Rosenfeld Susan. Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents

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government. The objection to this unlimited power, which

the argument seeks to remove, is stated with fulness and

clearness. It is, “that an indefinite power of taxation in the

latter (the government of the Union) might, and probably

would, in time, deprive the former (the government of the

states) of the means of providing for their own necessities;

and would subject them entirely to the mercy of the

national legislature. As the laws of the Union are to

become the supreme law of the land; as it is to have power

to pass all laws that may be necessary for carrying into exe-

cution the authorities with which it is proposed to vest it;

the national government might, at any time, abolish the

taxes imposed for state objects, upon the pretence of an

interference with its own. It might allege a necessity for

doing this, in order to give efficacy to the national rev-

enues; and thus, all the resources of taxation might, by

degrees, become the subjects of federal monopoly, to the

entire exclusion and destruction of the state governments.”

The objections to the constitution which are noticed

in these numbers, were to the undefined power of the gov-

ernment to tax, not to the incidental privilege of exempt-

ing its own measures from state taxation. The

consequences apprehended from this undefined power

were, that it would absorb all the objects of taxation, “to

the exclusion and destruction of the state governments.”

The arguments of the Federalist are intended to prove the

fallacy of these apprehensions; not to prove that the gov-

ernment was incapable of executing any of its powers,

without exposing the means it employed to the embarrass-

ments of state taxation. Arguments urged against these

objections, and these apprehensions, are to be understood

as relating to the points they mean to prove. Had the

authors of those excellent essays been asked, whether they

contended for that construction of the constitution, which

would place within the reach of the states those measures

which the government might adopt for the execution of its

powers; no man, who has read their instructive pages, will

hesitate to admit, that their answer must have been in the

negative.

It has also been insisted, that, as the power of taxation

in the general and state governments is acknowledged to

be concurrent, every argument which would sustain the

right of the general government to tax banks chartered by

the states, will equally sustain the right of the states to tax

banks chartered by the general government. But the two

cases are not on the same reason. The people of all the

states have created the general government, and have con-

ferred upon it the general power of taxation. The people of

all the states, and the states themselves, are represented in

congress, and, by their representatives, exercise this

power. When they tax the chartered institutions of the

states, they tax their constituents; and these taxes must be

uniform. But when a state taxes the operations of the gov-

ernment of the United States, it acts upon institutions cre-

ated, not by their own constituents, but by people over

whom they claim on control. It acts upon the measures of

a government created by others as well as themselves, for

the benefit of others in common with themselves. The dif-

ference is that which always exists, and always must exist,

between the action of the whole on a part, and the action

of a part of the whole—between the laws of a government

declared to be supreme, and those of a government which,

when in opposition to those laws, is not supreme.

But if the full application of this argument could be

admitted, it might bring into question the right of congress

to tax the state banks, and could not prove the rights of the

states to tax the Bank of the United States.

The court has bestowed on this subject it most delib-

erate consideration. The result is a conviction that the

states have no power, by taxation or otherwise, to retard,

impede, burden, or in any manner control, the operations

of the constitutional laws enacted by congress to carry into

execution the powers vested in the general government.

This is, we think, the unavoidable consequence of that

supremacy which the constitution has declared. We are

unanimously of opinion, that the law passed by the legisla-

ture of Maryland, imposing a tax on the Bank of the United

States, is unconstitutional and void.

This opinion does not deprive the states of any

resources which they originally possessed. It does not

extend to a tax paid by the real property of the bank, in

common with the other real property within the state, nor

to a tax imposed on the interest which the citizens of Mary-

land may hold in this institution, in common with other

property of the same description throughout the state. But

this is a tax on the operations of the bank, and is, conse-

quently, a tax on the operation of an instrument employed

by the government of the Union to carry its powers into

execution. Such a tax must be unconstitutional. Judg-

ment.—This cause came on to be heard, on the transcript

of the record of the court of appeals of the state of Mary-

land, and was argued by counsel: on consideration

whereof, it is the opinion of this court, that the act of the

legislature of Maryland is contrary to the constitution of

the United States, and void; and therefore, that the said

court of appeals of the state of Maryland erred, in affirm-

ing the judgment of the Baltimore country court, in which

judgment was rendered against James W. McCulloch; but

that the said court of appeals of Maryland ought to have

reversed the said judgment of the said Baltimore country

court, and ought to have given judgment for the said

appellant, McCulloch: It is, therefore, adjudged and

ordered, that the said judgement of the said court of

appeals of the state of Maryland in this case, be, and the

same hereby is, reversed and annulled. And this court, pro-

ceeding to render such judgment as the said court of

562 ERA 4: Expansion and Reform

appeals should have rendered; it is further adjudged and

ordered, that the judgment of the said Baltimore county

court be reversed and annulled, and that judgment be

entered in the said Baltimore country court for the said

James W. McCulloch.

Source:

Radford University. “McCulloch v. Maryland.” Available on-line.

URL: www.radford.edu/˜mfranck/images/438%20fall%

202003/McCulloch.pdf. Accessed October 2003.

Missouri Compromise

(Missouri Enabling Act), 1820

Legislation enacted by Congress on March 3, 1820, that

admitted Maine to the Union as a free state and authorized

Missouri to adopt a constitution with no restrictions on slavery.

