Lewis Cass | |
|---|---|
 Cass in 1855 | |
| 22ndUnited States Secretary of State | |
| In office March 6, 1857 – December 14, 1860 | |
| President | James Buchanan |
| Preceded by | William Marcy |
| Succeeded by | Jeremiah S. Black |
| President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| In office December 4, 1854 – December 5, 1854 | |
| Preceded by | David Rice Atchison |
| Succeeded by | Jesse Bright |
| United States Senator fromMichigan | |
| In office March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1857 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Fitzgerald |
| Succeeded by | Zachariah Chandler |
| In office March 4, 1845 – May 29, 1848 | |
| Preceded by | Augustus Porter |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Fitzgerald |
| 15thUnited States Minister to France | |
| In office December 1, 1836 – November 12, 1842 | |
| President | Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison John Tyler |
| Preceded by | Edward Livingston |
| Succeeded by | William King |
| 14thUnited States Secretary of War | |
| In office August 1, 1831 – October 4, 1836 | |
| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | Roger B. Taney(Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Joel Roberts Poinsett |
| 2ndGovernor of theMichigan Territory | |
| In office October 13, 1813 – August 1, 1831 | |
| Appointed by | James Madison |
| Preceded by | William Hull |
| Succeeded by | George Porter |
| Member of theOhio House of Representatives | |
| In office December 1, 1806 – December 6, 1807 Serving with William H. Puthuff andLevi Barber | |
| Preceded by | various |
| Succeeded by | various |
| Constituency | Washington,Gallia,Muskingum, andAthens counties |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1782-10-09)October 9, 1782 Exeter, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Died | June 17, 1866(1866-06-17) (aged 83) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 7 |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1812–1814 |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Unit | 27th U.S. Infantry |
| Battles/wars | War of 1812 |
Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was aUnited States Army officer and politician. He representedMichigan in theUnited States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents,Andrew Jackson andJames Buchanan. He was also the1848Democratic presidential nominee. A slave owner himself,[1] he was a leading spokesman for the doctrine ofpopular sovereignty, which at the time held the idea that people in eachU.S state should have the right to decide whether to permitslavery as a matter ofstates' rights.
Born inExeter, New Hampshire, he attendedPhillips Exeter Academy before establishing a legal practice inZanesville, Ohio. After serving in theOhio House of Representatives, he was appointed as aU.S. Marshal. Cass also joined theFreemasons and eventually co-founded theGrand Lodge of Michigan. He fought at theBattle of the Thames in theWar of 1812 and was appointed to governMichigan Territory in 1813. He negotiated treaties withAmerican tribes to open land for American settlement as part of a belief in "manifest destiny" and led asurvey expedition into the northwest part of the territory.
Cass resigned as governor in 1831 to accept appointment asSecretary of War under Andrew Jackson. As Secretary, he helped implement Jackson's policy ofIndian removal. After serving as ambassador toFrance from 1836 to 1842, he unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination at the1844 Democratic National Convention; a deadlock between supporters of Cass and former PresidentMartin Van Buren ended with the nomination ofJames K. Polk. In 1845, theMichigan Legislature elected Cass to the Senate, where he served until 1848. Cass's nomination for president at the1848 Democratic National Convention precipitated a split in the party, as Cass's advocacy for popular sovereignty alienated the anti-slavery wing of the party. Van Buren led theFree Soil Party's presidential ticket and appealed to many anti-slavery Democrats, contributing to the victory ofWhig nomineeZachary Taylor.
Cass returned to the Senate in 1849 and continued to serve until 1857 when he accepted appointment asUnited States Secretary of State. He unsuccessfully sought to buy land fromMexico and sympathized with pro-slavery Americanfilibusters inLatin America. Cass resigned in December 1860 to protest Buchanan's handling of the threatened secession of several Southern states. Since his death in 1866, he has been commemorated in various ways, including a statue in theNational Statuary Hall.
Cass was born inExeter, New Hampshire on October 9, 1782, near the end of theAmerican Revolution. His parents were Molly (née Gilman) Cass and Major Jonathan Cass, a Revolutionary War veteran who fought at theBattle of Bunker Hill.[2]
Cass was educated in Exeter and attendedPhillips Exeter Academy. In 1800, the family moved toMarietta, Ohio, part of a wave of westward migration after the defeat of Native Americans led to the end of theNorthwest Indian War. Cassstudied law withReturn J. Meigs Jr., wasadmitted to the bar, and began a practice inZanesville.
