USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume III > Part 3
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The measure, nevertheless, was futile and a boomerang. It half ruined New England and made it relentlessly hostile to the Democratic administrations, and finally to the war they brought on; but it badly injured the South also, to the aggrieved surprise of those sections, for all parts of the coun- try were tied by common interests, and the farmer could not sell his surplus if there were no commercial sections to buy. England, on the other hand, simply bought her goods else- where, and suffered little.
The cutting off of the European markets made most of our grain, rice, cotton, and tobacco unsalable. While every imported article rose in price, wheat dropped from two dol- lars a bushel to seventy-five cents, artisans ceased work, labor. ers dropped their tools, and wages stopped.
Connecticut's population was largely composed of com- mercial and manufacturing people, and the depression was most vitally felt. Her ports were filled with dismantled ship- ping; her wharves, on which the grass had begun to sprout, were destitute of merchandise, the counting-houses of the
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shippers were placarded with "to let," while their former employees walked the streets with their hands in their pock- ets. Thus, on the eve of the presidential election of 1808, the signs indicated a return of the Federalists to power if the North could affect it. But as before observed, the new sec- tions held the balance, and they were Democratic.
Jefferson would not accept a renomination for a third term, ostensibly because Washington had declined it, or because his party was not unanimous. In fact, he would not have taken it on any terms. The presidency had become a nightmare he was anxious to lay down the soonest possible. All the glory, all the credit, all the satisfaction, all the good-will had passed, and only thickening difficulties and the utter failure of his cherished policy rose up before him. The one salvage from the wreck which he could make, he did : he was able to trans- fer the reins to his favorite lieutenant and fellow Virginian, James Madison, who would continue his policy and bear the curses for it instead of himself. Connecticut voted for her principles and her interests as of old : her electors-Jonathan Trumbull, John Cotton Smith, John Treadwell, Stephen F. Hosmer, David Daggett, Jesse Root, Roger Griswold, Fred- erick Wolcott, and Samuel W. Johnson-cast their votes for Charles Cotesworth Pinckney for President, and Rufus King for Vice-President. In the selection of his advisers, Madison still retained Gideon Granger as postmaster-general, though the office had not yet been raised to Cabinet dignity.
Madison's heritage, left him by his predecessor, was not one to be envied by any incumbent of the office. The ruin which the Embargo had wrought upon the commercial and manufacturing interests of the North was duplicated in the South, where the planters were obliged to support their four
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hundred thousand slaves whilst the products raised by their labors were a drug in the market.
Less than two months before his inauguration, Jefferson's expiring government, furious at the fierce resistance with which New England fought for her life, and the armies of smugglers she was sending overland to Canada, passed an enforcing act far more savage than Great Britain had ever dared to do even in her own country; immense fines and for- feitures were to scourge the rebellious section into obedience, heavy bonds were exacted, and the revenue collectors were made a set of little czars. The result appalled the authors of the measures. The collectors nearly met the fate of those who tried to collect the stamp duties before the Revolution; some were sued in the State courts, and some resigned; the courts would give no findings against smugglers; and at last the New England States openly threatened nullification, and acording to John Quincy Adams, provisional secession (until the laws were repealed), and even opened negotiations with Great Britain. Less than four weeks after the Democrats passed this last act, they repealed the Embargo, the repeal to take effect with the outgoing of Jefferson's administration on the 4th of March.
But this joyful prospect was almost immediately overcast again. All the shipping interests had hailed the removal of restrictions with delight and begun to hurry forward their vessels and merchandise. Disappointment soon followed. The Democrats regained courage. Negotiations of the Brit- ish minister at Washington were repudiated by the British government, and the American government seized the chance to reimpose the Embargo in the shape of a "non-inter- course act."
