When President Adams, in some notable cases, pro- ceeded to execute the laws, there was an outburst of indigna- tion, and the popularity that the President had gained for the patriotic stand he had taken in regard to France rapidly di- minished. The great objection to the Alien Law was that it gave the President the power to judge and decide without em- ploying the usual forms of law, and this power, it was believed, was very likely to be abused. The Federalists held that the persons liable under the law were not citizens and had no just claims to a residence in the United States, and that the opin- ions they expressed and the action they took endangered the welfare of the nation for which it was the imperative duty of Congress to provide. The Sedition Law, it was claimed by its opponents, would restrict the liberty of speech and of the press, and was an arbitrary interference with the right of citi- zens to utter their opinions freely on public measures. The disfavor in which the Alien and Sedition laws were held by the people generally gave the Democratic-Eepublicans an opportunity to defeat the Federalists, and secure control of the government. They began the work by endeavoring to have the State legislatures make strong protests against the laws. With this end in view a series of resolutions, the origi- nal draft of which was written by Thomas Jefferson, then Vice- President of the United States, was passed by the General As- sembly of Kentucky in 1798 ; and another series, prepared by James Madison, was passed by the General Assembly of Vir- ginia in the same year. The Kentucky resolutions, which were passed on November KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS 163 10, 1798, were penned by Mr. Jefferson at the urgent solicita- tion of prominent Deraocratic-Kepublicans. He did not wish to be known as their author, and exacted a solemn pledge of secrecy, which was faithfully kept for twenty years. The first resolution made this declaration : ^'■Resolved, That the several states composing the United States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government ; but that by com- pact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a general government for special purposes, reserving, each State to it- self, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government ; and that whensoever the general government assumes undele- gated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force ; that to this compact each State acceded as a State, and is an integral party ; that this government, created by this compact, was not made the exclusive or final judge of the ex- tent of the powers delegated to itself ; since that Avould have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers ; but that, as in all other cases of compact among parties having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress." Having thus defined the limitations of the federal govern- ment and the rights of the states, the resolutions next declared that the Alien and Sedition acts were "not law," but were " altogether void and of no force," because they referred to powers not delegated to the federal government by the states, but which were expressly reserved to the states or the people by one of the amendments to the Constitution. It was asserted that the Commonwealth of Kentucky was determined " to submit to undelegated and consequently unlim- ited powers in no man or body of men on earth." It was then declared : " That if the acts before specified should stand, these conclu- sions would flow from them : that the general government may place any act they think proper on the list of crimes and punish it themselves, whether enumerated or not enumerated by the 164 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS Constitution as cognizable by them ; that they may transfer its cognizance to the President or any other person, who may himself be the accuser, counsel, judge, and jury; whose sus- picion may be the evidence, his order the sentence, his officer the executioner, and his breast the sole record of the trans- action." Thus the " barriers of the Constitution would be swept away," and, the resolutions proclaimed, "no rampart" would remain " against the passions and the powers of a majority in Congress." Acts of this character, "unless arrested on the threshold," it was avowed, " may tend to drive these states into revolution and blood." In conclusion, Kentuckj'' called upon " its co-states for an expression of their sentiments " on the obnoxious acts — •" wheth- er they are or are not authorized by the federal compact." Mr. Madison's resolutions were passed by the General As- sembly of "Virginia on December 21, 1798. After expressing " a firm resolution " to maintain and defend the Constitution of the United States, and declaring a warm attachment to the Union of the states, the resolutions " explicitly and perempto- rily " declare that the powei's of the federal government, result- ing from the compact to which the states are parties, are lim- ited to the plain sense and intention of the compact, and are no further valid than they are authorized by the grants enu- merated in that instrument; and that in case of "a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers," not granted by the Constitution, " the states have the right and are in duty bound to interfere, for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to them." Deep regret is ex- pressed that a spirit had been manifested by the federal gov- ernment to enlarge its powers by " forced constructions of the constitutional chart which defines them," the inevitable result of which would be, it is asserted, " to transform the present republican system of the United States into an absolute or, at best, a mixed monarchy." A protest is made against the Alien and Sedition laws, which, it is declared, exercise powers not delegated to the fed- KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS 165 eral government, and the other states are appealed to, " in con- fidence that they will concur with this Commonwealth in de- claring, as it does hereby declare, that the aforesaid acts are unconstitntional ; and that the necessary and proper measures will be taken by each for co-operating with this State, in main- taining unimpaired the authorities, rights, and liberties reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." An address to the people, also written by Mr. Madison, ac- companied the resolutions. It called attention to " encroach- ments Avhich, though clothed with the pretext of necessity, or disguised by arguments of expediency, may yet establish prec- edents, which may ultimately devote a generous people to all the consequences of usurped power." The Kentucky and Virghiia resolutions were sent to all the State legislatures, and responses were received .from the legislatures of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Not one of these legislatures ap- proved of the doctrine enunciated by Kentucky and Virginia that a State legislature had the right to decide upon the va- lidity of an act of Congress. They all maintained the consti- tutionality of the Alien and Sedition laws, and declaxed that the existing condition of affairs justified their enactment. The Kentucky Assembly, after the responses had been duly considered, passed another set of resolutions, in reference to what her sister states had said of the stand she had taken, in which occurred the following passage : " Resolved, That this Commonwealth considers the federal union upon the terms and for the purposes specified in the late compact, as conducive to the liberty and happiness of the several states. That it does now unequivocally declare its attachment to the Union, and to that compact, agreeably to its obvious and real intention, and will be among the last to seek its dissolution. That if those who administer the general government be per- mitted to transgress the limits fixed by that compact, by a total disregard of the special delegations of power therein contained, an annihilation of the State governments, and the creation upon their ruins of a general consolidated government, will be the 166 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS inevitable consequence. That the principle and construction contended for by sundry of the State legislatures, that the gen- eral government is the exclusive judge of the extent of the powers delegated to it, stop nothing short of despotism — since the discretion of those who administer the government, and not the Constitution, would be the measure of their powers. That the several states who formed that instrument, being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of the infraction ; and that a nullification by those sovereignties of all unauthorized acts done under color of that instrument is the rightful remedy. That this Commonwealth does, under the most deliberate reconsideration, declare that the said Alien and Sedition laws are, in its opinion, palpable violations of the said Constitution ; and however cheerfully it may be disposed to sur- render its opinion to a majority of its sister states in matters of ordinary or doubtful policy, yet in momentous regulations like the present, which so vitally Avound the best rights of the citizen, it would consider a silent acquiescence as highly crimi- nal. That although this Commonwealth, as a party to the federal compact, will bow to the laws of the Union, yet it does at the same time declare that it will not now, or ever here- after, cease to oppose in a constitutional manner every at- tempt, at what quarter soever offered, to violate that compact. And, finally, in order that no pretext or arguments may be drawn from a supposed acquiescence on the part of this Com- monwealth in the constitutionality of those laws, and be thereby used as precedents for similar future violations of the federal compact, this Commonwealth does now enter against them its solemn protest." Thirty-two years afterwards, when the State of South Caro- lina had made a bold stand for nullification, and had founded in part on the Kentucky and Vii'ginia resolutions her claim to the right to nullify an act of Congress that did not suit her, and even to secede from the Union if the claim were not allowed, Mr. Madison, who had survived Mr. Jefferson, wrote a letter to a friend in condemnation of the nullification theory, and in defence of himself and Mr. Jefferson, against the construction given to the resolutions of 1798 by the advocates of State rights. KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS IQl In acknowledging the receipt of some South Carolina newspa- pers, he said : " There is in one of them some interesting views of the doc- trine of secession, among which one that had occurred to me, and which for the first time I have seen in print — namely, that if one State can at will withdraw from the others, the others can withdraw from her and turn her, nolentem volentem, out of the Union. Until of late there is not a State that would have abhorred such a doctrine more than South Carolina, or more dreaded an application of it to herself. The same may be said of the doctrine of nullification, which she now preaches as the only doctrine by which the Union can be saved. " I partake of the wonder that the men you name should view secession in the light mentioned. The essential difference between a free government and governments not free is, that the former is founded in compact, the parties to which are mut- ually and equally bound by it. Neither of them, therefore, can have a greater right to break off from the bargain than the other or others have to hold him to it. And certainly there is nothing in the Virginia resolutions of '98 adverse to this prin- ciple, which is that of common-sense and common justice. The fallacy which draws a different conclusion from them lies in confounding a single party with the parties to the constitu- tional compact of the United States. The latter, having made the compact, may do what they will with it. The former, as one of the parties, owes fidelity to it till released by consent, or ab- solved by an intolerable abuse of the power created*. In the Virginia resolutions and report the plural number (states) is in every instance used whenever reference is made to the author- ity which presided over the government. As I am now known to have drawn those documents, I may say, as I do with a dis- tinct recollection, that it was intentional. It was, in fact, re- quired by the course of reasoning employed on the occasion. The Kentucky resolutions, being less guarded, have been more easily perverted. The pretext for the liberty taken with those of Virginia is the word ' respective ' prefixed to the ' rights,' etc., to be secured within the states. Could the abuse of the expression have been foreseen or suspected, the form of it would 168 THE AMERICAN CONGEESS doubtless have been varied. But what can be more consistent with common-sense than that all having the rights, etc., should unite in contending for the security of them to each ? " It is remarkable how closely the nuUifiers, who make the name of Mr. Jefferson the pedestal for their colossal heresj^, close their eyes and lips whenever his authority is ever so clearly and emphatically against them. You have noticed what he says in his letters to Monroe and Carrington with respect to the power of the old Congress to coerce delinquent states ; and his reasons for preferring for the purpose a naval to a military force ; and, moreover, his remark that it was not necessary to find a right to coerce in the federal articles, that being inher- ent in the nature of a compact. It is high time that the claim to secede at will should be put down by the public opinion, and I am glad to see the task commenced by one who understands the subject." On the 14th of December, 1799, Washington died at his Virginia home. "When the news was received in Congress both houses immediately adjourned. As soon as the House of Eepresentatives had assembled the next day, John Marshall, then a Eepresentative from Virginia and afterwards Chief- Justice of the United States for thirty -four j'ears, rose and made an address, in which he said : " Our Washington is no more ! The hero, the patriot, and the sage of America ; the man on whom in times of danger every eye was turned and all hopes placed lives now only in his own great actions and in the hearts of an affectionate and afflicted people." He briefly described the public life of Washington, and then offered reso- lutions prepared by Gen. Henry Lee, a Eepresentative from Virginia, which were passed, as follows : " Unanimously resolved : " 1. That this House will wait on the President of the United States in condolence of this national calamity. " 2. That the Speaker's chair be shrouded with black, and that the members and officers of the House wear mourning during the session. " 3. That a joint committee of both houses be appointed to DEATH OF WASHINGTON 169 report measures suitable to the occasion, and expressive of the profound sorrow with which Congress is penetrated on the loss of a citizen first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." There were similar proceedings in the Senate. The joint committee that was appointed reported a series of resolutions, which was passed, providing for the erection of a marble mon- ument to commemorate the great events in the military and political life of Washington ; for a funeral j^rocession from Congress Hall to the German Lutheran Church, on the 26th of December ; and for an oration to be delivered before both houses of Congress on that day by a member. It was i^ecom- mended to the people of the United States to wear crape on their left arms as mourning for thirty days ; and the President of the United States was requested to send a copy of the reso- lutions to Mrs. Washington with a letter of condolence. The funeral ceremony was carried out as Congress had resolved, the oration being delivered by Gen. Henry Lee. In the oration Avere these words : " First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, be was second to none in the humble and endear- ing scenes of private life ; pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere, uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that exam- ple lasting. To his equals he was condescending; to his infe- riors kind ; and to the dear object of his affections exemplarily tender. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence, and virtue always felt his fostering hand ; the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues. His last scene comported with the whole tenor of his life. Al- thouo'h in exti'eme pain, not a sigh^ not a groan escaped him ; and with undisturbed serenity he closed his well -spent life. Such was the man America has lost ; such was the man whom our nation mourns." CHAPTEE XIII The District of Columbia. — Removal of Congress to the New Federal City on the Potomac. — Establishing the Permanent Seat of the Gov- ernment. — The Agreement with the Original Landholders. — Pierre L'Enfant, the Designer of the City of Washington.— The Plan of the Capitol. — Laying the Corner-stone. — Appearance of the Federal City in 1800. — President Adams's Welcoming Speech to Congress. — De- feat of the Federalists. — Jefferson Chosen President by the House of Representatives. — " Adams's Midnight Judges." — Inauguration of President Jefferson. — His Inaugural Address. In June, 1800, the government removed from Philadelphia, where it had been pleasantly situated for ten years, to the new "Federal City" on the banks of the Potomac. The district in -which the city was located had been selected by President "Washington in 1791, under tlie authority given him by the act of Congress locating the permanent seat of the government. After a careful examination of the region to which the selec- tion was limited Washington chose that part of Maryland and Virginia afterwards known as the District of Columbia, and directed that on the wide, undulating plain lying between the Eastern Branch of the Potomac (sometimes called the Ana- costia Piver) and Eock Creek the National Capital should be laid out. At first the District of Columbia was ten. miles square, or one hundred square miles, and contained 61,000 acres. It comprised one county in Maryland and one county in Yirginia, between which flowed the Potomac. The land. was ceded to the United States by the two states named. At the northwest was Georgetown, and at the southwest was the ancient city of Alexandria. In 181:6 all the land on the west- ern side of the Potomac was retroceded to the State of Vir- ginia, and in consequence the District at present contains only sixty- four square miles. Washington was empowered to ap- THE NEW FEDERAL CITY 171 point a board of commissioners to survey and lay out the Dis- trict, and Congress directed that suitable buildings should be erected for the use of the government. The commissioners appointed Avere Gen. Thomas John- son, who had been Washington's intimate friend during the Eevolution ; Dr. David Stuart, of Virginia ; and Daniel Car- roll, a member of the illustrious Carroll family of Maryland. On the 15th of April, 1Y91, the commissioners laid the first boundary-stone of the District at Jones's Point, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, with Masonic ceremony, in the presence of a large assemblage. Washington personally directed the ar- duous work of laying out the new city. He had a number of conferences with the proprietors of the land, who Avere, with a few exceptions, humble farmers and fishermen greatly excited at the prospect of acquiring wealth from the coming of the government among them. The result of these conferences was an agreement by which the landholders ceded to the govern- ment about 7000 acres to be laid off as a city. The agree- ment, which was signed on the 12th of April, 1791, was as follows : " We, the subscribers, in consideration of the great benefits we expect to derive from having the Federal City laid off upon our lands, do hereby agree and bind ourselves, heirs, execu- tors, and administrators, to convey in trust to the President of the United States, or commissioners, or such person or persons as he shall appoint, by good and sufficient deeds, in fee simple, the whole of our respective lands which he may think proper to include within the lines of the Federal City, for the pur- poses and the conditions following : " The President shall have the sole power of directing the Federal City to be laid off in what manner he pleases. " He may retain any number of squares he may think prop- er for public improvements or other public uses ; and the lots only, which shall be laid off, shall be a joint property between the trustees on behalf of the public and each present propri- etor ; and the same shall be fairly and equally divided between the public and the individuals, as soon as may be, the city shall be laid off. 172 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS " For the streets the proprietors shall receive no compensa- tion, but for the squares or lands in any form which shall be taken for public buildings, or any kind of public improvements or uses, the proprietors whose lands shall be taken shall re- ceive at the rate of £25 per acre [in Maryland money $66.66], to be paid by the public." The commissioners decided that the Federal City should be named the " City of Washington," in honor of the first Presi- dent. The plan of the city was made by Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the young French engineer and architect who had reconstructed the buildings in ISTew York and Philadelphia used by Congress, and was on a scale of magnificence. It provided for broad streets and grand transverse avenues miles in length, for parks and public reservations on which the gov- ernment buildings could be erected, for statues, fountains, me- morial structures, etc. At the eastern end of the city, on a hill-top ninety feet above the Potomac, the building for Con- gress was to be erected. It was to be named " the Capitol," and it was intended to have it of grand, classic shape, with a high, central dome. At the western end of the city the house for the President was to be located, and near this were to be the buildings for the executive departments. L'Enfant was appointed to superintend the execution of his plan, and for a time the work went forward rapidly under bis competent super- vision. The states of Maryland and Virginia had made liberal loans to the government for the purpose of aiding in the lay- ing out of the city, but there was no other money available. Washington, therefore, was eager to have the public sale of lots, which would provide a source of revenue, begin as soon as possible. L'Enfant was directed to furnish a copy of his plan to the commissioners, that it might be engraved and pub- lished for the use of those who intended to purchase lots. He declined to do so, declaring that if his plan were published the best land in his " vistas and architectural squares " would doubtless be purchased by speculators, who would be likely to " raise huddles of shanties and permanentl}^ disfigure the city." In consequence of this refusal, and as he was overbearing in his treatment of the commissioners and others, he was dismissed PLAN OF THE CAPITOL 173 from the public service. His plan, however, was carried for- ward by Andrew EUicott, one of his assistants, and under Elli- cott's direction the city was made ready for the government. In March, 1792, the commissioners advertised in the news- papers of Philadelphia, Boston, and JSTew York that they would give a lot in the city of Washington and $500 to the person who should "produce to them the most approved plan for a Capitol to be erected in the city of Washington." In response to the advertisement sixteen plans were submitted, but they were all rejected because they did not meet the requirements. Some time later Stephen Ilallate, a prominent French archi- tect residing in New York, who had designed a number of public buildings, submitted a plan which met with great favor. The commissioners requested him to perfect his plan, which was only outlined, and he then visited the city of Washington and carefully examined the site chosen for the building, after- wards returning to New York, where be worked for weeks de- veloping his plan. There was at this time in New York, in the service of the government, a talented Englishman named William Thornton, who was highly esteemed by Thomas Jefferson, then Secre- tary of State. Thornton drew a plan of the Capitol with all the parts elaborated and finely colored. He submitted the plan to Jefferson, who became at once very enthusiastic about it and laid it before President Washington. The President thought it was admirable, and said it combined "grandeur, simplicity, and convenience." He wrote to the commission- ers requesting them to adopt Thornton's plan in preference to Hallate's, but charged them to do it " with delicacy." Hal- late was immediately informed of the change, and the com- missioners sent him a copy of the new plan. As soon as he had seen it he declared that Thornton had stolen it from his (Hallate's) original designs which he had presented to the commissioners some weeks before. Thornton made an em- phatic denial of Hallate's charge, and for a month or so the two men waged a bitter warfare in their efforts to establish their claims. At last the commissioners accepted Thornton's plan, and he was awarded the first premium. IlaUate re- 174 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS ceived a premium of $250, and was also appointed one of the architects of the Capitol with a yearly salary of $2000. The supervising architect of the Capitol was James Hoban, a talented 5^oung Irishman who had been in the United States for about ten years. His plan of the President's house had been accepted, and he had been engaged at a large salary to superintend the erection of the government buildings. It Avas decided to construct the Capitol of Virginia sandstone in- stead of brick, as was at first purposed, and the stone was ob- tained from a quarry on Aquia Creek. The work of con- struction was carried on energetically, and on September 18, 1Y93, the corner-stone of the legislative building of the thriv- ing young American nation was laid. The only account known to exist of the ceremony of lay- ing the corner-stone of the Capitol is to be found in the Alex- andria Gazette, of September 25, 1793. The account is here- with exactly reproduced, as follows : " Geoksetown, Sept. 21. " On Wednesday last one of the grandest Masonic processions took place wbicb, perhaps, ever was exiiibited on the like important occasion. It was, in all probability, much facilitated by an advertisement whicli appeared many days before in several newspapers of this date. Lodge ISTo. 9 and Lodge No. 23, with all their officers and regalia, appeared on the southern bank of the Grand River Potomack ; one of the finest companies of Vohinteer Artillery -parading to receive the President of tlie United States, who shortly came in sight with his suite, to whom the artillery paid military honors, and his Ex- cellency and suite crossed the river and were received in Maryland by the oiEcers and brethren of No. 22 Virginia and No. 9 Maryland, whom the President headed ; and preceded by a band of music, with the rear brought up by the Alexandria Volunteer Artillery, witli grand solemnity of maich pro- ceeded to the President's Square in the City of Washington, where they v^erc met and saluted by Lodge No. 15 of the city in all their elegant regalia, headed by Bro. Joseph Clark, Rt. W. G. M. , and conducted to a large lodge prepared for the purpose of their reception. After a short space of time tlie brotherhood and other bodies were disposed in a second procession, which took place amid a brilliant crowd of both sexes according to the fol- lowing arrangement : The