and the peace parties, and even with all the factional hostility to
Madison in the Republican ranks, such an issue could result only in
the success of the party that sustained the Government in its war with
England. The Federalists carried a solid New England vote for Clinton
with the exception of Vermont, that broke loose from her Federal
moorings and cast her entire electoral vote for Madison. New York,
with the largest electoral vote of any State, was carried chiefly by
Clinton’s personal popularity, and New Jersey was lost to Madison in
disregard of the popular vote of the State by a Federal Senate and
House that was successful against a Republican majority by reason of
the peculiar shaping of the legislative districts. The Legislature
repealed the law for the choice of electors by a popular vote, and
elected Federal electors by the Legislature. Had the popular vote of
New Jersey prevailed, the vote between Madison and Clinton in the
Electoral College would have been 136 for Madison to 81 for Clinton.
The following is the vote as cast by the electoral colleges:
═══════════════╤═════════════════════╦══════════════════════
│ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT.
├──────────┬──────────╫──────────┬───────────
STATES. │ James │ DeWitt ║ Elbridge │ Jared
│ Madison, │ Clinton, ║ Gerry, │ Ingersoll,
│ Va. │ N. Y. ║ Mass. │ Penn.
───────────────┼──────────┼──────────╫──────────┼───────────
New Hampshire │ ―― │ 8 ║ 1 │ 7
Vermont │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ――
Massachusetts │ ―― │ 22 ║ 2 │ 20
Rhode Island │ ―― │ 4 ║ ―― │ 4
Connecticut │ ―― │ 9 ║ ―― │ 9
New York │ ―― │ 29 ║ ―― │ 29
New Jersey │ ―― │ 8 ║ ―― │ 8
Pennsylvania │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ――
Delaware │ ―― │ 4 ║ ―― │ 4
Maryland │ 6 │ 5 ║ 6 │ 5
Virginia │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ――
North Carolina │ 15 │ ―― ║ 15 │ ――
South Carolina │ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ――
Georgia │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ――
Kentucky │ 12 │ ―― ║ 12 │ ――
Tennessee │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ――
Louisiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ――
Ohio │ 7 │ ―― ║ 7 │ ――
├──────────┼──────────╫──────────┼───────────
Total │ 128 │ 89 ║ 131 │ 86
═══════════════╧══════════╧══════════╩══════════╧═══════════
Louisiana was admitted into the Union on the 8th of April, 1812, and
participated in the Presidential election, making 18 States. It will
be seen that there was but one State that cast a divided electoral
vote. Maryland continued to choose all but the electors at large by
Congressional districts, and gave 6 votes to Madison and 5 to Clinton.
North Carolina changed her method of electing by districts to the
choice of electors by the Legislature, thus making her electoral vote
solid. Gerry, the candidate for Vice-President on the ticket with
Madison, received 3 more votes in the Electoral College than were
given to Madison, one of which came from New Hampshire and two from
Massachusetts.
THE MONROE ELECTIONS
1816–20
The election of James Monroe to the Presidency in 1816 and his
re-election in 1820 did not rise to the dignity of political contests.
The Federal party was practically overthrown by the success of the war
with England, and after the close of the war Federalism never asserted
itself as a political factor in national affairs. There were murmurings
of discontent in the Republican organization, but the Federalists were
then in the unenviable attitude of having sympathized with the enemy
in a foreign war, and the prejudices of the patriotic people of the
country were intensified against the action of the Hartford convention,
for which the Federalists were held responsible.
Whether justly or unjustly, it was believed by the Republicans
throughout the country that the Hartford conventionists had given
“blue-light” signals to the enemy’s ships, and thereby hindered
the escape of American vessels which were blockaded. The overthrow
of Federalism was so complete that the party never again formally
presented candidates for President and Vice-President, and the first
Monroe election of 1816 would probably have been as unanimous in the
Electoral College as was his second election but for the fact that the
three Federal States which voted against Monroe did not hold popular
elections for President at all, but chose their electors by the
Legislature. Massachusetts, the home of Adams, that had always chosen
Presidential electors by popular vote, repealed the law in 1816, so
that there was not a single elector chosen by the people against Monroe.
