USA > Indiana > The history of Indiana > Part 26
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THE ELECTION OF 1828
resign or carry out the instructions. They insisted on the government keeping out of business so far as pos- sible, and not interfering with the affairs of the citi- zens.
The Adams men believed in a representative gov- ernment, in which the representative was left to his own individual opinion as the guide to his political conduct. It was the duty of the voters to elect supe- rior men to office and it was the duty of the latter to govern with justice and foresight. The clashings of these two sets of opinions, varied with endless per- sonalities, made up the warp and woof of Indiana politics before the Civil War.
Under the old constitution the State elections were held on the first Monday in August. The governor served a term of three years, so that 1828 was the first time since 1816, when there was a State and national election the same year. Governor Ray, who had been elected in 1825 on an internal improvement platform, was a candidate for reelection.9 In the organization of parties he had refused to take sides. He believed national politics should have no place in a State elec- tion. On this platform he had been elected in 1825 over Judge Isaac Blackford. He attempted to repeat the same tactics in 1828, but party lines were more closely drawn and it was decided by both parties to nominate opposing partisan candidates. This move- ment alarmed Governor Ray so much that he mado a private agreement with the Jackson men that as soon as the election was over he would come out frankly for Jackson, stating publicly that Jackson's letter in
9 James Brown Ray was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, Feb. 19, 1794. He studied law at Cincinnati and settled down to practice at Brookville. He had served one term in the House and two terms in the Senate. He was a firm believer in the rail- road and his favorite vision was Indianapolis with railroads radi- . ating from it like spokes from a hub. He died of cholera at Cincinnati in 1848.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
answer to an inquiry by the General Assembly had assured him that the Jackson men were all right on the tariff and internal improvements.10
Everything seemed to be sailing on smooth seas until the governor, in a speech at Brookville, where his neighbors were nearly all Adams men, severely de- nounced the Jackson men as a faction not fit to be entrusted with power. This was reported to the State chairman, Henry S. Handy, of Salem, who laid the whole agreement before the Jackson committee. The Jackson men promptly disavowed the governor and nominated Dr. I. T. Canby, of Madison, for governor. The newspapers ridiculed the governor, making his position almost unbearable.11 The election was so near at hand, however, that only a comparatively few voters learned of the double dealing, and the gover- nor was re-elected by a substantial plurality over Dr. Canby and Harbin Moore, the Adams candidate.12 In the following presidential election, November, 1828, Jackson carried the State by a heavy majority.
As soon as Jackson was inaugurated a reign of ter- ror began among the Indiana politicians such as has never been experienced before nor since. The execu- tion of office-holders began with the postmasters. It is doubtful if a single Adams man was left in a single office in Indiana. The United States marshals, dis- trict attorneys, registers and receivers of land offices, superintendents and bosses on the National Road, In- dian agents, revenue collectors, and postmasters were all removed. Some of the postmasters received less
10 Indiana Journal, April 3, 1828. This issue of the paper has a copy of the joint resolution, Ray's four column letter to Jack- son, and Jackson's answer. Also the famous Coleman letter of Jackson on the tariff.
11 Indiana Journal, July 10 and July 17, 1828, contains all the materials on this matter; see Western Sun, July 19, 1828; Indiana Palladium, July 19, 1828.
12 The vote was: Ray, 15,141; Canby, 12,305; Moore, 10,904, In- diana Palladium, Dec. 13, 1828.
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT PARTY
than $5 per year, but they had to stand aside never- theless. Every Jackson man appointed had been ac- tive in the campaign, so that the Jacksonian political organization was composed for the next twenty years of the federal office-holders of the State.
The people in general rather feared the result of the wholesale change, but it seems that the new officers were at least as capable as the old, and far more cour- teous. The experience confirmed the Jacksonian pio- neers in their opinion that office holding was not a business that required either extraordinary talents or blue blood.13
§ 58 THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS PARTY
IN local politics the Internal Improvements Party controlled the State by an overwhelming majority. This party was not unevenly divided between the Jack- son and Adams men. Two of its most prominent lead- ers were Samuel Judah of Vincennes, who wrote the Jacksonian platforms in 1824 and in 1828, and Noah Noble, the successful candidate for governor in 1831 and in 1834. It was charged that Governor Noble had voted for Jackson. National politics, at least, did not control State elections as at present. In organizing the General Assembly in 1829 J. F. D. Lanier, later the distinguished Whig banker of Madison, was made principal clerk unanimously, while Edward A. Hanne- gan, later the eloquent Democratic senator, was chosen enrolling clerk.14
The campaign for the governorship in 1831 was be- tween Noah Noble and James G. Read, the former be- ing successful by 2,791 majority.15 Very little interest
13 Western Sun, May 30, June 16, June 20, July 11, Aug. 29, Sept. 12, Sept. 26, 1828, and the Indiana Journal, April 14, 1830, give long lists.
