Difference between revisions of "Lewis Cass" - New World Encyclopedia
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'''Lewis Cass''' (October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was an [[United States|American]] military officer and politician. He was the nominee of the Democratic Party for [[President of the United States]] in 1848. His political agenda can be described as having endorsed a Jeffersonian political philosophy. Some of the principles reflecting the motivations behind his political actions include: the belief in individual liberty, popular sovereignty, equality of rights and opportunities for all citizens, and a strictly construed and balanced constitutional government of limited powers. | '''Lewis Cass''' (October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was an [[United States|American]] military officer and politician. He was the nominee of the Democratic Party for [[President of the United States]] in 1848. His political agenda can be described as having endorsed a Jeffersonian political philosophy. Some of the principles reflecting the motivations behind his political actions include: the belief in individual liberty, popular sovereignty, equality of rights and opportunities for all citizens, and a strictly construed and balanced constitutional government of limited powers. | ||
| − | ==Early | + | ==Early life== |
| − | Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, New Hampshire on October 9, 1782, to Jonathan and Mary Gilman Cass. The oldest of six children, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy (PEA), a boarding school established in 1781. | + | Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, New Hampshire on October 9, 1782, to Jonathan and Mary Gilman Cass. The oldest of six children, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy (PEA), a boarding school established in 1781. |
| − | + | Cass moved with his parents to Wilmington, Delaware, in 1799. He briefly earned a living as a schoolteacher, before moving to the Northwest Territory in 1801. There he purchased a farm near Zanesville, Ohio, before giving up life as a farmer to pursue a legal career. | |
| − | + | ==Political career== | |
| + | In 1806 Cass was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. He became a member of the Ohio House committee leading the investigation on the Burr conspiracy. Three years later, in 1809, he was selected to become a defense counselor in the trial for Ohio Supreme Court Justice George Tod. | ||
| − | + | Cass also served as a United States marshal for the Ohio district from 1807 to 1812, when he resigned as U.S. to enlist in the United States Army in the War of 1812. | |
| + | |||
| + | Serving as a colonel under General William Hull, he was present when Hull surrendered Detroit in 1812. Cass quickly moved through the ranks, serving as brigadier general by the time he fought at the battle of the Thames in 1813. As a reward for his service in the war, he was appointed Governor of the Michigan Territory by President [[James Madison]] on October 29, 1813, and served until 1831. | ||
[[Image:Buchanan Cabinet.jpg|thumb|left|300px|''President Buchanan and his Cabinet''<br/>From left to right: Jacob Thompson, Lewis Cass, John B. Floyd, [[James Buchanan]], Howell Cobb, Isaac Toucey, Joseph Holt and Jeremiah S. Black, (c. 1859)]] | [[Image:Buchanan Cabinet.jpg|thumb|left|300px|''President Buchanan and his Cabinet''<br/>From left to right: Jacob Thompson, Lewis Cass, John B. Floyd, [[James Buchanan]], Howell Cobb, Isaac Toucey, Joseph Holt and Jeremiah S. Black, (c. 1859)]] | ||
| − | + | A frequently absent governor, several territorial secretaries often served as acting governor in Cass's place. In 1820, Cass led an [[Lewis_Cass#Cass_Lake|expedition]] to the northern part of the territory in search of the source of the [[Mississippi River]]. | |
| − | Along with John Forsyth, Theodore Frelinghuysen, and John Ross, Cass used strongly opinionated writings to influence a large portion of the public towards support of Indian removal, formally enacted in 1830 | + | |
| + | Along with John Forsyth, Theodore Frelinghuysen, and John Ross, Cass used strongly opinionated writings to influence a large portion of the public towards support of [[Lewis_Cass#American_Indian_Policy|Indian removal]], formally enacted in 1830 under the Jackson administration. | ||
| − | On August 1, 1831, Cass resigned as governor of the Michigan Territory to take the post of Secretary of War under President [[Andrew Jackson]], serving until 1836 | + | On August 1, 1831, Cass resigned as governor of the Michigan Territory to take the post of Secretary of War under President [[Andrew Jackson]], serving until 1836. |
| − | + | From 1836 to 1842, he was ambassador to France. | |
| − | + | Cass represented Michigan in the United States Senate from 1845 to 1848. He served as chairman of the [Committee on Military Affairs in the 30th United States Congress. In 1848, he resigned from the Senate to [[Lewis_Cass#Presidential_candidacy|run for President]]. | |
| − | |||
From 1857 to 1860, Cass served as Secretary of State under President [[James Buchanan]]. He resigned on December 13, 1860, reportedly disgusted by Buchanan's failure to pursue a stronger policy that might have averted the threatened secession of southern states. | From 1857 to 1860, Cass served as Secretary of State under President [[James Buchanan]]. He resigned on December 13, 1860, reportedly disgusted by Buchanan's failure to pursue a stronger policy that might have averted the threatened secession of southern states. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Cass Lake== | ||
