Date: 1981-10-19
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. today. continuing my discussions on the history of the Senate. I would like to examine the period from 1817 to 1824. which encompassed the two administrations of James Monroe and the Fifteenth and Eighteenth Congresses. In the fall of 1816. a caucus of Senate and House Republicans picked. as its presidential candidate. Secretary of State and former Virginia Senator James Monroe .to succeed James Madison. Grudgingly acknowledging that the Party of John Adams and Alexander Hamilton had run Its course. the Federalits made no serious. attempt to organize a campaign. Their candidate was that Partys longtime standard bearer. Senator Rufus King of New York. King was the only senator left in Congress who had been a framer of the Constitution. and he was respected even by his enemies. But he suffered under no illusions. King knew that he would not become president.. Monroe. by an electoral vote of 183 to 34. would be the first senator and fourth Virginian. to the hold the office. Not that Monroe was a magnetic figure. on the contrary. he appeared amiable but colorless. As King later noted of hils opponent. "He had the zealous support of nobody. and he was exempt from the hostility of everybody."14-.. Rufus K~ing was the last Federalist Presidential candidate. His halfhearte campaign Marked the end of an. era. Federalism would survive. only locally and in the careers of a few: men like King. who remained Its most eloquent spokesman in the Senate for nine more years. Thenceforth. as King knew. Federalists would have to. be -content with supporting "the least wicked section of the Republicans..." Shortly after his inauguration. Monroe made a goodwill tourthrough New England.. offering reconciliation. Afterwards. the Federalist Boston Columbian Centinel reported: During the late Presidential Jubilee many persons have met at festive boards. in pleasant converse. whom party politics baa long severed. We recur with pleasure to all the circumstances which attended the demonstration of good feelings.$ The article was entitled "Era. of Good Feelings." While the editors- probably. did not Intend to speak for more than Boston. the phrase grew in. popularity until it became synonymous with the adFootnotee at end of atticle. ._ministrations of James Monroe. Feelings of one kind or another Indeed ran high during this era. but beneath the happy surface. they were invariably not good. In Congress. the era of Good Feelings got off to an unfriendly start. The House and Senate continued to meet in the Brick Capitol while repairs were being made to the Capitol. The Senate met on the first floor and the House on the second. When it came time to make preparations for the inauguration of Monroe. an irresolvable quarrel over whose chamber should be used broke out between the representatives and sena.tors. Finally. as inauguration day drew near. a wooden platform was erected outside the hall. Fortunately. the day was mild when Monroe delivered his inaugural address to a crowd of eight thousand. No sooner had the Fifteenth Congress gotten underway when the troublesome question of compensation for members came up again. As I mentioned In my last talk on the Senate from 1809 to. 1816. during the Fourteenth Congress theSenate and House had voted themselvf.s an annual salary of $1.500. about a 30D percent Increase over the $6 per clien for days Congress was in session they iad received up until then. The furor ta erupted across the Nation over what masy considered exorbitant rermuer tion had led to the defeat of several seniators and representatives the previois autumn. Chastened and fearful for thetr own seats should the peoples anger not: abate over the next 2 years. the congressmen decided to try to rectify the situation. During January. 1818. the Senate and House triek.to decide on a just compensation. Man suppote returning to a per diem salary. but with a per diem of $10 rather than $6. Thoughthis would have meant a considerable reduction in pay from the $1.500 annual sum. many constituents were not appeased. One indignant reader of the popular NilS Weekly Register of Baltimore took that Journal to task for supporting the $10 figure. Can you seriously contend for ten dollars per diem to the members of Congress. as a reasonable compensation I It would appear from your remarks. that you think this nsaessary to Induce a man of talents to attend. and enable him to live at "Washington as a gentleman." Ah I What a fascinating epithet I re it not to be teared. that the efforts making to enable our members to live like gentlemen. will. In the end. destroy the morals. and ruin the republican institutions of our happy country? . . . Teon dollars per day may be necessary to support a gambler. or a prodigal. but neither of them are even conterminous to a gentleman. The letterwriter angrily went on: ..in many parts of the United States six dolars a day was sufficient too produce great competitions for seats n Congress.... at the old allowance we shall never be at a loss to find members. and such as are best qualified to serve us. Your high minded. dashing. loquacious men are by no means the safestr and surest representatives of a republican? people. Efforts to gain a $10 per diem were defeated and thebill which the House passed on to the Senate provided for an $8 daily fee. Senators James Wilson and Mahlon Dickerson. both of New Jersey. sought to lower it still further to the old $8 rate. but they were defeated. Finally. on January 13. 