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Richard Mentor Johnson

Richard Mentor Johnson (October 17, 1780[a] – November 19, 1850) was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the ninth vice president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren. He is the only vice president elected by the United States Senate under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment. Johnson also represented Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. He began and ended his political career in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Richard Mentor Johnson
Portrait c. 1843
9th Vice President of the United States
In office
March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841
PresidentMartin Van Buren
Preceded byMartin Van Buren
Succeeded byJohn Tyler
United States Senator
from Kentucky
In office
December 10, 1819 – March 3, 1829
Preceded byJohn J. Crittenden
Succeeded byGeorge M. Bibb
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky
In office
March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1837
Preceded byRobert L. McHatton
Succeeded byWilliam W. Southgate
Constituency13th district (1833–1837)
5th district (1829–1833)
In office
March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1819
Preceded byThomas Sandford
Succeeded byWilliam Brown
Constituency4th district (1807–1813)
3rd district (1813–1819)
Member of the
Kentucky House of Representatives
In office
November 5, 1850 – November 19, 1850
In office
December 30, 1841 – December 29, 1843
In office
November 6, 1804 – November 4, 1806
Personal details
Born(1780-10-17)October 17, 1780
Beargrass, Virginia (present-day Louisville, Kentucky), U.S.
DiedNovember 19, 1850(1850-11-19) (aged 70)
Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S.
Resting placeFrankfort Cemetery
38°11′52.2″N 84°52′01.8″W / 38.197833°N 84.867167°W / 38.197833; -84.867167
Political partyDemocratic-Republican (before 1828)
Democratic (after 1828)
SpouseJulia Chinn (1790–1833) (common law marriage)
Children2
RelativesConway-Johnson family
EducationTransylvania University
Signature
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Volunteers
Years of service1812–1814
RankColonel
Battles/wars

After two years in the Kentucky House, Johnson was elected to the U.S. House in 1806. He became allied with fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay as a member of the War Hawks faction that favored war with Britain in 1812. At the outset of the War of 1812, Johnson was commissioned a colonel in the Kentucky Militia and commanded a regiment of mounted volunteers from 1812 to 1813. He and his brother James served under William Henry Harrison in Upper Canada. Johnson led troops in the Battle of the Thames. Many reported that he personally killed the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, a claim that he later used to his political advantage.

After the war, Johnson returned to the House of Representatives. The state legislature appointed him to the Senate in 1819 to fill the seat vacated by John J. Crittenden. With his increasing prominence, Johnson was criticized for his interracial relationship with Julia Chinn, a mixed-race slave who was classified as octoroon (or seven-eighths white). Unlike other upper-class planters and leaders who had African-American mistresses or concubines, but never acknowledged them, Johnson treated Chinn as his common law wife. He acknowledged their two daughters as his children, giving them his surname, much to the consternation of some of his constituents. It is believed that because of this, the state legislature picked another candidate for the Senate in 1828, forcing Johnson to leave in 1829, but his Congressional district voted for him and returned him to the House the same year.

In 1836, Johnson was the Democratic nominee for vice-president on a ticket with Martin Van Buren. Campaigning with the slogan "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh", Johnson fell one short of the electoral votes needed to secure his election. Virginia's delegation to the Electoral College refused to endorse Johnson, voting instead for William Smith of South Carolina.[1][2] The Senate elected him to the vice-presidential office. Johnson proved such a liability for the Democrats in the 1836 election that they refused to renominate him for vice president in 1840. Van Buren campaigned for reelection without a running mate. He lost to William Henry Harrison, a Whig. Johnson then served two more years in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He tried to return to higher office but was defeated. He finally was elected to the Kentucky House in 1850, but died on November 19, 1850, just two weeks into his term.

Early life and education edit

Richard Mentor Johnson was born in the settlement of Beargrass on the Kentucky frontier (present-day Louisville) on October 17, 1780, the fifth of Robert and Jemima (Suggett) Johnson's 11 children, and the second of eight sons. His brothers John and Henry Johnson survived him.[3] His parents married in 1770. Robert Johnson purchased land in what is now Kentucky, but was then part of Virginia, from Patrick Henry and from James Madison.[4] He had worked as a surveyor and was able to pick out good land. His wife Jemima Suggett "came from a wealthy and politically connected family."[5]

 
The women of Bryan's Station draw water while the enemy looks on

About the time of Richard's birth, the family moved to Bryan's Station, near present-day Lexington in the Bluegrass Region. This was a fortified outpost, as there was much Native American resistance to white settlement.[6] The Shawnee and Cherokee hunted in this area. Jemima Johnson was remembered as among the community's heroic women because of what was told of her actions during Simon Girty's raid on Bryan's Station in August 1782.[7] According to later reports, with Indian warriors hidden in the nearby woods and the community short on water, she led the women to a nearby spring, and the attackers allowed them to return to the fort with the water. Having the water helped the settlers beat off an attack made with flaming arrows. At the time, Robert Johnson was serving in the legislature in Richmond, Virginia, as he had been elected to represent Fayette County.[8] (Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792.)

Beginning in 1783, Kentucky was considered safe enough that settlers began to leave the fortified stations to establish farms. The Johnsons settled on the land Robert had purchased at Great Crossing.[9] As a surveyor, he became successful through well-chosen land purchases and being in the region when he could take advantage of huge land grants.[3][10]

According to Miles Smith's doctoral thesis, "Richard developed a cheery disposition and seems to have been a generally happy and content child".[11] Richard lived on the family plantation until he was 16. In 1796, he was sent briefly to a local grammar school, and then attended Transylvania University, the first college west of the Appalachian Mountains. While at the Lexington college, where his father was a trustee, he read law as a legal apprentice with George Nicholas and James Brown, later a US Senator.[12]

Career edit

Johnson was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1802,[12] and opened his law office at Great Crossing.[13] Later, he owned a retail store as a merchant and pursued a number of business ventures with his brothers.[14] Johnson often worked pro bono for poor people, prosecuting their cases when they had merit.[15] He also opened his home to disabled veterans, widows, and orphans.[14] Johnson also became a prominent Freemason, and in the late 1830s was part of a Masonic organization, the Hunters Lodge, that unsuccessfully planned an invasion of Canada to overthrow the British government there and establish a provisional American administration.[16]

Marriage and family edit

Family tradition holds that Johnson broke off an early marital engagement when he was about sixteen because of his mother's disapproval.[14] Purportedly Johnson vowed revenge for his mother's interference. His former fiancée later gave birth to his daughter, named Celia, who was raised by the Johnson family. Celia Johnson later married Wesley Fancher, one of the men who served in Johnson's regiment at the Battle of the Thames.

After his father died, Richard Johnson inherited Julia Chinn, an octoroon mixed-race woman (seven-eighths European and one-eighth African in ancestry), who was born into slavery around 1790. She had grown up in the Johnson household, where her mother served.[17][18] Julia Chinn was the daughter of Benjamin Chinn,[19] who was living in Malden, Upper Canada, or London, Canada, and a sister of Daniel Chinn. An 1845 letter from Newton Craig, Keeper of the Penitentiary in Frankfort, Kentucky, to Daniel Chinn, mentions another brother of Julia Chinn named Marcellus, who accompanied Col. Johnson on his first electioneering tour for vice-presidency. Marcellus left Col. Johnson in New York, whereupon Col. Johnson tried to find Marcellus' whereabouts from Arthur Tappan, Esq.[20][21]

Though Chinn was legally Johnson's concubine, he began a long-term relationship with her, and treated her as his common-law wife, which was legal in Kentucky at the time. They had two daughters together and she later became manager of his plantation.[22] Both Johnson and Chinn championed the "notion of a diverse society" by their multi-racial, predominately white family. They were prohibited from marrying because she was a slave.[23] When Johnson was away from his Kentucky plantation, he authorized Chinn to manage his business affairs.[14] She died in the widespread cholera epidemic that occurred in the summer of 1833. Johnson deeply grieved her loss.[24]

The relationship between Johnson and Chinn shows the contradictions within slavery at the time. There were certainly numerous examples that "kin could also be property". Johnson was unusual for being open about his relationship and treating Chinn as his common-law wife. He was heard to call her "my bride" on at least one occasion, and they acted like a married couple. According to oral tradition, other slaves at Great Crossings were said to work on their wedding.[25]

Chinn gradually gained more responsibilities. As she spent much of her time in the "plantation's big house", a two-story brick home, she managed Johnson's estate for at least half of each year, with her purview later expanding to all of his property, even acting as "Richard's representative" and allowing her to handle money.[26] This gave, as historical scholar Christina Snyder argues, some independence, since Johnson told his white employees that Chinn's authority must be respected, and her role allowing her children's lives to be different from "others of African descent at Great Crossings", giving them levels of privileged access within the plantation. This was further complicated by the fact that Chinn was still enslaved but supervised the work of slaves, which the Chinn family never sold or mortgaged off, but she did not have the power to "challenge the institution of slavery or overturn the government that supported it", she only had the power to gain some personal autonomy, with Johnson never legally emancipating her.[27] This may have been because, as Snyder says, liberating her from human bondage would erode "ties that bound her to him" and keeping her enslaved supported his idea of being a "benevolent patriarch".

Johnson and Chinn had two daughters, Adaline (or Adeline) Chinn Johnson and Imogene Chinn Johnson, whom he acknowledged and gave his surname to, with Johnson and Chinn preparing them "for a future as free women".[28] Johnson taught them morality and basic literacy, with Julia undoubtedly teaching her own skills, with both later pushing for both of them to "receive regular academic lessons" which he later educated at home to prevent the scorn of neighbors and constituents. Later Johnson would provide for Adaline and Imogene's education.[24][23] Both daughters married white men. Johnson gave them large farms as dowries from his own holdings.[15] There is confusion about whether Adeline Chinn Scott had children; a 2007 account by the Scott County History Museum said she had at least one son, Robert Johnson Scott (with husband Thomas W. Scott) who became a doctor in Missouri.[5][24] Meyers said that she was childless.[29] There is also disagreement about the year of her death. Bevins writes that Adeline died in the 1833 cholera epidemic.[24] Meyers wrote she died in 1836.[29] The Library of Congress notes that she died in February 1836.[30]

Although Johnson treated these two daughters as his own, according to Meyers, the surviving Imogene was prevented from inheriting his estate at the time of his death. The court noted she was illegitimate, and so without rights in the case.[29] Upon Johnson's death, the Fayette County Court found that "he left no widow, children, father, or mother living." It divided his estate between his living brothers, John and Henry.[31]

Bevins's account, written for the Georgetown & Scott County Museum, says that Adeline's son Robert Johnson Scott,[5] her first cousin, Richard M. Johnson, Jr., and Imogene's family (husband Daniel Pence, first daughter Malvina and son-in-law Robert Lee, and second daughter and son-in-law Josiah Pence)[5] "acquired" Johnson's remaining land after his death.[24]

After Chinn's death, Johnson began an intimate relationship with another family slave.[32] When she left him for another man, Johnson had her picked up and sold at auction. Afterward he began a similar relationship with her sister, also a slave.[32][33]

Political career edit

Early years edit

 
Portrait of Richard Mentor Johnson attributed to Matthew Harris Jouett, c. 1818

After passing the bar, Johnson returned to Great Crossing, where his father gave him a plantation and slaves to work it. The many lawsuits over ownership of land provided him with much legal work, and, combined with his agricultural interests, he quickly became prosperous.[34]

Johnson ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1803, but finished third, behind the winner, Thomas Sandford, and William Henry. At that time, following the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson in 1801, many young, democratically minded aspiring politicians were seeking office.[35] While Jefferson and Johnson agreed on the need for greater democracy, Jefferson felt that the people should be led by the elite, such as himself, while Johnson took a more populist view.[36]

In 1804, Johnson ran for the Kentucky House of Representatives for Scott County (where Great Crossing is) and this time was elected, the first native Kentuckian to serve in the state's legislature.[37] Although the Kentucky Constitution imposed an age requirement of twenty-four for members of the House of Representatives, Johnson was so popular that no one raised questions about his age, and he was allowed to take his seat.[38][39] Seeking to protect his constituents, most of whom were small farmers, he introduced a proposed U.S. constitutional amendment limiting the power of the federal courts to matters involving the U.S. Constitution. Throughout his political career, Johnson sought to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts, which he deemed undemocratic.[40][41]

In 1806, Johnson was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives, serving as the first native Kentuckian to be elected to Congress.[38][39] In the three-way election, he defeated Congressman Sandford and James Moore.[42] At the time of his election in August 1806, he did not meet the U.S. Constitution's age requirement for service in the House (25), but by the time the congressional term began the following March, he had turned 25.[38] He was re-elected and served six consecutive terms. During the first three terms from 1807 to 1813, he represented Kentucky's Fourth District.[43]

Johnson took his seat in the House on October 26, 1807; Congress had been called into special session by President Jefferson to consider how to react to the ChesapeakeLeopard affair,[44] the forcible boarding of an American naval ship by a British vessel, with four sailors seized as deserters and one hanged. Jefferson had tried to maintain neutrality with the main combatants in the Napoleonic Wars, Britain and France, and at his urging, Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807, with Johnson voting in support, finding economic warfare preferable to the use of guns: "we fear no nation, but let the time for shedding human blood be protracted, when consistent with our safety".[45]

Over the following year, Congress attempted to tighten the Embargo, which was widely evaded, especially in the Northeast, with Johnson voting in favor each time.[46] Johnson generally supported Jefferson's proposals, and those of his successor James Madison: all three were Democratic-Republicans, and Johnson saw the party's proposals as superior to any suggested by the Federalists, whom he saw as not acting in the best interests of the country.[47] In 1809, Johnson supported Jefferson in adopting the administration's proposal to replace the Embargo Act with the Non-Intercourse Act, as the Embargo had proven ineffective except in causing a serious recession in the United States.[48]

Although Johnson is considered one of the War Hawks, the young Southern and Western Democratic-Republicans who sought expansion and development of the nation,[49] he was cautious in the runup to the War of 1812. Johnson saw Britain as the major obstacle to United States control of North America, but worried about what a war might bring.[50] By the time Congress met in late 1811, he had come around to war, and joined the War Hawks in electing one of their own, Henry Clay of Kentucky, as Speaker. Like the other War Hawks, though, he was initially unwilling to support increased taxes and borrowing to finance the construction of naval vessels.[51] When Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war against Britain in June 1812, Johnson voted in favor[52] as the House passed the resolution, 79–49. Madison signed the declaration on June 18, 1812.[53]

