HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Bell (February 18, 1796September 10, 1869) was an American politician, attorney, and planter who was a candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1860. One of
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
's most prominent
antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...
politicians,Jonathan Atkins,
John Bell
" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: October 10, 2012.
Bell served in the House of Representatives from 1827 to 1841, and in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
from 1847 to 1859. He was
Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...
for the 23rd Congress (1834–1835), and briefly served as Secretary of War during the administration of
William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
(1841). In
1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts ...
, he ran for president as the candidate of the Constitutional Union Party, a third party which took a neutral stance on the issue of slavery. and won the electoral votes of three states. Initially an ally of
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
, Bell turned against Jackson in the mid-1830s and aligned himself with the
National Republican Party The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John ...
and then the Whig Party, a shift that earned him the nickname "The Great Apostate." He consistently battled Jackson's allies, namely James K. Polk, over issues such as the national bank and the election spoils system. Following the death of Hugh Lawson White in 1840, Bell became the acknowledged leader of Tennessee's Whigs. Although a slaveholder, Bell was one of the few Southern politicians to oppose the expansion of slavery to the territories in the 1850s, and he campaigned vigorously against secession in the years leading up to the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
. During his 1860 presidential campaign, he argued that secession was unnecessary since the Constitution protected slavery, an argument that resonated with voters in border states, helping him capture the electoral votes of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. After the
Battle of Fort Sumter The Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender by the United States Army, beginning the American Civil War. Fol ...
in April 1861, marking the beginning of the Civil War, Bell abandoned the Union cause and supported the Confederacy.


Early life and career

John Bell was born in Mill Creek, a hamlet near
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...
in the Southwest Territory. He was one of nine children of the local farmer and blacksmith Samuel Bell and Margaret (Edmiston) Bell. His paternal grandfather, Robert Bell, had served in the American Revolution under Nathanael Greene, and his maternal grandfather, John Edmiston, had fought at Kings Mountain.Joseph Parks, ''John Bell of Tennessee'' (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1950). He graduated from Cumberland College (later renamed the
University of Nashville University of Nashville was a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established in 1806 as Cumberland College. It existed as a distinct entity until 1909; operating at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a ...
) in 1814 and studied law. He was
admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
in 1816 and established a prosperous practice in Franklin. Entering politics, he successfully ran for the
Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...
in 1817. As a state senator, he supported judicial and state constitutional reform, and voted for moving the state capital to
Murfreesboro Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...
(his wife, Sally Dickinson, was a granddaughter of the town's namesake,
Hardy Murfree Hardy Murfree (June 5, 1752 – April 6, 1809) was a lieutenant colonel from North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. Early life Murfree was born on June 5, 1752 at Murfree's Landing, North Carolina, later renamed Murfreesboro. ...
). After serving a single term, Bell declined to run for reelection and instead moved to Nashville, where he established a law partnership with Henry Crabb.


