USA > Kentucky > History of Kentucky, Volume II > Part 17
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1 Jackson claimed he had authority to enter Florida. Much discussion raged around the Rhea letter. See K. C. Babcock, The Rise of American Nationality (New York, 1906), 275, 276.
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England. When the question came up as to disavowing Jackson's actions, the administration found Spain to blame. Many members of Congress refused to agree with the President, and among the leaders of these was Clay. An attempt was made to censure Jackson, and for two months the so-called Seminole debate went on.2 Clay did not succeed in carry- ing through his resolutions of censure, but he did stir up the bitter and unending hatred of Jackson, which was to play so important a part in the politics of the nation for the next two decades. Clay, thus, found him- self still further removed from the administration ; he was in fact becom- ing the rallying point for all elements who had grievances of whatever nature against the President and his party.
All semblance of the federalist party was to soon disappear in Ken- tucky, and leave other lines for an opposition party to grow upon. The President's amalgamation policy was not received very heartily here, for nowhere had the hatred been more bitter against the federalists. The Kentucky Gazette was dubious as to the wisdom of this course, as the federalists had tried to dominate in other states where they had been received into the democratic party. According to this paper: "Whether Kentucky is not at this moment suffering by amalgamation of political parties is a question worthy of consideration." 3 The name at least died, but any of the erstwhile members who cared to continue their opposi- tion found ample opportunity. The brilliant Clay could be followed with great respectability by any person who hated the Monroe administration for any reason whatever. The Kentucky branch of Tammany Hall (St. Tammany) was now being accused as an enemy to the administration and, with its mysterious ceremonies, it appealed to many. It was a political factor here of little consequence, but its secrecy called down upon it the attacks of the suspicious. "Bibulous" severely condemned it for its work in the dark and for its opposition to Monroe. He said: "I have been told, sir, that the headquarters of the Tammany society is at Lexington-that they meet there and do their business in secret, and in the dark-that they are bound by the most honorable oaths to stick together and support their chiefs in all their undertakings-and that they march in Indian file of four or five hundred, dressed like Indians. and imitate their savage customs and manners. I have been told, sir, that men of talent, wealth and education belong to this society and assume the dress and names of Cornstock, Pontiac, Tecumseh, Wynemac, Walk-in-the-Water, Owl, Big Bear, Fox, Wolf, Prophet and others." + On political questions the state was tending to divide into two parties, not yet clear-cut, but still with sufficient antagonisms to produce party feelings. No names were yet used to distinguish them, more than that the Monroe supporters were led by John Pope, and the critics of Monroe by Henry Clay.5 As early as 1819 Clay was accused of attempting to line up the West for the next Presidential election and of attempting to organize a party in opposition to Monroe.6 But sufficient time had not elapsed before the election of 1820 for an opposition party to arise-in fact sufficient issues, beyond personal ambitions, had not yet appeared. As a result the reelection of Monroe was assured, and he lacked only one electoral vote of receiving the unanimous support of the country.
As the election of 1824 began to loom up in people's minds, no out- standing man appeared. Various sections had their candidates, and the administration had its choice, but the lack of an opposition party had
2 Annals of Congress, 15 Cong. 2 Sess., 583 et seq.
3 Nov. 20, 1823.
4 (Louisville) Public Advertiser, Oct. 6, 1818. Notices during this period ap- peared frequently in the Kentucky Gazette concerning meeting dates. They met "precisely at the going down of the sun." Kentucky Gazette, April 10, 1819.
