USA > Kentucky > History of Kentucky, Volume II > Part 38
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Despite the tenacity with which Kentucky clung to slavery, that insti- tution was comparatively dying out in the state. The increase in per- centage from 1790 to 1830 had been by decades as follows : 241, 99, 57 and 30. In 1790 she ranked seventh among the states of the Union in numbers of slaves; in 1830 she held fifth place.110 During this period the percentage of increase for slaves had been greater than for whites, the percentage for the latter being 194 in 1790 and 19 in 1830. But at this latter date the process was reversed. The rapid relative decrease of slavery was marked. For the decade following 1830 the percentage was 10, and for the decade preceding 1860 it had dropped to 7. But for the whites the percentages of increase for the corresponding times
106 Breckinridge MSS. (1851). Plan submitted by citizens of Maysville to Breck- inridge, August 11, 1851.
107 Cassius M. Clay, noting that the mountaineers owned no slaves, resolved to build them into a strong anti-slavery force. At his instigation John G. Fee founded an anti-slavery church and village in Madison County, which grew into the town of Berea. A school was begun in 1855, and a college was soon afterwards established -the Berea College of today. The school was forced to close just before the out- break of the Civil war. General Catalogue, Berea College, 1919-20, pp. 28, 29.
108 Life of Cassius Marcellus Clay, I, 250-258; Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 82, 83. 109 Ibid.
110 Statistical View of the Population of the United States (Washington, 1835), 76, 77, 150, 151.
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were, respectively, 13 to 21.111 Thus after 1830, when the change came, the percentage increase of whites over slaves became larger and larger, until in 1860 it reached three times the latter. Kentucky's position as a slave state of the South was also changing correspondingly. For this region as a whole, the average percentage of increase in 1800 was 28, and in 1860 it was 23. Or, comparing Kentucky with typical Southern slave states, the percentages of increase in slaves in Georgia in 1800 to 1850 were 102 and 35, and for whites, 92 and 27; for Tennessee, 297 and 30 for slaves and 186 and 18 for whites. This shows the course slavery was running in other states and in the South as a whole. In Kentucky alone did a break in the relations of percentages of increase come in 1830. Here alone did the white overtake the percentage of increase in slaves and steadily hold it.112
Slavery was not then the vital institution in the life and development of the state in 1860 that the extreme tenacity with which the people clung to it would seem to indicate. At heart most Kentuckians would have liked to be rid of the blight, but they saw no remedy. The institu- tion was intrenched in the Federal Constitution and it permeated the state's legal and constitutional development. To a large extent it was a question of governmental rights, keeping faith with the Constitution, state rights. Thus it was that, while slavery was tending to die as a practical institution, it grew as a political and constitutional issue, that welded the people into a strong majority for its continuation.
111 Eighth Census, Population (1860), pp. 599-604.
112 Eighth Census, Population, pp. ix, 600-604.
CHAPTER LIX
NATIONAL PROBLEMS AND THE THIRD CONSTITUTION
Kentucky became increasingly interested in national affairs from 1840 on to the Civil war. During this period the greatest and most perplexing problems of the nation arose through sectional differences and were looked at from sectional slants. Slavery was not only a constant con- cern for the state in her internal affairs, but it was also the basis for the bitter sectionalism that was engulfing the country, in which of necessity Kentucky was vitally interested. Presidential campaigns were fought around questions directly concerned with the preservation of the Union.
Sources of great interest and heated argument were the Texan ques- tion, the consequent war with Mexico, and the status of the territory acquired as a result of that war. These were a train of consequences in themselves, which set into operation other consequences-all of which was fast driving the country toward disunion and civil war. Texas had long been a region of great interest to Americans. It had played an important part in American diplomacy from the days of the Louisiana Purchase on down through the treaty with Spain in 1819, when it was definitely given up, until it became the center of national interest and concern in the '40s. This region was settled largely by Americans, who became nominal Mexicans but expected to die Americans, and, as a Texan said, they would not move out of Texas to do it. It was easy to find causes for war under the misgovernment of Mexico, and by 1835 the Texan revolution was on. Intense enthusiasm for the cause spread throughout the Mississippi Valley and the Gulf states and even into the New England states.