While Monroe’s two elections and administrations are now pointed to
as the “era of good feeling,” that has never been repeated in this
country. Monroe himself did not reach the Presidency by the rosy
path that would now be naturally accepted for him in his journey
to the highest civil trust of the nation. The usual Congressional
caucus was called on the 10th of March, 1816, asking the Republican
Senators and Representatives to meet on the 12th for the purpose of
nominating candidates for President and Vice-President. Only 58 of
the 141 Republican members attended this meeting, and, instead of
taking action, a resolution was passed calling a general caucus for
the 16th, and at that caucus 118 members appeared. There were strong
and widespread prejudices against the Congressional caucus system, and
it was denounced by many prominent Republicans as “King Caucus” that
sought to control the people in the selection of the highest officers.
[Illustration: JAMES MONROE]
Senator Crawford, of Georgia, who had been the leading Senator, as
Clay was the leading Representative, in the support of the war during
the Madison administration, was an aggressive candidate for President,
and was more popular with the politicians generally throughout the
country than was Monroe. Great anxiety was felt about the probable
action of the caucus, as it was feared that Monroe might be overthrown,
notwithstanding the fact that he was favored by both Jefferson and
Madison. When the caucus met with twenty-three Republican absentees,
the majority of whom absented themselves because they were positively
opposed to the caucus system, Mr. Clay offered a resolution declaring
it inexpedient to nominate candidates, but his proposition failed. He
thus put himself on record as early as 1816 against the caucus system,
and he rejected and took the field against it as a candidate in 1824.
The canvass between Monroe and Crawford was very animated, and Monroe
succeeded by only 11 majority, the vote being 65 for Monroe and 54 for
Crawford. Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, was nominated for
Vice-President, receiving 20 votes more than were given to Monroe.
The Crawford sentiment was strong in New York and New Jersey, as well
as in North Carolina, Kentucky, and his native State of Georgia, and
public meetings were held in different sections of the country after
the nominations had been made, denouncing the caucus system, at one of
which Roger B. Taney, who later became Chief Justice, was one of the
aggressive opponents.
Had there been a formidable Federal party, it is doubtful whether
Monroe’s election might not have been seriously imperilled,
but the war feeling was too fresh in the minds of the people to
tolerate anything that was in sympathy with that expiring political
organization. The Republicans who were opposed to Monroe had to choose
between falling in with the caucus nomination, and giving Monroe a
unanimous support, or making a square fight as a bolting Republican
faction, without permitting the aid of the Federalists. As that was
impracticable, the Republican discontent gradually subsided and the
election of Monroe was conceded by all.
The Federalists made no nomination, but supported Rufus King, one
of their old national candidates, and scattered their few votes
for Vice-President, no two of the three States voting for the same
candidate. Indiana had adopted a State Constitution in June, but was
not formally admitted to the Union until the 11th of December, after
the Presidential election had been held. The State, however, had voted
for President, and elected three Republican electors for Monroe, but
an animated dispute arose in Congress about counting the vote, because
of the alleged ineligibility of Indiana to vote for President when not
formally admitted into the Union, even though the people had adopted a
State Constitution several months before the election. The two bodies
separated, to enable the House to decide the issue, but finally the
question was postponed by a nearly unanimous vote, and the Senate
invited to return, when the vote was declared as follows:
══════════════╤═════════════╦═══════════════════════════════════════════
│ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT.
├───────┬─────╫─────────┬───────┬─────┬─────────┬─────────
STATES. │James │Rufus║Daniel D.│John E.│James│John │Robert G.
│Monroe,│King,║Tompkins,│Howard,│Ross,│Marshall,│Harper,
│Va. │N. Y.║N. Y. │Md. │Penn.│Va. │Md.
