Date: 1981-06-04
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. the United States Senate is a political institution. Political parties and political issues are the very substance of our daily .existence. The center aisle beside me divides the members of the two parties. and behind me are the entrances to two cloakrooms. one for Republicans and one for Democrats. All this is quite natural and we accept it as the normal way of operating in the Senate. Historically. however. the founders of this government. the authors of our Constitution. and the first members of this body. did not anticipate or accept political parties and partisan divisions. Despite their resistance. such divisions grew. quickly and one might say inevitably. within the first decade of the governments existence. As we know. men of good faith simply do not think alike on all issues. Ones economic. social. or geographical situation predisposes an individual to interpret events differently and to see different solutions to the same problems. Personal Jealousies. rivalries. antagonisms. and ambitions also contributed to the division of society into political factions. based on ideological or even irrational differences. And so it was during the first decade of the history of the United States Senate. This was a tumultuous decade. which saw the first senator expelled from this body. and the first to be denied a seat. At one point. war with Britain seemed inevitable. Then. war with the nations closest ally. France. seemed certain. The ratification of the Jay Treaty gave the Senate the opportunity to exercise one of its most important constitutional powers. that of advice and consent. but In .the process the debate nearly tore apart the young nation. The debate over the Jay Treaty. as with so many other explosive issues during the years from 1791 to 1800. revealed the birth of political parties as permanent institutions in the new republic. The Federalists and AntiFederalists who had fought over the ratification of the new Constitution. now faced each other in the halls of Congress. This was the beginning of party politics in the United States. When the Second Congress convened in Philadelphias Congress Hall on Monday. October 24. 1791. many familiar faces from the First Congress were missing. Of the senators who had drawn the short term. several had not been reelected by their state legislatures. Among them was William Maclay. whose bluntness had offended Pennsylvanias legislators once too often. Another was Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamiltons fatherinlaw. New York Senator Philip Schuyler. who had been replaced by the charismatic and ambitious young lawyer. Aaron Burr. In Massachusetts. Tristram Dalton was defeated by another rockribbed Federalist. George Cabot. New Jerseys Jonathan Elmer had accepted a judgeship and was replaced by Federalist John Rutherford. William S. Johnson of Connecticut had resigned over the summer to devote his full attention to the Presidency of Columbia University. and Roger Sherman moved up from the House to replace him. A tremendous boost to the AntiFederalist ranks was provided by the outspoken member from Virginia. James Monroe. Though he had lost his first bid for election to the First Congress. he had been elected in December 1790 to fill the last few months of the term of William Grayson. the first senator to die in office. Monroe arrived in Philadelphia in October 1791. fresh from his election for a full sixyear term. and soon was consulting closely with Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and House member James Madison to plan AntiFederalist strategy. The admission of Vermont as the fourteenth state of the Union had raised the number of senators from 20 to 28. Vermonts first two senators. Moses Robinson and Stephen Bradley. had both been soldiers in the Revolutionary War and active in Vermonts bid for statehood. Robinson. though not a lawyer. became the first chief justice of Vermonts supreme court and later governor. Bradley was one of the Green Mountain Boys who successfully wrenched the state away from the territorial claims of New York. Though defeated for reelection in 1794. Bradley returned to the Senate from 1801 to 1813. serving as president pro tempore in 1802 and 1803. and 1808. During his first term in the Senate. he introduced the bill which established a national flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars which flew over the land from 1795 until 1814. 1 The Commonwealth of Kentucky. havFootnotes at end of article. ing been carved out of Virginia in 1792. provided the reason for the fifteenstar flag. Kentuckys first two senators were John Edwards and John Brown. Edwards had helped guide Kentucky on its tortuous course toward statehood. As a reward. he was unanimously elected to the Senate. but he rarely spoke and took little part in the deliberations in Philadelphia. Brown served under both Washington and Lafayette during the Revolution. During his twelve years in the Senate. serving as president pro tempore in 1803 and 1804. he actively represented his states interests Thirteen incumbents and four freshmen senators were present at the openIng of the Second Congress. over which John Adams presided as vice president. Though he complained that "my country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." he managed to cast twentynine tiebreaking votes during his eight years in office. more than any vice president since. The closeness of those votes suggests a rise in factionalism that the framers of the Constitution had hoped would be subordinated to an overriding interest in the natiopal welfare. But a division into two combative political