| + | In 1820, Cass led an expedition to the northern part of the territory. He traversed the northern [[Great Lakes]] region (present-day northern Minnesota) in an attempt to map the region and discover the source of the [[Mississippi River]]. The source of the river had been unknown until then, resulting in an undefined border between the United States and [[United Kingdom|Britain]]. The expedition erroneously identified Cass Lake as the source of the river. The source of the river was correctly identified in 1832 by Henry Schoolcraft, who had been Cass's expedition geologist, as nearby Lake Itasca. | ||
==American Indian Policy== | ==American Indian Policy== | ||
| − | + | Cass was a central figure in formulating and implementing the Indian Removal policy of the Jackson administration. Along with John Forsyth, Theodore Frelinghuysen, and John Ross, Lewis Cass used strongly opinionated writings to influence a large portion of the public towards support of Indian removal, formally enacted in 1830; in particular, Cass wrote about his experiences with America's unwritten removal policy and his engagements with the Indians to date. A leading authority on the languages and cultures of the northern tribes, he argued that Indian emigration was necessary in order for them to survive and civilize without extreme pressure from Americans living near and among them. | |
| + | |||
| + | The following quote from Cass' ''Considerations on the Present State of the Indians and their Removal to the West of the Mississppi'' demonstrates the concerns he held towards the conservation of the American Indian population amidst all the factors that contributed to their decline: | ||
| + | <blockquote>As we shall attempt eventually to prove, that the only means of preserving the Indians from that utter extinction which threatens them, is to remove them from the sphere of influence, we are desirous of showing, that no change has occurred, or probably can occur, in the principles of practice of our intercourse with them, by which the progress of their declension can be arrested, so long as they occupy their present situation.</blockquote><ref>Lewis Cass, ''Considerations on the Present State of the Indians and their Removal to the West of the Mississippi'' (Arno Press., 1975 [[ISBN 0405068581]])</ref> | ||
| − | + | ==Presidential candidacy== | |
| + | By 1848, Cass had become one of the most well-known citizens of the United States. He supported the annexation of Texas. He was also a leading supporter of the Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty, which held that the people who lived in a territory should decide whether or not to permit [[slavery]] there. Hoping that this view would be attractive to a large number of Americans, the Democratic party selected him to be its candidate for President. | ||
| − | + | [[Image:Cass Butler campaign.jpg|thumb|right|270px|Cass/Butler campaign poster]] | |
| − | == | + | |
| − | He died | + | |
| + | Cass's nomination for presidency caused a split in the Democratic party, leading many antislavery Democrats to join the Free Soil Party. Although some supported his position on popular sovereignty, many others feared that it was too vague. If either the North or the South gain more power than the other in the senate, a bill could potentially be passed that would either outlaw slavery or make it legal everywhere. Cass's position had the potential to disrupt this carefully held balance between the North and South that had been in place for the past 30 years. Largely for this reason, Cass did not win the election. | ||
| + | |||
| + | After losing to [[Zachary Taylor]], a hero from the Mexican War, Cass returned to Michigan and to the Senate, serving from 1849 to 1857. He served as President James Buchanan's Secretary of State for the next three years. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Later life== | ||
| + | Cass resigned from Secretary of State in 1860 and retired to Detroit. He died there on June 17, 1866, and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan. | ||
| + | ==Legacy== | ||
A statue of Cass is one of the two that was submitted by Michigan to the National Statuary Hall collection in the [[U.S. Capitol]] in Washington, D.C. It stands in the National Statuary Hall room. (The other statue is of Zachariah Chandler, which is in the Hall of Columns.) | A statue of Cass is one of the two that was submitted by Michigan to the National Statuary Hall collection in the [[U.S. Capitol]] in Washington, D.C. It stands in the National Statuary Hall room. (The other statue is of Zachariah Chandler, which is in the Hall of Columns.) | ||
| + | |||
| + | In 1948 the Detroit Historical Society of Michigan reinstated their lecture series and named it in honor of Lewis Cass who was Governor of the Michigan Territory and one of the founders of the Detroit Historical Society Guild. The purpose of these lectures was to present a discussion on an aspect of Michigan’s history. The lecture was presented by Francis Paul Prucha and was titled ''Lewis Cass and American Indian Policy''. Prucha focused his discussion on how Cass successfully prevented the complete collapse of American Indian relations with the United States and described him as an "enlightened man of his times, and there was in him a strong, sincere, and persistent streak of humanitarianism."<ref>Francis Paul Prucha, ''Lewis Cass and American Indian Policy'' (Wayne State University Press., 1967 [[OCLC 1493415]]) 8.</ref> | ||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