1818. the Senate voted to return to the per diem system at a rate of $8 per day. So hot an Issue was congressional pay that the rate remained unchanged for almost forty yearal From 1818 until 1855. regardless of Inflation and depression. boom and bust. senators and representatives received $8 each day Congress was in session.5 After his inauguration. Monroe and the House anid Senate settled down to business. The confrontation between the president and Congress. with regard to their respective authority in the area of Internal Improvements. was instantly renewed. in his first annual address to Congress. Monroe made it clear that. wh2.e roads and canals* were necessary. he. agreed with his predecessor that Congre~ss had no right to appropriate public mfoney for such things. To enable Congress to do so. he believed. would require an amendmentto the Constitution. That was a long and tedious process. When It became bogged down in detail. the whole matter was dropped. but only -temporarily. Monroe became preoccupied: with foreign affairs. but the growing number of senators and representatives from the new western states would soGn be heard from again. .donroes Secretary of State. John Q..incy Adams. was trying to negotiate wlh Spain for the peaceful cession of Fforida to the United States. Negotiatlons were proceeding nicely when ex%remely unsettling news began to reach Vashington about the exploits of Anirew Jackson. the gangling young man from Tennessee who had served an undistinguished twoyear term in the Senate two decades earlier. Jackson had made quite a name for himself in the Intervening years. He had captured the nations Imagination and risen to fame as the supreme military hero of the War of 1812. the victor of the Battle of New Orleans. In 1817. however. Jacksons excessive teal as commander of the Southern Division was bringing the United States to the brink of war with Spain. He had been sent south to punish the Seminole Indians who* had been marauding in Georgia. He had orders to pursue them Into Spanish territory if necessary to break up their bands. The overlyenthusiastic general sent a secret letter to Monroe. offering to reduce the whole of Florida In sixty days If the president wished. Monroe. who was sick In bed. never read the letter. Taking silence for consent. Jackson proceeded to make good his offer. In the midst of Its negotiations with Spain. the State Department was horrified to learn that Jackson was busily capturing town after town in the very territory for which the goverrnent was negotiating . Before Jackson could be stopped. he had seized the Fort of St. Marks. hanged two Indian leaders. courtmarshalled and hanged two British adventurers. bombarded the fort at Barrances. and taken the city bf Pensacola! Not surprisingly. Spain. the President. the Secretary of State. and the Congress Footnotes at end of article. were furious. Monroes chagrined report to Congress on Jacksons exploits was referred to agitated House and Senate committees. If Monroe. despite his protests to the contrary. had actually authorized Jacksons expedition. he had grossly usurped Congress power. And. if Jackson had not been so authorized. then he had wronged Congress. The final House report on the issue. however. vindicated the general. In the Senate. the report condemned Jackson.7 The announcement of the unexpected success of Secretary of State Adams diplomacy made the whole matter a dead issue. Adams had negotiated a treaty with Spain which transferred Florida to the United States in return for the relinquishnment of a dubious American claim to Texas. The treaty was unanimously approved by the Senate." The year before. the government had signed an agreement with England establishIng the fortyninth parallel as the boundary between the United States and Canada. and sanctioning the Joint occupation of the Oregon country. The nation was expanding rapidly. And it was this expansion that precipitated the most bitterly foughtcrisis of the decade. Since the War of 1812. four new states had Joined the Union: Indiana in 1818. Mississippi In 1817. Illinois in 1818. and Alabama In 1819. The country to the east of the Mississippi River was filling up. Towns replaced forests In the North. and cotton fields were spreading out across the flatlands of the South. Men were moving beyond the Mississippi. Daniel Boone had been one of the first when he moved west in 1798 to escape civilized Kentucky. but now a host of hardy pioneers followed. Hitherto. by an unspoken agreement In Congress. northern and southern states had been admitted In pairs as was the case with Indiana and Mississippi. as well as Illinois and Alabama. By 1819. all the land east of the Mississippi River. with the exception of the Michigan Territory. was divided by the Potomiac and Ohio Rivers Into tw. equal groups of eleven slave and free states. Which would be the first transMississippi state to seek admission to the Union? Would It be slave or free? Theanswer to the first question came swiftly. Late in December 1818. Missouri made its bid for statehood. But the process of arriving at an answer to the second question would violently split apart the Senate. the House. and the nation. and leave a wound that refused to heal.