The Democratic Republican Party in the second Madison Administration
The presidential election of 1812 signaled a brief resurgence of the Federalist Party. A group called the Young Federalists began to recruit and organize local chapters of the party, with the result that the Federalists gained 32 U.S. House seats in the elections of 1812-1813 - doubling their numbers.
The War of 1812 was finally brought to a successful truce. In 1813, Oliver Hazard Perry cleared British ships from Lake Erie, and William Henry Harrison pushed the British out of Detroit. Following the U.S. burning of the Canadian provincial capital of York, a British force occupied and burned Buffalo NY. The situation became more dire in 1814, as the British burned Washington DC, were barely turned back from an invasion into Vermont, and also narrowly missed occupying Baltimore. Gen. Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek Indians and repulsed a British invasion of New Orleans. His victory was soon followed by news that the British had agreed to a truce.
During the dark days of the war, Federalist leaders gathered in Hartford CT to consider a withdrawal of New England from the Union. The meeting opened on 12/15/1814 and met until 1/5/1815. The convention approved a series of resolutions including proposed constitutional changes; the resolutions reached Washington DC at the same time as news of the truce with England and news of the dramatic victory in New Orleans. The Federalists looked treasonous and disappeared from national politics - though they still controlled several states and remained a force in local politics in many states. In the midterm elections of 1814-1815, the Federalists lost a net of only two seats in the U.S. House.
Pre-Caucus Maneuvering
The presidential campaign began in earnest when the 14th Congress assembled on 12/4/1815. The Middlebury VT newspaper the Vermont Mirror reported on 12/6/1815 that supporters of the interest of SOS James Monroe decided at the close of the 13th Congress to quietly lobby the incoming freshmen and not foster discussions in the press. The Mirror believed that Monroe had less than 33% support in the entire Congress and felt that an alternate nomination would materialize, speculating that the opponent would be Rufus King, William H. Crawford, or DeWitt Clinton. The New-York Courier on 12/21/1815 described the contest as "Monroe against the field," with his opponents being Gov. Daniel Tompkins, Crawford, Andrew Jackson, and Henry Clay. The Courier also stated that Pennsylvania party members made it clear at the Caucus of 1812 that PA would not support any candidate from Virginia in 1816.
Evidence that DRP leaders were not uniformly behind Monroe came quickly. Crawford supporters launched a newspaper entitled the New-York Patriot during the first week of the new Congress [mentioned in the New York City Courier, 12/9/1815]. The Patriot charged that Monroe "disregarded entirely the congressional nomination" in 1808, so a similar revolt in 1816 should not be suppressed [quoted in the NYC Columbian, 12/11/1815]. The Providence RI Rhode-Island American editorialized on 12/15/1815 that just as Jefferson had selected Madison as his successor and forced him on the nation through the Caucus, Madison was now planning to do the same with Monroe, who had the support of a minority of the DRP members of Congress.
By New Year's Day of 1816, however, it was becoming clear that the real contest for the nomination was between Monroe and Crawford. In an article entitled "A Great Race," the New-York Courier indicated that Monroe's surge resulted from his partisans promising the VP post to two second tier contenders, Simon Snyder of PA and Daniel Tompkins [12/28/1815].
An interesting turn of events early in the year indicated the strength of partisan passions. An unknown Monroe supporter wrote a letter stating that Crawford had withdrawn from the race [NYC Courier, 1/13/1816]. The article was not successful in undermining Crawford's support once it became clear that it was a forgery. The NYC Evening Post stated that Crawford had a majority of support among DRP members of Congress [1/30/1816].