Surveying Department of tlie City of Washing- ton ; Mayor and Corporation of Georgetown ; Virginia Artillery ; Commis- sioners of the City of Washington and their Attendants ; Stone Cutters ; Mechanics; two Sword Bearers; Masons of the First Degree; Bibles, etc., on Grand Cushions ; Deacons with Staffs of Offlce ; Masons of the Second Degree ; Stewards with Wands ; Wardens with Truncheons ; Secretaries with COKNER-STONE OF THE CAPITOL 175 Tools of Office ; Past Masters with their Regalia ; Treasurers with their Jew- els ; Bands of Music ; Lodge No. 33 of Virginia, disposed in their own order ; Corn, Wine, and Oil ; Grand Master P. T. ; George Washington ; W. M. No. 23, Virginia ; Grand Sword Bearer. " The procession marched two abreast in the greatest solemn dignity, with music playing, drums beating, colors flying, and spectators rejoicing, from the President's Square to the Capitol in tlie city of Washington, where the Grand Marshal ordered a halt, and directed eacli file in tlie procession to incline two steps, one to the right and one to the left, and face each other, which formed a hollow oblong square, through which the Grand Sword Bearer led the van, followed by the Grand Master P. T. on the left, tlie President of the United States in the centre, and the Worshipful Master of No. 23, Virginia, on the right. All the other orders that composed the procession advanced in the reverse of their order of march from the President's Square to the southeast corner of the Capitol, and the arlillerj' filed off to a destined ground to display their manoeuvres and discharge their cannon. The President of the United States, the Grand Master P. T., and the Worshipfid Master of No. 33 took their stands to the east of a huge stone, and all the craft, forming in a circle west- ward, stood a short time in silent, awful order. "The artillery discharged a volley. The Grand Marshal delivered the commissioners a large silver plate with an inscription thereon, which the com- missioners ordered to be read, and was as follows : "'This southeast corner-stone of the Capitol of the United States of America in the city of Washington was laid on the 18th day of September, 1793, in the 13th year of American Independence, in the first year of the second term of the Presidency of George Washington, whose virtues in the civil ad- ministration of his country have been as conspicuous and beneficial as his mili- tary valor and prudence have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in the year of Masonry 5793, by the President of the United States in concert with the Grand Lodge of Maryland, several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge No. 22, from Alexandria, Virginia. ' ' ' Thomas Johnson, ) "'David Stuakt, > Commissioners. ' ' ' Daniel Carroll, ) " ' Joseph Clark, M. W. O. M. P. T. ' ' ' James Hob.an, " ' Stephen Hallatb " ' Collen Williamson, M. ilason.' Arcliiteds. " The artillery discharged a volley. The plate was then delivered to the President, who, attended by tlie Grand Master P. T. and three most worship- ful masters, descended to the caisson trench and deposited the plate, and laid it on the corner stone of the Capitol of the United States of America, on which was deposited corn, wine, and oil. Then the whole congregation joined in prayer, which was succeeded by Masonic chanting honors and a volley from 176 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the artillcrj'. The President of the Uuited States aud bis attendant brethren ascended from tbe caisson to the east of tbe corner-stone, and there the Grand Master P. T., elevated on a triple rostrum, delivered an oration, after which there was more Masonic chanting and a 15th volley from the artillery. "The whole company reliied to an extensive booth, where an ox of 500 lbs. was barbacued, of which the company generally partook, with every abun- dance of other recreation. The festival concluded with fifteen successive vol- lej^s from the artillery, and before dark the whole company departed with joyful hopes of the production of their labor." Congress had made an appropriation of $16,923 " for the necessary expense of the removal " to the city of "Washington, and in June, 1800, the records, papers, office furniture, etc., of the government departments were bestowed on "packet sloops" at Philadelphia and conveyed to the new cit3\ "We are told that " when the vessels laden with the government property were seen slowly sailing up the Potomac, most of the people of "Washington gathered on the river-bank and gave them a warm welcome." The officials and clerks, numbering in all not more than two hundred, Avent to "Washington in lumbering stage- coaches, arriving after a hard, tedious journe}'' of nearly a week. They had many exciting adventures on the way ; and Mrs. Adams, the wife of Pi'esident John Adams, relates in one of her letters to her daughter that she was lost in the woods while going to the city. She says : " After leaving Baltimore we wandered about for two hours without finding a guide or a path. "Woods are all you can see from the time you leave Baltimore until j'ou reach the city, which is so only in name. Here and there is a small cot, witliout a glass window, inter- spersed among the forests, through which you travel for miles without seeing a human being." This new national "city of magnificent distances," as the Abbe Correa de Serra, the Minister from Portugal, called it ; this " wilderness city set in a mud-hole almost equal to the great Serbonian bog," as another graphically described it, was exceedingly disagreeable to the government officials after their pleasant life in Philadelphia, and they said some very harsh things about it. It was, in fact, quite the custom to sneer at and deride ""Washington's city on the Potomac," as many called it, and those in particular Avho had opposed the location of the THE NEW FEDERAL CITY 111 seat of government in the South were very merry over the city's "mean and disgusting appearance, without one solitary attractive feature." In 1807 Isaac Weld published his Travels Through North America. In the book is this description of the city of Wash- ington : "Were the houses that have been built situated in one place, all together, they would make a very respectable appearance ; but scattered about as they are a spectator can scarcely per- ceive anything like a town. Excepting the streets and avenues and a small part of the ground adjoining the public buildings, the whole place is covered with trees. To be under the neces- sity of going through a deep wood, for one or two miles per- haps, in order to see a next-door neighbor, and in the same citj', is a curious and, I believe, a novel circumstance. The number of inhabitants is 5000. The people Avho are opposed to the building of the city of Washington maintain that it can never be a town of any importance, and that all such as think to the contrary have been led astray by the representations of a few enthusiastic persons." Mr. Weld says, however, that " there is good foundation for thinking that the Federal City will increase most rapidl^^, and that at a future day, if the affairs of the United States go on as prosperously as they have done, it will become the grand emporium of the West, and rival in magnitude and splendor the cities of the whole world." What is thought to be an accurate description of Washing- ton, as it appeared in 1800, was written by John Cotton Smith, a member of Congress from Connecticut, who said : " Our approach to the city was accompanied with sensa- tions not easily described. One wing of the Capitol only had been erected, which, with the President's house, a mile distant from it, both constructed with white sandstone, Avere shining objects in dismal contrast with the scene around them. In- stead of recognizing the avenues and streets portrayed on the plan of the city, not one was visible, unless we except a road, with two buildings on each side of it, called the New Jersey Avenue. The Pennsylvania Avenue, leading, as laid down on 12 178 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS paper, from the Capitol to the presidential mansion, was nearly the whole distance a deep morass covered with, elder -bushes, which were cut through to the President's house ; and near Georgetown a block of houses had been erected which bore the name of the ' six buildings.' There were also two other blocks consisting of two or three dwelling-houses in different directions, and now and then an insulated wooden habitation ; the intervening spaces, and, indeed, the surface of the city generally, being covered with scrub-oak bushes on the higher grounds, and on the marshy soil either trees or some sort of shrubbery. The desolate aspect of the place was not a little augmented by a number of unfinished edifices at Greenleafs Point, and on an eminence a short distance from it, commenced by an individual whose name they bore, but the state of whose funds compelled him to abandon them. There appeared to be but two really comfortable habitations in all respects within the bounds of the city, one of which belonged to Daniel Carroll and the other to Notley Young. The roads in every direction were muddy and unimproved. In short, it was a new settlement." In this " new settlement " the Sixth Congress began its second session on. the 17th of November, 1800. The north wing of the Capitol, in which the session Avas held, was iu a very incomplete condition, and both houses were crowded into narrow, badly arranged apartments. President Adams, in his address to Congress on the opening day, made the following impressive remarks : " I congratulate the people of the United States on the as- sembling of Congress at the permanent seat of their govern- ment ; and I congratulate you, gentlemen, on the prospect of a residence not to be changed. Although there is cause to apprehend that accommodations are not now so complete as might be wished, yet there is great reason to believe that this inconvenience will cease with the present session. " It would be unbecoming the representatives of this nation to assemble, for the first time, in this solemn temple, without looking up to the Supreme Euler of the Universe, and implor- ing his blessing. " May this territory be the residence of virtue and happi- DEFEAT OF THE FEDERALISTS 179 ness ! In this city may tiiat piety and virtue, that wisdom and magnanimity, that constancy and self-government which adorned the great character whose name it bears be forever held in veneration ! Here, and throughout our country, may simple manners, pure morals, and true religion flourish forever ! " It is with you, gentlemen, to consider Avhether the local powers over the District of Columbia, vested by the Constitu- tion in the Congress of the United States, shall be immediately exercised. If, in your opinion, this important trust ought now to be executed, you cannot fail, while performing it, to take into view the future probable situation of the territory for the happiness of which you are about to provide. You will con- sider it as the capital of a great nation, advancing with unex- ampled rapidity in arts, in commerce, in wealth, and in popu- lation ; and possessing within itself those energies and resources which, if not thrown away, or lamentably misdirected, will secure to it a long course of prosperitj^ and self-government." The Federalists had a small majority in the Sixth Congress, but it was quite evident that the political control of the coun- try, which they had held ever since the constitutional govern- ment went into operation, was slipping from them. The Alien and Sedition laws, which had been rigorously enforced by President Adams, had driven many of the foreign-born citizens into the ranks of the Democratic-Repablicans; and other un- popular measures, together with jealousies, divisions, and sec- tional bitterness, had caused the wreck of the once all-powerful Federalist party. In the presidential campaign of 1800, which Avas one of the most exciting ever known, the Federalists had John Adams and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney as candidates for President and Vice-President, and the Democratic-Eepubli- cans had Thomas Jefferson (then Vice-President) and Aaron Burr. The last-named had served with distinction in the Eevo- lution, had been United States Senator from N"ew York, and was considered the ablest political manager in that State. The presidential election resulted in a victory for the Dem- ocratic-Kepubhcans, Avho obtained seventy-three electors, and the Federalists sixty-five. The Constitution then made it nec- essary for each presidential elector to vote for two persons 180 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS ■without designating which was to be President and which Vice- President. The person receiving the highest number of votes was to be President, and the next highest Vice-President. When the electoral votes were cast, by Burr's adroit management Jefferson and Burr had an equal number, and therefore, as neither was highest, the choice of a President devolved on the House of Bepresentatives. By an amendment to the Constitu- tion, in 1804, the electors are now required to vote separately for President and Vice-President. Amid great excitement the House of Representatives be- gan to ballot for a President on the 11th of February, 1801. There were 106 members of the House from sixteen states. Each State had one vote, and a majority of the states was ne'cessary to a choice. The House sat with closed doors, and the balloting went on continuously day and night with an occasional recess. No other business was done until this mat- ter was disposed of. All the members of a State sat together, and duplicate statements of the vote of each State were pre- pared and cast into two different ballot-boxes, which were handed around by the Sergeant-at-Arnis. Two sets of tellers then counted the contents of the boxes and announced the result. On the first ballot eight states voted for Mr. Jeffer- son, and six for Colonel Burr. The states for Mr. Jefferson were ISTew York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, and Tennessee. The states for Colonel Burr were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ehode Isl- and, Connecticut, Delaware, and South Carolina. Two states, Vermont and Maryland, were divided and could not vote. There was no change in this result until the thirty-sixth ballot was taken on the lYth of February, when Mr. Jefferson was elected President by the votes of ten states. During the balloting the excitement in the country was in- tense. It was believed by many that the Federalists, who were mostly voting for Colonel Burr, intended to prevent the election of a President until after the 4th of March, when they would usurp the office by making Chief -Justice Marshall the chief mag- istrate. They would then establish a sort of limited monarchy, it was said. The Federalists denounced Mr. Jefferson in severe THE "MIDNIGHT JUDGES" 181 terms. They charged him with crime, they called him an infi- del, and it was even said that if he were elected President the Bibles would be taken from the people. Finally, on February 17th, James A. Bayard, of Delaware, the leader of the Federal- ists in the House, foreseeing, as he says, " that a crisis was com- ing, and being determined to make a President," arranged a plan to end the exciting contest. He had contrived to lay hold of all the doubtful votes in the House, and thus was enabled to protract or to terminate the struggle. He resolved, however, " before surrendering, to obtain the best terms of capitulation," and received from Mr. Jefferson the assurance that if he were elected President he would support the public credit, maintain the naval system, and not remove from office "on the ground of their political character" the subordinate public officers "em- ployed only in the execution of details." Mr. Bayard arranged that on the thirty-sixth ballot Vermont and Maryland should be unanimous and declare for Mr. Jefferson, and thus he was elected. Just before the close of what has been called "the stormy and turbulent administration" of John Adams, the Federal- ists in Congress passed an act creating twenty-three additional United States courts throughout the country. There was no im- mediate need of this increase of courts, but the act was passed in order that judges who would care for the interest of the Fed- eral party might be appointed by President Adams. It was then generally understood that midnight of the 3d of March was the time when the old administration ceased and the new one came in. The Court Act was passed so late that the arrival of the hour when President Adams's term expired found Secretary of State Marshall with most of the commissions for the judges unsigned. He was busily engaged signing them when Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, who had been selected for Attorney- general by Mr. Jefferson, walked into the Department of State and said to the Secretary : " I have been ordered by the President-elect to take posses- sion of this office and its papers." " Why, Mr. Jefferson has not qualified !" exclaimed the Sec- retary. " That is true," was the reply ; " but he considers himseK in 182 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the light of an executor bound to take charge of the papers of the government until he is duly qualified." " But it is not midnight yet," said Secretary Marshall, pull- ing out his watch. Mr. Lincoln produced a fine Swiss chronometer, and show- ing it to the Secretary said, " This is the President's watch, and it rules the hour." Secretary Marshall saw that the hands of the watch pointed to midnight, and without another word he retired, casting a sor- rowful look upon the unsigned commissions lying on the table. He afterwards said that he was not allowed to pick up anything but his hat. He had, however, several signed commissions in his pocket, and those who received them were always known as " Adams's midnight judges." Mr. Jefferson was inaugurated President of the United States on March 4, 1801. He was the first President to be in- augurated in the city of Washington. It is often related that he rode unattended to the Capitol on his favorite horse " Wild- air " to take the oath of ofiice, but such does not seem to be the fact. In the National Intelligencer, which had been established in Washington only a few weeks before the inauguration by Samuel Harrison Smith, a leading journalist of Philadelphia, and which was the ofiicial organ of the new administration, the following account of the inauguration is given in the issue of March 6, 1801 : "At an early hour on Wednesday (JMarch 4) tUe city of "Washington pre- sented a spectacle of uncommon animation, occasioned by the addition to its usual population of a large body of citizens from the adjacent districts. A discharge from the company of Washington artillery ushered in the day ; and about 10 o'clock the Alexandria company of riflemen, with the company of ar- tillery, paraded in front of the President's lodgings. " At 12 o'clock, Thomas Jefferson, accompanied by a number of his fellow- citizens, among whom were many members of Congress, repaired to the Capi- tol. His dress was, as usual, that of a plain citizen, without any distinctive badge of ofBce. " He entered the Capitol under a discharge from the artillerj'. " On his entry into the Senate Chamber, where were assembled the Senate and the members of the House of Representatives, the members rose, and Mr. Burr left the chair of the Senate, which Mr. Jefferson took. JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS 183 " After a few moments of silence, Mr. Jefferson rose and delivered his ad- dress before tlie largest concourse of citizens ever assembled there. Having seated himself for a short period he again rose and approached the Clerk's table, when the oath of office was administered by the Chief-Justice ; after which he retired to his lodgings, accompanied by the Vice-President, Chief-Jus- tice, and the heads of the departments, where he was waited on by a number of distinguished citizens. "As soon as he withdrew, a discharge of artillery was made. The re- mainder of the day was devoted to purposes of festivity, and at night there was a pretty general illumination." Thus ■v\"as accomplished what was called " a great political revolution." The Federalists, after controlling the government for twelve years, gave place to the Democratic-Eepublicans, who remained in control until the inauguration of William Henry Harrison as President in 1841. The following is President Jefferson's inaugural address : "Friends and Fellow-citizens, — Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow - citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look towards me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of tiie charge and the weakness of my powers so justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land; traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry ; engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right; advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye — when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and hum- ble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should I despair, did not the presence of many whom I here see remind rae that, in the other high authorities provided by our Constitution I shall find re- sources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal, on which to rely under all diffi- culties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign func- tions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with encourage- ment for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked, amid the conflicting elements of a troubled world. " During the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the anima- tion of discussion and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely, and to speak and to write what they think ; but tliis being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will of course arrange themselves 184 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS under the will of Ihe law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All too will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the ma- jority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable ; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind, let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which libertj', and even life itself, are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intoler- ance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have j'ot gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. "During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world — during the ag- onizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking, through blood and slaughter, his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore — that this should be more felt and feared by some, and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. "We are all Republicans ; we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, let them stand undis- turbed, as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be toler- ated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear a republican government cannot be strong — that this government is not strong enough. But would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm, on the theoretic and visionary fear that this government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself ? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of him- self. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others ? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him ? Let history answer this question. " Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own federal and re- publican principles — our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe ; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others ; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation ; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own indus- try, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens ; resulting not from birth, but from our actions, and their sense of them ; enlightened by a benign relig- ion, professed, indeed, and practised in various, forms, yet all of them incul- cating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man — acknowl- edging and adoring an overruling Providence, which, by all its dispensations, proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS 185 hereafter — with all these blessings vchat is more necessary to make us a prosper- ous and happy people ? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens, a wise and fru- gal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another ; shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and im- provement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor what it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities. " About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercises of duties which compre- hend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our government, and consequently those which ought to shape its administration. I will compress them within the nar- rowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persua- sion, religious or political ; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all na- tions, entangling alliances with none; the suj)port of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies ; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad ; a zealous care of the right of election by the people ; a mild and safe corrective of abuses, which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided ; absolute ac- quiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism ; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them ; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority ; economy in the public expense, that labor may he liglitly burdened ; the honest payment of our debts, and sacred preser- vation of the public faith ; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid ; the diffusion of information, and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason ; freedom of religion ; freedom of the press ; and freedom of person, under the protection of the habeas corpus ; and trial by juries im- partially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reforma- tion. