* ° ° • aV^\» j 1 * <.y o ♦ ** % \ *<>•>.* A <* A <, **.. ry «1**^ *^0 41& c0 w * ♦ <£> (P i1'** •5*. VC 4 * ° v -T • ^ : vo^ ; '. ^ O4 .‘. : -ov^ • Ov *7^U1Y^S^» ' ^ « <Z%zfiiiyr ■** v»’,4° ^y* * tb^ iiy^^s>sj~ iT° y°^ ^ f, v v 1 V '*•>»»’* / ^ ‘*.,,•** ^ o° % ■•** ^ O aV 1 * o » V # • ♦ > ^vV V « ^ r\ . \ | • • ►. ■£*. /iV »*AA*. A «,v 4>. v*«jaT*_ A & *jxa> ! '„ ' ^ P * * ^V s * - ° O’. * - * 4? & a , ,* ^ ^ • 4 <y ^ * ** A" ^ Vq4%MAjfer,%~ ^y >r»i>. *■ 1 <v o. *<T. *« A <. *7777* A* '<>*» 0cM4 C° *%£&. °o f °° o V » *• „ ^Ovt a h\ a,4- °o *-.,o A «3> %. '**T.0* ,o° ^ \> *l!nL'* ^cTj. .0r .<*«*.*i*«* > V* ^ <<T * * *0 •. ^ ^ /dfc*-- ^v> .Ap^ ^V>kV ^ a* % > 1, vv ® sS'ty * v^v ^ v <A V • « <* aV«*. - * <3> o * 4A <£* * A*- * fcT ^" 4 * ** ^ ’ ^ , a<s6 ^ <* *7T.* <0' <i><i, -..»* A y. *-TT. *6 / ^ nA ^ c °o A5" .'J^V % 0 ^ "V &° 0 w4, • ; ^o4 :" * -o" /‘ » 4°, v v-^'./ \W/K\W • ♦ : ^ v Vv\Al8& /\ \ y 0.A • _rS^v ,.0 A - * O ^ *•<’*’ A4- °<u *•■• a° y *•!'• ^ o, * <?■ vs . 1!.” >, ^c\ .<)■ ,*»o» ^ A ,»••» 'c' o A «. ’• ^ ,<v .W/k‘* .A ‘ “ %■<$■ « ^vP9' .'Ml/A'o 0 <V* v^r>, 0 * aV«^> j A o 4 4)? 0 »* <lV 0 * . * -u—-4 .Av * • * * Avr ^ ' * • * «0 AV <* *^77- A4 .»JA!v *% ,0* ,••■'*•., -O "oV oV^r\°,: v *b ■ ;i ^ j ,4 Oft • J-0^ V b •^mt <? *\ ’:Wf- /' "*«, -»®i:f. *•”% •:«pp a ' *• C''t* A *.V .A^,^>!i*.«» *'^■&. .«,v * ^ A*5 »!r.*s%.<* ^..-.^ Ay. v * 0 ® ^ A* * •: • * J'V ® * ^V * * aV«* -. .» # ^ • : <$?>\, \ ♦ ^ ^ • »° A4 % °o ' V % ' .c? %>'•?•-*' a>a '’%* *'7r** -0v to, "o •» ,04 ^o, A>Av .---,© ** «, \p Av „«, / * A ^ V *P_ rV A„/y^2.,-r U0 . ^04 ;£m^~ *0^ ° ^ 4* A o. • iVJ v% * ' 4 O• • : °^ v •«<* y % vOf ■*. <C^yy/fS^ff > 4.' »<v * J* O y > A V ^ * • » 0 •' o’ % -W.--'^ \ • 0.0 V“ V Al V . Y * 4 js^d 'Zfov vp. A v o A ^ :v * j •,\ ,»v'..Siiv*-X A.- \ •x • , ,; • '^0/ * • a ^ ; v^ :> ?: ^ * * aV^> r * A^ ^ » I * 4A v4 o ► * ^ ^ ° * ^^w'» . V ^ # 4 _«A ^ * 4 ^ ^ 7 (0 r^o. '<r. 7 * A ^ 'TV** A• > o, V,*»_ 7i *a Aa >. ,V , 11 • „ % ... V ^ 0 0 “ • ♦ vP A4 t*fc'1 ^o •* O A^& . a> *y» V * O .4^'' “ ^ # . ** ^.0. A-5a o' • # 0 > . *. ^ o4 v ^0/ : I ' “ * 40 *7*. »• • 4 0. * rs 1 ^ ^ aOv Ai#£' ^ * ^ A ♦ * ^ <£ ♦ A^£/h,°0 ^ ^V:SK* •’ *: •* r “ “//A° \ •^R*\^ -.W /\ :3!W; • o *o • k * A ♦r5vf* <6^ *0, '«* * * A <V ' * ♦ O AV o 0 * * + <^x 0^ • 1 1 ® ♦ V^0 ,J*4. ^ * ° <r «VSS^* v, . G ♦Wg** ° .4* ^ c’ * v k ^rxfwi^' Av c£* * * O’ v* «*^\ fffcjr« /tV 'O* •vfc^>i'r4 7 *v> 'fv** «Cr c> *o, A* A <<* ♦>£•• *••?* A * a ♦ <^a> 0^ •t' * * ^b v&- * * * ** rv^ «, u»* * '■^rt V^ C *V//Z%2L* ° aT* "CyK C >* ^ <j* • ^ ^ * s^W/vy^^ \j> .47 «* *^6. <i * Jz{\l//yy5> * <.<<> -V* ->_ -of <X* tC* •‘^UR^sS.'1’0 3k.v 'O, ’_ '“^I^ZTHT^W v. /T> X<S » ^ o > >° t ^ '’" A? v' o* *•••* a° V * V **1^+ 'cv Av **#°* ♦> v *£. A*' * A; \S #k %s ; » * •* A on/ ij&AYr * x V v*. • ijr^jHijjrry, * s'? y.A, 0 ck • _ V V* +**%&$$'% A' • *s 2i ■ 4/ V ^v •« ^ff/TSLSer 4 /> *•• *• <* ^ jr %, aa <, A+ ' *♦ O 6 °w * ♦ Cr • w * * * o <A 6 oM * ^ <$■v f\> ^ fc ^ C° ♦>^>% -J A ,'kw.4* V’ ..0° V *‘ *. -^o? :§!m&- -of • * ^ ox * 5 °x, * iV *■ * A ^ * *-viiu\\-^ \ ? &j. * <=£ZoyIl}*rv A ^ Av *'1_ A' ***#4 A0 ^ ^ * w • <P *5 / 'V -. vaKi>‘ « <* > <. '^f*’ A \ ^ *4V?