Missouri (acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase) was

admitted as a slaveholding state in 1821. The compromise

prohibited slavery in the remaining territory of the Louisiana

Purchase north of 36° 30’ east latitude. The measure, engi-

neered by Speaker of the House Henry Clay, was designed to

maintain the political balance between free and slave states,

which had been equal in number in 1819. The Thomas

Amendment provided for the return of fugitive slaves from

above the compromise line, and the Taylor Amendment added

that the civil rights and condition of servitude extant before the

act’s passage would remain unchanged. The compromise

marked the beginning of the great national debate over slav-

ery; it postponed the issue but failed to resolve it. The law was

repealed in 1854 by the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

________________________

_______________________

An Act

To authorize the people of the Missouri territory to form

a constitution and state government, and for the admis-

sion of such state into the Union on an equal footing

with the original states, and to prohibit slavery in certain

territories.

Be it enacted That the inhabitants of that portion of

the Missouri territory included within the boundaries

hereinafter designated, be, and they are hereby, autho-

rized to form for themselves a constitution and state gov-

ernment, and to assume such name as they shall deem

proper; and the said state, when formed, shall be admitted

into the Union, upon an equal footing with the original

states, in all respects whatsoever.

Sec. 2. That the said state shall consist of all the terri-

tory included within the following boundaries, to wit:

Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi river, on the

parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude; thence west,

along that parallel of latitude, to the St. Francois river;

thence up, and following the course of that river, in the

middle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel of lati-

tude of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; thence west,

along the same, to a point where the said parallel is inter-

sected by a meridian line passing through the middle of

the mouth of the Kansas river, where the same empties

into the Missouri river, thence, from the point aforesaid

north, along the said meridian line, to the intersection of

the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of

the river Des Moines, making the said line to correspond

with the Indian boundary line; thence east, from the point

of intersection last aforesaid, along the said parallel of lat-

itude, to the middle of the channel of the main fork of the

said river Des Moines; thence down and along the middle

of the main channel of the said river Des Moines, to the

mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi

river; thence, due east, to the middle of the main channel

of the Mississippi river; thence down, and following the

course of the Mississippi river, in the middle of the main

channel thereof, to the place of beginning: . . .

Sec. 3. That all free white male citizens of the United

States, who shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one

years, and have resided in said territory three months pre-

vious to the day of election, and all other persons qualified

to vote for representatives to the general assembly of the

said territory, shall be qualified to be elected, and they are

hereby qualified and authorized to vote, and choose repre-

sentatives to form a convention: . . .

* * *

. . . Sec. 8. That in all that territory ceded by France to the

United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies

north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north lati-

tude, not included within the limits of the state, contem-

plated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude,

otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the

parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is

hereby, forever prohibited: Provided always, That any per-

son escaping into the same, from whom labour or service

is lawfully claimed, in any state or territory of the United

States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and con-

veyed to the person claiming his or her labour or service as

aforesaid.

Source:

Henry Steele Commager, ed. Documents of American History.

New York: F.S. Crofts & Co., 1934.

James Kent, “Universal Suffrage,” 1821

Speech delivered to the New York Constitutional Convention

of 1821 by Chancellor James Kent, one of the most able jurists

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic Developments, and International Relations 563

of his time, arguing against the extension of male suffrage. The

convention was considering a proposal to abolish the property

ownership requirement for suffrage. Kent argued that “the ten-

dency of universal suffrage is to jeopardize the rights of prop-

erty, and the principles of liberty.” Despite such fierce

criticism, the proposal was approved.

________________________

_______________________

I am in favor of the amendment which has been submitted

by my honorable colleague from Albany; and I must beg

leave to trespass for a few moments upon the patience of

the committee, while I state the reasons which have

induced me to wish, that the senate should continue, as

heretofore, the representative of the landed interest, and

exempted from the control of universal suffrage. I hope

what I may have to say will be kindly received, for it will be

well intended. But, if I thought otherwise, I should still

prefer to hazard the loss of the little popularity which I

might have in this house, or out of it, than to hazard the

loss of the approbation of my own conscience.

I have reflected upon the report of the select commit-

tee with attention and with anxiety. We appear to be disre-

garding the principles of the constitution, under which we

have so long and so happily lived, and to be changing some

of its essential institutions. I cannot but think that the con-

siderate men who have studied the history of republics, or

are read in lessons of experience, must look with concern

upon our apparent disposition to vibrate from a well bal-

anced government, to the extremes of the democratic doc-

trines. Such a broad proposition as that contained in the

report, at the distance of ten years past, would have struck

the public mind with astonishment and terror. So rapid has

been the career of our vibration.

Let us recall our attention, for a moment, to our past

history.

This state has existed for forty-four years under our

present constitution, which was formed by those illustrious

sages and patriots who adorned the revolution. It has won-

derfully fulfilled all the great ends of civil government.

During that long period, we have enjoyed in an eminent

degree, the blessings of civil and religious liberty. We have

had our lives, our privileges, and our property, protected.

We have had a succession of wise and temperate legisla-

tures. The code of our statute law has been again and again

revised and corrected, and it may proudly bear a compari-

son with that of any other people. We have had, during

that period, (though I am, perhaps, not the fittest person

to say it) a regular, stable, honest, and enlightened admin-

istration of justice. All the peaceable pursuits of industry,

and all the important interests of education and science,

have been fostered and encouraged. We have trebled our

numbers within the last twenty-five years, have displayed

mighty resources, and have made unexampled progress in

the career of prosperity and greatness. Our financial credit

stands at an enviable height; and we are now successfully

engaged in connecting the great lakes with the ocean by

stupendous canals, which excite the admiration of our

neighbors, and will make a conspicuous figure even upon

the map of the United States. These are some of the fruits

of our present government; and yet we seem to be dissat-

isfied with our condition, and we are engaged in the bold

and hazardous experiment of remodeling the constitution.