U.S. House of Representatives

In 1826, Bell ran for Tennessee's 7th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which had been vacated when the incumbent,
Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...
, was elected governor. Bell and his opponent,
Felix Grundy Felix Grundy (September 11, 1777 – December 19, 1840) was an American politician who served as a congressman and senator from Tennessee as well as the 13th attorney General of the United States. Biography Early life Born in Berkeley Coun ...
, engaged in a bitter campaign in which both claimed to support the initiatives of
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
. Although Jackson eventually endorsed Grundy, Bell was more popular with younger voters, and he won the election by just over a thousand votes. Like many Southern congressmen, Bell opposed the
Tariff of 1828 The Tariff of 1828 was a very high protective tariff that became law in the United States in May 1828. It was a bill designed to not pass Congress because it was seen by free trade supporters as hurting both industry and farming, but surprisin ...
. He also opposed federal funding for improvements to the Cumberland Road, arguing that the federal government lacked the constitutional authority to fund such a project. One of Bell's biggest initiatives was the Tennessee land bill, in which he and fellow Tennessee congressmen James K. Polk and
Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of ...
proposed the federal government give some of its lands in Tennessee to the state in order to establish public schools. Congressmen from eastern states rejected this, however, stating that Tennessee's mismanagement of its land resources was not the federal government's fault, and the bill was shelved. During Bell's second term (1829–1831), he was chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs. As such, he wrote the Indian Removal Act, which was submitted by the committee in February 1830, and signed by President Jackson later that year. This act led to the removal of the
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
and other tribes to
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, via the
Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
, in the latter half of the decade. One of the bill's most vocal opponents was Massachusetts congressman
Edward Everett Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Mass ...
, Bell's future running mate in the 1860 presidential election. Following the shake-up of Jackson's cabinet in the wake of the
Petticoat affair The Petticoat affair (also known as the Eaton affair) was a political scandal involving members of President Andrew Jackson's Cabinet and their wives, from 1829 to 1831. Led by Floride Calhoun, wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun, these wome ...
in 1831, Senator Hugh Lawson White recommended Bell for Secretary of War, but the appointment went to
Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He w ...
instead. Bell nevertheless remained a staunch Jackson ally through his third term, opposing nullification and supporting the
Force Bill The Force Bill, formally titled "''An Act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports''", (1833), refers to legislation enacted by the 22nd U.S. Congress on March 2, 1833, during the nullification crisis. Passed by Congress at ...
. The rift between Bell and Jackson began to show during Bell's fourth term (1833–1835). Jackson opposed the idea of a national bank and withdrew the government's deposits from the Bank of the United States in 1833. Bell was initially silent on the issue, while Polk defended the administration's actions on the House floor in April 1834. In June 1834, following the resignation of Speaker of the House Andrew Stevenson, Polk sought the Speakership. Anti-Jacksonites threw their support behind Bell, however, and Bell was elected Speaker by a 114 to 78 vote. Following his election, Bell stated he was not necessarily opposed to rechartering the bank, something that Jackson vigorously opposed, and Polk's allies assailed Bell in the press as a friend of the bank. The final break with Jackson came in 1835 when Bell supported the presidential campaign of Hugh Lawson White, one of three members of the new Whig Party running against Jackson's chosen successor,
Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...
. Jackson dismissed Bell, White, and long-time foe Davy Crockett as "hypocritical apostates." When the House of Representatives convened in 1835, Polk mounted a strong campaign for the Speakership, and defeated Bell 132 to 84. Jackson's friends were so elated at Bell's defeat that they held a gala at Vauxhall Gardens in Nashville, celebrating with champagne and the firing of cannons. Bell spent much of his remaining House career sponsoring mostly unsuccessful legislation aimed at ending the spoils system. In 1837, he was again defeated by Polk for the Speakership, this time by a 116 to 103 vote. In May of the following year, the House debated a bill to address Indian hostilities, with Bell arguing in favor of negotiation, and Jackson ally
Hopkins L. Turney Hopkins Lacy Turney (October 3, 1797August 1, 1857) was a Democratic U.S. Representative and United States Senator from Tennessee. Biography Turney was born in the Smith County settlement of Dixon Springs, Tennessee. As a youth, he was ap ...
arguing for an authorization of military force. As Bell brushed off Turney as a "tool" of Jackson, Turney attacked Bell, and a fistfight erupted between the two. In 1839, Jackson tried to convince former Tennessee governor William Carroll to run against Bell, but Carroll refused, saying no one could defeat Bell in his home district. The Jacksonites finally convinced Robert Burton to run, but he was easily defeated by Bell in the general election. In March 1839, Bell's allies in the House engineered one last attack against Polk (who was retiring to run for governor) by removing the word "impartial" from his customary thanks for service.