For his fourth consecutive term from 1813 to 1815, he had secured one of Kentucky's at-large seats in the House. For his fifth and sixth consecutive terms, 1815 to 1819, he represented Kentucky's Third District. Johnson continued to represent the interests of the poor as a member of the House. He first came to national attention with his opposition to rechartering the First Bank of the United States.[14]

Johnson served as chairman of the Committee on Claims during the Eleventh Congress (1809–1811).[54] The committee was charged with adjudicating financial claims made by veterans of the Revolutionary War. He sought to influence the committee to grant the claim of Alexander Hamilton's widow to wages which Hamilton had declined when serving under George Washington.[55] Although Hamilton was a champion of the rival Federalist Party, Johnson had compassion for Hamilton's widow; before the end of his term, he secured payment of the wages.[55]

War of 1812 edit

Initial service edit

Within a week of the declaration of war, Johnson urged the House of Representatives to recommend the raising of troops in the western states, lest disaster befall settlers on the frontier.[56] After the adjournment, Johnson returned to Kentucky to recruit volunteers. So many men responded that he chose only those with horses, and raised a body of mounted rifles.[57] The War of 1812 was extraordinarily popular in Kentucky; Kentuckians depended on sea trade through the port of New Orleans and feared that the British would stir up another Indian war.[58][b] The land war fought in the Northern United States pitted American troops against British forces and their Indian allies.[59] Johnson recruited 300 men, divided into three companies, who elected him major. They merged with another battalion, forming a regiment of 500 men, with Johnson as colonel, with the merged volunteer forces becoming a brigade commanded by General Edward W. Tupper of Ohio.[60] The Kentucky militia was under the command of General William Henry Harrison, the Governor of the Indiana Territory.[61]

Johnson's force was originally intended to join General William Hull at Detroit, but Hull surrendered Detroit on August 16 and his army was captured. Harrison by then was in command of the entire Northwest frontier and ordered Johnson to relieve Fort Wayne in the northeast of the Territory, which was already being attacked by the Indians. On September 18, 1812, Johnson's men reached Fort Wayne in time to save it, and turned back an Indian ambush. They returned to Kentucky and disbanded, going out of their way to burn Potawatomi villages along the Elkhart River en route.[62]

Johnson returned to his seat in Congress in the late fall of 1812. Based on his experience, he proposed a plan to defeat the mobile, guerrilla warfare of the Indians. American troops moved slowly, dependent on a supply line. Indians would evade battle and raid supplies until the American forces withdrew or were overrun. Mounted riflemen could move quickly, carry their own supplies, and live off the woods. If they attacked Indian villages in winter, the Indians would be compelled to stand and fight for the supplies they used to wage war and could be decisively defeated. Johnson submitted this plan to President James Madison and Secretary of War John Armstrong, who approved it in principle. They referred the plan to Harrison, who found winter operations impracticable. Johnson was permitted to try the tactics in the summer of 1813; later, the US conducted Indian wars in winter with his strategy.[63]

Johnson left Washington, D.C., just before Congress adjourned. He raised one thousand men, nominally part of the Kentucky militia under Governor Isaac Shelby, but largely operating independently. He disciplined his men, required that every man have arms in prime condition and ready to hand, and hired gunsmiths, blacksmiths, and doctors at his own expense. He devised a new tactical system: when any group of men encountered the enemy, they were to dismount, take cover, and hold the enemy in place. All groups not in contact were to ride to the sound of firing, and dismount, surrounding the enemy when they got there. Between May and September, Johnson raided throughout the Northwest, burning the war supply centers of Indian villages, surrounding their fighting units and scattering them, killing some warriors each time.[64]

Battle of the Thames edit

In September, Oliver Hazard Perry destroyed most of the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie, taking control of the lake. This made the British army, then at Fort Malden (now Amherstburg, Ontario) vulnerable to having its supply lines cut. The British, under General Henry Procter, withdrew to the northeast, pursued by Harrison, who had advanced through Michigan while Johnson kept the Indians engaged. The Indian chief Tecumseh and his allies covered the British retreat, but were countered by Johnson, who had been called back from a raid on Kaskaskia that had taken the post where the British had distributed arms and money to the Indians. Johnson's cavalry defeated Tecumseh's main force on September 29, took British supply trains on October 3, and was one of the factors inducing Procter to stand and fight at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, as Tecumseh had been demanding he do. One of Johnson's slaves, Daniel Chinn, accompanied Johnson to the battle.[65]

 
Nathaniel Currier's lithograph (c. 1841) is one of many images that portrayed Johnson as Tecumseh's killer.

At the battle itself, Johnson's forces were the first to attack. One battalion of five hundred men, under Johnson's elder brother, James Johnson, engaged the British force of eight hundred regulars; simultaneously, Richard Johnson, with the other, now somewhat smaller battalion, attacked the fifteen hundred Indians led by Tecumseh. There was too much tree cover for the British volleys to be effective against James Johnson; three-quarters of the regulars were killed or captured.

The Indians were a harder fight; they were out of the main field of battle, skirmishing on the edge of an adjacent swamp. Richard Johnson ordered a suicide squad of twenty men to charge with him and draw the Indians' fire, with the rest to attack as the Indians reloaded. But he was unable to push his troops through the enemy position due to the swampy ground. Johnson had to order his men to dismount and hold until Shelby's infantry came up. By then, under the pressure of Johnson's attack, the Native American force broke and fled into the swamp, during which time Tecumseh was slain.[66][67]

The question of who shot and killed Tecumseh was highly controversial in Johnson's lifetime, as he was most often named as the shooter. Johnson himself did not publicly say that he had killed Tecumseh, stating that he had killed "a tall, good-looking Indian", but initial published accounts named him, and it was not until 1816 that another claimant, a man named David King, appeared.[68] John Sugden, in his book on the Battle of the Thames, found that Johnson's "claim is surely the stronger".[69] Jones suggested that the issue did not truly catch the public's attention until Johnson became a potential candidate for national office in the 1830s, and was promoted through such means as a campaign biography, stage play and song. In any event, he found, "Colonel Johnson truly was a war hero at the Battle of the Thames. By ... leading the suicide mission on horseback, more lives were saved than lost. Johnson was lucky to have been only wounded, since fifteen men died instantly during the charge."[70]

There are reports from Indians that support Johnson's account, but most were made decades after the battle, by which time the question of whether Johnson shot Tecumseh had become politically charged.[71] Tecumseh was said to have been shot from a firearm pointed at a downward angle, as if from a horse, with a ball and three buckshot, which Johnson's pistol was said to be loaded with. Evidence that it was so loaded is lacking, and the angle of the wound did not exclude the possibility that he had been stooping when shot. Some accounts have muskets loaded with cartridges containing a ball and three buckshot being commonly carried by American soldiers, and whether the Americans identified the proper body as Tecumseh (whose death was attested to by British officers who had been at the battle) is another source of contention.[72]

On April 4, 1818, an act of Congress requested that the President of the United States present to Johnson a sword in honor of his "daring and distinguished valor" at the Battle of the Thames.[73] The sword was presented to Johnson by President James Monroe in April 1820.[74] Johnson was one of only 14 military officers to be presented a sword by an act of Congress prior to the American Civil War.[75]

Return to Washington edit

With the American success at the Battle of the Thames, the war in the northwest was effectively over. Although there was no organized resistance to his presence in Canada, Harrison withdrew to Detroit because of supply problems.[17] Johnson remained, wounded, at Detroit as his men began their return to Kentucky. Once he had recovered enough to bear the journey, he was conveyed home in a bed in a carriage, arriving there in early November 1813.[76] It took him five months to recover, though he was still left with a damaged left arm and hand, and was later described as walking with a limp. He returned to Congress in February 1814, but due to his wounds was unable to participate in debates until the following session of Congress.[77] He received a hero's welcome, still suffering from war wounds that would plague him for the rest of his life.[78]

In August 1814, British forces attacked Washington, D.C., and burned the White House and Capitol, and when Congress reconvened on September 19, with Johnson present, it was in temporary quarters.[79] On September 22, Johnson moved for the appointment of a committee to look into why the British had been allowed to burn the city, and he was appointed as chairman. Johnson's committee compiled a voluminous report, but it was objected to by Representative Daniel Webster, who felt the report, including much correspondence, needed to be printed so that all congressmen could study it. This postponed any debate to 1815, by which time the Treaty of Ghent had been ratified, and the United States was again at peace. With Congress having little interest in debating the matter, it was dropped.[80] Had the war continued, Johnson was ready to return to Kentucky to raise another military unit.[81]

Post-war career in the House edit

With the end of the war, Johnson, who was made chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs, turned his legislative attention to issues such as securing pensions for widows and orphans and funding internal improvements in the West.[17] There were widespread reports of Americans, including women and children, captured by Indians during the war, and Johnson used his congressional office to investigate these matters, and to try to secure the release of captives.[82] Western Democratic-Republicans like Johnson strongly supported the military and urged aid for the veterans; in December 1815, Johnson introduced legislation for the "relief of the infirm, disabled, and superannuated officers and soldiers".[83] Fearing that the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York produced dandies, not soldiers, Johnson expanded on a proposal by President Madison to establish three additional military academies, urging the placement of one of them in Kentucky.[84] Despite the support of such influential members of the House as Clay and John C. Calhoun, the proposal did not pass, but Johnson worked to have federal facilities built in the West throughout his time in Congress.[85]

Johnson believed that Congressional business was too slow and tedious and that the per diem system of compensation encouraged delays on the part of members.[86] To remedy this, he sponsored legislation to pay annual salaries of $1,500 to congressmen rather than a $6 per diem for the days the body was in session.[87] At the time, this had the effect of increasing the total compensation from about $900 to $1500. Johnson noted that congressmen had not had a pay increase in 27 years, during which time the cost of living had greatly increased, and that $1,500 was less than the salaries of 28 of the clerks employed by the government.[88] The popular Johnson's sponsorship of the measure provided political cover for proponents; Maryland's Robert Wright wondered how his colleagues would feel if, "the highly honorable mover of this bill, who slew Tecumseh with his own hands ... he who came up here covered with wounds and glory, with his favorite war-horse and his more favorite servant—his attendant in the army, his nurse and necessary assistant" was "obliged to sell his war-horse or his servant"; salaries would prevent such things from coming to pass.[89] The bill passed the House and Senate quickly and was made law on March 19, 1816.[88] But, the measure proved extremely unpopular with voters, in part because it gave Congress an immediate pay raise, rather than waiting until after the next election.[90][c] Many members who supported the bill lost their seats as a result, including Johnson's colleague Solomon P. Sharp from Kentucky. Johnson's overall popularity helped him retain his seat against a challenge, one of only 15 of 81 who voted to pass the bill to keep their seats in the House. The old Congress met for a lame-duck session in December, repealed the new law effective when the new Congress was sworn in, but at Johnson's suggestion, did not revive the old per diem, thus forcing the new legislators to act on the matter if they wanted to get paid.[91] Compensation for members of Congress remained on a per diem basis until an annual salary of $3,000 (~$75,000 in 2023) was prescribed in 1855.[92] According to Edward J. McManus, who wrote Johnson's entry in the American National Biography, "Johnson, instead of defending the merits of the reform, avoided the backlash by pledging to work for the repeal of his own measure. He justified his reversal by arguing that representatives should reflect the popular will, but lack of political stamina may have been closer to the truth."[3]

Johnson disliked the idea of a national bank, and had voted in 1811 not to renew the charter of the First Bank of the United States.[93] Calhoun's bill for a Second Bank of the United States passed Congress in early 1816. Johnson was opposed, but was absent for the vote, busy with other matters.[94] A bonus was to be paid to the government by the Second Bank, and a bill was introduced early in 1817 to spend that money on internal improvements. Although Johnson was opposed to the national bank, he supported the bill, believing that the improvements to transportation would benefit his constituents, and the bill passed the House by two votes. Madison, then in his final days in office, vetoed the bill. Johnson joined the effort to override the veto, but it failed.[95] The break from the administration was unusual for Johnson, but he believed the war had shown the need for better roads and canals.[96]

When he took office in 1817, President James Monroe's first choice for Secretary of War was Henry Clay, who declined the position. The post ultimately went to Calhoun.[14] The result was that Johnson became chair of the Committee on Expenditures where he wielded considerable influence over defense policy in the Department of War during the Fifteenth Congress.[54] In 1817, Congress investigated General Andrew Jackson's execution of two British subjects during the First Seminole War. Johnson chaired the inquiry committee. The majority of the committee favored a negative report and a censure for Jackson. Johnson, a Jackson supporter, drafted a minority report that was more favorable to Jackson and opposed the censure. The ensuing debate pitted Johnson against fellow Kentuckian Clay. Johnson's report prevailed, and Jackson was spared censure.[97] This disagreement between Johnson and Clay, however, marked the beginning of a political separation between the two that lasted for the duration of their careers.[98]

In 1818, Calhoun approved an expedition to build a military outpost near the present site of Bismarck, North Dakota on the Yellowstone River; Johnson awarded the contract to his brother James.[14] Although the Yellowstone Expedition was an ultimate failure and expensive to the U.S. Treasury, the Johnsons escaped political ill will in their home district because the venture was seen as a peacekeeping endeavor on the frontier.[14] However, the Panic of 1819 caused Congress to investigate the Yellowstone matter, and in 1820, a report found that James Johnson had overcharged the government by $76,000.[99] Richard and James Johnson, as well as other family members, remained in debt until 1824, when arrangements were made with the largest creditor, the Second Bank of the United States, to settle the liabilities.[100]

Senator edit

Monroe years (1819–1825) edit

Johnson announced his intent to retire from the House of Representatives in early 1818.[101] Sources differ on why he did; David Petriello, in his biography of Johnson, stated that the Kentucky congressman had determined to move on to the Senate;[74] an earlier biographer, Leland Winfield Meyer stated that Johnson's departure from the House was because he believed in rotation in office and felt he had served there long enough.[101] Jones stated that Johnson planned to return to private life to deal with family business interests.[102]

Under the original federal Constitution, state legislators, not the voters, elected U.S. senators,[74] and the Kentucky General Assembly was to choose a replacement for outgoing senator Isham Talbot in December 1818. Johnson was considered a strong contender if he entered the race, and in October he let it be known through the press that he would accept the Senate seat if the General Assembly elected him. On December 18, 1818, legislators chose William Logan over Johnson, 67–55.[103] Newspapers noted that the former congressman had never officially declared his candidacy, and that Johnson's political friends intended to nominate him for governor in the 1820 election.[104]

Johnson's term in the House expired March 3, 1819, but by August, he had been elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, where he worked to secure passage of a law that abolished imprisonment for debtors in the state,[13] though it did not pass until 1821.[78] But when Senator John J. Crittenden resigned in November 1819, the legislature was called upon to fill the seat.[13] The following month, the General Assembly elected Johnson to the Senate in a 68–53 vote over John Adair, who would be Kentucky's next governor.[105]

