A Political History of the State of New York Volume I Part 1

A Political History of the State of NewYork.

by DeAlva Stanwood Alexander.

VOL. I.

1774-1832.

NEW YORK.

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY.

1906.

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. d.i.c.kinson 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 s.p.a.ce 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 a.s.serted 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 pa.s.s 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 Const.i.tution 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 a.s.serting 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 ca.n.a.l 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. Cl.u.s.tered 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 ca.n.a.l 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 t.i.tle "Democrat Ticket," but in 1828, and for several years after the formation of the Whig party in 1834, the followers of Jackson, repudiating the t.i.tle 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, a.s.sisted 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

I. A COLONY BECOMES A STATE. 1774-1776

II. MAKING A STATE CONSt.i.tUTION. 1777

III. GEORGE CLINTON ELECTED GOVERNOR. 1777

IV. CLINTON AND HAMILTON. 1783-1789

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

VI. GEORGE CLINTON DEFEATS JOHN JAY. 1792-1795

VII. RECOGNITION OF EARNEST MEN. 1795-1800

VIII. OVERTHROW OF THE FEDERALISTS. 1798-1800

IX. MISTAKES OF HAMILTON AND BURR. 1800

X. JOHN JAY AND DeWITT CLINTON. 1800

XI. SPOILS AND BROILS OF VICTORY. 1801-1803

XII. DEFEAT OF BURR AND DEATH OF HAMILTON. 1804

XIII. THE CLINTONS AGAINST THE LIVINGSTONS. 1804-1807

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

XV. TOMPKINS DEFEATS JONAS PLATT. 1810

XVI. DeWITT CLINTON AND TAMMANY. 1789-1811

XVII. BANKS AND BRIBERY. 1791-1812

XVIII. CLINTON AND THE PRESIDENCY. 1812

XIX. QUARRELS AND RIVALRIES. 1813

XX. A GREAT WAR GOVERNOR. 1812-1815

XXI. CLINTON OVERTHROWN. 1815

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

XXIII. BUCKTAIL AND CLINTONIAN. 1817-1819

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

XXV. TOMPKINS' LAST CONTEST. 1820

XXVI. THE ALBANY REGENCY. 1820-1822

XXVII. THIRD CONSt.i.tUTIONAL CONVENTION. 1821

XXVIII. SECOND FALL OF DeWITT CLINTON. 1822