Secretary of War

While Bell had won reelection in 1839, Tennessee's Whigs struggled at the state level, with incumbent Governor Newton Cannon losing to Polk, and the Democrats gaining control of the state legislature. Determined to revive the state's Whigs, Bell spent several weeks in 1840 canvassing the state for Whig politicians. Although he initially supported party leader
Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seven ...
for the Whig presidential nomination, he nevertheless campaigned for the eventual nominee,
William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
, helping him capture Tennessee's electoral votes on his way to winning the
election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
. His efforts also helped Whig gubernatorial nominee
James C. Jones James ChamberlainJones's middle name is sometimes spelled "Chamberlayne." Jones (April 20, 1809 – October 29, 1859) was an American politician who served as the tenth governor of Tennessee from 1841 to 1845, and as a United States Senator from ...
defeat Polk. When the newly elected President Harrison organized his cabinet in 1841, he offered the position of Secretary of War to Bell, following the advice of Daniel Webster. After Bell accepted, he was blasted as a hypocrite by Democrats, who pointed out that he had railed against the spoils system throughout the 1830s. After Harrison's death, his successor,
John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...
, agreed to keep all cabinet appointments, though many members of the cabinet were skeptical that Tyler, as a former Democrat who was effectively retired when he showed interest in the Whigs, would support Whig initiatives. In May 1841, Secretary Bell issued his report on the nation's defenses, suggesting they were outdated. He also recommended replacing civilian superintendents of national armories with military professionals, fearing that civilian superintendents lacked adequate knowledge of munitions storage. As the cabinet members had feared, Tyler proved hostile to core Whig initiatives, vetoing a string of bills introduced by Clay and his allies in Congress and rejecting to hold cabinet votes on his decisions. Finally, on September 11, 1841, two days after Tyler vetoed the Fiscal Corporation bill, Bell and several other cabinet members followed Clay's order and resigned in protest. Bell returned to Tennessee to focus on personal business affairs. He continued campaigning for Whig political candidates, however, helping Jones again defeat Polk in the 1843 gubernatorial election, and helping Whig nominee Clay narrowly capture the state's electoral votes over Polk in the 1844 presidential election, although Polk won the presidency.


