to admit Missouri as a slave State. The great debate showed clearly that the South was very much in earnest, and that it was united in defense of slavery. 143. Administration of John Quincy Adams. The debate over the admission of Missouri came in the administration of James Monroe. He was succeeded by John Quincy Adams, who had grown up in the service of government. When John Adams was sent as commissioner to France in 1778, he took his son, John Quincy Adams, with him, and even sent him as secretary of an embassy to Russia when he was but fifteen years old. He was appointed minister successively to the Netherlands, to Portugal, and to Russia. He was a United States senator, and in 1814 he was one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent. Shortly after he was made minister to Great Britain, and when Monroe became President he appointed John Quincy Adams Secretary of State. The election of 1824 was not decided by popular vote, and when Adams was chosen by the House of Representatives, he went into office under bitter opposition, and the measures which he proposed were generally defeated. A striking event occurred during his administration, when, on the 4th of July, 1826, just fifty years after the Declaration of Independence, John Adams and Jefferson died within a few hours of each other. 144. State Sovereignty. — The people of the slave States were strong supporters of the doctrine that the States were independent of one another and of the Federal government; that each was a sovereign State. The doctrine had been held from the beginning of the Union. It was felt that the power of the State was a protection against too great a power in the central government. This doctrine was used with special force by the people of the South, under the leadership of John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. It was a safeguard for slavery, and was held so passionately that the State was put before time the exact line of separation from Canada was a subject of dispute, and in 1837-1839 there was a good deal of local disturbance known as the Aroostook War. The difficulty was adjusted by treaty in 1842. 1 John Caldwell Calhoun, who had so powerful an influence in formulating Southern political doctrines, was born March 18, 1782, in Abbeville district, S.C. He was of the same sturdy race as Jackson, but unlike Jackson he was a man of scholarly habits and cultivated tastes. He was graduated at Yale in 1806, and entered the House of Representatives in 1811. A man of great simplicity of manner, he was also very strict in character, and possessed of a remarkably logical and analytical mind. He had a genius for organization, and as Secretary of War under Monroe he left a strong impress on the department, which remains much as he organized it. He was elected Vice-President in 1824, but resigned to become senator from his State in 1832, when he led the forces of State sovereignty. He died in Washington, March 31, 1850. Dr. Von Holst has traced his career in one of the volumes of American Statesmen. the Union. "I am a Georgian," one would say, or "I am a South Carolinian," before he would say "I am an American." The Union and a State came into sharp opposition in the case of the half-civilized Indians still remaining in Georgia. The State wished to get rid of them and take possession of their lands. But they held these lands under treaty with the United States, and appealed to the general government. John Quincy Adams was President, and attempted to maintain the rights of the Indians. The governor of Georgia called out the State troops to resist the United States troops; Congress, with whom Adams was very unpopular, took sides with Georgia. The State prevailed, and the doctrine of State Sovereignty was more firmly held than ever. QUESTIONS. What was the difference in life between the North and South? To what was the difference mainly due? How did the founders of the Union regard slavery? What action was early taken regarding the trade in slaves ? Describe the general condition of slaves and their masters. What was the effect of slavery on wealth? How were slaves counted in the representation? How did slavery affect the slave States in their relation to each other? How did the North look upon slavery? What part did slavery play in the admission of new States? Explain the Missouri Compromise. Narrate the career of John Quincy Adams. What effect did the doctrine of State sovereignty have in the South? How did it operate in the case of the Georgia Indians ? SEARCH QUESTIONS. What What were some of Jefferson's expressions about slavery? special legislation indicated the attitude taken by the founders of the Union toward slavery? When did Lafayette revisit this country? SUGGESTIONS FOR LITERARY TREATMENT. COMPOSITIONS: The adventures of a slave escaping to the Dismal Swamp. DEBATE: Resolved, That the compromise by which the slaves were counted on the three-fifths ratio was a sound piece of politics. CHAPTER XVI. ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JACKSON. Null. Of no force in law. Void. Empty. Null and void is a legal term. 145. The election of Andrew Jackson to the Presidency in 1829 was the sign of a change which had come over the American people. They had come to believe in themselves and to hold fast by the doctrine, that the will of the majority is law. Not only in politics, but in church life and in business, this principle was firmly established and put in practice. Furthermore, the cheapness of land and the ease with which one could change his home and his occupation, if he was not satisfied, led to constant movement and activity. There was nothing to prevent one with industry and energy from making his way and bettering his condition. Even money was not greatly needed, since those who had it lent it to those who had it not, in confidence that the borrower would quickly make it earn good interest. All this not only gave courage and self-reliance, so that the common phrase was "Every man is as good as his neighbor," but it gave the whole people a hearty belief in the Union. Causes of Jackson's Popularity. -In Europe one class of men was looked up to as having a right to govern. It was only gradually that this idea faded out in America, where every freeman had a vote. It faded out most quickly in the newer parts of the country, where, from necessity, all were very much on the same footing. Heretofore the Presidents had been taken from a class of men who had been trained in the study of government, both at home and abroad. Now came Andrew Jackson, who had grown up on the frontier. He had been known chiefly as a brave man who had defeated the British at New Orleans and had carried on successful campaigns against the Indians. He was a man of strong will, who loved his friends and hated his enemies. He was greatly admired by the people, because, unlike most public men, he seemed not to belong to a separate class, but to be one of themselves. 146. The Two Great Parties. -The party which followed Jackson's lead was called the Democratic party. The name was intended to declare that it was the party of the people. It maintained that the people should everywhere manage their own affairs, and that the general government should interfere as little as possible. Opposed to it, under the leadership of Henry Clay,1 was the National-Republican party, later called the Whig party,2 which maintained that the general government should have more to do with managing the affairs of the 1 Clay's name has already appeared. He was born in Hanover County, Va., April 12, 1777. He lost his father early, and was thrown on his own resources. He began his self-support in a Richmond store, but he was too intellectual in his tastes to remain in this position, and he began the study of law in 1796; the next year he moved to Lexington, Ky., where his captivating manner and his brilliant parts at once made him a favorite and gave him prominence. He threw himself into politics, and advocated a constitutional provision for the gradual abolition of slavery in the State. He was twice United States senator, but in 1811 he went to the House of Representatives, and was at once chosen speaker. It was largely his leadership that forced the reluctant Madison administration into declaring war with Great Britain, and Clay gave vigorous support to the administration throughout. He was one of the commissioners at Ghent. He was more than once a candidate for the Presidency. He was one of the greatest of American orators, a splendid party chief, and an ardent lover of his country. He is identified with the great compromises, but he advocated them because he was a passionate lover of the Union, and would preserve it at any cost short of dishonor. A famous saying of his was, "I would rather be right than President." He died in Washington, June 29, 1852. See a very interesting life by Carl Schurz in American Statesmen series 2 Before the war of independence, the title of Whigs was loosely applied to those who opposed parliamentary and royal authority, in opposition to the Tories, who were supporters of the crown and Parliament. The names were drawn from English political history. The term "Tories" had disappeared from American politics, for it had been rendered especially obnoxious by its association with the opponents of the Revolution. The term "Whigs" was now revived by those who saw in Clay and his party the supporters of congressional authority against a too powerful executive. U |