The Federalists of Connecticut had rejoiced at the prospect
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of a renewal of trade intercourse with England. On the sud- den change in international relations, they accused the admin- istration of insincerity and unwillingness to adjust the existing difficulties between the two nations. The political views of the majority in the State are most fitly illustrated by the fol- lowing, from the able pen of Mr. Dwight, one of the most prominent of Federalist spokesmen :
"Mr. Madison had just entered upon the office of Presi- dent of the United States; Mr. Jefferson had left the govern- ment surrounded with difficulties and embarrassments. The foreign commerce of the country, under the system of em- bargo and non-intercourse, was destroyed, and all the various branches of domestic industry-agricultural, mercantile, and mechanical-were in a state of deep depression or stagnation; and the community were becoming very uneasy under priva- tions which were not only unnecessary, but extremely injuri- ous and oppressive.
"Under such circumstances, it was a stroke of good policy in him, at his entrance upon the duties of chief magistrate, to excite popular feeling in favor of his administration. Noth- ing would be more likely to produce such an effect, than the adoption of measures which would relieve the nation from the multiplied evils of the restrictive policy; and it required no extraordinary degree of foresight to discern, that if such an arrangement as was contemplated with the resident Brit- ish minister should be accomplished, it would be cor- dially welcomed throughout the country, and render the new chief magistrates universally popular. At the same time, if the arrangement should be rejected by the British government, whatever the cause for refusing to ratify it might be, it could hardly fail to raise a spirit of resentment
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in the United States, of a proportionate extent with the grati- fication which the adjustment had excited."
During these troublesome times of political differences occurred the death of Connecticut's chief executive officer, Jonathan Trumbull. His colleague was appointed by the General Assembly to fill the vacancy; at the following Spring election he was chosen by the freemen for their Governor.
John Treadwell was born at Farmington, Nov. 23, 1745; after graduating in 1767 from Yale College, he acquired a complete knowledge of legal lore, although he never offered himself as an applicant for examination to the bar. In his early life he became identified with the political affairs of his native State; from 1776 to 1785, with the exception of one session, he represented the town of his birth in the General Assembly. In the latter year he was elected a member of the upper house of the Legislature, which position he resigned on his election in 1798 to the Deputy-Governorship. Gov- ernor Treadwell for a number of years presided over the dif- ferent courts of the commonwealth. No civilian of his time was better acquainted with the internal policy of the State. He was not a man of brilliant genius, or extended erudition ; nor was he endowed with commanding eloquence. Having been deprived of the advantages of birth, personal attrac- tions, and courtly address, he was not of a social turn of mind; nor, in the common import of the word, was he a popular man. At the end of his gubernatorial term he retired to private life. He died in his native town, Aug. 18, 1823.
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CHAPTER III THE BRINK OF WAR
I N the preceding chapter, the causes underlying the sec- ond struggle with England have been outlined. It is true that there were just as good causes for a war with France, where Napoleon seized enormous amounts of American shipping, and intensified his outrages even while professing to have abandoned his Con- tinental blockade. This was a characteristic performance of his-to abandon injuries in words at the moment of exer- cising them in deeds, and while never making reparation. But it served his purpose of giving a pretext to the Democrats for concentrating their hostility on England. This incensed the Federalists, who thought it unfair to fight one of an equally guilty pair and not the other. A modern reader hardly sees the force of the argument. If two burglars are breaking into your house, the fact that you have only strength to fight one is hardly a reason for letting both carry off the silver; and at least Napoleon did not crimp American sailors. But the Federalists had the stronger ground that England was fighting the battle of the United States as well as her own, and this was true. Had Napoleon won before 1803, our whole West would have remained in the hands of France, and when or how it would have become English is not easy to see; and even in 1812, little as it seemed likely, the mastery of Europe by Napoleon would have been of evil omen for America. But it did not follow that America should submit to every humiliation on this account. As a fact, the rights of search and impressment contributed nothing to English success.
Thus, on the assembling in 1811 of the Twelfth Con- gress, a month earlier than usual, while the President and his advisers were aiming to settle the differences by diplo- matic measures rather than an open rupture, the people of both nations were filled with a bitter mutual animosity. The
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fall elections had resulted favorably to the administration, thus causing members of the Democratic party to be more in unison in demanding an open declaration of war.
