John Randolph of Roanoke | |
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 Portrait of Randolph byJohn Wesley Jarvis (1811) | |
| 8thUnited States Minister to Russia | |
| In office May 26, 1830 – September 19, 1830 | |
| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | Henry Middleton |
| Succeeded by | James Buchanan |
| United States Senator fromVirginia | |
| In office December 26, 1825 – March 3, 1827 | |
| Preceded by | James Barbour |
| Succeeded by | John Tyler |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia | |
| In office March 4, 1833 – May 24, 1833 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas T. Bouldin |
| Succeeded by | Thomas T. Bouldin |
| Constituency | 5th district |
| In office March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1829 | |
| Preceded by | George W. Crump |
| Succeeded by | Thomas T. Bouldin |
| Constituency | 5th district |
| In office March 4, 1819 – December 26, 1825 | |
| Preceded by | Archibald Austin |
| Succeeded by | George W. Crump |
| Constituency | 16th district (1819–23) 5th district (1823–25) |
| In office March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817 | |
| Preceded by | John W. Eppes |
| Succeeded by | Archibald Austin |
| Constituency | 16th district |
| In office March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1813 | |
| Preceded by | Abraham B. Venable |
| Succeeded by | John Kerr |
| Constituency | 7th district (1799–1803) 15th district (1803–13) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1773-06-02)June 2, 1773 Cawsons,Virginia Colony,British America |
| Died | May 24, 1833(1833-05-24) (aged 59) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,U.S. |
| Resting place | Hollywood Cemetery,Richmond, Virginia |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
| Alma mater | College of New Jersey Columbia College |
| Profession | Planter |
| Signature |  |
John Randolph (June 2, 1773 – May 24, 1833), commonly known asJohn Randolph of Roanoke,[note 1] was an Americanplanter, and apolitician from Virginia, serving in theHouse of Representatives at various times between 1799 and 1833, and theSenate from 1825 to 1827. He was alsoMinister to Russia underAndrew Jackson in 1830. After serving as PresidentThomas Jefferson's spokesman in the House, he broke with the president in 1805 as a result of what he saw as the dilution of traditional Jeffersonian principles as well as perceived mistreatment during theimpeachment ofSamuel Chase, in which Randolph served as chief prosecutor.[1] Following this split, Randolph proclaimed himself the leader of the "Old Republicans" or "Tertium Quids", a wing of theDemocratic-Republican Party[2] who wanted to restrict the role of the federal government. Specifically, Randolph promoted thePrinciples of '98, which said that individual states could judge the constitutionality of central government laws and decrees, and could refuse to enforce laws deemed unconstitutional.
Described as a quick-thinking orator with a remarkable wit, he was committed torepublicanism and advocated a commercial agrarian society throughout his three decades in Congress. Randolph "attracted great attention from the severity of his invectives, the piquancy of his sarcasms, the piercing intonation of his voice and his peculiarly expressive gesticulation."[3] Randolph's conservative stance, displayed in his arguments against debt and for the rights of the landed, slaveholding gentry, have been attributed to his ties to his family estate and the elitist values of his nativeSouthside Virginia[citation needed]. His belief in the importance of a landed gentry led him to oppose the abolition of entail and primogeniture: "The old families of Virginia will form connections with low people, and sink into the mass of overseers' sons and daughters".[4] Randolph vehemently opposed theWar of 1812 and theMissouri Compromise of 1820; he was active in debates about tariffs, manufacturing, and currency. With mixed feelings aboutslavery, he was one of the founders of theAmerican Colonization Society in 1816, to send free blacks to a colony in Africa. At the same time, he believed that slavery was a necessity in Virginia, saying, "The question of slavery, as it is called, is to us a question of life and death ... You will find no instance in history where two distinct races have occupied the soil except in the relation of master and slave."[4][5] In addition, Randolph remained dependent on hundreds of slaves to work histobaccoplantation. However, he provided for theirmanumission and resettlement in the free state of Ohio in his will, providing money for the purchase of land and supplies. They founded Rossville, now part ofPiqua, Ohio andRumley, Ohio.