In so romantic and so adventuresome a cause as this, Kentucky could never lag. The neutrality laws of the United States were easily evaded by a constant stream of "emigrants," who immediately transformed themselves into soldiers for Texan independence on reaching their des- tination. On the outbreak of war in 1835, sympathy and support for the cause were given ungrudgingly. Newspapers and mass meetings carried the movement forward. A recurrence of Kentucky's old military ardor was at hand. A meeting was early held in Lexington to provide aid for those who would enlist, and by November of 1835 the first band of "emigrants," consisting of fifty-four men under Capt. B. H. Duval, hereafter to become famous as a part of Fannin's command, set out for Texas. They were followed by others before the end of the year, among whom were thirty-six riflemen from Louisville. The first impact drove the Mexicans out, but all expected the recoil which came the next year.
Kentuckians entered into the fight as if it were their own, or at least the nation's. The center of greatest activity was the Blue Grass Region. In the spring and summer of 1836, numerous meetings of the people were held to raise money and troops. From the end of March to the middle of June more than a dozen meetings were held in Lexington, which seemed to be the most active spot in the state. Three thousand five hundred dollars was subscribed here, and 180 men from Lexington and Fayette County volunteered. The same activity was shown in many other towns. Winchester subscribed in money, $188.75 and donated fire-
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arms and clothing to the value of $200. Versailles contributed $336.50 and called upon the United States Government to recognize the independ- ence of the Texans. Georgetown gave $600 and fifty or sixty volunteers.1 In June, 200 volunteers from Clarke, Montgomery and Fayette counties passed through Frankfort to Louisville, there to be joined by several hundred more-all on their way to Texas.2 So high was Kentucky enthusiasm that it was sometimes a problem for the leaders to provide means for getting them all to Texas. Gen. Felix Houston wrote from Natchez in the spring of 1836 that "There is not difficulty in getting as many as I want from there [Kentucky], but more difficulty in rejecting those I do not want." 3
In July, General Gaines, on the Texas border, rather mysteriously and without authority, called upon Kentucky and other Mississippi Val- ley states for 1,000 men each, to march to Camp. Sabine and be mustered into the United States forces. In response to this call, James T. More- head, the lieutenant and acting governor, issued a proclamation calling for volunteers. He said: "Relying on the characteristic readiness of my fellow citizens to meet the calls of their country, I have not deemed it expedient to resort to any other mode of raising the required number of troops than a solicitation of their voluntary services. When the na- tional honor or interest are to be sustained, it is confidently expected and believed that an appeal to the gallantry and patriotism of the citizens of Kentucky is all that is necessary to insure a full and ready compliance with the requisitions of the constituted authorities, and that the present occasion will be attended with the same exemplary displays of public spirit and love of country, which have so conspicuously distinguished their past history." 4 Kentuckians hastened to offer their service, and soon they were encamped in Frankfort, ready to march. But they were destined to receive a sad disappointment, for President Jackson, on hear- ing of Gaines' call, immediately notified the Kentucky governor that it was without authority, "and still more unaccountable, particularly as it is believed that our western frontier is now tranquil. Under these circum- stances you will please cause the troops called for by the requisition in question, if they have been raised, to be discharged." 5 In disbanding his troops, Gen. Leslie Combs said: "Neither the deadly climate to which they were ordered nor the inevitable hardships and privations of a thou- sand miles' march, at the most unfavorable season of the year, could damp the ardor of the gallant Hunters of Kentucky, when called to rally under 'The Star Spangled Banner.'" 6
But the cause of Texas was not forgotten in Kentucky. The battle of San Jacinto in April, 1836, spelled the doom of Mexican rule, and soon the Republic of Texas was seeking to become a new member in the family of nations. The Kentucky Legislature in January, 1837, called upon the United States Government to recognize the independence of Texas, if it constituted no violation of treaty stipulations, laws of nations, or national honor.7 Texas was in all respects American, except that it was not a member of the American Union, and the dream of most Texans would only be half realized until this should be accon-
1 J. E. Winston, "Kentucky and the Independence of Texas," in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, I, No. I (July, 1912), 28-62.
2 Argus, June 8, 1836.
3 J. E. Winston, "The Attitude of the Newspapers of the United States Toward Texan Independence" in Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 1914-15; Vol. 8, pp. 164-166.