* The enabling act for statehood was drawn up in the House and mentioned nothing about slavery. The issue was not raised until ftbruary 13. 1819. when Representative James Tallmadge of New York arose and offered amendments prohibiting the further introduction of slaves into Missouri and emancipating. at age 25. all slaves thereafter born In the state. Tailmadgea specific motives In offering his explosive amendment remain unknown. but its effect was Immediate. The battle over slavery had begun. Though he would not live to see his grisly prophecy come true. Representative Thomas Cobb of Georgia was correct when he shouted at Tallmadge. "You have kindled a fire which all the waters of the ocean cannot put out. which seas of blood can only extinguish." I Tallmadges amendments made sense to antislavery northerners. The Northwest Ordinance banned slavery In any state created from the territory north of the Ohio River. Missouri. however. had been settled mainly by southerners. many of whom had brought their slaves with them. The slave holders argued that It was unconstitutional for Congress to place restrictions on the citizens of a state as a condition of admittance. The antislavery forces. however. had the votes in the House. The Tallmadge amendments were adopted by a strictly sectional vote on February 16. 1819. and the amended enabling bill was sent to the Senate. In the Senate. the southerners had the votes and. on February 27. by votes of 31 to 7 and 22 to 16. they struck out the amendments and returned the bill to the House in its original form. At that- point. the Fifteenth Congress had only two days remaining. The House restored the antislavery amendments. and the bill returned to the Senate. Again. the Senate struck them out and sent the bill back to the House. The House refused to concur In the Senatcs action. the Senate remained obdurate. And so. on March 4. 1819. at the close of the Fifteenth Congress. the Missouri Enabling Bill died. While the Enabling Bill had been set aside. the awful paradox that slavery could have a legal existence In a land of free men was now fully open to inspection. in northern cities. citizens declared themselves astonished and horrified at the thought that the institution of slavery could travel westward across the Mississippi. though It had been doing so for many years. Southern Pam phleteers were equally outraged at the suggestion that slavery could be prevented from ranging over the whole T.oulsiana Purchase. During the framing of the Constitution. the Burr conspiracy. and the War of 1812. the tinder in the anomnaly of slavery in a democratic republic hadl threatened to burst into nlame. Now that It had flared up Into the open. Americans were forced to ask themselves not whether the fire could be extinguished. but whether the lire could be banked. As historian George Dangerfleld notes In his Informative book. The Era of Good Feelings. the Talimadge amendments and the series of town meetings. pamphlets. editorials. and debates thcy excited. summoned the South into being. Frior to the Tallinadge amendments: "those who dwelt south of the MasonDixon line might have been Bald to have. perhaps. a kind of climatic fellowship. Thecy had the same long hot summers. the violent storms and unpredictable droughts. their winters were always severe. their upcountry rivers froze solid from bank to bank.. Such weather raised their ceilings and preliferated their piazzs and balconies. encouraged the growing of staple crops. even while the rains and heat defertilized the soil. and It slowed down the pace of their life. But no generalization could absorb their dlfterences-.-at least. no genleralization .S 11597 based upon climate. The southern states were a patchwork of political and social distinctions: distinctions between the old South and new Southwest. between small farmers and planters. between merchants and manufacturers. Valley warred *1ith mountain. *country with town. the Atlantic with the Gul... Everywhere there were contradictions and Incompatibilities... And yet all were loosely bound togetherthe Creole aristocrat of New Orleans. the liberal nationalist of South Carolina. the parvenu cottonplanter of Georgia. the hemp grower of Kentucky. the tobacco magnet of Virginiaall were bound together by the Institution of slavery. The Tallinadge Amendment. like a powerful spell. conjured this loose bondage into a tightness and coherence It was never afterwards to lose."2 Everyone knew that when Congress reconvened. the fight over Missouri would be renewed. But by the time the Sixteenth Congress mect on Monday. December 0. 