Is it not fit and discreet: I speak as to wise men; is it not fit

and proper that we should pause in our career, and reflect

well on the immensity of the innovation in contemplation?

Discontent in the midst of so much prosperity, and with

such abundant means of happiness, looks like ingratitude,

and as if we were disposed to arraign the goodness of Prov-

idence. Do we not expose ourselves to the danger of being

deprived of the blessings we have enjoyed?—When the

husbandman has gathered in his harvest, and has filled his

barns and his granaries with the fruits of his industry, if he

should then become discontented and unthankful, would

he not have reason to apprehend, that the Lord of the har-

vest might come in his wrath, and with his lightning

destroy them?

The senate has hitherto been elected by the farmers of

the state—by the free and independent lords of the soil,

worth at least $250 in freehold estate, over and above all

debts charged thereon. The governor has been chosen by

the same electors, and we have hitherto elected citizens of

elevated rank and character. Our assembly has been cho-

sen by freeholders, possessing a freehold of the value of

$50, or by persons renting a tenement of the yearly value

of $5, and who have been rated and actually paid taxes to

the state. By the report before us, we propose to annihi-

late, at one stroke, all those property distinctions and to

bow before the idol of universal suffrage. That extreme

democratic principle, when applied to the legislative and

executive departments of government, has been regarded

with terror, by the wise men of every age because in every

European republic, ancient and modern, in which it has

been tried, it has terminated disastrously, and been pro-

ductive of corruption, injustice, violence, and tyranny. And

dare we flatter ourselves that we are a peculiar people,

who can run the career of history, exempted from the pas-

sions which have disturbed and corrupted the rest of

mankind? If we are like other races of men, with similar

follies and vices, then I greatly fear that our posterity will

have reason to deplore in sackcloth and ashes, the delusion

of the day.

It is not my purpose at present to interfere with the

report of the committee, so far as respects the qualifica-

tions of electors for governor and members of assembly. I

shall feel grateful if we may be permitted to retain the sta-

bility and security of a senate, bottomed upon the freehold

564 ERA 4: Expansion and Reform

property of the state. Such a body, so constituted, may

prove a sheet anchor amidst the future factions and storms

of the republic. The great leading and governing interest

of this state, is, at present, the agricultural; and what mad-

ness would it be to commit that interest to the winds. The

great body of the people, are now the owners and actual

cultivators of the soil. With that wholesome population we

always expect to find moderation, frugality, order, honesty,

and a due sense of independence, liberty, and justice. It is

impossible that any people can lose their liberties by inter-

nal fraud or violence, so long as the country is parceled out

among freeholders of moderate possessions, and those

freeholders have a sure and efficient control in the affairs

of the government. Their habits, sympathies, and employ-

ments, necessarily inspire them with a correct spirit of

freedom and justice; they are the safest guardians of prop-

erty and the laws: We certainly cannot too highly appreci-

ate the value of the agricultural interest: It is the

foundation of national wealth and power. According to the

opinion of her ablest political economists, it is the surplus

produce of the agriculture of England, that enables her to

support her vast body of manufacturers, her formidable

fleets and armies, and the crowds of persons engaged in

the liberal professions, and the cultivation of the various

arts.

Now, sir, I wish to preserve our senate as the repre-

sentative of the landed interest. I wish those who have an

interest in the soil, to retain the exclusive possession of a

branch in the legislature, as a strong hold in which they

may find safety through all the vicissitudes which the state

may be destined, in the course ,of Providence, to experi-

ence. I wish them to be always enabled to say that their

freeholds cannot be taxed without their consent. The men

of no property, together with the crowds of dependents

connected with great manufacturing and commercial

establishments, and the motley and undefinable popula-

tion of crowded ports, may, perhaps, at some future day,

under skillful management, predominate in the assembly,

and yet we should be perfectly safe if no laws could pass

without the free consent of the owners of the soil. That

security we at present enjoy; and it is that security which I

wish to retain.

The apprehended danger from the experiment of uni-

versal suffrage applied to the whole legislative department,

is no dream of the imagination. It is too mighty an excite-

ment for the moral constitution of men to endure. The

tendency of universal suffrage, is to jeopardize the rights of

property, and the principles of liberty. There is a constant

tendency in human society, and the history of every age

proves it; there is a tendency in the poor to covet and to

share the plunder of the rich; in the debtor to relax or

avoid the obligation of contracts; in the majority to tyran-

nize over the minority, and trample down their rights; in

the indolent and the profligate, to cast the whole burthens

of society upon the industrious and the virtuous; and there

is a tendency in ambitious and wicked men, to inflame

these combustible materials. It requires a vigilant govern-

ment, and a firm administration of justice, to counteract

that tendency. Thou shalt not covet; thou shalt not steal;

are divine injunctions induced by this miserable depravity

of our nature. Who can undertake to calculate with any

precision, how many millions of people, this great state will

contain in the course of this and the next century, and who

can estimate the future extent and magnitude of our com-

mercial ports? The disproportion between the men of

property, and the men of no property, will be in every soci-

ety in a ratio to its commerce, wealth, and population. We

are no longer to remain plain and simple republics of farm-

ers, like the New-England colonists, or the Dutch settle-

ments on the Hudson. We are fast becoming a great

nation, with great commerce, manufactures, population,

wealth, luxuries, and with the vices and miseries that they

engender. One seventh of the population of the city of

Paris at this day subsists on charity, and one third of the

inhabitants of that city die in the hospitals; what would

become of such a city with universal suffrage? France has

upwards of four, and England upwards of five millions of

manufacturing and commercial laborers without property.