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment ; they should be the creed of our political faith ; the text of civil instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust ; and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain tlie road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety. "I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate oflBces to have seen the difficulties of this the greatest of all, I have learned to expect that it will rarely full to the lot of im- perfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and great revolutionary character, whose pre-eminent services had en- titled him to the first place in his country's love, and destined for him the fair- est page in the volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as 186 THE AMERICAN CONGEESS may give firmness and efEect to tlie legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be inten- tional ; and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not, if seen in all its parts. The approbation implied by your suf- frage is a consolation lo me for the past ; and my future solicitude will be, to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all. "Relying, then, oq the patronage of your good-will, I advance with obedi- ence to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choices it is in your power to make. And may that infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give thera a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity." CHAPTER XIV Ancient Official Forms and Ceremonies Abolished by President Jefier- son. — How he Sent his First Message to Congress. — Democratic Simplicity. — Latrobe Appointed Architect of the Capitol. — His Meritorious Work. — Establishing the Library of Congress. — Excit- ing Discussion of the Yazoo Fraud. — Grave Charges Made against the Administration. — John Randolph, of Roanoke. — Amusing Sto- ries of the Eccentric Virginia Statesman. — His Little Political Party, "the Quids." — The "Virginia Dynasty." — Acquiring a Vast Territory. — Purchase of the Province of Louisiana from France. Many ancient forms and ceremonies in the conduct of the government were abolished during the administration of Presi- dent Jefferson. He sought to simplify the public business, and succeeded in a large measure in divesting it of unnecessary and ridiculous formality. It had been customary for the former Presidents to open the annual sessions of Congress in a pom- pous manner. Gorgeously attired, they would ride to the legis- lative hall in a grand coach drawn by six beautiful horses, and attended by a dashing military escort and a special committee of Congress. They would be received in the Senate Chamber by the Vice-President and the Speaker of the House of Eepre- sentatives in a very ceremonious "way, and escorted to what was called the " President's throne," where they Avould deliver a dignified address, after which they would declare Congress " to be assembled in proper form for the transaction of busi- ness." President Jefferson abolished this bit of nonsense, much to the astonishment of the Federalists. When Congress met on the 7th of December, 1801, the usual joint committee was ap- pointed to wait on the President and escort him to the Capitol. The committee went to the White House, but were told by Mr. Jefferson that he did not require their services, as he intended to send a message to Congress instead of going in person to 188 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS deliver it. Not long after the committee had returned to the Capitol a young man named Merewether Lewis, who was Mr. Jefferson's private secretary, appeared at the door of the Senate Chamber and made announcement that he bore a mes- sage to Congress from the President of the United States. Mr. Lewis had ridden from the President's house on horseback, and hitching the horse to a rail-fence, had walked into the Capi- tol with the bundle of manuscript under his arm. This simple proceeding created a decided sensation, and the Federalists thought the radical departure from precedent was almost an insult to Congress. There was some foolish talk about resent- ing "this undignified treatment of Congress," but at last it was decided to receive the message as an ordinary matter to which no reply should be made. From that time to this each Presi- dent of the United States has sent an annual message to Con- gress in the manner originated by Mr. Jefferson. What was called " democratic simplicity " began to supplant the aristocratic manners and customs hitherto prevailing in official circles. It became almost the fashion to dress plainly, and embroidered satin coats, knee-breeches, powdered hair, sil- ver shoebuckles, and all that " aristocratic foppery," as Mr. Jefferson styled it, gave place, to a considerable extent, to plain, coats and trousers and short hair. The President would not have a state coach, but was accustomed, day by daj"", to ride about the city of Washington on a fleet Virginia pony, paying visits to friends and inspecting the work being done for the im- provement of the city. He took great interest in Washington, and did much to further its prosperity. Lie caused Pennsyl- vania Avenue to be opened and planted with shade trees. Un- der his intelligent and energetic supervision the public buildings were steadily advanced; and in order that the Capitol might be constructed in a faster and better manner, the work on it hav- ing proceeded very slowly, he secured a very talented architect named Benjamin Henry Latrobe, of London, and placed him in full charge of the construction. Latrobe put brains and method into his work, and soon had both wings of the Capitol completed to the satisfaction of all concerned. The wings were connected by a wooden bridge, and so remained until the edifice was re- THE NATIONAL LIBRARY 189 constructed after the burning by the British in 1S14. The Senate Chamber was modelled after the ancient Greek theatre, and was beautiful and commodious ; and the Hall of the House of Eepresentatives was an imposing specimen of Grecian archi- tecture, much different from the low, narrow apartment face- tiously called " the oven " which the House had occupied for some time. Mr. Jefferson was alwaj's ready to give his influ- ence and services to the advancement of the national city, and at a time when it had but few friends he was constantly faith- ful to its interests. It was in 1801 that the Library of Congress, which has grown to be one of the five great libraries of the world, was estab- lished. The library came into existence mainly through the efforts of John Randolph, of Roanoke, the eccentric Virginia statesman. It was placed in charge of a joint committee of Congress, and $5000 was expended for books needed by the congressmen for reference. Suitable rooms in the Capitol were provided for the library, and an annual appropriation of $1000 was made for the purchase of books. As Washington at that time had no place of fashionable resort, the Library of Congress became a favorite rendezvous, where the prominent people of the city — statesmen, high officials, diplomats, society folks — gathered daily to discuss current events. The first libra- rian was John Becklej'', of Virginia, the Clerk of the House of Representatives. It may be interesting to know that this library, which now contains more than a million books and pamphlets, began its existence with " 212 folios, IGl quartos, 581 octavos, 7 duodecimos, and 9 magazines," as the librarian reported in the first catalogue issued. In the early part of his administration President Jefferson found the members of his party very eager to obtain office, and he was beset day and night by seekers after the honors and emoluments of the public service. He did not long resist their importunities, and in the summer of 1801 removed many Feder- alist office-holders to make room for Democratic-Republicans. It is stated that only those Federalists were removed who had " used their offices for political purposes." The President at this time wrote a letter to a political organization in Connecticut in 190 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS response to a criticism of his system of removals. He said : " If a due participation in office is a matter of right, how are vacan- cies to be obtained ? Those by death are few ; by resignation, none." Doubtless from this letter has come the celebrated so- called Jeffersonian saying, " Few die and none resign." A large part of the time of Congress in 1 803 was occupied with what was termed the " Yazoo fraud," which produced dur- ing its discussion a great deal of excitement and gave rise to ugly charges against Mr. Jefferson and his Cabinet, which, at this day, do not seem in any way justified by the facts in the case. The State of Georgia, in 1789, sold to four companies, for about $150,000, an immense tract of land in the Yazoo region of her unexplored Western territory. This sale, on account of legal complications, was never consummated. In 1795 the four Yazoo companies, as they were called, reorganized and pur- chased of Georgia for $500,000 the greater part of her wild lands, estimated at about thirty-five million acres, out of which the states of Alabama and Mississippi were afterwards formed. The transaction was considered of so much importance that President Washington called the attention of Congress and the country to it by a special message. The people of Georgia, thus informed for the first time of the real nature of the sale, were very indignant, and charged that the necessary legislation had been obtained by bribing members of the legislature. The ex- citement about the matter was so great that the sale was can- celled by the legislature, and in 1802 all of the Western terri- tory of Georgia was ceded to the United States. In 1803 those who had bought land of the Yazoo companies demanded that the government should give them compensation for the land wrongfully taiien from them, as they claimed. Mr. Jefferson brought the matter before his Cabinet, and, after a thorough examination, it was decided that " the interest of the United States, the tranquillity of those who may hereafter in- habit that territory, and various equitable considerations which may be urged in favor of most of the present claimants, render it expedient to enter into a compromise on reasonable terms." But the Federalists in Congress would not for a moment consider this proposition to compromise. They attacked the THE "YAZOO FRAUD" 191 " Yazoo fraud," as they denominated it, in a fierce manner. They declared it was nothing but a brazen attempt to swindle the government, and all who favored it, including the Presi- dent and the members of the Cabinet, as they were very free to say, Avere not much better than common swindlers. They even boldly charged that the members of the administration had been bribed to suggest a compromise, and it was roughly said that " plenty of gold will find its way into the pockets of those who advocate this abominable scheme." John Randolph, who aspired at this time to lead the Democratic-Eepublicans in Con- gress, joined with the Federalists in denouncing the administra- tion, and for weeks poured out a flood of bitter sarcasm and in- vective, which proved very effective in making the Yazoo claims odious. Finally, the bill for the relief of the claimants was overwhelmingly defeated. A few years afterwards the Su- preme Court of the United States decided in favor of the Yazoo claimants, and then Congress appropriated $8,000,000 in scrip, payable from the proceeds of the sale of lands in Mississippi, in settlement of the matter. As might be expected, Mr. Randolph's denunciation of the administration brought down upon him the wrath of the Dem- ocratic - Eepublicans. He treated their ebullitions of temper and condemnation with contempt, and after a time, when he found that he had lost control of the party affairs, organized a little band of ardent supporters into a third party in Congress, which he quaintly named " the Quids," from the Latin phrase tertium quid, a tliird something. The Quids were not a very formidable political organization, but they served Mr. Ran- dolph's purpose, which was to have strength for opposition whenever he desired it. Mr. Randolph was a very conspicuous figure in Congress for thirty years. He was born in Virginia in lYTS, his parents being of ancient and wealthy families. On his father's side he was descended from Pocahontas, the Indian princess who saved the life of Captain John Smith, the English explorer. He be- gan his long congressional career as a member of the House of Representatives in 1799, at the close of President Adams's administration, when he was only twenty -six years old. He 192 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS served in the Senate as well, and was also Minister to Eussia. He was one of the most remarkable men of his day. Pro- foundly learned, with a great command of language, and an acrimonious wit which he continually used in debate, he was for a long time almost the despot of the House and a terror to his op}Djonents. While speaking he would lift his long, bony finger impressively and make peculiar gestures with it. Few could stand against his withering sarcasm; none cared to arouse his antagonism. He was tall and " slender as a grasshopper^" had a swarthy complexion, and large, sunken black eyes brill- iant and startling in their glance. His hair was a lustrous black, and was parted in the centre of a low forehead ; he had no beard, and his face, though cadaverous, might be considered almost handsome. He suffered from gout in its most excru- ciating form, and the constant pain doubtless made him sple- netic, and had much to do with that eccentricity which was so marked a feature of his character. He had a fine estate near Charlottesville, Ya., named Tioanoke, and was the owner of many slaves. After the sessions of Congress he would re- tire to his country home " supersaturated with politics," as he would say, and live for months with only his negroes for com- panions. He never married. Mr. Randolph was accustomed to ride from his lodgings in Washington to the Capitol on horseback attended by Juba, his trusty slave. He would enter the House in winter, it is said, " wearing a fur cap with a large visor, a heavy great-coat over a suit of Yirginia homespun, and white -topped boots with jingling silver spurs," and striding down the centre aisle, fol- lowed by his two favorite pointer - dogs, he would toss his gloves, cap, and riding- whip on his desk, and immediately begin to speak if the debate interested him. One of the attendants would bring him a glass of porter, which he would drink hasti- ly, and then he would plunge at once into the legislative bat- tle. His voice was shrill and piping, but under perfect control, and in its low tones very musical. Many amusing stories are told of his treatment of oppo- nents. A very audacious young man, newly elected to Con- gress, one day made an attack on him in a speech of two JOHN RANDOLPH 193 hours' duration, which was emphasized by an incessant, ludi- crous tossing of both arms heavenward. When he had finished the eminent Virginia orator rose very demurely, and, after looking around the House with feigned bewilderment, turned his face towards the Speaker and addressed him. " The gentleman from Virginia has the floor," said the Speaker. " Mr. Speaker," said Mr. Randolph, repeating the absurd gesture of the man who had attacked him, " good God ! good God! good God!" and then without another word he sat down, perfectly composed. The House burst into deafening peals of laughter and the young man was annihilated. Once when Mr. Kandolph made a rather tedious pause in a speech he was delivering, a Representative from Ohio became impatient and moved the " previous question." The Virginian glared at the presumptuous member, but proceeded with his remarks, until again he paused to collect his thoughts, when again the "previous question" was demanded by the Ohioan. This interruption Mr. Randolph could no longer stand, and stalking down to the Speaker's table, he shouted in a voice " as shrill as the cry of a peacock" : "Mr. Speaker, in the Nether- lands a man of small capacity, with bits of wood and leather, will in a few moments construct that which, with the pressure of the finger and thumb, will cry ' Cuckoo ! Cuckoo !' "With less ingenuit}^ and with inferior materials, the people of Ohio have made a toy that will, without much pressure, cry ' Previ- ous question ! Previous question !' " and, turning, he pointed at the offending congressman, who was too confused to attempt to reply. Mr. Randolph was a member of the "Virginia dynast}'," which was a coterie of prominent Virginians, among whom were Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, who -were associated for the purpose of wielding a strong influence in national affairs. It was an important factor in every political movement of con- sequence during the first quarter of the century, and was even able to control the presidency. This "Virginia influence," as many called it, succeeded in electing all the Presidents after John Adams, until 1825, when the younger Adams secured 13 194 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the chief magistracy, and the power of the Virginians was brolien. What is known as the Louisiana Purchase was a great measure of President Jefferson's administration. All the vast region then called the Province of Louisiana, extending from the mouth of the Mississippi Piver to its source and westward nearly to the Pacific Ocean, which now contains many great states, had been for thirty-eight years in the possession of Spain, which had received it from France by the treaty signed in Paris in 1763. Spain had, in 1795, granted to the United States free navigation of the Mississippi, and also the right to use the port of New Orleans at the mouth of the river as a place of deposit of merchandise. So long as a weak nation like Spain held the region it was thought there Avas little to be feared ; but when, in 1800, she retroceded it to France, it was apprehended that great trouble would follow, as the French government would be likely to establish numerous colonies, and interfere with the navigation of the Mississippi by the Americans. There was some apprehension, too, that as France would hold the mouth of the Mississippi and consequently be able to control the commerce of the "West, she might attempt to form a dangerous alliance with the people of the Western country. Within a short time after the transfer of the prov- ince the right of deposit at New Orleans was rescinded. Then a strong feeling arose in the West that the United States should seize New Orleans and hold it at any cost. A resolu- tion authorizing the President to do this and appropriating $5,000,000 for the purpose was strenuously urged in the Senate, but failed of passage. At this juncture Mr. Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to negotiate, in connection with Pobert E. Livingston, the American Minister to the French court, and Charles Pinckney, the Minister to Spain, for the cession of New Orleans to the United States. Napoleon was then in power, and was prepar- ing for renewed war with England. He had a pressing need for money, and, besides, was apprehensive that England or the United States might seize New Orleans. He offered to sell the entire Province of Louisiana for the sura of $11,250,000, the PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA 195 United States to assume in addition certain claims of American citizens against France, amounting to $3,750,000, on account of spoliations committed by that government on American com- merce. The offer was accepted by the American Ministers, and a treaty making the cession of the province was signed at Paris on the 30th of April, 1803. The transaction had been a secret one, and when it was announced to the people of the United States it naturally caused a sensation. Some declared it was unconstitutional and a very dangerous precedent, while others held it would be of so great an advantage to the United States to acquire this extensive domain, that it would be justifiable to stretch the Constitution to meet the requirement. Mr. Jeffer- son acknowledged that he had not authorized the purchase, but he fully approved of it. lie suggested, however, that it would be well to make an amendment to the Constitution giving the government authority to purchase foreign territory and make it a part of the Union. He submitted the French treaty to Con- gress in special session on the 17th of October, 1803, and two days later, after an earnest debate, the Senate ratified the pur- chase, and on the 25th the House passed a resolution to carry it into effect. An amendment to the Constitution was not thought necessary. The acquisition of Louisiana more than doubled the area of the United States, and gave us the entire control of the " Father of Waters." When the purchase was consummated, it is stated that Napoleon exclaimed, " I have now given to England a maritime rival that will, sooner or later, humble her pi'ide." And Minister Livingston, in speaking of it to Monroe and Pinckney, said, "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives." CHAPTER XV Impeachment Trial of Justice Samuel Chase. — Unsuccessful Attempt to Extend Slavery to the Northwest Territory. — Abolition of the Slave- trade. — Burr's Trial for Treason. — President Jefferson's Gunboat System for the Navy. — Trouble with England. — The Embargo Act. — Dissatisfaction in New England. — English Plot to Destroy the Union. — The War of 1812. — Brilliant Achievements of the Ameri- can Navy. — ■ The Battle of Bladensburg. — Capture of the City of Washington by British Troops. — Burning of the Capitol. The Eighth Congress, which had a strong Democratic-Ee- publican majority, had before it the impeachment of Samuel Chase, of Maryland, one of the Associate Justices of the Su- preme Court of the United States, who had been appointed by President Washington in 1796. He was one of the so-called " high-handed Federalists "' who had been prominent in the en- forcement of the Alien and Sedition laws. It was charged that in the trial, in the United States Circuit Court in Philadel- phia, of John Fries for high-treason in levying war against the United States during the whiskey insurrection in Pennsylvania, that Justice Cliase had given a Avritten opinion of the law in the case to the prosecution, greatly to the prejudice of the defend- ant ; and that in the trial of Thomas Cooper, in Eichmond, for sedition or libel against President Adams, the justice had re- fused to admit certain important testimony for the defence. It was also charged that he had used language reflecting on the government. On the 5th of January, 1804, John Eandolph moved in the House of Eepresentatives that a committee be appointed to inquire into the official conduct of Justice Chase, and "report their opinion whether the said Samuel Chase has so acted in his judicial capacity as to require the interposition of the constitutional power of the House." The committee was appointed, investigated the matter, and reported articles of im- SLAVES WANTED IN THE NORTHWEST 197 peachraent, which were adopted by the House and then sent to the Senate, but were postponed by that body until the follow- ing session. On the 2d of January, 1805, Justice Chase was arraigned before the Senate, and on the 14th of February Mr. Eandolph opened the impeachment trial in behalf of the House. The Senate Chamber, it is stated, " was elaborately fitted up as a high court of impeachment, with the Senators sitting as judges on a semicircular platform on either side of the Vice-President, Aaron Burr. Places were assigned for the members of the House, the diplomatic corps, and a few spectators." The trial continued, with a short recess, until the 1st of March, when the high court decided that Justice Chase — although, perhaps, arro- gant and impulsive, and with strong political prejudices — had done nothing to warrant his dismissal from the bench, and he was therefore fully acquitted. A great deal of party feeling was displayed during the trial. The State of Ohio was formed out of a portion of the Northwest Territory, and on JSTovember 29, 1802, was admit- ted to the Union. Under the Ordinance of 1787, which pro- hibited slavery in the Northwest Territory, Ohio, of course, was a free State. Persistent efforts were made, however, at nearly every session of Congress during President Jefferson's administration, to suspend the sixth article of the ordinance, so that slave labor could be introduced into the great, fer- tile region northwest of the Ohio Kiver, which was being rapidly settled. Many petitions to legalize slavery were pre- sented from the settlers in the territory now embraced in the states of Indiana and Illinois, who, as has been said, " feeling the hardships and privations of pioneer life, and picturing to themselves in golden colors the ease and afHuence inci- dent to slave labor as it existed in the South," were deter- mined to have slaves on their farms. Several reports in favor of the petitioners were made, but as there was very strong opposition from the Northern congressmen, the reports were not acted upon. Finally, to settle the matter, a committee reported " that it is not expedient at this time to suspend the sixth article of the compact of the government of the territory northwest of the river Ohio." No other attempt 198 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS was ever made to introduce slavery into the Northwest Terri- tory. "When Congress counted the electoral votes in February, 1805, it was found that Mr. Jefferson had received 162 votes for President, and that Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina, the candidate of the Federahsts, had received only 14. In both Houses of Congress the Democratic-Eepublicans were in the majority. President Jefferson, in his annual message to the Eleventh Congress, in 1806, suggested that the time had come for the prohibition of the slave-trade, which, under the Constitution, was to be terminated at the expiration of 180Y. In accord- ance with the President's suggestion. Congress passed an act prohibiting " the importation, after the 1st of January, 1808, of all pei'sons of color with intent to hold or dispose of them as slaves, or to be held to service or labor." It was made a penalty of $20,000 to fit out a vessel for the slave-trade, and " to take on board of any vessel, in a foreign country, any col- ored person with intent to sell him within the United States " Avas made " a high misdemeanor," to be punished by from five to ten years' imprisonment and a fine ranging from $1000 to $10,000. It was also provided that "any person knowing- ly purchasing or selling a colored person imported contrary to this act" was to be fined $800. United States war-ships were to guard the coast and to seize any vessel " having on board colored persons intended to be sold as slaves." The trial of Aaron Burr for treason occasioned much feeling in the country in 1807. Colonel Burr, after he had served his term as Vice-President, made a strange journey to the South- west, having, as was said, " a variety of half-formed projects in his mind." He organized an expedition " so blended and in- volved in mystery," Mr. Jefferson wrote, that it eventually caused his arrest as a conspirator against the United States. Burr was very popular in the Southwest, and his arrest pro- duced a great deal of indignation in that region, and no little excitement throughout the country. President Jefferson sent a special message to Congress about the matter on January 22, 1807. In it he said that a few BURR'S CONSPIRACY 199 months before he had " received intimations that designs were in agitation in the Western country unlawfully and unfriendly to the peace of the Union, and that the prime mover in these was Aaron Burr, heretofore distinguished by the favor of his country." As to Burr's designs, the President said : " It appeared that he contemplated two distinct objects, which might be carried on either jointly or separately, and either the one or the other first, as circumstances should direct. One of these was the severance of the Union of these states by the Alleghany Mountains ; the other an attack on Mexico. A third object was provided, merely ostensible — to wit, the settle- ment of a pretended purchase of a tract of countr}^ on the Wa- chita, claimed by a Baron Bastrop. This was to serve as the pretext for all his preparations, an allurement for such follow- ers as really wished to acquire settlements in that country, and a cover under which to retreat in the event of a final discom- fiture of both branches of his real design. " He found at once that the attachment of the Western coun- try to the present Union was not to be shaken ; that its dissolu- tion could not be effected with the consent of its inhabitants, and that his resources were inadequate, as yet, to effect it by force. He took his course then at once, determined to seize on New Orleans, plunder the bank there, possess himself of the militai-y and naval stores, and proceed on his expedition to Mexico, and to this object all his means and preparations were now directed. He collected from all the quarters where him- self or his agents possessed influence, all the ardent, restless, desperate, and disaffected persons, who were ready for any en- terprise analogous to their characters. He