His supporters admired Randolph's fiery character, and education was one of his passions. On the other hand, others, particularly northern advocates of democracy, mocked Randolph for his eccentricities discussed below, as did many Virginians including Thomas Jefferson. He applied rousing methods in electioneering, which he also enjoyed as a hobby. Randolph appealed directly toyeomen, using entertaining and enlightening oratory, sociability, and community of interest, particularly in agriculture. This resulted in an enduring voter attachment to him. His defense of limited government appeals tomodern and contemporary conservatives, most notablyRussell Kirk, who wrote an influential monograph on Randolph.
Randolph was born at Cawsons (now inHopewell) in theColony of Virginia, the son of rich tobaccoplanter John Randolph (1742–1775) and Frances Bland (1744–1788). His families, theRandolph family of Virginia and theBland family of Virginia, are both among the prominentFirst Families of Virginia and often intermarried. His grandfathers wereRichard Randolph andTheodorick Bland of Cawsons, who were, respectively, the son and grandson ofWilliam Randolph and Mary Isham of Turkey Island.[6][7] He was the first cousin once removed of bothRichard Bland andPeyton Randolph, the two pillars of the First Continental Congress, the nephew ofCongressman Theodorick Bland and stepnephew ofThomas Tudor Tucker, a half brother ofHenry St. George Tucker, Sr. andNathaniel Beverley Tucker, and a second cousin ofThomas Jefferson. Jefferson's mother was the daughter ofIsham Randolph of Dungeness.[8]
His father died in 1775, when he (the youngest of three brothers, and ultimately the longest-lived) was two years old. Their mother managed the family plantations and waited to remarry until 1778, when she wedSt. George Tucker, the son of a prominent planter in Bermuda (where he later took his stepsons to recover their health), who had traveled to Virginia to study law underGeorge Wythe in Williamsburg, was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1774, became well-regarded in his profession (including teaching law at the College of William and Mary) and would become a judge of what later became theVirginia Supreme Court in 1804. His maternal fourth great-grandfather wasRichard Bennett of Virginia, electedgovernor of Virginia colony during the Cromwell Protectorate and a Puritan who in 1672 was converted to the Quaker movement byGeorge Fox.[8]
A genetic aberration — possiblyKlinefelter syndrome — left him beardless and with a soprano prepubescent voice throughout his life.[9]Modern science has established that latent pulmonary tuberculosis can sometimes settle in the genital tract and can cause the symptoms and permanent damage that would prevent the onset of puberty.[citation needed] Randolph's brother died of tuberculosis, and it appears that Randolph contracted it as a youth and never went through puberty. He finally died of tuberculosis at age 60, after it broke out into the open. He began to use opium as a way to deal with the extreme pain caused by his lifelong battle with tuberculosis. Contemporary accounts attest to his having had a belligerent and bellicose personality before the onset of any disease.[citation needed]
First studying under private tutors, Randolph attended Walker Maury's private school. After one of his brothers was disciplined, the Randolph brothers beat Maury and left the boarding school without completing their studies. Their stepfather then sent them toCollege of New Jersey, andColumbia College, New York City. The Randolph brothers neglected their studies and spent much time in taverns. After failing their courses and running out of money, they returned to Virginia. John later studied law inPhiladelphia under his cousinEdmund Randolph, but never practiced. In 1792, his family's wealth and influence gained him admission to William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. Convinced that his pronunciations of words were the only correct ones, he insulted fellow student Robert B. for allegedly mispronouncing a word. Randolph refused to apologize and a duel ensued. Randolph soon after left William and Mary, thus ending his formal education.[10]
In 1798, at the unusually young age of 26, Randolph was elected to the6th United States Congress. It was said that Randolph's youthful appearance prompted theSpeaker of the House,Theodore Sedgwick, to ask Randolph whether he was old enough to be eligible, but that Randolph's reply — "Ask my constituents" — disinclined Sedgwick to pursue the question further.[11] Randolph was re-elected to the six succeedingCongresses, and served from 1799 to 1813. Even though he frequently criticized slavery, he devoted much of his congressional career to defending slavery and Virginia's class of wealthy slaveholders. Randolph also insisted that abolition would be worse for both enslaved blacks and whites. Indeed, Randolph lionized Virginia's wealthy slaveholding class as the rightful rulers of Virginia and the United States, and had great disdain for democracy and the advocates of more democratic government in Virginia and the Union.
