When the Moses
brothers made their way from Exeter, New Hampshire, to Whig-party stronghold, Knoxville,
Tennessee, in the mid 1800’s, they quickly became a dominant force in the
city's political life. Their migration
was motivated by business opportunity, but they would soon find themselves at
the forefront of local politics, as publishers of one of the region’s most
influential newspapers, The Knoxville
Register. Though the Moses brothers
would retire from their posts in 1849, by that time they had solidified
themselves as powerful political figures in Knoxville. Under their leadership, the paper would
flourish, and with their departure the paper suffered a ten-year decline.[1]
The
first Moses to arrive in Knoxville was James C., a recruit of Knoxville banker
and merchant Perez Dickenson. When local
paper, The Knoxville Times, began to decline in popularity, Dickenson
made the move eastward in an effort to recruit the practical printer from
Exeter[2]. James had been working in Boston as a foreman
for the Boston Mercantile Journal[3]. Impressed by the young Moses, Dickenson made
the trip to Boston, convinced James to take his talents southward, and soon
thereafter James C. Moses arrived in Knoxville.[4]
Some
three years later in 1841, James was joined by his brother John, to assist in
editing and writing for Moses and Company. At the end of 1839, James had purchased, The Knoxville Times, as well as another
local paper, The Knoxville Register. The papers had merged under the title, The Knoxville Register and Weekly Times,
and together with Thomas Hume, James Moses had been publishing the newly formed
joint-paper since December 25 of 1839.
During that time, John had been completing his studies at Waterville
College in Maine, having previously studied classics at Exeter Academy (now
Phillips Exeter Academy). In 1841, at
the age of 19, John replaced Hume and the Moses brothers began publishing their
paper under the family name.
The
Whig party had held prominence in Knoxville since the party’s inception in
1833. Rivalries with Andrew Jackson in
Nashville with Knoxvillians including Hugh Lawson White, John Sevier, and
others had resulted in a strong anti-Jacksonian sentiment. In addition, Knoxville was an emerging
metropolitan hub, and Whig initiatives for transportation funding resonated
with the growing railroad system in the city.
By the end of Jackson’s second term in 1836, the Whig party had immerged
on the national scale, and efforts were put in place to defeat William Van
Buren, the Democratic nominee for president.[5]
In
1836 the Whigs unveiled an innovative strategy to win the White House. Rather than nominating a single
representative to combat van Buren, the Whigs nominated three candidates,
Daniel Webster, Hugh Lawson White, and William Henry Harrison. The hope was that each candidate could win
regionally, preventing Van Buren from winning a majority and thus allowing the
Whig-controlled House of Representatives to elect the next president. In Tennessee, White was given the nomination
and would carry the state. Ultimately
the plan would fail however, as Van Buren would carry fifty-eight percent of
the Electoral College.[6]
Having
been defeated in their inaugural efforts, the Whig party altered their
approach, and nominated a single candidate, William Henry Harrison, in
1840. The Register would prove a strong proponent of Harrison’s
nomination, as pro-Harrison columns flooded the pages of the paper. Additionally, The Register would give great attention to the national campaign,
providing periodic updates on Whig success in other states. Ultimately Harrison would win the day,
carrying a majority of electoral and popular votes including Tennessee and five
other slave states. Ironically, New
Hampshire would be the only New England state to vote against Harrison,
preferring the incumbent Martin Van Buren.
Harrison’s
presidency would be short lived however.
In an effort to illustrate the knowledge and stoicism of a heroic war
general, and possibly to prove wrong the Democrats who had labeled him “Granny
Harrison” during the campaign, Harrison delivered the longest inaugural address
in United States history on a chilly and wet March morning.[7] Sadly, this show of bravado would result in Harrison
developing pneumonia, a condition that took his life on April 4, 1841. This sad news would be reported in, The Register, and the country would find
itself in crisis.
At
the time, there were no constitutional instructions regarding the replacement
of a president in the case of death. The
panic would be brief however, and Harrison’s vice president, John Tyler, would
assume the office of presidency. Tyler
was a Whig by title, but not in political mindset. He would oppose the Whig platform, veto Henry
Clay’s national banking legislation, and earn the disdain of his own
party. His cabinet would resign, and
Tyler would not be awarded the party’s nomination in 1844.[8]
Having
gained the Presidency for the first time in party history, only to have their
nominee die shortly after his inauguration and be replaced with a
representative at odds with the party’s platform, the Whigs found themselves in
a precarious situation in the campaign for 1844. Several candidates would be entertained, but
ultimately the party, and The Register,
would endorse the nomination of Henry Clay of Kentucky. Clay had run for the office before, and was
known for his ability to compromise politically for the national good. His influence on the Missouri Compromise and
the Compromise of 1850 had gained Clay a great deal of credibility, including
the admiration of Abraham Lincoln.