seduced good and well-meaning citizens, some by assurances that he possessed the confidence of the government and was acting under its secret patronage, a pretence which procured some credit from the state of our differences with Spain ; and others by offers of land in Bastrop's claim on the Wachita." Colonel Burr was taken to Kiohmond, Ya., to be tried in the United States Circuit Court there, and was confined in jail from May to August. A suite of rooms was handsomely fitted up in the jail for his use, and daily he held receptions 200 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS attended by prominent persons of both sexes, and was gay, chatty, and apparently delighted at the sensation he was creat- ing. His trial began on August 2d, before Chief-Justice Mar- shall and a jury. In the direct testimony against Burr there was no proof given of an overt act of treason, and when it was attempted to offer collateral and indirect testimony to establish such an act, the chief-justice excluded it on motion of the coun- sel for the defence. The jui-y then returned a verdict of not guilty of treason. Burr was then tried on a charge of "high misdemeanor," and acquitted on the technical ground that his offence was committed in Ohio, and not in Virginia, as charged in the indictment. He gave bail to appear in Ohio for trial, but never did appear, and the case Avas dropped. Not a little comment was made on the rather unusual " vig- ilance and energy " displayed by President Jefferson in the pros- ecution of his old rival for the presidency, and in some quarters the President received a caustic criticism, which caused him to show considerable indignation. "When Burr was first arrested, Jefferson had hastened to say that he believed him to be " guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt," and all through the period of the trial he had written rather injudicious letters and spoken rather foolish words concerning the case, which gave color to the charge that he was actuated by a strong personal feeling in urging the conviction and punishment of Burr. The President spiritedly denied the charge, however, and declared that he was simply doing his duty. Burr fled to Europe, where for a time he was an exile, often suffering the pangs of poverty. Ultimately he returned to the United States, and took up his residence in New York for the remainder of his life. He obtained a lucrative law practice, and had many influential friends. During Mr. Jefferson's second term the Federalists in Con- gress were continually criticising him in a severe manner, and he was also roundly abused by the party press. But the Presi- dent did not seem to mind the vituperation, and showed no hard feeling towards those who indulged in it. How tolerant he was is well illustrated by the following story : Alexander von Humboldt, the great German scientist and traveller, upon JEFFERSON'S MARINE SYSTEM 201 arriving in "Washington on his tour of the world, called on the President and was received in his private apartment. On tak- ing up a newspaper that lay on the table Humboldt was sur- prised to find its columns filled with the most wanton abuse of Mr. Jefferson. He threw it down and with much indignation exclaimed, ""Why do you not have the fellow hanged who dares to write these abominable lies ?" Mr. Jefferson smiled at the warmth of his distinguished vis- itor and replied : " "What ! hang the guardians of the public morals? No, sir! rather would I protect the spirit of freedom which dictates even that degree of abuse. Put that paper into your pocket, my good friend, carry it to Europe, and when you hear any one doubt the reality of freedom in the United States show him that paper, and tell him where you found it." " But is it not shocking that virtuous characters should be defamed ?" asked Humboldt. " Let their actions refute such libels," replied Mr. Jefferson. " Believe me," he continued, " virtue is not long darkened by the clouds of calumny ; and the temporary pain which it causes is infinitely overweighed by the safety it insures against de- generacy in the principles and conduct of public functionaries. "When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property." The "system of cheap marine," which Mr. Jefferson sought to establish, was a very unpopular measure of his administra- tion. President Adams had promoted the fortification of the principal ports of the United States, and the building and lib- eral maintenance of an efficient navy. Mr. Jefferson thought the cost would be too great, and advocated instead a plan for the building of small armed vessels to be called "gun-boats." In a message to Congress he showed that the advantages of these gun-boats would be " their utility towards supporting within our waters the authority of the laws ; the promptness with which they will be manned by the seamen and militia of the place the moment they are wanted ; the facility of their as- sembling from different parts of the coast to any point Avhere they are required in greater force than ordinary ; the economy of their maintenance and preservation from decay when not in 202 THE AMERICAN CONGEESS actual service; and the competence of our finances to this de- fensive provision without any new burthen." Their " preser- vation from decay " was to be accomplished by hauling the gun- boats "up under sheds, whence they could be readily launched when wanted." Mr. Jefferson also advocated instead of expensive fortifica- tions that " heavy cannon mounted on carriages should be con- veyed to any place on the coast or banks of our navigable waters where they might be wanted to resist the approach of an enemy." Congress had a number of the gun-boats con- structed, and also a few of the heavy cannon, but the people everywhere in the country were in favor of a thoroughly good navy and strong fortifications, and Mr. Jefferson's system did not meet their approval. It became the custom to speak in de- rision of " Jefferson's gun-boats," and Congress, in response to the popular will, discontinued their construction before half the number recommended by the President had been completed. The need of a powerful navy was never more apparent than during Mr. Jefferson's second term. England, the haughty mistress of the sea, jealous of the great and ever-growing com- merce of the United States, began a series of aggressions which brought on the War of 1812. France and even Spain insulted us, and for lack of a formidable navy we were at the mercy of every nation of Europe. At this time England, assisted by the allied powers of Europe, was engaged in a mighty effort to conquer Napo- leon. The United States maintained a strict neutrality, and her merchant-ships for a while had a very extensive and lu- crative carrying trade. Finally England, by orders in coun- cil, proclaimed a blockade of the whole French coast, and also revived an ancient rule which prohibited neutral ships from trading with the dependencies of any nation with which she was at war. Napoleon retaliated by proclaiming a block- ade of the British Isles, and, besides, issued decrees which ren- dered neutral ships trading with England liable to seizure and confiscation. England arrogantly assumed the right to search American ships and take from them all seamen Avho had been at any THE EMBARGO ACT 203 time British subjects. Her claim was, " Once an Englishman always an Englishman." It was stated that many deserters from British war -ships had entered the American merchant marine, and that the search of our vessels was for the pur- pose of recovering them. But the truth was that when the British men-of-war overhauled the American ships any man who was fancied was taken away, despite all protests, to serve in the British navy. Many of those thus impressed were American citizens born in the country, while the great ma- jority of the others had been naturalized and were entitled to all the rights of citizenship and the protection guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. British war-ships also seriously interfered with our commerce. In resentment of this interference and of the assumption of the right of search there ai'ose in the land the cry of " Free - trade and sailors' rights." On the 22d of June, 180Y, a great outrage occurred. Com- modore Barron, in command of the American frigate Chesa- peake, refusing to deliver four seamen who were claimed by the commander of the British frigate Leopard, the latter ship opened fire on the ChesapeaTce while she was lying off Nor- folk, Va., and compelled the commodore to deliver the men. This outrage greatly exasperated the American people, and President Jefferson issued a proclamation ordering all British ships off the waters of the United States. He also called an extra session of Congress, which began on the 26th of Oc- tober, and during which an Embargo Act was passed. This act was intended to suspend all trade with foreign countries. No vessels, foreign or domestic, were allowed to enter or leave the ports of the United States except for the purposes of the coasting trade, and for this a large bond w^as required. It was thought that this severe measure would bring England to terms, for, with her profitable American market closed, her revenues would be greatly lessened, her factories would be idle, and thousands of her people thrown out of employment. It was an heroic remedy, however, as the embargo, while it injured England, also inflicted incalculable injury to the com- merce of the United States. The Yankee ships were idle, and 204 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the Yankee sailors, just beginning to be famous the world over, were forced to leave the sea. Moreover, the shipping -mer- chants of the North, many of whom had made large fortunes by the carrying-trade with the fighting nations of Europe, saw their business and their capital melt away, while their ships were decaying at the docks. It is little wonder, then, that the embargo met with opposition in the shipping sections of the country. The Federalists condemned it in savage terms. It was continued longer than was necessar}'-, they said, and Mr. Jefferson was called hard names because he did not end it, Con- gress having given him authority to do so whenever he deemed it advisable. England was in no hurry to make reparation for the Chesapeake outrage, although suffering from the embargo ; and Mr. Jefferson gave place to James Madison as President with this troublesome matter unsettled. All the difficulties of our foreign relations were inherited by President Madison, and greatly embarrassed his administra- tion. Congress before his inauguration had modified the embar- go by passing what Avas called a JSTon-intercourse Act, by which commerce was permitted with all nations except England and France. There had been a great deal of hard feeling in the Eastern States in regard to the embargo, and it was reported that they contemplated withdrawing from the Union. In con- sequence of this report Sir James Craig, the Governor-general of Canada, sent an emissary named John Henry into New Eng- land "to make observations and report the prospects, in case the foreign difficulties should be continued, of a division of the United States." Mr. Henry visited Yermont and New Hamp- shire, and then went to Boston, where he sojourned for nearly three months, all the while sending despatches to his employer about the political situation. It does not appear that he found any secession feeling, but only a strong opposition to the system of restricting commerce. After performing the secret service he was charged with Mr. Henry demanded as his compensa- tion a lucrative office, which was refused him by his govern- ment. The refusal set him in a passion, and he went straight- way to President Madison, and for $50,000 sold him all the papers in the case, which included considerable important cor- THE WAR OF 1813 205 respondence with the British Ministry. The papers were laid before the Twelfth Congress, in March, 1812, and shortly after were given to the country. The Plenry affair was generally regarded as an attempt on the part of England to bring about a dissolution of the Union, and the feeling against her was intensified. The depredations on our commerce were continued. Nearly a thousand Ameri- can merchant vessels, with their valuable cargoes, were captured by British cruisers, and thousands of American seamen were impressed to serve in the British navy. The insults and out- rages could no longer be borne. There was a strong feeling for war everywhere in the country except in New England, and, after the administration had striven, by the operation of peaceful measures, to bring Great Britain back to a sense of justice, war was declared in June, 1812. Two months previous to the declaration of war President Madison had sent a message to Congress, in which he said, " Considering it as expedient, under existing circumstances and prospects, that a general embargo be laid on all vessels now in port, or hereafter arriving, for the period of sixty diijs, I recommend the immediate passage of a law to that effect." This proposition was earnestly discussed. The House went into secret session, and Henry Clay, who was then speaker, and had just begun his long career of eminence, gave the measure his support. He said, " I approve of it because it is to be viewed as a direct precursor to war." The embargo was op- posed by John Kandolph, and by Josiah Quincy, of Massachu- setts. Mr. Eandolph asked, "What new cause of war, or of an embargo, has arisen within the last twelve months ? The affair of the Chesapeale is settled ; no new principles of blockade have been interpolated in the laws of nations. Every man of candor would ask why we did not, then, go to war twelve months ago." In reply Mr. Clay said: " What new cause of war has been avowed ? The affair of the Chesapeake is settled, to be sure, but only to paralyze the spirit of the country. Has Great Britain abstained from impressing our seamen — -from depredat- ing upon our property ? We have complete proof, in her capt- ure of our ships, in her exciting our frontier Indians to hos- 206 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS tility, and in her sending an emissary to our cities to excite civil war, tliat she will do everything to destroy us. Our reso- lution and spirit are our only dependence." The act for an embargo was passed, and then Congress passed various acts for strengthening and improving the army and navy. The act authorizing President Madison to declare war was vigorously opposed by the Federalists, who were sup- ported by a few Democratic -Eepublicans, among whom was Mr. Eandolph. They held that war was unnecessary and im- politic. Mr. Clay made a forcible speech in favor of the war. He declared that it would be a just one, because it would have for its great object " free-trade and sailors' rights against the intolerable and oppressive acts of British power on the ocean." The "War of 1812," as it was called, or the "Second War for Independence," continued for nearly three years. At first the American army attempted to make the conquest of Canada, with the intention of holding that country as a sort of hostage for the good behavior of Great Britain ; but the attempt was not successful. General Hull ingloriously surrendered the im- portant post of Detroit, on the northern frontier, under circum- stances which showed that he was a traitor to his country; and an attack made by a force under General Yan Eensselaer on one of the British posts near Kiagara was repulsed with 'disas- trous loss, after a display of great gallantry by our troops. These reverses caused disappointment and gloom, and the Fed- eralists, many of whom were in favor of peace on almost any terms, began seriously to oppose the war. There was an excit- ing presidential campaign, in which James Madison was the candidate of the Democratic-Eepublicans against De Witt Clin- ton, the candidate of the Federalists. Mr. Madison was re- elected President, and as there was a large majority in Con- gress in favor of prosecuting the war vigorously, an army of fifty thousand men was authorized and the navy was largely in- creased. The navy achieved a number of memorable victories, and the gallant deeds of Perrj^, Hull, Lawrence, Bainbridge, Decatur, and others caused Canning to declare in the British Parliament that American ships manned by American tars had broken the naval invincibility of England. INVASION OF WASHINGTON 207 In August, 1814, a British fleet, in command of Admiral Coclcburn, sailed up Chesapeake Bay to the Patuxent Eiver, where a large bodj' of troops, under General Eoss, were landed, and began a march across Maryland to the city of Washington. An officer of the American arm}', in a letter written soon after the occupation of Washington by the British, gives this ac- count of the state of affairs : " I arrived in Washington on Sunday, the 21st of August. At that time the officers of the government and the citizens were very apprehensive of an attack from the British, who liad landed a force on the Patuxent. It was stated they numbered from 4000 to 10,000. On Sunday the public officers were en- gaged in packing and sending oil: their books and the citizens their furniture, and on Monday this was continued, and many families left the city. The specie was removed from all the banks in the District. General Winder, who was in command of the American force, was stationed southeast of the city, at a place called Wood's, with some 2000 men, and it was reported he would receive reinforcements of 10,000 in a week. In the expectation that there was a very considerable force collected, President Madison, accompanied by the Secretaries of War and Navy, left the city for the camp. They arrived there late that night, and the next morning, finding but 3000 men had gath- ered, they returned to the city to make further arrangements. The business of the government was suspended, and all the books and papers were sent off, and the citizens generally left the place." The British troops, who were veterans from Wellington's army I'ecently arrived in the United States, marched steadily through Maryland until they reached the village of Bladens- burg, five miles from Washington. Here their march was stopped by General Winder's army, mostly composed of raw militia, numbering about YOOO. The Britisli after a short en- cao-ement scattered the militia, " who broke in confusion and DO ' ran for dear life," as an old report of the battle says. The whole British force then advanced towards a hill which commanded the turnpike to Washington, and on which, in charge of Commo- dore Joshua Barney, were about 600 sailors and marines with 208 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS several small cannon. The old report before quoted from gives this graphic account of what followed : " Barney reserved his fire until the enemy came within a few yards, when a discharge of round and grape shot left the front ranks struggling in death. A second time the English veterans advanced — a second time their fi'ont ranks fell like grass before a scythe. The British then left the road and approached from another direction by fording the creek, then very low. All the so - called American troops had left the connnodore and his brave phalanx. Still he stood his ground against an overwhelming force of the veterans of Waterloo. Although simultaneously charged on the right and left, he re- pulsed them several times with great slaughter. He received a ball in his thigh, which was bleeding profuselj'". At the same time bis horse was killed under him. To add to his chagrin the mushroom militia had run off with his ammunition-wagon. On being surrounded by the enemy, he ordered those to retreat who were able to do so. He was carried a few yards by three of his officers and fell from loss of blood. Two of them he ordered to conduct the retreat of his gallant men. General Eoss and Admiral Cockburn were conducted to him and treated him kindly. They ordered him to be carried to a house in Bladensburg, where his Avounds were dressed and he was made as comfortable as circumstances would permit. The British left eighty of their killed and wounded on the battle- ground, who had fallen through the bravery of the sailors and marines, who stood like men and fought like lions. Had the militia fought like Barney and his ocean band they would have repelled the invading foe and saved the capital of our nation from desecration." The invading army entered Washington early in the even- ing of the 24th of August, and halted in the grounds of the Capitol. The soldiers fired a number of vollej's into the windows of the " harbor of Yankee demooracj^," as Admiral Cockburn called the building, and then marched into the wino' used by the House of Representatives. Cockburn w^as escorted to the Speaker's chair by General Eoss, and with a fine assump- tion of legislative dignity called the assemblage to order amidst INVASION OF WASHINGTON 209 boisterous laughter and cheers. He demanded if the building should be burned. "All for it say aye!" he shouted. There ■was a unanimous affirmative response, and the order was then given to apply the torch. The soldiers stripped the Congres- sional Library of its books and pictures, and piled them on the floor of the House. A fire was started which quickly spread through the Capitol, and in less than an hour it was in ruins. The President's house and other public buildings were also fired. After destroying a great deal of property in the city, the British silently retreated the next night, went aboard their ships, and sailed away. CHAPTER XVI Occupation by Congress of the "Great Hotel" and the "Old Capitol." — Propositions to Remove the Seat of Government. — Kestoration of the Capitol. — The New Halls of Congress. — The Hartford Con- vention. — The Treaty of Ghent. — Creation of a Great Bank of the United States. — The TarifE Act of 1816. — Increasing the Pay of Congressmen. — Changing the Design of the American Flag. — Purchase of Florida from Spain. — Bitter Struggle over the Ad- mission of Missouri to the Union. — Great Excitement in Congress and throughout the Country. — The Missouri Compromises. After the destruction of the Capitol by the British, Con- gress met for one session in the Union Pacific Hotel, a large, rather imposing brick edifice situated on the square in Wash- ington where the Post-office Department building now stands. This hotel had been erected in 1793 by Samuel Blodget, a prominent resident of the District of Columbia, and was com- monly called the " Great Hotel." In it Congress found ample accommodations, and was able to transact its business almost as well as it had done in the legislative building on Capitol Hill. There was a great deal of talk about removing the seat of government to New York or Philadelphia, as many of the congressmen and government officials were very much dissat- isfied with "Washington, which was then anything but a desir- able place of residence. The " capital movers," as those con- gressmen were called who favored transferring the government to some other locality, made a determined effort to prevent the appropriation of any money for the restoration of the Capitol and the other public buildings. Congress discussed this matter for weeks, and at one time it seemed as if the national city would certainly be removed from, the Potomac. The friends of Washington prevailed, however, and in Februaiy, 1815, a reso- lution was passed authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow half a million dollars for the purpose of reconstructing EECONSTRUCTION OF THE CAPITOL 211 the government edifices. Washington from this time began to grow steadily and to improve, and for many years after had no fear that the government would leave its borders. A capa- cious building adjacent to the eastern grounds of the Capitol was leased by Congress for its sessions, and was occupied until 1819. This building was always called the " Old Capitol," and during the Civil "War was known as the " Old Capitol Prison," as it Avas used as a place of confinement for Confederate sol- diers and others. It is still standing, but has been consider- ably altered, and is now used for residences. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the very capable architect who had been in charge of the Capitol when it was burned, was employed for the reconstruction. He determined that the American Legislative Hall should be a grand structure and one that the people of the United States should be proud of. Con- gress gave him ample means, and he worked with great energy and skill to accomplish his purpose. There is no doubt that Latrobe is the real architect of the central or original part of the Capitol. It is to him that its grand features are due. When he was first commissioned by the government he threw away all previous plans of construction, tore down much that had been done by his predecessors, and set at work upon an original design. The old Senate Chamber and the old Hall of Representatives were designed and constructed by him. They are notable examples of pure classical symmetry and beauty. Latrobe continued his work until 1817, when he resigned his position as architect of the Capitol, and Charles Bulfinch, a distinguished architect of Boston, took his place. For ten years Bulfinch carried on the construction after Latrobe's plans, and in 1827 the central part of the Capitol was finished. There had been expended on it $2,433,814. It was termed " a majestic structure, perfect in all its adaptations." This part of the Capitol covers two acres, is three hundred and fifty-two feet long and one hundred and twenty-one feet wide, and in 1827, and for some years thereafter, was surmounted by a low central dome. Its walls are of Virginia sandstone, and on its eastern front is a magnificent portico. Until 1851 the build- ing remained unchanged. 