Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 68

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I > Part 68

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The new court party acquiesced in the decision of the people, and abandoning state politics, they strove to forget their defeat in a new issue of a national character, in which the state became as deeply excited in the year 1827, as it had been in its domestic policy. Adams had been elected president in 1824, by the vote of Mr. Clay, and by his influence in the house of representatives over the delegates from Kentucky and Missouri. Jackson had been his strongest competitor, and was personally more popular in the west than Adams. Mr. Clay received the appointment of secretary of state from Adams, and of course became identified with his administration. The ancient dislike to New England, was still strong in Kentucky, and the new court party in mass threw themselves into the opposition to Adams' administration, and boldly denounced Mr. Clay as an apostate from the ancient republican party, although Mr. Adams for nearly twenty years had been a member of that party, and had formed a distinguished part of president Monroe's administration.

The great mass of the old court party, warmly and passion- ately sustained Clay in his vote, and adhered to the administra- tion of which he formed the life and soul. The old issues in 1827 were completely forgotten, and national politics were dis- cussed with an ardor unknown in Kentucky since the war fever of 1812. It quickly became obvious that in this new issue, the old court party were losing their preponderance in the state. The unpopular name of Adams told heavily against them, and the sword of Jackson and the glory of New Orleans, were thrown into the scale.

Both parties prepared for the great contest of 1828 in Ken- tucky, with intense interest. Their gubernatorial election came off in August, and the old court party, which had now assumed the name of "National Republican," selected General Thomas Metcalfe as their candidate for governor, while the opposite party adopted the popular name of " Democratic Republicans," selected William T. Barry, the late chief justice of the new court, as their candidate. Metcalfe had commenced life as a stone mason, and by the energy of his character, had risen to honor and distinction. He had been a representative in congress for nearly ten years, and was possessed of great personal popularity. After an active canvass Metcalfe was elected by a small majority, but the oppo- site party carried their lieutenant governor and a majority of the legislature, and it was obvious that they had a majority of the votes in their ranks.

At the November election Jackson carried the state by a majority of eight thousand, and Adams was beaten in the United

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States by an overwhelming vote. Although Clay was not directly involved in this issue, yet the weight of the popular verdict fell heavily upon him. The party that had supported Adams in the United States instantly rallied upon Clay, and organized for another struggle in 1832, against Jackson, who would certainly be a candidate for re-election. With Clay directly before the people, the "National Republican" party in Kentucky, felt confident of regaining their ascendency in the State. His brilliant eloquence, his courage, his energy of character, his indomitable spirit, made him a fit competitor for Jackson, who possessed some of the same qualities in an equal degree: During the conflicts of 1829 and 1830, the Jackson supremacy was maintained in the legisla- ture, and in the delegates to Congress, but in the fall of 1831, the "Clay party" as it was called by many, obtained a majority in the legislature, and this was strikingly made manifest to the Union by the election of Clay to the senate of the United States. A majority of the congressional delegation, however, were still of the "Democratic" or Jackson party, and it was uncertain which party had obtained a majority of the popular vote.

The great contest of 1832 came on. Jackson and Clay were competitors for the presidency, and Kentucky had to choose a successor to Metcalfe in the gubernatorial chair. Judge Buckner was the candidate selected by the "Nationals," and Breathitt by the "Democrats" or Jackson party. Great efforts were made by both parties, and Breathitt was elected by more than one thousand votes. Immense rejoicings upon one side, and bitter mortifica- tion upon the other, were occasioned by this result. But the "Nationals" instantly called a convention, which was nume- rously attended, and organized for a decisive struggle in No- vember, with a spirit exasperated, but not cowed by their recent defeat. The "Democrats" or "Jackson party" also held a con- vention, and it became obvious that the preliminary. trial of strength in August, was only a prelude to the decisive conflict which was to come off in November. The intervening months were marked by prodigious activity on both sides, and the excite- ment became so engrossing, that all ages and both sexes, were drawn into the vortex. The result was a signal and overwhelm- ing triumph of the "National Republicans." The popular ma- jority exceeded seven thousand, and the party which then triumphed has held uninterrupted possession of political power in the State ever since. But although the triumph of Clay was signal in Kentucky, he was totally defeated by Jackson in the general election, and that popular chieftain was re-elected by a great majority.