In 1806, Cass was elected to theOhio House of Representatives. The following year, PresidentThomas Jefferson appointed himU.S. Marshal for Ohio.[3]
He joined theFreemasons, and was initiated as an Entered Apprentice in what was later American Union Lodge No.1 at Marietta on December 5, 1803.[4] He achieved his Fellow Craft degree on April 2, 1804, and his Master Mason degree on May 7, 1804. On June 24, 1805, he was admitted as Charter member of the Lodge of Amity 105 (later No.5) in Zanesville. He served as the first Worshipful Master of the Lodge of Amity in 1806.[4] Cass was one of the founders of theGrand Lodge of Ohio, representing the Lodge of Amity at the first meeting on January 4, 1808. He was elected Deputy Grand Master on January 5, 1809, andGrand Master on January 3, 1810, January 8, 1811, and January 8, 1812.[4]
After theWar of 1812 broke out, Cass took command of the 3rd Ohio Volunteer Regiment. During the war, Cass conducted several military operations around theCanada–United States border. On July 16, 1812, a British force consisting of the41st Regiment of Foot, 60 men of theCanadian Militia and a number of Indians were posted nearFort Malden. Cass and ColonelJames Miller led a concealed American reconnaissance force near them. The British detected the Americans, and sent a party of Indians over a nearby bridge to draw them out; however, once the Indians crossed, the concealed Americans opened fire, wounding two and killing one. Cass and Miller send word to GeneralWilliam Hull, requesting permission to attack Fort Malden and hold it until reinforcements arrived. However, Hull was unsupportive and refused their request, which led Cass and Miller to withdraw back to American lines.[5]
On July 19, 1812, ColonelDuncan McArthur led a reconnaissance force combined with 150 Ohio infantry troops under Cass were near the bridge leading to Fort Malden. Two British guns fired on the Americans and disabled an American cannon. The Americans captured two British soldiers after they crossed the bridge, before safely withdrawing with their prisoners.[6]
On July 28, 1812, Colonel Cass conducted a hit-and-run attack at the Rivière aux Canards driving back a band of Native Americans. The Americans killed one Native American andscalped him. Cass and his fellow Americans then withdrew safely.[7]
Cass became colonel of the 27th United States Infantry Regiment on February 20, 1813. Soon after, he was promoted to brigadier general in theRegular Army on March 12, 1813. Cass took part in theBattle of the Thames, which saw the death ofTecumseh. Cass resigned from the Army on May 1, 1814.
As a reward for his military service, Cass was appointed Governor ofMichigan Territory by PresidentJames Madison on October 29, 1813, and he served until 1831. As he was frequently traveling on business, several territorial secretaries often acted as governor in his place. During this period, he helped negotiate and implement treaties with Native American tribes in Michigan, by which they ceded substantial amounts of land. Some were given small reservations in the territory.
In 1817, Cass was one of two commissioners (along withDuncan McArthur), who negotiated theTreaty of Fort Meigs, which was signed on September 29 with severalNative American tribes of the region, under which they ceded large amounts of territory to the United States.[8] This helped open up areas of Michigan to settlement by Euro-Americans. That same year, Cass was named to serve as Secretary of War under PresidentJames Monroe, but he declined.
In 1820, Cass led anexpedition to the northwestern part of Michigan Territory, in theGreat Lakes region in today's northernMinnesota. Its purpose was to map the region and locate the source of theMississippi River. The headwater was then unknown, resulting in an undefined border between the United States andBritish North America, which had been linked to the river. The Cass expedition erroneously identified what became known asCass Lake as the Mississippi's source. It was not until 1832 thatHenry Rowe Schoolcraft, the Cass expedition's geologist, identified nearbyLake Itasca as the true headwater of the Mississippi.
Though theNorthwest Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery in theNorthwest Territory, which included what later became Michigan Territory, a small number of slaves continued to reside in Michigan until it achieved statehood.[9] Despite his later claims to the contrary, as territorial governor, Cass is known to have owned at least one slave, a household servant, as evidenced by 1818 correspondence between him andAlexander Macomb.[10] Slavery continued in Michigan until admission to the Union in 1837, when its firststate constitution outlawed slavery statewide.[9]
In 1830, Cass published an article in theNorth American Review that passionately argued thatIndians were "inherently inferior" to whites, and incapable of being civilized and thus should be removed from the eastern United States.[11] This article caught the attention and approval of Andrew Jackson. On August 1, 1831, Cass resigned as governor of the Michigan Territory to take the post ofSecretary of War under PresidentAndrew Jackson, a position he held until 1836. Cass was a central figure in implementing theIndian removal policy of the Jackson administration; Congress had passed theIndian Removal Act in 1830. While it was directed chiefly against the Southeastern tribes, especially the Five Civilized Tribes, it also affected tribes in Ohio, Illinois, and other areas east of the Mississippi River. Most were forced toIndian Territory in present-dayKansas andOklahoma, but a number of bands negotiated being allowed to remain in Michigan.[2]
At the end of his term, President Jackson appointed Cass to succeedEdward Livingston as theU.S. Minister to France on October 4, 1836. He presented his credentials on December 1, 1836, and served until he left his post on November 12, 1842, when he was succeeded byWilliam R. King, who later became the 13thVice President of the United States under PresidentFranklin Pierce.