5 See Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, IV, 228-230.
6 Niles' Register, Vol. 15, P. 9.
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prevented any two from standing out as the candidates. A plethora of candidates was the logical outcome of the all-inclusive party filled with jarring personalities and ambitions. Adams became the choice of New England, Calhoun of South Carolina, Jackson of Tennessee, and Clay of Kentucky. Crawford was the administration candidate. The method of nominating the Presidential candidate had been through a Congres- sional caucus, by no means sure to represent the popular will, and at this time bitterly attacked by the other aspirants than the favored one. The caucus was attacked early in the parryings for preferment, so that Crawford was finally nominated by a small minority of Congress. The other candidates were brought forward by the legislatures of their home states and of any other states they could control. Clay was early selected by Kentucky. In a burst of enthusiasm a joint session of the Legislature had in 1822 unanimously declared that Clay was their candidate to suc- ceed Monroe, and a committee had been appointed to further his can- didacy in other states.7
STREET SCENE, FRANKFORT
Although Clay was Kentucky's favorite son, he was not with- out opposition in the state. Andrew Jackson had many admirers who could not desert him, even if a favorite son was running. The sher- iffs who gathered in Frankfort to bring the votes of the August, 1824. election, expressed their presidential preferences as follows: First choice, Clay, 53; Jackson, 9; Adams, 2; second choice, Jackson 31; Adams, 20; Crawford, 17. A concerted movement for Jackson was soon started. A meeting was held at Georgetown, which recommended him for President and also suggested that a Committee of Correspond- ence should be organized, and advocated the calling of a general convention. Meetings in favor of Jackson were held at Lexing- ton, Cynthiana, and other towns. A convention at Frankfort, under the leadership of George M. Bibb and Solomon P. Sharp, issued an address in support of Jackson, suggesting that Clay could not be elected and that the logical thing for Kentucky to do was to support the hero of New Orleans, a man of action rather than of oratory.8 A con- siderable following was aroused. Louisville was especially a Jackson
7 Kentucky Gazette, Nov. 28, 1822; Robertson, Scrap Book, 147, 149.
8 Kentucky Gazette, Sept. 2, Oct. 28, 1824.
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stronghold.ยบ The tendency in this campaign was for the relief or new court party to afford most of the friends of Jackson. However, the party as a whole did not support him.10
As the election approached it became even more certain that Clay would easily carry the state. A circular letter in his support was issued by Barry, Rowan, Crittenden and others, and the Argus believed it use- less for others to hope for Kentucky support.11 It said of the situation : "The idea that any other candidates for electors can succeed in Ken- tucky, except those who are pledged to support Mr. Clay, is to us so utterly chimerical that we can look on their annunciation as intended, in the general, for no other purpose than to produce effect abroad byt keeping up appearance of division at home. Those for Jackson will obtain many votes, but we have no conception that they will get a ma- jority in any one county in the whole state. As for those in favor of Mr. Adams, it is questionable whether they will get as many votes as there are counties. Nobody thinks of offering for Crawford any more than if he were a citizen of Otaheite." 12
Although there was absolutely no doubt that Clay would carry his own state, his chances of securing a majority of the electoral votes throughout the nation were exceedingly uncertain. Still, his situation was not hopeless, for if no one should receive a majority, the election would be thrown into the House, and he would then be the most popular candidate before that body. He had just been triumphantly reelected its speaker. The result of the voting was what most people expected : there was no election, as no candidate had received a majority. In Ken- tucky, Clay received almost three times as many votes as Jackson, but, outside of his own state's 14 electoral votes, he received only 23.13 As Jackson received 99, Adams, 84, and Crawford, 41, he did not come within the three highest and therefore could not be voted on in the House of Representatives, where the election was now thrown. Clay now occu- pied the position of President-maker, shorn of the opportunity of secur- ing the highest office in the land for himself. He could control the action of four states outright-Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri and Louisiana. From December (1824), when Congress met, until the final election, Clay was anxiously considering the situation. Crawford, who had suf- fered a stroke of paralysis, was out of the running now. The choice, therefore, lay between the other two, Jackson and Adams. Clay's dis- like for Jackson had already become manifest in his attempt in the Seminole debate to censure him. He felt that the military experience of Jackson, with his fiery temper, had not fitted him for the civil head of the nation. As for Adams, he was a polished and educated statesman. experienced in his country's services for many years, and likely to serve the nation well as its chief magistrate. Moreover, Clay's real interest pointed to Adams, who was not really popular in the North, and who was much less liked in the South. Adams could scarcely hope to serve more than one term, and then Clay could easily come forward to carry the party to victory, for his tariff views were popular in the North, and in the Northwest he was scarcely less a popular idol than in his own state.