Johnson was sworn in on January 3, 1820. The Senate was at that time grappling with the admission of the Missouri Territory and the Maine District (then part of Massachusetts) as states. When a bill was introduced which would bar slavery in the territories north and west of Missouri, Johnson was assigned to a select committee of five senators to consider it. The Maine and Missouri questions had been combined into one bill; Johnson voted against an amendment to separate them, which was defeated.[106]

On February 17, the Senate voted to bar slavery outside Missouri in the part of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30′ north latitude line, with Johnson voting in favor. The bill passed, and was signed by President Monroe in March. Missouri's admission was delayed due to controversial clauses in its draft constitution, such as one forbidding the entry to the state of free African-Americans. Johnson served on the committee of House and Senate members which brokered a resolution, enabling Missouri's admission in August 1821.[107]

Johnson was re-elected to a full term in 1822, so that in total, his Senate tenure ran from December 10, 1819, to March 4, 1829.[54] In 1821, he introduced legislation chartering Columbian College (later The George Washington University) in Washington, D.C.[13] During this time period, his views on Western expansion were clear. He believed that the US "empire of liberty" should extend across the continent, arguing in debates leading up to the Missouri Compromise that western expansion and emancipation should go hand in hand, acknowledging issues with white racism but advocating for gradual emancipation.[108] Furthermore, he went against the ideas put forward by sympathizers of the Colonization movement, arguing in "favor of meaningfully incorporating people of color into a multiracial empire".[109]

In December 1822, Johnson introduced legislation to abolish imprisonment for debt at the federal level.[110] He first spoke to the issue in the Senate on December 14, 1822, pointing to the positive effects its cessation had effected in his home state. The bill failed, but Johnson persisted in re-introducing it every year. In 1824, it passed the Senate but was too late to be acted upon by the House. It passed the Senate a second time in 1828, but again, the House failed to act on it, and the measure died for some years, owing to Johnson's exit from the Senate the next year.[111] Passage would have made only a modest impact since few were imprisoned for debt at the federal level, but Johnson hoped to advance the cause of abolishing it in the states. The reform was opposed by the business community, but Jackson's support after he became president in 1829 eventually gave the movement fresh life, and a limited bill was passed in 1832. Within ten years after that, imprisonment for debt had been abolished in most states.[112]

Johnson also sought help for debtors not in prison, such as some form of bankruptcy legislation, which would help his own problems and those of his neighbors.[113] Johnson knew this politically pressing issue, which he worked on into the 1830s, quite well because it affected him personally. He was in debt himself from his business losses and support for Western expansion.[114] He also continued to advocate for the positions he had held while a member of the House. As the chair of the Committee on Military Affairs, Johnson pushed for higher veterans pensions, and a liberal policy to enable settlers to buy land in the West more easily.[115]

Adams opponent (1825–1829) edit

The congressional nominating caucus system for choosing presidential and vice presidential candidates was unpopular by 1824, though a caucus did choose William H. Crawford of Georgia. State legislatures chose the other presidential candidates: Clay, Jackson and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Johnson supported Clay, his fellow Kentuckian, and Clay gained the state's electoral votes. Jackson led in both the popular and electoral vote for president, but did not have a majority, so the election for president was thrown into the House of Representatives, though Calhoun gained a majority of the electoral vote for vice president. Clay had finished fourth in electoral vote, and as the Constitution limits the House's choice to the top three finishers, he was eliminated.[116] Johnson supported Jackson, and there were rumors Johnson would be Secretary of War in a Jackson administration. Clay threw his support to Adams, who was elected, and many believed Clay (who became Secretary of State) and Adams had made a Corrupt Bargain. Johnson was the one who informed Jackson of this. Many of Jackson's supporters were enraged by the outcome,[117] including Johnson, who promised to oppose the Adams administration: "for by the Eternal, if they act as pure as the angels that stand at the right hand of the throne of God, we'll put them down".[118] Johnson opposed Adams's policies, and became a member of the faction, later the Democratic Party, that New York Senator Martin Van Buren was forming to promote Jackson's candidacy in 1828.[119]

Already known for securing government contracts for himself, as well as his brothers and friends, he offered land to establish the Choctaw Academy, a school devoted to the European-American education of Indians from the Southeast tribes. Johnson had tried to establish an Indian school at Great Crossings in 1818, partnering with the Kentucky Baptist Society, but the school folded in 1821 after it failed to gain the support of the federal government or private donors.[120] The new academy would come into being a few years later. The academy, sitting on his farm in Scott County in 1825, was overseen by Johnson; and not only was part of treaty negotiations with the Choctaw Nation but appealed to his colleagues as a form "peaceful conquest" or "expansion with honor" as Henry Knox put it.[121][122] Although he never ran afoul of the conflict of interest standards of his day, some of his colleagues considered his actions ethically questionable.[15] Johnson was paid well for the school by the federal government, which gave him a portion of the annuities for the Choctaw. It was promoted by the Baptist Missionary Society as well.[123] Some European-American students also attended the academy, including his nephew Robert Ward Johnson from Arkansas.[124]

Another pet project Johnson supported was prompted by his friendship with John Cleves Symmes Jr., who proposed that the Earth was hollow. In 1823, Johnson proposed in the Senate that the government fund an expedition to the center of the Earth. The proposal was soundly defeated, receiving only twenty-five votes in the House and Senate combined.[32]

Johnson served as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses. Near the end of his term in the Senate, petitioners asked Congress to prevent the handling and delivery of mail on Sunday because it violated biblical principles about not working on the Sabbath.[15] These petitions were referred to Johnson's committee. In response, Johnson, a practicing Baptist, drafted a report now commonly referred to as The Sunday Mail Report.[15][125] In the report, presented to Congress on January 19, 1829, Johnson argued that government was "a civil, and not a religious institution", and as such could not legislate the tenets of any particular denomination.[14] The report was applauded as an elegant defense of the doctrine of separation of church and state. But Johnson was criticized for conflicts of interest in his defense, as he had friends who were contracted to haul mail, and who would have suffered financially from such a ban.[15]

In 1828, Johnson was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election, owing in part to his relationship with the biracial slave Julia Chinn, with whom he lived in a common-law marriage.[14] Although residents of his own district seemed little bothered by the arrangement, slaveholders elsewhere in the state were not so forgiving.[14] The Democratic Party in Kentucky was split, with enough dissidents to be able to join with the opposition to block Johnson's re-election. Johnson's managers withdrew his name and proposed George M. Bibb, who was elected.[126] In his own defense, Johnson said, "Unlike Jefferson, Clay, Poindexter and others I married my wife under the eyes of God, and apparently He has found no objections."[127] (The named men were suspected or known to have similar relationships with slave women.)[127] According to Henry Robert Burke, what people objected to was Johnson trying to introduce his daughters to "polite society". People were used to planters and overseers having relationships with slave women, but they were expected to deny them.[127]

Return to the House edit

After his failed Senatorial re-election bid, Johnson returned to the House, representing Kentucky's Fifth District from 1829 to 1833, and Thirteenth District from 1833 to 1837. During the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses, he again served as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads.[54] In this capacity, he was again asked to address the question of Sunday mail delivery. He drew up a second report, largely similar in content to the first, arguing against legislation preventing mail delivery on Sunday.[128] The report, commonly called "Col. Johnson's second Sunday mail report", was delivered to Congress in March 1830.[128]

Some contemporaries doubted Johnson's authorship of this second report.[14] Many claimed it was instead written by Amos Kendall.[129] Kendall claimed he had seen the report only after it had been drafted and said he had only altered "one or two words".[129] Kendall speculated that the author could be Reverend O.B. Brown, but historian Leland Meyer concludes that there is no reason to doubt that Johnson authored the report himself.[129]

Johnson chaired the Committee on Military Affairs during the Twenty-second, Twenty-third, and Twenty-fourth Congresses.[54] Beginning in 1830, there arose a groundswell of public support for Johnson's "pet project" of ending debt imprisonment.[130] The subject began to appear more frequently in President Jackson's addresses to the legislature.[131] Johnson chaired a House committee to report on the subject, and delivered the committee's report on January 17, 1832.[132] Later that year, a bill abolishing the practice of debt imprisonment passed both houses of Congress, and was signed into law on July 14.[133]

Johnson's stands won him widespread popularity and endorsement by George H. Evans, Robert Dale Owen, and Theophilus Fisk for the presidency in 1832, but Johnson abandoned his campaign when Andrew Jackson announced he would seek a second term. He then began campaigning to become Jackson's running mate, but Jackson favored Martin Van Buren instead. At the Democratic National Convention, Johnson finished a distant third in the vice-presidential balloting, receiving only the votes of the Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois delegations; William B. Lewis had to persuade him to withdraw[134]

Election of 1836 edit

After the election of 1832, Johnson continued to campaign for the vice presidency which would be available in 1836. He was endorsed by the New York labor leader Ely Moore on March 13, 1833, nine days after Jackson and Van Buren were inaugurated. Moore praised his devotion to freedom of religion and his opposition to imprisonment for debt.[135][d]

William Emmons, the Boston printer, published a biography of Johnson in New York dated July 1833.[136] Richard Emmons, from Great Crossing, Kentucky, followed this up with a play entitled Tecumseh, of the Battle of the Thames and a poem in honor of Johnson. Many of Johnson's friends and supporters – Davy Crockett and John Bell among them – encouraged him to run for president. Jackson, however, supported Vice President Van Buren for the office. Johnson accepted this choice, and worked to gain the nomination for vice president.[14]

Emmons's poem provided the line that became Johnson's campaign slogan: "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh."[14] Jackson supported Johnson for vice-president, thinking that the war hero would balance the ticket with Van Buren, who had not served in the War of 1812.[17] Jackson made his decision based on Johnson's loyalty but also the president's anger at the primary rival candidate, William Cabell Rives.[14]

Despite Jackson's support, the party was far from united behind Johnson. Van Buren preferred Rives as a running mate.[14] In a letter to Jackson, Tennessee Supreme Court justice John Catron doubted that "a lucky random shot, even if it did hit Tecumseh, qualifies a man for the vice presidency."[15] Although Johnson was a "widower" after Chinn's death in 1833, there was still dissension related to Johnson's open relationship with a slave.[127] The 1835 Democratic National Convention, in Baltimore, in May 1835, was held under the two-thirds rule, largely to demonstrate Van Buren's wide popularity. Although Van Buren was nominated unanimously, Johnson barely obtained the necessary two-thirds of the vote. (A motion was made to change the rule, but it obtained only a bare majority, not two-thirds.)

Tennessee's delegation did not attend the convention. Edward Rucker, a Tennessean who happened to be in Baltimore, was picked to cast its 15 votes, so that all the states would endorse Van Buren. Senator Silas Wright, of New York, prevailed upon Rucker to vote for Johnson, giving him just more than twice the votes cast for Rives, and the nomination.[137]

Jackson's faith in Johnson to balance the ticket proved misplaced. In the general election, Johnson cost the Democrats votes in the South, where his relationship with Chinn was particularly unpopular. He also failed to garner much support from the West, where he was supposed to be strong due to his reputation as an Indian fighter and war hero.[15] He even failed to deliver his home state of Kentucky for the Democrats.[15] Regardless, the Democrats still won the popular vote.

When the electoral vote was counted in Congress on February 8, 1837, Van Buren was found to have received 170 votes for president, but Johnson had received only 147 for vice-president.[15] Although Virginia had elected electors pledged to both Van Buren and Johnson, the state's 23 "faithless electors" refused to vote for Johnson, leaving him one electoral vote short of a majority.[14] For the only time, the Senate was charged with electing the vice president under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment.[15] The vote on February 8, 1837, divided mostly along party lines, with Johnson becoming vice-president by a vote of 33, as opposed to 16 for Whig Francis Granger, with three senators absent.[citation needed]

Vice presidency (1837–1841) edit

 
Portrait of a middle-aged Johnson by Rembrandt Peale

Johnson served as vice president from March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1841. His term was largely unremarkable, and he enjoyed little influence with President Van Buren.[17] His penchant for wielding his power for his own interests did not abate. He lobbied the Senate to promote Samuel Milroy, whom he owed a favor, to the position of Indian agent.[14] When Lewis Tappan requested presentation of an abolitionist petition to the Senate, Johnson, who was still a slaveholder, declined the request.[14]

As presiding officer of the Senate, Johnson was called on to cast a tie-breaking vote fourteen times, more than all of his predecessors save John Adams and John Calhoun. Despite the precedent set by some of his predecessors, Johnson never addressed the Senate on the occasion of a tie-breaking vote; however, on one occasion, he did explain his vote — via an article in the Kentucky Gazette.[14]

After the financial Panic of 1837, Johnson took a nine-month leave of absence, during which he returned home to Kentucky and opened a tavern and spa on his farm to offset his continued financial problems.[14][138] Upon visiting the establishment, Amos Kendall wrote to President Van Buren that he found Johnson "happy in the inglorious pursuit of tavern keeping – even giving his personal superintendence to the chicken and egg purchasing and water-melon selling department".[14]

In his later political career, he became known for wearing a bright red vest and tie.[139] He adopted this dress during his term as vice-president when he and James Reeside, a mail contractor known for his drab dress, passed a tailor's shop that displayed a bright red cloth in the window.[140] Johnson suggested that Reeside should wear a red vest because the mail coaches he owned and operated were red.[140] Reeside agreed to do so if Johnson would also.[140] Both men ordered red vests and neckties, and were known for donning this attire for the rest of their lives.[140]

Election of 1840 edit

By 1840, it had become clear that Johnson was a liability to the Democratic ticket. Even former president Jackson conceded that Johnson was "dead weight," and threw his support to James K. Polk.[15][141] President Van Buren stood for re-election, and the Whigs once again countered with William Henry Harrison.[15] Van Buren was reluctant to drop Johnson from the ticket, fearing that dropping the Democrats' own war hero would split the party and cost him votes to Harrison.[15] A unique compromise ensued, with the Democratic National Convention refusing to nominate Johnson, or any other candidate, for vice president.[14] The idea was to allow the states to choose their own candidates, or perhaps return the question to the Senate should Van Buren be elected with no clear winner in the vice-presidential race.[15]

Undaunted by this lack of confidence from his peers, Johnson continued to campaign to retain his office. Although his campaign was more vigorous than that of Van Buren, his behavior on the campaign trail raised concern among voters. He made rambling, incoherent speeches. During one speech in Ohio, he raised his shirt in order to display to the crowd the wounds that he had received during the Battle of the Thames. Charges he leveled against Harrison in Cleveland were so poorly received that they touched off a riot in the city.[14]