Could these kingdoms sustain the weight of universal suf-

frage” The radicals in England, with the force of that

mighty engine, would at once sweep away the property, the

laws, and the liberties of that island like a deluge.

The growth of the city of New-York is enough to star-

tle and awaken those who are pursuing the ignis fatuus of

universal suffrage.

In 1773 it had 21,000 souls. 1801 “ 60,000 do. 1806 “

76,000 do. 1820 “ 123,000 do.

It is rapidly swelling into the unwieldly population,

and with the burdensome pauperism, of an European

metropolis. New-York is destined to become the future

London of America; and in less than a century, that city,

with the operation of universal suffrage, and under skillful

direction, will govern this state. The notion that every man

that works a day on the road, or serves an idle hour in the

militia, is entitled as of right to an equal participation in the

whole power of the government, is most unreasonable, and

has no foundation in justice. We had better at once discard

from the report such a nominal test of merit. If such per-

sons have an equal share in one branch of the legislature,

it is surely as much as they can in justice or policy

demands. Society is an association for the protection of

property as well as of life, and the individual who con-

tributes only one cent to the common stock, ought not to

have the same power and influence in directing the prop-

erty concerns of the partnership, as he who contributes his

thousands. He will not have the same inducements to care,

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic Developments, and International Relations 565

and diligence, and fidelity. His inducements and his temp-

tation would be to divide the whole capital upon the prin-

ciples of an agrarian law.

Liberty, rightly understood, is an inestimable blessing,

but liberty without wisdom, and without justice, is no bet-

ter than wild and savage licentiousness. The danger which

we have hereafter to apprehend, is not the want, but the

abuse, of liberty. We have to apprehend the oppression of

minorities, and a disposition to encroach on private right—

to disturb chartered privileges—and to weaken, degrade,

and overawe the administration of justice; we have to

apprehend this establishment of unequal, and conse-

quently, unjust systems of taxation, and all the mischief’s of

a crude and mutable legislation. A stable senate, exempted

from the influence of universal suffrage, will powerfully

check these dangerous propensities, and such a check

becomes the more necessary, since this Convention has

already determined to withdraw the watchful eye of the

judicial department from the passage of laws. We are des-

tined to become a great manufacturing as well as commer-

cial state. We have already numerous and prosperous

factories of one kind or another, and one master capitalist

with his one hundred apprentices, and journeymen, and

agents, and dependents, will bear down at the polls, an

equal number of farmers of small estates in his vicinity,

who cannot safely unite for their common defense. Large

manufacturing and mechanical establishments, can act in

an instant with the unity and efficacy of disciplined troops.

It is against such combinations, among others, that I think

we ought to give to the freeholders, or those who have

interest in land, one branch of the legislature for their asy-

lum and their comfort. Universal suffrage once granted, is

granted forever, and never can be recalled. There is no ret-

rograde step in the rear of democracy. However mis-

chievous the precedent may be in its consequences, or

however fatal in its effects, universal suffrage never can be

recalled or checked, but by the strength of the bayonet.

We stand, therefore, this moment, on the brink of fate, on

the very edge of the precipice. If we let go our present

held on the senate, we commit our proudest hopes and our

most precious interests to the waves.

It ought further to be observed, that the senate is a

court of justice in the last resort. It is the last depository of

public and private rights; of civil and criminal justice. This

gives the subject an awful consideration, and wonderfully

increases the importance of securing that house from the

inroads of universal suffrage. Our country freeholders are

exclusively our jurors in the administration of justice, and

there is equal reason that none but those who have an

interest in the soil, should have any concern in the compo-

sition of that court. As long as the senate is safe, justice is

safe, property is safe, and our liberties are safe. But when

the wisdom, the integrity, and the independence of that

court is lost, we may be certain that the freedom and hap-

piness of this state, are fled forever.

I hope, sir, we shall not carry desolation through all

the departments of the fabric erected by our fathers. I

hope we shall not put forward to the world a new constitu-

tion, as will meet with the scorn of the wise, and the tears

of the patriot.

Source:

Reports of the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of

1821, Assembled for the Purpose of Amending the Constitu-

tion of the State of New York. Albany: E. and E. Hosford,

1821.

Resolves of the Nashville Convention

of 1823

Resolutions issued by the General Assembly of the state of

Tennessee on November 1, 1823, condemning the party cau-

cus method used to elect the president. This protest declared

that “the practice of congressional nominations is a violation

of the spirit of the Constitution of the United States.” Tennessee

resolved that the president should be elected by “the people

themselves, through the medium of electors chosen by them.”

Following the 1824 election and the controversial victory of

John Quincy Adams, the caucus system was abandoned and

replaced by nominations by state legislatures.

________________________

_______________________

Mr. Grundy offered the following resolutions, which were

read and laid on the table, under the rule of the house,

which requires all resolutions to lie on the table for one day:

The general assembly of the state of Tennessee has

taken into consideration the practice which, on former

occasions, has prevailed at the city of Washington, of mem-

bers of the congress of the United States meeting in Cau-

cus, and nominating persons to be voted for as president

and vice-president of the United States: and, upon the best

view of the subject which this general assembly has been

enabled to take, it is believed that the practice of congres-

sional nominations is a violation of the spirit of the consti-

tution of the United States.

