Partisan politics, 19th-century style: Connecting Morristown’s dots and dashes again

By Margret Brady

Partisan politics dominates the news today, just as it did during the time that George Vail served in the US Congress.

Vail was elected in 1854, in spite of his unpopular vote for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1853.

That vote was thought to have led to a split in the Democratic party. The 1812 Missouri compromise had drawn a line between the slave states and the free states with an equal number of states on each side.

Three years after George voted to repeal that law, the Supreme Court ruled that the original Compromise of 1812 was unconstitutional because it violated States rights.

George had resisted pressure from his father and many fellow Democrats and had the courage to honor his convictions when casting his vote. Soon our current Court will rule on similar cases.

George Vail’s genius and his skill in creating new forms of iron products led to the success of railroads, the telegraph, steamships and the cotton gin.

Products produced at the Ironworks also caused the Southern States to become more dependent on their slaves, as the demand for the products produced and transported as a result of George’s innovations increased.

Many Northerners also became quite wealthy as a result of this. Although George himself became a wealthy man, he remained quite modest and never flaunted his wealth or bragged about his accomplishments.

George’s son father, Stephen Vail, continued to support the Southern Democrats. They supported the compromise. Many area property owners owned slaves and they agreed with Stephen. Other Democrats, including Augustus W. Cutler and later, George Cobb supported George’s vote.

George Vail’s only election loss was in 1850, when his opponents claimed he was just a tinkerer, blacksmith and tradesman. They implied that he was no better qualified than the slaves and workmen who labored at his side.

He lost that campaign but went on to win again in 1852. The local Democrats had clearly split into two separate factions. As is so often the case, the political controversies in Morristown reflected events occurring nationwide.

By the 1852 Presidential election, both parties were in a state of disarray. There had been two Whig presidents since 1844. Both were former vice presidents, who replaced popular Generals who had died in office.

The Whigs again nominated a heroic General as their candidate. They chose Winfield Scott of New Jersey. Supporters of the incumbent president, Millard Fillmore, were furious.

The Democrats chose the relatively unknown Franklin Pierce. Five Whigs and eight Democrats had lost their bid for their party’s nomination.

The key issues were equal rights and discrimination. As voters split their votes among candidates from the new Free Soil, Union, Know Nothing, Southern Rights, and Liberty parties, Democrat Franklin Pierce won by a landslide.

Scott even lost NJ. The Whig party was soon replaced by the fledgling Republican Party. However, there would not be another Democratic victory until Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover in 1932.

What happens in New Jersey often reflects national events. Will history repeat itself again in 2016?

Margret Brady is a former councilwoman, a commissioner on the Morristown Parking Authority, and a local history buff.

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