In the end, Johnson received only forty-eight electoral votes.[142] One elector from Virginia and all eleven from South Carolina voted for Van Buren for president but selected someone other than Johnson for vice-president.[14] Johnson lost his home state of Kentucky again and his home district.[14]

Post-vice presidency (1841–1850) edit

After his term as vice president, Johnson returned to Kentucky to tend to his farm and oversee his tavern.[17] He again represented Scott County in the Kentucky House from 1841 to 1843.[13] In 1845, he served as a pallbearer when Daniel Boone was re-interred in Frankfort Cemetery.[15]

 
Johnson's gravesite at Frankfort Cemetery

Johnson never gave up on a return to public service. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate against John J. Crittenden in 1842.[15] He briefly and futilely sought his party's nomination for president in 1844.[15] He also ran as an independent candidate for Governor of Kentucky in 1848, but after talking with the Democratic candidate, Lazarus W. Powell, who had replaced Linn Boyd on the ticket, Johnson decided to drop out and back Powell.[143] Some speculated that the real object of this campaign was to secure another nomination to the vice-presidency, but this hope was denied.[14]

Johnson finally returned to elected office in 1850, when he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives. By this time, however, his physical and mental health was already failing. On November 9, the Louisville Daily Journal reported that "Col. R. M. Johnson is laboring under an attack of dementia, which renders him totally unfit for business. It is painful to see him on the floor attempting to discharge the duties of a member. He is incapable of properly exercising his physical or mental powers."[142]

He died of a stroke on November 19, just two weeks into his term, aged 70.[15] He was interred in the Frankfort Cemetery, in Frankfort, Kentucky.[54] Ruling that his surviving daughter Imogene was illegitimate, the Frankfort County Court split his estate between his brothers John and Henry.[144]

Legacy edit

 
Johnson (center right) killing Tecumseh, from the frieze of the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol

Counties in four U.S. states are named for Johnson, namely in Illinois, Kentucky,[145] Missouri, and Nebraska.[146] Richard Mentor Johnson is also the namesake of Dick Johnson Township, Indiana.[147]

His political prominence led to a family dynasty: his brothers James and John Telemachus Johnson, and his nephew Robert Ward Johnson were all elected to the House of Representatives, the first two from Kentucky, and Robert from Arkansas. Robert was later elected as a senator before the Civil War.[54]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Emmons and Langworthy give 1781, and Pratt and Sobel accept this date; this has the effect of making him born in Kentucky, which would be a reason to invent it.
  2. ^ Carr also sees, as background motives, the British hostility to slavery, and a consequent wish to disentangle Britain from the United States.
  3. ^ Today, this would violate the Twenty-seventh Amendment.
  4. ^ Note that Emmons, like Langworthy, was published in New York City.

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ "The one election where Faithless Electors made a difference". Yahoo News. December 19, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  2. ^ Sabato, Larry J.; Ernst, Howard R. (May 14, 2014). Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections. Infobase Publishing. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-4381-0994-7. Retrieved November 15, 2016. in 1836...the Virginia electors abstained rather than vote for Democratic vice presidential nominee Richard Johnson"
  3. ^ a b c McManus, Edgar J. (2000). "Johnson, Richard Mentor". American National Biography online. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0300246. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  4. ^ Petriello, pp. 2–4.
  5. ^ a b c d Christina Snyder, Great Crossings: Indians, Settlers & Slaves in the Age of Jackson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 42.
  6. ^ Smith 2013, p. 31.
  7. ^ Snyder, pp. 42–43
  8. ^ Meyer, pp. 22–23.
  9. ^ Meyer, p. 25.
  10. ^ Pratt, p. 82
  11. ^ Smith 2013, p. 40.
  12. ^ a b Petriello, pp. 12–13.
  13. ^ a b c d e Kleber, p. 475
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Hatfield, Vice Presidents (1789–1993)
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Stillman, Eccentricity at the Top
  16. ^ McLaughlin, Shaun J. (2013). The Patriot War Along the Michigan-Canada Border: Raiders and Rebels. Charleston, SC: The History Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-6258-4511-5 – via Google Books.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Richard M. Johnson (1837–1841)
  18. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, pp. 51–53.
  19. ^ Great Mountain Freeman, Montpelier, VT p1 The Freeman for The Freeman Developments of the "Peculiar Institution."
  20. ^ Green Mountain Freeman, Montpelier, VT June 20, 1845 p.1 "The Freeman: for The Freeman. Developments of the 'Peculiar Institution.'" Via Library of Congress, Chronicling America
  21. ^ Vermont Phoenix, Brattleboro, VT, Vol. XV, No. 30, July 18, 1845, "The Workings of Slavery." Via Fair Use Repository
  22. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, pp. 3–4, 8–9.
  23. ^ a b Mills, The Vice-President and the Mulatto
  24. ^ a b c d e Bevins, Richard M Johnson narrative: Personal and Family Life
  25. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, pp. 54–56. Their social role as a married couple was recognized by neighbors.
  26. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, pp. 56–58.
  27. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, pp. 59–60, 62–63. Despite this, Johnson did liberated other black slaves.
  28. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, pp. 53, 63, 66–67.
  29. ^ a b c Meyer, p. 322
  30. ^ "An Affecting Scene in Kentucky" June 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, political print (c.1836), Harper's Weekly, at Library of Congress, accessed November 12, 2013
  31. ^ Meyer, pp. 322–323
  32. ^ a b c McQueen, p. 19
  33. ^ Stimpson, p. 133
  34. ^ Petriello, pp. 13–14
  35. ^ Petriello, pp. 17–18.
  36. ^ Smith 2013, pp. 53–54
  37. ^ Meyer, pp. 49–50
  38. ^ a b c Langworthy, p. 9
  39. ^ a b Snyder, p. 44.
  40. ^ Smith 2013, pp. 56–57
  41. ^ Meyer, pp. 52–53
  42. ^ Petriello, p. 19
  43. ^ The Political Graveyard
  44. ^ Meyer, pp. 58–59
  45. ^ Jones, pp. 13–15
  46. ^ Jones, pp. 15–16
  47. ^ Smith 2013, pp. 69, 78.
  48. ^ Petriello, pp. 23–25.
  49. ^ Petriello, p. 21
  50. ^ Smith 2013, pp. 72–76
  51. ^ Jones, pp. 23–27
  52. ^ Meyer, p. 84
  53. ^ Jones, p. 28
  54. ^ a b c d e f g "JOHNSON, Richard Mentor – Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov.
  55. ^ a b Langworthy, p. 10
  56. ^ Petriello, p. 32
  57. ^ Langworthy, pp. 13–14
  58. ^ Carr, pp. 299–300
  59. ^ Jones, p. 28.
  60. ^ Petriello, p. 32.
  61. ^ Meyer, p. 90.
  62. ^ Meyer, p. 92; Pratt, p. 89
  63. ^ Pratt, pp. 90–91; cf. Langworthy, p. 15, Emmons, p. 22.
  64. ^ Pratt, pp. 92–94
  65. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, p. 7. Julia Chinn, an enslaved black woman, sought more liberty for herself and children was different from Daniel, her brother.
  66. ^ Pratt, pp. 94–96
  67. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, pp. 44–47.
  68. ^ Sugden, pp. 136–142.
  69. ^ Sugden, pp. 140–152.
  70. ^ Jones, pp. 45–47.
  71. ^ Sugden, pp. 152–167.
  72. ^ Sugden, pp. 140–142, 169–170, 174.
  73. ^ Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, 1789–1903. Francis B. Heitman. Vol. 1, p. 576.
  74. ^ a b c Petriello, p. 67.
  75. ^ Heitman. p. 46.
  76. ^ Meyer, p. 136
  77. ^ Jones, pp. 48–49.
  78. ^ a b "Richard Mentor Johnson, 9th Vice President (1837–1841)". United States Senate Historical Office. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  79. ^ Meyer, pp. 140–141; Jones, p. 50.
  80. ^ Jones, pp. 51–59.
  81. ^ Langworthy, p. 31
  82. ^ Petriello, pp. 58–59.
  83. ^ Smith 2013, pp. 131–132.
  84. ^ Smith 2013, pp. 134–135.
  85. ^ Petriello, p. 55.
  86. ^ Meyer, p. 168
  87. ^ Meyer, p. 170
  88. ^ a b Meyer, p. 171
  89. ^ Smith 2013, pp. 142–144.
  90. ^ Hatfield; Cleaves, p. 237
  91. ^ Meyer, pp. 171–176.
  92. ^ "Salary Storm". United States Senate. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  93. ^ Meyer, pp. 79–80.
  94. ^ Jones, pp. 61–62.
  95. ^ Petriello, p. 61.
  96. ^ Meyer, p. 163.
  97. ^ Langworthy, pp. 35–36
  98. ^ Meyer, p. 181.
  99. ^ Petriello, pp. 65–66.
  100. ^ Jones, pp. 141–142
  101. ^ a b Meyer, p. 183.
  102. ^ Jones, p. 181.
  103. ^ Meyer, p. 185
  104. ^ Meyer, pp. 184–185
  105. ^ Petriello, p. 68.
  106. ^ Meyer, pp. 207–210.
  107. ^ Meyer, pp. 213–215.
  108. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, p. 7.
  109. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, p. 61.
  110. ^ Schlesinger, p. 135.
  111. ^ Meyer, pp. 282–287
  112. ^ Schesinger, pp. 135–136.
  113. ^ Stillman, Schlesinger, pp. 30–32
  114. ^ Snyder, pp. 48–49.
  115. ^ Snyder, pp. 47–48.
  116. ^ Petriello, pp. 74–75.
  117. ^ Petriello, p. 75.
  118. ^ Meyer, p. 221.
  119. ^ Smith 2013, pp. 218–219.
  120. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, pp. 50–51.
  121. ^ Snyder, Great Crossings, pp. 38–40, 69.
  122. ^ Foreman, The Choctaw Academy
  123. ^ [ Ethel McMillan, "FIRST NATIONAL INDIAN SCHOOL: THE CHOCTAW ACADEMY"], Chronicles of Oklahoma, accessed November 12, 2013
  124. ^ "Robert Ward Johnson (1814–1879)", Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, accessed November 12, 2013
  125. ^ Langworthy, p. 39
  126. ^ Meyer, pp. 251–254.
  127. ^ a b c d Burke, Window to the Past
  128. ^ a b Langworthy, p. 40
  129. ^ a b c Meyer, p. 262
  130. ^ Meyer, pp. 287–288
  131. ^ Meyer, p. 288
  132. ^ Meyer, pp. 288–289
  133. ^ Meyer, p. 289
  134. ^ Hatfield; Schlesinger, p. 142.
  135. ^ Emmons, pp. 61ff, which abstracts Moore's speech and other documents.
  136. ^ Emmons, p. 4; Schlesinger, p. 142.
  137. ^ Lynch, pp. 383ff
  138. ^ McQueen, pp. 19–20
  139. ^ Meyer, p. 310
  140. ^ a b c d Meyer, p. 311
  141. ^ McQueen, p. 20
  142. ^ a b McQueen, p. 21
  143. ^ Starling in Kentucky: History of Henderson County
  144. ^ Meyers (1932)
  145. ^ The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1. Kentucky State Historical Society. 1903. pp. 35.
  146. ^ Blevins, Danny K. (February 20, 2008). Van Lear. Arcadia Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4396-3534-6.
  147. ^ Blanchard, Charles (1884). Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana: Historical and Biographical. F.A. Battey & Company. p. 83.

Sources edit

  • Mark O. Hatfield, ed.: "Richard Mentor Johnson, 9th Vice President (1837–1841)", Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789–1993 (PDF), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997: pp. 121–131. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
  • Jonathan Milnor Jones, "The making of a vice president: The national political career of Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky" (Ph.D. thesis) Memphis, Tennessee: University of Memphis, 1998.
  • John E. Kleber. "Johnson, Richard Mentor", in John E. Kleber, ed: The Kentucky Encyclopedia, Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter, Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1992. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
  • Asahel Langworthy A Biographical Sketch of Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. New York City, New York: Saxton & Miles. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
  • Leyland Winfield Meyer, The Life and Times of Colonel Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky. New York: Columbia University, 1932. OCLC 459524641.
  • David Petriello, The Days of Heroes are Over: A Brief Biography of Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson (Kindle edition). Washington, D.C.: Westphalia Press, 2016. ISBN 978-1-63391-403-2.
  • Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Age of Jackson, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1945. OCLC 3077215.
  • Miles Smith, "The Kentucky colonel: Richard M. Johnson and the rise of western democracy, 1780–1850" (Ph.D. thesis). Fort Worth, Texas: Texas Christian University, 2013.
  • Christina Snyder Great Crossings: Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in the Age of Jackson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0-19-939907-9.

