Yea or Nay to Removing the Seat of Government: Dolley Madison and the Realities of 1814 Politics
2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 74; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/j.1540-6563.2012.00324.x
ISSN1540-6563
Autores Tópico(s)American Constitutional Law and Politics
ResumoClick to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes1. James Madison, “Proclamation–Convening an Extra Session of Congress,” 8 August 1814, “The American Presidency Project,” available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=65967&st=&st1=#axzz1u0TheFwI, accessed 5 May 2012. Originally, Congress was set to reconvene on the last Monday of October (see Thomas Hart Benton and John C. Rives, eds, “Adjournment,” 18 April 1814, Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1857, vol. 5, 294).2. Les Standiford, Washington Burning: How a Frenchman's Vision for Our Nation's Capital Survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army, New York: Taylor & Francis, 2008, 289–290; Anthony S. Pitch, The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814, Annapolis, MD: Taylor & Francis, 1998, 223–225.3. Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Urbana, IL: Taylor & Francis, 1995, 240–241.4. John K. Mahon, The War of 1812, Gainesville, FL: Taylor & Francis, 1972; Jon Latimer, 1812: War with America, Cambridge, MA: Taylor & Francis, 2007; Alan Taylor, The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies, New York: Taylor & Francis, 2010.5. Henry Adams, History of the United States of America during the Administrations of James Madison, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1986; Ralph Louis Ketcham, James Madison: A Biography, Charlottesville, VA: Taylor & Francis, 1990; Irving Brant, The Fourth President: A Life of James Madison, London: Taylor & Francis, 1970.6. Pitch, Burning of Washington, 225; Standiford, Washington Burning, 291.7. Hickey, War of 1812, 240.8. Richard C. Rohrs, “Sectionalism, Political Parties, and the Attempt to Relocate the National Capital in 1814,” The Historian 62, 2000, 535–555: 550.9. Ibid., 536.10. Ethel Stephens Arnett, Mrs. James Madison: The Incomparable Dolley, Greensboro, NC: Taylor & Francis, 1972; Catherine Allgor, A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation, New York: Taylor & Francis, 2006.11. The patent offices were in the government‐leased Blodgett's Hotel that, despite its name, never served as a hotel. James Madison's enslaved manservant remembered that the site also housed the “City and General Post‐office, committee‐rooms, and what was left of the Congressional Library” (Paul Jennings, Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison, Orange, VA: Taylor & Francis, 2010 [originally 1865], 12). Future Attorney General William Wirt, visiting Washington after the invasion, called the House quarters at the hotel “a miserable little narrow box, in which I was crowded and suffocated for about three hours” (William Wirt to Elizabeth Gamble Wirt, 14 October 1814, in John Pendleton Kennedy, Memoirs of the Life of William Wirt, Attorney General of the United States, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1872, vol. 1, 339).12. Arnett, Mrs. James Madison, 422.13. Ibid., 443.14. Allgor, Perfect Union, 326, and ibid., 323. Allgor's “on wheels” quote taken from Republican Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina, 26 September 1814, during House debate over the removal of the seat of government (see Thomas Hart Benton and John C. Rives, Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856: From Gales and Seatons' Annals of Congress; from Their Register of Debates; and from the Official Reported Debates, by John C. Rives, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1857–61, vol. 5, 323). Allgor developed her argument in prior works, including Catherine Allgor, “Queen Dolley Saves Washington City,” Washington History 12, 2000, 54–69; Catherine Allgor, Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government, Charlottesville, VA: Taylor & Francis, 2001, 96–97.15. Allgor, Perfect Union, 323–324.16. Allgor, Perfect Union, 326.17. Ibid., 327; Arnett, Mrs. James Madison, 437.18. Allgor, Perfect Union, 327.19. Ibid.20. Rohr, “Sectionalism,” 536.21. Allgor, Perfect Union, 327.22. Arnett, Mrs. James Madison, 443.23. For a discussion on the historical debate over the actual date of the Jefferson dinner, see Jacob E. Cooke, “The Compromise of 1790,” William and Mary Quarterly 27, no. 4, 1970, 523–545: 523n. According to that discussion, the date varies by historian, but ranges from 15 June to 22 June 1790.24. Stanley Elkins and Eric Mckitrick, The Age of Federalism, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1993, 119–120.25. Thomas Jefferson, “Account of a Compromise on Assumption and Residence Bills,” in Noble E. Cunningham Jr., ed., Jefferson vs. Hamilton: Confrontations that Shaped a Nation, Boston, MA: Taylor & Francis, 2000, 37.26. Ibid., 37.27. Kenneth R. Bowling, The Creation of Washington, D.C., Fairfax, VA: Taylor & Francis, 1991, 185; Joseph Ellis, “The Dinner,” in Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, New York: Taylor & Francis, 2000, 73.28. Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 20 June 1790, in Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1. General Correspondence. 1651–1827, Library of Congress, available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib004819, accessed 5 May 2012. As noted in footnote 23, historians place the date of the dinner between 15 June and 22 June 1790. On 24 June 1790, Senator William Maclay wrote: “There are jockeying and bargaining going on respecting which I am not consulted and which I hear of only by‐the‐by: the temporary residence in Philadelphia for fifteen years and the permanent residence on the Potomac” (Edgar Stanton Maclay, ed, Journal of William Maclay, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, 1789–1791, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1890, 305).29. Elizabeth Donnan, ed, “Papers of James A. Bayard, 1796–1815,” Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1913, Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis, 1915, vol. 2, 116–117.30. Abigail Adams to her daughter, Abigail Adams Smith, 21 November 1800, in Charles Francis Adams, ed., The Letters of Mrs. Adams, the Wife of John Adams, Boston, MA: Taylor & Francis, 1841, 240.31. Charles William Janson, Stranger in America, 1793–1806, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1935, 209.32. Charles Willson Peale to three of his children, 30 January 1805, in Toby Appel, Lillian B. Miller, and Sidney Hart, eds, The Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and his Family, vol. 2, Charles Willson Peale: The Artist as Museum Keeper, 1791–1810, New Haven, CT: Taylor & Francis, 1983, 795.33. Ibid.34. Thomas Twining, Travels in America 100 Years Ago, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1893, 101.35. Henry Adams, History of the United States of America during the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1986, 23.36. Gouverneur Morris to Princess de la Tour et Taxis, 14 December 1800, in Gouverneur Morris, Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1970, vol. 2, 394, translation from original French, vol. 2, 395n.37. Albert Gallatin to Hannah Nicholson Gallatin, 15 January 1801, as quoted in Henry Adams, Life of Albert Gallatin, Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, 1880, 252.38. Ibid, 253.39. Ibid.40. Janson, Stranger in America, 209.41. Ibid., 212.42. Ibid., 214.43. “Charles Willson Peale diary, 4 June 1804,” in Appel et al., Charles Willson Peale: The Artist, 691.44. William Tatham to Thomas Jefferson, 15 June 1805, in Elizabeth Gregory Mcpherson, “Letters of William Tatham (first installment),” William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine 16, 1936, 162–191: 183.45. Thomas Jefferson to Martha Randolph, 7 October 1804, in Edwin Morris Betts and James Adam Bear Jr., eds, The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, VA: Taylor & Francis, 1995, 262. Mark Twain cautioned readers who wanted to see the sights of Washington in winter to carry with them “an umbrella, an overcoat, and a fan” (Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age: A Tale of To‐Day, Hartford, CT: Taylor & Francis, 1874, 219).46. Augustus John Foster, Jeffersonian America: Notes on the United States Collected in the Years 1805–6–7 and 11–12, San Marino, CA: Taylor & Francis, 1954, 219n. See also J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884, Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis., 1884, 2: 923; Adolph B. Benson, ed., American Swedish Historical Museum: Yearbook 1958, Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis, 1963, 5. The diplomats mentioned held various official titles throughout their careers in America.47. Foster, Jeffersonian America, 54n; Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia, vol. 2, 923.48. William Tatham indicated to Jefferson, 15 June 1805, that the British minister's wife was “leav[ing] Town for the Hot Season” (in McPherson, ed., “Letters of William Tatham,” 182–3). The Spanish minister Carlos Martinez D'Yrujo (1796 to 1807), like Soderstrom and Pederson, married a Philadelphian and was a frequent guest of that city. Charles Henry Hart, “A Spanish Opponent of the Louisiana Purchase, Chevalier D'Yrujo,” The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 64, 1902, 947.49. John Cotton Smith, Correspondence and Miscellanies of the Hon. John Cotton Smith, LL. D., Formerly Governor of Connecticut With an Eulogy Pronounced Before the Connecticut Historical Society at New Haven, May 27th, 1846, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1847, 207. Smith served in the House of Representatives from 1800 to 1806.50. Robert Wright, 19 March 1804, in Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 3, 45; “Seat of Government,” 19 March 1804, in Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 