1819. compromise seemed possible. With the consent of Massachusetts. of which It was then a part. the state of Maine had been organized. and. in tile fall of 1819. It applied for admission to the Union. This offered an opportunity to revert to the old system of admitting free and slave states in pairs. The fire was further stoked. however. when another move was made. this time In the Senate by Jonathan Roberts of Pennsylvania. to forbid the importation of slaves into Missouri. The Senate debate that followed raged for three weeks. It took place back in familiar territory. The Capitol. its scarred freestone gleaming with fresh white paint. was habitable for the first time since the British had put It to the torch in 1814. The new galleries overflowed with spectators. Vice President Daniel Tompkins graciously permitted several ladies onto the Senator floor. Indignant House members. visiting the chamber. found the ladles voluminous skirts billowing over the sofas and chairs usually reserved for them. The Senate debates on the Missouri.. question began on January 13. 1820. The air was charged with acrimonious electricity. Senator James Barbour of Virginia announced that the subject under discussion was an Ignited spark. which would produce an explosion that would shake the Union to its center. senator Harrison Gray Otis of Massachusetts Pointedly replied that the pine forests of Maine. if set afire. would burn with as fierce a flame as the grasslands of Missouri. These innuendos. followed by certain remarks regarding the dubious behavior of New Englandr.rs during the War of 1812. were hardly calculated to restore harmony to the chamber. Whon Pennsylvanias Jonathan Roberts Inyoked the Declaration of Independence and urged his fellow senators not to admit Missouri "with her features marred as if the finger of Lucifer had been drawn across them." any chance of Peaceful discussion seemed to have vanished forever.M began to paint a picture of bucolic Plantation life. Macon lauded the South and its institutions and told his colleagues. "I wish that he (Senator James Footnotea at end of article. Burrill of Rhode Island. an antislavery senator) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Senator Roberts) would go home with me. or with some other Southern member. and witnessthe meeting between the slaves and the owner. and see the glad faces and the hearty shrikIng of hands." Macon declared that. "The old ones (slaves) are better taken care of than any poor In the world. and treated with decent respect by all their white acquaintances." He argued that "the owner can make more free In conversation with his slave. and be more easy in his company. than the rich man. where there is no slave. with the white hireling who drives his carriage." 16 Here were the beginnings of a systematic defense of slavery. not as a necessary evil. but as a positive good. Macons new theme was elaborately embroidered by other Southern senators. On January 28. Senator William Smith of South Ca rolina made a speech that was characterized by a horrified Senator Benjamin Ruggles of Oslo as "going farther than he had ever heard any gentleman go befo"uSmith was a strict Jeffersonlan. with a bitter and sarcastic tongue. His speech Is a landmark in the history of the Senate because It was the first open and Impassioned justification of slavery ever made in the chamber. In his long harangue. Smith set out to prove that slavery was a system blessed by the Lord. "This." said Smith referring to slavery. "was the law given by the Clod of Abraham. the God of Isaac. and the God of Jacob ... Christ himself gave his sanction to slavery." u No other senators had ever gone so far. But now there would be no turning back." In February 1820. Rufus King replied to Smith in two speeches that were masterful but devoid of the fiery rhetoric the spectators In the galleries loved. Some Southern senators understood King to have said that he felt himself degraded at having to sit in the same chamber with men who owned slaves. and they hated him for It. What King had really said was that he felt Inferior because "the citizens of the states where slavery prevails possess a greater portion of political power. then the citizens of states In which slavery Is excluded." and that he did not wish to increase the humiliation by extending slavery.1t Kings actual words hit as sensitive a nerve as his Perceived words. What was at stake In the Missouri question was more than slavery. It was a question of Political Power. The Senate stood evenly balanced. eleven Northern states and eleven Southern states. If both Maine and Missouri were admitted as free states. the South and Its "peculiar institution" would surely be overpowered. From the Souths perspective. It was a fight for survival. Missouri must be a slave state. The Southerners In the Senate were better organized. more learned. and more supple in debate than their. Northern colleagues. Even Rufus King has to confess that the Northern senators "IfIght Militia against Regulars. On February 17. the Thomas Amiendment passed the Senate by a vote of 34 to 10 and. with an enormous sigh of rielief. the proposed compromise was sent off to the House." The press had begun to call the deliberations on the Missouri question "the Misery Debate." After a week of bitter day and night sessions In the House. a conference committee worked out a twopart compromise that Included the Thomas Amendment and admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. The measure passed both houses and received President Monroes signature on March 3.1820. With the passing of the Missouri Compromise. many naively thought that the slavery question was settled forever.