In the1844 Democratic convention, Cass stood as a candidate for the presidential nomination, losing on the 9th ballot todark horse candidateJames K. Polk.
Cass was elected by the state legislature to representMichigan in theUnited States Senate, serving in 1845–1848. He served as chairman of theCommittee on Military Affairs in the30th Congress.
In 1848, he resigned from the Senate to run for president in the1848 election.William Orlando Butler was selected as his running mate.[12] Cass was a leading supporter of the doctrine ofpopular sovereignty, which held that the (white male) American citizens who lived in a territory should decide whether to permitslavery there.[13] His nomination caused a split in the Democratic Party, leading many antislavery Northern Democrats to join theFree Soil Party, which nominated former PresidentMartin Van Buren.
After losing the election toZachary Taylor, Cass was returned by the state legislature to the Senate, serving from 1849 to 1857. He was the first non-incumbentDemocratic presidential candidate to lose an election and the first Democrat who was unsuccessful in his bid to succeed another Democrat as president. Apart from James Buchanan's election to succeed Franklin Pierce in 1856, subsequent Democrats who attempted election to succeed a fellow Democrat as president all failed in their bid to do so. Cass made another bid for president in1852 but neither he nor rival Democratic contenders Buchanan andStephen Douglas secured a majority of delegates’ votes at the Democratic Convention inBaltimore, and the party went withFranklin Pierce instead.
On March 6, 1857, PresidentJames Buchanan appointed Cass to serve asSecretary of State. Although retaining incumbent Secretary of StateWilliam L. Marcy was considered the best option by many, Buchanan made it clear that he did not want to keep anyone from the Pierce Administration. Moreover, Marcy had opposed his earlier presidential bids, and was in poor health in any event, and he died in July 1857. Cass, aged 75, was seen by most as too old for such a demanding position and was thought to likely be little more than a figurehead. Buchanan decided Cass was the best choice to avoid political infighting and sectional tensions and wrote wrote a flattering letter offering Cass the post. Cass, who was retiring from the Senate, was not eager to leave Washington, immediately accepted.
As Secretary, Cass promised to refrain from making anti-British remarks in public (having served in the War of 1812, Cass had a low opinion of London). Most assumed Cass was a temporary Secretary of State until a younger, more fit man could be found, however, he ultimately served for all but the final four months of Buchanan's administration. As expected, the aged Cass largely delegated major decision-making to subordinates, but eagerly signed his name on papers and dispatches penned by them.[8]
Because he was sympathetic to pro-slavery Americanfilibusters in Central America, Cass was instrumental in having CommodoreHiram Paulding removed from command after he landed Marines inNicaragua and compelled the extradition ofWilliam Walker to the United States.[14] Cass attempted to buy more land fromMexico, but faced opposition from both Mexico and congressional leaders. He also negotiated a final settlement to theClayton–Bulwer Treaty, limiting U.S. and British control of Latin American countries.[3] The chiefs ofRaiatea andTahaa in the South Pacific, refusing to accept the rule of KingTamatoa V, unsuccessfully petitioned the United States to accept the islands under aprotectorate in June 1858.[15]
Cass resigned on December 14, 1860, because of what he considered Buchanan's failure to protect federal interests in the South and failure to mobilize the federal military, actions that might have averted the threatened secession of Southern states.[16]
On May 26, 1806, Cass married Elizabeth Spencer (1786–1853), the daughter of Dr. Joseph Spencer Jr. and Deborah (née Seldon) Spencer.[8] Her paternal grandfather wasJoseph Spencer, aContinental Congressman who was amajor general in theContinental Army.[17] Lewis and Elizabeth were the parents of seven children, five of whom lived past infancy:[18]
Cass died on June 17, 1866, inDetroit,Michigan. He is buried inElmwood Cemetery in Detroit.
Through his daughter Mary, he was the great-grandfather ofCass Canfield (longtime president and chairman ofHarper & Brothers, laterHarper & Row).[20]
Through his daughter Matilda, he was the grandfather of Elizabeth Cass Ledyard (wife of Francis Wayland Goddard);[21]Henry Brockholst Ledyard Jr. (who was president of theMichigan Central Railroad);[22][23] Susan Livingston Ledyard (wife of Hamilton Bullock Tompkins);[24]Lewis Cass Ledyard (a prominent lawyer withCarter Ledyard & Milburn who was the personal counsel ofJ. Pierpont Morgan);[25][26] and Matilda Spancer Ledyard.[27]
Cass's great-great-grandson, RepublicanThomas Cass Ballenger, representedNorth Carolina's 10th Congressional District from 1986 to 2005.[28]