3, 45–48; see also Senate Journal, 8th Congress, first session, 19 March 1804, 382–383.51. Joseph Anderson, 19 March 1804, in Abridgment of Debates, vol. 3, 47.52. Ibid.53. Jonathan Dayton, 19 March 1804, in Abridgment of Debates, vol. 3, 48.54. The states were Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio.55. James Sloan, 2 February 1808, in Annals of Congress, 10th Congress, first session, 1532; “Removal of the Seat of Government,” in Annals of Congress, 10th Congress, first session, 2 February through 6 February 1808; 8 February and 9 February 1808, 1531–1580, 1583–96; see also House Journal, 10th Congress, first session, vol. 6, 162–163. The full resolution read “Resolved: That it is expedient, and the public good requires, that the seat of government be removed to the City of Philadelphia for–years,” in Annals of Congress, 10th Congress, first session, 2 February 1808, 1531.56. Kentucky Republican Matthew Lyon, in Annals of Congress, 10th Congress, first session, 2 February 1808, 1536.57. James Sloan, Annals of Congress, 10th Congress, 1st sess., 6 February 1808, 1578.58. Henry Adams, History of the United States of America under the Second Administration of Thomas Jefferson, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1893, 209. Massachusetts Republican Jacob Crowninshield, 38, died on 15 April 1808, perhaps of tuberculosis (see Albert Bushnell Hart, Commonwealth History of Massachusetts, Colony, Province and State, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1929, vol. 3, 429).59. James Sloan, in Annals of Congress, 10th Congress, first session, 6 February 1808, 1579.60. “Roll call,” in Annals of Congress, 10th Congress, first session, 9 February 1808, 1595–1596. For an explanation of the bill as asking if it were “inexpedient” to remove the government, see Annals of Congress, 10th Congress, first session, 2 February 1808, 1531.61. In referring to this last positive vote, Jonathan Fisk regretted in 1814 that certain members of the House did not recognize that “the principles of this bill had been more than once before the House, who had decided in favor of the removal; and it could not be expected they were now prepared to reject the bill. The exposure and expense of this place and the expense of sitting here as great now as they had been before,” 12 October 1814, Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 337–338.62. “Roll call,” House Journal, in 10th Congress, first session, 9 February 1808, vol. 6, 170–171.63. Henry Lee to Thomas Jefferson, Washington City, 10 February 1808, in James Madison Papers, 1723 to 1836, Library of Congress, available at: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/madison_papers/, accessed 3 May 2012. See also “Henry Lee: 1808, February 10, Washington,” in James Madison, Calendar of the Correspondence of James Madison, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1894, 461.64. Exceptions to the blocs: James Sloan was the lone vote for removal in New Jersey, as was Matthew Clay in Virginia, while three of the nine Massachusetts votes went for inexpediency (against removal), with only one of them a Federalist, Josiah Quincy, and in Pennsylvania, Republican David Bard stood alone against removal (see Annals of Congress, 10th Congress, first session, 9 February 1808, 1595–1596).65. Charles Jared Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War between the United States of America, and Great Britain, Declared by Act of Congress, the 18th of June, 1812, and Concluded by Peace, the 15th of February, 1815, Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis, 1845, vol. 2, 171.66. Henry Bradshaw Fearon, Sketches of America: A Narrative of a Journey of Five Thousand Miles Through the Eastern and Western States of America, London: Taylor & Francis, 1818, 288. Fearon reported seeing on the walls of the city in 1818, “inscriptions as, ‘The capital of the Union lost by cowardice' … ‘Curse cowards’ … ‘James Madison is a ras'cal, a coward, and a fool' ” (ibid.). See also the city's plea to Madison for protection a month before the invasion: “R. Weightman to James Madison, Resolution of Washington DC Officials,” 18 July 1814, in James Madison Papers.67. Statement of Richard Rush to Colonel J. S. Williams, 10 July 1855, as quoted in John S. Williams, History of the Invasion and Capture of Washington, and of the Events Which Preceded and Followed, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1857, 274.68. Abijah Bigelow to Hannah Gardner Bigelow, 2 October 1814, in Abijah Bigelow, “Letters of Abijah Bigelow; Member of Congress, to his Wife, 1810–1815,” Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 40, 1930, 305–406: 389.69. Ibid., 389–390.70. Richard Rush, 10 July 1855, in Williams, History of the Invasion, 277.71. Ibid.72. For a succinct account of the executive and congressional ineptitude that led to the burning of Washington City, see James Sterling Young, The Washington Community 