FederalistWilliam Plumer ofNew Hampshire wrote in 1803 of his striking presence:
Mr. Randolph goes to the House booted and spurred, with his whip in hand, in imitation, it is said, of members of the British Parliament. He is a very slight man but of the common stature. At a little distance, he does not appear older than you are; but, upon a nearer approach, you perceive his wrinkles and grey hairs. He is, I believe, about thirty. He is a descendant in the right line from the celebrated Indian Princess,Pochahontas. The Federalists ridicule and affect to despise him; but a despised foe often proves a dangerous enemy. His talents are certainly far above mediocrity. As a popular speaker, he is not inferior to any man in the House. I admire his ingenuity and address; but I dislike his politics.
Randolph was chairman of theCommittee on Ways and Means in theSeventh through theNinth Congresses, acting as theDemocratic-Republican Party leader. In 1804, Randolph proposed the ill-fatedMobile Act, which implicitly allowed the President to claim parts ofSpanish West Florida for the US. The Act was passed, and Jefferson tried to act on it, butSpain objected vehemently. Jefferson backed down and threw blame on Randolph.
After this, Randolph broke with Jefferson (his cousin). In 1806, Randolph founded theTertium quids (Latin for "Third things", i.e. neither pro-Jefferson norFederalist), a breakaway faction of the Democratic-Republican Party. They called for a return to thePrinciples of 1798 and renounced what it saw as creepingnationalism.[12][13] The Tertium Quids believed that wealthy slaveholders like themselves were the rightful rulers of Virginia and the nation, and that any movement towards greater democracy would undermine the power and authority of Virginia's slaveholding class.
Although he greatly admired the political ideals of the Revolutionary War generation, Randolph, influenced by Southern anti-Federalism, propounded a version of republicanism that called for the traditional patriarchal society of Virginia's elite slaveholding gentry to preserve social stability with minimal government interference. Randolph was one of theHouse managers who successfully prosecutedthe impeachment trial of John Pickering, judge of theUnited States District Court forNew Hampshire, in January 1804.
Randolph was also a central proponent of impeachingSupreme Court Associate JusticeSamuel Chase.[14] Later that same year,Chase was impeached but acquitted. Randolph again served as a House manager, and critics complained that he mismanaged the prosecution.
In June 1807, Randolph was the foreman of thegrand jury inRichmond, which was considering the indictment ofAaron Burr and others for treason. By the end of the review, he was angry with Thomas Jefferson for supporting GeneralJames Wilkinson, Burr's chief accuser. He considered Wilkinson less than a reputable and honorable person.
Defeated for re-election in 1812 due to his opposition to theWar of 1812, Randolph was elected in 1814 and 1816. He skipped a term, then was again elected and served from 1819 until his resignation in 1825. During theMissouri Crisis, Randolph emerged as an outspoken defender of the slaveholding gentry and a critic of democracy, even though he repeatedly insisted that he hated slavery.
Randolph was asked to be theDemocratic-Republican Party candidate for president in the1824 presidential election. He declined this offer; the election was won byJohn Quincy Adams.
Randolph was appointed to the Senate in December 1825 to fill a vacancy, and he served until 1827. During his time in the Senate, his pro-Adams colleagues, annoyed by the bitterness of his invective, sometimes foreshortened his speeches "by severally quitting their seats when he was speaking to an extent sufficient to leave the Senate without a quorum."[3]
In 1825, he spoke for several days in opposition to a series of measures proposed by President Adams. Randolph argued these measures would give advantage to the emerging industrial powers of New England at the expense of the Southern states. This series of speeches was the first Senatefilibuster.[15]
With his Senate term ending, Randolph did not seek re-election. Instead he was again elected US Representative in 1826, and again became Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means.