The active leaders in Congress were well under forty years of age, and the most active were under thirty. They were bent on "creating a nation," as they expressed it, by car- rying the American flag north to Canada and south to Key West. To the speakership of this Congress was elected a young Kentuckian, who thus made his first appearance in the national halls of legislation, and who was to prove an impor- tant factor in the affairs of the government. It was on the 12th of December that John C. Calhoun made his famous speech, which is acknowledged the best made in the long debates on the advisability of war; in which he said, "Protec- tion [of the citizen] and patriotism are reciprocal, and are the road that all great nations have trod."
It was the historic duty of a native of Connecticut, Peter B. Porter, in his official capacity as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, to present their report of the action to be taken by Congress to prepare for the inevitable conflict. After a long and acrimonious debate with closed doors, the act declaring a state of war against Great Britain and the dependencies thereof to exist, was signed by the President on June 18, 1812. Madison had been very averse to the measure ; he had shown in the negotiations with the Barbary pirates that he was willing to have the nation grovel in the very dirt to avoid a pretext for hostilities ; he resigned it as the price of his renomination. His excuse was, that England in the stress of her Napoleonic struggle could well afford to pay the price of a relinquishment of her useless rights of search for our good-will, and that a war just at this time could extort them
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from her. As a matter of fact, war had been going on for some time before the declaration was made.
With the sole exception of Vermont (the one New Eng- land State which had no seaboard and no commerce), New England was bitterly opposed to any proceedings that would cause a suspension of peaceful relations between the two coun- tries. The entire Congressional delegation of Connecticut were unanimously opposed to the declaration, and voiced the opinions and sentiments of their constituents. The press of the Commonwealth was united in denouncing the measures taken to promote the conflict, and censured their political opponents for thus committing the country to warlike demon- strations against the only English-speaking Protestant power of the European continent. From the pulpit came denuncia- tions that the war was not sanctioned by Christianity; deplor- ing the necessity of any open rupture with the parent country, and advising that every means be used to settle existing diffi- culties amicably. In the prospects of war, those interested in commercial, mercantile, and agricultural pursuits saw no rem- edy for the stagnation of trade, from which they had suffered for a decade. The mechanic's wages would not be bettered, nor would the cost of living be in any way lessened; while imported articles would increase in value. To the people of Connecticut the outlook was in itself discouraging : there was no hesitancy in openly avowing their dissatisfaction with the warlike steps taken by the administration.
The Federalists in the Spring of 1811 placed in nomina- tion for Governor and Deputy-Governor two of their staunch- est members; both had been opposed to the feeble and fumb- ling foreign policy, irritating but ineffectual, of Jefferson and Madison. The candidate for Governor, Roger Griswold, had for five terms represented the State in the lower house
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of Congress; had been a bitter opponent of all administra- tion measures, and exhibited his pugnacity by becoming involved in the first personal altercation that took place on the national legislative floor. His associate on the ticket, John Cotton Smith, had been his colleague in Congress; they were both advocates of peace, and were fully in accord with Con- necticut's attitude towards the general government. The Federalist nominees were elected by an overwhelming major- ity ; a Legislature was chosen in which those of the same polit- ical affiliations largely predominated.
Roger Griswold, the newly-elected Governor, was born in Lyme, May 21, 1762. After graduating from Yale in the class of 1780, he studied law. Three years later he began the practice of his profession at Norwich, where he soon acquired distinction as an able advocate and vigilant public official. He returned to the place of his nativity in 1794, and the follow- ing year became a member of the lower house of Congress, serving five terms. Esquire Griswold then became a judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court, but resigned in 1809 on being appointed by the General Assembly to fill a vacancy in the Deputy-Governorship. He was elected Governor in 18II, and held the office by re-election until his death at Nor- wich, Oct. 25, 1812. He had removed to that city to try the effect of change of air for an affection of the heart, which at times caused him great suffering. Governor Griswold was a noted Federalist leader and strong partisan. On account of his political knowledge, eloquence, and legal ability, he was recognized as a national leader as well.
