A Political History of the State of New York, Volumes 1-3

Volume Iii, Which Was Published Later, Contains an Index Covering All

three volumes. Therefore, the Volume II index has been omitted.

The original of Volume III refers to both "Appleton's Encyclopedia" and "Appleton's Cyclopædia." The correct title, as used in Volumes I and II, is "Appleton's Cyclopædia" and has been corrected in Volume III.]

A POLITICAL HISTORY

OF THE

STATE OF NEW YORK

DeALVA STANWOOD ALEXANDER, A.M.

Member of Congress, Formerly United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York

VOL. I

1774-1832

NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1906

Copyright, 1906 By HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY

PREFACE

The preparation of this work was suggested to the author by the difficulty he experienced in obtaining an accurate knowledge of the movements of political parties and their leaders in the Empire State. "After living a dozen years in New York," wrote Oliver Wolcott, who had been one of Washington's Cabinet, and was afterwards governor of Connecticut, "I don't pretend to comprehend their politics. It is a labyrinth of wheels within wheels, and it is understood only by the managers." Wolcott referred to the early decades of the last century, when Clintonian and Bucktail, gradually absorbing the Federalists, severed the old Republican party into warring factions. In later years, Daniel S. Dickinson spoke of "the tangled web of New York politics"; and Horace Greeley complained of "the zigzag, wavering lines and uncouth political designations which puzzled and wearied readers" from 1840 to 1860, when Democrats divided into Conservatives and Radicals, Hunkers and Barnburners, and Hards and Softs; and when Whigs were known as Conscience and Cotton, and Woollies and Silver Grays. More recently James Parton, in his Life of Andrew Jackson, speaks of "that most unfathomable of subjects, the politics of the State of New York."

There is no attempt in this history to catalogue the prominent public men of New York State. Such a list would itself fill a volume. It has only been possible, in the limited space given to over a century, to linger here and there in the company of the famous figures who rose conspicuously above their fellow men and asserted themselves masterfully in influencing public thought and action. Indeed, the history of a State or nation is largely the history of a few leading men, and it is of such men only, with some of their more prominent contemporaries, that the author has attempted to write.

It would be hard to find in any Commonwealth of the Union a more interesting or picturesque leadership than is presented in the political history of the Empire State. Rarely more than two controlling spirits appear at a time, and as these pass into apogee younger men of approved capacity are ready to take their places. None had a meteoric rise, but in his day each became an absolute party boss; for the Constitution of 1777, by creating the Council of Appointment, opened wide the door to bossism. The abolition of the Council in 1821 doubtless made individual control more difficult, but the system left its methods so deeply impressed upon party management that what before was done under the sanction of law, ever after continued under the cover of custom.

After the Revolution, George Clinton and Alexander Hamilton led the opposing political forces, and while Aaron Burr was forging to the front, the great genius of DeWitt Clinton, the nephew of George Clinton, began asserting itself. The defeat of Burr for governor, and the death of Hamilton would have left DeWitt Clinton in complete control, had he found a strong man for governor whom he could use. In 1812 Martin Van Buren discovered superiority as a manager, and for nearly two decades, until the death of the distinguished canal builder, his great ability was taxed to its uttermost in the memorable contests between Bucktails and Clintonians. Thurlow Weed succeeded DeWitt Clinton in marshalling the forces opposed to Van Buren, whose mantle gradually fell upon Horatio Seymour. Clustered about each of these leaders, save DeWitt Clinton, was a coterie of distinguished men whose power of intellect has made their names familiar in American history. If DeWitt Clinton was without their aid, it was because strong men in high position rebelled against becoming errand boys to do his bidding. But the builder of the Erie canal needed no lieutenants, since his great achievement, aiding the farmer and enriching the merchant, overcame the power of Van Buren, the popularity of Tompkins, and the phenomenal ability of the Albany Regency.

In treating the period from 1800 to 1830, the term "Democrat" is purposely avoided, since all anti-federalist factions in New York claimed to be "Republican." The Clay electors, in the campaign of 1824, adopted the title "Democrat Ticket," but in 1828, and for several years after the formation of the Whig party in 1834, the followers of Jackson, repudiating the title of Democrats, called themselves Republicans.

For aid in supplying material for character and personal sketches, the author is indebted to many "old citizens" whom he met during the years he held the office of United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, when that district included the entire State north and west of Albany. He takes this occasion, also, to express his deep obligation to the faithful and courteous officials of the Library of Congress, who, during the years he has been a member of Congress, assisted him in searching for letters and other unindexed bits of New York history which might throw some light upon subjects under investigation.

The author hopes to complete the work in an additional volume, bringing it down to the year 1896.

D.S.A.

BUFFALO, N.Y., March, 1906.