| Line 67: | Line 86: | ||
2. Klunder, Willard Carl. 1996. ‘’Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation’’. The Kent State University Press. | 2. Klunder, Willard Carl. 1996. ‘’Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation’’. The Kent State University Press. | ||
| − | 3. Prucha, Francis Paul. 1967. ''Lewis Cass and American Indian Policy''. Wayne State University Press. | + | |
| + | 3. Ohio History Central Online Encyclopedia. 2007. [http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=95] ''Lewis Cass''. Retrieved May 30, 2007. | ||
| + | |||
| + | 4. Prucha, Francis Paul. 1967. ''Lewis Cass and American Indian Policy''. Wayne State University Press. | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 20:57, 30 May 2007
| Lewis Cass | |
 | |
14th United States Secretary of War
| |
| In office August 1, 1831 – October 5, 1836 | |
| Preceded by | John Henry Eaton |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Joel Roberts Poinsett |
22nd United States Secretary of State
| |
| In office March 6, 1857 – December 14, 1860 | |
| Preceded by | William L. Marcy |
| Succeeded by | Jeremiah S. Black |
| Born | October 9, 1782 Exeter, New Hampshire, United States |
| Died | June 17,1866 Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Eliza Spencer Cass |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was an American military officer and politician. He was the nominee of the Democratic Party for President of the United States in 1848. His political agenda can be described as having endorsed a Jeffersonian political philosophy. Some of the principles reflecting the motivations behind his political actions include: the belief in individual liberty, popular sovereignty, equality of rights and opportunities for all citizens, and a strictly construed and balanced constitutional government of limited powers.
Early life
Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, New Hampshire on October 9, 1782, to Jonathan and Mary Gilman Cass. The oldest of six children, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy (PEA), a boarding school established in 1781.
Cass moved with his parents to Wilmington, Delaware, in 1799. He briefly earned a living as a schoolteacher, before moving to the Northwest Territory in 1801. There he purchased a farm near Zanesville, Ohio, before giving up life as a farmer to pursue a legal career.
Political career
In 1806 Cass was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. He became a member of the Ohio House committee leading the investigation on the Burr conspiracy. Three years later, in 1809, he was selected to become a defense counselor in the trial for Ohio Supreme Court Justice George Tod.
Cass also served as a United States marshal for the Ohio district from 1807 to 1812, when he resigned as U.S. to enlist in the United States Army in the War of 1812.
Serving as a colonel under General William Hull, he was present when Hull surrendered Detroit in 1812. Cass quickly moved through the ranks, serving as brigadier general by the time he fought at the battle of the Thames in 1813. As a reward for his service in the war, he was appointed Governor of the Michigan Territory by President James Madison on October 29, 1813, and served until 1831.
From left to right: Jacob Thompson, Lewis Cass, John B. Floyd, James Buchanan, Howell Cobb, Isaac Toucey, Joseph Holt and Jeremiah S. Black, (c. 1859)
A frequently absent governor, several territorial secretaries often served as acting governor in Cass's place. In 1820, Cass led an expedition to the northern part of the territory in search of the source of the Mississippi River.
Along with John Forsyth, Theodore Frelinghuysen, and John Ross, Cass used strongly opinionated writings to influence a large portion of the public towards support of Indian removal, formally enacted in 1830 under the Jackson administration.
On August 1, 1831, Cass resigned as governor of the Michigan Territory to take the post of Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, serving until 1836.
From 1836 to 1842, he was ambassador to France.
Cass represented Michigan in the United States Senate from 1845 to 1848. He served as chairman of the [Committee on Military Affairs in the 30th United States Congress. In 1848, he resigned from the Senate to run for President.
From 1857 to 1860, Cass served as Secretary of State under President James Buchanan. He resigned on December 13, 1860, reportedly disgusted by Buchanan's failure to pursue a stronger policy that might have averted the threatened secession of southern states.
Cass Lake
In 1820, Cass led an expedition to the northern part of the territory. He traversed the northern Great Lakes region (present-day northern Minnesota) in an attempt to map the region and discover the source of the Mississippi River. The source of the river had been unknown until then, resulting in an undefined border between the United States and Britain. The expedition erroneously identified Cass Lake as the source of the river. The source of the river was correctly identified in 1832 by Henry Schoolcraft, who had been Cass's expedition geologist, as nearby Lake Itasca.