But the Kentucky Legislature suddenly interfered with Clay's pro- gram. There was no question that Jackson was easily the state's second choice, and now, since her own candidate could not receive the honor, she would confer it on the hero of New Orleans. On January II, 1825. a resolution was passed declaring that Jackson was "the second choice of the State of Kentucky for the next President of the United States ;
9 Niles' Register, Vol. 27, passim, Vol. 28, 339.
10 Kentucky Gazette, Aug. 26, 1824.
11 Kentucky Gazette, Sept. 30, 1824.
12 Quoted in Niles' Register, Vol. 26, pp. 194, 195.
18 Clay received 17,331 to Jackson's 6,455.
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that a very large majority of the people of this state prefer General Jackson to Mr. Adams or Mr. Crawford, and that the members of the House of Representatives in the Congress of the United States will, by complying with the request herein signified, faithfully and truly repre- sent the feelings and wishes of the good people of Kentucky." The re- quest was that the Kentucky delegation should vote for Jackson. This resolution was carried in the House 73 to II and in the Senate, 18 to 12.14 When the election came before the House of Representatives, Clay paid no attention to the Kentucky Legislature's resolution and secured the election of Adams.
A great wave of indignation immediately spread over the state, ex- pressing itself in numerous meetings denouncing Clay for disregarding the will of the state, and burning him in effigy.15 The Jackson supporters argued that Jackson had received many more electoral votes than Adams had, and that he was undoubtedly the country's choice. This rage was greatly intensified when Adams appointed Clay to the office of Secretary of State. The cry of "bargain and corruption" was raised and sedulously spread throughout the country. It was perfectly evident, it was argued. that Clay had sold out to Adams, and his appointment to this office was perfect proof. An unsuccessful effort was made to defeat the confirma- tion of Clay. This groundless charge was pressed so unremittingly and with so much skill that Clay was forced to spend much time denying the charges and showing how utterly absurd they were, but some were never convinced, and Clay found the charges for years afterwards a fre- quent annoyance. Clay's position in the affections of the people of his own state was so dear to him that he made special efforts to disprove the charges there.
In the latter part of March he issued an address to his constituency. "the people of the congressional district composed of the counties of Fayette, Woodford and Clarke, in Kentucky," in which he entered into a lengthy defense of his course.16 He was particularly anxious to ex- plain his reasons for refusing to abide by the instructions of the Legis- lature. He said: "I considered, with the greatest respect, the resolution of the general assembly of the state of Kentucky, requesting the delega- tion to vote for General Jackson. That resolution, it is true, placed us in a peculiar situation. Whilst every other delegation, from every other state in the union, was left by its legislature entirely free to examine the pretensions of all the candidates and to form its unbiased judgment, the general assembly of Kentucky thought proper to interpose and to request the delegation to give its vote to one of the candidates whom they were pleased to designate. I felt a sincere desire to comply with a request emanating from a source so respectable if I could have done so consistent- ly with those paramount duties which I owe to you and the country." The resolution declared it was the will of Kentucky that he should so vote. But the Legislature failed to inform him how it had arrived at this in- formation, for the Legislature had repaired to Frankfort before he had left the state for Washington. "No election, no general expression of the popular sentiment had occurred since that in November," he declared. "when electors were chosen, and at that the people, by an overwhelming majority, had decided against General Jackson. I could not see how such an expression against him could be interpreted into a desire for his election." He had received letters from Kentucky expressing sentiments directly opposite to those of the Legislature, and some of these letters were from "a highly respectable portion" of his constituents. This was
14 Acts of Kentucky, 1824. p. 279; Niles' Register, Vol. 27, pp. 321, 354; The Works of James Buchanan (Philadelphia, 1908-1911), edited by J. B. Moore, I, 133. 15 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 32.
