by Jon Meacham
133 the “explosion at Washington” John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, April 22, 1831, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
134 “people stare—and laugh” Ibid.
Chapter 13: A Mean and Scurvy Piece of Business
1 what he called “secretes” See, for example, Correspondence, V, 206.
2 “I know not how things are moving” Alexander Speer to Joel Poinsett, March 14, 1831, Joel Poinsett Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
3 “I will not be at all surprised” Ibid.
4 he thought his information sound Ibid.
5 allegations that “Jackson had turned you” George Wolf to Samuel D. Ingham, May 23, 1831, Samuel D. Ingham Papers, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, University of Pennsylvania.
6 “His administration is absolutely odious” PHC, VIII, 230.
7 Louisa Adams called the battles within Louisa Catherine Adams to Charles Francis Adams, February, 21, 1831, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
8 “the Jackson party is a good deal” John McLean to Samuel D. Ingham, May 7, 1831, Samuel D. Ingham Papers, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, University of Pennsylvania.
9 “The administration at Washington cannot recover” Hayne, “Letters on the Nullification Movement in South Carolina,” 745.
10 Duff Green … told the Eaton story TPA, 170.
11 Eaton issued a challenge Ibid., 170–71.
12 to “know of you, whether or not you sanction” John Eaton to Samuel Ingham, June 17, 1831, Samuel D. Ingham Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania.
13 three days of incendiary correspondence and confrontation Parton, Life, III, 364–68; see also Remini, Jackson, II, 320–21, and Memoirs of JQA, VIII, 371–75.
14 Ingham would not dignify Samuel D. Ingham to John H. Eaton, June 18, 1831, Samuel D. Ingham Papers, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, University of Pennsylvania.
15 “In the meantime” Ibid.
16 called Ingham’s note “impudent and insolent” Heiskell, AJETH, III, 338.
17 a brother-in-law of Eaton’s, Dr. Philip G. Randolph Ibid.
18 “a threat of personal violence” Ibid. 179 Eaton went nearly mad Ibid.
19 searched the city for Ingham Correspondence, IV, 300–1; see also Parton, Life, III, 366–67.
20 “lying in wait” Correspondence, IV, 300.
21 took up positions at the Treasury and in a grocery store Ibid.
22 “While prowling about” Duff Green to William Cabell Rives, June 21, 1831, Duff Green Papers, LOC.
23 what Green called “the firmness of the old gentleman” Ibid.
24 back on the march Correspondence, IV, 300.
25 Beseeching Jackson to intervene Ibid.
26 fled the city at four o’clock in the morning Ibid., 301.
27 Jackson dismissed Ingham’s story Ibid.
28 “The truth is Eaton alone did look for him” Ibid., 302.
29 It was Ingham’s guard Ibid.
30 the Ingham forces “had determined” Ibid.
31 sought security at home in Bucks County TPA, 173.
32 Jackson left for the Rip Raps Correspondence, IV, 302–3.
33 “acted a most ridiculous” PHC, VIII, 373.
34 “Eaton still remains in the city” Duff Green to Samuel D. Ingham, July 4, 1831, Samuel D. Ingham Papers, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, University of Pennsylvania.
35 In New York City that April 1831 Ammon, James Monroe, 571.
36 at Prince and Marion streets George Morgan, The Life of James Monroe (Boston, 1921), 439.
37 her father had come to live Ibid.
38 a boy who was in and out Ibid., 440.
39 “the recent quasi revolution” Memoirs of JQA, VIII, 360.
40 “If other revolutions partake of the sublime” John Quincy Adams to Benjamin Waterhouse, May 11, 1831, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
41 on a day “long enough” AMVB, 407–8.
42 “Our reception” Ibid.
43 “It is strange” Ibid.
44 “Nothing now is more probable” PHC, VIII, 366.
45 the people “know but a small part” Samuel D. Ingham to John Workman, July 8, 1831, Samuel D. Ingham Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania.
46 rose early on the morning Hayne, “Letters on the Nullification Movement in South Carolina,” 741.
47 Hammond’s long account Ibid., 741–45.
48 Calhoun “immediately entered” Ibid., 742.
49 “as jealous of his military fame” Ibid.
50 “to throw himself entirely upon the South” Ibid., 744.
51 two subsequent encounters Ibid.
52 “there is a listlessness about him” Ibid., 745.
53 George McDuffie laid out his popular Freehling, ed., Nullification Era, 104–19.
54 if inaccurate Freehling, Prelude to Civil War, 192–96, analyzes the economics and politics of McDuffie’s forty-bale theory.
55 “I will readily concede” Freehling, ed., Nullification Era, 116.
56 “The Union, such as” Ibid., 118.
57 Green’s fear, James Hamilton, Jr., said Hayne, “Letters on the Nullification Movement in South Carolina,” 746–47.
58 a daylong Fourth of July rally Freehling, ed., Nullification Era, 120–37.
59 “all the kindly feelings of the human heart” Ibid., 127.
60 secluded at the Rip Raps Correspondence, IV, 312.
61 a letter that … echoed Drayton Freehling, ed., Nullification Era, 136–37.
62 “I fear from my observations” PHC, VIII, 365.
63 Calhoun wrote what came to be known PJCC, XI, 413–40. See also Wiltse, John C. Calhoun, II, 113–16.
64 the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions See, for instance, Wilentz, Rise of American Democracy, 78–80.
65 came to light in 1832 Ellis, Union at Risk, 9.
66 Madison denied that the resolutions Ibid., 10–11.
67 nullification would create the mechanical means Wilentz, Rise of American Democracy, 319–21, is excellent on nullification’s theoretical underpinnings. (See ibid., 376–77, for the Fort Hill Address in particular.) See also Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 395–410.
68 “Let it never be forgotten” PJCC, XI, 425.
69 “The rule of the majority” Ibid., 451.
70 “I have been deeply disappointed in him” Memoirs of JQA, VIII, 411. Adams was also hearing in these months that “the nullifiers of South Carolina are fully determined to proceed to the last extremities of civil war” (ibid., 410).
71 faced trouble at home Wiltse, John C. Calhoun, II, 116–17.
72 his recollection of his state of mind Carl Brent Swisher, ed., “Roger B. Taney’s ‘Bank War Manuscript,’ ” Parts 1 and 2, Maryland Historical Magazine 53 (June and September 1958), 103–30, 215–37.
73 “He was at that time vehemently assailed” Ibid., 117.
74 tall and thin H. H. Walker Lewis, Without Fear or Favor: A Biography of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney (Boston, 1965), 3.
75 a memoir known as the “Bank War Manuscript” Ibid., 103–6. Taney never finished it, and it was subsequently lost, Swisher wrote, until it “was rediscovered in 1929 when at a public sale in Atlanta, Georgia, a locksmith purchased an old safe. Inside he found a mass of letters and other papers. He destroyed the letters, but saved a bound manuscript, which proved to be Taney’s longhand account …” (ibid., 105). See also John McDonough, “Notes on the Collection,” Roger B. Taney Papers, LOC.
76 “His wife had been” Ibid., 117–18.
77 larger and more complicated Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 282–83.
78 whether the opposition should try to impeach the president PHC, VIII, 360.
79 “Mr. Calhoun will run for president” Correspondence, IV, 286.
80 Thinking of the Hermitage Ibid., 283.
81 Jackson’s Tennessee friends … went to work EDT, I, 296–97. J
ackson was newly angry over the fact that a pro-Calhoun Fourth of July gathering in Georgetown had toasted Emily as a defender of female virtue (Correspondence, IV, 311–12).
82 “Our true policy now” Correspondence, IV, 315.
83 after “the most mature reflection” Ibid., 323.
84 “All things will work” EDT, I, 296.
85 Jackson, pen in hand, was writing Correspondence, IV, 347; see also EDT, II, 1.
86 five paragraphs on politics Correspondence, IV, 347–48.
87 his room flooded with his family Ibid., 348.
88 “This moment the ladies have entered” Ibid.
89 “Uncle seems quite happy” EDT, II, 4–5.
90 when Margaret and John Eaton set out Correspondence, IV, 350.
91 “He ought to have left before this” Andrew Jackson, Jr., to William Donelson, September 9, 1831, Gertrude and Benjamin Caldwell Collection, The Hermitage.
92 “Nothing reconciles me” Correspondence, IV, 351.
93 “quite charmed” M.A. DeWolfe Howe, The Life and Letters of George Bancroft (New York, 1908), I, 192.
94 “He assured me” Ibid., 193.
95 his host’s “qualifications” Ibid., 192.
96 “told an anecdote” Thomas Woodson, ed., Nathaniel Hawthorne: The French and Italian Notebooks (Columbus, Oh., 1980), XVIII, 366.
97 “Surely, he was the greatest” Ibid., 367.
98 “I have no very important news” Andrew Jackson, Jr., to William Donelson, September 9, 1831, Gertrude and Benjamin Caldwell Collection, The Hermitage.
99 until the nomination actually reached Parton, Life, III, 375–82.
100 the Senate voted Remini, Andrew Jackson, II, 348–49, is a vivid account of the vote.
101 word arrived as a White House dinner party Ibid., 349.
102 refusal to confirm “has displayed” Correspondence, IV, 400.
103 Calhoun was “politically damned” Ibid., 402.
104 “factious opposition” Ibid., 401.
105 “It will kill him, sir” Parton, Life, III, 380.
106 “The common sentiment” EDT, II, 10–11.
107 Van Buren “received the tidings” Washington Irving, Letters (Boston, 1978–82), II, 693.
108 “Every thing is going on well” PHC, VIII, 465.
109 a resolution that the nomination Register of Debates in Congress, 22nd Congress, 1st session, VIII, 1833, 1310.
110 “To myself, I feel like a new man” EDT, II, 4.
111 she told him they were visiting the Hermitage Ibid., 15.
112 “very gay” Ibid., 5.
113 “Cousin Andrew arrived last Sunday with his bride” Ibid., 7.
114 Jackson had stayed Ibid., 6.
115 “We were quite gay” Ibid., 7.
116 “the same frank, gay, communicative woman” Hunt, ed., First Forty Years of Washington Society, 319.
117 “Neither Mr. or Mrs. McLane” Ibid., 325.
118 “The argument was carried” Ibid., 326.
119 “Well, I will lead” Ibid.
120 “Now, trifling as this affair” Ibid., 326–27.
121 “The Bank question” Ibid., 327.
122 she and her husband had “several new neighbors” Ibid., 322.
123 a heavy snowstorm Ibid., 324.
124 one Clay son was currently battling Remini, Henry Clay, 368.
125 committed to “the Lunatic Asylum” Ibid., 375.
126 was “irreclaimably dissipated” Hunt, ed., First Forty Years of Washington Society, 324.
127 Irving, who had come home Irving, Letters, II, 704–5.
128 “Mr. Clay is borne up” Hunt, ed., First Forty Years of Washington Society, 324–25.
129 “Politics are waxing warmer” Andrew Donelson to Stockley Donelson, February 18, 1832, Donelson Family Private Collection, Cleveland Hall, Nashville.
Chapter 14: Now Let Him Enforce It
1 Edward Livingston issued a revealing directive “Circular to the Ministers in Europe and at Rio de Janeiro,” Department of State, Washington, D.C., March 28, 1832, Diplomatic Instructions of the Department of State—Great Britain, Reel 73, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
2 “It is observed” Ibid. The italics are Livingston’s.
3 “an ambitious man” Swisher, ed., “Roger Taney’s ‘Bank War Manuscript,’ ” June 1958, 124.
4 confirmed his longtime support of the Bank Ibid., 125.
5 came to the Treasury in late 1831 Remini, Jackson, II, 335–42, is a good account of McLane and the Bank.
6 most of the questions of the day Ibid., 337.
7 The political price for the scheme Ibid.
8 as Andrew Donelson read a draft Swisher, ed., “Roger Taney’s ‘Bank War Manuscript,’ ” June 1958, 122.
9 so mild that it “startled” Roger Taney Ibid.
10 suggested Jackson “would now defer” Ibid., 122–23.
11 “Having conscientiously” Ibid., 123.
12 “The duty of making this objection” Ibid.
13 No one else in the office came to Taney’s side Ibid., 123–28.
14 “objected strongly to any alteration” Ibid., 124.
15 Jackson “always listened reluctantly” Ibid., 128.
16 some back-and-forth Ibid., 127.
17 McLane, it seemed, had won Ibid., 125.
18 soon in Andrew Donelson’s office Swisher, ed., “Roger Taney’s ‘Bank War Manuscript,’ ” September 1958, 215.
19 “Having conscientiously” Swisher, ed., “Roger Taney’s ‘Bank War Manuscript,’ ” June 1958, 123. Italics are mine; the final version is found in Messages, II, 1121.
20 decided to apply for recharter Remini, Andrew Jackson and the Bank War, 73–77.
21 Clay and Webster privately pressed Henry Clay to Nicholas Biddle, December 15, 1831, Nicholas Biddle Papers, LOC; Daniel Webster to Nicholas Biddle, December 18, 1831, Correspondence of Nicholas Biddle, 146; Remini, Life of Andrew Jackson, 222.
22 Taney said Biddle was “an ambitious man” Swisher, ed., “Roger Taney’s ‘Bank War Manuscript,’ ” June 1958, 109.
23 “If General Jackson does not kill” Hunt, Life of Edward Livingston, 382.