groups was now clearly evident. There was growing distrust between those sympathetic to agricultural interests. led by Jefferson. who feared a trend toward centralized. aristocratic government. and those of mercantilefinancial sympathies. led by Hamilton. who feared an excess of democracy. Staunch Federalist Paine Wingate of New Hampshire had foreseen difficult days ahead for the Senate even during the First Congress. Drawing the battle lines between North and South. he prophesized: "The jarring interests and the different views and habits of the Northern and Southern members will be the source of many inconveniences and difficulties. Necessity rather than affection will I presume keep us together awhile longer." Factualism. so dreaded by Washington and the framers of the Constitution. stalked the halls in Philadelphia and could no longer be ignored. It threatened to divide the Congress. the Cabinet. and the nation. In the Second Congress. few issues would be unaffected by the growing division. For the moment. the Federalists maintained their control over both the House and the Senate but their hold was slipping. The AntiFederalists thought they saw their first opportunity to discredit the Federalists in connection with Indian battles on the frontier. which they charged were being conducted without congressional consent. The disastrous defeats of the federal forces at the hands of the Mfamis. Shawnees. and Delawares presented the AntiPederalists with the opportunity to order an inquiry which. they hoped would pin the blame souarely on Hamilton whose Treasury Department was responsible for army supply contracts. The Federalist majority. however. was able to squash the results of this first "fishing expedition." Pootnotes at end of article. The AntiFederalists fared better on the issue of apportionment. which was raised after the first census. dominated the first session of the Second Congress. and ended in the first presidential veto. After seven months of deadlock and acrimonious debate. the Federalistcontrolled House and Senate agreed on a compromise bill. But Jefferson. Madison. and Attorney General Edmund Randolph convinced Washington that the measure was unconstitutional. so he vetoed it. Jefferson reported that when the veto message reached Congress. "a few of the hottest friends of the bill expressed passion." but they were unable to override the veto. At stake in these and the debates to follow. as each side saw it. was not just the issue at hand but the nations future. The Federalist view was clearly stated in Hamiltons brilliant Report on Manufactures. submitted to Congress in December 1791. It outlined his plans for transforming the nation from an agricultural country into an industrialized. selfsufficient one. The Report served as a rallying point for Jefferson and his friends in Congress who found its proposals abhorrent. With factionalism spreading. the first session of the Second Congress adJourned on May 8. 1792. The summer months saw the first clear signs of the storm that had been brewing ever since Hamilton had rammed through his whiskey tax. Protests arose in western Pennsylvania where farmers "reckoned their fluid wealth in Monongahela rye." Hamilton was quick to equate such resistance to the tax with treason against the national government. Oppbnents of the tax. led by young Albert Gallatin. saw it as misuse of federal power. For the time being. the result was an uneasy stalemate. President Washingtons first term was ending and he longed to retire to Mount Vernon. but the schism in his Cabinet loomed before him. Both sides begged him to remain at the helm. Secretary of State Jefferson also hoped to retire from the Cabinet. but he could not leave Treasury Secretary Hamilton unchecked. Jeffersons supporters. the AntiFederalists. now called themselves Republicans or DemocraticRepublicans. to demonstrate their differences from the aristocratic Federalists. While the Republicans supported Washingtons reelection. they plotted to unseat Vice President Adams. They had just about decided to support New York Governor George Clinton for the vice presidency when the situation became confused by a new senator from New York. the ambitious thirtysixyearold Aaron Burr. Burr kept his political views a secret in those days and as a result was courted and suspected by both sides. Hamilton personally despised him: "As a public man he is one of the worst sorta friend of nothing but as it suits his interest and ambition." Though born in New Jersey. grandson of the fiery theologian Jonathan Edwards and son of the first president of Princeton. Aaron Burr chose New York for his political base. His rise was spectacular. His methods. however. appalled more sober men. After one of his victories. a friend wrote that Burrs "twistings. combinations. and maneuvers to accomplish this object are incredible."* When Burr entered the race for the vice presidency. leaders of the Republican party quietly gathered in Philadelphia to settle the matter. Since many. like James Monroe. doubted Burrs integrity. they were unwilling to entrust him with party leadership. Emerging from one of the first "smokefilled rooms" in our political history. they nominated the older. more reliable Clinton as their candidate. Burr acquiesced gracefully in public. but complanied bitterly in private. He would be heard from again. When the electoral ballots were tallied on February 13. 1793. Washington emerged with 132 of the possible 130 votes. Adams. with 77. beat Clintons 50. Jeffersons 4. and Burrs 1. In the Senate. the Federalists retained their majority. 