Further reading edit

  • Anonymous:
  • Pierre Berton, Flames across the Border, Little Brown, 1981.
  • Ann Bevins, "Richard M Johnson narrative: Personal and Family Life" at archive.today (archived August 18, 2007), Georgetown and Scott County Museum, 2007, Retrieved on March 25, 2008.
  • Henry Robert Burke. , Lest We Forget Communications. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
  • "By His Hand the Chief Tecumseh Fell" (PDF), The New York Times, August 13, 1895. Reprint from the Philadelphia Times. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
  • Albert Z. Carr, The Coming of War; an account of the remarkable events leading to the War of 1812. Doubleday, 1960.
  • Freeman Cleaves, Old Tippecanoe; William Henry Harrison and his Time. Scribner, 1939.
  • William Emmons, Authentic Biography of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. New York; H. Mason., 1833.
  • Carolyn Thomas Foreman "". The Chronicles of Oklahoma 6 (4), December 1928. Oklahoma Historical Society. January 3, 2008.
  • James Strange French, Elkswatawa, Harper Brothers, 1836. A historical novel with endnotes based on the author's research and interviews.
  • Denis Tilden Lynch: An Epoch and a Man, Martin Van Buren and his Times, Liveright, 1929
  • Edgar J. McManus, "Richard Mentor Johnson", American National Biography. Online version posted February 2000, accessed April 5, 2008.
  • Keven McQueen, "Richard Mentor Johnson: Vice President", in Offbeat Kentuckians: Legends to Lunatics, Ill. by Kyle McQueen, Kuttawa, Kentucky: McClanahan Publishing House. ISBN 0-913383-80-5.
  • David Mills. "The Vice-President and the Mulatto", The Huffington Post, April 26, 2007, Retrieved on January 5, 2008.
  • Fletcher Pratt, "Richard M. Johnson: Rumpsey-Dumpsey", Eleven Generals; Studies in American Command, New York; William Sloane Assoc., 1949, pp. 81–97.
  • Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Age of Jackson, Little Brown, 1945.
  • Robert Sobel, "Johnson, Richard Mentor", Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774–1989. Greenwood Press, 1990 ISBN 0-313-26593-3. Retrieved on January 5, 2008.
  • Edmund Lyne Starling, History of Henderson County, Kentucky. Henderson, Kentucky, 1887; repr. Unigraphic, Evansville, Indiana, 1965. Accessed April 5, 2008.
  • Michael Stillman, "." Americana Exchange Monthly, January 2004. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
  • George William Stimpson, "A book about American politics." 1952. Retrieved on August 11, 2010.
  • Shafer, Ronald G. (February 7, 2021). "He became the nation's ninth vice president. She was his enslaved wife". Washington Post.
  • , a political print (c.1836) attacking Johnson for his relationship with Julia Chinn, published in Harper's Weekly, at Library of Congress
  • Carolyn Jean Powell, "What's love got to do with it?" The Dynamics of Desire, Race and Murder in the Slave South, January 2002, Doctoral dissertation #AAI3039386, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
  • "Carrying the War into Africa", an 1836 political print attacking Johnson for his relationship with Julia Chinn, published in Harper's Weekly, at Library of Congress
  • Richard Shenkman, Kurt Reiger (2003). "The Vice-President Who Sold His Mistress At Auction", One-Night Stands with American History: Odd, Amusing, and Little-Known Incidents. HarperCollins, pp. 71–72. ISBN 0-06-053820-1.
  • George Stimpson, A Book about American Politics. New York; Harper 1952, p. 133.
  • The Sunday Mail Report, authored and delivered by Johnson to the Senate on January 19, 1829 (related to delivery of mail on the Sabbath)
  • William Hobart Turner, Edward J. Cabbell Blacks in Appalachia. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1985. pp. 75–80. ISBN 0-8131-0162-X.