16 The Life and Speeches of Henry Clay (Philadelphia, 1854), I, 195-218; Niles' Register, Vol. 28, pp. 71-79.
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one of the petitions: "We, the undersigned voters in the congressional district, having viewed the instruction or request of the legislature of Kentucky, on the subject of choosing a president and vice-president of the United States, with regret, and the said request or instruction to our representative in congress from this district, being without our knowledge or consent; we, for many reasons, known to ourselves, con- nected with so momentous an occasion, hereby instruct our representative in congress to vote, on this occasion, agreeable to his own judgment, and by the best lights he may have on the subject, with or without the con- sent of the legislature of Kentucky." He said: "This instruction came both unexpected and unsolicited by me, and it was accompanied by let- ters assuring me that it expressed the opinion of a majority of my con- stituents. I could not, therefore, regard the resolution as conclusive evi- dence of your wishes." He flatly denied the right of the Legislature to instruct the state's representatives in Congress. It had no more right to instruct members of Congress how to perform their duty than they had to tell the Legislature what it should do. "And, although nothing is fur- ther from my intention than to impute either absurdity or presumption to the general assembly in the adoption of the resolution referred to, I must say that the difference between an instruction emanating from them to the delegation and from the delegation to them, is not in prin- ciple, but is to be found only in the degree of superior importance which belongs to the general assembly."
Clay was at a loss to reason out how he had prostrated the maxim that the people should rule. "The illusion of the general's imagination deceives him. The people of the United States had never decided the election in his favor. If the people had willed his election, he would have been elected. It was because they had not willed his election, nor of any other candidate, that the duty of making a choice devolved on the house of representatives." Jackson had said that Clay had never risked his life for his country, that "he had never sacrificed his repose, nor made an effort to repel an invading foe" and that "of course, his conscience assured him it was altogether wrong in any other man to lead his coun- trymen to battle and victory." Clay generously answered this rather bad taste of Jackson's: "The logic of this conclusion is not very strik- ing. Gen. Jackson fights better than he reasons. When have I failed to concur in awarding appropriate honors to those who, on the sea or on the land, have sustained the glory of our arms, if I could not always approve of the acts of some of them? It is true that it has been my misfortune never to have repelled an invading foe, nor to have led my countrymen to victory. If I had, I should have left to others to pro- claim and appreciate the deed. The general's destiny and mine have led us in different directions. In the civil employment of my country, to which I have been confined. I regret that the little service which I have been able to render it falls far short of my wishes. But why this denunciation of those who have not repelled an invading foe or led our armies to victory ? At the very moment when he is inveighing against an objection to the election to the presidency, founded upon the exclusive military nature of his merits, does he not perceive that he is establishing its validity by proscribing every man who has not successfully fought the public enemy? And that, by such a general proscription and the requirement of successful military service as the only condition of civil preferment, the inevitable effect would be the establishment of a military government ?"
Clay ended his address with an appreciation of the good will his state had held him in, and solemnly denied that he had ever done aught to forfeit that respect. "Fellow-citizens, I am sensible that, generally, a public officer had better abstain from any vindication of his conduct
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and leave it to the candor and justice of his countrymen, under all its attending circumstances. Such has been the course which I have hereto- fore prescribed to myself. This is the first, as I hope it may be the last, occasion of my thus appearing before you. The separation which has just taken place between us, and the venom, if not the vigor, of the late onsets against my public conduct, will, I hope, be allowed, in this instance, to form an adequate apology. It has been upwards of twenty years since I first entered the public service. Nearly three-fourths of that time, with some intermissions, I have represented the same district in congress, with but little variation in its form. During that long period you have beheld our country passing through scenes of peace and war, of pros- perity and adversity, and of party divisions, local and general, often greatly exasperated against each other. I have been an actor in most of those scenes. Throughout the whole of them you have clung to me with an affectionate confidence which has never been surpassed. I have found in your attachment, in every embarrassment in my public career, the greatest consolation and the most encouraging support. I should re- gard the loss of it as one of the most afflicting public misfortunes which could befall me. That I have often misconceived your true interests is highly probable. That I have ever sacrificed them to the object of per- sonal aggrandizement I utterly deny. And, for the purity of my motives, however in other respects I may be unworthy to approach the Throne of Grace and Mercy, I appeal to the justice of my God, with all the confidence which can flow from a consciousness of perfect rectitude."