14 Indiana Journal, Dec. 8, 1829.
15 Noah Noble was a Virginian by birth, having been born in
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
was taken in the campaign. The vote shows little sig- nificance beyond the personal popularity of the two men. Both were Internal Improvement men and both had supported Jackson, though Noble later became a Whig. The congressional campaign of this year showed the superiority of the Jacksonion organization over that of the Clay supporters. The former elected all three congressmen, though in two of the districts they were in a decided minority. They held regular conventions and nominated a single candidate in each district, while in the Second district the Clay men had six candidates. Gen. John Carr, the Jacksonian candi- date, was elected by 4,855 votes out of a total of 14,818 in the district. In the Third district Jonathan Mc- Carty was elected by 6,243 votes out of a total vote of 14,639.16
As soon as the campaign for the governorship was over the Jackson men, now calling themselves National Democrats, began active preparation for the approach- ing contest between Jackson and Clay. The defeat of Mr. Read alarmed them for their supremacy. They could not tell what effect the removals from office would have; neither could they tell what influence the Second United States Bank would have with its fabu- lous wealth. The campaign would also have to be made against Henry Clay, a western man, and a most skill- ful politician, not to mention his power as a stump speaker.
Clark county, Virginia, Jan. 15, 1795. While quite small, his parents came to Kentucky, crossing over to Indiana and settling at Brookville in 1816. His older brother was United States senator and his younger brother receiver of public moneys at the Brook- ville land office till 1826. While moving the land office to Indian- apolis that year his brother, Lazarus, died, and Noah succeeded him in the office. He had formerly been sheriff two terms and had served in the General Assembly. He held office almost all his life. He died at his home in Indianapolis in 1844. He was a Whig, though not much of a partisan.
16 Madison Republican, Oct. 13, 1831.
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THE ELECTION OF 1832
County conventions began in November and a State convention was called for December. The Clay men, under the name of National Republicans, and claiming to be the party of Jefferson, began their or- ganization as soon as they learned the Democrats were at work. A series of county conventions, or mass meetings, was followed in each party by a State meet- ing in Indianapolis.17 The Whigs met in the Metho- dist church, forty-six delegates being present from twenty-nine counties. Delegates to the Baltimore Con- vention were chosen and a corresponding committee of one from each county selected. The Democrats met in the courthouse, December 12. They adopted reso- lutions, prepared an address, endorsed Jackson, and nominated an electoral ticket.
A third party appeared in the field in this campaign. Some time in November the Anti-Masons held a con- vention at Hanover and decided to take an active part in the approaching election. Several. newspapers were advocates of their cause and the leaders of the old par- ties were seriously concerned. The convention ap- pointed a committee to ascertain the views of the can- didates for the presidency. The committee addressed' Clay on the subject and his answer had much to do with allaying the agitation. He pointed out to them that Masonry was strictly a non-political organization like a church or school, and it would not be good prac- tice on the part of candidates to drag such questions into ·politics. The movement in Indiana subsided as rapidly as it had arisen, though for several years the Masonic order was regarded with suspicion by the public in general.18
17 Indiana Democrat, Sept. 17, 1831; Nov. 5, 1831; Nov. 23, 1831. Indiana Journal, Nov. 5, 1831; Nov. 12, 1831; Dec. 14, 1831. 18 Indiana Journal, Dec. 3, 1831; Niles' Register 41; 260. The party had an electoral ticket in the field, but no returns available give any votes cast for it. The electoral ticket is given in the Vevay Messenger, Nov. 3, 1832.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
The national election of 1832 was a well-conducted contest. The Jacksonian Democratic party was thrown largely on the defensive. The two candidates, Clay and Jackson, appealed to the western pioneers. Clay had much the stronger platform and Jackson had much the better organization. The Whigs held a State meeting or convention at Indianapolis, January 31, principally for the purpose of strengthening and perfecting their organization.19 The weakness of their organization was that all the federal office holders were Democrats and thus had more time and better opportunity to meet the voters and talk politics. The Whig politician had to go and see the voters, while the voters had to go and see the Democratic politicians.