──────────────┼───────┼─────╫─────────┼───────┼─────┼─────────┼─────────
New Hampshire │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Vermont │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Massachusetts │ ―― │ 22 ║ ―― │ 22 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Rhode Island │ 4 │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 │ ――
Connecticut │ ―― │ 9 ║ ―― │ ―― │ 5 │ ―― │ ――
New York │ 29 │ ―― ║ 29 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Jersey │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Pennsylvania │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Delaware │ ―― │ 3 ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 3
Maryland │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Virginia │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
North Carolina│ 15 │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
South Carolina│ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Georgia │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Kentucky │ 12 │ ―― ║ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Tennessee │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Louisiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Ohio │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Indiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
├───────┼─────╫─────────┼───────┼─────┼─────────┼─────────
Total │ 183 │ 34 ║ 183 │ 22 │ 5 │ 4 │ 3
══════════════╧═══════╧═════╩═════════╧═══════╧═════╧═════════╧═════════
Monroe’s re-election in 1820 presents the singular political spectacle
of his success without having been formally nominated by any party,
and without a single electoral vote being chosen against him. That
had occurred in Washington’s two elections, but it was not believed
possible that, with the bitter partisan disputes which immediately
followed Washington’s retirement, any man could ever be chosen for the
Presidency without more or less of a contest. Monroe’s administration
had no serious political or diplomatic problem to confront it, and
the country was rapidly recovering from the war and proud of the
achievements of the American army and navy in the second contest with
the English.
Monroe was naturally cautious and conservative. There was nothing
aggressive in the policy of his administration, and really no occasion
to invite aggression. The Federal Party was practically extinct, and
the Republicans were in thorough accord with the Monroe administration.
A feeble movement was made early in 1820 to supersede Monroe, but
it never attained importance, and even those who attempted it denied
responsibility for it. The usual Republican Congressional caucus was
called, and very few members took the trouble to attend it, as there
was really nothing to do; and it was deemed better for the party
to accept Monroe and Tompkins for re-election than to have formal
nominations made by a very few representatives of the party. Monroe and
Tompkins were thus accepted without any formalities whatever as the
Republican candidates for President and Vice-President, and no opposing
candidates were presented in any way whatever of which I can find any
record or tradition. Monroe thus ran in 1820, as Washington did at both
his elections, without opposition, and every electoral vote of the
nation was chosen for him.
Five new States had been admitted and participated in the election
of 1820. Mississippi came in December, 1817; Illinois in December,
1818; Alabama in December, 1819; Maine in March, 1820, and Missouri
had adopted a Constitution in July, 1820, and although not formally
admitted into the Union until August, 1821, the vote of that State
was counted, as was the vote of Indiana in 1816. The following is the
official vote as announced by Congress:
═══════════════╤═══════════════════╦══════════════════════════════════════════════
│ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT.
├───────┬───────────╫─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬───────┬────────
STATES. │James │John Quincy║Daniel D.│Richard │Robert G.│Richard│Daniel
│Monroe,│Adams, ║Tompkins,│Stockton,│Harper, │Rush, │Rodney,
│Va. │Mass. ║N. Y. │N. J. │Md. │Penn. │Del.
───────────────┼───────┼───────────╫─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────┼────────
Maine │ 9 │ ―― ║ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Hampshire │ 7 │ 1 ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ――
Vermont │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Massachusetts │ 15 │ ―― ║ 7 │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Rhode Island │ 4 │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Connecticut │ 9 │ ―― ║ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New York │ 29 │ ―― ║ 29 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Jersey │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Pennsylvania[5]│ 24 │ ―― ║ 24 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Delaware │ 4 │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 4
Maryland │ 11 │ ―― ║ 10 │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ――
Virginia │ 25 │ ―― ║ 25 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
North Carolina │ 15 │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
South Carolina │ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Georgia │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Alabama │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Mississippi[5] │ 2 │ ―― ║ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Louisiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Kentucky │ 12 │ ―― ║ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Tennessee[5] │ 7 │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Ohio │ 8 │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Indiana │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Illinois │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Missouri │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
├───────┼───────────╫─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────┼────────
Total │ 231 │ 1 ║ 218 │ 8 │ 1 │ 1 │ 4
═══════════════╧═══════╧═══════════╩═════════╧═════════╧═════════╧═══════╧════════
[5] One elector in each of the States of Pennsylvania, Mississippi,
and Tennessee died after appointment, and before the meetings of the
electors.
It will be seen that a single electoral vote was cast against Monroe in
the New Hampshire Electoral College. The whole 8 electors were chosen
as Monroe men, and would have voted for him had it been necessary to
elect him, but one of the New Hampshire electors gave as his reason
for voting for John Quincy Adams for President and Richard Rush, of
Pennsylvania, for Vice-President, that he was unwilling that any other
President than Washington should receive a unanimous electoral vote.
