by Jon Meacham
23 “The dark cloud” PHC, VIII, 599.
24 the South Carolina convention nullified the Tariff of 1832 Freehling, ed., Nullification Era, 152.
25 a story making the rounds “The Life and Times of James Hamilton of South Carolina by S. Hamilton,” material owned by Herman P. Hamilton, Chester, S.C., James Hamilton Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, microfilm.
26 John Randolph of Roanoke was supposed Ibid.
27 “It is no longer to be doubted” William Gaston, “Reply to invitation to dine in Montgomery 1832,” October 3, 1832, William Gaston Papers, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Chapter 17: A Dreadful Crisis of Excitement and Violence
1 sat down by his fireside Pierce M. Butler to James Henry Hammond, December 18, 1832, James Hammond Papers, LOC.
2 “bent on enforcing his mandate” Ibid.
3 volunteered his military services Hayne, “Letters on the Nullification Movement in South Carolina,” 751.
4 appointed a new military aide-de-camp Ibid., 752–53.
5 “this crisis in our affairs” Ibid., 753.
6 issued detailed secret orders Ibid., 753–55.
7 corps of “Mounted Minute Men” Ibid., 754.
8 “My plan is this” Ibid.
9 “a short yellow crane Plume” Ibid., 755. “Palmetto Buttons of a beautiful pattern” could be purchased, Hayne said, at Roche’s in Charleston.
10 “Keep me constantly advised” Correspondence, V, 18.
11 “I have on every occasion” Correspondence, IV, 481.
12 thought Charleston more worried than exuberant Samuel Cram Jackson Diary, November 27, 1832, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
13 “Anxiety and fear” Ibid.
14 “a dreadful crisis of excitement and violence” Samuel Cram Jackson Diary, November 28, 1832, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
15 “the custom house where the battle will be fought” Correspondence, IV, 481.
16 “We are not disposed” Ibid.
17 recorded a near massacre Samuel Cram Jackson Diary, October 20, 1832, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
18 “their blood was up” Ibid.
19 Hotheads in the Union ranks Ibid.
20 Jackson dispatched George Breathitt Correspondence, IV, 484–85.
21 “collect all the information” Ibid., 485.
22 Poinsett briefed Jackson Ibid., 486–88.
23 “Both parties [of the nullifiers]” Ibid., 487.
24 “a Southern man” Ibid., 487–88.
25 “We had rather die” Ibid., 492.
26 “I fully concur with you” Ibid., 493.
27 “calmness and firmness” Ibid., 494.
28 drafted in something of a conciliatory spirit Ellis, Union at Risk, 81–83.
29 “This is all we want” Correspondence, IV, 489.
30 created, he said, “discontent” Messages, II, 1161.
31 “Limited to a general superintending power” Ibid., 1169.
32 was “in substance a complete surrender” Memoirs of JQA, VIII, 503.
33 Jackson’s December strategy was threefold For my narrative and analysis of Jackson and nullification, I am indebted to, among others: Freehling, Prelude to Civil War, 265–97; Ellis, Union at Risk, 74–177; Feller, Jacksonian Promise, 164–66; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 395–410; and Wilentz, Rise of American Democracy, 374–89.
34 “The President has instructed me” Lewis Cass to Joel Poinsett, December 7, 1832, Poinsett Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Chapter 18: The Mad Project of Disunion
1 alone in his office Parton, Life, III, 466.
2 standing at his desk Jackson used a standup desk. Seale, The White House, 90.
3 a steel pen Ibid.
4 “A gentleman who came in” Ibid.
5 sent across Lafayette Square to Decatur House Eberlein and Van Dyke Hubbard, Historic Houses of George-Town and Washington City, 269. Livingston lived at the Decatur House, on the northwest corner of Lafayette Park. Hunt, Life of Edward Livingston, 371–73, argues for Livingston’s authorship of the proclamation; Parton, Life, III, 466, insists on Jackson’s. The drafts show both men’s work, though the spirit and logic are clearly Jackson’s.
6 As the document went to press Parton, Life, III, 466–67.
7 “Those are my views” Ibid., 467.
