of the “immortal thirteen” Democrats who,
having it in their power to prevent the election of
a Whig Senator, did so by refusing to meet the house
in joint convention; also proposed that the basis
of representation should rest upon white votes, without
regard to the ownership of slaves. Was elected
to Congress in 1843 over John A. Asken, a United States
Bank Democrat, who was supported by the Whigs.
His first speech was in support of the resolution to
restore to General Jackson the fine imposed upon him
at New Orleans; also supported the annexation of Texas.
In 1845 was reelected, and supported Polk’s
Administration. Was regularly reelected to Congress
until 1853. During this period opposed all expenditures
for internal improvements that were not general; resisted
and defeated the proposed contingent tax of 10 per
cent on tea and coffee; made his celebrated defense
of the veto power; urged the adoption of the homestead
law, which was obnoxious to the extreme Southern element
of his party; supported the compromise measures of
1850 as a matter of expediency, but opposed compromises
in general as a sacrifice of principle. Was elected
governor of Tennessee in 1853 over Gustavus A. Henry,
the “Eagle Orator” of the State. In
his message to the legislature he dwelt upon the homestead
law and other measures for the benefit of the working
classes, and earned the title of the “Mechanic
Governor.” Opposed the Know-nothing movement
with characteristic vehemence. Was reelected
governor in 1855, defeating Meredith P. Gentry, the
Whig-American candidate, after a most remarkable canvass.
The Kansas-Nebraska bill received his earnest support.
In 1857 was elected to the United States Senate, where
he urged the passage of the homestead bill, and on
May 20, 1858, made his greatest speech on this subject.
Opposed the grant of aid for the construction of a
Pacific railroad. Was prominent in debate, and
frequently clashed with Southern supporters of the
Administration. His pronounced Unionism estranged
him from the extremists on the Southern side, while
his acceptance of slavery as an institution guaranteed
by the Constitution caused him to hold aloof from
the Republicans on the other. At the Democratic
convention at Charleston, S.C., in 1860 was a candidate
for the Presidential nomination, but received only
the vote of Tennessee, and when the convention reassembled
in Baltimore withdrew his name. In the canvass
that followed supported John C. Breckinridge.
At the session of Congress beginning in December,
1860, took decided and unequivocal grounds in opposition
to secession, and on December 13 introduced a joint
resolution proposing to amend the Constitution so as
to elect the President and Vice-President by district
votes, Senators by a direct popular vote, and to limit
the terms of Federal judges to twelve years, the judges
to be equally divided between slaveholding and non-slaveholding
States. In his speech on this resolution, December
18 and 19, declared his unyielding opposition to secession