There are plenty of excuses for the Federalists as a whole, and the New England Federalists in particular, fighting the declaration of war, or the policy which led to it, to the last gasp; we have outlined these before. For their frantic
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attempts to tie the hands of the government when it was once engaged, the commercial excuse can no longer avail : the more vigorously the war was prosecuted the sooner their com- merce would be restored, the larger salvage would be made from the wreck and probably the more favorable terms of peace obtained. Their one excuse must be, that they believed crushing or crippling England to be equivalent to enthroning Napoleon.
This was the status of affairs when the President issued his first levy for troops, to take part in an expedition against Canada; it having been decided by the administration that the war should be inaugurated with aggressive rather than defensive methods. In fact, it was the thought of this inva- sion that heartened the Southern braves to declare the war at all. In response to the President's requisition, Governor Gris- wold refused to allow the militia to leave the State to be placed under the command of General Dearborn, the com- mander-in-chief of the United States army; nor would he acquiesce in the substitution of regular for the regiment's own line officers.
This position may have been unpatriotic and was certainly fortified by party feeling; but it was sound constitutional law beyond dispute. The Constitution of the United States spe- cifically states that the control of the militia is lodged in the State government, excepting in the suppression of insurrec- tions and to repel invasions. Furthermore, it is to be under the command of their own officers, the sole proviso being the personal conducting of campaigns in the field by the Presi- dent. (It was on precisely this rock that the first attempt at a draft in 1863 was wrecked, and the government had to pro- ceed by another method) . The Governor contended that there was no insurrection to suppress, neither was the country
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invaded by a foreign foe; therefore the call of the President for the militia, to take part in any aggressive military expedi- tion, was unconstitutional.
A special session of the Legislature was held in August 1812, and the action of the Governor was approved; and while resolutions were adopted condemning the act of the administration in declaring war, they expressed the deep love borne by the people of the State for the Union. The admin- istration was censured for the selection of England as a com- batant rather than France, as the former was in condition to inflict the greater injuries. It was also feared that it would entangle the nation in an alliance with a power that had sub- verted every European republic, and which was also fatal to civil liberty. The resolutions cited the folly of the United States, without either navy or army, with an impoverished treasury, a frontier of sea and land thousand of miles in extent and feebly defended, engaging in a war without first "count- ing the cost."
The Assembly recognized the right of Congress to declare war, but regretted that occasion required it; they pledged themselves to support all the obligations resulting from the act, in the defense of the commonwealth and its sister States, in compliance with the federal Constitution. They authorized the purchase of three thousand muskets, three thousand car- touch boxes, eight pieces of artillery of six pounds calibre, six hundred pounds of powder, and five tons of musket balls. A military force to consist of two regiments of infantry, four companies of cavalry, and four companies of artillery, was ordered to be raised, "to hold themselves in readiness for the defense of the State, to enforce the laws of the Union, to sup- press insurrections and repel invasions during the present
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war; subject only to the order of the commander-in-chief of the State."
It was during the regular session of the General Assembly that the death of Governor Griswold occurred. John Cotton Smith became the acting Governor ad interim. He was born at Sharon, Feb. 12, 1765. At the age of fifteen he entered Yale College, where he soon attained high rank as a scholar. Graduating at the termination of the Revolutionary War, he began the study of law, and rapidly attained distinction. Governor Smith began his political life in 1793, representing his native town in the State Legislature. He resigned this position seven years later, on being chosen to fill a vacancy in the congressional delegation. Though a Federalist, which party was then in the minority, he was highly respected for sound judgment, and often called upon to preside over the committee of the whole, especially on those questions where the debates were liable to awaken party animosities. Prompt, energetic, and an indefatigable worker, his national career was unspotted; no insinuations were ever cast on his polit- ical integrity, nor was the finger of suspicion ever pointed at any of his official acts.