External links edit

richard, mentor, johnson, october, 1780, november, 1850, american, lawyer, military, officer, politician, served, ninth, vice, president, united, states, serving, from, 1837, 1841, under, president, martin, buren, only, vice, president, elected, united, states. Richard Mentor Johnson October 17 1780 a November 19 1850 was an American lawyer military officer and politician who served as the ninth vice president of the United States serving from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren He is the only vice president elected by the United States Senate under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment Johnson also represented Kentucky in the U S House of Representatives and Senate He began and ended his political career in the Kentucky House of Representatives Richard Mentor JohnsonPortrait c 18439th Vice President of the United StatesIn office March 4 1837 March 4 1841PresidentMartin Van BurenPreceded byMartin Van BurenSucceeded byJohn TylerUnited States Senatorfrom KentuckyIn office December 10 1819 March 3 1829Preceded byJohn J CrittendenSucceeded byGeorge M BibbMember of theU S House of Representativesfrom KentuckyIn office March 4 1829 March 3 1837Preceded byRobert L McHattonSucceeded byWilliam W SouthgateConstituency13th district 1833 1837 5th district 1829 1833 In office March 4 1807 March 3 1819Preceded byThomas SandfordSucceeded byWilliam BrownConstituency4th district 1807 1813 3rd district 1813 1819 Member of theKentucky House of RepresentativesIn office November 5 1850 November 19 1850In office December 30 1841 December 29 1843In office November 6 1804 November 4 1806Personal detailsBorn 1780 10 17 October 17 1780Beargrass Virginia present day Louisville Kentucky U S DiedNovember 19 1850 1850 11 19 aged 70 Frankfort Kentucky U S Resting placeFrankfort Cemetery38 11 52 2 N 84 52 01 8 W 38 197833 N 84 867167 W 38 197833 84 867167Political partyDemocratic Republican before 1828 Democratic after 1828 SpouseJulia Chinn 1790 1833 common law marriage Children2RelativesConway Johnson familyEducationTransylvania UniversitySignatureMilitary serviceAllegianceUnited StatesBranch serviceUnited States VolunteersYears of service1812 1814RankColonelBattles warsWar of 1812 Battle of the Thames WIA After two years in the Kentucky House Johnson was elected to the U S House in 1806 He became allied with fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay as a member of the War Hawks faction that favored war with Britain in 1812 At the outset of the War of 1812 Johnson was commissioned a colonel in the Kentucky Militia and commanded a regiment of mounted volunteers from 1812 to 1813 He and his brother James served under William Henry Harrison in Upper Canada Johnson led troops in the Battle of the Thames Many reported that he personally killed the Shawnee chief Tecumseh a claim that he later used to his political advantage After the war Johnson returned to the House of Representatives The state legislature appointed him to the Senate in 1819 to fill the seat vacated by John J Crittenden With his increasing prominence Johnson was criticized for his interracial relationship with Julia Chinn a mixed race slave who was classified as octoroon or seven eighths white Unlike other upper class planters and leaders who had African American mistresses or concubines but never acknowledged them Johnson treated Chinn as his common law wife He acknowledged their two daughters as his children giving them his surname much to the consternation of some of his constituents It is believed that because of this the state legislature picked another candidate for the Senate in 1828 forcing Johnson to leave in 1829 but his Congressional district voted for him and returned him to the House the same year In 1836 Johnson was the Democratic nominee for vice president on a ticket with Martin Van Buren Campaigning with the slogan Rumpsey Dumpsey Rumpsey Dumpsey Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh Johnson fell one short of the electoral votes needed to secure his election Virginia s delegation to the Electoral College refused to endorse Johnson voting instead for William Smith of South Carolina 1 2 The Senate elected him to the vice presidential office Johnson proved such a liability for the Democrats in the 1836 election that they refused to renominate him for vice president in 1840 Van Buren campaigned for reelection without a running mate He lost to William Henry Harrison a Whig Johnson then served two more years in the Kentucky House of Representatives He tried to return to higher office but was defeated He finally was elected to the Kentucky House in 1850 but died on November 19 1850 just two weeks into his term Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 Marriage and family 4 Political career 4 1 Early years 4 2 War of 1812 4 2 1 Initial service 4 2 2 Battle of the Thames 4 2 3 Return to Washington 4 3 Post war career in the House 4 4 Senator 4 4 1 Monroe years 1819 1825 4 4 2 Adams opponent 1825 1829 4 5 Return to the House 4 6 Election of 1836 5 Vice presidency 1837 1841 5 1 Election of 1840 6 Post vice presidency 1841 1850 7 Legacy 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 10 1 Citations 10 2 Sources 11 Further reading 12 External linksEarly life and education editRichard Mentor Johnson was born in the settlement of Beargrass on the Kentucky frontier present day Louisville on October 17 1780 the fifth of Robert and Jemima Suggett Johnson s 11 children and the second of eight sons His brothers John and Henry Johnson survived him 3 His parents married in 1770 Robert Johnson purchased land in what is now Kentucky but was then part of Virginia from Patrick Henry and from James Madison 4 He had worked as a surveyor and was able to pick out good land His wife Jemima Suggett came from a wealthy and politically connected family 5 nbsp The women of Bryan s Station draw water while the enemy looks onAbout the time of Richard s birth the family moved to Bryan s Station near present day Lexington in the Bluegrass Region This was a fortified outpost as there was much Native American resistance to white settlement 6 The Shawnee and Cherokee hunted in this area Jemima Johnson was remembered as among the community s heroic women because of what was told of her actions during Simon Girty s raid on Bryan s Station in August 1782 7 According to later reports with Indian warriors hidden in the nearby woods and the community short on water she led the women to a nearby spring and the attackers allowed them to return to the fort with the water Having the water helped the settlers beat off an attack made with flaming arrows At the time Robert Johnson was serving in the legislature in Richmond Virginia as he had been elected to represent Fayette County 8 Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792 Beginning in 1783 Kentucky was considered safe enough that settlers began to leave the fortified stations to establish farms The Johnsons settled on the land Robert had purchased at Great Crossing 9 As a surveyor he became successful through well chosen land purchases and being in the region when he could take advantage of huge land grants 3 10 According to Miles Smith s doctoral thesis Richard developed a cheery disposition and seems to have been a generally happy and content child 11 Richard lived on the family plantation until he was 16 In 1796 he was sent briefly to a local grammar school and then attended Transylvania University the first college west of the Appalachian Mountains While at the Lexington college where his father was a trustee he read law as a legal apprentice with George Nicholas and James Brown later a US Senator 12 Career editJohnson was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1802 12 and opened his law office at Great Crossing 13 Later he owned a retail store as a merchant and pursued a number of business ventures with his brothers 14 Johnson often worked pro bono for poor people prosecuting their cases when they had merit 15 He also opened his home to disabled veterans widows and orphans 14 Johnson also became a prominent Freemason and in the late 1830s was part of a Masonic organization the Hunters Lodge that unsuccessfully planned an invasion of Canada to overthrow the British government there and establish a provisional American administration 16 Marriage and family editSee also Anti miscegenation laws in the United States and List of federal political sex scandals in the United States Family tradition holds that Johnson broke off an early marital engagement when he was about sixteen because of his mother s disapproval 14 Purportedly Johnson vowed revenge for his mother s interference His former fiancee later gave birth to his daughter named Celia who was raised by the Johnson family Celia Johnson later married Wesley Fancher one of the men who served in Johnson s regiment at the Battle of the Thames After his father died Richard Johnson inherited Julia Chinn an octoroon mixed race woman seven eighths European and one eighth African in ancestry who was born into slavery around 1790 She had grown up in the Johnson household where her mother served 17 18 Julia Chinn was the daughter of Benjamin Chinn 19 who was living in Malden Upper Canada or London Canada and a sister of Daniel Chinn An 1845 letter from Newton Craig Keeper of the Penitentiary in Frankfort Kentucky to Daniel Chinn mentions another brother of Julia Chinn named Marcellus who accompanied Col Johnson on his first electioneering tour for vice presidency Marcellus left Col Johnson in New York whereupon Col Johnson tried to find Marcellus whereabouts from Arthur Tappan Esq 20 21 Though Chinn was legally Johnson s concubine he began a long term relationship with her and treated her as his common law wife which was legal in Kentucky at the time They had two daughters together and she later became manager of his plantation 22 Both Johnson and Chinn championed the notion of a diverse society by their multi racial predominately white family They were prohibited from marrying because she was a slave 23 When Johnson was away from his Kentucky plantation he authorized Chinn to manage his business affairs 14 She died in the widespread cholera epidemic that occurred in the summer of 1833 Johnson deeply grieved her loss 24 The relationship between Johnson and Chinn shows the contradictions within slavery at the time There were certainly numerous examples that kin could also be property Johnson was unusual for being open about his relationship and treating Chinn as his common law wife He was heard to call her my bride on at least one occasion and they acted like a married couple According to oral tradition other slaves at Great Crossings were said to work on their wedding 25 Chinn gradually gained more responsibilities As she spent much of her time in the plantation s big house a two story brick home she managed Johnson s estate for at least half of each year with her purview later expanding to all of his property even acting as Richard s representative and allowing her to handle money 26 This gave as historical scholar Christina Snyder argues some independence since Johnson told his white employees that Chinn s authority must be respected and her role allowing her children s lives to be different from others of African descent at Great Crossings giving them levels of privileged access within the plantation This was further complicated by the fact that Chinn was still enslaved but supervised the work of slaves which the Chinn family never sold or mortgaged off but she did not have the power to challenge the institution of slavery or overturn the government that supported it she only had the power to gain some personal autonomy with Johnson never legally emancipating her 27 This may have been because as Snyder says liberating her from human bondage would erode ties that bound her to him and keeping her enslaved supported his idea of being a benevolent patriarch Johnson and Chinn had two daughters Adaline or Adeline Chinn Johnson and Imogene Chinn Johnson whom he acknowledged and gave his surname to with Johnson and Chinn preparing them for a future as free women 28 Johnson taught them morality and basic literacy with Julia undoubtedly teaching her own skills with both later pushing for both of them to receive regular academic lessons which he later educated at home to prevent the scorn of neighbors and constituents Later Johnson would provide for Adaline and Imogene s education 24 23 Both daughters married white men Johnson gave them large farms as dowries from his own holdings 15 There is confusion about whether Adeline Chinn Scott had children a 2007 account by the Scott County History Museum said she had at least one son Robert Johnson Scott with husband Thomas W Scott who became a doctor in Missouri 5 24 Meyers said that she was childless 29 There is also disagreement about the year of her death Bevins writes that Adeline died in the 1833 cholera epidemic 24 Meyers wrote she died in 1836 29 The Library of Congress notes that she died in February 1836 30 Although Johnson treated these two daughters as his own according to Meyers the surviving Imogene was prevented from inheriting his estate at the time of his death The court noted she was illegitimate and so without rights in the case 29 Upon Johnson s death the Fayette County Court found that he left no widow children father or mother living It divided his estate between his living brothers John and Henry 31 Bevins s account written for the Georgetown amp Scott County Museum says that Adeline s son Robert Johnson Scott 5 her first cousin Richard M Johnson Jr and Imogene s family husband Daniel Pence first daughter Malvina and son in law Robert Lee and second daughter and son in law Josiah Pence 5 acquired Johnson s remaining land after his death 24 After Chinn s death Johnson began an intimate relationship with another family slave 32 When she left him for another man Johnson had her picked up and sold at auction Afterward he began a similar relationship with her sister also a slave 32 33 Political career editEarly years edit nbsp Portrait of Richard Mentor Johnson attributed to Matthew Harris Jouett c 1818After passing the bar Johnson returned to Great Crossing where his father gave him a plantation and slaves to work it The many lawsuits over ownership of land provided him with much legal work and combined with his agricultural interests he quickly became prosperous 34 Johnson ran for a seat in the U S House of Representatives in 1803 but finished third behind the winner Thomas Sandford and William Henry At that time following the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson in 1801 many young democratically minded aspiring politicians were seeking office 35 While Jefferson and Johnson agreed on the need for greater democracy Jefferson felt that the people should be led by the elite such as himself while Johnson took a more populist view 36 In 1804 Johnson ran for the Kentucky House of Representatives for Scott County where Great Crossing is and this time was elected the first native Kentuckian to serve in the state s legislature 37 Although the Kentucky Constitution imposed an age requirement of twenty four for members of the House of Representatives Johnson was so popular that no one raised questions about his age and he was allowed to take his seat 38 39 Seeking to protect his constituents most of whom were small farmers he introduced a proposed U S constitutional amendment limiting the power of the federal courts to matters involving the U S Constitution Throughout his political career Johnson sought to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts which he deemed undemocratic 40 41 In 1806 Johnson was elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States House of Representatives serving as the first native Kentuckian to be elected to Congress 38 39 In the three way election he defeated Congressman Sandford and James Moore 42 At the time of his election in August 1806 he did not meet the U S Constitution s age requirement for service in the House 25 but by the time the congressional term began the following March he had turned 25 38 He was re elected and served six consecutive terms During the first three terms from 1807 to 1813 he represented Kentucky s Fourth District 43 Johnson took his seat in the House on October 26 1807 Congress had been called into special session by President Jefferson to consider how to react to the Chesapeake Leopard affair 44 the forcible boarding of an American naval ship by a British vessel with four sailors seized as deserters and one hanged Jefferson had tried to maintain neutrality with the main combatants in the Napoleonic Wars Britain and France and at his urging Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807 with Johnson voting in support finding economic warfare preferable to the use of guns we fear no nation but let the time for shedding human blood be protracted when consistent with our safety 45 Over the following year Congress attempted to tighten the Embargo which was widely evaded especially in the Northeast with Johnson voting in favor each time 46 Johnson generally supported Jefferson s proposals and those of his successor James Madison all three were Democratic Republicans and Johnson saw the party s proposals as superior to any suggested by the Federalists whom he saw as not acting in the best interests of the country 47 In 1809 Johnson supported Jefferson in adopting the administration s proposal to replace the Embargo Act with the Non Intercourse Act as the Embargo had proven ineffective except in causing a serious recession in the United States 48 Although Johnson is considered one of the War Hawks the young Southern and Western Democratic Republicans who sought expansion and development of the nation 49 he was cautious in the runup to the War of 1812 Johnson saw Britain as the major obstacle to United States control of North America but worried about what a war might bring 50 By the time Congress met in late 1811 he had come around to war and joined the War Hawks in electing one of their own Henry Clay of Kentucky as Speaker Like the other War Hawks though he was initially unwilling to support increased taxes and borrowing to finance the construction of naval vessels 51 When Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war against Britain in June 1812 Johnson voted in favor 52 as the House passed the resolution 79 49 Madison signed the declaration on June 18 1812 53 For his fourth consecutive term from 1813 to 1815 he had secured one of Kentucky s at large seats in the House For his fifth and sixth consecutive terms 1815 to 1819 he represented Kentucky s Third District Johnson continued to represent the interests of the poor as a member of the House He first came to national attention with his opposition to rechartering the First Bank of the United States 14 Johnson served as chairman of the Committee on Claims during the Eleventh Congress 1809 1811 54 The committee was charged with adjudicating financial claims made by veterans of the Revolutionary War He sought to influence the committee to grant the claim of Alexander Hamilton s widow to wages which Hamilton had declined when serving under George Washington 55 Although Hamilton was a champion of the rival Federalist Party Johnson had compassion for Hamilton s widow before the end of his term he secured payment of the wages 55 War of 1812 edit See also Kentucky in the War of 1812 Initial service edit Within a week of the declaration of war Johnson urged the House of Representatives to recommend the raising of troops in the western states lest disaster befall settlers on the frontier 56 After the adjournment Johnson returned to Kentucky to recruit volunteers So many men responded that he chose only those with horses and raised a body of mounted rifles 57 The War of 1812 was extraordinarily popular in Kentucky Kentuckians depended on sea trade through the port of New Orleans and feared that the British would stir up another Indian war 58 b The land war fought in the Northern United States pitted American troops against British forces and their Indian allies 59 Johnson recruited 300 men divided into three companies who elected him major They merged with another battalion forming a regiment of 500 men with Johnson as colonel with the merged volunteer forces becoming a brigade commanded by General Edward W Tupper of Ohio 60 The Kentucky militia was under the command of General William Henry Harrison the Governor of the Indiana Territory 61 Johnson s force was originally intended to join General William Hull at Detroit but Hull surrendered Detroit on August 16 and his army was captured Harrison by then was in command of the entire Northwest frontier and ordered Johnson to relieve Fort Wayne in the northeast of the Territory which was already being attacked by the Indians On September 18 1812 Johnson s men reached Fort Wayne in time to save it and turned back an Indian ambush They returned to Kentucky and disbanded going out of their way to burn Potawatomi villages along the Elkhart River en route 62 Johnson returned to his seat in Congress in the late fall of 1812 Based on his experience he proposed a plan to defeat the mobile guerrilla warfare of the Indians American troops moved slowly dependent on a supply line Indians would evade battle and raid supplies until the American forces withdrew or were overrun Mounted riflemen could move quickly carry their own supplies and live off the woods If they attacked Indian villages in winter the Indians would be compelled to stand and fight for the supplies they used to wage war and could be decisively defeated Johnson submitted this plan to President James Madison and Secretary of War John Armstrong who approved it in principle They referred the plan to Harrison who found winter operations impracticable Johnson was permitted to try the tactics in the summer of 1813 later the US conducted Indian wars in winter with his strategy 63 Johnson left Washington D C just before Congress adjourned He raised one thousand men nominally part of the Kentucky militia under Governor Isaac Shelby but largely operating independently He disciplined his men required that every man have arms in prime condition and ready to hand and hired gunsmiths blacksmiths and doctors at his own expense He devised a new tactical system when any group of men encountered the enemy they were to dismount take cover and hold the enemy in place All groups not in contact were to ride to the sound of firing and dismount surrounding the enemy when they got there Between May and September Johnson raided throughout the Northwest burning the war supply centers of Indian villages surrounding their fighting units and scattering them killing some warriors each time 64 Battle of the Thames edit In September Oliver Hazard Perry destroyed most of