That instrument provides that there shall be three

separate and distinct departments of the government and

great care and caution seems of have been exercised by its

framers to prevent any one department from exercising

the smallest degree of influence over another; and such

solicitude was felt on this subject, that, in the second sec-

tion of the second article, it is expressly declared, “That no

senator or representative, or person holding an office of

566 ERA 4: Expansion and Reform

trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed

an elector. From this provision, it is apparent that the con-

vention intended that the members of congress should not

be the principal and primary agents or actors in electing

the president and vice- president of the United States—so

far from it, they are expressly disqualified from being

placed in a situation to vote for those high officers. Is there

not more danger of undue influence to be apprehended,

when the members of congress meet in caucus and mutu-

ally and solemnly pledge themselves to support the indi-

viduals who may have the highest number of votes in such

meeting, than there would be in permitting them to be eli-

gible to the appointment of electors? In the latter case, a

few characters, rendered ineligible by the constitution,

might succeed; but, in the former, a powerful combination

of influential men is formed, who may fix upon the Amer-

ican people their highest officers against the consent of a

clear majority of the people themselves; and this may be

done by the very men whom the constitution intended to

prohibit from acting on the subject. Upon an examination

of the constitution of the United States, there is but one

case in which the members of congress are permitted to

act, which is in the event of a failure to make an election

by the electoral colleges: and then the members of the

house of representatives vote by states. With that propriety

the same men, who, in the year 1825, may be called on to

discharge a constitutional duty, can, in the year 1824, go

into a caucus and pledge themselves to support the men

then nominated, cannot be discerned, especially when it

might so happen that the persons thus nominated, could,

under any circumstances, obtain a single vote from the

state whose members stand pledged to support them.

It said that an election by the house of representatives

would be a dangerous occurrence, which ought to be

avoided. If so, let the constitution be so changed as to

avoid it; but so long as the constitution directs one mode of

electing officers, let not a different mode prevail in prac-

tice. When the history of the American government is

looked into, with an eye to this subject, the apprehended

danger disappears. Experience long since pointed out the

inconveniences of the original provision in the constitution

on this subject. An amendment, calculated, as was sup-

posed, to remove every obstacle, was proposed by our wis-

est statesmen—it was adopted by the American people,

and no difficulty has presented itself in subsequent prac-

tice. Shall a fear, that the amendment made may fail to

answer the end proposed by it, induce us to adopt a course,

or persist in a practice, which is manifestly an evasion of

the constitution and a direct infraction of the spirit of one

of its most important provisions?

It has been said, that the members of congress in cau-

cus only recommend to the people for whom to vote, and

that such recommendation is not obligatory. This is true,

and clearly proves that it is a matter which does not belong

to them—that, in recommending candidates, they go

beyond the authority committed to them as members of

congress, and thus transcend the trust delegated to them

by their constituents. If their acts had any obligatory force,

then the authority must be derived from some part of the

constitution of the United States, and might be rightfully

exercised; but when they say the only recommend, it is

admission, on their part, that they are acting without

authority and are attempting, by an usurped influence, to

effect an objects not confided to them, and not within their

powers, even by implication. It cannot be admitted that

there is any weight in the argument drawn from the fact,

that both the parties, heretofore contending for the supe-

riority in the United States, have, in former times, resorted

to this practice. The actions of public or private men,

heated by party zeal and struggling for ascendency and

power, ought not to be urged as precedents, when circum-

stances have entirely changed. All political precedents are

of doubtful authority, and should never be permitted, to

pass unquestioned, unless made in good times and for

laudable purposes. In palliation of the practice of resorting

to caucus nominations in former times, it was said that

each party must of necessity consult together in the best

practicable way, and select the most suitable persons from

their respective parties, so that the united efforts of all

those composing it might be brought to bear upon their

opponents. It is to be recollected that there is no danger of

a departure from, or violation of the constitution, except

when strong temptations are presented, and this will sel-

dom occur, except when parties are arrayed against each

other, and their feelings violently excited. The state of

things, however, in the United States is entirely changed it

is no longer a selection made by members of congress of

different parties, but it is an election by the two houses of

congress, in which all the members must be permitted to

attend and vote. It is not difficult to perceive that this prac-

tice may not promote and place men in office, who could

not be elected were the constitutional mode pursued. It is

placing the election of president and vice president of the

United States—an election in which all the states have an

equal interest and equal rights, more in the power of a few

of the most populous states that was contemplated by the

constitution. This practice is considered objectionable on

other accounts: so long as congress is considered as com-

posed of the individuals on whom the election depends,

the executive will is subjected to the control of that body,

and it ceases, in some degree, to be separate and indepen-

dent branch of the government; and an expectation of

executive patronage may have an unhappy influence on

the deliberations of congress.

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic Developments, and International Relations 567

Upon a review of the whole question, the following

reasons, which admit of much amplification and enlarge-

ment, more than has been urged in the foregoing, might

be conclusively relied on, to prove the impolicy and uncon-

stitutionally of the congressionally nominations of candi-

dates for the presidency and vice presidency of the United

States.

1st. A caucus nomination is against the spirit of the

constitution. 2d. It is both inexpedient and impolitic. 3d

Members of congress may become the final electors, and

therefore ought not to prejudge the case of pledging

themselves previously to support particular candidates.

4th. It violates the equality intended to be secured by

the constitution to the weaker states. 5th Caucus nomi-

nations may, in time, (by the interference of the states),

acquire the force of precedents and become authoritive,

and thereby endanger the liberties of the American

people.