** A * * ^ 4> ^ 0^ »* *^b -7^^ * 0 " ° 4 <, ^ 04 t * *•' • -» ^ c Cv ; ^O4 ■’o f ,° * •*b f i4 « f -. °^^#-09 A0 "V 4'^’ ... * A ^ ‘1 vv t»^ ° A * • % Jr .’. : j'V * AV^ - • t'&V o * & % * >* a ^ *• A <*. *'77.* <0 ^ ^ •»* A <x .vT* av A. o°M a * *1 ' •« ^o <& o0 w a ♦ C)1^ i * - v C tmlflfoi? ° C / *bv* 4 9a &' -W® a ■ rt* - XV/////I n#' ■• v." 'rv* - |l\\V^C\ v* i? *^c£* ^^><///l\\'^ h ■«»’ vv> » «*- ft 0 •'/ X^''/ v^*/ \*^v -5T *’ 4> c\ Ar ft’*«- ^ vs t « «f. # ' •, \ w • J'‘j- °« w : i «• aV*\ > • * V J •% °. * ^ ^ • ♦* ^ d. 4 4 <*^ ^vTT1 *0^ o, "o. * - A <. ♦77V** <GV O, #o. * • A ^ * »•' * ^ *^o A^ o° " ° + r^ • 1' * ♦ *^o ** 0U ♦ O a*o *jrf5^W^- (j ^ ^ • ^ « ?xm>-'. -.7 «v^v. ^ •'- ^-o4 .'^^o- ,n> ° >5°^ 1 ■ & %. "*.V»* ^0° X *"'’ <?’ V .*V "♦ crv .9^ .»•«. O v' .• •„ ^ %< ^ / ^C,’ °*^C^44 47 ^ ^ °ft rA . Tennessee, the Compromise of 1850, and the Nashville Convention BY ST. GEORGE L. SIOUSSAT Reprinted from the Mississippi Valley Historical Review Vol. II, December, 1915 £■•« 3 «. V . TENNESSEE, THE COMPROMISE OF 1850, AND THE NASHVILLE CONVENTION Upon the expiration of the long drawn-out congressional day of March 3, 1849, James K. Polk, the retiring president of the United States, spent Sunday, March 4, as quietly as possible. Having attended the First Presbyterian church, he parted af¬ fectionately with those in whose midst he had worshiped dur¬ ing the four years of his presidency. The following day, after the ceremonies of the inauguration of President Taylor had been concluded, Polk, accompanied by a considerable party, departed from Washington to travel, by a circuitous route, to his home in Tennessee. On April 2 he reached Nashville and found there a great concourse of people assembled to greet him. Though ex¬ hausted by his journey and not yet recovered from an illness which had attacked him some days before, he was obliged to drive with Aaron V. Brown,1 his long time associate and political friend, to the public square, to hear a speech and to make one. The next day he rode with Mrs. Polk to inspect a new house which he intended to be his future residence. Later in the same week he visited Columbia, to see his aged mother. On the six¬ teenth the party returned to Nashville, spending the night at the i Representative from Tennessee in the twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, and twenty- eighth congresses: elected governor of Tennessee in 1845, and defeated for reelection in 1847 by Neil S. Brown. He is said to have been responsible for the democratic platform of 1852. In 1857 he was appointed postmaster general by Buchanan, and died in office. He was a facile speaker and writer, and some of his productions were gathered together in a volume entitled Speeches, congressional and political, and other writings of Ex-Governor Aaron V. Brown of Tennessee . (Nashville, 1854). Gilt Author A AUG ic 314 St. George L. Sioussat M. V. H. R. house of Aaron V. Brown. After chronicling other visits