the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie taking control of the lake This made the British army then at Fort Malden now Amherstburg Ontario vulnerable to having its supply lines cut The British under General Henry Procter withdrew to the northeast pursued by Harrison who had advanced through Michigan while Johnson kept the Indians engaged The Indian chief Tecumseh and his allies covered the British retreat but were countered by Johnson who had been called back from a raid on Kaskaskia that had taken the post where the British had distributed arms and money to the Indians Johnson s cavalry defeated Tecumseh s main force on September 29 took British supply trains on October 3 and was one of the factors inducing Procter to stand and fight at the Battle of the Thames on October 5 as Tecumseh had been demanding he do One of Johnson s slaves Daniel Chinn accompanied Johnson to the battle 65 nbsp Nathaniel Currier s lithograph c 1841 is one of many images that portrayed Johnson as Tecumseh s killer At the battle itself Johnson s forces were the first to attack One battalion of five hundred men under Johnson s elder brother James Johnson engaged the British force of eight hundred regulars simultaneously Richard Johnson with the other now somewhat smaller battalion attacked the fifteen hundred Indians led by Tecumseh There was too much tree cover for the British volleys to be effective against James Johnson three quarters of the regulars were killed or captured The Indians were a harder fight they were out of the main field of battle skirmishing on the edge of an adjacent swamp Richard Johnson ordered a suicide squad of twenty men to charge with him and draw the Indians fire with the rest to attack as the Indians reloaded But he was unable to push his troops through the enemy position due to the swampy ground Johnson had to order his men to dismount and hold until Shelby s infantry came up By then under the pressure of Johnson s attack the Native American force broke and fled into the swamp during which time Tecumseh was slain 66 67 The question of who shot and killed Tecumseh was highly controversial in Johnson s lifetime as he was most often named as the shooter Johnson himself did not publicly say that he had killed Tecumseh stating that he had killed a tall good looking Indian but initial published accounts named him and it was not until 1816 that another claimant a man named David King appeared 68 John Sugden in his book on the Battle of the Thames found that Johnson s claim is surely the stronger 69 Jones suggested that the issue did not truly catch the public s attention until Johnson became a potential candidate for national office in the 1830s and was promoted through such means as a campaign biography stage play and song In any event he found Colonel Johnson truly was a war hero at the Battle of the Thames By leading the suicide mission on horseback more lives were saved than lost Johnson was lucky to have been only wounded since fifteen men died instantly during the charge 70 There are reports from Indians that support Johnson s account but most were made decades after the battle by which time the question of whether Johnson shot Tecumseh had become politically charged 71 Tecumseh was said to have been shot from a firearm pointed at a downward angle as if from a horse with a ball and three buckshot which Johnson s pistol was said to be loaded with Evidence that it was so loaded is lacking and the angle of the wound did not exclude the possibility that he had been stooping when shot Some accounts have muskets loaded with cartridges containing a ball and three buckshot being commonly carried by American soldiers and whether the Americans identified the proper body as Tecumseh whose death was attested to by British officers who had been at the battle is another source of contention 72 On April 4 1818 an act of Congress requested that the President of the United States present to Johnson a sword in honor of his daring and distinguished valor at the Battle of the Thames 73 The sword was presented to Johnson by President James Monroe in April 1820 74 Johnson was one of only 14 military officers to be presented a sword by an act of Congress prior to the American Civil War 75 Return to Washington edit With the American success at the Battle of the Thames the war in the northwest was effectively over Although there was no organized resistance to his presence in Canada Harrison withdrew to Detroit because of supply problems 17 Johnson remained wounded at Detroit as his men began their return to Kentucky Once he had recovered enough to bear the journey he was conveyed home in a bed in a carriage arriving there in early November 1813 76 It took him five months to recover though he was still left with a damaged left arm and hand and was later described as walking with a limp He returned to Congress in February 1814 but due to his wounds was unable to participate in debates until the following session of Congress 77 He received a hero s welcome still suffering from war wounds that would plague him for the rest of his life 78 In August 1814 British forces attacked Washington D C and burned the White House and Capitol and when Congress reconvened on September 19 with Johnson present it was in temporary quarters 79 On September 22 Johnson moved for the appointment of a committee to look into why the British had been allowed to burn the city and he was appointed as chairman Johnson s committee compiled a voluminous report but it was objected to by Representative Daniel Webster who felt the report including much correspondence needed to be printed so that all congressmen could study it This postponed any debate to 1815 by which time the Treaty of Ghent had been ratified and the United States was again at peace With Congress having little interest in debating the matter it was dropped 80 Had the war continued Johnson was ready to return to Kentucky to raise another military unit 81 Post war career in the House edit With the end of the war Johnson who was made chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs turned his legislative attention to issues such as securing pensions for widows and orphans and funding internal improvements in the West 17 There were widespread reports of Americans including women and children captured by Indians during the war and Johnson used his congressional office to investigate these matters and to try to secure the release of captives 82 Western Democratic Republicans like Johnson strongly supported the military and urged aid for the veterans in December 1815 Johnson introduced legislation for the relief of the infirm disabled and superannuated officers and soldiers 83 Fearing that the United States Military Academy at West Point New York produced dandies not soldiers Johnson expanded on a proposal by President Madison to establish three additional military academies urging the placement of one of them in Kentucky 84 Despite the support of such influential members of the House as Clay and John C Calhoun the proposal did not pass but Johnson worked to have federal facilities built in the West throughout his time in Congress 85 Johnson believed that Congressional business was too slow and tedious and that the per diem system of compensation encouraged delays on the part of members 86 To remedy this he sponsored legislation to pay annual salaries of 1 500 to congressmen rather than a 6 per diem for the days the body was in session 87 At the time this had the effect of increasing the total compensation from about 900 to 1500 Johnson noted that congressmen had not had a pay increase in 27 years during which time the cost of living had greatly increased and that 1 500 was less than the salaries of 28 of the clerks employed by the government 88 The popular Johnson s sponsorship of the measure provided political cover for proponents Maryland s Robert Wright wondered how his colleagues would feel if the highly honorable mover of this bill who slew Tecumseh with his own hands he who came up here covered with wounds and glory with his favorite war horse and his more favorite servant his attendant in the army his nurse and necessary assistant was obliged to sell his war horse or his servant salaries would prevent such things from coming to pass 89 The bill passed the House and Senate quickly and was made law on March 19 1816 88 But the measure proved extremely unpopular with voters in part because it gave Congress an immediate pay raise rather than waiting until after the next election 90 c Many members who supported the bill lost their seats as a result including Johnson s colleague Solomon P Sharp from Kentucky Johnson s overall popularity helped him retain his seat against a challenge one of only 15 of 81 who voted to pass the bill to keep their seats in the House The old Congress met for a lame duck session in December repealed the new law effective when the new Congress was sworn in but at Johnson s suggestion did not revive the old per diem thus forcing the new legislators to act on the matter if they wanted to get paid 91 Compensation for members of Congress remained on a per diem basis until an annual salary of 3 000 75 000 in 2023 was prescribed in 1855 92 According to Edward J McManus who wrote Johnson s entry in the American National Biography Johnson instead of defending the merits of the reform avoided the backlash by pledging to work for the repeal of his own measure He justified his reversal by arguing that representatives should reflect the popular will but lack of political stamina may have been closer to the truth 3 Johnson disliked the idea of a national bank and had voted in 1811 not to renew the charter of the First Bank of the United States 93 Calhoun s bill for a Second Bank of the United States passed Congress in early 1816 Johnson was opposed but was absent for the vote busy with other matters 94 A bonus was to be paid to the government by the Second Bank and a bill was introduced early in 1817 to spend that money on internal improvements Although Johnson was opposed to the national bank he supported the bill believing that the improvements to transportation would benefit his constituents and the bill passed the House by two votes Madison then in his final days in office vetoed the bill Johnson joined the effort to override the veto but it failed 95 The break from the administration was unusual for Johnson but he believed the war had shown the need for better roads and canals 96 When he took office in 1817 President James Monroe s first choice for Secretary of War was Henry Clay who declined the position The post ultimately went to Calhoun 14 The result was that Johnson became chair of the Committee on Expenditures where he wielded considerable influence over defense policy in the Department of War during the Fifteenth Congress 54 In 1817 Congress investigated General Andrew Jackson s execution of two British subjects during the First Seminole War Johnson chaired the inquiry committee The majority of the committee favored a negative report and a censure for Jackson Johnson a Jackson supporter drafted a minority report that was more favorable to Jackson and opposed the censure The ensuing debate pitted Johnson against fellow Kentuckian Clay Johnson s report prevailed and Jackson was spared censure 97 This disagreement between Johnson and Clay however marked the beginning of a political separation between the two that lasted for the duration of their careers 98 In 1818 Calhoun approved an expedition to build a military outpost near the present site of Bismarck North Dakota on the Yellowstone River Johnson awarded the contract to his brother James 14 Although the Yellowstone Expedition was an ultimate failure and expensive to the U S Treasury the Johnsons escaped political ill will in their home district because the venture was seen as a peacekeeping endeavor on the frontier 14 However the Panic of 1819 caused Congress to investigate the Yellowstone matter and in 1820 a report found that James Johnson had overcharged the government by 76 000 99 Richard and James Johnson as well as other family members remained in debt until 1824 when arrangements were made with the largest creditor the Second Bank of the United States to settle the liabilities 100 Senator edit Monroe years 1819 1825 edit Johnson announced his intent to retire from the House of Representatives in early 1818 101 Sources differ on why he did David Petriello in his biography of Johnson stated that the Kentucky congressman had determined to move on to the Senate 74 an earlier biographer Leland Winfield Meyer stated that Johnson s departure from the House was because he believed in rotation in office and felt he had served there long enough 101 Jones stated that Johnson planned to return to private life to deal with family business interests 102 Under the original federal Constitution state legislators not the voters elected U S senators 74 and the Kentucky General Assembly was to choose a replacement for outgoing senator Isham Talbot in December 1818 Johnson was considered a strong contender if he entered the race and in October he let it be known through the press that he would accept the Senate seat if the General Assembly elected him On December 18 1818 legislators chose William Logan over Johnson 67 55 103 Newspapers noted that the former congressman had never officially declared his candidacy and that Johnson s political friends intended to nominate him for governor in the 1820 election 104 Johnson s term in the House expired March 3 1819 but by August he had been elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives where he worked to secure passage of a law that abolished imprisonment for debtors in the state 13 though it did not pass until 1821 78 But when Senator John J Crittenden resigned in November 1819 the legislature was called upon to fill the seat 13 The following month the General Assembly elected Johnson to the Senate in a 68 53 vote over John Adair who would be Kentucky s next governor 105 Johnson was sworn in on January 3 1820 The Senate was at that time grappling with the admission of the Missouri Territory and the Maine District then part of Massachusetts as states When a bill was introduced which would bar slavery in the territories north and west of Missouri Johnson was assigned to a select committee of five senators to consider it The Maine and Missouri questions had been combined into one bill Johnson voted against an amendment to separate them which was defeated 106 On February 17 the Senate voted to bar slavery outside Missouri in the part of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36 30 north latitude line with Johnson voting in favor The bill passed and was signed by President Monroe in March Missouri s admission was delayed due to controversial clauses in its draft constitution such as one forbidding the entry to the state of free African Americans Johnson served on the committee of House and Senate members which brokered a resolution enabling Missouri s admission in August 1821 107 Johnson was re elected to a full term in 1822 so that in total his Senate tenure ran from December 10 1819 to March 4 1829 54 In 1821 he introduced legislation chartering Columbian College later The George Washington University in Washington D C 13 During this time period his views on Western expansion were clear He believed that the US empire of liberty should extend across the continent arguing in debates leading up to the Missouri Compromise that western expansion and emancipation should go hand in hand acknowledging issues with white racism but advocating for gradual emancipation 108 Furthermore he went against the ideas put forward by sympathizers of the Colonization movement arguing in favor of meaningfully incorporating people of color into a multiracial empire 109 In December 1822 Johnson introduced legislation to abolish imprisonment for debt at the federal level 110 He first spoke to the issue in the Senate on December 14 1822 pointing to the positive effects its cessation had effected in his home state The bill failed but Johnson persisted in re introducing it every year In 1824 it passed the Senate but was too late to be acted upon by the House It passed the Senate a second time in 1828 but again the House failed to act on it and the measure died for some years owing to Johnson s exit from the Senate the next year 111 Passage would have made only a modest impact since few were imprisoned for debt at the federal level but Johnson hoped to advance the cause of abolishing it in the states The reform was opposed by the business community but Jackson s support after he became president in 1829 eventually gave the movement fresh life and a limited bill was passed in 1832 Within ten years after that imprisonment for debt had been abolished in most states 112 Johnson also sought help for debtors not in prison such as some form of bankruptcy legislation which would help his own problems and those of his neighbors 113 Johnson knew this politically pressing issue which he worked on into the 1830s quite well because it affected him personally He was in debt himself from his business losses and support for Western expansion 114 He also continued to advocate for the positions he had held while a member of the House As the chair of the Committee on Military Affairs Johnson pushed for higher veterans pensions and a liberal policy to enable settlers to buy land in the West more easily 115 Adams opponent 1825 1829 edit The congressional nominating caucus system for choosing presidential and vice presidential candidates was unpopular by 1824 though a caucus did choose William H Crawford of Georgia State legislatures chose the other presidential candidates Clay Jackson and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams Johnson supported Clay his fellow Kentuckian and Clay gained the state s electoral votes Jackson led in both the popular and electoral vote for president but did not have a majority so the election for president was thrown into the House of Representatives though Calhoun gained a majority of the electoral vote for vice president Clay had finished fourth in electoral vote and as the Constitution limits the House s choice to the top three finishers he was eliminated 116 Johnson supported Jackson and there were rumors Johnson would be Secretary of War in a Jackson administration Clay threw his support to Adams who was elected and many believed Clay who became Secretary of State and Adams had made a Corrupt Bargain Johnson was the one who informed Jackson of this Many of Jackson s supporters were enraged by the outcome 117 including Johnson who promised to oppose the Adams administration for by the Eternal if they act as pure as the angels that stand at the right hand of the throne of God we ll put them down 118 Johnson opposed Adams s policies and became a member of the faction later the Democratic Party that New York Senator Martin Van Buren was forming to promote Jackson s candidacy in 1828 119 Already known for securing government contracts for himself as well as his brothers and friends he offered land to establish the Choctaw Academy a school devoted to the European American education of Indians from the Southeast tribes Johnson had tried to establish an Indian school at Great Crossings in 1818 partnering with the Kentucky Baptist Society but the school folded in 1821 after it failed to gain the support of the federal government or private donors 120 The new academy would come into being a few years later The academy sitting on his farm in Scott County in 1825 was overseen by Johnson and not only was part of treaty negotiations with the Choctaw Nation but appealed to his colleagues as a form peaceful conquest or expansion with honor as Henry Knox put it 121 122 Although he never ran afoul of the conflict of interest standards of his day some of his colleagues considered his actions ethically questionable 15 Johnson was paid well for the school by the federal government which gave him a portion of the annuities for the Choctaw It was promoted by the Baptist Missionary Society as well 123 Some European American students also attended the academy including his nephew Robert Ward Johnson from Arkansas 124 Another pet project Johnson supported was prompted by his friendship with John Cleves Symmes Jr who proposed that the Earth was hollow In 1823 Johnson proposed in the Senate that the government fund an expedition to the center of the Earth The proposal was soundly defeated receiving only twenty five votes in the House and Senate combined 32 Johnson served as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses Near the end of his term in the Senate petitioners asked Congress to prevent the handling and delivery of mail on Sunday because it violated biblical principles about not working on the Sabbath 15 These petitions were referred to Johnson s committee In response Johnson a practicing Baptist drafted a report now commonly referred to as The Sunday Mail Report 15 125 In the report presented to Congress on January 19 1829 Johnson argued that government was a civil and not a religious institution and as such could not legislate the tenets of any particular denomination 14 The report was applauded as an elegant defense of the doctrine of separation of church and state But Johnson was criticized for conflicts of interest in his defense as he had friends who were contracted to haul mail and who would have suffered financially from such a ban 15 In 1828 Johnson was an unsuccessful candidate for re election owing in part to his relationship with the biracial slave Julia Chinn with whom he lived in a common law marriage 14 Although residents of his own district seemed little bothered by the arrangement slaveholders elsewhere in the state were not so forgiving 14 The Democratic Party in Kentucky was split with enough dissidents to be able to join with the opposition to block Johnson s re election Johnson s managers withdrew his name and proposed George M Bibb who was elected 126 In his own defense Johnson said Unlike Jefferson Clay Poindexter and others I married my wife under the eyes of God and apparently He has found no objections 127 The named men were suspected or known to have similar relationships with slave women 127 According to Henry Robert Burke what people objected to was Johnson trying to introduce his daughters to polite society People were used to planters and overseers having relationships with slave women but they were expected to deny them 127 Return to the House edit After his failed Senatorial re election bid Johnson returned to the House representing Kentucky s Fifth District from 1829 to 1833 and Thirteenth District from 1833 to 1837 During the Twenty first and Twenty second Congresses he again served as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads 54 In this capacity he was again asked to address the question of Sunday mail