When his duties in Washington were over, Clay returned to Kentucky. He was received with great enthusiasm all along his way across Pennsyl- vania and down the Ohio. He first landed in Kentucky at Maysville, where he was greeted amidst the booming of cannon and "the liveliest demonstrations of respect from the people." He said to the people here that the wanton and groundless attacks of his enemies had been "the occasion of demonstrations of regard and kindness toward me, on the part of my countrymen and my friends, which more than compensate for all the pain which it inflicted." He was entertained at a dinner which "was numerously and respectably attended," and the good will of the gathering was expressed in the toast to "Our distinguished guest, Henry Clay: In his recent vote for President, as a representative of the people, conscience was his monitor-he obeyed, and a great majority of the peo- ple of Kentucky approve, its dictates." He was soon convinced that his constituents had never lost faith in him, or that, if so, his address to them had completely restored it; for when he reached Bryan's Station, several miles from Lexington, he found about 100 of his friends anxiously waiting to greet him.17 As he approached Lexington he was received by the people with demonstrations of joy and affection and was escorted to his home, Ashland, by a company of artillery cadets. On June Ist, a public dinner was given him, of which the Reporter said: "The re- spectability and intelligence, as well as the number of the assemblage, have not been surpassed on any similar occasion in this state." The Lexington citizens, in their invitation to Clay, declared that there had not occurred a session of Congress out of all that he had participated in "that your political acts were more completely in accordance with our wishes and views of national prosperity and repose than the one which terminated the arduous and responsible relationship that subsisted be- tween us." To this Clay answered that he had desired "the good opinion of no portion of the public more anxiously than that of my immediate constituents. Judge then, gentlemen, what inexpressible gratification I derive from your assurance of the entire confidence which is reposed in me by my fellow citizens of Lexington and Fayette, who compose, at
17 Niles' Register, Vol. 28, p. 244.
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the same time, my nearest and most intimate friends and neighbors and a highly respectable and considerable part of my constituents." Clay was thus toasted: "Our respected guest, beloved fellow-citizen and late able representative, Henry Clay-We rejoice in the occasion of expressing to the world, and emphatically to his enemies, our undiminished confidence in his incorruptible integrity and our unqualified approbation of his con- duct from his first to his last most important act, as our representative." This positive sentiment was expressed in a toast to the Third Congres- sional District (Clay's district) : "It is now speaking its instructions in language not to be misunderstood or misrepresented. Let demagogues listen." And as for the claims that Jackson was elected, a toast to "Political Arithmetic" was offered: "When the teacher of the new rule of supposition decides whether it is 99 or 42 that makes a majority of 261, we will examine the operation and see if it proves itself." 18
Clay was flooded with invitations to public dinners, many of which he could not accept.19 At Frankfort he was received with generous applause and enthusiasm. More than 400 citizens of Woodford County, "many of them the oldest inhabitants of the country, and the early and constant friends of their guest" attended a public dinner in honor of Clay. In Clarke County he was greeted by almost 300 at a similar gathering, and at Paris 1,000 persons were said to have participated. In Scott County he sat down with 300 ladies and gentlemen, and in Jes- samine County the gathering was very large. The enemies of Clay had most signally failed in shaking the confidence of Kentuckians in him. In fact, their accusations seemed to have placed him still stronger in their affections.
Public opinion in Kentucky was now engaged in the process of formation and crystallization around party leaders and national issues. Everything was in a state of flux and uncertainty, with the gaping wounds of state politics yet unhealed. Crittenden wrote Clay in Novem- ber, 1826, that he believed Kentucky would "support the administration unless everything is given up to the fascination of a military name." He believed the state agreed with the main principles of the Adams party. "Our situation defies all calculation, however. The State politics have tended to excite all our feelings & to unsettle our opinions, if not our principles. We are upon a mighty quicksand & can hardly find 'terra firma' enough to stand upon !" 20 The state parties had not yet as a whole made their choice of the party they would support in national affairs, as was evidenced in the almost universal acclaim given Clay, but a ten- dency had manifested itself already on many occasions for the relief or new court party to support Jackson, and the old court party, Clay and Adams.21 This development was at first considered to be wholly artificial and based on political expediency more than principle. In the latter part of 1825, resolutions were introduced in the Legislature in support of Clay and Adams, but were defeated by the relief party, as Crittenden believed, because Governor Desha thought this would be a
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