Senate

In 1847, Bell returned to politics and was elected to the
Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consi ...
. He was offered the House speakership, but he declined. Shortly afterward, the legislature, now controlled by Whigs, took up the task of filling one of the state's two U.S. Senate seats. The seat was held by a Whig,
Spencer Jarnagin Spencer Jarnagin (1792June 25, 1851) was a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1843 to 1847. Life and career Jarnagin was born in what was shortly to become Grainger County, Tennessee. He graduated from Greenville College in 1813 and aft ...
, who had angered the party by voting for the
Walker tariff The Walker Tariff was a set of tariff rates adopted by the United States in 1846. Enacted by the Democrats, it made substantial cuts in the high rates of the "Black Tariff" of 1842, enacted by the Whigs. It was based on a report by Secretary of ...
and thus had no chance of reelection. Bell, with the support of William "Parson" Brownlow's '' Jonesborough Whig'' and the Memphis ''Daily Eagle'', was among those nominated to fill the seat. After several weeks and 48 rounds of voting, Bell finally received the necessary majority on November 22, 1847, beating, among others,
John Netherland John Netherland (September 20, 1808 – October 4, 1887) was an American attorney and politician, active primarily in mid-19th century Tennessee. A leader of the state's Whigs, he served in both the Tennessee Senate and Tennessee House of Re ...
, Robertson Topp, William B. Reese, and Christoper H. Williams. Shortly after his arrival in the Senate, Bell immediately began speaking out against the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...
, arguing it was a tyrannical endeavor of his old rival, James K. Polk, who was now president. He suggested that even if the war was defensive, the U.S. had no right to take over a portion of Mexico's territory. He was concerned, among other things, that the addition of new territory would bring the divisive issue of slavery back to the forefront of American politics, especially in light of the Wilmot Proviso, which would have banned slavery in the new territories. He nevertheless voted to ratify the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...
in March 1848. As Bell had feared, sectional strife erupted in 1849 when
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
applied for statehood as a free state. Bell supported the state's admission, and clashed over the issue on the Senate floor with fellow Southern senators
John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He ...
and
John M. Berrien John Macpherson Berrien (August 23, 1781January 1, 1856) of United States senator from Georgia and Attorney General of the United States during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Early life and education Berrien was born on August 23, 1781 at R ...
. Bell offered a compromise that would have allowed California to be admitted, and would have split New Mexico and a portion of western Texas into three new states, one free, and two slave states. In May, this compromise was shelved in favor of the package of bills proposed by Henry Clay, subsequently known as the
Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–Am ...
. Bell mostly supported Clay's compromise, voting for the admission of California and the agreement on the territorial boundaries for New Mexico, but voted against the bill abolishing the slave trade in Washington, D.C. During the latter half of his first term, Bell debated various bills regarding internal improvements, namely a bill subsidizing the construction of the
Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line al ...
(which he supported, though he thought proceeds from land sales should be evenly split among the states), and a bill subsidizing construction of the St. Mary's Falls Canal, which he opposed. Bell was a steadfast supporter of
Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
, who had become president following the death of
Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...
in 1850. Fillmore offered Bell the position of
Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...
in July 1852, but he turned it down. During Bell's second term, which began following his reelection in 1853, the Senate was plagued by sectional strife. The fighting began in early 1854 over the bill that would eventually become the
Kansas–Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 () was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law ...
. To gain the support of Southern senators, the bill contained an amendment that repealed part of the
Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a Slave states an ...
to allow slavery north of the 36°30' parallel. Bell opposed this amendment, warning that a repeal of the Missouri Compromise would lead to endless sectional strife. He was assailed by Southern senators for this stance, and was blasted on the Senate floor by Robert Toombs of Georgia. Bell was one of just two Southern senators (the other being
Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...
) to vote against the final bill. The division between Northern and Southern Whigs over the Kansas-Nebraska Act doomed the party, with Northern Whigs shifting to the new
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...
. In early September 1856, he was selected to be a delegate to the 1856 National Whig Convention. The convention nominated former president
Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
, who had already been nominated by the American Party, or "
Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...
s." While he campaigned for Know Nothing candidates, Bell did not endorse many of the party's more controversial positions, such as its anti-Catholic stance. Various newspapers, including Brownlow's '' Knoxville Whig'', the New Orleans ''Delta'', and the St. Louis ''Intelligencer'', endorsed Bell as the American Party's presidential candidate, but the party's nomination went to Millard Fillmore. In 1857, Democrats regained control of the Tennessee state legislature. They elected
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
to fill the expiring term of Senator
James C. Jones James ChamberlainJones's middle name is sometimes spelled "Chamberlayne." Jones (April 20, 1809 – October 29, 1859) was an American politician who served as the tenth governor of Tennessee from 1841 to 1845, and as a United States Senator from ...
. Although Bell's term didn't expire for another two years, the legislature was so disgusted with him that they went ahead and chose his replacement ( Alfred O. P. Nicholson) and demanded that he resign. He was continuously attacked by other Southern senators. In late 1857, he threatened to challenge Robert Toombs to a duel after Toombs called him an abolitionist, but Toombs retracted the statement. In February 1858, Bell and Johnson were involved in a heated altercation on the Senate floor after Johnson questioned Bell's loyalty to the South. In March 1858, Bell was one of just two Southern senators (the other being John J. Crittenden) to vote against the admission of
Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
under the Lecompton Constitution, ignoring orders from the Tennessee state legislature to vote for it. In his last session in the Senate in 1859, Bell voted against an attempt to purchase
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
from
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, opposed the Homestead bill, and voted in favor of subsidies for the Pacific Railroad.