delivery He drew up a second report largely similar in content to the first arguing against legislation preventing mail delivery on Sunday 128 The report commonly called Col Johnson s second Sunday mail report was delivered to Congress in March 1830 128 Some contemporaries doubted Johnson s authorship of this second report 14 Many claimed it was instead written by Amos Kendall 129 Kendall claimed he had seen the report only after it had been drafted and said he had only altered one or two words 129 Kendall speculated that the author could be Reverend O B Brown but historian Leland Meyer concludes that there is no reason to doubt that Johnson authored the report himself 129 Johnson chaired the Committee on Military Affairs during the Twenty second Twenty third and Twenty fourth Congresses 54 Beginning in 1830 there arose a groundswell of public support for Johnson s pet project of ending debt imprisonment 130 The subject began to appear more frequently in President Jackson s addresses to the legislature 131 Johnson chaired a House committee to report on the subject and delivered the committee s report on January 17 1832 132 Later that year a bill abolishing the practice of debt imprisonment passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law on July 14 133 Johnson s stands won him widespread popularity and endorsement by George H Evans Robert Dale Owen and Theophilus Fisk for the presidency in 1832 but Johnson abandoned his campaign when Andrew Jackson announced he would seek a second term He then began campaigning to become Jackson s running mate but Jackson favored Martin Van Buren instead At the Democratic National Convention Johnson finished a distant third in the vice presidential balloting receiving only the votes of the Kentucky Indiana and Illinois delegations William B Lewis had to persuade him to withdraw 134 Election of 1836 edit After the election of 1832 Johnson continued to campaign for the vice presidency which would be available in 1836 He was endorsed by the New York labor leader Ely Moore on March 13 1833 nine days after Jackson and Van Buren were inaugurated Moore praised his devotion to freedom of religion and his opposition to imprisonment for debt 135 d William Emmons the Boston printer published a biography of Johnson in New York dated July 1833 136 Richard Emmons from Great Crossing Kentucky followed this up with a play entitled Tecumseh of the Battle of the Thames and a poem in honor of Johnson Many of Johnson s friends and supporters Davy Crockett and John Bell among them encouraged him to run for president Jackson however supported Vice President Van Buren for the office Johnson accepted this choice and worked to gain the nomination for vice president 14 Emmons s poem provided the line that became Johnson s campaign slogan Rumpsey Dumpsey Rumpsey Dumpsey Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh 14 Jackson supported Johnson for vice president thinking that the war hero would balance the ticket with Van Buren who had not served in the War of 1812 17 Jackson made his decision based on Johnson s loyalty but also the president s anger at the primary rival candidate William Cabell Rives 14 Despite Jackson s support the party was far from united behind Johnson Van Buren preferred Rives as a running mate 14 In a letter to Jackson Tennessee Supreme Court justice John Catron doubted that a lucky random shot even if it did hit Tecumseh qualifies a man for the vice presidency 15 Although Johnson was a widower after Chinn s death in 1833 there was still dissension related to Johnson s open relationship with a slave 127 The 1835 Democratic National Convention in Baltimore in May 1835 was held under the two thirds rule largely to demonstrate Van Buren s wide popularity Although Van Buren was nominated unanimously Johnson barely obtained the necessary two thirds of the vote A motion was made to change the rule but it obtained only a bare majority not two thirds Tennessee s delegation did not attend the convention Edward Rucker a Tennessean who happened to be in Baltimore was picked to cast its 15 votes so that all the states would endorse Van Buren Senator Silas Wright of New York prevailed upon Rucker to vote for Johnson giving him just more than twice the votes cast for Rives and the nomination 137 Jackson s faith in Johnson to balance the ticket proved misplaced In the general election Johnson cost the Democrats votes in the South where his relationship with Chinn was particularly unpopular He also failed to garner much support from the West where he was supposed to be strong due to his reputation as an Indian fighter and war hero 15 He even failed to deliver his home state of Kentucky for the Democrats 15 Regardless the Democrats still won the popular vote When the electoral vote was counted in Congress on February 8 1837 Van Buren was found to have received 170 votes for president but Johnson had received only 147 for vice president 15 Although Virginia had elected electors pledged to both Van Buren and Johnson the state s 23 faithless electors refused to vote for Johnson leaving him one electoral vote short of a majority 14 For the only time the Senate was charged with electing the vice president under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment 15 The vote on February 8 1837 divided mostly along party lines with Johnson becoming vice president by a vote of 33 as opposed to 16 for Whig Francis Granger with three senators absent citation needed Vice presidency 1837 1841 edit nbsp Portrait of a middle aged Johnson by Rembrandt PealeJohnson served as vice president from March 4 1837 to March 4 1841 His term was largely unremarkable and he enjoyed little influence with President Van Buren 17 His penchant for wielding his power for his own interests did not abate He lobbied the Senate to promote Samuel Milroy whom he owed a favor to the position of Indian agent 14 When Lewis Tappan requested presentation of an abolitionist petition to the Senate Johnson who was still a slaveholder declined the request 14 As presiding officer of the Senate Johnson was called on to cast a tie breaking vote fourteen times more than all of his predecessors save John Adams and John Calhoun Despite the precedent set by some of his predecessors Johnson never addressed the Senate on the occasion of a tie breaking vote however on one occasion he did explain his vote via an article in the Kentucky Gazette 14 After the financial Panic of 1837 Johnson took a nine month leave of absence during which he returned home to Kentucky and opened a tavern and spa on his farm to offset his continued financial problems 14 138 Upon visiting the establishment Amos Kendall wrote to President Van Buren that he found Johnson happy in the inglorious pursuit of tavern keeping even giving his personal superintendence to the chicken and egg purchasing and water melon selling department 14 In his later political career he became known for wearing a bright red vest and tie 139 He adopted this dress during his term as vice president when he and James Reeside a mail contractor known for his drab dress passed a tailor s shop that displayed a bright red cloth in the window 140 Johnson suggested that Reeside should wear a red vest because the mail coaches he owned and operated were red 140 Reeside agreed to do so if Johnson would also 140 Both men ordered red vests and neckties and were known for donning this attire for the rest of their lives 140 Election of 1840 edit By 1840 it had become clear that Johnson was a liability to the Democratic ticket Even former president Jackson conceded that Johnson was dead weight and threw his support to James K Polk 15 141 President Van Buren stood for re election and the Whigs once again countered with William Henry Harrison 15 Van Buren was reluctant to drop Johnson from the ticket fearing that dropping the Democrats own war hero would split the party and cost him votes to Harrison 15 A unique compromise ensued with the Democratic National Convention refusing to nominate Johnson or any other candidate for vice president 14 The idea was to allow the states to choose their own candidates or perhaps return the question to the Senate should Van Buren be elected with no clear winner in the vice presidential race 15 Undaunted by this lack of confidence from his peers Johnson continued to campaign to retain his office Although his campaign was more vigorous than that of Van Buren his behavior on the campaign trail raised concern among voters He made rambling incoherent speeches During one speech in Ohio he raised his shirt in order to display to the crowd the wounds that he had received during the Battle of the Thames Charges he leveled against Harrison in Cleveland were so poorly received that they touched off a riot in the city 14 In the end Johnson received only forty eight electoral votes 142 One elector from Virginia and all eleven from South Carolina voted for Van Buren for president but selected someone other than Johnson for vice president 14 Johnson lost his home state of Kentucky again and his home district 14 Post vice presidency 1841 1850 editAfter his term as vice president Johnson returned to Kentucky to tend to his farm and oversee his tavern 17 He again represented Scott County in the Kentucky House from 1841 to 1843 13 In 1845 he served as a pallbearer when Daniel Boone was re interred in Frankfort Cemetery 15 nbsp Johnson s gravesite at Frankfort CemeteryJohnson never gave up on a return to public service He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the U S Senate against John J Crittenden in 1842 15 He briefly and futilely sought his party s nomination for president in 1844 15 He also ran as an independent candidate for Governor of Kentucky in 1848 but after talking with the Democratic candidate Lazarus W Powell who had replaced Linn Boyd on the ticket Johnson decided to drop out and back Powell 143 Some speculated that the real object of this campaign was to secure another nomination to the vice presidency but this hope was denied 14 Johnson finally returned to elected office in 1850 when he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives By this time however his physical and mental health was already failing On November 9 the Louisville Daily Journal reported that Col R M Johnson is laboring under an attack of dementia which renders him totally unfit for business It is painful to see him on the floor attempting to discharge the duties of a member He is incapable of properly exercising his physical or mental powers 142 He died of a stroke on November 19 just two weeks into his term aged 70 15 He was interred in the Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort Kentucky 54 Ruling that his surviving daughter Imogene was illegitimate the Frankfort County Court split his estate between his brothers John and Henry 144 Legacy edit nbsp Johnson center right killing Tecumseh from the frieze of the rotunda of the U S CapitolCounties in four U S states are named for Johnson namely in Illinois Kentucky 145 Missouri and Nebraska 146 Richard Mentor Johnson is also the namesake of Dick Johnson Township Indiana 147 His political prominence led to a family dynasty his brothers James and John Telemachus Johnson and his nephew Robert Ward Johnson were all elected to the House of Representatives the first two from Kentucky and Robert from Arkansas Robert was later elected as a senator before the Civil War 54 See also editList of federal political sex scandals in the United States List of people from KentuckyNotes edit Emmons and Langworthy give 1781 and Pratt and Sobel accept this date this has the effect of making him born in Kentucky which would be a reason to invent it Carr also sees as background motives the British hostility to slavery and a consequent wish to disentangle Britain from the United States Today this would violate the Twenty seventh Amendment Note that Emmons like Langworthy was published in New York City References editCitations edit The one election where Faithless Electors made a difference Yahoo News December 19 2016 Retrieved March 3 2024 Sabato Larry J Ernst Howard R May 14 2014 Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections Infobase Publishing p 133 ISBN 978 1 4381 0994 7 Retrieved November 15 2016 in 1836 the Virginia electors abstained rather than vote for Democratic vice presidential nominee Richard Johnson a b c McManus Edgar J 2000 Johnson Richard Mentor American National Biography online doi 10 1093 anb 9780198606697 article 0300246 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a Missing or empty url help Petriello pp 2 4 a b c d Christina Snyder Great Crossings Indians Settlers amp Slaves in the Age of Jackson New York Oxford University Press 2017 p 42 Smith 2013 p 31 Snyder pp 42 43 Meyer pp 22 23 Meyer p 25 Pratt p 82 Smith 2013 p 40 a b Petriello pp 12 13 a b c d e Kleber p 475 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Hatfield Vice Presidents 1789 1993 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Stillman Eccentricity at the Top McLaughlin Shaun J 2013 The Patriot War Along the Michigan Canada Border Raiders and Rebels Charleston SC The History Press p 78 ISBN 978 1 6258 4511 5 via Google Books a b c d e f Richard M Johnson 1837 1841 Snyder Great Crossings pp 51 53 Great Mountain Freeman Montpelier VT p1 The Freeman for The Freeman Developments of the Peculiar Institution Green Mountain Freeman Montpelier VT June 20 1845 p 1 The Freeman for The Freeman Developments of the Peculiar Institution Via Library of Congress Chronicling America Vermont Phoenix Brattleboro VT Vol XV No 30 July 18 1845 The Workings of Slavery Via Fair Use Repository Snyder Great Crossings pp 3 4 8 9 a b Mills The Vice President and the Mulatto a b c d e Bevins Richard M Johnson narrative Personal and Family Life Snyder Great Crossings pp 54 56 Their social role as a married couple was recognized by neighbors Snyder Great Crossings pp 56 58 Snyder Great Crossings pp 59 60 62 63 Despite this Johnson did liberated other black slaves Snyder Great Crossings pp 53 63 66 67 a b c Meyer p 322 An Affecting Scene in Kentucky Archived June 19 2008 at the Wayback Machine political print c 1836 Harper s Weekly at Library of Congress accessed November 12 2013 Meyer pp 322 323 a b c McQueen p 19 Stimpson p 133 Petriello pp 13 14 Petriello pp 17 18 Smith 2013 pp 53 54 Meyer pp 49 50 a b c Langworthy p 9 a b Snyder p 44 Smith 2013 pp 56 57 Meyer pp 52 53 Petriello p 19 The Political Graveyard Meyer pp 58 59 Jones pp 13 15 Jones pp 15 16 Smith 2013 pp 69 78 Petriello pp 23 25 Petriello p 21 Smith 2013 pp 72 76 Jones pp 23 27 Meyer p 84 Jones p 28 a b c d e f g JOHNSON Richard Mentor Biographical Information bioguide congress gov a b Langworthy p 10 Petriello p 32 Langworthy pp 13 14 Carr pp 299 300 Jones p 28 Petriello p 32 Meyer p 90 Meyer p 92 Pratt p 89 Pratt pp 90 91 cf Langworthy p 15 Emmons p 22 Pratt pp 92 94 Snyder Great Crossings p 7 Julia Chinn an enslaved black woman sought more liberty for herself and children was different from Daniel her brother Pratt pp 94 96 Snyder Great Crossings pp 44 47 Sugden pp 136 142 Sugden pp 140 152 Jones pp 45 47 Sugden pp 152 167 Sugden pp 140 142 169 170 174 Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789 1903 Francis B Heitman Vol 1 p 576 a b c Petriello p 67 Heitman p 46 Meyer p 136 Jones pp 48 49 a b Richard Mentor Johnson 9th Vice President 1837 1841 United States Senate Historical Office Retrieved June 7 2018 Meyer pp 140 141 Jones p 50 Jones pp 51 59 Langworthy p 31 Petriello pp 58 59 Smith 2013 pp 131 132 Smith 2013 pp 134 135 Petriello p 55 Meyer p 168 Meyer p 170 a b Meyer p 171 Smith 2013 pp 142 144 Hatfield Cleaves p 237 Meyer pp 171 176 Salary Storm United States Senate Retrieved June 8 2018 Meyer pp 79 80 Jones pp 61 62 Petriello p 61 Meyer p 163 Langworthy pp 35 36 Meyer p 181 Petriello pp 65 66 Jones pp 141 142 a b Meyer p 183 Jones p 181 Meyer p 185 Meyer pp 184 185 Petriello p 68 Meyer pp 207 210 Meyer pp 213 215 Snyder Great Crossings p 7 Snyder Great Crossings p 61 Schlesinger p 135 Meyer pp 282 287 Schesinger pp 135 136 Stillman Schlesinger pp 30 32 Snyder pp 48 49 Snyder pp 47 48 Petriello pp 74 75 Petriello p 75 Meyer p 221 Smith 2013 pp 218 219 Snyder Great Crossings pp 50 51 Snyder Great Crossings pp 38 40 69 Foreman The Choctaw Academy Ethel McMillan FIRST NATIONAL INDIAN SCHOOL THE CHOCTAW ACADEMY Chronicles of Oklahoma accessed November 12 2013 Robert Ward Johnson 1814 1879 Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture accessed November 12 2013 Langworthy p 39 Meyer pp 251 254 a b c d Burke Window to the Past a b Langworthy p 40 a b c Meyer p 262 Meyer pp 287 288 Meyer p 288 Meyer pp 288 289 Meyer p 289 Hatfield Schlesinger p 142 Emmons pp 61ff which abstracts Moore s speech and other documents Emmons p 4 Schlesinger p 142 Lynch pp 383ff McQueen pp 19 20 Meyer p 310 a b c d Meyer p 311 McQueen p 20 a b McQueen p 21 Starling in Kentucky History of Henderson County Meyers 1932 The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society Volume 1 Kentucky State Historical Society 1903 pp 35 Blevins Danny K February 20 2008 Van Lear Arcadia Publishing p 11 ISBN 978 1 4396 3534 6 Blanchard Charles 1884 Counties of Clay and Owen Indiana Historical and Biographical F A Battey amp Company p 83 Sources edit Mark O Hatfield ed Richard Mentor Johnson 9th Vice President 1837 1841 Vice Presidents of the United States 1789 1993 PDF Washington D C U S Government Printing Office 1997 pp 121 131 Retrieved on January 3 2008 Jonathan Milnor Jones The making of a vice president The national political career of Richard M Johnson of Kentucky Ph D thesis Memphis Tennessee University of Memphis 1998 John E Kleber Johnson Richard Mentor in John E Kleber ed The Kentucky Encyclopedia Associate editors Thomas D Clark Lowell H Harrison and James C Klotter Lexington Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky 1992 ISBN 0 8131 1772 0 Asahel Langworthy A Biographical Sketch of Col Richard M Johnson of Kentucky New York City New York Saxton amp Miles Retrieved on January 3 2008 Leyland Winfield Meyer The Life and Times of Colonel Richard M Johnson of Kentucky New York Columbia University 1932 OCLC 459524641 David Petriello The Days of Heroes are Over A Brief Biography of Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson Kindle edition Washington D C Westphalia Press 2016 ISBN 978 1 63391 403 2 Arthur M Schlesinger Jr The Age of Jackson Boston Little Brown amp Co 1945 OCLC 3077215 Miles Smith The Kentucky colonel Richard M Johnson and the rise of western democracy 1780 1850 Ph D thesis Fort Worth Texas Texas Christian University 2013 Christina Snyder Great Crossings Indians Settlers and Slaves in the Age of Jackson New York Oxford University Press 2017 ISBN 978 0 19 939907 9 Further reading editAnonymous Index to Politicians Johnson O to R The Political Graveyard Retrieved on January 3 2008 Richard Mentor Johnson 1837 1841 University of Virginia Retrieved on January 4 2008 Pierre Berton Flames across the Border Little Brown 1981 Ann Bevins Richard M Johnson narrative Personal and Family Life at archive today archived August 18 2007 Georgetown and Scott County Museum 2007 Retrieved on March 25 2008 Henry Robert Burke Window to the Past Lest We Forget Communications Retrieved on January 3 2008 By His Hand the Chief Tecumseh Fell PDF The New York Times August 13 1895 Reprint from the Philadelphia Times Retrieved on January 3 2008 Albert Z Carr The Coming of War an account of the remarkable events leading to the War of 1812 Doubleday 1960 Freeman Cleaves Old Tippecanoe William Henry Harrison and his Time Scribner 1939 William Emmons Authentic Biography of Colonel Richard M Johnson of Kentucky New York H Mason 1833 Carolyn Thomas Foreman The Choctaw Academy The Chronicles of Oklahoma 6 4 December 1928 Oklahoma Historical Society January 3 2008 James Strange French Elkswatawa Harper Brothers 1836 A historical novel with endnotes based on the author s research and interviews Denis Tilden Lynch An Epoch and a Man Martin Van Buren and his Times Liveright 1929 Edgar J McManus Richard Mentor Johnson American National Biography Online version posted February 2000 accessed April 5 2008 Keven McQueen Richard Mentor Johnson Vice President in Offbeat Kentuckians Legends to Lunatics Ill by Kyle McQueen Kuttawa Kentucky McClanahan Publishing House ISBN 0 913383 80 5 David Mills The Vice President and the Mulatto The Huffington Post April 26 2007 Retrieved on January 5 2008 Fletcher Pratt Richard M Johnson Rumpsey Dumpsey Eleven Generals Studies in American Command New York William Sloane Assoc 1949 pp 81 97 Arthur M Schlesinger Jr The Age of Jackson Little Brown 1945 Robert Sobel Johnson Richard Mentor Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch 1774 1989 Greenwood Press 1990 ISBN 0 313 26593 3 Retrieved on January 5 2008 Edmund Lyne Starling History of Henderson County Kentucky Henderson Kentucky 1887 repr Unigraphic Evansville Indiana 1965 Accessed April 5 2008 Michael Stillman Eccentricity at the Top Richard Mentor Johnson Americana Exchange Monthly January 2004 Retrieved on January 3 2008 George William Stimpson A book about American politics 1952 Retrieved on August 11 2010 Shafer Ronald G February 7 2021 He became the nation s ninth vice president She was his enslaved wife Washington Post An Affecting Scene in Kentucky a political print c 1836 attacking Johnson for his relationship with Julia Chinn published in Harper s Weekly at Library of Congress Carolyn Jean Powell What s love got to do with it The Dynamics of Desire Race and Murder in the Slave South January 2002 Doctoral dissertation AAI3039386 University of Massachusetts Amherst Carrying the War into Africa an 1836 political print attacking Johnson for his relationship with Julia Chinn published in Harper s Weekly at Library of Congress Richard Shenkman Kurt Reiger 2003 The Vice President Who Sold His Mistress At Auction One Night Stands with American History Odd Amusing and Little Known Incidents HarperCollins pp 71 72 ISBN 0 06 053820 1 George Stimpson A Book about American Politics New York Harper 1952 p 133 The Sunday Mail Report authored and delivered by Johnson to the Senate on January 19 1829 related to delivery of mail on the Sabbath William Hobart Turner Edward J Cabbell Blacks in Appalachia Lexington Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky 1985 pp 75 80 ISBN 0 8131 0162 X External links editRichard Mentor Johnson at The Political Graveyard United States Congress Richard Mentor Johnson id J000170 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Richard Mentor Johnson at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Texts from Wikisource Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Richard Mentor Johnson amp oldid 1211723553, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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