National politics have almost entirely engrossed the attention of Kentucky since the termination of the great relief struggle. Her domestic history since 1827, is so closely interwoven with that of the general government, that it would be impossible to give a satisfactory view of the subjects which engrossed the at- tention of the people, without entering into details forbidden by

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the plan of an outline sketch like the present. A few events belonging exclusively to her domestic history may be briefly noticed.

The fate of the Commonwealth's Bank, and the replevin laws connected with it, was sealed by the triumph of the old court party. The latter were repealed, and the former was gradually extinguished by successive acts of the legislature, which directed that its paper should be gradually burned, instead of being re- issued. In a very few years its paper disappeared from circula- tion, and was replaced by the paper of the United States' Bank, of which two branches had been established in Kentucky, the one at Lexington and the other at Louisville. It was the policy of the great Jackson party of the United States to destroy this institution entirely, and the re-election of Jackson in 1832, sealed its doom. It became obvious to all that its charter would not be renewed, and the favorite policy of that party was to establish state banks throughout the Union, to supply its place.

As soon as it became obvious that the charter of the bank of the United States would not be renewed, the legislature of Ken- tucky, at its sessions of 1833 and 1834, established the Bank of Kentucky, the Northern Bank of Kentucky, and the Bank of Louisville, the first with a capital of $5,000,000, the second with a capital of $3,000,000, the third with a capital of $2,000,000. The result of this simultaneous and enormous multiplication of state banks throughout the United States, consequent upon the fall of the National Bank, was vastly to increase the quantity of paper money afloat, and to stimulate the wildest spirit of specu- lation. The nominal prices of all commodities rose with por- tentous rapidity, and states, cities and individuals, embarked heedlessly and with feverish ardor in schemes of internal im- provement, and private speculation, upon the most gigantic scale. During the years of 1835 and 1836, the history of one State is the history of all. All rushed into the market to borrow money, and eagerly projected plans of railroads, canals, slack-water navi- gation and turnpike roads, far beyond the demands of commerce, and in general without making any solid provision for the pay- ment of the accruing interest, or reimbursement of the principal. This fabric was too baseless and unreal to endure.

In the spring of 1837, all the banks of Kentucky and of the Union suspended specie payments. Kentucky was then in the midst of a scheme of internal improvement, upon which she was spending about $1,000,000 annually, embracing the construction of turnpike roads and the improvement of her rivers, and she was eagerly discussing railroad projects upon a princely scale. Her citizens were generally involved in private speculations, based upon the idea that the present buoyant prices would be perma- nent, and both public and private credit had been strained to the utmost.

In this state of things the legislature of 1837 met, and legal- ized the suspension of the banks, refusing to compel them to

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resune specie payments, and refusing to exact the forfeiture of their charters. A general effort was made by banks, govern- ment and individuals, to relax the pressure of the crisis, as much as possible, and great forbearance and moderation was exercised by all parties. The effect was to mitigate the present pressure, to delay the day of reckoning, but not to remove the evil. Specie disappeared from circulation entirely, and the smaller coin was replaced by paper tickets, issued by cities, towns and individuals, having a local currency, but worthless beyond the range of their immediate neighborhood. The banks in the meantime were con- ducted with prudence and ability. They forbore to press their debtors severely, but cautiously and gradually lessened their cir- culation and increased their specie, until after a suspension of rather more than one year, they ventured to resume specie pay- ment. This resumption was general throughout the United States, and business and speculation again became buoyant. The latter part of 1838 and nearly the whole of 1839, witnessed an activity in business, and a fleeting prosperity, which some- what resembled the feverish ardor of 1835 and 1836. But the fatal disease still lurked in the system, and it was the hectic flush of an uncured malady, not the ruddy glow of health, which deluded the eye of the observer.