4 Niles' Register, Vol. 50, p. 365. Dated July 16, 1836.
5 Ibid., Vol. 50, p. 430. Jackson's letter dated August 7. Also see Argus, July 20, 1836; American State Papers, Military Affairs, VI, 986.
6 Niles' Register, Vol. 50, p. 430. Dated August 13.
7 Acts of Kentucky, 1836, P. 353. Dated January 24th.
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plished. Recognition was granted in 1837, but annexation remained yet to feed the flames of sectional hatred and become the chief issue in the Presidential election of 1844.
Early in the year it was generally considered that Van Buren would be the democratic candidate and Clay the whig. Within a short while both had issued statements on the same day, as if through concerted action, declaring themselves opposed to the annexation of Texas, as it would mean war with Mexico. Van Buren by this action made his nom- ination impossible, as the slave-holding South had definitely set its heart on the inclusion of Texas in the Union. Instead, then, James Knox Polk of Tennessee was made the democratic candidate, and Henry Clay, who only strengthened his hold on his party by his pronunciamento, received the nomination of the whigs without a dissenting voice.
The campaign early developed much bitterness and excitement. In Kentucky Clay still held his great poularity. When he had returned to his home in 1842, a large celebration and barbecue had been held for him in Lexington, where George Robertson, the late chief justice of the State Court of Appeals, paid this tribute to him: "HENRY CLAY- farmer of Ashland, patriot and philanthropist, AMERICAN statesman, and unrivalled orator of the age-illustrious abroad, beloved at home: in a long career of eminent public service often, like Aristides, he breasted the raging storm of passion and delusion and, by offering himself a sac- rifice, saved the republic; and now, like Cincinnatus and Washington, having voluntarily retired to the tranquil walks of private life, the grate- ful hearts of his countrymen will do him ample justice; but come what may, Kentucky will stand by him, and still continue to cherish and de- fend, as her own, the fame of a son who has emblazoned her escutcheon with immortal renown." S The Kentucky whigs immediately began grooming Clay for the Presidency. In September of this year, two years before the actual nomination, an elaborate barbecue was held at Frank- fort endorsing him for the Presidency. Besides Clay, there were present John J. Crittenden, Garret Davis, and John White of Virginia, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States. Prepara- tions were made for 50,000 people, but fewer actually attended on ac- count of the weather. According to a whig account, "We had beef here that out-virgined 'the virgin heifer' by a long odds: and there was no end to the mutton, lamb, veal, pork, pig, &c. There was enough left, after 5,000 hearty Whigs who were supposed to have eaten had satisfied their hunger, to have served for forty Locofoco barbecues, and more than enough to have fed all the Tylerites in the land all their lives, even though their lives were prolonged beyond the age of Methuselah." 9
The fight was carried on in Kentucky with enthusiasm akin to that in the Harrison campaign of 1840. There were torch light parades and the old log cabins were resurrected again. Clay clubs sprang up through- out the state, with mass meetings and barbecues aplenty. But with all of Clay's ancient hold on the state and his present popularity, he found the support lacking that he had counted on, both in his state and the nation. The democrats undoubtedly had the popular side of the cam- paign issues in the South, and their skill in calling for the settlement of the Oregon question gained them much support in mildly anti-slavery circles. The cry of "Fifty-four Forty or Fight" sounded well and was a good vote-catcher. England should be made to get out of Oregon, and a country would be secured for the Union which could under no circumstance be considered as slave territory. The Kentucky Legislature had in 1843 passed a strong resolution calling upon the United States to secure Oregon and declaring "that it is high time that our government