- In fact. it remained settled only until the next session of Congress. when Missouri presented Its new state constitution to the House and Senate for approval. Thie delegates to Missouris constitutloi .l convention had copied the constitutlun of the state of Kentucky almost verbatim. Almost. but not quite. There woke two clauses unique to the Missouri constitution that outraged antislavery congressmnen. One forbade the state legislature from interfering with slavery in any manner. and the other prevented "free negroes and mulattoes from coming to and settling In this state. under any pretext whatsoever." In view of the fact thmt there were several states In which blacl5 were free men and citizens. the. latter clause seemed a gross violation of tUP federal Constitutions guarantee that "the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens of the several states." The Senate avoided the difficult Issues posed by the Missouri constitution by adding only one proviso and passing it on to the House. The proviso. offered by Senator John Eaton of Tennessee. stated. "That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to give the assent of Congress to any provision In the Constitution of Missouri. If any such there be. which contravenes that clause In the Constitution of the United States which declares that the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens of the several States. " 1 Eatons proviso was Intentionally toothless. Basically. it allowed Congress to admit a state to the Union and at the same time withhold Its assent from that states constitution. It adroitly avoided the crucial question. Could the people of Missouri prohibit the citizens of another state--for example. Massachusettsfrom crossing their bodrs? 1 In the House. a Southern motion to accept the Missouri constitution was defeated. 70 to 93. on December 13. 1820. touching off six weeks of wild and angry debate.m Tihe Missouri question was still unsettled In February 1821. and It threw Into pandemonium efforts to count the electonial ballots. During the fall of 1820. almost Incidentally. a presidential election had been held. Monroe. who had managed to Atay out of the Missouri controversy. was the only serious candidate. Monroe received the vote of every elector In the nation except that of former Senator William Plunier of New Hampshire. who thought that George Washington should be the only president honored by a unanimous election. and. thus. cast his vote for John Quincy Adams." On February 14. 1821. In the midstof the Missouri debates. the Senate proceeded to the House chamber for the formal counting of the electoral votes. All went quietly until the vote of Missouri. the statehood of whichi was still being contested. It was Instantly challenged. Half a dozen representatives leaped to their feet. others Joined In. soon the whole House was in an uproar. Amid the hubbub. a Senator was heard calling out that the Senate ought to withdraw. Vice President Tompkins quickly put the barely audible motion. declared it carried. and led the retreat of the Senate from the disgraceful scene. Later in the afternoon. utter the candles In the chamber had been lit and the tumult had finally died down. the Senators returned. As soon as the Vice President sta~rted to announce the electoral result. a shouting match broke out again. The Speaker managed to keep order long enouch. for the Vice President to make the anwuncemnent of Monroes victory In the .escribed form. aftef which the Senv~e again hastily withdrew."6 With two weeks left in the Sixteenth Congress to settle the Missouri question. Henry Clay. who had recently stepped down as Speaker. put together a special Joint Senate and House committee of twentythree members to try to work out a. compromise. The committee reported out a recommendation. almost identical to Eatons earlier proviso. Missouri would be admitted under an obligation to respct "1the right and privileges of all citizens of the United States." most realized that this clause was not likely to be. enforced to protect a single free black who should venture over Missouris borders. but the recommendation was accepted nonetheless. -Missouri. with Its. offensive constitution had at l9At become a state. The natdon breathed easier. once again believIn that the issue of slavery had been put to. rest for good. The aged Thomas Jefferson. home at Monticello. saw the Compromise for what It truly was. "a fire bell in the night." The Missouri Compromise bought the nation only a nineyear respite from the bitter. divisive contest over slavery before the bell would toll again.. After the stormy sessions of the Sixteenth Congress. the senators welcomed the quiet. routine sessions of the Seventeenth Congress. The years 1821 and 1822 were far from dull. but political maneuvering was