De Witt Clinton and the Rise of the People's Men

432 Pages·1996·25.162 MB·English

by  Craig Hanyan, Mary L. Hanyan

De Witt Clinton and the Rise of the People's Men
In 1824 the People's party, the first popular reform movement in the
American republic, elected most of its candidates for the Senate and
Assembly of New York, the new nation's most populous state. Craig
Hanyan and Mary Hanyan examine the development of this influential
movement and the role of De Witt Clinton, its chief beneficiary.
The authors not only provide an in-depth analysis of the interplay
of interests and ideology behind the People's movement but also es-
tablish relationships between the emergent political culture that bol-
stered that movement and the Whig and Democratic parties of the later
second-party system. Moreover, they demonstrate that the central ob-
jective of the People's movement was not simply to enhance American
political democracy: it was also fuelled by a determination to avoid
taxation of personalty (personal property or estate, including stocks),
which quickly won the support of canny and well-heeled backers both
in upstate New York and in New York City.
The authors draw on extensive research on New York's political life,
from the town and county levels to the state Assembly and Senate,
and include profiles of the groups who were active in state politics in
the early nineteenth century.
CRAIG HANYAN is associate professor of history, Brock University.
MARY L. HANYAN is an independent researcher.
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De Witt Clinton and
the Rise of the
People's Men
CRAIG BANYAN
WITH MARY L. HANYAN
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo
McGill-Queen's University Press 1996
ISBN 0-7735-1434-1
Legal deposit third quarter 1996
Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
Printed in the United States on acid-free paper
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Program
Hanyan, Craig
De Witt Clinton and the rise of the People's men
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-1434-1
I. Clinton, DeWitt, 1769-1828. 2. New York
(State)—Politics and government—1775-1865.
3. Political parties—New York (State)— History.
I. Hanyan, Mary L. II. Title.
FI23.H35 1996 974.7'03'O92 096-900278-5
In Memory ofC.M. Van Bergen
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction: A Man, a Movement, and Methods 3
2 "His Story Is Told": A Politician in Retreat 21
3 The "First Fruits of the New Constitution": The Troubles of
the Party in Power 62
4 Towards a "Revolution in Public Opinion": The Clintonian
Contribution to an Opposition Position 88
5 "A More Temperate State of Things": The Emergence of an
Opposition Movement 117
6 "The Gordian Knot": Public Opinion and the Politics of
Legislative Blockage 149
7 "One Republic Not Ungrateful": The Shadow of Magistracy
Lengthens across Generations 181
8 "New York Is Now an Empire": The Utica Convention and
the Affirmation of Commerce 213
9 "Root Cried Yesterday": The Workings and Aftermath of
Victory 244
Appendix A Relationship Categories 289
viii Contents
Appendix B Tables 293
Notes 309
A Brief Note on Bibliographies 405
Index 407
MAPS
1 New York City in 1824 86
2 Political Features of New York State in November
1824 212
Acknowledgments
We wish to acknowledge the generous support of the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada, which, over many years,
has helped to defray the expense of our research. We also acknowledge
support from the President's Fund of Brock University, which contrib-
uted money towards a replacement for one course for one-half of an
academic year, enabling us to complete the first draft of this monograph.
From the outset we have sought to build a strong empirical dimension
into our work, and we are grateful to the many people who have enabled
us to gather and process evidence. Brock University's librarians and
technical staff have been consistently supportive of our work. Anne
Relic and the late Sylvia Osterbind with unflagging persistence sought
out a wide range of materials and brought them to us by interlibrary
loan; John Burniak has made the rare materials in our Special Col-
lections readily available. The technical expertise and efficiency of Karen
Bowder enabled us to make fuller and more efficient use of microfilm;
Tony Biernacki and Jim Ross stood ever ready to repair and refine
the photographic and microfilm equipment with which we have worked.
Peter Van Asten, Andrew Morgan, Kevin Dover, and Chris Hogg of
Brock's Computing and Communications Services have always been
available to solve technical problems and untangle snarled computer
programs. Brock students have lent their skills as research assistants;
we offer our thanks for the suggestions as well as the consistent efforts
of Denny Gilbert, Theresa Ossichuck, Beth Miller, and Linda
Moskejaer.