8 The Works of Henry Clay (New York, 1904), edited by Calvin Colton, II, 412. 9 Frankfort Commonwealth, Nov. 1, 1842.
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should assert our rights, and maintain them." 10 The democrats had a valuable asset in Kentucky in their attitude on the annexation question. Kentuckians, irrespective of parties, had aided the Texans in their war for independence, and many were inclined not to forget their enthusiasm of the Texan cause, even to the annexation of the republic. Kentucky whigs claimed the annexation question was nothing but a democratic campaign trick-mainly to escape discussing domestic questions. The whig argument that Texas should not be annexed, as it would mean war with Mexico, lacked much of being convincing to those Kentuckians who had aided the Texans or sympathized with them. Kentuckians had never yet run from war, and even a war with Mexico might not be with- out its attractions. In fact, the Legislature in 1842 had indicated no friendly feeling for that country when it called upon the United States to secure the release of a party of Americans who, while on their way from Texas to Santa Fe, were captured by Mexicans and inhumanely treated, and furthermore to "vindicate to Mexico and the world the proud declaration that American citizenship is a shield against wrong and oppression throughout the globe." It pledged Kentucky to support the United States in this action.11
The whigs of the South generally were dismayed at Clay's first state- ment concerning his attitude on the Texas question. Many calls came to him to soften his expressions, and he wrote certain letters in which he said that he had no personal objections to annexation "without dis- honor, without war, with the common consent of the Union, on just and fair terms"-conditions which the settlement of few American questions could meet. In the gubernatorial campaign, William Owsley was running on the whig ticket against William O. Butler, the democratic candidate. Memories of the battle of New Orleans could not yet be foregone as a political weapon against the democrats. Butler, who was in the battle, was accused by the whigs of having sanctioned Jackson's censure of the Kentuckians.12 By seizing this charge to use against Butler, they thought they could at least neutralize any military renown that might attach to his name and redound to the benefit of the democratic party. The August election carried the whigs into power in the state, but with less than a 5,000 majority vote, as compared with a majority of over 15,000 in the preceding gubernatorial election. Although there was no fear that Clay would not carry his own state, this vote indicated that his chances were not bright for the country as a whole. The November election gave him a majority in Kentucky of almost 10,000 votes, but by failing to carry New York he failed of the Presidency, receiving 105 electoral votes to Polk's 170.13
There was much rejoicing among the democrats of the state. On the news of Polk's election, cannon were fired all day in Lexington, and it was charged by the whigs that they were so strategically placed as to be best heard at Ashland-an affair which they declared showed poor taste, to say the least.14 The whigs felt the sting of defeat very bitterly. Perhaps at no election had Kentucky whigs ever felt defeat more keenly. They professed to believe that the country was in the hands of its enemies and that its future was filled with the almost insurmountable perils of democratic rule. Some consolation was found in the fact that the state was at least still under good whiggery rule. According to one whig editor, the people would now have to rely almost wholly on their state for the blessings of good government, and, "as it is all that is left us,
10 Acts of Kentucky, 1842, pp. 283, 284.
11 Acts of Kentucky, 1841, p. 295. Dated January 6, 1842.
12 Lexington Observer and Reporter, June 22, 1844.
18 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 49, 50; Lexington Observer and Reporter, Nov. 30, 1844.
14 Ibid., Nov. 20, 1844.
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we hope that the Legislature of Kentucky will so act, if possible, as to enable us to do without the General Government for the next four years, by which time the country will be sick of these tinkering experiments, if they have the nerve to carry out their principles." 15 The defeat of Clay was regarded by many whigs as almost a personal bereavement and sorrow. After voting for Clay, the electoral college of the state, with Governor Owsley and ex-Governors Metcalfe and Letcher, came in a body from Frankfort and, followed by many citizens of Lexington and a company of artillery, went to Clay's home at Ashland to offer a per- sonal tribute to him. While many wept, Joseph R. Underwood delivered this sentiment to Clay on his doorstep: "In the shades of Ashland, may you long continue to enjoy peace, quiet, and the possession of those great faculties which rendered you the admiration of your friends, and the benefactor of your country. And when, at last, death shall demand its victim, while Kentucky will contain your ashes, rest assured that old and faithful friends, those who, knowing you longest, loved you best, will cherish your memory and defend your reputation." 16 He attributed Clay's defeat to the campaign of envy, malice and slander conducted by his enemies.17
