1824 –Brief letter that succinctly summarizes the death of the Democratic-Republican Party, which at the time was the most powerful political party in the United States
Washington DC: 1824. Envelope or Cover. This one-page stampless folded letter, measuring 7.75” x 6.5” and datelined “Washington 21. Feb 7. 24,” was sent by Maine Senator John Holmes in Washington, DC to Nathaniel Greene, editor of the Portland Statesman. It bears Holme’s “free frank,” a privilege due him as a senator. In nice shape with a piece missing that affects the word “Sir.”
In this letter Holmes writes:
“A bargain has been made Calhoun declines and assigns his interest to Genl Jackson and the people are to be transferred like flock of Sheep. “This will half us. The Republican Candidate will prevail. Mr. Adams has been shamefully duped & Clay has been out generaled. Jackson is to be the great Rival of Crawford. Let N. England go for Jackson and they will rue it.”
. Very good. Item #010753The party championed republicanism, personal liberty, equal rights, separation of church and state, freedom of religion, emancipation of religious minorities, decentralization, free markets, free trade, and agrarianism. In foreign policy, it was hostile to Great Britain and sympathetic to the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. The party became increasingly dominant after the 1800 elections as the Federalist Party began to collapse.
Its increasing dominance led to a factional split within the party. “Old Republicans,” believed that the administrations of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe—and the Congresses led by Henry Clay—had in some ways betrayed the republican principles by expanding the size and scope of the national government.
Since the Federalist Party had all but collapsed, the 1824 presidential election was waged by competing members of the Democratic-Republican Party, one calling themselves Democrat-Republicans and the other National Republicans. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, former Speaker of the House Henry Clay, Secretary of the Treasury William Crawford, and General Andrew Jackson emerged as the major candidates, the regional strength of each played an important role in the election; Adams was popular in New England, Clay and Jackson were strong in the West, and Jackson and Crawford competed for the South.
As no candidate won a majority of the electoral vote , the House of Representatives held a contingent election to determine the president. Clay personally disliked Adams but, nonetheless, supported him in the House election over Crawford, who opposed Clay's nationalist policies and also over Jackson, whom Clay viewed as a potential tyrant. With Clay's backing, Adams won the election. Later, when Clay accepted the appointment as Secretary of State, Jackson's supporters claimed that Adams and Clay had reached a "Corrupt Bargain" to determine the vote in the House. Jackson, who was deeply angered, returned to Tennessee, where the state legislature quickly nominated him for president in the 1828 election as a Democrat, while Adams, once more, represented the National Republican Party, which soon transitioned into the Whigs. (For more information, see Ratcliffe’s One-Party Presidential Contest: Adams, Jackson, & 1824's Five-Horse Race.
An important letter documenting the machinations that broke the Democratic-Republican Party in two. At the time of listing, nothing similar is for sale in the trade. The Rare Book Hub and ABSA show nothing similar has appeared at auction, and OCLC shows no similar institutional holdings.
.Price: $750.00