In the autumn of 1839, there was a second general suspension of specie payments, with the exception of a few eastern banks. It became obvious that the mass of debt could not much longer be staved off. Bankruptcies multiplied in every direction. All public improvements were suspended; many states were unable to pay the interest of their respective debts, and Kentucky was compelled to add fifty per cent. to her direct tax, or forfeit her in- tegrity. In the latter part of 1841, and in the year 1842, the tem- pest so long suspended, burst in full force over Kentucky. The dockets of her courts groaned under the enormous load of law- suits, and the most frightful sacrifices of property were incurred by forced sales under execution. All at once the long forgotten cry of relief again arose from thousands of harassed voters, and a new project of a Bank of the Commonwealth, like the old one, was agitated, with a blind and fierce ardor, which mocked at the lessons of experience, and sought present relief at any expense.

This revival of the ancient relief party, assumed a formidable appearance in the elections of 1842, but was encountered in the legislature with equal skill and firmness. The specific measures of the relief party were rejected, but liberal concessions were made to them in other forms, which proved satisfactory to the more rational members, and warded off the fury of the tempest which at first threatened the most mischievous results. The middle term of the circuit courts was abolished. The magis- trates were compelled to hold four terms annually, and forbidden to give judgment save at their regular terms. The existing banks were required to issue more paper, and give certain accommoda- tions for a longer time and a regular apportionment. These con-

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cessions proved satisfactory, and at the expense of vast suffer- ing, during the years 1843 and 1844, society gradually assumed a more settled and prosperous state.

In order to preserve a record of the succession of chief magis- trates, we may observe that judge James Clark, was elected gov- ernor in 1836, Robert P. Letcher in 1840, and judge William Owsley in 1844. The first will be recollected as the circuit judge who first had the hardihood to pronounce the relief law uncon- stitutional. The last was a member of the old court of appeals. Their successive election to the first office within the gift of the people, was a late and well merited reward for the signal ser- vices which they had rendered their country, at a period when all the conservative features of the constitution, were tottering beneath the fury of a revolutionary tempest. Governor Letcher had long occupied a seat in congress, and had inflexibly opposed the great Jackson party of the Union in its imperious sway.

General Harrison was before the people as a presidential can- didate, during the years 1836 and 1840, when both Clark and Letcher were elected, and was warmly supported by that party in Kentucky, which successively bore the name of " Anti-relief," "Old Court," "National Republican" and "Whig." When Ows- ley was a candidate in 1844, Clay was again before the people as a candidate for the presidential chair, and was opposed by James K. Polk, of Tennessee, a member of the old Jackson party, which had assumed the popular title of " Democratic Republi- can." Clay, was supported as usual in Kentucky, with intense and engrossing ardor, and obtained its electoral vote by a ma- jority exceeding nine thousand. He was supported by the whig party of the Union, with a warmth of personal devotion, which has seldom been witnessed, and was never surpassed in the annals of popular government. Parties were so equally balanced, that the result was in doubt to the last moment, and was finally decided by the state of New York, which out of nearly 500,000 votes cast, gave Polk a plurality over Clay of less than 6000.

The great national issue involved in this election, was the an- nexation of Texas to the United States. Polk was the champion of the party in favor of annexation, and Clay opposed it as tend- ing to involve the country in foreign war and internal discord. This tendency was vehemently denied by the adversaries of Clay, and annexation was accomplished by the election of Polk. Foreign war has already followed in the train, and internal dis- cord seems slowly upheaving its dismal front, among the States of the confederacy.

With the year 1844, we close this sketch. The war with Mexico which grew out of the policy then adopted, is still raging, and the spirit of indefinite territorial aggrandizement which then triumphed, has not yet developed its consequences. A brief record of the past is here presented. The darkening

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shadows of coming events, present a dim and troubled prospect, which we leave to the pencil of the future historian.