17 to 13. But they had lost control of the House. On key issues. some 58 of the 106 Representatives were likely to vote with the Republicans while 48 generally sided with the administration. Interest blocs would shift from issue to issue. but the stage was set for increasingly partisan battles in the Third Congress. Shortly before the second session of the Second Congress ended on March 2. 1793. the Republicans had an early tase of victory. Largely at their insistence. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act. which required the free states to return any escaped slave who crossed their borders. Though the act would create great controversies in the nation a few. decades later. it engendered almost no debate at this time. passing the Senate unanimously and the House with a lopsided vote of 48 to 7. . The elections to the Third Congress. which convened on December 2. 1793. made little difference in party representation. In the House Theodore Sedgwick. put up for Speaker by the extreme Federalists. was beaten by the Republicanbacked candidate. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania. But all of the staunch Federalist leadersLangdon of New Hampshire. Strong of Massachusetts. Ellsworth of Connecticut. King of New York. and Morris of Pennsylvaniawere returned to the Senate. The Senates Republicans were rudely reminded that they were still a minority when their most brilliant young newcomer. Pennsylvania Senator Albert Gallatin. who had replaced Maclay. was denied his seat by a strict party vote. The incident immediately focused national attention on the Senate. which had long been overshadowed by the more dramatic actions of the House. Keenly aware of the Swissborn. thirtythreeyearold Gallatins radical Republican sentiments. the Federalist senators were not about to welcome him into their midst. Gallatin had barely taken his oath of office when Vice President Adams laid before the Senate a petition protesting his election on the grounds that he had not been a citizen for the constitutionallyrequired nine years. The pAtition was referred to a committee composed of five Federalists. In the meantime. Gallatin was allowed to take his seat. where he proceeded to delight Republicans and irritate Federalists by plaguing Treasury Secretary Hamilton with requests for details and information. Not surprisingly. the Federalistdominated committee reported against Gallatin and the matter was brought before the Senate as a whole.! In those days the Senate chose to meet behind closed doors. while the House was open for all to attend and observe its debates. For years Senator James Monroe had been introducing bills to open the Senates proceedings. but. to that point. he had been unsuccessful. Now. when he tried again in February 1704 to open the doors for the Gallatin debate. the Senate reversed itself and agreed to admit the public. Despite the lack of a gallery. members of the public crowded into the Senate Chamber for seven days to watch such Federalists as Rufus King spar with his fellow New York Senator Aaron Burr. speaking for the Republicans. The Federalists were not merely fightIng over the principle of citizenship. They needed every vote in the closelydivided Senate and they wanted to remove an able enemy of Hamilton. At the last minute. Benjamin Hawkins of North Carolina. who had often supported the Republicans and upon whom Gallatins friends depended. left Philadelphia to avoid casting a vote. The decision now rested on Pennsylvanias other senator. Federalist Robert Morris. who had promised Gallatin he would remain neutral. Party loyalists finally swayed Morris. and. on February 28. he joined his fellow Federalists in unseating Gallatin by a vote of 14 to 12. The young gadfly was gone from the Senate. but pot from the government. A year later he returned to Philadelphia as a member of the House. where he energetically led the Republican majority. For us. the debate over the seating of Albert Gallatin is most important for its opening of the Senates doors to the public for the first time. As I noted in my earlier talk on the First Congress. the Senate had taken it for granted that its meetings would be closed. Just as the debates of the Continental Congress and Congress of the Confederation were closed. Even though conducted behind closed doors. the Senates proceedings were not entirely hidden from the public. The Constitution requires both Houses to keep and publish journals of their procedings. including votes of members when requested by onefifth of those present. These early journals have been an invaluable resource in reconstructing the Senates history. In addition. the Senate directed its secretary in 1792 to furnish a public newspaper with a copy of the Journal at least once a week. Some senators. particularly the Virginians. also felt it was their duty to report abort the Senates activities to their state govarnment and to the outside world. as I noted at some length in an earlier statement on members circular letters. Such highly edited glimpses into the Senate Chamber were hardly adequate Footnotes at end of article. to satisfy the public. Republican papers charged that the Journal was tampered with to suit the Federalist majority. Even if accurate. the Journal only occasionally showed yea and nay votes but never any of the debates. leaving the public to speculate as to a senators motives. The closed doors of the Senate Chamber also fed the suspicions of those who regarded it as a place where clandestine cabals were hatched against the public interest. The closeddoor policy. said the Senates detractors. was part and parcel of an ominous movement. v.hich included efforts to elevate the Senate over the hiouse. to establish aristocracy in America. As one critic sarcastically noted: