by Chris DeRose
The Statute of Religious Freedom was celebrated throughout Europe, hailed and envied as a tremendous achievement in the story of mankind. Jefferson later noted that only this act stood to counter arguments in Europe that America was backward and divided. Madison, who had felt compelled to support the religious establishment in the previous session, now took the opportunity to successfully support its repeal.
From these historic achievements on religious freedom, Madison returned his focus to national issues. He sponsored a resolution instructing Virginia congressmen to vote to give the federal government the authority to regulate commerce for twenty-five years. Washington wrote him in support: “The proposition in my opinion is so self evident that I confess I am at a loss to discover wherein lies the weight of the objection to the measure. We are either a united people, or we are not. If the former, let us, in all matters of a general concern act as a nation, which have national objects to promote, and a national character to support. If we are not, let us no longer act a farce by pretending it to be.”3
When the Virginia legislature amended the bill to only thirteen years, Madison voted against it. Thirteen years of authority to tax commerce would not allow Congress to pay the national debt. It would only give a false assurance that something to that end had been accomplished.
On December 9, 1785, Madison wrote to Monroe, “It is more probable that the other idea of a convention of commissioners from the states for deliberating on the state of commerce and the degree of power which ought to be lodged in Congress, will be attempted.”4
This time in the Virginia House of Delegates saw both victory and defeat for Madison. He had pushed Virginia’s compliance with the national requisition, which, Monroe wrote, “does the highest honor to the state,” and “gives an additional assurance of the strength and permanence of the federal government.”5 But Madison’s attempt to repeal Henry’s policy of banning the British from collecting debts in Virginia failed.6 Closing the door to these creditors was a blatant defiance of the Treaty of Paris and gave the British an excuse for their own noncompliance. It was also, simply put, unfair. Why should a Virginia merchant who had accepted a shipment of goods from Britain in 1775 be relieved of his duty to pay for what he had bought simply because there had been a war in the interim? On this issue, Madison was able to pass only an amended bill that would be utterly useless. It would not go into effect until Congress notified the governor that the British had fully complied with the treaty, and even then the governor could still choose to suspend the law at any time.7
Madison, like other delegates who had served in Congress, was suspected of having “gone Federal.” Thus any measures he introduced to strengthen the national government were met with suspicion by those unfriendly to federal power. It is widely believed that a motion for a convention of states that was presented to the House of Delegates by John Tyler Sr. (a member whose son and namesake would serve as president) on January 21, 1786,8 was actually drafted by Madison.9 The bill, which was passed and sent to other states in the hope that they would follow suit, named Annapolis as the place for that meeting.10
Madison, along with his friends Edmund Randolph, George Mason, and five others were chosen to represent Virginia at this convention of the states. Its stated purpose was to “take into consideration the trade of the United States . . . to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations may be necessary for their common interest and their permanent harmony.”
At the end of the session, Madison updated Monroe: “If importance were to be measured by the list of the laws which has produced, all preceding legislative merit would be eclipsed... if we recur to the proper criterion no session has perhaps afforded less ground for applause.”11 In light of the deaths of establishment and general assessment, and the passage of the momentous Statute of Religious Liberty, it is remarkable that Madison could see this as anything less than a session of mixed results. But Virginia’s failures in promoting the national interest—even in light of the call for the convention at Annapolis—were sufficient for him to judge the whole session a failure.
Monroe had begun his congressional service in 1783, so the term limit in the Articles of Confederation would end his tenure in less than a year. Monroe wrote to his uncle about the possibility of serving again in the House of Delegates. But he was also ready to accede, at least in part, to his uncle’s urgings that he devote time to the practice of law. The Virginia legislature had cut yearly sessions from two down to one, which would begin in October. Thus if Monroe were elected to the legislature, he would still be able to ply his trade as well as continue his public service.
Perhaps one reason for Monroe’s acquiescence to the career Joseph Jones had been urging on him was his affection for Elizabeth Kortright, the daughter of a wealthy New York merchant. The tall dark-haired beauty had accepted Monroe’s proposal for marriage, and he would soon have a wife and, in time, a family to support.
Jones, aware of his nephew’s impending marriage, offered these kind words to Monroe: “Sensibility and tenderness of heart—good nature without levity—a moderate share of good sense with some portion of domestic experience and economy will generally if united in the female character produce that happiness and benefit which results from the married state, and is the highest human felicity a man can enjoy and he cannot fail to enjoy it when he is blessed with a companion of such a disposition.… You have reached that period of life to be capable of thinking and acting for yourself in this delicate and interesting business. . . .”12
Monroe had chosen well. His marriage would be a genuine and enduring love match. He wrote later that his wife “has been the partner of all the toils and cares to which he has since been exposed in his public trusts abroad and at home.” These duties were great, he acknowledged, and “it would be unpardonable to withhold, that it was improbable for any female to have fulfilled all the duties of the partner of such cares, and of a wife and parent, with more attention, delicacy, and propriety than she has done.”13
On February 11, Monroe wrote Madison cryptically about his upcoming nuptials. “If you visit this place shortly,” he told his friend, “I will present to you a young lady who will be adopted a citizen of Virginia in the course of this week.”14 Unable to pry his mind from his duties, Monroe also included some discussion of the impost in his letter.
On his wedding day, February 16, Monroe again took time to write his friend in Virginia. The inadequate powers of the federal government were very much on his mind, even on that day.15 Richard Henry Lee wrote Madison on February 16 as well, joking, “Monroe becomes Benedict this evening”—the latter’s name already synonymous with “traitor.” 16
Madison was quick to congratulate his friend. Monroe was seven years younger than he, and his wedding must certainly have been a bittersweet reminder of Madison’s own broken engagement. On the eve of his thirty-fifth birthday, marriage must have seemed like a happiness that was increasingly beyond his reach. “A newspaper,” Madison wrote, “has verified to me your inauguration into the mysteries of wedlock. . . . You will accept my sincerest congratulations on this event, with every wish for the happiness it promises.”17
Monroe had been preparing for candidacy for the Virginia state legislature, as well as for marriage. He would run in the election to represent King George County, where he owned land. A Colonel Taliaferro, a prominent man of Italian descent, would effectively serve as Monroe’s campaign manager. Taliaferro believed that it was “indispensably necessary” for Monroe to “be in the county before the election and attend it when made. The people are discontented and will not be prevailed on again to elect an absent person.”18 He urged Monroe to write letters to various prominent citizens of the county asking for support, but he continued to point out that only Monroe’s physical presence in the district would assure victory: “I still hope you will attend the election in person . . . your presence will ensure you a majority of votes, and absence will I fear make it doubtful.”
T
aliaferro also repeated a rumor he had heard: “There is a report circulating in this neighborhood that a certain member of Congress was lately wounded in New York by the little god cupid at the instance of a belle dame of that city. Can you tell me what is the gentleman’s name?”19
On March 2, Monroe wrote Jones to announce his marriage: “Agreeably to the information I gave you in my last, the Thursday ensuing I was united to the young lady I mentioned.” He wrote also of their honeymoon in the country, a brief respite from the mounting challenges in Congress.
His marriage seems to have inspired Monroe to focus on his personal finances, which had previously held little interest for him. In his wedding-day letter to Madison, Monroe proposed a business partnership to purchase land in the Mohawk Valley which could later be sold for a tidy profit.20
Madison, always eager for financial security, loved the idea. He wrote, “The vacant land in that part of America opens the surest field of speculation of any in the U.S. Its quality is excellent, its communication with the sea is almost, and in time will be altogether by water alone.”21 The cash-poor Madison asked Monroe to spot him the initial payment, or else to go ahead on his own. Madison also proposed visiting the land together in May or June.22
Monroe graciously advanced Madison’s share of the down payment of $675. The friends were now on their way to being the proud owners of nine hundred acres, which they would possess outright after paying the full purchase price of $1.50 per acre.23
In August, Madison headed north to inspect their purchase while Monroe was held up in Congress. Madison wrote his friend about the good soil and the property’s safe distance from the frontier and proximity to the Hudson River. Madison had consulted Washington about the purchase; the great man had told him that if he had had the money, he too might have had an interest in investing in the land.24 The private collaboration of Madison and Monroe, if not their public one, seemed to be bearing fruit.
Monroe’s interest in finance, however, extended beyond his private life. Before his wedding Monroe had sat on a committee that was working to remedy the precarious state of the nation’s finances. Interest on the foreign debt was now $440,252 a year, and execution of the basic functions of government alone would take $2,508,327. Taking on additional loans was not an option in light of the ruinous state of American credit, and printing worthless paper money, which would only hurt American creditors by devaluing the dollar, was not an option either. The committee recognized that requisitions were completely unreliable. They decided that the only viable option was to levy an impost to keep the government functioning.
During March of 1786 Monroe was part of a congressional delegation to New Jersey. The state had expressly refused to pay the requisition for the previous year until certain demands were met, and even then, only after the other states had paid their contributions.
Madison and Monroe shared each other’s disgust over the matter. Madison wrote,Is it possible with such an example before our eyes of impotence in the federal system, to remain skeptical with regard to the necessity of infusing more energy into it? A government cannot long stand which is obliged in the ordinary course of its administration to court a compliance with its constitutional acts, from a member not of the most powerful order, situated within the immediate verge of authority, and apprised of every circumstance which would remonstrate against disobedience. The question whether it be possible and worthwhile to preserve the Union of the states must speedily be decided one way or other. Those who are indifferent to its preservation would do well to look forward to the consequences of its extinction. The prospect to my eye is a gloomy one indeed.25
While Monroe had been in Congress and away from Virginia, Taliaferro had continued to tend to the election back home. On May 4, he wrote Monroe with unwelcome news: “Sorry and concerned most sincerely I am to tell you, that you were left in the minority by four votes only.”
Monroe’s opponent Daniel Fitzhugh had returned from Europe only three weeks before the canvass and had run at the behest of his father. Taliaferro believed that Monroe would have had the win if a certain Colonel Wallace had not pushed his prominent brother to campaign hard against Monroe under the belief that, if elected, Monroe would replace him as Collector of the Rappahannock Port. Monroe had also become a victim of rumors that he would not return in time for session or, worse, that he intended to stay in New York permanently after his marriage. Several of Monroe’s friends had also abandoned him. Taliaferro wrote, “Some persons that you expected to be active in your interest were I assure you quite other way upon the occasion. I never was more chagrined in my life . . . and more especially when the interest of the men I love and admire is at stake. I know my county men will see their error but then I lament that they cannot rectify it.”26
It is a phenomenon as familiar to any candidate today as it was to James Monroe in 1786. Many of those he relied on had simply failed to deliver. Undoubtedly some of those were the most vocal in proclaiming their fidelity to him and his ambitions.
Madison was quick to commiserate with his friend on the loss: “I regret much that we are not to have your aid. It will be greatly needed I am sure.” 27
Monroe was undoubtedly disappointed, but he was sanguine in light of other considerations. He was finding the married state a happy one. “I have formed the most interesting connection in human life, ” he wrote on May 11. Defeated in King George County, Monroe decided to move to Joseph Jones’s house in Spotsylvania County and practice law. He would be the only attorney in a good-sized town, with the closest competition miles away in Marlborough and Caroline Counties. Spotsylvania was also fertile ground politically, providing a good opportunity for another run at the legislature.
But in the meantime there was much to be done in Congress before Monroe could return to Virginia. He continued his work on Western policy, authorizing Congress to choose governors, councilors, judges, and other officers to serve as the executors over the new territories. As parts of the West gained a certain population, they were authorized to elect a general assembly; when they reached the population of the least numerous of the original states, they would then be admitted as new states.28 Monroe also helped create the Indian Department to facilitate good relations with native tribes.
Monroe continued to be appalled by Congress’s lack of effectiveness and the states’ irresponsibility. “We have twelve states on the floor and yet do little or nothing.... No money comes into the public treasury, trade is on a wretched footing, and the states are running after paper money,” he wrote Madison.29
Rhode Island had issued reams of worthless paper money and had devised a method for forcing people to honor their currency. They outlawed treating the paper notes as anything less valuable than specie. Rhode Island’s businesses responded by closing their doors instead of trading their valuable goods and services for paper.
John Jay seemed resolved to give the Mississippi River to Spain despite his instructions. In fact, rather than carrying out Congress’s instructions to him, Jay was actively courting members of Congress to support his position on the Mississippi. Monroe believed there was an “intrigue on foot under the management of Jay to occlude the Mississippi supported by the delegation of Massachusetts.... I have a conviction in my own mind that Jay has managed this negotiation dishonestly.”30
The Mississippi issue evoked a severe sectional split. The Mississippi River served as the western border of states including Virginia, and a number of other states laid claim to land on other parts of the river. To representatives in favor of western expansion, the river was essential for transporting goods and people along the frontier. The Northern states, however, had active seaports and could easily ship and receive goods. Thus they saw holding onto the Mississippi as risking a war over a distant and unutilized territory. Northerners also felt that if they could cut the West off from development, they could keep the population center in the North. Jay and his supporters dreamed of commercial benefits that might be realized by trading the M
ississippi away, but Spain never offered anything of value in return for the river.
Sectional tensions were so high that committees in New York were planning for a separation of the states, with a confederation of the North.31 It was the most serious crisis the post-war government had faced.
In July, with Monroe’s time in Congress running out, Jay requested a committee be appointed and fully empowered to direct him on all issues. In addition to having support from Massachusetts, Jay appeared to have support within the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania delegations. Congress responded by forming a committee to determine how to answer Jay’s request for a committee. It was decided that Congress as a whole should consider the issue with Jay present. Jay addressed a secret session of Congress on August 3, 1786.
The whispers and rumors were now confirmed on the floor of Congress. Jay argued for ceding the Mississippi for a period of twenty-five to thirty years.32 He believed that without a treaty Spain would soon begin blocking American trade. With a treaty, however, Spain could provide assistance in dealing with other countries, in particular with the Barbary States in Northern Africa that plagued American shipping. Jay further argued that claiming the right of navigation was distinct from having actual use of the river. Spain was already restricting the use of the Mississippi, he argued, and therefore America had already lost control.33 Jay believed the United States would gain commercial advantages by giving up something he argued they did not have and did not presently need—besides avoiding a war he felt they would not win.34 Massachusetts moved to repeal Jay’s instructions and give him the power he wanted, to give away the Mississippi.