212 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS The old Senate Chamber and the old Hall of Representa- tives, upon ^Yhich Latrobe expended a great amount of pains and monej", were used for purposes of legislation for nearl}' fifty years ; and during that long period man}' of the most im- portant of the national legislative matters were considered in them. Here the great statesmen of the age that is gone at- tended to the affairs of the nation, and here were often scenes of intense interest and vast consequence. The old Senate Chamber (now the chamber of the Supreme Court of the United States) is semicircular in form. It is seventy-five feet long and forty-five feet in width and height. The interior of a small dome forms its ceiling. At the back of the chamber is a wide arch upheld by a series of columns of variegated marble with white marble capitals. The chamber is finely decorated. On a dais in front of the marble columns stood the chair of the President of the Senate, and directly in front of it were the desks of the Senate oificials. A small gallery, supported by iron columns, encircled the chamber. On the walls were a number of fine paintings, including a large, handsomely draped painting of General Washington by Peale. Arranged in con- centric semicircles in the central part of the chamber were fine mahogany desks and chairs for the use of the Senators. The old Hall of Eepresentatives (now the National Statu- ary Hall) was fashioned after ancient Greek models, and is very beautiful. It is semicircular, and ninet3'-five feet long and fifty- seven feet high. It has a richly decorated domed ceiling. At the rear of the hall is a great arch with marble pillars, and ex- tending around the hall is a colonnade of twenty-six columns of variegated marble with white marble capitals. The floor is of marble with mosaic tiling. On the arch stands a large plas- ter figure of Liberty, and also an effigy of an eagle with out- stretched wings. Over the main entrance door is a marble clock of peculiar construction. It represents the Genius of History recording the events of the nation as she rolls over the globe. When the Eepresentatives occupied the hall the Speaker's chair and table were placed on a rostrum four feet from the floor, and back of the rostrum were rich crimson curtains suspended from the marble pillars supporting the DISCONTENT IN NEW ENGLAND 213 great arch. Near the rostrum were tables and sofas provided for the clerks and reporters. The Eepresentatives had mahog- any desks and wide, comfortable arm-chairs, which were ar- ranged in concentric semicircles. An iron railing with curtains enclosed the outer row of desks, and beyond the railing was the members' lobby. Above the lobby was a gallery with seats for about five hundred persons. In panels of the gallery were paintings of Washington and Lafayette, and large copies of the Declaration of Independence in frames ornamented with national emblems. The Federalists and, in fact, the people generally in New England were greatly dissatisfied with the war with Great Brit- ain. They had strenuously opposed it before it was declared, on the ground that it would be likely to ruin their maritime inter- ests and cause great damage to their territory, which, being ad- jacent to the Canadian frontier, they thought would be contin- ually assaulted both by land and sea. But when the war was begun New England patriotically furnished men and means for its prosecution, and for a time was patient under the injury in- flicted to her commerce by the embargo. Now, however, immense dissatisfaction prevailed in the East- ern States. The press and the pulpit were opposed to any further continuation of a war which, it was asserted, was con- ducted in an inefficient manner and solely in the interests of the "dominating pastoral South," which, having nothing to lose by the conflict, was content to allow it to drag along from month to month, while the important industrial and commercial inter- ests of New England were rapidly decaying. The "conceded ascendency of the South and the reign of Virginia at the cap- ital" were bitterly complained of. British men of war had virtually taken possession of a part of the Eastern coast, and as nothing was done by the Madison administration for the de- fence of New England, the states in this region began to decline to furnish any more men or any more money to maintain the army and navy, and to demand that negotiations should be opened forthwith Avith England for a treaty of peace. Out of the prevalent discontent came the famous Hartford Convention. In October, 1814, the Legislature of Massachu- 214 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS setts passed a resolution inviting the New England States to meet in convention " to confer upon the subject of their public grievances," and to devise " measures for accelerating the re- turn of public prosperity." On the 15th of December twenty- six delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ehode Island, and several counties of JSTew Hampshire and Vermont assem- bled at Hartford, Conn., and remained in secret session for twen- ty days. George Cabot, of Massachusetts, the prime mover of the convention, was chosen president, and Theodore Dwight, of Connecticut, secretar3^ There was so much excitement throughout the country about this conclave of dissatisfied states — as it Avas reported and very generally believed that its real object was to make arrange- ments for dissolving the Union, and forming the Eastern States into a sort of "grand-duchy to be ruled over by an English prince" — that President Madison despatched an officer of the army to Hartford to watch the proceedings of the convention, so that " in the event of an insurrection " he could promptly suppress it. The army officer, after a few days, reported to the President that the convention was " a harmless affair of resolu- tions and remonstrances, which would not be likely to end in revolution." And a harmless affair, indeed, the much-talked-of convention proved to be, although for years afterwards there were many persons in the country who firmly believed that it was " a hot- bed of treason " and " a nest of secession plots." Its members were reviled, scorned, ostracized. They were called traitors and conspirators, and whatever political positions they held were taken from them. George Cabot was forced at last in self-defence to deposit the journal of proceedings of the conven- tion in the office of the Secretary of State in Massachusetts, that all might see for themselves that what he had published as the work of the delegates was strictly true. What the delegates did was this: They discussed at great length all the grievances arising from the war, and doubtless in rather passionate language. Then they drew up a series of resolutions to be sent to the legislatures of the states detailino' Avhat they considered should be done to make a better condi- END OF THE WAR OF 1812 215 tion of affairs. In regard to dissolving the Union they said that " if the Union be destined to dissolution by reason of the multiplied abuses of bad administration, it should be, if possi- ble, the work of peaceable times and deliberate consent," and that " a severance of the Union by one or more states against the will of the rest, and especially in time of war, can be justi- fied only by absolute necessity." They asserted that new West- ern states were too easily formed ; that every State should be intrusted with its own defence ; and that it was as much the duty of each State to watch carefully over the rights reserved to it as it was the right of the United States to exercise the powers delegated. They recommended amendments to the Constitution of the United States to restrict the power of Con- gress to declare and make war, to make new states and admit them into the Union, and to lay embargoes and restrictions on commerce. They Avanted an amendment to provide that the President of the United States shall not be elected from the same State two consecutive terms, and that the same person shall not be elected President a second time ; and one to repeal the clause concerning slave representation and taxation. The proceedings of the convention were denounced by the states outside of New England, and the resolutions sent to the legislatures were spurned in contempt. The war, which had begun in 1812, came to an end in 1815 with the battle of JSTew Orleans. During its last year the gov- ernment carried it on with great difficulty, and it terminated, as was said, " without any professed settlement of the cause for which it was begun." The serious opposition to the measures proposed by Congress for the prosecution of the war, and the state of the national finances really forced the government to seek peace. It must be said, however, that Great Britain was no less desirous of closing the contest. She had had enough of it. She had found that the Americans, as in the Eevolutionary War, would fight bravely for their rights even against great odds; and she had also found that the American army and navy were more than a match for her forces. Negotiations for peace were begun at Ghent, in Belgium, in 216 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS the summer of 1814. Commissioners from both countries had an extended conference, and at last agreed upon a treaty of peace, which President Madison and the Senate ratified on the 17th of February, 1815. The Treaty of Ghent provided for the cessation of hostilities and the restoration of all property taken by either party from the other during the war; for the appointment of commissioners to define the boundary be- tween the United States and the British Possessions, as estab- lished by the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ; for the suspension of the warfare against the Indian tribes ; and for the abolition of the traffic in slaves, which was declared "irreconcilable with the principles of humanity and justice." The treaty settled none of the matters for which the war had been declared ; but, nevertheless, it was heartily welcomed by all parties. There was some discussion of the fact that the treaty had no pro- vision about the impressment of American seamen by the British. In reference to this matter Henry Clay, who, as one of the American commissioners, had helped to make the treaty, said in the House of Eepresentatives : " One of the great causes of the war, and of its continuance, was the practice of impressment exercised by Great Britain — and if this claim had ieen admitted hy necessary implication or express stipulation^ the rights of our seamen would have been abandoned! It is with utter astonishment that I hear it has been contended in this country, that because our right of ex- emption from the practice had not been expressly secured in the treaty, it was, therefore, given up ! It is impossible that such an argument can be advanced on this floor. ISTo member who re- gards his reputation would venture to advance such a doctrine." There is no doubt that the war, after all, accomplished the greater part of what was intended in its declaration. It gave freedom to our commerce and vindicated the honor of our flag ; and by showing Great Britain that we would fight about im- pressment — " that she would have war again if she impressed again " — effectually secured the safety of our seamen. There- after American seamen were never again impressed. In speaking of the war at a gathering in Kentucky in 1815, Henry Clay said : BANK OF THE UNITED STATES 217 " Another point which appears to me to afford the highest consolation is, that we fought the most powerful nation per- haps in existence, single-handed and alone, without any sort of alliance. For more than thirty years Great Britain has been maturing her physical means, which she had rendered as effica- cious as possible, by skill, by discipline, and by actual service. Proudly boasting of her conquest of Eui-ope, she vainly flat- tered herself with the easy conquest of America also. Her vet- erans were put to flight or defeated, while all Europe — I mean the governments of Europe — was gazing with cold indifference, or with sentiments of positive hatred of us, upon the arduous contest. Hereafter no monarch can assert claims of gratitude upon us for assistance rendered in the hour of danger. " The effects of the war are highly satisfactory. Abroad our character, which, at the time of its declaration, was in the lowest state of degradation, is raised to the highest point of elevation. It is impossible for any American to visit Europe without being sensible of this agreeable change in the personal attentions Avhich he receives, in the praises which are bestowed on our past exertions, and the predictions which are made as to our future prospects." The return of peace found the United States in an extreme- ly depressed financial and industrial condition. The country was flooded with all sorts of foreign merchandise, greatly to the detriment of the American manufacturers, and the expected re- vival of commerce did not take place. The cost of the war had been $80,000,000, and to pay its way the government had been obliged to issue a vast number of bills of credit, or treasury notes, which were now at a discount of twenty per cent., and the interest of which was a heavy burden. There was no specie in circulation. As a means of relief it was proposed to establish a Bank of the United States, and also to revise the tariff in the line of protection. The previous Bank of the United States, the charter of which had expired in 1811, had been of considerable benefit to the national finances ; and it was advocated by many that an- other and a greater government fiscal institution was absolutely necessary to correct the financial evils arising out of the Avar. 218 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS Some of those \Yho had opposed the renewal of the charter of the previous bank, notably Henry Clay, on the ground that there were other and better means of conducting the fiscal af- fairs of the government, now advocated the proposed new insti- tution because, as they declared, there was a complete change of circumstances. Events of the utmost importance had inter- vened, and these events, in their opinion, made a government bank necessary and proper, and therefore constitutional. John C. Calhoun, in reporting to the House of Eepresentatives an act " to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States of America," argued that such a bank was the specific to cure all the ills of the body politic. It would, he said, " put an end to the suspension of specie payments, and restore to the people the national currency — that of gold and silver — alone recognized by the Constitution, of which they had for years been deprived." Among the opponents of the measure was John Randolph, who combated it at every stage. He declared that the estab- lishment of a great'bank would be " resorting to a crutch, and that a broken one," for it would " tend, instead of remedying the evil of a depreciated paper currency, to aggravate it." To pass the measure, he said, " would be like getting rid of the rats by setting fire to the house." He argued against it as unconsti- tutional, inexpedient, and dangerous. The debate was extended and acrimonious, but there was a majority in Congress in favor of a " Bank of the United States," and therefore, in April, 1816, an act to incorporate one was passed and promptly signed by President Madison. The bank was to be established in Philadelphia, with branches in all the large cities of the country, and Avas to continue for twentj'- years. It was to have a board of twenty-five directors, five of whom were to be appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. Its capital was to be $35,000,000, one -fifth of which was to be subscribed by the government, and it was to be a depository of the public moneys, which it Avas required to disburse in any part of the United States without charge. The government deposits could be removed at any time by the Secretary of the Treasury for TARIFF OF 1816 219 suflBcient reasons, which he was required to report to Congress ; and the books and records were to be subject to examination by Congress. The bank was to pay a bonus of one and a half million dollars to the government for its charter. The first tariff really intended to protect what James Mad- ison called the " infant industries " of the United States was enacted by the Fourteenth Congress in April, 1816. Previous to this time the tariffs had been largely for revenue only, the system of protection being of secondary importance and little favored by the two great political parties. In 1790 Alexander Hamilton, in a report on manufacturing made by request to the House of Representatives, had advocated the policy of encour- aging domestic manufactures, but hardly anything was done in the way of encouragement until 1812. Domestic manufactures had attained to some importance, particularly during the pe- riod of the embargo from 1808 to 1811, and the propriety of developing them by means of protection so as to meet all the demands of the home market was discussed to a considerable extent. When the War of 1812 began, the existing duties on imports were doubled as a war measure. As the war pro- gressed, European supplies diminished and domestic manufact- ures monopolized the American market. Much capital pre- viously invested in commerce was turned to manufacturing, and in most lines of industry there was a remarkable develop- ment. Immediately after the war the influx of foreign mer- chandise seriously depressed and jeopardized American indus- tries, and there was in consequence a strong demand from the manufacturers for protection. The shipping merchants of ISlew Eno-land, whose ships carried a good portion of the imports, opposed the demand. They were fearful of losing the carry- ino- trade, and denounced protection "as but a mere continu- ance of that scheme of commercial restriction and govern- mental interference which has involved the country in so many calamities." The double duties which were laid at the beginning of the War of 1812 were removed in June, 1817, at which time the new tariff went into effect. By the Tariff of 1816, as it is called. 220 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS there were moderate specific duties, and also ad valorem duties ranging from T\ to 30 per cent. The minimum principle was introduced for the first time, and applied to coarse cotton cloth, etc. The Tariff Act Avas passed in the Senate by 25 yeas to t nays, and in the House by 88 yeas to 54 nays. It was mainly Southern and Western votes that established this tariff. ISTot much support was given it by the E"ew England member's of Congress. At the first session of the Fourteenth Congress the first attempt was made in the direction of an annual compensation for the Senators and Eepresentatives, who were receiving $6 for each day's actual attendance. Without much debate it was voted that the compensation should be $1500 a year; but this " reckless extravagance," as it was termed, was sharply re- buked in all parts of the country. In an old register is the statement that " the whole nation was aroused to ebullient in- dignation" because the members of Congress dared to give themselves a fair compensation for their services. The "ebull- ient indignation" was so overwhelming that Congress, at the very next session, changed the compensation to $8 a day, which rate was retained until 1855. In 1816 Indiana was admitted to the Union. Mississippi was admitted in 1817, Illinois in 1818, Alabama in 1819, and Maine in 1820. After tedious and unpleasant negotiations with Spain, the extensive territory of Florida was surrendered by that country to the United States in 1821. As compensation for the terri- tory, it was agreed that the United States should assume the claims of its citizens against Spain, which amounted to about $5,000,000. It was also agreed that the Sabine Eiver should be the boundary-line between the United States and Mexico. By this agreement the vast domain now the State of Texas was given up to the latter country. The American fiag first came into use in 17Y5 by order of the Continental Congress. It was commonly called the "Union flag," but sometimes the " Continental flag," and consisted of a " fly " or field of thirteen red and white stripes like the present THE NATIONAL FLAG 221 national ensign, with a " union " or inner corner of cross-bars very similar to that of the flag of Great Britain. In ITYG, a pointed star was substituted for the cross-bars in the union. On the 14th of June, 1777, Congress resolved that the flag should be " thirteen stripes, alternately red and white ; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constel- lation." The first flag of this design was made in Philadelphia, in 1777, by Elizabeth Koss, who had been appointed flag-maker to the government, and was hoisted over Independence Hall, where Congress was in session. No change Avas made in the flag, except to add stars and stripes as new states were admitted to the Union, until 1818. At this time there were twenty states, and the flag with the great number of stripes to represent all these commonwealths had lost its distinctive character and Avas not a thing of beauty. An act was passed by Congress and approved by President Monroe on April 4, 1818, providing that "the flag of the -United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternately red and white ; that the union be twenty stars in a blue field." It was also provided that "on the admission of every new State into the Union one star be added to the union of the flag." The thirteen stripes Avere to represent the original thirteen Ameri- can colonies Avhich subsequently became the United States of America, and every State Avas to have a star. This arrange- ment Avas suggested by Captain Samuel Chester Reid, one of the naval heroes of the War of 1812, and the first flag was made by his Avife, the daughter of Captain Nathan Jennings, a Revo- lutionary soldier of Connecticut. The flag was made in New York and sent to Washington, Avhere it Avas first displayed over the Hall of the House of Representatives at the Capitol on the 13th of April, 1818. Since that time no change has been made in the design of the national banner. We come now to the story of that celebrated measure known in our political history as the " Missouri Compromise" —a measure which brought about the first great struggle in Congress between the advocates of slaA^ery and of freedom, and Avhich produced much excitement throughout the country. 222 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS The point in controversy was whether or not Missouri should be admitted to the Union as a slave State. After angry and tedious debates the matter was settled by a compromise. Missouri was a part of the vast region called the Province of Louisiana, which the United States obtained from France in 1803. Slavery existed in this province when it was annexed to the United States. In 1804 Congress divided the province into two districts, one called the Territory of ISTew Orleans, and the other the District of Louisiana. The latter district in 1812 be- came the Territory of Missouri. In December, 1818, during the second year of the administration of President Monroe, Missouri j^jetitioned Congress, through her legislative council, for permission to become a State. On the 16th of February, 1819, while a bill was under consideration in the House of Eep- resentatives " to authorize the people of the Territory of Mis- souri to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original states," an amendment Avas offered by James Tall- madge, Jr., of New York, as follows : " That the further introduction of slavery be prohibited, ex- cept for the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall be duly convicted ; and that all children of slaves born within the said State, after the admission thereof to the Union, shall be free, but may be held to service until the age of twenty-five years." A debate ensued, notable mainly for intemperate and threat- ening language. The Northern members, both Federal and Democratic, generally favored the amendment. They main- tained that Congress had the right to prohibit slavery in a new State formed out of purchased territory, and that it would be wise at this time to exercise that right, in order to prevent the further extension of an institution abhorrent to the principles of free government. Slavery was so great an evil that it should be prohibited wherever it could be constitutionally, they de- clared. The Southern members, in opposing the amendment, threatened that the slave states would secede from the Union if slavery were prohibited in Missouri. A member from Geor- gia made this prophecy : " The North is kindling a fire which THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 223 all the waters of the ocean will not be able to extinguish. It can only be extinguished in blood." Tallmadge's amendment was adopted by a vote of 87 yeas to 76 nays ; and then the House passed the bill, with the pro- hibition of slavery, after a protracted and spirited debate. When the Senate came to act on the bill it struck out the amendment, and sent the bill back to the House, Avhere it came to nothing amidst the " unfinished business " of the Fifteenth Congress. The " distracting question," as it was termed, thus left un- settled, aroused the whole country'. It was the gi'eat theme of discussion by the press and the people. In many of the North- ern cities enormous meetings were held to protest against the extension of slavery, and countless memorials were forwarded to Congress from legislatures and other bodies praying that no compromise be made with the slave power. In the South there was intense excitement. It was held there that the attempt to prohibit slavery in Missouri was " a dangerous and despotic measure, and one that would infringe upon the sovereignties of the states." It was maintained that the unqualified admission of Missouri would not tend, in any degree, to extend slavery; because it would " not be the means of increasing the nmnber of slaves within the states, but of removing some of those that already existed from one State to another." By virtue of the Ordinance of 1787, which prohibited sla- very in the states formed out of the great ISTorthwest Territory, Congress had, by special acts, excluded slavery from the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois on their admission to the Union; but as the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Ala- bama were formed out of territory in which slavery existed, they were admitted Avithout restriction. Louisiana, which was a part of the same territory as Missouri, was also admitted as a State without restriction as to slavery. The Sixteenth Congress had to deal with the question of slavery or no slavery in Missouri. On the 8th of December, 1819, a memorial from the people of Missouri was presented to the House of Eepresentatives, praying for authority to form a State government. The memorial was referred to a special 224 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS committee, which ia a short time reported a bill in accordance with the prayer of the memorialists. A special day was set for discussion of the bill, and at that time it was taken up and debated with a vehemence rarely equalled in Congress. An amendment prohibiting slavery in Missouri was adopted, and the bill was then passed and sent to the Senate. The Senate defeated the bill, but shortly after concurred in a House bill admitting the State of Maine to the Union, with an amend- ment authorizing the admission of Missouri without any restric- tion as to slavery. But the House could not be forced to take Missouri in this way, and for several weeks there was little prospect of a settlement of the matter. On one occasion during the pendency of the Missouri ques- tion in the House, John Eandolph stigmatized certain North- ern members who had voted with the Southerners on some point as "doughfaces," because, as he said, "they are plastic in the hands of demagogues." The term was caught up and given great publicity by the newspapers, and ever afterwards was very generally applied to those- Northern men who, while pro- fessing to be against slavery, were, nevertheless, enlisted in the slave-holding interest, and always ready to do the bidding of the leaders from the slave states. Mr. Randolph in his speeches also had a great deal to say about " Mason and Dixon's line," which he held was the nat- ural division between the free and the slave states. This line Avas the southern boundary of the free State of Pennsylvania, and separated it from the slave State of Maryland. It was run, with the exception of a few miles, by two English survey- ors named Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who performed their work between the years 1763 and 1767. Mr. Randolph's constant repetition of the phrase " Mason and Dixon's line " brought it into general use ; until now, having a wider mean- ing, it is used to denote the division between the Northern and the Southern states. One day a long and exceedingly dry and tedious speech was made in the House on the Missouri Bill by Felix "Walker, of North Carolina, who represented a district Avhich included Buncombe County. He was requested by some friends to de- THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 225 sist and yield the floor to another member who was very desir- ous of speaking, but he refused. " I have to make a speech just for Buncombe," he said, meaning that he had to speak in order to show his constituents who lived in Buncombe County that he was taking part in the debate. The phrase gained wide currency, and thereafter, whenever a member made a speech merely "for the benefit of his constituents " — a not un- common occurrence then as well as now — it was said he was " speaking for bunkum," or buncombe. " That's all