more evident outside the chamber in the corridors of the Capitol and In private homes. where plots were laid over dinners and brandy. With the final disappearance of the Federalists In 1820. when they failed to nominate a presidential candidate. many Idealists thought they saw the end of the whole party system and the comIng of a Utopia when leaders would be chosen purely on the basis of merit. Monroe happily predicted: "Surely our government may get on and prosper without the existence of parties." Thomas Jefferson. however. did not share his fellow Virginians optimism. Footnotes at end of article. "You are told. indeed." he wrote to Albert Glallatin. then In France. "that there are no longer parties among us. that they are all now amalgamated. the lion and the lamb lie down together in peace. Do riot believe a word of it.""0 Events proved Jefferson correct. The collapse of the Federalists was the prelude to the breaking up of the Republican party Into many factions that once had been tenuously united by opposition to a common foe. Monroe had barely been Inaugurated a second time before each of these factions began to groom one of their own as his successor. By the time the Seventeenth Congress met in December 1821. each of the three leadIng cabinet members. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Secretary of Treasury William Crawford. and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. as well as Henry Clay. temporarily retired from the Congress. had a group of ardent supporters working on his behalf. These four men. with Andrew Jackson as a possible dark horse. were open candidates three years before the next election I So much for the "Era of Good Feelings I" The second session of the Seventeenth Congress was overshadowed by the prepresidential cabals. The Crawford faction seemed to have a slight edge. but Its hopes dimmed In the summer of 1822 when the nervewracking campaign took its toll. Crawford. tall. handsome. and only fiftyone years old. suffered a paralyzing stroke which left him nearly blind and only In partial possession of his mental faculties. Monroe kept. Crawford on as Secretary of Treasury f or the next year. but all Treasury documents bore a facsimile stamp of his signature. which his daughter helped him press to the papers. Meanwhile. Crawfords partisans mintmized the seriousness of his condition. and zealously continued their campaign to make him president." Earlier In the spring of 1822. death carried off one of the Senates. most prominent orators and dandies. William Pinkney of Maryland. only fiftyeight. His last speech on the floor had been his masterful reply to Rufus King on the Missouri question. Fittingly. a. new senator who would soon also win fame as a bililiant orator. Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. offered a moving eulogy. Pinkney. who had died In Washington. away from his home and family. fell. said Benton. "like the warrior. in the plentitude of his strength. and on the field of his fame."17 William Plnkney was truly a remarkable man. At the age of thirteen. he was forced to drop out of school when his fathers property was confiscated due to the latters loyalist sentiments. According to legend. young Plnkney favored tl e colonists cause and often eluded parental vigilance to mount guard with the. Continental soldiers. After the Revolu~onary War ended. Pinkneys oratorical skill came to the attention of Justice Samuel Chase who took him in hand and steered Pinkney to a career In law. Pinkney spent the remainder of his life working to overcome the consequence of his Interrupted education. While stationed in London as a United States Claims Commissioner. he deliberately attended parliamentary and court sessions in an effort to absorb the erudition displayed there. He studied Latin and Greek and developed a lifelong passion for reading dictionaries. The effort was not wasted. Hlis skillful oratory and mental agility aided Pinkneys rapid rise to commissioner. Minister to Great Britain. and Attorney General In 1811. Writing under the pseudonym "Publius". Pinkney vigorously supported the War of 1812. and. as a major in the Maryland militia. commanded a battalion of riflemen and was seriouisly wounded In the arm. Following the war. he served briefly in the House before his appointment as Minister to Russia. Pinkney returned from Russia In 1818 and entered the Senate in 1819. It was during his years in the Senate that Pinkney achieved his reputation as a major Interpreter of the Constitution. While he ably represented the Southern Interests In the Missouri debates In the Senate chamber on the Capitols second floor. it was in the Supreme Court chamber below that he performed his greatest work In arguing cases at the bar. He was counsel In seventytwo Supreme Court cases and acquired one of the most lucrative practices of his time. In both the Senate and the Court. Pinkneys years of selfimprovement paid off handsomf ly. After one of his speeches. Justice Story wrote. "I never. In my whole life. heard a greater speech. it was worth a trip from Salem to hear at his eloquence was overwhelming." During these years in the Senate and before the