Presidential candidacy

Annoyed by the continuous sectional strife in the Senate, Bell throughout the 1850s had pondered forming a third party to attract moderates from both the North and South. By 1859, the Know Nothing movement had collapsed, but Tennessee's Whigs had organized themselves into the Opposition Party, which had won several of the state's congressional seats. Several of this party's supporters, among them ''Knoxville Whig'' editor William Brownlow, former vice presidential candidate Andrew Jackson Donelson, and California attorney
Balie Peyton Balie Peyton (November 26, 1803 – August 18, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Tennessee's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. Biography Peyton was born near Gallatin, Tennessee ...
urged Bell to run for president on a third party ticket. In May 1860, disgruntled ex-Whigs and disenchanted moderates from across the country convened in Baltimore, where they formed the Constitutional Union Party. The party's platform was very broad and made no mention of slavery. While there were several candidates for the party's presidential nomination, the two frontrunners were Bell and Sam Houston. On May 9, Bell led the initial round of balloting with 68 votes to Houston's 59, with more than a dozen other candidates splitting the remainder. Houston's military endeavors had brought him national renown, but he reminded the convention's Clay Whigs of their old foe Andrew Jackson. On May 10, Bell received 138 votes to Houston's 69, and was declared the candidate.
Edward Everett Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Mass ...
received the vice presidential nomination. While Bell had supporters throughout the Northern states and the border states, most of his Northern allies had thrown their support behind Republican candidate
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
or Democratic candidate Stephen A. Douglas. He had little support south of the border states, where Southern Democratic candidate John C. Breckinridge was the clear frontrunner. Southern Democratic newspapers slammed him as a friend of abolitionists and Republicans. The Nashville ''Union'', referring to the Constitutional Union Party's noncommitted platform, derided Bell as "Nobody's man," who "stands on nobody's platform." Bell also struggled with the youth vote, being more than a decade older than the next oldest candidate, Lincoln. Seeing little chance of winning the election outright, Bell hoped that none of the three other candidates would get the required number of electoral votes and that the election would be sent to the House of Representatives, where he was convinced he would be chosen as a compromise since he was the only non-sectional candidate. Neither he nor Everett campaigned extensively. However, Bell and his supporters knew they still needed to finish in the top three in the electoral college to be eligible for the contingent election as per the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment. The Constitutional Union campaign therefore directed most of its resources in the Upper South states which they believed they had the best chance of winning. In the
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
in November 1860, Bell received 592,906 popular votes (13% of the total; 39% of Southern popular votes). He finished third in the electoral college with 39 electoral votes (13%), nevertheless Lincoln secured a decisive victory by winning nearly all of the Northern electoral votes. Bell carried Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee with narrow pluralities over Breckinridge, but was narrowly defeated by Breckinridge in
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
, Georgia, and
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
, and by Douglas in
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, and lost badly in
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
,
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
,
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
, and Texas. While Bell received less than 3% of the popular vote cast in Northern states, several of his electors were on fusion tickets with Douglas and Breckinridge electors, so this figure may not be representative of his actual support.