American Indian Policy
Cass was a central figure in formulating and implementing the Indian Removal policy of the Jackson administration. Along with John Forsyth, Theodore Frelinghuysen, and John Ross, Lewis Cass used strongly opinionated writings to influence a large portion of the public towards support of Indian removal, formally enacted in 1830; in particular, Cass wrote about his experiences with America's unwritten removal policy and his engagements with the Indians to date. A leading authority on the languages and cultures of the northern tribes, he argued that Indian emigration was necessary in order for them to survive and civilize without extreme pressure from Americans living near and among them.
The following quote from Cass' Considerations on the Present State of the Indians and their Removal to the West of the Mississppi demonstrates the concerns he held towards the conservation of the American Indian population amidst all the factors that contributed to their decline:
As we shall attempt eventually to prove, that the only means of preserving the Indians from that utter extinction which threatens them, is to remove them from the sphere of influence, we are desirous of showing, that no change has occurred, or probably can occur, in the principles of practice of our intercourse with them, by which the progress of their declension can be arrested, so long as they occupy their present situation.
Presidential candidacy
By 1848, Cass had become one of the most well-known citizens of the United States. He supported the annexation of Texas. He was also a leading supporter of the Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty, which held that the people who lived in a territory should decide whether or not to permit slavery there. Hoping that this view would be attractive to a large number of Americans, the Democratic party selected him to be its candidate for President.
Cass's nomination for presidency caused a split in the Democratic party, leading many antislavery Democrats to join the Free Soil Party. Although some supported his position on popular sovereignty, many others feared that it was too vague. If either the North or the South gain more power than the other in the senate, a bill could potentially be passed that would either outlaw slavery or make it legal everywhere. Cass's position had the potential to disrupt this carefully held balance between the North and South that had been in place for the past 30 years. Largely for this reason, Cass did not win the election.
After losing to Zachary Taylor, a hero from the Mexican War, Cass returned to Michigan and to the Senate, serving from 1849 to 1857. He served as President James Buchanan's Secretary of State for the next three years.
Later life
Cass resigned from Secretary of State in 1860 and retired to Detroit. He died there on June 17, 1866, and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.
Legacy
A statue of Cass is one of the two that was submitted by Michigan to the National Statuary Hall collection in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. It stands in the National Statuary Hall room. (The other statue is of Zachariah Chandler, which is in the Hall of Columns.)
In 1948 the Detroit Historical Society of Michigan reinstated their lecture series and named it in honor of Lewis Cass who was Governor of the Michigan Territory and one of the founders of the Detroit Historical Society Guild. The purpose of these lectures was to present a discussion on an aspect of Michigan’s history. The lecture was presented by Francis Paul Prucha and was titled Lewis Cass and American Indian Policy. Prucha focused his discussion on how Cass successfully prevented the complete collapse of American Indian relations with the United States and described him as an "enlightened man of his times, and there was in him a strong, sincere, and persistent streak of humanitarianism."[2]
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
1. Cass, Lewis. 1975. Considerations on the Present State of the Indians and their Removal to the West of the Mississippi. Arno Press.
2. Klunder, Willard Carl. 1996. ‘’Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation’’. The Kent State University Press.
3. Ohio History Central Online Encyclopedia. 2007. [1] Lewis Cass. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
4. Prucha, Francis Paul. 1967. Lewis Cass and American Indian Policy. Wayne State University Press.
External links
| Preceded by: William Hull |
Territoral Governor of Michigan 1813 – 1831 |
Succeeded by: George Bryan Porter |
| Preceded by: John Henry Eaton |
United States Secretary of War August 1, 1831 – October 5, 1836 |
Succeeded by: Joel Roberts Poinsett |
| Preceded by: Edward Livingston |
U.S. Ambassador to France October 4, 1836 – November 12, 1842 |
Succeeded by: William R. King |
| Preceded by: Augustus S. Porter |
United States Senator from Michigan March 4, 1845 – May 29, 1848 (alongside William Woodbridge and Alpheus Felch) |
Succeeded by: Thomas Fitzgerald |
| Preceded by: James K. Polk |
Democratic Party presidential candidate 1848 (lost) |
Succeeded by: Franklin Pierce |
| Preceded by: Thomas Fitzgerald |
United States Senator from Michigan January 20, 1849 – March 3, 1857 (alongside Alpheus Felch and Charles E. Stuart) |
Succeeded by: Zachariah Chandler |
| Preceded by: David Rice Atchison |
President pro tempore of the United States Senate December 4, 1854 |
Succeeded by: Jesse D. Bright |
| Preceded by: William L. Marcy |
United States Secretary of State March 6, 1857 – December 14, 1860 |
Succeeded by: Jeremiah S. Black |
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