bunkum," was often said of speeches made in both houses of Congress. The excitement in the country continued to grow with every day's discussion in Congress of the Missouri question. As was said, "travelling orators spread the flame and fed the fire al- ready burning with portentous fury ; and the public press teemed with violence and inflammation." The North urged those who resisted the extension of slavery to stand firm ; the South repeated its indignant protests, and threatened to take action which would certainly lead to the dissolution of the Union. The conservative members of Congress strove ear- nestly to allay the tempest and avert the impending danger to the country. Finally, with considerable difficulty, the conser- vatives arranged a compromise, which was originated by Sen- ator Jesse B. Thomas, of Illinois, by which Missouri was to be admitted as a State without restriction as to slavery, and there was to be established on the Louisiana Purchase a geographical line beyond which slavery was never to be extended. In ac- cordance with the compromise a bill was passed in March, 1820, by a combination of Northern and Southern votes, author- izing the inhabitants of the Missouri Territory to form a con- stitution and State government ; and the State, when formed, was to be admitted into the Union " upon an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatsoever." In the eighth section of the Missouri Bill was the " compro- mise " in regard to slavery as follows : "And be it further enacted. That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the State contem- 15 226 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS plated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever pro- hibited." The "compromise line," so called, began at the southern boundary of Missouri, and, consequently, all the region north and west of the State was to be free soil. The slave-holding states regarded the compromise as a great triumph. They had succeeded in making Missouri a slave State, and they were satisfied that the excluding of slavery from the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase would do the South no harm. The North, although rather disposed at first to be angry, accepted the compromise as the best thing that could be done under the circumstances, and the dangerous ex- citement was allayed. The people of the Missouri Territory, soon after the passage of the Compromise Bill, proceeded to form a constitution under which the State was organized and went into operation. In the constitution it was provided that it should be the duty of the legislature, as soon as might be, to pass such laws as were necessary " to prevent free negroes and mulattoes from com- ing to and settling in this State, under any pretext what- soever." With this provision in her constitution Missouri was refused admission as a State, and there was another exciting discussion in Congress. The objection to the clause was that free negroes and mulattoes were citizens of some of the states, and the clause infringed on their rights under the Constitution of the United States, which provides in Article IV., Section 2, that " the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states." It was main- tained, on the other hand, that negroes, whether free or in bondage, were not parties to the political institutions of the United States ; and, therefore, free negroes and mulattoes were not citizens within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States. It was still further maintained that even if the constitution of Missouri were repugnant to that of the United States, " the latter was paramount, and would overrule the con- THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 227 flicting provision of the former without the interference of Congress." The admission of Missouri, it is stated, was presented, " in one way or another, almost daily and hourly to Congress, and became at length a perfect incubus upon legislation." Henry Clay, earnestly invoking a spirit of harmony and concession, set himself to the task of quieting this turbulent and annoying matter. He proposed a compromise, which was agreed to by Congress after violent debates, and under which Missouri was at last received as a member of the sisterhood of states on the 10th of August, 1821. By the compromise Missouri was never to pass any laws forbidding any sort of persons who were citizens of any other State from coming into her territory. This left the whole question of whether or not free negroes or mulattoes were citizens to the decision of the courts. CHAPTER XVII The Presidential Election of 1820. — An "Era of Good Feeling."— Objection to the Counting of the Electoral Votes of Missouri. — The Origin and History of the Monroe Doctrine. — Various Appli- cations of the Doctrine. — A Strong Demand for a New Protective Tariff. — Henry Clay's American System. — His Famous Speech on the Policy of Protecting Home Industries. — The Tariff of 1824. — The " Scrub Race for the Presidency." — John Quincy Adams Elected President by the House of Eepresentatives. The presidential election of 1820 presented the extraordinary spectacle of no division in the popular vote North or South, East or West. There was no opposition to the re-election of President Monroe. During his first term a number of exciting political measures had engaged the attention of the country, but they seemed to have left no resentment in the public mind, and there was no desire for a change of administration. It was the " era of good feeling." The Federalists had ceased to exist as a party, and the Democratic-Eepublicans controlled affairs. It was said that " the leading politicians cultivated with great assiduity the favor and support of all men, without regard to former distinctions, counting them as brothers of the same republican family." An orator of this period declared that the people should warmly congratulate themselves because the un- happy differences of years past were at an end. " The delusions have rolled away," he said, " and the mists that once hovered over forms of now unshaded brightness are dissipated forever. We can now all meet and exchange our admiration and love in generous confraternity of feeling, whether we speak of our Jefferson or our Adams, our Madison or our Hamilton, our Pinckney or our Monroe; the associations of patriotism are awakened, and we forget the distance in the political zodiac which once separated these illustrious luminaries, in the full THE MOXROE DOCTRINE 229 glory they are pouring oa the brightest pages of our his- tory." In February, 1S21, when Congress met to count the electo- ral votes cast for President and Vice-President, there was some debate in regard to counting the votes cast by Missouri, which had not then been admitted as a State. Many of the Southern members claimed that as Missouri was organized as a State she was entitled to have her electoral votes counted. There was, however, a strong opposition to this course ; and so. as a com- promise, it was agreed to direct the President of the Senate, in case any objection should be made to the votes of Missouri, to announce that " if the votes of Missouri were counted, the number of votes for A B for President would be so many ; and if the votes of Missouri were not counted, the number of votes for A B for President would be so many, and that in the latter case A B was elected." As finally announced. James Monroe had for President 231 votes, including Missouri ; and John Quincy Adams had one vote (cast by a Xew Hampshire elector). While this country rejoiced in a remarkable exemption from political agitation, a very different state of affairs pre- vailed on the European Continent. France, Prussia. Austria, and Russia had formed what was called the " Holy Alliance,"" for the purpose of reconstructing in their own interests the weak Continental governments. The AUiance had begun its work by putting the Bourbons on the French throne and over- throwing the Spanish Liberal party, and had in contemplation using its great power to subjugate the I'epublics of South America and place them again under the rule of Spain. As soon as it became known to the British government that the Alliance proposed to operate on the South American Con- tinent, the United States government was notified, and a pro- posal was made that it should join with England in a strong protest against the proceeding. John Quincy Adams was then Secretary of State, and he advised President Monroe not to join with England in a protest, but to make in his annual mes- sage to Congress a declaration of the position the American, government would hold if the purpose of the Alliance should be carried out. President Monroe accepted the advice of Sec- 230 THE AMERICAN CONGKESS retary Adams with great reluctance, it is stated, and in his annual message of December 2, 1823, inserted the passages which were afterwards famous as containing what has always been called the " Monroe Doctrine." The President in the first part of his message, referring to certain negotiations then in progress between the United States and Eussia concerning the respective rights and inter- ests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this conti- nent, said : " The occasion has been judged proper for asserting as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, hy the free and in- dependent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to he considered as suijeots for future coloni- sation hy any European poioer." After this broad assertion President Monroe proceeded to discuss various domestic and foreign affairs, and near the end of his message made this declaration : "In the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it com- port with our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are invaded, or seriously menaced, that we resent injuries, or make preparations for our defence. With the movements in this hemisphere we are, of necessity, more immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their re- spective governments. And to the defence of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under Avhich we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations existing hetween the United States and those powers, to declare, that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemi- sphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not THE MONROE DOCTRINE 231 interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence, and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposi- tion for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as a manifestation of an unfriendly disjtosition towards the United States.'''' The American people received the Monroe Doctrine with approval, and in Europe it attracted a great deal of attention. Everywhere it was understood to be a firm, dignified notice to the governments of Europe that they could not establish any new colony on the American continents or interfere in their political affairs without assuming an attitude of hostility to the government of the United States. What would be done if any colony should be established or any American government in- terfered with, was not expressed by President Monroe and could only be imagined. In England the doctrine was enthusi- astically applauded as a bold assertion of American spirit. In the republics of South America it was considered to be a prom- ise of aid and protection should any European government attack them. The Holy Alliance believed it threatened war, and undoubtedly it prevented any interference with the re- volted provinces of Spain. The two passages in President Monroe's message, which constitute the Monroe Doctrine, were doubtless intended to be an expression of the sentiment which had been growing for some time in the United States, that only the nations of the American continents should be allowed to occupy them, and that these nations should be permitted to establish their forms of government and institutions without the interference of for- eign nations. It was a proper time to declare this sentiment, and although Congress has never adopted or sanctioned the Monroe Doctrine in any way, it has always had the entire approval of the people of this country. In 1824 Henry Clay tried to have the House of Eepresentatives pass a resolution embodying the doctrine, but without success. Eepeated at- tempts since then have been made to secure the formal sane- 232 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS tion of Congress for the doctrine, but all of them have been ineffectual. On certain occasions efforts have been made to give practical effect to the doctrine, as the following state- ments will show. The first effort was made early in the administration of President John Quincy Adams, in 1825. At this time the governments of Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Peru invited the government of the United States to send envoys to what was termed a "congress of American nations," which was to meet at the city of Panama in June, 1826, for the pur- pose of conferring as to the best method of forming closer rela- tions with one another. The congress was to be, as Benton says, an "assembly of the American states of Spanish origin, counselling for their safety and independence, and presenting the natural wish for the United States to place herself at their head, as the eldest sister of the new republics, and the one whose example and institutions the others had followed." The scheme was heartily favored by President Adams, who consid- ered it of great importance, and therefore he accepted the invitation and nominated envoys to the congress. In his mes- sage to the Senate announcing the nominations, he stated the objects of the proposed congress. There was no intent to form alliances or to engage in any project of liostility to any nation, he said ; but the intention was to establish liberal principles of commercial intercourse and maritime neutrality, and also, pos- sibly, to come to an agreement for the adoption of the Monroe Doctrine. In regard to the latter he said : " An agreement between all the parties represented at the meeting, that each will guard, by its own means, against the establishment of any future European colony within its bor- ders, may be found advisable. This was, more than two years ago, announced by my predecessor to the world as a principle resulting from the emancipation of both the American conti- nents. It may be so developed to the new Southern nations that they may feel it as an essential appendage to their inde- pendence." Although the "Panama Mission," as it was called, had the earnest support of the administration, the Senate was decided- THE MONROE DOCTRINE 233 ly opposed to it for one reason or another not particularlj val- uable now, and for nearly three months the matter was de- bated with a great deal of violence. " No question in its day," it is said, " excited more heat and intemperate discussion, or more feeling between a President and a Senate than this mis- sion." The Monroe Doctrine was frequently denounced, and, finally, when the mission was agreed to, it was loaded with so many conditions and restrictions that it was rendered wholly useless. The Panama conference amounted to nothing, mainly because of the indifference of the United States. In 1845 the Oregon boundary dispute with England af- forded another opportunity for an assertion of the Monroe Doctrine. All the region known as Oregon up to the line of fifty-four degrees forty minutes north latitude was claimed by the United States. This was considerably beyond the boun- dary line held by England to be the true one, but she Avas will- ing, as a compromise, to fix the boundary at the Columbia Kiver. The Democrats made the matter one of the issues of the presidential campaign of 1844:, and used the cries of "Fifty- four forty, or fight," and " the whole of Oregon or none, Avith or without war with England," to aid the election of James K. Polk. In his inaugural message President Polk asserted the Monroe Doctrine when he said, "ISTo European colony or do- minion shall in future, with our consent, be established in any part of the continent of North America." But this position could not be maintained, and the Oregon boundary was finally established on the parallel of forty-nine degrees, thus leaving more than five degrees of the continent for England to hold and colonize. Still another assertion of the Monroe Doctrine was made in 1852, when England occupied a part of Honduras in violation of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, of 1850. Edward Everett, then Secretary of State, protested against England's action, but Cono-ress did nothing in the matter. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was negotiated by John M. Clayton, who was Secre- tary of State during President Taylor's brief administration, and Sir Edward Bulwer, then the British Minister to the United States. It provided that neither government should 234 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS attempt to control the proposed Nicaragua Canal, and pro- vided for the neutrality of the canal, etc. The attempt of Archduke Maximilian to found an empire in Mexico by the aid of French troops was made the occasion for a most emphatic assertion of the Monroe Doctrine. It Avas considered that Maximilian's empire was very dangerous to all the republics of Spanish America, and, therefore, the United States, in 1865, demanded that the French troops should be withdrawn from Mexico so that the people of that country could be free to decide for themselves whether or not they would be ruled by Maximilian. The Civil "War had just ended, and the United States had a splendid veteran army to support any demand it might make. France and Austria, which were upholding Maximilian, were quick to see the power of this country, and the troops were speedily withdrawn from Mexico. A great victory was thus gained for the doctrine that there must be no interference with the republics of America — a vic- tory which has since proved of decided benefit to tlie people of this continent. The subject of protection to American industry had been be- fore the country more or less ever since the passage of the Tar- iff Act of 1816, and various bills to increase the duties on for- eign goods had been presented in Congress, but none had met witli success. The severe competition of European manufact- ures with home productions had greatly depressed all indus- trial interests in the United States, and there was an ever- increasing demand for competent measures of protection. The Tariff Act of 1816 had established the protective principle, but the protection it had afforded to the American manufacturers had not been sufficient to enable them to compete with their foreign rivals. In 1824 a new Tariff Act, giving greater protec- tion, engaged the attention of Congress. Its foremost cham- pion was Henry Clay, and in a notable speech in the House of Eepresentatives, on the 30th and 31st of March, he set forth the merits of what he designated as the " American System," which included protection to American manufacturers and also internal improvements by the government. He believed that HIGH PROTECTIVE TARIFF 235 protection was the true policy of this country. After picturing the general distress then pervading the whole land he said : "Are we doomed to behold our industry languish and decay yet more and more ? But there is a remedy, and that remedy consists in modifying our former policy, and in adopting a genuine American system. We must naturalize the arts in our country ; and we must naturalize them by the only means which the wisdom of nations has yet discovered to be effectual — by adequate protection against the otherwise overwhelming influence of foreigners. This is to be accomplished only by the establishment of a protective tariff." Mr. Clay believed that the country would have to adopt a high-tariff policy, or else year by year it would come within the commercial domination of Great Britain. The industrial interests of the United States would have to be regulated by an American system, he said, or Great Britain would practi- cally recolonize this country, for she would supply the greater part of the manufactured goods required, and exert an influ- ence in our national affairs dangerous in the extreme. He dep- recated any further extension of the "British Colonial System" in the United States, and urged that the vast resources of this country be developed. In a clear, forcible way he argued that prosperity would come only with the adoption of a high tariff. In speaking of the declaration made by a Virginia member that protection was not authorized by the Constitution, Mr. Clay said : " Congress has power to lay duties and imposts, under no other limitation whatever than that of their being uniform throughout the United States. But they can only be imposed, according to the honorable gentleman, for the sole purpose of revenue. This is a restriction which we do not find in the Con- stitution. ISTo doubt revenue was a principal object with the framers of the Constitution in investing Congress with the power. But, in executing it, may not the duties and imposts be so laid as to secure domestic interests ? Or is Congress de- nied all discretion as to the amount or the distribution of the duties and imposts? " The gentleman from Virginia has, however, entirely mis- 236 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS taken the clause of the Constitution on -which we rely. It is that which gives to Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations. The grant is plenary, without any limi- tation whatever, and includes the whole power of regulation of which the subject to be regulated is susceptible. It is as full and complete a grant of the power as that is to declare war. What is a regulation of commerce ? It implies the ad- mission or exclusion of the objects of it, and the terms. Un- der this power some articles by the existing laws are admitted freely ; others are subjected to duties so high as to amount to their prohibition, and various rates of duties are applied to others. Under this power laws of total non-intercourse with some nations, embargoes producing an entire cessation of com- merce with all foreign countries, have been from time to time passed." Daniel Webster spoke against the proposed tariff, arguing that any system of protection would seriously injure the com- merce and agriculture of the country. In later years Mr. Webster became a protectionist. The opponents of a high protective tariff, which one desig- nated as "a mad, quixotic, ruinous scheme," based their ob- jections on the following grounds : That it would lessen the public revenue and compel a resort to internal taxation to meet the current expenses of the government; that it would not only injure commerce, but agriculture as well, by diminishing the exports, "as other nations would not purchase articles of any kind from us, unless the produce of their industry was re- ceived in exchange " ; and that the high price of labor in the United States would always prevent the successful establish- ment of manufactories. Those who advocated the increased duties argued that a change in the business system of the country was absolutely necessary, and that " a dependence upon the internal resources of the United States was the only true policy of the govern- ment." Protection, they maintained, instead of injuring would prove beneficial both to commerce and agriculture, because it would " bring into existence new and extensive manufacturing establishments, and thus create a home market, without which HIGH PROTECTIVE TARIFF 237 the farmer would not receive the just reward of his labors." They claimed that the tariff would not diminish exportation ; and as for lessening the public revenue, it might increase it ; " the augmentation of duty would, very likely, compensate for the diminution of the quantity of goods imported." Congress passed the Tariff Act in May, 1824. The vote in the House was : yeas 105, nays 94 ; in the Senate, yeas 26, nays 21. Many of the Southern members voted against the act be- cause they thought it " a very sectional, unjust, and unconstitu- tional measure." The South liad been prominent in establishing the Tariff of 1816, but since that time it had renounced the pro- tective policy to a great extent. The members from what were called the navigating and fishing states of New England — name- ly, Maine, New liampshire, and Massachusetts — nearly all voted against the act ; while those from Rhode Island and Connecti- cut, the manufacturing states, all voted for it. The act made considerable change in the system of laying duties, and was be- lieved to be thoroughly protective in regard to sugar, iron, wool, hemp, and woollen and cotton goods. The ad valorem duties averaged about 3Y per cent. In 1824: occurred that remarkable political contest common- ly described as "the scrub -race for the presidency." There were at first five candidates for President — William H. Craw- ford, of Geoi'gia, then Secretary of the Treasury ; John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, then Secretary of State; John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, then Secretary of War ; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, then Speaker of the House of Eepresenta- tives ; and General Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, then United States Senator. As there Avas practically but one political party in the country at the time— the Democratic-Republican — all the candidates were regarded as members of it, although they differed considerably in their views about the party policy. Crawford, Jackson, and Calhoun were known as " strict con- structionists," while Adams and Clay had something of the old Federal belief in a " loose construction " of the Constitution. Mr. Crawford was nominated by a caucus of sixtj^-eight members of Congress (it having been the practice since 1804 to 238 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS nominate the Democratic-Kepublican candidates for President of tlie United States in this way), and therefore he was put forward as the regular candidate of the party. But the con- gressional caucus had become unpopular, and the one that had nominated Mr. Crawford had been attended by only one-third of the congi'essmen. Consequently, the assumption that Mr. Crawford was the regular candidate was denied and resisted, and after a little time the other candidates were nominated by bodies of their friends. Mr. Calhoun, finding that his prospects for the presidency were " very shadowy," soon withdrew and gave his influence to General Jackson. He was afterwards re- warded for his withdrawal by being elected Vice-President. As might be imagined, the country was greatly excited over the " scrub-race." Every political demonstration was made by the friends of the candidates ; every step was taken that would secure popular favor. When the electoral votes were counted it was found that Jackson had 99 ; Adams, 84 ; Crawford, 41, and Clay, 37. As there was no election the choice of President devolved on the House of Kepresentatives, as provided by the Constitution. The House on the 9th of February, 1825, pro- ceeded to make the choice from the three candidates having the highest number of votes. Mr. Clay, not being eligible for the presidency, gave his influence and support to Mr. Adams. Thirteen states voted for Adams, seven for Jackson, and four for Crawford ; whereupon Mr. Adams was declared elected President of the United States for the term beginning on the 4th of March, 1825. Thus the son of a President was himself elevated to the chief magistracy of the American nation. John Quincy Ad- ams was born at Quincy, Mass., on July 11, 1767. His em- inent father, John Adams, and his noble mother, Abigail Adams, paid every attention to his education and training. He studied law, engaged in public life in