Monroe’s administrations were uneventful beyond the assertion of what
has ever since been known as the Monroe Doctrine, that was evolved by
Monroe and John Quincy Adams, his Secretary of State, and the first
serious contest in Congress over the Slavery issue, growing out of the
admission of Missouri as a State. After the admission of Louisiana as a
State the remainder of the territory embracing the Louisiana purchase
was organized as the Territory of Missouri, and in 1818 the portion
of the territory now embraced in the State of Missouri applied for
admission into the Union as a State. In 1819 the House passed a bill
for the admission of Missouri, with a clause prohibiting slavery, but
it was not accepted by the Senate.
In 1820 the Senate sent a bill to the House for the admission of
Maine, and authorizing the organization of the State of Missouri. The
House had already passed a bill for the admission of Maine, but it
refused to accept the Senate’s provision relating to Missouri. There
was very violent agitation on the Slavery question for some time, and
many feared that it would end in the disruption of the Union; but Clay
became the pacificator, and chiefly by his efforts what has ever since
been known as the Missouri Compromise was accepted, admitting Missouri
as a slave State, but prohibiting slavery in all of the Louisiana
territory north of 36 degrees and 30 minutes north latitude. This
compromise did not fully satisfy either side, but it was accepted, and
on the 10th of August, 1821, President Monroe proclaimed the admission
of Missouri into the Union.
Monroe had the most unruffled period of rule ever known in the history
of the Republic. Washington, with all his omnipotence, was fearfully
beset by factional strife and the wrangles of ambition on every side,
and there was no period of his two administrations in which he was
not greatly fretted by the persistent and often desperate disputes
among those who should have been his friends; but Monroe had an
entirely peaceful reign, with the single exception of the slavery
dispute over the Missouri question, and at the close of his term he
retired to his home in Virginia entirely exhausted in fortune. For
several years he acted as a Justice of the Peace, but his severely
straitened circumstances finally compelled him to make his home with
his son-in-law in New York, where he died in 1831, and, like Jefferson
and Adams, on the 4th of July.
THE ADAMS-JACKSON-CRAWFORD-CLAY CONTEST
1824
With the re-election of Monroe in 1820, the Federal party had perished
as a political factor; “King Caucus,” as the Congressional caucus for
nominating national candidates had been generally designated, had
fulfilled its mission, and none pretended that it could be revived to
name the successor of Monroe. As Federalism was unfelt and unfeared,
and as the Congressional caucus had lost its prestige and power,
the Presidential field of 1824 invited a free-for-all race, and the
discussion of the succession began actively as early as 1822. It seems
unaccountable that the Republicans, after having had the benefit of the
Congressional caucus to concentrate their vote on national candidates,
did not conceive the idea of a general conference of representative
Republicans from the different States to unite them on candidates for
President and Vice-President, but no national convention was ever held
by any party until the anti-Masons inaugurated it in Philadelphia in
1830, two years before the Presidential election of 1832.
[Illustration: JOHN QUINCY ADAMS]
As there was practically no Federal party, none but Republicans were
discussed for the succession to Monroe. It is a common but erroneous
idea that John Quincy Adams was in harmony with the Federal sentiment
of his State and New England generally. After having filled a number of
important offices, principally in diplomatic circles, he was elected
to the United States Senate as a Federalist by the Massachusetts
Legislature in 1802, but he heartily supported the administration
of Jefferson, resulting in instructions passed by the Legislature
demanding that he should change his political policy. He refused to
obey the Legislative instructions, but resigned his seat in the Senate,
and thenceforth he acted uniformly with the Republicans, and was
Secretary of State during the eight years of Monroe’s administration.
While very many candidates were discussed for the succession, when
the time came for concentration only six names remained, and three of
those were members of the Monroe Cabinet. They were John Quincy Adams,
Secretary of State; John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War; William H.
Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, who had
been Speaker of the House; Ex-Governor De Witt Clinton, of New York,
who was not then in official position, and General Andrew Jackson, of
Tennessee, who had been Senator, Representative, and Supreme Judge. Mr.
Clay was presented to the people as a candidate for President by the
Kentucky Legislature as early as the 18th of November, 1822, or two
years before the election, and the Missouri Legislature also adopted
a resolution about the same time recommending Mr. Clay. During the
year 1823 the Legislatures of Illinois, Ohio, and Louisiana had also
formally favored Clay.