and matters of minor importance, the diary, so carefully kept by Polk, closes with an entry for June 2, 1849. Two weeks later Polk had passed away, having been granted no time to enjoy the “library of books’’ which he had found pleasure in arrang¬ ing in the new house.2 When the diarist had completed his notes for the last days of his presidential term, he did not undertake further entries of a political nature. No word of comment is found upon the course of the new administration in Washington, or upon the political campaign for which the parties in Tennessee were preparing, though both matters must have recalled to Polk the experiences which he had met in his long political career. As in his own case four years before, the presidential appointments to executive office were the subject of criticism, both from the opposition party and from the friends of the administration. The whigs confined their misgivings to private correspondence: the demo¬ cratic complaints filled the newspapers.3 In this year the people were to elect a governor, members of the assembly, and repre¬ sentatives in congress. In April, according to the custom of Tennessee, were held the party conventions; in August followed the election; in October the assembly met; in November members of congress departed for Washington. Between May and Au¬ gust the candidates engaged in joint debate in every section of 2 J. K. Polk,, The diary of James K. Polk, during his presidency 1845 to 1849, edited by M. M. Quaife (Chicago, 1910), 4: 372 et seq. 3 ‘1 The appointments that have been made in Tennessee have not given satisfac¬ tion.William B. Campbell to David Campbell of Virginia, May 14, 1849. Manu¬ script belonging to Mr. Lemuel R. Campbell of Nashville. This is one of a large number of letters written by William B. Campbell, one of the most prominent of the whigs in Tennessee, to his uncle, Governor David Campbell of Virginia. For the use of this correspondence I am under obligation to Mr. L. R. Campbell. On the democratic side, besides the newspapers of that party, passim, there is an interesting comparison by Cave Johnson of the appointments made by the new ad¬ ministration with those of his own making as postmaster general under Polk, in letters written by Johnson, on his return to his home in Clarksville, Tennessee, to James Buchanan, June 17 and August 12, 1849. These letters are taken from a large num¬ ber written by Johnson to Buchanan which are among the Buchanan manuscripts in the possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society which has kindly consented to their use. The collection will hereafter be cited as Johnson-Buchanan letters. Cave Johnson, it should be stated, was a devoted adherent of Buchanan and sought to bring about his nomination for the presidency. Vol. II, No. 3 The Nashville Convention 315 the state “from Carter to Shelby,’’ to the peril of their health, but to the delight of the crowds who preferred to hear political topics discussed in a duel between orators rather than to read political essays in the newspapers.