In the foregoing " Outline History," reference has necessarily been made and considerable space devoted to the political trans- actions that occurred in Kentucky previously to her admission into the Union as an independent State. That there were at that time two rival parties for popular favor, is obvious from what has been already written ; and that their rivalship was char- acterized by great and bitter personal animosity, is no less true." Angry and fierce contests, and crimination and recrimination marked the period, and the temper of the times can be clearly discerned from the nature of the charges brought on one side, and the manner in which they were repelled by the other. Mr. McCLUNG, the writer of the Outline History, has given a summary of the facts, as stated by the two historians, Mr. Marshall and Mr. Butler, as he understands them, but declines to draw any conclusion from them-leaving that to the reader's judgment. The principal allegation against the Honorable JOHN BROWN, then a conspicuous member of Congress, and three times subsequently thereto elected a senator in Congress from the State of Kentucky, is, that in a letter to Judge Muter, he communicated the substance of an interview between himself and Gardoqui in confidence, and that he afterwards in a convention held at Danville, maintained an ominous silence on the same subject. This seeming secrecy and reserve were held to be evidences of a criminal purpose, and as such are commented upon with great acrimony by the first named historian.

Since the preparation of the outline history, and after it had passed through the hands of the stereotypist, attention has been called to the following letter from Mr. Madison, which discloses the fact that so far from its being the wish of Mr. Brown to con- ceal the interview with Gardoqui, or invest it with mystery, he communicated it at the time to Mr. Madison himself, then a mem- ber of Congress from Virginia, and known to be one of the pro- foundest statesmen and purest patriots in the country ; and that whatever of reserve may have appeared in his communications or manner to others, was in accordance with the advice of Mr. Madison himself. It is due to the truth of history that the letter of Mr. Madison should be inserted here. In the opinion of the author of this work, it is a triumphant vindication of the motives of Mr. Brown, and he believes it will be generally so considered.

Copy of a letter from James Madison, ex-president of the Uni- ted States, to Mann Butler, Esq., (as published in Appendix to second edition of Butler's History of Kentucky, page 518.)

" MONTPELIER, October 11, 1834.

" DEAR SIR : I have received your letter of the 21st ult., in which you wish to obtain my recollection of what passed between Mr. Brown and me in 1788 on the overtures of Gardoqui, ' that if the people of Kentucky would erect them-

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already given in this work (pages 53 to 57, ante.) The war closed triumphantly for the United States in 1848, by the an- nihilation of the Mexican armies and the capture of the Mexican capital. The terms of peace dictated to her were-the cession of a large portion of her territory, and the recognition of the in- dependence of Texas. The heart of the people of the United States was swollen with pride and gratulation. They had con- quered an empire, and felt confined to no limits in their demands upon the vanquished, save those prompted by their own mag- nanimity. No sooner had California been ceded to them than the discovery of gold in unprecedented quantities disclosed to the astounded world the immensity of the conquest.

Upon the mighty wave of popular exultation General Zachary Taylor, as the Whig candidate, was borne into the presidency in 1848-aided, greatly, by the tremendous efforts to elect John J. Crittenden as the Whig candidate for governor of Kentucky. The life-long claims of Kentucky's greatest son, Henry Clay, were set aside; and the excited nation, drunk with success, placed the victorious soldier at the helm of state at the very moment the vessel was entering a maelstrom, of whose treacherous cur- rents and fathomless whirlpools no chart existed.

The discovery of gold in California caused a vast and unpar- alleled emigration to the shores of the Pacific from every quarter of the globe. Her growth was as the growth of a night. As by magic, her seaports-which had lain neglected and uncared for during the centuries-were crowded with the keels of every land. Her hitherto arid and barren sands were covered with cities. Her bold and rugged mountains and her wild and deso- late valleys were teeming with myriads, attracted by the glitter- ing guerdon she wore in her bosom.

With the inauguration of General Taylor came the demand of California for admission as a state, and the necessity of providing territorial governments for the other acquisitions which the United States had made. And with these demands came the exciting question, whether the states to be carved out of the new domain should be free or slave states. The advocates of the Wilmot proviso on the one hand, and the advocates of the ob- literation of any geographical line restricting the extension of slavery on the other, waged loud and clamorous wrangle in every hamlet of the Union, and, fiercest of all, in the council halls of the nation. To many it appeared that civil war was on the eve of inauguration. They were mistaken-not as to fact, only as to time. The wild uproar was but the moan which pre- cedes the tempest. The battle was not yet to be joined. It was but the heavy tread of the hosts as they marshaled themselves for the aceldama, a decade later.