8 “incompatible with the existence of the Union” Messages, II, 1206.
9 an option “at an earlier day” Ibid., 1205.
10 “The war into [which] we were forced” Ibid.
11 “forms a government, not a league” Ibid., 1211.
12 “Contemplate the condition of that country” Ibid., 1217.
13 “Carolina is one of these proud states” Ibid.
14 “But the dictates of a high duty” Ibid., 1217–18.
15 “destined to bring about another reign of terror” Hayne, “Letters on the Nullification Movement in South Carolina,” 751.
16 “wise, determined and firm” Correspondence, IV, 502.
17 “I pray God to preserve” Ibid., 499.
18 Marshall became one of Jackson’s “warmest supporters” Smith, John Marshall: Definer of a Nation, 519–20. The characterization is from Joseph Story, who includes himself in it.
19 “One short week” PHC, VIII, 603.
20 “Who can have confidence” Ibid., 609.
21 the “mass of the people” Wiltse, John C. Calhoun, II, 172.
22 “The whole subject is discussed” Philip Hone, The Diary of Philip Hone, 1828–1851 (Boston, 1889), 68–69.
23 “measures have been taken” Hayne, “Letters on the Nullification Movement in South Carolina,” 753. 231 “These men are reckless” Correspondence, IV, 502.
24 “If I can judge” Ibid., 502–3.
25 Hayne ordered the preparation Hayne, “Letters on the Nullification Movement in South Carolina,” 755.
26 “What have we to fear” Correspondence, IV, 504.
27 “I am lingering here” Irving, Letters, II, 742.
28 more than two thousand people there Samuel Cram Jackson Diary, November 29, 1832, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
29 “I hope these southern Nullifiers” Rebecca Gratz, Letters of Rebecca Gratz (Philadelphia, 1929), 165–66.
30 resigned the vice presidency PJCC, XI, 685.
31 spent an entire Sunday William Gaston to Mrs. H. M. Manly, December 31, 1832, William Gaston Papers, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
32 Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi Ellis, Union at Risk, 102–40; Freehling, Prelude to Civil War, 203–5.
33 In Alabama, the influential congressman Dixon Hall Lewis Freehling, Prelude to Civil War, 203.
34 In Mississippi, Senator George Poindexter Richard Aubrey McLemore, ed., A History of Mississippi (Jackson, Miss., 1973), I, 276–83, covers the state’s role in nullification. “It is true that Senator Poindexter supported the theory of nullification in the Senate and opposed the president in the confrontation with South Carolina” (ibid.).
35 John A. Quitman, the chancellor of the state courts “Back on the home front the chief proponent of nullification was John A. Quitman. He joined Poindexter in predicting catastrophic consequences for the South on other basic issues, including slavery, if all Southerners did not stand together on state rights and nullification” (ibid., 277). For Quitman in particular, see Robert E. May, John A. Quitman: Old South Crusader (Baton Rouge, La., 1985), 29–75.
36 “the very existence” Cleo Hearon, “Nullification in Missi
ssippi,” Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society 12 (1912), 45.
37 Georgia stood by Jackson Ellis, Union at Risk, 102–22.
38 In North Carolina, officials Ibid., 159.
39 Virginia was perhaps the greatest threat Ibid., 123–40.
40 figures like the aged James Madison Ibid., 125–29.
41 the state’s governor, John Floyd Ibid.
42 it was all “for the purpose” Ibid., 128.
43 not until Jackson’s Nullification Proclamation Ibid., 129.
44 The vision of Jackson sweeping into the South Ibid., 129–30.
45 “He pursues enemies” Ibid., 130.
46 Floyd’s confidence grew Ibid., 130–31.
47 the chief justice’s post-proclamation euphoria John Marshall to William Gaston, December 20, 1832, William Gaston Papers, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
48 “I look with anxious solicitude” Ibid.
49 Floyd was inclined Ellis, Union at Risk, 130. “If he uses force, I will oppose him with a military force,” he wrote in his diary (ibid.).
50 “Separated from the East” Correspondence to John Branch, January 31, 1833, John Branch Papers, LOC.