CONTENTS

VOL. I

CHAPTER PAGE

I. A COLONY BECOMES A STATE. 1774-1776 1

II. MAKING A STATE CONSTITUTION. 1777 8

III. GEORGE CLINTON ELECTED GOVERNOR. 1777 17

IV. CLINTON AND HAMILTON. 1783-1789 23

V. GEORGE CLINTON'S FOURTH TERM. 1789-1792 37

VI. GEORGE CLINTON DEFEATS JOHN JAY. 1792-1795 50

VII. RECOGNITION OF EARNEST MEN. 1795-1800 64

VIII. OVERTHROW OF THE FEDERALISTS. 1798-1800 78

IX. MISTAKES OF HAMILTON AND BURR. 1800 94

X. JOHN JAY AND DeWITT CLINTON. 1800 107

XI. SPOILS AND BROILS OF VICTORY. 1801-1803 115

XII. DEFEAT OF BURR AND DEATH OF HAMILTON. 1804 129

XIII. THE CLINTONS AGAINST THE LIVINGSTONS. 1804-1807 147

XIV. DANIEL D. TOMPKINS AND DeWITT CLINTON. 1807-1810 158

XV. TOMPKINS DEFEATS JONAS PLATT. 1810 173

XVI. DeWITT CLINTON AND TAMMANY. 1789-1811 180

XVII. BANKS AND BRIBERY. 1791-1812 186

XVIII. CLINTON AND THE PRESIDENCY. 1812 199

XIX. QUARRELS AND RIVALRIES. 1813 211

XX. A GREAT WAR GOVERNOR. 1812-1815 219

XXI. CLINTON OVERTHROWN. 1815 231

XXII. CLINTON'S RISE TO POWER. 1815-1817 241

XXIII. BUCKTAIL AND CLINTONIAN. 1817-1819 253

XXIV. RE-ELECTION OF RUFUS KING. 1819-1820 263

XXV. TOMPKINS' LAST CONTEST. 1820 273

XXVI. THE ALBANY REGENCY. 1820-1822 283

XXVII. THIRD CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 1821 295

XXVIII. SECOND FALL OF DeWITT CLINTON. 1822 312

XXIX. CLINTON AGAIN IN THE SADDLE. 1823-1824 321

XXX. VAN BUREN ENCOUNTERS WEED. 1824 334

XXXI. CLINTON'S COALITION WITH VAN BUREN. 1825-1828 344

XXXII. VAN BUREN ELECTED GOVERNOR. 1828 357

XXXIII. WILLIAM H. SEWARD AND THURLOW WEED. 1830 370

XXXIV. VAN BUREN'S ENEMIES MAKE HIM VICE PRESIDENT. 1829-1832 382

XXXV. FORMATION OF THE WHIG PARTY. 1831-1834 392

A POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

CHAPTER I. A Colony Becomes a State

A COLONY BECOMES A STATE

On the 16th of May, 1776, the second Continental Congress, preparing the way for the Declaration of Independence, recommended that those Colonies which were without a suitable form of government, should, to meet the demands of war, adopt some sufficient organisation. The patriot government of New York had not been wholly satisfactory. It never lacked in the spirit of resistance to England's misrule, but it had failed to justify the confident prophecies of those who had been instrumental in its formation.

For nearly a year New York City saw with wonder the spectacle of a few fearless radicals, organised into a vigilance committee of fifty, closing the doors of a custom-house, guarding the gates of an arsenal, embargoing vessels ladened with supplies for British troops, and removing cannon from the Battery, while an English fleet, well officered and manned, rode idly at anchor in New York harbour. Inspiring as the spectacle was, however, it did not appreciably help matters. On the contrary, it created so much friction among the people that the conservative business men--resenting involuntary taxation, yet wanting, if possible with honour, reconciliation and peace with the mother country--organised, in May, 1774, a body of their own known as the Committee of Fifty-one, which thought the time had come to interrupt the assumed leadership of the Committee of Fifty. This usurpation by one committee of powers that had been exercised by another, caused the liveliest indignation.

The trouble between England and America had grown out of the need for a continental revenue and the lack of a continental government with taxing power--a weakness experienced throughout the Revolution and under the Confederation. In the absence of such a government, Parliament undertook to supply the place of such a power; but the Americans blocked the way by an appeal to the principle that had been asserted by Simon de Montford's Parliament in 1265 and admitted by Edward I. in 1301--"No taxation without representation." So the Stamp Act of 1765 was repealed. The necessity for a continental revenue, nevertheless, remained, and in the effort to adopt some expedient, like the duty on tea, Crown and Colonies became involved in bitter disputes. The idea of independence, however, had, in May, 1774, scarcely entered the mind of the wildest New York radical. In their instructions to delegates to the first Continental Congress, convened in September, 1774, the Colonies made no mention of it. Even in May, 1775, the Sons of Liberty in Philadelphia cautioned John Adams not to use the word, since "it is as unpopular in all the Middle States as the Stamp Act itself." Washington wrote from the Congress that independence was then not "desired by any thinking man in America."

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