This general assembly, believing that the true spirit

of the constitution will be best preserved by leaving

the election of president and vice president to the people

themselves, through the medium of electors chosen by

them, uninfluenced by any previous nomination, made

by members of congress, have adopted the following

resolutions:

1st. Resolved, That the senators in congress from this

state, be instructed, and our representatives be requested

to use their exertions to prevent a nomination being made

during the next session of congress, by the members

thereof in caucus, of persons to fill the offices of president

and vice president of the United States.

2d. Resolved, That the general assembly will, at its

present session, divide the state into as many districts, in

convenient form, as this state is entitled to electoral

votes, for the purpose of closing an elector in each, to

vote for president and vice president of the United

States.

3d. Resolved, That the governor of this state transmit

a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions to

the executive of each of the United States, with a request

that the same be laid before each of their respective

legislatures.

4th. Resolved, That the governor transmit a copy to

each of the senators and representatives in congress from

this state.

On the reading this preamble and resolutions, some

debate insued, running into the merits of the first resolu-

tion, which was, after presentation, amended by the

mover, so as to read as above, and the whole was made the

order of the day for Wednesday next.

Source:

Tennessee State Library and Archives. Nashville, Tenn.

Monroe Doctrine, 1823

Principles of U.S. foreign policy stated in a message to

Congress by President James Monroe on December 2, 1823. In

his doctrine, Monroe declared U.S. opposition to any further

colonization of the Americas by European powers and to any

European intervention in political affairs of the Western Hemi-

sphere; he also stated the U.S. policy of noninterference in

existing colonies and in European affairs. The doctrine was

prompted by American concern with Russian expansion along

the northwest coast of North America and fear that some Euro-

pean powers would seek to reassert colonial control in newly

independent Latin American republics. It was modified in 1904

by the Roosevelt Corollary. Although it rarely influenced policy

during the 19th century, the Monroe Doctrine has often been

used to justify U.S. actions in 20th-century Latin America.

________________________

_______________________

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representa-

tives:

Many important subjects will claim your attention

during the present session, of which I shall endeavor to

give, in aid of your deliberations, a just idea in this com-

munication. I undertake this duty with diffidence, from

the vast extent of the interests on which I have to treat and

of their great importance to every portion of our Union. I

enter on it with zeal from a thorough conviction that there

never was a period since the establishment of our Revolu-

tion when, regarding the condition of the civilized world

and its bearing on us, there was greater necessity for devo-

tion in the public servants to their respective duties, or for

virtue, patriotism, and union in our constituents.

Meeting in you a new Congress, I deem it proper to

present this view of public affairs in greater detail than

might otherwise be necessary. I do it, however, with pecu-

liar satisfaction, from a knowledge that in this respect I

shall comply more fully with the sound principles of our

Government. The people being with us exclusively the

sovereign, it is indispensable that full information be laid

before them on all important subjects, to enable them to

exercise that high power with complete effect. If kept in

the dark, they must be incompetent to it. We are all liable

to error, and those who are engaged in the management of

public affairs are more subject to excitement and to be led

astray by their particular interests and passions than the

great body of our constituents, who, living at home in the

pursuit of their ordinary avocations, are calm but deeply

interested spectators of events and of the conduct of those

who are parties to them. To the people every department

of the Government and every individual in each are

responsible, and the more full their information the better

they can judge of the wisdom of the policy pursued and of

the conduct of each in regard to it. From their dispassion-

568 ERA 4: Expansion and Reform

ate judgment much aid may always be obtained, while

their approbation will form the greatest incentive and most

gratifying reward for virtuous actions, and the dread of

their censure the best security against the abuse of their

confidence. Their interests in all vital questions are the

same, and the bond, by sentiment as well as by interest,

will be proportionably strengthened as they are better

informed of the real state of public affairs, especially in dif-

ficult conjunctures. It is by such knowledge that local prej-

udices and jealousies are surmounted, and that a national

policy, extending its fostering care and protection to all the

great interests of our Union, is formed and steadily

adhered to.

A precise knowledge of our relations with foreign

powers as respects our negotiations and transactions with

each is thought to be particularly necessary. Equally nec-

essary is it that we should form a just estimate of our

resources, revenue, and progress is every kind of improve-

ment connected with the national prosperity and public

defense. It is by rendering justice to other nations that we

may expect it from them. It is by our ability to resent

injuries and redress wrongs that we may avoid them. The

commissioners under the fifth article of the treaty of

Ghent, having disagreed in their opinions respecting that

portion of the boundary between the Territories of the

United States and of Great Britain the establishment of

which had been submitted to them, have made their

respective reports in compliance with that article, that the

same might be referred to the decision of a friendly power.

It being manifest, however, that it would be difficult, if not

impossible, for any power to perform that office without

great delay and much inconvenience to itself, a proposal

has been made by this Government, and acceded to by

that of Great Britain, to endeavor to establish that bound-

ary by amicable negotiation. It appearing from long expe-

rience that no satisfactory arrangement could be formed of

the commercial intercourse between the United States

and the British colonies in this hemisphere by legislative

acts while each party pursued its own course without

agreement or concert with the other, a proposal has been

made to the British Government to regulate his commerce

by treaty, as it has been to arrange in like manner the just

claim of the citizens of the United States inhabiting the

States and Territories bordering on the lakes and rivers

which empty into the St. Lawrence to the navigation of

that river to the ocean. For these and other objects of high

importance to the interests of both parties a negotiation

has been opened with the British Government which it is

hoped will have a satisfactory result.