51 “Insane as South Carolina unquestionably is” John Marshall to William Gaston, December 20, 1832, William Gaston Papers, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
52 “Were an open declaration” Ibid.
53 “Old men are timid” Ibid.
54 Jackson put on a brave face Correspondence, V, 4.
55 “Virginia, except” Ibid.
56 “the union shall be preserved” Ibid.
57 “I will die with the Union” Correspondence, IV, 500.
58 “Your account of Mr. Calhoun” Leonidas Polk to Rufus Polk, February 28, 1833, Leonidas Polk Collection, The University of the South, University Archives and Special Collections, Sewanee.
59 New Year’s Day 1833 EDT, II, 28–29.
60 skirmished a bit Ibid., 27.
61 “was always of a tyrannical disposition” Ibid.
62 “I am very glad that Uncle” Ibid.
63 he had lost a Senate bid TPA, 206–7.
64 “She has been quite ill” EDT, II, 26.
65 “seem to enjoy themselves” Ibid., 37.
66 “You must excuse this scrawl” Ibid., 28.
67 when Washington Irving called Irving, Letters, II, 743–44.
68 Irving “came away with a still warmer feeling” Ibid.
69 introduced the administration’s tariff reform bill Remini, Jackson, III, 29. See also Cole, Presidency of Andrew Jackson, 164–65, and Freehling, Road to Disunion, 283.
70 Supreme Court justices gathered to dine EDT, II, 33–35.
71 “If you were to see him” Ibid., 35.
72 Justice Story, Mary said, “appears to be” Ibid.
73 “what is more remarkable” Ibid., 34.
74 Livingston had not bothered PJCC, XII, 5.
75 “Our cause is doing well” Ibid., 6.
Chapter 19: We Are Threatened to Have Our Throats Cut
1 did not yet know …”whether some of the eastern states” Correspondence, V, 3.
2 “There is nothing certain” PHC, VIII, 613.
3 “The people will never again” PJCC, XII, 8–9.
4 a conversation he had at the White House Correspondence, V, 4–5.
5 the state legislature had failed to condemn nullification Ellis, Union at Risk, 141–57.
6 remained in New York in these tense weeks Correspondence, V, 4. For example, on January 16, 1833, the day Jackson introduced the Force Bill to give him the power to put down South Carolina if it came to that, the president of the United States was reduced to adding this postscript to a letter to Van Buren: “I will be happy to hear from you often, and see you as early as a just sense of delicacy will permit” (ibid.).
7 worried that the proclamation Ellis, Union at Risk, 145–57, details Van Buren’s complex balancing act. See also Latner, Presidency of Andrew Jackson, 152–55.
8 For half an hour Correspondence, V, 4.
9 “I learned from him” Ibid.
10 were “holding regular drills” Ibid.
11 had allowed the American flag to be flown upside down Ibid.
12 It was a dark report It was gloomy by design. Jackson needed to impress the New Yorker with the gravity of the moment. From the White House Wright went to see Cass at the War Department, who pressed the points Jackson had made, this time with particular reference to tariff reform. Jackson and his men knew what they were doing: New York and Van Buren needed to be convinced to go along with lowering the tariff in order to relieve the pressure for armed conflict, and Wright was being used as the messenger back to Albany. Jackson was playing the political game with shrewdness and skill. “The Secy. of War assures me that the reasons to apprehend force constantly increase and that he has little hope that any measures which can be taken will prevent it,” Wright told Van Buren, “but that the South will remain firm if Mr. Verplanck’s bill is passed, and without any bill there is reason to fear for the whole South, even for Tennessee.” Wright also heard that General Scott was “saying that blood would be shed and that he did not believe any thing could prevent it” (ibid.).
13 the Force Bill Latner, Presidency of Andrew Jackson, 150–51; and Ellis, Union at Risk, 94.
14 to move the collection of federal revenue Ellis, Union at Risk, 94.
15 Felix Grundy of Tennessee Ibid., 160.
16 Calhoun was not yet in the chamber PJCC, XII, 15.
17 had joined the Union Ibid., 14.
18 “No—I go too far” Ibid.
19 the prospect of an armed Jacksonian dictatorship Ibid.