24 “The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me” AMVB, 625.
25 In addition to fighting the flu Remini, Andrew Jackson, II, 346.
26 a brief, painful operation Parton, Life, III, 415–16.
27 “Go ahead” Ibid., 415.
28 Mary Eastin was planning her wedding EDT, II, 11.
29 Lucius Polk, a cousin of James K. Polk’s Ibid., 12.
30 “I believe I may say” Ibid., 12–13.
31 “We farmers generally” Andrew Jackson, Jr., to William Donelson, September 9, 1831, Gertrude and Benjamin Caldwell Collection, The Hermitage. In February 1832, Andrew junior echoed the point. “The times being hard even here in money matters,” he wrote, “my father has been unable to comply with” coming up with $1,500 for a transaction (Andrew Jackson, Jr., to William Donelson, February 6, 1832, Gertrude and Benjamin Caldwell Collection, The Hermitage).
32 the “quite warm” Andrew Jackson, Jr., to William Donelson, February 6, 1832, Donelson Family Private Collection, Cleveland Hall, Nashville.
33 the Black Hawk War Patrick J. Jung, The Black Hawk War of 1832 (Norman, Okla., 2007), is a strong recent study, as is Kerry A. Trask, Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America (New York, 2007). Frank E. Stevens, The Black Hawk War, Including a Review of Black Hawk’s Life (Chicago, 1903), is a classic account. See also Anthony F. C. Wallace, Prelude to Disaster: The Course of Indian-White Relations Which Led to the Black Hawk War (Springfield, Ill., 1970); Prucha, Great Father, 253–57; and, for the documentary record, Ellen M. Whitney, ed., Black Hawk War, 1831–1832, 2 vols. in 4 parts (Springfield, Ill., 1970–78).
34 there would be British Jung, Black Hawk War of 1832, 65–67; the British along the Canadian border had long been a source of anxiety for whites in the region. As in the South, Indian l
eaders had fought with the British in the War of 1812—and Black Hawk was among their number (Trask, Black Hawk, 109–10).
35 and fellow Indian support Jung, Black Hawk War of 1832, 5, is very good on the internal Indian rivalries that crippled resistance to white expansion. Jung wrote: “Another factor that had a significant impact upon the course of the Black Hawk War was the escalation of intertribal warfare among the Indian communities of the upper Great Lakes and upper Mississippi Valley. In the years immediately preceding the conflict, the tribes of this region had coalesced into two loosely organized alliance systems that fought with increasing frequency and intensity.… The fighting gave [white] military commanders and Indian agents a tremendous opportunity … and both exploited these divisions during the Black Hawk War by using the enemies of the Sauks and Foxes to engage Black Hawk’s band.”
36 the only blood he shed Abraham Lincoln, The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln (Washington, D.C., 2004), 114.
37 after a ceremonial feast of boiled dog Jung, Black Hawk War of 1832, 87. It was, Jung wrote, “a common ceremonial meal among Great Lakes Indians.”
38 Black Hawk sent emissaries Ibid., 88.
39 seem to have had a good deal to drink Ibid., 89.
40 while accounts are confused Ibid., 88.
41 they, not Black Hawk’s warriors, shed first blood Ibid., 89.
42 Forty … killing twelve Ibid.
43 Jackson ordered Winfield Scott into action Elliott, Winfield Scott, 261–62.
44 deadly outbreak of cholera Ibid., 265–66.
45 Landing at Fort Gratiot Ibid., 266.
46 escaped to the forests Ibid.
47 only to die on the run Ibid.
48 wolves and wild hogs Ibid.
49 the Battle of Bad Axe Jung, Black Hawk War of 1832, 166–75.
50 a new Supreme Court decision Norgren, Cherokee Cases, as noted above, is an excellent survey of the 1831 and 1832 cases, their origins, and their implications. Edwin A. Miles, “After John Marshall’s Decision: Worcester v. Georgia and the Nullification Crisis,” The Journal of Southern History 39 (November 1973), 519–44, is also critical to understanding the issues. See also Satz, American Indian Policy in the Jacksonian Era, 40–52.
51 Cherokee Nation v. The State of Georgia Ibid., 98–111. “Valid treaties with the United States guaranteed their sovereignty, which represented nothing if not the power to govern themselves. Georgia’s proposed assertion of jurisdiction violated those treaties—treaties that according to Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution were the supreme law of the land, superior to state law” (Norgren, Cherokee Cases, 48).