Governor Owsley, in his first message to the Legislature, could not forget that the country was to be upset and in turmoil for the coming four years, due to the Democratic victory. How much better would the settlement of such questions as the tariff and the currency be, had only Clay been elected, he exclaimed. He charged that frauds had been rampant in the election and intimated that had it been otherwise Clay would have been elected.18 Bereft of national power, the whigs could at least use their old weapon against Jackson and the democrats by vot- ing down the customary resolution to fire a salute for New Orleans. The Senate killed the resolution by a vote of 13 to 12, and the House, 52 to 41. According to the press account, "Neither (boasted) indebtedness for past services, regard for a long established precedent nor the recollection of the brave slander upon the heroism and valor of Kentuckians, warrant their Representatives in the commemoration of the 'illustrious bravery of Gen. Jackson.' " 19
The truth of the main objection Clay had argued against the annexa- tion of Texas was soon verified. Before Polk was inaugurated, the de- cision to annex Texas was taken by President Tyler and Congress, and on December 29, 1845, Texas became a state in the American Union. Mexico immediately broke off diplomatic relations with the United States upon Tyler's move, and a few months later gave warning that the admis- sion of Texas into the Union would be equivalent to a declaration of war. With Mexico in such a temper, there was little hope of a peaceful settle- ment. Besides the Texas trouble, particularly the question of the south- . ern limits of that state, the United States had numerous long-standing claims against Mexico, the collection of which was still a troublesome problem. The mission of Slidell to Mexico in the interests of peace having failed, President Polk ordered Gen. Zachary Taylor into the dis- puted territory as far as the Rio Grande. He was attacked by the Mex- icans, and on May 12, 1846, the United States officially recognized war with Mexico ..
Regardless of whether or not the war was a democratic war in the interests of the South, as charged by the anti-slavery element, the whig State of Kentucky never entered a war with greater zest and enthusiasm.
15 Lexington Observer and Reporter, Jan. 1, 1845.
16 Colton, Life and Times of Henry Clay, I, 37.
17 Lexington Observer and Reporter, Dec. 10, 1844.
18 Lexington Observer and Reporter, Jan. 1, 1845. 19 Ibid., Jan. 11, 1845.
Vol. II-17
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During the preceding year, when Governor Owsley was notified by the War Department that General Taylor had been authorized to call on Kentucky for troops if he should need them, the Kentucky executive replied that the state would respond immediately to any requirements that should be made.20 Immediately on information of the beginning of hostilities, the Louisville Legion, consisting of eight companies offered its services to the governor. Although no call had yet been made upon the states by the President, it had been learned that Congress had author- ized a call for troops, and Governor Owsley, in order to put Kentucky first in the field, issued on May 17 a proclamation for the people to form themselves into companies and be ready to report to him. He also, before the call for troops had been received, not only accepted the services of the Louisville Legion, but also ordered it to charter a fast steamer and proceed without delay to reenforce General Gaines.21 On the same day on which he issued his proclamation, Governor Owsley wrote the Secre- tary of War: "Kentuckians are no laggards in a cause like this. The Louisville Legion, a volunteer corps of the State of Kentucky, composed of eight companies, have offered their services in the expected emergency, and, in anticipation of a formal call from the War Department at Wash- ington, I have concluded to accept their services and report them to Gen- eral Gaines at New Orleans without delay." 22 Besides the Louisville Legion, under Colonel Ormsby, there were ready a regiment of infantry in command of Col. William R. McKee and a regiment of cavalry under Col. Humphrey Marshall. Other Kentuckians of note besides General Taylor of the regular army who entered the war were William O. Butler and Cassius M. Clay. The patriotic ardor of the state was so high that 13,700 volunteers came forward to fill a call of 2,400, the quota assigned to Kentucky. Factories in Louisville were forced to shut down, due to the volunteering of all the workmen for the war. Kentuckians not only offered themselves to their governor, but also their money. William Preston procured a subscription of $50,000 in Louisville as a loan to the state, and the Northern Bank of Kentucky in Lexington tendered the governor $250,000.23
The main battle in which the Kentuckians participated was Buena Vista, which ever after loomed large in their minds. About 900, or nearly one-fifth of General Taylor's command, were Kentuckians, and of these 900, 162 were killed. In September of 1847, the Kentucky dead were brought back from the battlefield and interred in the Frankfort cemetery, where a gathering, declared to be "the largest concourse of people ever assembled in Kentucky," paid their last respects.24 The renown of having fought in this battle carried much weight with it in politics, and more than one "Buena Vista candidate" ran on his battle record and won.25
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