General Jackson was first formally named for the Presidency by a
mass-meeting in Blount County, Tenn., early in 1823, and that was
followed up by various mass-meetings and local conventions in different
parts of the Union. Mr. Adams, although not in sympathy with the
Federalists, having earnestly supported the war with England against
the Federal sentiment of his State, was presented as a candidate by the
Legislature of Massachusetts, and it was seconded by most of the New
England States during the early part of the year 1824.
Clinton was nominated by local mass-meetings in New York and Ohio.
Calhoun was presented by the Legislature of South Carolina, and
Crawford by the Legislature of Virginia. It is worthy of note
that while Adams was the Premier of the administration, Crawford
was obviously the favorite candidate of President Monroe, as the
Legislature of Virginia recommended Crawford, and Virginia voted for
him at the election.
All of these candidates were opposed to the Congressional caucus
excepting Crawford, who had been the competitor of Monroe in the caucus
in 1816. His friends made earnest effort to get the prestige of a
caucus nomination, and 6 Senators and 5 Representatives from different
States called a caucus to meet on the 14th of February, 1824, “to
recommend candidates to the people of the United States for the office
of President and Vice-President.” That call was met by a card signed by
24 Republican Senators and members declaring that of the 261 Senators
and Representatives there were 81 who were opposed to the caucus. The
caucus was held, however, but only 66 members appeared, a majority of
whom were from 4 States, and 8 States were not represented at all.
A motion to adjourn to meet some weeks later was opposed by Mr. Van
Buren and rejected. A ballot was then had for President, when Crawford
received 64, Adams 2, Jackson 1, and Macon 1. Albert Gallatin, of
Pennsylvania, was also nominated for Vice-President.
The caucus nomination was certainly a hindrance rather than a help
to Crawford, as it concentrated his opponents to a very large
extent. The caucus system had become very odious, and with 5 of the
6 candidates openly hostile to the caucus, it placed Crawford at a
decided disadvantage. Gallatin, who was of foreign birth, was bitterly
assailed, and a month before the election he withdrew his name as a
candidate, but no attempt was made to give formal nomination to a
successor for him on the ticket.
Strange as it may appear, Pennsylvania, the home of Gallatin, did not
cordially respond to his nomination, and there was a decided preference
in that State in favor of Calhoun for Vice-President. Calhoun and
Clinton, being without any large measure of support, gradually dropped
out of the Presidential contest, leaving Adams, Jackson, Crawford,
and Clay to make the scrub race. There were 24 States to participate
in the election, and New York, Vermont, Delaware, South Carolina,
Georgia and Louisiana chose their electors by their Legislatures, while
Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, and Kentucky chose electors
by districts, and in the other States popular elections were held and
electors chosen by general ticket.
An incident that occurred in the selection of electors by the
Legislature of New York resulted in making Clay the fourth candidate
in the Electoral College instead of the third. There were 3 of the
electors chosen by the Legislature who were elected as Clay men by
a combination between the Clay and Adams men, who in the Electoral
College divided their votes between Adams, Crawford, and Jackson, and
had they voted for Clay, as it was expected they would, Clay would
have had 40 votes in the electoral colleges and Crawford only 38. As
only the three highest candidates in the Electoral College could be
returned to the House from which a choice had to be made, Crawford was
thus returned instead of Clay, and if Clay had been returned, it is
probable that Adams would not have been chosen President. The New York
Legislature had a protracted contest in choosing electors. The combined
strength of the candidates in the two Houses as shown by the 1st
ballot was 60 for Crawford, 57 for Adams, and 39 for Clay. Finally a
combination was made between the friends of Adams and Clay, and divided
electors were chosen, by which Adams received 26 votes, Crawford 5,
Clay 4, and Jackson 1. In Delaware the electors were divided by a like
dispute in the Legislature.
The contest was not one of great bitterness, and in some States there
was practically no contest at all. Massachusetts and Virginia, for
instance, did not poll half their votes, as they were really not
contested, one being conceded to Adams and the other to Crawford. The
following is the popular vote of the States except where the electors
were chosen by the Legislature, as nearly as it can be ascertained
after the most exhaustive investigation of the records: