Section #1 - The Congressmen Who Built Then Broke The Union
Chapter 39: Congressional Profile: 1829-1840
New faces in Congress during the “Age of Jackson” include a group of South Carolina representatives who eventually become “fire-eaters,” agitating for secession from the Union.
The most outspoken is Robert Barnwell Rhett, a “nullifier” who enters the House in 1837 and goes on to use his newspaper, The Charleston Mercury, to foment rebellion. Another strident voice belongs to James Henry Hammond, a truly corrupt personality who marries for money, openly admits to acts of pedophilia, and bemoans the failure of colleagues to recognize his superior intellect. A third figure here is the aristocratic Francis Pickens who, as Governor of South Carolina, will oversee the attack on Ft. Sumter that initiates the war.
Virginian James Mason begins his sixteen year career in Congress in 1837, aligning himself with the dissident leader John Calhoun and later standing in to deliver Calhoun’s dying farewell address to the Senate in 1850.
Offsetting the agitators are two other Virginians who consistently attempt to save the Union.
One is Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, who becomes the youngest ever Speaker of the House in 1839. John Minor Botts is even more the contrarian, often opposing the Democratic Party and later becoming a confidante of Abraham Lincoln.
Other prominent Slave State unionists include Edward Stanly of North Carolina and James Pearce of Maryland. Both are Whigs who will refuse to abandon the Union when war begins.
While Congress does its best to stifle controversy over slavery, two new House members begin an ongoing campaign to abolish slavery that will grow over time. The first is ex-President John Quincy Adams, defeated by Jackson in 1828, but returned to DC by his supporters in Massachusetts in 1831. He is a lone voice against slavery until 1838 when joined by Joshua Giddings of Ohio who will be a thorn in the side of the South for the nest 21 years.
Two other Ohio representatives will also become prominent on the national scene. Tom Corwin, known as “the Wagon Boy” for his youthful service in the War of 1812, is elected Governor of his home state and later serves as U.S. Treasury Secretary. Thomas Ewing is appointed Secretary of the Treasury and Interior as a Whig.
New Jersey sends Theodore Frelinghuysen to the Senate, where he becomes known as the “Christian Statesman” for his evangelical beliefs.
George Dallas of Pennsylvania makes his brief appearance in the Senate as a leading proponent of geographic expansion, including the Republic of Texas, Mexico and Cuba.
Caleb Cushing of Massachusetts enters the House in 1835 as one of the first of the so-called “Doughface” politicians – Northern men who consistently curry Southern support for their own advancement. Cushing switches parties four times in his career, finally ending up as a Democrat.
See Appendix for more details.