Court. Pinkneys affected. extravagant rhetoric made him a vivid figure. Ladies crowded Into the gallery to hear him speak. Excessively vain. he sought their approval as keenly as that of his colleagues. Though he toiled ceaselessly to Polish his style and check his facts. PInkney liked to create the Impression that his wealth of knowledge was little but off -hand recollections. But woe to those who challenged him. Pinkney was insolent and arrogant and only narrowly escaped a duel with a lawyer he had openly insulted in court. For frequent discourtesies to Daniel Webster. the latter boasted of extorting an apology under threat of a beating. Plnkney was as vain about his appearance as about his eloquence. lie had square shoulders. erect carriage. and Intense blue eyes. but most conspicuous were the deep furrows in his face and the heavy circles under his eyes which he sought to conceal with cosmetics. He wore corsets to diminish his bulk. Pinkneys demise on F ebruary 25. 1822. was almost turned into a burlesque by the eccentric John Randolph. a representative and later senator from Virginia. Two years earlier. Randolph had made himself Indecorously conspicuous at the funeral of Commodore Stephen Decatur. killed In a duel In Washington. by causing his horse to prance about the grave. By prematurely announcing Pinkneys death. Randolph led the House to declare a day of mourning for the senator while he was still alive. October .19. 1981 Volumes of eulogy attested to Pinkneys fame. once he was actually dead. Chief Justice Marshall proclaimed him. "The greatest man I ever saw in a Court of Justice." Thirty years after Pinkneys death. Chief Justice Taney could still say. "I have heard almost all the great advocates of the United States. both of the past and present generation. but I have seen none equal to Pinkney." Being a senator in the early 1800s was hazardous duty. This eightyearperiod under Investigation. the Fiifteenth to the Eighteenth Congresses. witnessed the deaths of six other senators besides Pinkney. Two were still In their thirties. Pinkneys predecessor. the aggressive Federalist editor. Alexander Hanson of Maryland. was only thirtythree when he died on April 23. 1819. af ter two years in the Senate. nihealth prevented Hanson from taking an active part In the Senates business. During the War of 1812. he had been badly beaten by a Baltimore mob. enraged at the antiadministration. proEnglish stand of his newspaper. the Federal Republican. William Trimble of Ohio. who had distinguished himself for gallantry during the War of 1812. was only thirtyfive when he died In 1821 after two years in the Senate." Like Trimble. James Burrill of Rhode Island died in Washington. far away from home and loved ones. Burrill. fortyeight. was given a memorable funeral in the old Senate Chamber down the hail. NicholLs Ware of Georgia had been in the Senate for three years when he died In 1824 at age fiftyfive. Elijah Boardman of Connecticut had enlisted in the Revolutionary Army at age seventeen. He died in 1823. at age sixtythree. during his second year In the Senate. while on a visit to Boardman. Ohio. a town he had founded." The oldest and most prominent senator who died in office during this period was John Taylor of Virginia. who was seventy Years old when he passed away during the recess In the summer of 1824. He. like Senator Boardman. was one of the last of the handful of Revolutionary soldiers. having fought under Lafayette. still serving in the Senate. Taylor had Just been returned to the Senate for the third time by the Virginia legislature after a long absence. His first term In the Senate had been during George Washingtons first administration. in 1792. when he filled the Post vacated by the illness of Richard Henry Lee. An early supporter of Jeffersonian Republicanism. through his writings Taylor became one of the foremost philosophers of agrarian liberalism." The opening of the Eighteenth Congress was a memorable one. On iis second day. December 2. 1823. the senators and representatives received the most in-?ortant Presidential message in many years. in which President Monroe spelled out the farsighted principles of the Monroe Doctrine. The Doctrine. largely the work of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. was specifically aimed at Russias expansionist designs on the Pacific Northwest and at threats by the Holy Allance to appropriate Spanish possesFootnote. at end of a&Mole. sious In Latin America. But. more generally. Monroe used the Doctrine to proclaim to all the world that. "the American continents. by the free and Independent condition which they have assumed and maintain. are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers" and that European intervention in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a "manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." " Among the new and able senators in the Eighteenth Congress was Robert Hayne of South Carollnt. the magnificent orator destined to cross swords with Webster in one of the most memorable congressional debates of the century. Back In the Senate after long absences were John Taylor of Virginia who had left in disgust over