The commissioners under the sixth and seventh arti-

cles of the treaty of Ghent having successfully closed their

labors in relation to the sixth, have proceeded to the dis-

charge of those relating to the seventh. Their progress in

the extensive survey required for the performance of their

duties justifies the presumption that it will be completed in

the ensuing year.

The negotiation which had been long depending with

the French Government on several important subjects,

and particularly for a just indemnity for losses sustained in

the late wars by the citizens of the United States under

unjustifiable seizures and confiscations of their property,

has not as yet had the desired effect. As this claim rests on

the same principle with others which have been admitted

by the French Government, it is not perceived on what

just ground it can be rejected. A minister will be immedi-

ately appointed to proceed to France and resume the

negotiation on this and other subjects which may arise

between the two nations.

At the proposal of the Russian Imperial Government,

made through the minister of the Emperor residing here,

a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the

minister of the United States at St. Petersburg to arrange

by amicable negotiation the respective rights and interest

of the two nations on the northwest coast of this continent.

A similar proposal had been made by His Imperial Majesty

to the Government of Great Britain, which has likewise

been acceded to. The Government of the United States

has been desirous by this friendly proceeding of manifest-

ing the great value which they have invariably attached to

the friendship of the Emperor and their solicitude to cul-

tivate the best understanding with his Government. In the

discussions to which this interest has given rise and in the

arrangements by which they may terminate the occasion

has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in

which the rights and interests of the United States are

involved, 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.)

Since the close of the last session of Congress the

commissioners and arbitrators for ascertaining and deter-

mining the amount of indemnification which may be due

to citizens of the United States under the decision of His

Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia, in conformity to

the convention concluded at St. Petersburg on the 12th of

July, 1822, have assembled in this city, and organized

themselves as a board for the performance of the duties

assigned to them by that treaty. The commission consti-

tuted under the eleventh article of the treaty of the 22d of

February, 1819, between the United States and Spain is

also in session here, and as the term of three years limited

by the treaty for the execution of the trust will expire

before the period of the next regular meeting of Congress,

the attention of the Legislature will be drawn to the mea-

sures which may be necessary to accomplish the objects

for which the commission was instituted. In compliance

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic Developments, and International Relations 569

with a resolution of the House of Representatives adopted

at their last session, instructions have been given to all the

ministers of the United States accredited to the powers of

Europe and America to propose the proscription of the

African slave trade by classing it under the denomination,

and inflicting on its perpetrators the punishment, of

piracy. Should this proposal be acceded to, it is not

doubted that this odious and criminal practice will be

promptly and entirely suppressed. It is earnestly hoped

that it will be acceded to, from the firm belief that it is

the most effectual expedient that can be adopted for the

purpose.

At the commencement of the recent war between

France and Spain it was declared by the French Govern-

ment that it would grant no commissions to privateers, and

that neither the commerce of Spain herself nor of neutral

nations should be molested by the naval force of France,

except in the breach of a lawful blockade. This declaration,

which appears to have been faithfully carried into effect,

concurring with principles proclaimed and cherished by

the United States from the first establishment of their

independence, suggested the hope that the time had

arrived when the proposal for adopting it as a permanent

and invariable rule in all future maritime wars might meet

the favorable consideration of the great European powers.

Instructions have accordingly been given to our ministers

with France, Russia, and Great Britain to make those pro-

posals to their respective Governments, and when the

friends of humanity reflect on the essential amelioration to

the condition of the human race which would result from

the abolition of private war on the sea and on the great

facility by which it might by accomplished, requiring only

the consent of a few sovereigns, a earnest hope is indulged

that these overtures will meet with an attention animated

by the spirit in which they were made, and that they will

ultimately be successful.

The ministers who were appointed to the Republics of

Colombia and Buenos Ayres during the last session of

Congress proceeded shortly afterwards to their destina-

tions. Of their arrival there official intelligence has not yet

been received. The minister appointed to the Republic of

Chile will sail in a few days. An early appointment will also

be made to Mexico. A minister has been received from

Colombia, and the other Governments have been

informed that ministers, or diplomatic agents of inferior

grade, would be received from each, accordingly as they

might prefer the one or the other.

The minister appointed to Spain proceeded soon

after his appointment for Cadiz, the residence of the

Sovereign to whom he was accredited. In approaching

that port the frigate which conveyed him was warned off

by the commander of the French squadron by which it

was blockaded and not permitted to enter, although

appraised by the captain of the frigate of the public char-

acter of the person whom he had on board, the landing of

whom was the sole object of his proposed entry. This act,

being considered an infringement of the rights of ambas-

sadors and of nations, will form a just cause of complaint

to the Government of France against the officer by whom

it was committed.

The actual condition of the public finances more than

realizes the favorable anticipations that were entertained

of it at the opening of the last session of Congress. On the

1st of January there was a balance in the Treasury of

$4,237,427.55. From that time to the 30th September the

receipts amounted to upward of $16,100,000, and the

expenditures to $11,400,000. During the fourth quarter of

the year it is estimated that the receipts will at least equal

the expenditures, and that there will remain in the Trea-

sury on the 1st day of January next a surplus of nearly

$9,000,000.

On the 1st of January, 1825, a large amount of the war

debt and a part of the Revolutionary debt become

redeemable. Additional portions of the former will con-

tinue to become redeemable annually until the year 1835.