Massachusetts, and, after a diplomatic service of several years in Europe, first as Minis- ter to Eussia and then as Minister to England, became United States Senator from his native State in 1803. He was elected as a Federalist, but as he favored Jefferson's Embargo Act he incurred the displeasure of his party and resigned from the JOHN QUINCT ADAMS 239 Senate. Thereafter for some 3'ears he acted with the Demo- cratic-Eepublicans, and finally became an Independent. He was Secretary of State during President Monroe's entire ad- ministration, and gave most brilliant service. He is credited with being the author of the Monroe Doctrine. Like his father, he Avas a studious, learned, sagacious man, and had a short, stout figure, a full, rosy face, and keen eyes. He was one of the ablest statesmen that the country has ever pi'oduced. CHAPTER XVIII Brilliant Membership of Congress during the First Quarter of tlie Century. — Tiie Prominent Statesmen of this Period. — Tlie " Great Triumvirate," Clay, Webster, and Calhoun. — Biographical Sketches and Personalities. — Eminent Legislators who Subsequently Filled High Offices in the Government. — Some Quaint Characters of the Olden Time. — Davy Crockett, the Tennessee Bear- hunter. — How He was Elected to Congress. — His Witty Sayings and Eccen- tricities. — The Peculiar Customs Prevailing in Both Houses of Congress. DuEiNG the quarter of a century that Congress had met in "Washington there had been many able statesmen on its rolls, and a few that by common consent were denominated great. As a general thing, the North had sent its best men to the halls of legislation, and the South had done likewise. The important measures of the period had demanded eloquent orators and legislators of more than ordinary skill and judg- ment, and it is not too much to say that the American Con- gress has never had, before or since, a more brilliant member- ship. Doubtless the master-spirit of Congress in all this time — the one who seemed to grasp completely the great interests of the nation, and to advocate readily and faithfully whatever was for her honor and advancement — was Henry Clay, the " Great Commoner," of Kentucky. Other members, such as Webster, Calhoun, and Benton, whose names afterwards be- came household words, had not then reached the very exalted position that Clay occupied. Webster and Calhoun had their glorious battles yet to fight — battles by which they obtained immortal fame. Henry Clay was born on April 12, 1Y77, of poor and hum- ble parents, in that part of Hanover County, Ya., familiarly known as "The Slashes." He began life as a mill-boy — "the Mill - boy of the Slashes " — studied law and entered on its HENKY CLAY 241 practice at Lexington, Ky., when scarcely twenty -one years old. As he himself said, he went to Lexington " without patrons, without the favor or countenance of the great or opulent, and without the means of paying my weekly board." At a bar remarkable for its talent young Clay, however, soon rose to the first rank. He was elected to the General Assembly, and was made Speaker. This adopted son of Ken- tucky became so popular that, in 1806, he was chosen to the United States Senate for a year to fill a vacancy; and again, in 1809, he entered the Senate for a term of two years. He was less than thirty (the constitutional age for a Senator) when he first became a member of the Senate ; and when he was sworn in, it is said he was asked if he had arrived at the constitutional age, and he replied, " Go ask my constituents." In 1811 Mr. Clay began his distinguished career in the House of Representatives. He was immediately elected Speaker by a large vote — the only instance in the annals of Congress of this great honor ])eing given to a member on his first appearance in the House. For eleven years he served as Speaker, and his service in the House extended through fourteen years. From 1836 to 1812, and from 1849 until his death, in 1852, he was a member of the Senate. The great Kentuckian — " Harry of the West," as he was lov"^- ingly called — presented a striking appearance, although he had a face of " unaccountable commonness," as one of his contem- poraries has said. He had a tall, spare, graceful figure, small blue eyes, a very high forehead, and a large mouth. He was frank and cordial in his manner, and had a very fascinating smile. His voice was clear, sonorous, and sympathetic, and it was a pleasure to listen to his speeches. As a natural orator he had no equal, being able at will to move great assemblages to smiles and tears and enthusiasm. Possessed of a brilliant genius and a fertile imagination, he had also a sound, discrim- inating judgment, and was eminently practical. His views of national policy were broad and expanding. He had a great faculty of making friends, and seemed to possess a sort of fascination, by which all who came into his presence were at- tracted and bound to him by enduring ties. His power, mag- 16 242 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS netisrn, and eloquence were such that crowds lingered upon his melodious tones, stood in silent awe at his appeals, and eagerly received his political teachings. There never was an American statesman so much idolized as he. Mr. Clay was remarkably simple and unostentatious in his way of living. He was an early riser, was very methodical and industrious, and his punctuality was proverbial. He made lit- tle preparation for his speeches, except to gather the facts and figures tl^at he desired to use, had but few notes, and rarely wrote out his remarks in full. Some of his greatest speeches were not reported, and all that exists of them now are the brief notes that he made. While speaking he would walk grace- fully bacli and forth, flourishing his silk handkerchief, and now and then would stop to take a pinch of suns' from a silver box presented to him b}'^ admirers in Kentucky. He was an inveter- ate snuff -taker, and handled his box with an elegance of manner very pleasing to observe. One who heard the silver-tongued orator speak on a memorable occasion has said : "Every muscle of his face was in motion ; his whole body seemed agitated, as if ever}^ part were instinct with a separate life ; and his small white hand, with its blue veins apparently distended almost to bursting, moved gracefully, but with all the energy of rapid and vehement gesture. The appearance of the speaker seemed that of a pure intellect, wrought up to its mightiest energies, and brightly glowing througli the thin and transparent veil of flesh that enrobed it." The famous expression, " I would rather be right than be President !" attributed to Mr. Clay, is said to have been uttered in a conversation he had with a prominent member of the "Whig party for whom he had sent to consult in regard to a politi- cal movement that he contemplated making. The gentleman thought the movement might injure Mr. Clay's prospects for the presidency. His reply was : " I did not send for you to ask what might be the effects of the contemplated movement on my prospects, but whether it is right. I would rather be right than be President." Daniel Webster, the great expounder of the Constitution, was born in the little New Hampshire town of Salisbury on DANIEL WEBSTER 243 January 18, 1782. His parents were well-to-do farmers of Scotch and Welsh extraction. He received a good education in his youth and was graduated from Dartmouth College. He read law, and at first went to Boston to practise it; but after an experience there of two years he returned to his native State and opened an office at Portsmouth, where he remained for nine years. He was elected Eepresentative to Congress and took liis seat in 1813, when a little more than thirty years old. Although wholly new to public affaii'S, Mr. Webster at once obtained a commanding influence in the House of Representa- tives. Pie had remarkable oratorical ability, a vast fund of knowledge, and an impressive personality. Carlyle, seeing him some years later, called him " a grim, tall, broad-bottomed, yel- low-skinned man, with brows like precipitous cliffs, and huge, black, dull, wearied yet unweariable-looking eyes under them." After serving for two terms as a Representative from New Hampshire, Mr. Webster took up his residence in Boston, and thereafter he was proudly claimed by Massachusetts as her son. He built up a very lucrative practice as a lawyer, and it was with regret that he left his clients to represent the city of Boston in the national House of Representatives in 1823. He remained in the House until 1827, when he v^'as chosen Senator, and for fourteen years was a member of what was then termed "the most dignified body on earth" — the United States Senate. He left the Senate in 1841 to become Secretary of State, but returned to it in 1845, and remained until 1850, when he once more became Secretary of State, dying while in office, in 1852. Mr. Webster was a grand, impressive orator, and during his career as a Senator " reaped the golden grain of high renown." His speeches were masterly expositions of political economy ; and those delivered during the great debates with Hayne and Calhoun upon Nullification attained a world-wide celebrity, and are considered the best ever made upon the Constitution. William Lowndes, of South Carolina, one of Mr. Webster's con- temporaries in the Senate, remarked that " the North had not his equal as an orator, nor the South his superior." He was a very slow speaker, hardly averaging a hundred words a minute. He prepared his speeches with the utmost care, but seldom 244 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS wrote them out before delivery. His memory was so retentive that he could think out a speech sentence by sentence, correct the sentences in his mind without the use of pen or pencil, and then deliver it exactly as he had thought it out. lie would never allow any of his speeches to be published until he had thoroughly revised the stenographer's report, and he would often make material changes in the construction of the sen- tences. He had a commanding presence, the air of one born to rule men, wonderful argumentative powers, and was captivating and convincing in his utterances. This sombre, swarthy man, large and stately, with hair the color of a raven's wing surmounting a massive forehead, was the magnet that drew crowds to the Senate Chamber. When- ever he was announced to speak the chamber would be crowd- ed to overflowing, and his eloquent Avords would make a deep impression. In his dress he rather affected the old Revolution- ary colors of blue and buff, usually appearing in a blue coat and pantaloons and buff vest. He was so imposing that Sydney Smith said he was " a living lie, because no man on earth could be so great as he looked." Mr. Webster was a very hard worker, and in all his congres- sional career was noted for his habits of industry and close ap- plication to business. He would never engage in the discussion of any question of importance until he had explored all its ram- ifications and had thoroughly mastered it. No toil was too great, no application too severe for him while studying a sub- ject. While thus engaged he was taciturn, unsociable, morose ; but when he had completed his task his face would brighten and he would laugh and chat, tell funny stories, hum snatches of popular songs, and make himself very agreeable for a time. He could not, however, be called a man of genial mood. He had the melancholy nature, and there were times when, great as he was and high as he stood in the estimation of the Amer- ican people, he would rail at Dame Fortune and find nothing that was good and satisfactory in his life. It was as a Federalist that Mr. Webster entered Congress ; but he was never a strong party man like Mr. Clay, Avho began his political career as an ardent Jeffersonian Democrat and JOHN C. CALHOUN 245 afterwards founded the "Whig party. Mr. Webster was very patriotic, and he looked more to the good of the country than he did to the interests of any political organization. When the Federal party ceased to exist he became an Independent, and subsequently a Whig of a mild type. He once said in a debate, "I am no man's leader; and, on the other hand, I follow no lead but that of public duty and the star of the Constitution." John C. Calhoun was another of " the great triumvirate," as Clay, Webster, and Calhoun were generally called. He was born in South Carolina on the 18th of March, 1782. His father ■was an Irishman who performed gallant service in the Revolu- tionary War, and his mother was a Virginian of English ances- tors. Mr. Calhoun was graduated from Yale College, studied law and began practice at Abbeville, S. C, soon obtaining a lu- crative business. He entered political life by means of the South Carolina Legislature, and in 1811 was elected a Eepre- sentative in the Twelfth Congress. He was in his thirtieth year when he assumed the responsible duties of a national leg- islator — "a young man without experience to guide me," as he afterwards said ; but his great ability speedily gave him an ex- alted position. He served for six years in the House of Eep- resentatives, then was Secretary of War; and tiaen, in 1825, became Yice-President of the United States. In 1832, so eager was he to participate in the debates on State-rights and nullifi- cation then progressing in the United States Senate, that he re- signed the office of Yice-President (the only case on record) and was elected Senator from South Carolina. He was Secretary of State from 1843 to 1845; and then for the remainder of his life he was a Senator. In 1850 he died in Washington. The great- est period of his public career of thirty-eiglit years, he always declared, was that covered by the discussions of the nullifica- tion question. When near the close of life he said to a friend, " If you should ask me what word I would wish engraven on my tombstone, I should say, ISTuUification." Mr. Calhoun did not cultivate the graces of oratory, and could hardly be called eloquent in the common acceptation of the term ; but his speech - making had much effect because it was characterized by earnestness and sincerity. He was a 246 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS poor extemporaneous debater, and his important speeches were always carefully prepared in advance and generally committed to memory. Morally he was a very pure man, and his enemies could only say that he had an inordinate political ambition. Tall and slender, Avith a swarthy face expressive of intellect- ual strength and kindliness, with restless, watchful, penetrating eyes, and hair " not reposing on the head, but starting from it like the Gorgon's," Mr. Calhoun was conspicuous among the statesmen of the day. He always woi'e plain black clothes, was easy and simple in manner, and kind, generous, and char- itable. His prominent traits were independence and integrity. When asked once what he thought South Carolina would think of his action in a certain case, he replied : " I never know what South Carolina thinks of a measure. I never consult her. I act to the best of my judgment, and according to my con- science. If she approve, well and good. K she does not, or wishes any one else to take my place, I am ready to vacate. We are even." Thomas Hart Benton, of Missouri, belonged to the group of statesmen of extended fame. He was born in North Caro- lina on March 14, ITS-i, and at an early age established him- self as a lawyer at JSTashville, Tenn. Subsequently he removed to Missouri, and was chosen one of the first United States Senators that the State had after her admission to the Union. Mr. Benton entered the Senate in 1821, and for twenty -nine years and seven months performed continuous service — the longest known in the history of the Ainerican Congress. From 1853 to 1855 he was a member of the House of Repre- sentatives ; and in 1858 he died in Washington while engaged upon an abridgment of the debates of Congress. This excel- lent abridgment in many volumes, together with his well- known book giving a "Thirty Years' View" of the Senate, will perpetuate his memory, if nothing else does. He was noted for his industrj^, for his exalted views of the public service, for the courage of his convictions. He was a zealous Democrat, ever ready to battle for the great underly- ing principles of the party, and he was always a strong defend- er of the Union. As an orator he was not captivating, because ABLE STATESMEN 247 his voice was bad and his manner far from agreeable ; but he was a close student of books and nature, a profound thinker, and his speeches were usually ver}-^ earnest and very learned. He was an exceedingly vain man, but his vanity was not offen- sive, and he was very kind-hearted and ever ready to assist oth- ers, especially the young. It was his custom to strut around the Senate Chamber clad in a long, double-breasted blue coat with a huge rolling collar, the observed of all observers, as he fondly imagined. He had a tall, stalwart body, a long head covered with curly gray hair, and a rather handsome face lighted by keen brown eyes. With the above-mentioned statesmen there were, of course,. many other able men who, in their day, were of considerable prominence in Congress. There was John Gaillard, who served in the Senate nearly as long as Mr. Benton, and who was the president ^ro tempore of that body for almost fourteen years^ — an erudite, talented South Carolinian of the old school of man- ners and dress ; and there was ISTathaniel Macon, of North Car- olina, who for six years was Speaker of the House, and a very able one at that, and who for six times six years was a mem- ber of Congress — a Revolutionary patriot, an intimate friend of the first five Presidents, and a gentleman who had the honor of being styled " the model statesman." Then there was Rufus King, of New York, who for forty years was conspicuous in the public service, and who always appeared in the Senate clad in eighteenth-century garb — satin coat and waistcoat, knee-bi'eeches, silken hose, and low shoes; and there was Samuel Smith, of Maryland, a merchant prince, who for twenty-three years sat in the Senate, and for nearly forty years was a member of Congress — a soldier of the Revo- lution, and a man highly esteemed for his executive ability and sensible views of public questions. Mention should also be made of William B. Giles, of Virginia, an accomplished debater — " the ready champion, always ripe for combat " — who served in Congress for fourteen years ; of John Holmes, of Maine, an eloquent and witty man, who, as he said, " spoke right on, and generally called things by their right names," and who was for sixteen years in the House and Senate ; of Josiah Quincy, of 248 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS Massachusetts, in Congress for eight years in the early part of the century — an able legislator of scholarly attainments and forcible speech ; of John Forsyth, the talented Georgian, who Avas noted for his elegance of manner as well as for his states- manship ; of Albert Gallatin, the very capable Swiss-American, who was a Eepresentative from Pennsylvania and afterwards Secretary of the Treasury ; and of George McDuffie, of South Carolina, an eloquent speaker and earnest champion of South- ern institutions. Timothy Pickering, James A. Bayard, "William Pinkney, Langdon Cheves, Charles Pinckney, Felix Grundy, Littleton W. Tazewell, William H. Crawford, William Lowndes, Eiehard M. Johnson, Edward Livingston, George Poindexter, William C. Rives, and many others, might be included in the list of prominent statesmen of this period. Three of the statesmen who were in Congress during the first part of the century sub- sequently became Presidents of the United States. They were Andrew Jackson, Martin "Van Buren, and William Henry Har- rison. Andrew Jackson was born of humble parents in North Car- olina, on the 15th of March, 1767. When only fourteen years old he left school and joined the Revolutionary army, perform- ing remarkable service for one so young. Subsequent to his military life he studied law and began its practice in western North Carolina. This section was set apart as a Territory in 1790, and finally was admitted to the Union as the State of Tennessee. Young Jackson was elected Representative to Con- gress from the new State, and after serving for one term was chosen United States Senator. He continued in the Senate until 1798, when he became a judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and also major-general of a division of the State militia. In 1814 he was appointed a major-general of the United States army, and a few months later won great distinc- tion by defeating the British at the memorable battle of New Orleans. He retired from the arm}'- after the war on the Semi- nole Indians in Florida, in 1818. From 1823 to 1825 he again served in the Senate, and in 1829 became President of the United States. General Jackson had a commanding presence. VAN BUREN— HARRISON 249 Very tall, very erect, very gaunt, with a long, thin, strongly marked face, sparkling eyes, and luxuriant iron-gray hair, " Old Hickory," as he was named by his soldiers, because they thought hlra " tough as hickory," was indeed in appearance, as well as in character, an extraordinary man. He had an in- domitable will, was brave almost to a fault; was ardently pa- triotic, devoted to his friends, and exceedingly kind and courte- ous to everybody except those Avhom he regarded as enemies. He was a good hater, and in all his fierce political contests dis- played an inflexible firmness. With plenty of faults and plenty of virtues this "man of the age," as it was once the fashion to call him, occupies an important place in the annals of the country. Martin Van Buren was born in the town of Kinderhook, N. Y., on the 5th of December, 1782. His early schooling was limited because of his father's humble circumstances. He became a lawyer, and then entering the political field, rapidly developed great sagacity and acquired an extensive reputation as a Democratic politician. He held several minor oflBces, served in the legislature, was attorney - general, and, in 1821, was chosen United States Senator. His senatorial career con- tinued until 1829, when he became Governor of Xew York. Within a few weeks after taking this office President Jackson tendered him the portfolio of the Department of State, which he accepted. Leaving the gubernatorial chair at once, he en- tered Jackson's Cabinet, where, as it is believed, he was the "power behind the throne." Subsequently he was elected. Vice-President, and, in 1837, President. It was said of Van Buren that he had " beautiful manners." He was a small, dapper, graceful, very complaisant man. He had large intel- lectual powers, and was ready, adroit, and skilful as a states- man. William Henry Harrison, who became President in 1841, was a native of Virginia, where he was born on February 9, 1773. He was the youngest son of Benjamin Harrison, distin- guished in the Continental Congress, as a signer of the Decla- ration of Independence and as Governor of Virginia. After graduating from college Harrison studied medicine, but just as 250 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS he was on the point of becoming a physician, he left his medi- cal books and joined the United States Army as an ensign, having been commissioned by President Washington. He fol- lowed military life for some years, saw a great deal of service in the Indian wars, and eventually won the rank of captain. In 1797 he was appointed Secretary of the JSTorthwest Territory, and, two years later, represented the Territory in Congress. He was afterwards Governor of the Territory of Indiana, and while filling this office defeated the Indians at the famous battle of Tippecanoe. During the War of 1812 he gallantly served in the American army with the rank of raajoi^-general. He was a Representative in Congress from Ohio for one term beginning in 1816, and in 1825 he was elected Senator. After serving about half of his term he accepted the appointment of Minister to the Republic of Colombia and retired from Con- gress. When he had finished his diplomatic service he became a farmer at North Bend, O., until he was called to the presi- dency. General Harrison was a tall, fine-looking man, plain in his dress and manner, and very social and agreeable. Something must be said about Davy Crockett, the cele- brated bear-hunter from Tennessee, who was a Representative in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses, as he was an ex- ceedingly unique character and one seldom seen among the nation's law-makers. His oft-repeated saving, " First be sure you're right, then go ahead," is an American classic. Colonel Crockett — for he had been the colonel of a militia . regiment in Tennessee — was a little more than forty years old when he first appeared in Washington, in 1827. He was six feet tall and very muscular. Ilis face was as brown as an Ind- ian's, seamed and weather-beaten, but it was pleasant to look upon because it always carried a smile. In fact, Crockett had an inexhaustible fund of good-nature, and kept all around him very merry with his funny sayings and odd actions. He was an uneducated, uncouth man, who had seen little of life outside of his native State, and was frequently making ridiculous blun- ders, which were usually " written up " in an exaggerated vfay and published in the newspapers and made the whole country laugh. It is stated that he was elected to Congress because he DAVY CROCKETT 251 had extraordinary phj'sical strength. In his district great mus- cular force was an indispensable requisite in a candidate for pub- lic favor ; and it is related in an old newspaper that " while his competitor was telling the people of his great merits, Davy was giving practical evidence of his by grubbing up a stump which two ordinary men would have abandoned in despair. This striking demonstration of statesmanlike qualities was irresist- ible to the yeomanry of Tennessee, and the election of our worthy Davy was carried by acclamation." The same newspaper — the Ariel, published at Philadelphia — also said : "While on his way to Washington, Crockett assui-ed his companions that he could wade the Mississippi with a steam- boat on his back, whip his weight in wild-cats, and ' ride a streak of lightning bareback.' Davy is the man who proposed to whip all the animals in the menagerie, consisting of a lion, a parcel of monkeys, and a zebra. On a certain occasion he said he intended to speak in the House of Kepresentatives, for he saw no occasion for being diffident, as he could lick any man in it." One day Crockett was sitting in the office of the old Indian Queen Hotel, in Washington, in company with a number of other congressmen. A member from Massachusetts was stand- ing in the doorway looking out at the street. Turning sud- denly, he called out, " Oh, Crockett, here come some of your constituents." Crockett rose, walked to the door, and saw be- fore him a drove of mules going down the street. " Where are they going V asked the member from the Bay State. " They are going to Massachusetts to teach school," replied Crockett, without changing the expression of his face, and then quietly took his seat again. Davy Crockett attended a dinner given by President Adams at the AVhite House, and afterwards gave the following account of it: " When we went in to dinner I walked round the long table looking for something that I liked. At last I took my seat just beside a fat goose, and I helped myself to as much as I wanted. 252 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS But I hadu't took three bites when I looked away up the table at a man called Tash \attacht\. He was talking French to a woman on t'other side of the table. He dodged his head and she dodged hers, and they got to drinking wine across the table. H they didn't, I wish I may be shot. But when I looked back again my plate was gone, goose and all. So I just cast my eyes down to t'other end of the table, and, sure enough, I seed a white man walking off with my plate. Says I, ' Hello, mister, bring back my plate.' He fetched it back in a hurry, as you may suppose, and when he set it down before me how do you think it was ? Licked as clean as my hand. If it wasn't, I wish I may be shot. Says he, ' What will you have, sir ?' and says I, ' You may say that after stealing my goose,' and he began to laugh. If he didn't, I wish I may be shot. Then says I, ' Mister, laugh if you please, but I don't half like such tricks upon travellers. If I do, I wish I may be shot.' I then filled my plate with bacon and greens, and whenever I looked up or down the table I held my plate with my left hand. If I didn't, I wish I may be shot. When Ave were all done eating they cleared everything off the table and took away the table- cloth, and what do you think — there was another table-cloth under it. If there wasn't, I wish I may be shot. Then I saw a man coming along carrying a great glass thing with a glass handle below, full of little glass cups, with something in them that looked good to eat. Says I, ' Mister, bring that here.' Thinks I, let's taste 'em first. They were mighty sweet and good, and so I took six of them. If I didn't, I wish I may be shot." At this period the Eepresentatives always sat in the House with their hats on, a custom which had come down from the Continental Congress. It was thought to be a very great honor for the House to " uncover" for anything or anybody. The Speaker would sit in his chair all through a session with his hat on, but when he rose to call the attention of the House to any matter he would generally doff his hat. About 1830 "cloak rooms" were introduced, and gradually the members discontinued the practice of Avearing their hats during a session. PECULIAR CUSTOMS 253 It was the custom in both houses of Congress to have great silver urns, filled with the choicest and most fragrant " Macca- boy " and " Old Scotch" snuff, placed where the members could help themselves freely to the nose-titillating pulverized tobacco. Snuff-taking was then a very common habit with the congress- men, and it was no unusual thing to see a speaker, who was pouring out words of eloquence on the floor of the House or the Senate, stop suddenly, walk over to the snuff-urn, fill his nose, sneeze two or three times, flourish a bandanna handker- chief, and then walk back to his place and resume his remarks. Some of the o]d members had considerable reputation as grace- ful snuff-takers. Mr. Macon, who presided over the Senate so long, took snuff with such perfection that he was admired by all the Senators ; and Mr. Clay, who imitated the French, was not far behind him in grace and polished ease. The Representatives for a number of years were exceed- ingly partial to a beverage known as " switchel," and it was made a part of the duty of a certain official to compound every day a generous supply of this beverage. Switchel was com- posed of molasses, ginger, and pure water from the celebrated Capitol spring, and was "flavored" with the finest Jamaica rum. Many gallons of it were consumed daily, and whenever there was an exciting debate the supply had to be renewed again and again. In each House there were official pen-makers, who mended the goose-quills used by the members ; and official sealers, who had to seal with red wax all the letters and packages. It was customary to do everything in a very formal way, and simple methods were never thought of. CHAPTER XIX Completion of the Work of Consolidating the American Republic. — The So-called "Clay and Adams Bargain." — John Randolph's Offen- sive Remarks. — Duel between Clay and Randolph. — Party Lines Newly Drawn. — The Democrats and the National Republicans.^ The Question of Internal Improvements by the Government. — The "Historic" Tariff Revision of 1828. — Advocating Nullification. — General Jackson Elected President. — What is Known as the " Great Debate in the Senate," in 1830. — Ilayne's Remarkable Speech and Webster's Celebrated Reply. The great work of consolidating the American Kepublic, which had been going on steadily ever since 1789, was about completed when John Quinc}^ Adams became President in 1825. Out of a loose league of discordant, independent states, radically different in people, manners, ways of thought, and institutions, had been developed a solid, mighty nation. To this development President Adams referred in his inaugural address, and in a paragraph gave so excellent a statement of the condition of political affairs at the beginning of his admin- istration that we will quote it, as follows : " Of the two great political parties which have divided the opinions and feelings of our country, the candid and the just will now admit that both have contributed splendid talents, spotless integrity, ardent patriotism, and disinterested sacri- fices to the formation and administration of this government ; and that both have required a liberal indulgence for a portion of human infirmity and error. The revolutionary wars of Eu- rope, commencing precisely at the moment Avhen the govern- ment of the United States first went into operation under the Constitution, excited a collision of sentiments and of sympa- thies which kindled all the passions and imbittered the con- flict of parties, till the nation was involved in war and the CONDITION OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS 255 Union was shaken to its centre. This time of trial embraced a period of five-and-twenty years, during which the policy of the Union, in its relations with Europe, constituted the prin- cipal basis of our political divisions and the most arduous part of the action of our federal government. "With the catastro- phe in which the wars_ of the French Revolution terminated, and our own subsequent peace with Great -Britain, this baneful weed of party strife was uprooted. From that time no differ- ence of principle, connected either with the theory of govern- ment or with our intercourse with foreign nations, has existed, or been called forth in force sufficient to sustain a continued combination of parties, or give more than wholesome anima- tion to public sentiment or legislative debate. Our political creed is, without a dissenting voice that can be heard, that the will of the people is the source, and the happiness of the peo- ple the end, of all legitimate government upon earth ; that the best securit}' for the beneficence, and the best guarantee against the abuse, of power consist in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency of popular elections ; that the general government of the Union, and the separate governments of the states, are all sovereignties of legitimated powers, fellow-servants of the same masters — uncontrolled within their respective spheres, un- controllable by encroachments upon each other. ... If there have been those who doubted whether a confederated repre- sentative democracy were a government competent to the wise and orderly management of the common concerns of a mighty nation, those doubts have been dispelled ; if there have been projects of partial confederacies to be erected upon the ruins of the Union, they have been scattered to the winds ; if there have been dangerous attachments to one foreign nation, and antipathies against another — they have been extinguished. Ten 3'ears of peace, at home and abroad, have assuaged the ani- mosities of political contention, and blended into harmony the most discordant elements of public opinion." Ilenry Clay was President Adams's Secretary of State, and out of his elevation to this great office grew the story that he had "bargained" to give his influence in the House of Representatives, which exceeded that of any other member, to 256 THK AMERICAN CONGEESS elect Mr. Adams. The story was believed by many, and for a long time it was the leading political scandal. Thousands were convinced that Mr. Clay had sold out to Mr. Adams for the honor of becoming Secretary of State; and although he and his friends most strenuously insisted that there was not a particle of truth in the charge, and called it " a great con- spiracy" on the part of General Jackson's supporters, the odium rested on Mr. Clay for the remainder of his life, and doubtless considerably diminished his popularity. There does not seem to be, however, any substantial foundation for the charge. Mr. Clay, it is likely, favored Mr. Adams because the latter was a strong protectionist, and because he (Clay) had a belief (shared by many) that a soldier like General Jackson would not make a good President. John Randolph, who was an ardent supporter of General Jackson, always took every opportunity he could in the House of Representatives to speak about the " Clay and Adams bar- gain," as he termed it ; and on one occasion, after declaring that a certain paper connected with the Panama Mission " bore the ear-mark of having been manufactured or forged by the Secretary of State," he denounced the administration as " the combination, unheard of till then, of the Puritan and the blackleg." Mr. Clay, very naturally, was highly indignant at Mi-. Ran- dolph's audacious charge of forgery and his offensive remarks, and promptly sent the Virginia statesman a challenge to fight a duel. The challenge was accepted, and on the 8th of April, 1826, the two famous men went a few miles from "Washington on the Virginia side of the Potomac, and in a thick forest, which hid them from public view, exchanged shots, but with- out effect. Senator Benton, who was one of the witnesses of the duel, says : " I went in among the parties and offered my mediation; but nothing could be done. Mr. Clay said, with that wave of the hand with which he was accustomed to put away a trifle, ' This is child's play !' and required another fire. Mr. Randolph also demanded another fire." At the second fire Mr. Clay's bullet passed through the skirt of Mr. Randolph's coat, very near the hip. Mr. Ran- PARTY LINES NEWLY DRAWN 257 dolph, who had previously told Senator Bentoa in confidence that he did not intend to harm Mr. Clay, raised his pistol and discharged it in the air, saying, " I do not fire at you, Mr. Clay." Then he stepped forward and offered Mr. Clay his hand. Senator Benton says : " He was met in the same spirit. They met half-way, shook hands, Mr. Randolph saying jo- cosely, 'You owe me a coat, Mr. Clay'; to which Mr. Clay very promptly and happily replied, ' I am glad the debt is no greater.' . . . The joy of all was extreme at this happy termi- nation of a most critical affair ; and we immediately left, with lighter hearts than we brought." General Jackson's supporters maintained that he should have been elected President, as he had the greatest number of the electoral votes ; and that he would have been elected had not Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams made a corrupt bargain. In consequence of their belief that the hero of New Orleans had been robbed of the presidency, they did all they could to embarrass the administration of President Adams, and to lessen the popularity of his Secretary of State. At last the feeling in the country became so intense that party lines, which were almost obliterated, were newly drawn. The Jackson men, com- bining Avith the supporters of Crawford, assumed the party name of Democrats, while the Adams and Clay factions came together under the name of National Republicans, which Avas changed in 1834 to that of Whigs. The Democrats held to a strict construction of the Constitution, and were opposed to any further extension of the protective tariff; the National Republicans favored the loose construction of the old Federal- ists, and, in addition, supported protection and the doctrine that the government had the right to make internal improve- ments. The question of internal improvements had been agitated from the beginning of the government, and in nearly every Congress since 1806 appropriations for the purpose of improv- ing roads and harbors and rivers had been made. The gov- ernment had also constructed a national highway called the Cumberland Road, which extended from Cumberland, Md., to the Ohio River. The Democrats had usually opposed in- 17 258 THE AMEKICAN CONGRESS ternal improvements on the ground of their unconstitution- ality, but the question was made more of a party matter in later years. What is always called the " historic " revision of the tariff in 1828 produced a fierce sectional tempest. For six weeks Con- gress debated in a stirring manner a bill to increase further the duties on foreign manufactures, particularly those of cot- ton, wool, silk, hemp, and iron. The American manufacturers, sorely pressed in their competition with the manufacturers of Great Britain, earnestly pleaded for greater protection — for a tariff that would give the infant industries of the United States a chance to grow and become strong. Tlie increase of duties was stubbornly resisted by the major number of the members of Congress from the Southern States, ivho avouched that it was clearly unconstitutional because it would cause unequal taxation — that is, the cotton-planting states would be taxed for the benefit of the manufacturing states. About one -half of the members from New England also opposed the increase; but the members from the Middle and the Western States were almost unanimously in favor of it. The bill was passed in May, 1828, by a vote in the House of Eepresentatives of yeas 105, nays 94 ; and in the Senate of yeas 26, nays 21. The bill not only increased the tariff to a considerable extent, but it contained a number of peculiar pro- visions — the " abominations," as they were called — which had been incorporated in it in consequence of the political com- plications attending its passage. Those who were opposed to it named it the " bill of abominations." The people of the cot- ton states became very indignant about it, and in South Caro- lina particularly there were immense public meetings at which inflammatory speeches were made and resolves passed, all urg- ing nullification. Never before since the period of intense political feeling caused by the enactment of the Alien and Sedition laws, in 1Y98, had there been advocates of nullification, or the assumed right of a State to nullify or cancel an act of Congress which she judged to be unconstitutional. This " colossal heresy," as James Madison very aptly described it, was now brought for- JACKSON'S INAUGURATION 259 ward prominently by the states of South Carolina and Georgia. They urged the other Southern states to follow their lead, but as there was great expectation that General Jackson, who was supposed to be in entire sympathy with the Southern move- ment against protection, would be elected President, these states would not take action in the matter ; and, finally, the advocates of nullification in South Carolina and Georgia, for the same reason, also decided to await the result of the presi- dential election. A determined efl'ort was made to defeat the party which had advocated protection, and the effort was successful. John Quincy Adams, the candidate of the ISTational Eepublicans for President, was beaten by General Jackson, who led the Demo- crats. John C. Calhoun was elected Vice-President. On the day of inauguration General Jackson declined an escort to the Capitol, and, unattended, rode down the broad Pennsylvania Avenue on his favorite war-horse, receiving at every step of the way hearty cheers from the vast throng of people who had come to "Washington from all parts of the country to see the hero of New Orleans inaugurated President of the United States. In writing about the affair afterwards Daniel "Web- ster said : " I never saw such a crowd here before. Many per- sons have come five hundred miles to see General Jackson, and they really seem to think that the country is rescued from some dreadful danger." President Jackson had not been long in office when it Avas discovered that he had very positive opinions of his own, and that he did not intend to be controlled or unduly influenced by any faction of his party. The obnoxious tariff was rigidly en- forced, much to the disgust of its opponents. The advocates of nullification were disappointed in the President, because they found he was patriotic and zealous in the discharge of his duty. They soon ceased to give him their support, and began to talk seriously of putting nullification in practice. On the 29th of December, 1829, a resolution was offered in the Senate by Samuel A. Foot, of Connecticut, which read as follows : 260 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS ^^ Resolved, That the committee on public lands be instruct- ed to inquire into the expediency of limiting for a certain pe- riod the sales of the public lands to such lands only as have heretofore been offered for sale, and are subject to entry at minimum price. And also, whether the office of Surveyor-gen- eral may not be abolished without detriment to the public in- terest." Out of this simple resolution of inquiry came the " Great Debate in the Senate," as it always has been called, which embraced nearly every topic in the wide range of American public affairs, and which produced Hayne's remarkable speech and Webster's celebrated reply. The resolution at first was briefly discussed, and then was made the special order for Jan- uary 13, 1830, when it was debated by several Senators and then laid aside until the 18th. On that day Mr. Benton made a long speech against the resolution, arguing that a suspension of the sales of public lands would check emigration to the new Western States and diminish their prosperity. He charged that the Eastern States favored the measure because they want- ed to keep their poor people at home to work in the factories at small wages, and he called it a scheme to pauperize the poor of the North. He inveighed against the " horrid polic}', the cruel legislation which would confine poor people in the North- east to work as journeymen in the manufactories, instead of letting them go off to new countries, acquire land, become in- dependent freemen, and lay the foundation of comfort and in- dependence for their children." Something lilce this line of argument was continued on the 19th by Robert Y. Hayue, of South Carolina — "the Achilles of the South" — a member of the Senate since 1823, and an able lawyer and eloquent orator of less than forty years of age. Mr. Hayne was a South Carolinian by birth, a self-made man, a gallant soldier of the War of 1812, and highly esteemed in his native State and elsewhere. He thought the policy of the government in relation to the public lands was not a liberal one, and that the West suffered from it to a great extent. There was no doubt that the government would treat the Western States in a more generous manner were it not for the HAYNE'S SPEECH ON STATE-RIGHTS 261 selfish opposition of New England to any change in the land policy. Arguing thus, he went on to charge, as Mr. Benton had done, that this opposition was inspired by the desire to pre- serve "a population suitable for conducting great manufactur- ing establishments." He said : " It is supposed by the advo- cates of the American S^'^stem, that the great obstacle to the progress of manufacturing in this country is the want of that low and degraded population which infest the cities and towns of Europe, who, having no other means of subsistence, will work for the lowest wages, and be satisfied with the smallest possible share of human enjoyment. And this difiiculty it is proposed to overcome by so regulating and limiting the sales of the public lands as to prevent the drawing off of this por- tion of the population from the manufacturing states." The day after Mr. Hayne's speech Daniel Webster took the floor and denied that New England had ever manifested hostil- ity to the West. He maintained that no portion of the coun- try had acted "either with more liberality or more intelligence on the subject of the public lands in the new states than New England." He refuted the charge that the manufacturers were trying to keep " multitudes of dependent laborers " from seek- ing the West, and spoke at some length about the land policy of the government. On the 21st of January, Mr. Hayne rose in the Senate and said, " Some things have fallen from the gentleman [Mr. Web- ster] which rankle here [touching his breast], from which I de- sire to relieve myself." And relieve himself he did ; for, in a speech filling sixteen closely printed pages of Gales & Seaton's Register of Debates in Congress, then the official record, and oc- cupying the greater part of two days in the delivery, he fierce- ly attacked Mr. Webster, reiterated and extended his charges against New England, amplified his previous statements in re- gard to the "illiberal policy" of the government towards the West, pictured the " disgraceful course " of Massachusetts dur- ing the War of 1812, spoke of slavery, eulogized South Carohna for her " uncalculating devotion to the Union from the very commencement of the Ee volution up to this hour," and advo- cated State-rights and nullification. 262 THE AMEEICAN CONGRESS While advocating the doctrine of State-rights Mr. Hayne asked, "Who are the true friends of the Union?" and then an- swered the question thus : " Those who would confine the federal government strictly within the limits prescribed by the Constitution ; who would preserve to the states and the people all powers not express- ly delegated ; Avho would make this a federal and not a na- tional Union, and who, administering the government in a spirit of equal justice, would make it a blessing and not a curse. And who are its enemies ? Those who are in favor of consolidation ; who are constantly stealing power from the states, and adding strength to the federal government ; who, assuming an unwarrantable jurisdiction over the states and the people, undertake to regulate the whole industry and cap- ital of the country." Mr. Hayne, in arguing that his State had the fullest right to decide as to the constitutionality of the Tariff Act, said : " The Senator from Massachusetts, in denouncing what he is pleased to call the Carolina doctrine, has attempted to throw ridicule upon the idea that a State has any constitutional rem- edy, by the exercise of its sovereign authority, against ' a gross, palpable, and deliberate violation of the Constitution.' He calls it ' an idle ' or ' a ridiculous notion,' or something to that effect, and adds that it would make the Union a 'mere rope of sand.' Now, sir, as the gentleman has not condescended to enter into any examination of the question, and has been satis- fied with throwing the weight of his authority into the scale, I do not deem it necessaiy to do more than to throw into the opposite scale the authority on which South Carolina re- lies ; and there, for the present, I am perfectly willing to leave the controversy. The South Carolina doctrine — that is to say, the doctrine contained in an exposition reported by a com- mittee of the legislatui'e in December, 1828, and published by their authority — is the good old Eepublican doctrine of '98, the doctrine of the celebrated ' Virginia Resolutions ' of that year, and of 'Madison's Eeport' of '99. It will be recollected that the Legislature of Virginia, in December, '98, took into con- sideration the Alien and Sedition laws, then considered by all HAYNE'S SPEECH ON STATE-KIGHTS 263 Republicans as a gross violation of the Constitution of the United States, and on that day passed, among others, the fol- lowing resolution : " ' The General Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government, as resulting from the compact to which the states are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument con- stituting that compact, as no further valid than they are author- ized by the grants enumerated in that compact ; and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers not granted by the said compact, the states who are the parties thereto have the right, and are in duty bound, to inter- pose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and liber- ties appertaining to them.' " In addition to the above resolution, the General Assem- bly of Virginia ' appealed to the other states, in the confidence that they would concur with the CommouAvealth that the acts aforesaid [the Alien and Sedition laws] are unconstitutional, and that the necessary and proper measures would be taken by each for co-operating with Virginia in maintaining unimpaired the authorities, rights, and liberties reserved to the states re- spectively, or to the jJeople.' "But, sir, our authorities do not stop here. The State of Kentucky responded to Virginia, and on the 10th of Novem- ber, 1798, adopted those celebrated resolutions, well known to have been penned by the author of the Declaration of Ameri- can Independence. In those resolutions the Legislature of Kentucky declare, ' that the government created by this com- pact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the power delegated to itself, since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact among parties having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of re- dress.' " Sir, at that day the whole country was divided on this very question. It formed the line of demarcation between the 264 THE AMERICAN CONGRESS Federal and Eepublican parties; and the great political revo- lution which then took place turned upon the very questions involved in these resolutions. That question was decided by the people, and by that decision the Constitution was, in the emphatic language of Mr. Jefferson, ' saved at its last gasp.' I should suppose, sir, it would require more self-respect than any gentleman here would be willing to assume, to treat lightly doctrines derived from such high sources. Eesting on author- ity like this, I will ask, gentlemen, whether South Carolina has not manifested a high regard for the Union when, under a tyranny ten times more grievous than the Alien and Sedition laws, she has hitherto gone no further than to petition, remon- strate, and to solemnly protest against a series of measures which she believes to be wholl}'' unconstitutional and utterly destructive of her interests. Sir, South Carolina has not gone one step further than Mr. Jefferson himself was disposed to go in relation to the present subject of our present complaints; not a step further than the statesmen from Ifew England were disposed to go under similar circumstances ; no further than the Senator from Massachusetts himself once considered as within ' the limits of a constitutional opposition.' " Thus it will be seen, Mr. President, that the South Caro- lina doctrine is the Republican doctrine of '98 — that it was promulgated by the fathers of the faith — that it was main- tained by Virginia and Kentucky in the worst of times — that it constituted the very pivot on which the political revolution of that day turned — that it embraces the very principles, the triumph of which, at that time, saved the Constitution at its last gasp, and which New England statesmen were not unwill- ing to adopt when they believed themselves to be the victims of unconstitutional legislation. " Sir, as to the doctrine that the federal government is the exclusive judge of the extent as well as the limitations of its powers, it seems to me to be utterly subversive of the sover- eignty and independence of the states. It makes but little difference, in my estimation, whether Congress or the Supreme Court is invested with this power. If the federal government, in all or any of its departments, is to prescribe the limits of its HATNE'S SPEECH ON STATE-RIGHTS 265 own authority, and the states are bound to submit to the de- cision, and are not to be allowed to examine and decide for themselves when the barriers of the Constitution shall be over- leaped, this is practically ' a government without limitation of po