He resigned his seat in Congress in 1806, and devoted himself to agricultural and literary pursuits; but his fellow townsmen were unwilling to release him from his political labors. In the fall of the same year, he was again chosen their representative to the General Assembly, serving until 1809, when he became a member of the council. The same year saw his elevation to the Supreme Bench of the State, which position he resigned, to become the associate of Roger Griswold on the Federalist ticket. His first election by the people to the office of Governor was in 1813. He filled the position for four consecutive terms. Governor Smith adorned
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all stations in life with consummate grace and dignity. His public duties were most faithfully performed; his State papers were distinguished for perspicuity and classic ele- gance; he was noted for always being equal to the occasion. His death occurred at Sharon, Dec. 7, 1845.
In the Presidential election in 1812, the freemen of Con- necticut joined with the wing of the Democratic party that was opposed to Madison's war policy, and supported DeWitt Clinton and Jared Ingersoll for President and Vice-Presi- dent. The electoral college of the State was composed of Nathaniel Terry, Daniel Putnam, Theodore Dwight, James Gould, David Daggett, Stephen F. Hosmer, Calvin God- dard, Jonathan Barnes, and S. B. Sherwood.
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CHAPTER IV THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND
W E have already said that the tempting prox- imity of Canada to the United States was the cause of the War of 1812. It was not the cause of the desire for the war, but it was the reason why the war was thought possible to bring to a successful issue. A naval war was looked on as utterly hopeless. Up to the time of the victory of "Old Ironsides," even the stoutest patriots and the most daring fighters considered speedy and crushing naval defeat as inevitable. William Eaton and James Madison were nearly as unlike as any two human beings ever made; but the fiery hero of Derne was at one with the cold and timid protagonist of peace at almost any price in regarding naval contest against England as insane. But it was thought certain by the Southern and Western youth that Canada could be carried with a rush, and this belief induced the selection of England as an antagonist.
Unfortunately they did little in the field to justify their dauntless courage on the floor. No preparations had been made, no plans of campaign devised, even the distribution of commands and definition of authorities had not been drawn out. Supplies had to be gathered, armies to be formed and trained. There was little developed military talent in any conspicuous position : Eaton was dead; Winfield Scott was a young subordinate; Henry Dearborn, the commander-in- chief, was utterly incompetent, and was alone sufficient to guarantee a failure; James Wilkinson, the most noted man in the Southwest, was a cunning, slippery, selfish intriguer, without military or executive abilities; Jackson, the hero of the Southwest, was as innocent of strategy as he was full of courage and energy. All things not only portended but assured disaster; and when it came, the disillusioned public
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was sure to demand a scapegoat, and equally sure to find him in some subordinate left by his superiors to destruction. The luckless person whom fate had destined for this rôle was a Connecticut man, William Hull, then Governor of Michigan Territory-the northernmost part of the Northwest Terri- tory, separated in 1805 and named from the great Lake, with its seat of government the village and fortress of Detroit. Hull was born in Derby, June 24, 1753. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1775, but at the outbreak of the Revolution joined the army. He was made a captain, and served around Boston and in the New Jersey campaign, and ultimately at Yorktown, becoming colonel and reputed a brave and skillful officer. Locating at Newton, Massachusetts, he practiced law, entered politics, and become major-general in the State militia. He was engaged in suppressing Shays' Rebellion, and was appointed a commissioner to treat with the Canadian Indians. When the War of 1812 was officially declared, and the regular army was reorganized, President Madison appointed him one of the four brigadier-generals, and he was placed in command of what was termed the Northwestern Army. This force consisted nominally of about one thousand regulars, with three regiments of Ohio militia, numbering over two thousand; they were to co-operate with the army of the centre, whose numerical strength was rated at four thousand, and who were to rendezvous in the vicinity of Niagara Falls. It was confidently expected that these two armies would be able to plant the Stars and Stripes on the walls of Montreal.
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