John Randolph offered many pro-slavery speeches over his long career in Congress. He mocked universal emancipation as an unreliable fantasy. Speaking aboutCuba, Randolph said "It is unquestionable but this invasion will be made with this principle – this genius of universal emancipation – the sweeping anathema against the white population... And then, sir, what is the position of the southern United States?" If we should accede, "we should deserve to have negroes for our taskmasters, and for the husbands of our wives."[16]
Randolph retired from the US House in 1828. He was a member of theVirginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830 as a delegate from Charlotte County. He was appointedUnited States Minister to Russia by PresidentAndrew Jackson and served from May to September 1830, when he resigned for health reasons. In 1832, he was again elected US Representative, and served until his death in 1833.
He died in Philadelphia on May 24, 1833. He never married. Randolph is buriedHollywood Cemetery,Richmond, Virginia. His Virginia home,Roanoke Plantation, remains standing today, and was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1973.[17]
A modern conservative political group, theJohn Randolph Club, is named after Randolph. His defense of limited government appeals tomodern and contemporary conservatives, most notablyRussell Kirk (1918–1994).[19][20][21]
Places named in his honor include:
Despite being a Virginia gentleman, one of the great orators in the history of Caroline,[further explanation needed] and House leader, Randolph after five years of leadership became, by 1803, a permanent outsider. His personal eccentricities may have been made worse by his lifelong ill health (he died oftuberculosis), heavy drinking, and occasional use ofopium. According toBill Kauffman, Randolph was "a habitual opium user [and] a bachelor who seems to have nurtured a crush on Andrew Jackson."[22]
John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Randolph of Roanoke," written after the Virginian had become a symbol of "slave power," may capture his strange brilliance:
- Mirth, sparkling like a diamond shower,
- From lips of lifelong sadness;
- Clear picturings of majestic thought
- Upon a ground of madness
- While others hailed in distant skies
- Our eagle's dusky pinion,
- He only saw the mountain bird
- Stoop o'er his Old Dominion!
- All parties feared him; each in turn
- Beheld its schemes disjointed,
- At right or left his fatal glance
- And spectral finger pointed.
In March 1826, Randolph made a Senate speech in which he describedthe arrangement by whichJohn Quincy Adams became president in 1825 andHenry Clay became Adams'sSecretary of State as the actions of the "puritan (Adams) with the blackleg[23] (Clay)".[24] Clay was under the impression that Randolph had waivedcongressional immunity before his speech; insulted by Randolph's description of him, he challenged Randolph to a duel.[24] Randolph had in fact not waived immunity, but rather than appear dishonorable by making this known, he accepted Clay's challenge.[24] During the preliminary activities, Randolph asserted that Clay had no right to issue a challenge over political remarks made on the U.S. Senate floor.[24] Because of this view, Randolph announced his intention not to fire at Clay.[24] On April 8, they met on the Virginia side of thePotomac River.[24] During their first volley, Randolph shot wildly and Clay missed.[24] During their second, Randolph fired into the air, clearly signalling that he would not participate.[24] Clay then ended the duel by approaching Randolph and expressing hope that Randolph was uninjured.[24] Clay's bullet had torn Randolph's outer clothing, and he replied good-naturedly "You owe me a coat, Mr. Clay".[24] Civil relations between Randolph and Clay were restored.[24] AsMartin Van Buren later wrote:
He [Randolph] insisted that he at no time intended to take Mr. Clay's life and assigned as a reason his respect for Mrs. Clay and his unwillingness to make her unhappy, but he admitted that, after certain occurrences, he had determined to wound him in the leg — his failure to accomplish which design he attributed to an anxiety to avoid thekneepan, to hit which he regarded asmurder![25]
Except for this incident, Randolph generally saved his bellicosity for the floor of Congress. He routinely dressed in a flashy manner, often accompanied by his slaves and his hunting dogs. "[W]hen Clay had set about making the speakership a position of true power upon his first election to that post in 1811, he had unceremoniously ordered Randolph to remove his dog from the House floor—something no previous Speaker had dared to do."[26]