The election of General Taylor to the presidency had forever blighted what was supposed by both friends and opponents to be the cherished ambition of Kentucky's peerless son, Henry Clay-his election to the presidency. Stricken in years and with

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waning physical strength, a purer and loftier ambition aroused for a time all the energies of his gallant soul, and brought into keener play his pristine intellectual vigor. Resuming his seat in the senate of the United States, the grandest period in his life was its close, when for days and weeks and months-surrounded and cooperated with by the greatest intellects of the senate-he sought to conciliate the hostile factions and heal unfraternal dis- sensions. Past political lines of severance were for a time com- pletely obliterated. Cass, Douglas, Webster, Foote-men who had shivered many a lance upon his buckler-recognized the im- perial grandeur of his efforts, and generously hailed him chief among the giants. Under his leadership, the compromise meas- ures of 1850 were adopted; resulting in the admission of Cali- fornia, without restriction of slavery (although her state con- stitution had forbidden it), and in the extension of the Missouri compromise line of 36° 30' through the new territories-north of which slavery was interdicted, and south of which the people were permitted in organizing their state governments to decide the question for themselves. And then Henry Clay sank to his last long sleep, beneath the monument which the state with grateful unanimity erected to the memory of his services, his genius, and his fame-firmly hoping that he had averted from his country the horrors of internecine strife. It was a delusion. The storm lulled, only to gather fresh elements of strength and break at last in unchained fury.

With his death drooped, never to wave again in successful conflict in Kentucky, the Whig banner-which so often floated proudly at the head of the hosts of his admiring followers. Thousands of the young men of Kentucky, Whigs by inherit- ance, commenced their political lives in the ranks of the Democ- racy, and recognized as their leader John C. Breckinridge; fol- lowing him with much of that passionate enthusiasm which their fathers displayed toward Mr. Clay.

The question of calling a convention to revise and amend the second constitution of Kentucky, which was adopted August 17, 1799, was twice approved by the people with remarkable una- nimity. In August, 1847, 92,639 out of 137,311 total voters, and in August, 1848, 101,828 out of 141,620 total voters in the state, declared in favor of a convention. One hundred mem- bers-Whigs 48, Democrats 52-were accordingly chosen, in August, 1849. [See list, ou page 365.] Their deliberations ex- tended from October 1 to December 21, 1849. May 7, 1850, the new constitution was adopted by a popular majority of 51,351, in a vote cast of 91,955. June 3, the convention again assembled, adopted several amendments, and June 11, adjourned, after pro- claiming the present, or third, constitution. The great underly- ing cause of dissatisfaction with the second constitution was the life tenure of the judges and clerks of courts, justices of the peace, and some other offices-which led to the radical change of making nearly all officers eligible directly by the people. After twenty-

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two years' experience, it is still an open question with many whether the change in this regard has subserved the public inter- est or the cause of justice, or improved the public morals.

In 1851, for the first time in many years, the Democratic party succeeded in electing their candidate, Lazarus W. Powell. The two houses of the general assembly, however, were Whig. The tide ebbed in 1855, and, by a combination between the Whig and Native American parties, Charles S. Morehead, a gentleman who had served four years in the congress of the United States, was elected governor. But in 1856, under the impetus given by the position of John C. Breckinridge on the Democratic ticket as candidate for the vice-presidency, the state was carried by the Demo- crats by an overwhelming majority ; and in 1859 that organiza- tion elected its candidate for governor, Beriah Magoffin, and suc- ceeded in obtaining a decided majority in both branches of the legislature. John J. Crittenden still represented Kentucky in the United States senate, and still served to recall the memory of the older statesmen who had shed upon her such renown, in the brighter days of the republic.

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 68

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452