The Monroe press was also in high gear. The Washington DC Daily National Intelligencer, the chief Monroe organ, set forth his argument on 2/8/1816. The Caucus was the only means of unifying the DRP; it opined that a divided DRP would result in the election of Rufus King. In order to quell the rumors about promising the VP position to both Tompkins and Snyder, the Intelligencer offered a gambit. Since NY was divided between the Clinton and Tompkins forces, Monroe seemed to stand to gain more with the support of PA. Hence the Intelligencer offered the ticket of Monroe and Snyder. The Boston MA Independent Chronicle printed its own editorial the same day with the Monroe & Snyder ticket. The NY delegation sent Tompkins a letter, asking if he would run on a ticket with Monroe, indicating that they were ready to strike the deal and break any agreement with PA [NYC Columbian, 2/14/1816]. Rep. John Taylor continued to lobby other members of Congress in behalf of Tompkins while the return letter was eagerly awaited [NYC Evening Post, 2/17/1816].
DRP Caucus - First Session (unofficial)
The first session of the 1816 DRP Caucus was held around 2/8/1816. Those gathered were bitterly divided, and no agreement was reached. Party leaders were embarrassed by the result and did not publicize it. The NYC Commercial Advertiser suggested that Crawford had the support of the majority of those gathered [2/16/1816].
In the interim between the first session and the second session, the New York legislature held a state caucus. The issue facing the DRP in New York was the candidacy of Gov. Tompkins. Monroe's supporters sought NY votes in order to defeat Crawford, and many Monroe papers had endorsed a Monroe-Tompkins ticket. The state caucus ignored these maneuvers and on 2/14/1816 officially nominated Tompkins for President [NYC Evening Post, 2/23/1816].
The tactic taken by the New York DRP Caucus raised the stakes for everyone. The Rhode Island DRP legislative caucus met on 2/21/1816 and nominated Monroe & Tompkins, in order to have that ticket ready to be offered when the national caucus met [Boston MA Independent Chronicle, 2/26/1816]. The Pennsylvania DRP legislative caucus met and nominated Monroe and Snyder [Albany Advertiser, 3/2/1816].
DRP Caucus - Second Session
On 3/10/1816, a printed invitation was distributed among the DRP members of Congress, calling a caucus on the evening of 3/12/1816. The invitation was not signed. The National Intelligencer believed that it was distributed by opponents of Monroe and that Monroe supporters would not attend it [3/12/1816].
Chairman: U.S. Sen. Jeremiah Morrow OH
Fifty-seven members of Congress assembled in the U.S. House chamber on the appointed day; they represented one quarter of the membership of Congress. Due to low attendance, the Caucus adjourned until 3/16/1816. The attendance of DRP members of Congress was "required," though no means of enforcement was noted. [Albany Daily Advertiser, 3/19/1816; Salem Gazette, 3/22/1816; Ohio Elects the President,, p. 15].
DRP Caucus - Third Session
The third session of the DRP Caucus was held on 3/16/1816 in the U.S. House chamber. The roll call showed 118 members of Congress in attendance, or roughly half the total.
Chairman: U.S. Sen. Samuel Smith MD
Secretary: U.S. Rep. Richard M. Johnson KY
Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, offered a resolution stating that it was inexpedient for the Caucus to offer any nominations; this resolution was voted down. Rep. John W. Taylor NY then offered a resolution stating that the mode of Caucus nominations was inexpedient, which was similarly voted down.
The nomination of a candidate for President was then taken up. James Monroe was nominated on the first ballot with 65 votes to 54 for William H. Crawford. Note that one member of Congress arrived for the balloting after the roll call.
The Caucus then nominated Daniel D. Tompkins for Vice President. Tompkins received 85 votes to 30 for Simon Snyder PA.
The chairman and secretary compiled the minutes of the proceedings and had them printed in the Daily National Intelligencer on 3/18/1816.
The anti-Monroe forces immediately cried foul. The NYC Commercial Advertiser pointed out that Monroe received the support of only 65 DRP members of Congress out of 158, far less than a majority [3/20/1816]. The New-York Courier called the Caucus a "great and self-appointed body of dictatorial usurpers" [3/20/1816]. The NYC Columbian opined "the whole business from beginning to end is a trick upon a deluded people to subserve the views of the Virginians" [3/23/1816]. It appeared certain at the time that the party was bitterly divided over the result.
4th DRP Caucus (1812)
6th DRP Caucus (1820)
Popular Vote of 1816
Electoral Vote of 1816
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