Randolph had an intense dislike for Rep.Willis Alston and had a pitched fight with him in a Washington boarding house.[27] Heated words led to the two throwing tableware at each other.[28] Six years later, they fought again in a stairwell at the House after Alston loudly referred to Randolph as a "puppy".[28] Randolph beat Alston bloody with his cane and the two had to be separated by other congressmen.[29] Randolph was fined $20 for this breach of the peace.[29]
Nonetheless, Randolph maintained many friendships which crossed political party lines. As an example, he remained close withFederalist CongressmanHarmanus Bleecker ofAlbany, New York.[30] Bleecker and Randolph exchanged portraits as a token of their mutual esteem, and each displayed in his home the portrait of the other.[31]
Randolph was raised and remained within theEpiscopal Church. Although he went through a phase of youthful irreligion, in 1818 he had a crisis ending in a conversion experience, which he recounted in letters to several friends.[32]
Randolph's life thereafter was marked with piety. For example, he wrote toJohn Brockenbrough that he was restrained from takingcommunion "by the fear of eating and drinking unrighteously."[32] Thus, the executors of Randolph's last will and testament (described below) included Virginia's bishop,William Meade (who had freed his slaves years earlier, but would by the end of his life during theAmerican Civil War become a defender of the "peculiar institution").
Together with JusticeBushrod Washington and his former student Henry Clay, Randolph was among the founders of theAmerican Colonization Society (ACS) in 1816. It began as a collaboration of slaveholders and abolitionists that planned to transport and resettle free blacks in a colony in Africa (this territory becameLiberia). Like some other slaveholders, Randolph had long been opposed to slavery in theory. Also, his eldest brother, Richard Randolph, had freed slaves in his will, and his widow Judith fought to implement that provision, which led to the founding of the free black community ofIsrael Hill on the former Randolph estate inPrince Edward County, Virginia.[33] In the two decades after the Revolutionary War, so many planters freed slaves that the proportion offree blacks in Virginia increased from less than one percent in 1782 to 13.5 percent in 1810.[34]
Nearly two decades after Richard's death, in 1819, John Randolph also wrote a will providing for themanumission of his slaves after his death. He wrote, "I give and bequeath to all my slaves their freedom, heartily regretting that I have ever been the owner of one."[35] The will made provision for settling the manumitted slaves on their own land in free territory (since these freed men unlike Richard's could not date their freedom before Virginia's law requiring freed blacks to leave the Commonwealth). Another will made in 1821 provided that each slave above the age of 40 was to receive 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land.[36] Although the will was challenged in the courts, his slaves were ultimately ruled to be free.[37] In 1846, 383 former "Randolph Slaves" arrived inCincinnati.[38] Local farmers in the Ohio county where Randolph's executor had purchased 3200 acres for them prevented the freedpeople from settling there.[39] Many of them ultimately settled in Miami and Shelby Counties at places such asRossville nearPiqua, Ohio,[40] of which onlythe community cemetery remains.[41]
Portrayed byMelvyn Douglas in the 1936 filmThe Gorgeous Hussy.[42]
Portrayed byEdwin Maxwell in the 1942 filmTen Gentlemen from West Point.[43]
Edgar Allan Poe in "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" (1845) states that the fatally consumptive M. Valdemar "is (or was) particularly noticeable for the extreme sparseness of his person—his lower limbs much resembling those of John Randolph".[44] Poe might have seen Randolph while living in Richmond, Virginia, from 1820 to 1827.[citation needed]
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[A] post-mortem examination of Randolph ... recorded that the 'scrotum was scarcely at all developed,' with only a right testicle 'the size of a small bean.'
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Members of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 5th congressional district | ||
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Members of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 7th congressional district | ||
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Members of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 15th congressional district | ||
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Members of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 16th congressional district | ||
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