The veto of the new charter of the United States Bank upset all party plans in the State. It was known in the west that Jackson was not an enthusiastic friend of the bank, but it was not expected that he would try to kill it. The newspapers and politicians of the State were at a loss to understand the Presidential motives. Some thought it was the result of an under- standing between Jackson and the wealthy money lend- ers of the east whereby Jackson had agreed to put all paper money out of circulation so that the wealthy who held all the specie could loan it at a much higher rate of interest.20 Others were confident that it was a battle royal between the government and the greedy monopolists. The Democrats adroitly shifted the at- tack from the bank to "Nick Biddle," whose name.was made a synonym for greed, usury, and high-handed spoliation. The smouldering hatred of the old Indiana note-shaving banks was also kindled to a blaze. On the whole, Indiana sustained Jackson's veto of the
19 Indiana Journal, Feb. 1, 1832.
20 Indiana Republican, Sept. 20, 1832, quoting the Wabash Courier. The Wabash Herald" asserted the Democratic view.
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JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY
bank charter, though practically all its public men opposed it.
There was another veto, however, which could not be explained. A bill had been prepared and passed by Congress for opening the Wabash. The President had signed similar bills applying to the Tennessee river and to a river in Pennsylvania. The Indiana measure died in his pocket.21 While this did not seem to affect the election of 1832, it did materially affect that of 1836. President Jackson's objection to the expenditure of public money on the Wabash was that the stream was not sufficient for general navigation and that there was no port of entry on the river. In the next session Senator John Tipton presented another bill for the improvement of the Wabash, including in the bill a provision making Lafayette a port of entry. Tipton cited thirty cases in which Jackson had signed similar measures. But it was all useless. The Presi- dent vetoed it and thereby lost the support of his friends in the Wabash valley, and perhaps thereby lost the State to Van Buren in 1836.22
Just before the election, October, 1832, a commit- tee of prominent Whigs drew up a statement called "Facts for the people." It set forth in a masterly way the national issues, and the Whig arguments. In this respect it was the forerunner of the modern campaign text-book. The vote, however, showed that Jackson still retained the support of the Indiana voters. Clay carried two of the seven congressional districts, and nineteen out of the sixty-six counties. Jackson's ma- jority was 6,077. Fountain, Knox, Vigo, Tippecanoe, and Cass counties showed by their vote their resent- ment of the Wabash veto.23 Samuel Judah, United
21 Indiana Journal, Sept. 8, 1832; also Vincennes Garette, Aug. 2, 1834.
22 Logan Esarey, Internal Improvements in Early Indiana, 77. 23 Indiana Journal, Oct. 3. 1832. For Tipton's quarrel with Jackson see Niles' Register, 46-443.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
States attorney, and Samuel Milroy, receiver at Craw- fordsville, criticized Jackson and both lost their offices in 1833. Dr. Canby also lost his position in the land office at Crawfordsville. Judge Jeremiah Sullivan like- wise bolted on the bank veto. Wayne county gave Clay a majority of 969, the largest county majority in the State. Jackson's heaviest vote came from the triangle between Indianapolis, Madison, and Evans- ville.24 This was, and still is, a center of Jacksonian Democracy in Indiana.
One of the sharpest political struggles that had taken place in the State up to the time took place in the General Assembly of 1832. The veto of the bill rechartering the Second Bank of the United States made it imperative that some form of currency be provided for the citizens of Indiana. Several plans were submitted and many committee reports made. Finally the plans were worked out and embodied in bills. The General Assembly, however, was unable to agree on which one was best. Both parties demanded action. Several members resigned rather than vote on these bills.25
The General Assembly elected in August, 1833, showed the effects of the failure of the previous As- sembly to act. Twelve new senators took their seats. It was claimed that only one senator was re-elected. In the House not less than twenty-five new faces ap-
24 Election reports may be found in the St. Joseph Beacon, Dec. 15, 1832; Lawrenceburg Palladium, Dec. 8, 1832; Vevay Messenger, Dec. 15. These have been compared with the official returns and found correct.