1800–1828, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1966, 182–186.73. Ingersoll, Historical Sketch, vol. 2, 184.74. A Rhode Island paper predicted that, since “Congress appear to be pinched for elbow‐room in the Patent‐Office,” it was only a matter of time until they adjourned for Philadelphia (see Providence Gazette, 1 October 1814, 2).75. Although Fisk would win the support of most New York representatives, the state's governor disputed the resolution, writing Fisk that he was “opposed to sacrificing poor Washington a second time in the same campaign” (Daniel D. Tompkins to Jonathan Fisk, 1 October 1814, in Daniel D. Tompkins, Public Papers of Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor of New York, 1807–1817, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1898, vol. 3, 559).76. “Removal of the Seat of Government,” in Annals of Congress, 13th Congress, third session, 26 September 1814; 4 October through 7 October 1814; 17 October 1814, 311–323, 341–42, 345–76, 394–96.77. Nathaniel Macon, in Annals of Congress, 13th Congress, third session, 26 September 1814, 313.78. Federalist Joseph Pearson of South Carolina, in response to Republican Jonathan Fisk of New York asking if it were possible, in Washington, “for Congress to sit with safety and convenience.” 26 September 1814, Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 324, 322.79. Oakley favored temporary removal; see Federalist Thomas Jackson Oakley of New York, in Annals of Congress, 13th Congress, third session, 26 September 1814, 321.80. 6 October 1814, Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 333.81. 15 October 1814, Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 339.82. The Intelligencer reported on 3 October that Georgetown had offered “to the Committee of Congress the Catholic College for their accommodation” (National Intelligencer, 3 October 1814, 3). The week before, the Speaker of House had announced an offer of accommodations from Philadelphia (see House Journal, 13th Congress, third session, 29 September 1814). See also “Resolution by the Common Council of the city of Philadelphia,” Thomas Leiper to James Madison, 29 August 1814, in James Madison Papers.83. Annals of Congress, 13th Congress, third session, 15 October 1814, 395.84. Ibid.85. Annals of Congress, 13th Congress, third session, 15 October 1814, 395.86. Allgor, Perfect Union, 326.87. Ibid., 327.88. Richard Rush, 10 July 1855, in Williams, History of the Invasion, 277.89. Allgor, Perfect Union, 326.90. 26 September 1814, Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 322, 324.91. Samuel Farrow, 26 September 1814, in Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 324.92. Joseph Lewis, 26 September 1814, in Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 323. At the time, Lewis had been a member of the House for eleven years, and chairman of the Committee on District of Columbia during the Tenth and Twelfth Congresses. Lewis voted continuously against removal.93. Alexander Hanson, Annals of Congress, 13th Congress, third session, 26 September 1814, 322. Hanson's Federal Republican out of Georgetown complained that the Court Gazette, “instead of publishing the remarks of Mr. H.,” falsely represented his statements to Congress (see Federal Republican, 1 October 1814, 1).94. Samuel Farrow, 26 September 1814, in Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 324.95. Joseph Lewis, 26 September 1814, in Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 323.96. Alexander Hanson, in Annals of Congress, 13th Cong., third session, 26 September 1814, 322.97. Allgor, Perfect Union, 327; Arnett, Mrs. James Madison, 443.98. Republican Willis Alston of North Carolina was the only representative in the three states to support removal.99. Rohrs, “Sectionalism,” 548. Ten New England Republicans voted against the northern bloc. The final roll call was 83 to 74 to reject a third reading of the removal bill.100. Annals of Congress, 13th Congress, third sess., 15 October 1814, 395. Sectional loyalty was also a theme among the thirty 1814 House members who could date their service back to 1808. Seventeen of those men voted with sectional blocs in both 1808 and 1814. Three more, who had each voted against a bloc in 1808, changed their vote to join a bloc in 1814. Only one of the thirty, James Fisk of Vermont, moved from a strong sectional bloc in 1808 to vote party in 1814.101. “Public Buildings,” 7 February 1815, in Abridgment of the Debates, vol. 5, 420.102. Allgor, Perfect Union, 327.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMerry Ellen ScofieldMerry Ellen Scofield is a doctoral student at Wayne State University. She would like to thank Denver Brunsman for his encouragement and expertise, her classmates at Wayne State for their support, and Trevor Kilgore for his keen editing abilities. She would also like to thank Kees Boterbloem and the anonymous reader at The Historian for their consideration and insightful comments.
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