the Sedition Acts. and John Lloyd of Massachusetts. Also back In the Senate. but difficult to recognize as the backwoodsman of twentyfive years earlier. who had sat in the Senate when it still met in Philadelphia. was the Hero of New Orleans. Andrew Jackson. Let us look more closely at the route that led the lean. unsmiling Jackson to the Senate a second time. and at his early experiences in Washington. for. In many ways. they are typicsal of the hardships and joys experienced by his colleagues. Although Jackson had "retired" to his Tennessee estate with his beloved wife. Rachel. after his brilliant military maneuvers in New Orleans and Florida. the nation was alive with speculation that he would be the next president. His friends energetically fanned the fires of popular support while Jacksons enemies. and he had made many. worked equally hard to stamp them out. The first test of Jacksons strength was whether or not he could unseat Tennessees senior senator. -John. Williams. in 1823. Many of the Generals supporterg urged him not to attempt It. as a failure could be disastrous. but. although Williams had a -clear hen dstart. Jackson plunged ahead. When the state legislature convened on the morning of October 1. 1823. to choose a senator. Jatksons forces made a desperate attempt to obtain a twoday postponement to solidify their position. But the famed frontiersman. Davy Crockett. then a member of the state legislature and soon to become a representative. was a lifelong enemy of the Ger~eral s and successfully fought the delay. Crocketts colleagues were confronted with the choice of reneging on their pledges to Williams. a power In eastern Tennessee. or repudiatIng the grayhaired hero. When the roll call ended. Jackson had triumphed over Williams. 35 to 25." After notification of his victory Jackson wrote a friend. "I have been elected senator. a circumstance whlbh I regret more than any other in my life. To leave Mrs. Jackson fills me. as well as her. with much regret." Jackson was undoubtedly sorry to part from Rachel. but. as Marquis James notes In his biography. The Life of Andrew Jackson. Jackson was personally gratified by his victory and not loath to be the focus of the national limelight once again. He was. however. totally unprepared to leave home that November. It was cotton ginning time. a planters busiest Season. when expenses were greatest and debts heaviest. Jackson had to accept a loan from a friend to defray the cost of the journey." Jackson. filftysixyearaold. set out onl the 860mile journey to Washington on horseback. accompanied by John Eaton. thirtythree. his good friend and Tennessees other senator. Except for one day when a mailcoach afforded refuge from the rain. the two senators remained In the saddle all the way to Staunton. Virginia. At Fredericksburg. they boarded a steamboat which arrived in Washington just after dawn on December 3. Like most of his colleagues In the Senate. Jackson was reluctant to subject his wife to the rigors of travel to the faroff capital. At each stop along the way to Washington. however. he wrote anxious letters back to* Rachel. I would like to read to You Just a few words from these letters from a senator to his wife because I think they show a tender side of the General. whose statue. in cold bronze here In the fQapitols rotunda down the hall. looks so strong and stein. From Staunton. on November 28. 18.23. Jackson wrote home: My Love I have been greeted by the people whfrever r have halted .. . This through Virginia (a Crawford stronghold) r did not cveiculntc on ..Were you only with me i could be satisid--nut should providence once more permit us to meet. I am solemnly resolved. with the permission of heaven. never to separate. or be separated from you in this world. The day he arrived in Washington. Jackson wrote Rachel: My Love I have not heard from you . .. and am anxious to receive a letter . . . I have been treated with marked attention . . . Aitho this Is gratifying ... my heart Is with yut and fixed to Domestic Life ... Without you this will be a Tedious and unpleasant winter . . . write me often and believe me to bo your affectionate husband.33 Like most other senators. General Jackson took up lodgings in one of Washingtons many boarding houses. Along with Senator Eaton. hie took modest rooms at the house run by Major William ONeale. It was there that he met the Maiors pretty daughter. Peggy. who. when she married Senator Eaton. would nearly wreck Jacksons first administration as cabinet members. urged on by their wives. took sides on the question of Peggys virtue. Though Jackson claimed he sought to. live Inconspicuously In Washington. he quickly became the most soughtafter man In town. Be complained to Rachel. "There Is nothing done here but visiting and carding." Eaton had to help Jackson with his voluminous correspondence. even writing to Mrs. Jackson when the General was. extremely busy. Shortly after settling into .their rooms. Eaton wrote her: The general Is In very fine health. and just as good spirits.. .. Hie Is constantly In motion to some dinner party or other. and tonight stands engaged at a large dancing party at General Browns."