25 Indiana Democrat, Feb. 9, 1833. Calvin Fletcher, then a senator from Marion county, resigned. The Democrat approved of his resignation if he could not vote as his constituents de- sired : "In this land of Republican principles the right of in- struction is generally conceded as one of the reserved rights of the people, and that man who openly denies that right will sel- dom be honored with their confidence." This was sound Jack- sonian Democracy.
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STATE AND NATIONAL PARTIES
peared. The old leaders who had dominated the Gen- eral Assembly since 1816 disappeared. The pioneer period of Indiana history was ended, so far as the State legislature was concerned.
The congressional election in 1833 again showed the superior organization of the Democratic party. Ratliff Boone, of the First district, was opposed by four Whigs and one Anti-Mason candidate. The lat- ter, Dr. D. G. Mitchell, of Corydon, polled 287 votes out of a total of 7,805 in the district.26
The year 1834 brought with it a renewal of the contest between Governor Noble and James G. Read for the governorship. The latter was nominated by a poorly attended convention at Indianapolis. The charge was made that it was attended merely by officeholders. Twenty-three out of the sixty-three counties were not represented at all. The Whigs re- ferred to it as a causus.27
By this time the State was deeply interested in internal improvement schemes, had chartered a State Bank, and was looking forward with great ambitions. Governor Noble was the soul of all these policies. He was not a partisan. The Whig Indiana Journal called him a Jacksonian Democrat. He appointed Nathan B, Palmer, one of the leaders of the Democrats, to the office of treasurer of State.28 By skillful political management he had built up a bipartisan organization, the leading members of which were the promoters of · the State bank and the internal improvements. This organization controlled State politics for ten or twleve years, until the failure of the internal improvements brought the leaders into disfavor. Mr. Read also claimed to be non-partisan.29 In this role of non-
26 Indiana Palladium, Aug. 31, 1833.
27 Indiana Journal, Jan. 4 and Jan. 11, 1834.
28 Indiana Journal. Feb. 22, 1834.
29 Indiana Journal, April 19, 1834. See also extract from
Salem Annotator. The Paoli Patriot also made the same claim
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
partisanship Noble had all the advantage for Read had been an outspoken and unsparing Jackson man.
Early in the campaign Read and Noble signed a pledge not to do any canvassing. They had opposed each other in a canvass of the State three years before, both had been in public life for many years, and it was thought a waste of time and money to canvass the State.30 The agreement, however, was largely in favor of the governor, since he was meeting voters from all parts of the State every day. In spite of this promise, Read made a canvass, but the result was t . i- dent from the beginning.31 The national elections everywhere were a severe rebuke to Jackson. The Whig papers are full of bitter attacks on Jackson's veto, specie circular, pet banks, the betrayal of the tariff, and the war on the United States bank.
Read carried sixteen out of the seventy counties voting. These were in the Jacksonian triangle, with Carroll and Parke added. He was defeated in the State by a vote of 27,302 to 36,925.32 He lost five out of seven congressional districts. The sweeping ma- jority was a ratification of the internal improvement policy by the voters. The spell of General Jackson had spent its force and the voters gave their atten- tion principally to State affairs.
After the election of 1834 it seemed that Indiana
for Read. On the other hand, the Indiana Democrat, June 27. charges that all Clay papers were supporting Noble. The Madi- son Republican, July 3, denied this; but it was substantially true. * 30 Indiana Journal, April 26, 1834.
31 "Judge Read started from Jeffersonville, July 9, and has been busily engaged traveling and making speeches ever since. He will have traversed the whole Wabash country as high up as Lafayette by the day of the election. We have learned from most of the counties he has visited that Noble's friends are de- serting him like winter leaves and rallying under the banner of Democratic Republicanism with Read." Indiana Democrat, quoted by Journal, Aug. 9, 1834.
32 Logansport Telegraph, Sept. 6, 1834. The results of the 1831 and 1834 elections are given in parallel columns.
35ª
THE HARRISON CAMPAIGNS
was safely Whig. The State officers and a large ma jority of the members of the General Assembly be- longed to that party, while the regular Democratic or- ganization was almost broken up. Tipton, Hannegan, Sullivan, Judah, Milroy, Drake, and Dr. Canby had either quit the party or were temporarily opposing it.