It is believed, however, that if the United States remain at

peace the whole of that debt may be redeemed by the

ordinary revenue of those years during that period under

the provision of the act of March 3, 1817, creating the sink-

ing fund, and in that case the only part of the debt that will

remain after the year 1835 will be the $7,000,000 of 5 per

cent stock subscribed to the Bank of the United States, and

the 3 per cent Revolutionary debt, amounting to

$13,296,099.06, both of which are redeemable at the plea-

sure of the Government.

The state of the Army in its organization and discipline

has been gradually improving for several years, and has

now attained a high degree of perfection. The military dis-

bursements have been regularly made and the accounts

regularly and promptly rendered for settlement. The sup-

plies for various descriptions have been of good quality,

and regularly issued at all of the posts. A system of econ-

omy and accountability has been introduced into every

branch of the service which admits of little additional

improvement. This desirable state has been attained by the

act reorganizing the staff of the Army, passed on the 14th

of April, 1818.

The moneys appropriated for fortifications have been

regularly and economically applied, and all the works

advanced as rapidly as the amount appropriated would

admit. Three important works will be completed in the

course of this year—that is, Fort Washington, Fort

Delaware, and the fort at the Rigolets, in Louisiana.

The Board of Engineers and the Topographical Corps

have been in constant and active service in surveying the

coast and projecting the works necessary for its defense.

570 ERA 4: Expansion and Reform

The Military Academy, has attained a degree of per-

fection in its discipline and instruction equal, as is

believed, to any institution of its kind in any country.

The money appropriated for the use of the Ordnance

Department has been regularly and economically applied.

The fabrication of arms at the national armories and by

contract with the Department has been gradually improv-

ing in quality and cheapness. It is believed that their qual-

ity is now such as to admit of but little improvement.

The completion of the fortifications renders it neces-

sary that there should be a suitable appropriation for the

purpose of fabricating the cannon and carriages necessary

for those works.

Under the appropriation of $5,000 for exploring the

Western waters for the location of a site for a Western

armory, a commission was constituted, consisting of

Colonel McRee, Colonel Lee, and Captain Talcott, who

have been engaged in exploring the country. They have not

yet reported the result of their labors, but it is believed

that they will be prepared to do it at an early part of the

session of Congress.

During the month of June last General Ashley and his

party, who were trading under a license from the Govern-

ment, were attacked by the Ricarees while peaceably trad-

ing with the Indians at their request. Several of the party

were killed and wounded and their property taken or

destroyed.

Colonel Leavenworth, who commanded Fort Atkin-

son, at the Council, Bluffs, the most western post, appre-

hending that the hostile spirit of the Ricarees would

extend to other tribes in that quarter, and that thereby the

lives of the traders on the Missouri and the peace of the

frontier would be endangered, took immediate measures

to check the evil.

With a detachment of the regiment stationed at the

Bluffs he successfully attacked the Ricaree village, and it is

hoped that such an impression has been made on them as

well as on the other tribes on the Missouri as will prevent

a recurrence of future hostility.

The report of the Secretary of War, which is herewith

transmitted, will exhibit in greater detail the condition of

the Department in its various branches, and the progress

which has been made in its administration during the three

first quarters of the year.

I transmit a return of the militia of the several States

according to the last reports which have been made by the

proper officers in each to the Department of War. By ref-

erence to this return it will be seen that it is not complete,

although great exertions have been made to make it so. As

the defense and even the liberties of the country must

depend in times of imminent danger on the militia, it is of

the highest importance that it be well organized, armed,

and disciplined throughout the Union. The report of the

Secretary of War shews the progress made during the

three first quarters of the present year by the application

of the fund appropriated for arming the militia. Much dif-

ficult is found in distributing the arms according to the act

of Congress providing for it from the failure of the proper

departments in many of the States to make regular returns.

The act of May 12, 1820, provides that the system of tac-

tics and regulations of the various corps of the Regular

Army shall be extended to the militia. This act has been

very imperfectly executed from the want of uniformity in

the organization of the militia, proceeding from the

defects of the system itself, and especially in its application

to that main arm of the public defense. It is thought that

this important subject in all its branches merits the atten-

tion of Congress.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy, which is now

communicated, furnishes an account of the administration

of that Department for the three first quarters of the pre-

sent year, with the progress made in augmenting the Navy,

and the manner in which the vessels in commission have

been employed.

The usual force has been maintained in the Mediter-

ranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and along the Atlantic

coast, and has afforded the necessary protection to our

commerce in those seas.

In the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico our naval

force has been augmented by the addition of several small

vessels provided for by the “act authorizing an additional

naval force for the suppression of piracy,” passed by

Congress at their last session. That armament has been

eminently successful in the accomplishment of its object.

The piracies by which our commerce in the neighborhood

of the island of Cuba had been afflicted have been

repressed and the confidence of our merchants in a great

measure restored.

The patriotic zeal and enterprise of Commodore

Porter, to whom the command of the expedition was con-

fided, has been fully seconded by the officers and men

under his command. And in reflecting with high satisfac-

tion on the honorable manner in which they have sus-

tained the reputation of their country and its Navy, the

sentiment is alloyed only by a concern that in the fulfill-

ment of that arduous service the diseases incident to the

season and to the climate in which it was discharged have

deprived the nation of many useful lives, and among them

of several officers of great promise.

In the month of August a very malignant fever made

its appearance at Thompsons Island, which threatened the

destruction of our station there. Many perished, and the

commanding officer was severely attacked. Uncertain as to

his fate and knowing that most of the medical officers had

been rendered incapable of discharging their duties, it was

thought expedient to send to that post an officer of rank

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic Developments, and International Relations 571