20 “warmth” Ibid., 15.
21 he knew was “unbecoming” Ibid.
22 had “great effect” Ibid.
23 rushed to reassure Jackson Correspondence, V, 5.
24 more hopeful than realistic Calhoun understood that the Force Bill message was problematic for Jackson, and possibly providential for South Carolina’s cause. “I have no doubt the message will do more for us than the Proclamation,” Calhoun wrote James Hamilton, Jr. “It has roused the Southern members more than any event which has yet occurred. The excitement extends even to the administration men of that quarter. I do not doubt that our cause gains daily and that in less than six months the South will be united if we but act prudently.” It was a sound reading of a fluid political moment (PJCC, XII, 16).
25 Late that night Correspondence, V, 5. “I write in great haste, late at night, and much fatigued, and indisposed by a bad cold,” Jackson wrote. “You will excuse this scrawl, it is intended for your own eye.”
26 “Give me the earliest intelligence” Ibid., 5–6.
27 “The Nullifiers are extremely active” Ibid., 8.
28 to prepare for “protracted warfare” Hayne, “Letters on the Nullification Movement in South Carolina,” 760.
29 “revolutionists in North Carolina” Correspondence, V, 8.
30 “I expect the next move will be secession” Ibid., 9.
31 “The nullifiers in your state” Ibid., 14.
32 “He has marked out” PHC, VIII, 617.
33 the Force Bill “arms the executive” Ellis, Union at Risk, 161.
34 Even a senator friendly to Jackson Ibid., 162.
35 disliked putting “the whole military” Ibid.
36 Much of the Force Bill I drew on Freehling, Prelude to Civil War, 284–86, for the details in this paragraph.
37 After flirting with Calhoun and the nullifiers, Georgia Ellis, Union at Risk, 116.
38 Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina Ibid., 158–59.
39 “We detest the tariff” McLemore, History of Mississippi, I, 278.
40 Under Governor Floyd, Virginia weighed Ellis, Union at Risk, 136–37.
41 “Even if the Governor
of Virginia” Correspondence, V, 12.
42 “It is very late” Ibid.
43 “I understand that Governor Hayne” Irving, Letters, II, 751.
44 held a day of fasting Samuel Cram Jackson Diary, January 31, 1833, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
45 “All went to the Methodists” Ibid.
46 “We walked up to the Capitol” Fanny Kemble, Fanny Kemble: The American Journals (London, 1990), 84–85. The entry is dated Monday, January 14, 1833. “We went first into the Senate, or upper house, because Webster was speaking, whom I especially wished to hear,” Kemble wrote. “The room itself is neither large nor lofty; the senators sit in two semi-circular rows, turned towards the President, in comfortable arm-chairs. On the same ground, and literally sitting among the senators, were a whole regiment of ladies, whispering, talking, laughing, and fidgeting. A gallery, level with the floor, and only divided by a low partition from the main room, ran around the apartment: this, too, was filled with pink, and blue, and yellow bonnets; and every now and then, while the business of the house was going on, and Webster speaking, a tremendous bustle, and waving of feathers, and rustling of silks, would be heard, and in came streaming a reinforcement of political beauties, and then would commence a jumping up, a sitting down, a squeezing through, and a how-d’ye-doing, and a shaking of hands.”
47 the narrow steps Author observation. I am grateful to Donald A. Ritchie, associate historian of the U.S. Senate, for giving me a tour of the Capitol as it was in Jackson’s day.
48 GENTLEMEN WILL BE PLEASED Ibid.
49 The women, Coffee said, “fill” EDT, II, 37.
50 “I can give you no definitive opinion” PHC, VIII, 607–8.
51 “To take issue now” PJCC, XII, 38–39.
52 The nullifiers agreed Freehling, Prelude to Civil War, 288.
53 “The famous day fixed” Samuel Cram Jackson Diary, February 1, 1833, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill. 243 at work on a compromise tariff PHC, VIII, 604–5. 243 spoke in the Senate Ibid., 621–22. 243 Praising “that great principle” Remini, Henry Clay, 426.
54 “If there be any” Ibid.