The Whigs, however, failed to form any political organization and allowed the fruits of the victory to escape them. The congressional election of 1835 re- turned seven Democratic congressmen from the seven districts. Three, and perhaps four, of these had sup- ported Noble. In the Sixth district no Whig candi- date appeared. There was no political principle at stake in the campaign. It seems there was not even a political organization formed.
§ 59 THE HARRISON CAMPAIGNS
The political campaign that began in Indiana in 1835 and ended in November, 1840, was the most pic- turesque ever waged in the State. During the five years, 1835-1840, there was no let-up in the struggle.
The campaign began about the middle of the year 1835. Harrison does not now seem to have been even a remote possibility as a presidential candidate at the beginning of the agitation. Col. R. M. Johnston had long been one of the dashing figures in American political life. Soon after the close of the War of 1812 it had been claimed that the mounted Kentuck- ians, at the battle of the Thames, had stampeded the Indians ; a short time later it was said the fiery Colonel Johnston had led the charge; a short time later, in the press accounts, it was the dashing Colonel Johnston who had killed Tecumseh ; still later it was the fashion to call him the renowned Colonel Johnston who com- manded the Kentuckians at the battle of the Thames. Now at last it had become the glorious General Rich- ard M. Johnston who won the battle of the Thames.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
Johnston was a receptive candidate for the presi- dency to succeed Jackson, whose political methods he imitated. He had perhaps no thought of waking any resentment in the heart of the old general at North Bend. And perhaps no such thing would have resulted but for an unfortunate expression by citizens of In- dianapolis. A committee, composed of Arthur St. Clair, Seton W. Norris, Livingston Dunlap, James Morrison, Henry Brady, and Alex Wylie, was appointed to invite General Harrison to come to their town and celebrate the anniversary of the victory he had helped to win.33 The note, as printed, appears innocent enough, yet a combination of circumstances made of it the spark that fired the magazine.
Harrison's answer, dated September 27, 1835, filled two columns, and was copied by almost every paper in the northwest. It showed beyond doubt that the old pioneer had all his ancient power. Like his camps among the Indians, his letter had no point left un- guarded where an attack could be made. The Indiana Democrat, edited at the time by Alexander F. Morri- son, had mentioned the meeting at Indianapolis as preliminary to the celebration of the victory of the Thames, achieved by General Harrison and Colonel Johnston. A Kentucky poem had recently gone the rounds of the press, which celebrated the battle and likened Johnston to Telamonian Ajax as he had ranged the field of battle. Governor Shelby was humbly men- tioned as Agamemnon, but nothing was said of Har- rison. A great meeting was called by the Tammany Society of New York that year to celebrate the vic- tory won by Colonel Johnston on the Thames. In Boston they called attention to the victory of the Thames won by Colonels Johnston and Harrison. Why, asked the old general, should his own name be linked with that of Johnston in connection with the
33 Madison Republican and Banner, Oct. 15, 1835,
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THE HARRISON CAMPAIGNS
action on the Thames? He, himself, was in supreme and unquestioned command. Not a movement was made but by his order. Why should this colonel of militia be his associate? No one denied the gallantry of any part of the army, none certainly would detract from the merits of Colonel Johnston. But no one ever spoke of the victory won by General Jackson and some colonel at New Orleans, although he had a number of able officers of that grade. No one ever speaks of the victory of General Miller and the gallant Colonel Brown at Niagara. Likewise, there were no divided honors at the battle of the Thames. These glories should go to the army, and it was under his command alone. The praise should go to the whole army, and not to some single individual. If any one, more than another, shared in the councils of the commander, it was the greatest of Kentucky's soldiers, Governor Shelby, the hero of King's Mountain. Finally, in proof of his position, Harrison called attention to the mes- sage of Monroe, to the resolutions of Congress, to the word of Governor Shelby, to the report of Commodore Perry, to that of General Wood, and finally to the his- tory of the war written by Robert B. McAfee, who served under Johnston.
The partisans and fellow-soldiers of the old hero heard his call like a command. The reference to Gov- ernor Shelby fired the Kentucky Whigs. During the fall General Harrison made trips down the Ohio, being hailed everywhere as an old friend. Everybody except a few of the Jacksonian precinct politicians joined in the barbecues, parades, banquets, and celebrations in his honor. At Madison, Louisville, New Albany, and Vincennes he was received by the undivided populace. A description of these military spectacles, the toasts, and set orations, filled the press of the Ohio river towns. The editors were always made the secretaries of the meetings.
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