Civil War

In the months following Lincoln's election, Bell remained steadfast in his support for the Union. During March 1861, he met Lincoln, who, according to Bell, said that he had no intention of using force against the South. After the
Battle of Fort Sumter The Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender by the United States Army, beginning the American Civil War. Fol ...
in April, however, Bell, despite continuing to believe in the illegality of secession, complained that he felt deceived by Lincoln. While he still supported preserving the Union if at all possible, he reasoned that if federal forces invaded Tennessee, they should be resisted. Accordingly, on April 23, he openly opposed Lincoln, called for the state to align itself with the Confederacy, and urged that it prepare a defense against a federal invasion. Bell's defection to the Confederate cause stunned Unionist leaders. ''
Louisville Journal Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
'' editor
George D. Prentice George Dennison Prentice (December 18, 1802 – January 22, 1870) was an American newspaper editor, writer and poet who built the ''Louisville Journal'' into a major newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Ohio River Valley, in part by the vir ...
wrote that Bell's decision brought "unspeakable mortification, and disgust, and indignation" to his long-time supporters.
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and editor of the '' New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York ...
lamented such an "ignominious close" to Bell's public career. ''Knoxville Whig'' editor (and future Tennessee governor) William Brownlow derided Bell as the "officiating Priest" at the altar of the "false god of Disunion." In June 1861, Bell traveled to Knoxville in hopes of converting the city's Unionist leaders to the secessionist cause and perhaps changing sentiments in the state's east, where most people remained pro-Union. On June 6, Bell delivered a speech before a crowd of secessionists at the Knox County Courthouse.Oliver Perry Temple, '' East Tennessee and the Civil War'' (Johnson City, Tenn.: Overmountain Press, 1995), pp. 234-236. Following the speech, he walked across the street to the law office of long-time Whig attorney Oliver Perry Temple, where Temple and several other pro-Union leaders had gathered. Among them were Brownlow, Perez Dickinson, and William Rule. Temple later recalled:
Mr. Bell said, in a half-sad and half-complaining tone: "I see that none of my old friends were over to hear me speak." "No," said Mr. Brownlow, "we were not present, and did not intend being. We did not wish to witness the spectacle of your being surrounded by your enemies, who a few months ago were denouncing you as a traitor. We did not wish to hear these men shouting for you and see you in a such a position." Mr. Brownlow then poured forth a torrent of abuse and denunciation of secession. Mr. Bell made no attempt to defend them, nor indeed to defend his own course.
Brownlow had supported Bell for over two decades and, indeed, had named one of his sons after Bell. He recalled the incident in Temple's office when he came to write his 1862 book, ''Sketches of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of Secession''. In that volume, Brownlow stated he had criticized Bell that night with "great pain," and remembered that he and Bell "parted in tears."William G. Brownlow, ''Sketches of the Rise, Progress and Decline of Secession'' (Philadelphia: G.W. Childs, 1862), pp. 208-209. Temple surmised that Bell's decision to support the Confederacy was driven by panic, for "there was not a drop of disloyal blood in his veins." After Tennessee seceded on June 8, Bell retired from public life, though his sons and sons-in-law actively supported the Confederate cause. When the Union Army occupied Tennessee in 1862, Bell fled to Huntsville, Alabama, and later to Georgia. After the war, he moved to Stewart County, Tennessee, where he managed his family-owned ironworks. He died at his home near Dover, Tennessee in 1869, and he is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.


Family

Bell married his first wife, Sally Dickinson, in 1818. They had five children (Mary, John, David, Fanny, and Sally) before she died in 1832. Sally Dickinson was the sister of Congressman David W. Dickinson, the granddaughter of
Hardy Murfree Hardy Murfree (June 5, 1752 – April 6, 1809) was a lieutenant colonel from North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. Early life Murfree was born on June 5, 1752 at Murfree's Landing, North Carolina, later renamed Murfreesboro. ...
, and the aunt of author
Mary Noailles Murfree Mary Noailles Murfree (January 24, 1850 – July 31, 1922) was an American author of novels and short stories who wrote under the pen name Charles Egbert Craddock. She is considered by many to be Appalachia's first significant female writer an ...
. In 1835, Bell married Jane Erwin Yeatman, a prominent socialite and widow of wealthy businessman Thomas Yeatman. Confederate Congressman Edwin Augustus Keeble (1807–1868) was a son-in-law of Bell's, being married to his daughter, Sally. Bell's great-grandson, also named Edwin A. Keeble, was a prominent Nashville-area architect, his best known design being the city's first skyscraper, the Life & Casualty Tower.


See also

* Thomas Dickens Arnold


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * *


External links

*
''The public record and past history of John Bell & Edward Everett''
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, John 1796 births 1869 deaths People from Davidson County, Tennessee American people of Scotch-Irish descent William Henry Harrison administration cabinet members Tyler administration cabinet members United States Secretaries of War Speakers of the United States House of Representatives Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Whig Party United States senators from Tennessee Know-Nothing United States senators from Tennessee Tennessee Constitutional Unionists Candidates in the 1860 United States presidential election Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee state senators Tennessee lawyers American planters American slave owners People from Stewart County, Tennessee Cumberland University alumni People of Tennessee in the American Civil War Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville) United States senators who owned slaves