It
was not surprising that The Register
would enthusiastically throw the paper’s support behind Clay and his
presidential campaign. Ads, editorials,
and updates from around the country flooded the pages of the paper in the years
leading up to the 1844 election.
Harrison’s opponent would be James K. Pole, a Kentuckian running as the
Democrat nominee. In Knoxville, Arthur
R. Crozier’s, The Knoxville Standard,
would endorse Polk, and the rival papers would work tirelessly to win the East
Tennessee vote for their perspective nominees.
In
the November 13, 1844 edition of The Register, results from tallied states,
including Tennessee would be recorded, with the final result held for the
following week’s edition. Kentucky
received the applause of The Register,
having voted against the state’s own son.
Likewise, “North Carolina O.K!” and “The Buckeye State!” were editorials
applauding the results in North Carolina and Ohio. As for Tennessee, Clay carried the majority,
including a 207-72 win in the city of Knoxville. According to the paper, the voters in New
York would decide the election, and the issue could be considered one of
reserved optimism.[9]
One
week later, when the final results were in and Polk was elected, The Register
reported that New York had fallen and so the Democrats and so the Union. In the end, Polk would carry only forty-nine
percent of the popular vote, but win the Electoral College handily. However, the election would reveal the
tremendous versatility and appeal of the Whig Party. Not confined to a particular region, Whigs
were able to obtain votes from the Mountain South, New England, and Coastal
Maryland. Although the Whigs had failed
to secure the office of the Presidency, their appeal was national, an important
attribute during the tumultuous mid-nineteenth century.
This
national appeal would be recognized again in the election of 1848, with Zachary
Taylor defeating Lewis Cass in the election of that year. Like his Whig predecessor, Taylor would die
in office, passing the torch to his vice president, Millard Fillmore. Once again, the unelected Whig candidate
would lose his base, denouncing many Whig priorities and subsequently losing
their support and the nomination of 1852.
Fillmore would be the last Whig to rise to the Presidency, and the party
would soon split amidst the rise of Republicanism in the North and ultimately
dissolve in 1860.[10]
Having experience a brief golden age, only to
dissolve some twenty-seven years after its inception, the Whig Party would be a
brief but significant political party that had national appeal. In Knoxville, The Register would serve as
evidence of this national appeal and the ability of the party to compromise on
major issues. The Moses brothers, New
Englanders, were able to influence and thrive within the Mountain South, and
brought to light the political ethos of the region. Compromise and moderation defined the region,
and the Moses brothers served as proud spokesmen of the moderate people of
Knoxville and East Tennessee.
However,
all within the Whig camp did not welcome this moderate position. William Brownlow, infamous known as “Fighting
Parson Brownlow” was not so apt to compromise.
Attacking not only Democrats, but Baptists, Catholics, and a score of
others, Brownlow held his positions with zeal and fervor, but quickly found
himself attacking many within the city.
His paper, Brownlow’s Tennessee
Whig, possessed a similar tone, lambasting Democrats and those who would
support them, and in some cases, even opposing Whig candidates. Brownlow’s personal motto, “Independent in
all thing, neutral in nothing”, resonated with the “Cry aloud and spare not”
policy of his paper.[11]
Though
there is no record of conflict between the Moses brothers and Brownlow prior to
the Civil War, their papers certainly stood at odds. Though representing the same party, and relatively
similar political positions, the Moses brothers’ publication took a moderate
Whig stance whereas Brownlow could be characterized as anything but
moderate. The Tennessee Whig would be an East Tennessee favorite, but those
looking for a more sober and moderate position would turn to The Register. While the political efforts of these papers
would share commonality during the golden age of the Whig Party, the tone and
ethos with which they were published were strikingly different.
Whig
politics in Knoxville were a top priority, but their successes would be short
lived. After Fillmore, the Whigs would
fail to see another party member in the White House, and the party would not
make it past the election of 1860. With
the Moses brothers retiring from the publication industry in 1849, the
newspaper rivalry between their paper and Brownlow’s would no longer involve
them, but the ten-year period in which they published The Register does reveal a great deal about the brothers’ approach.
The
Whig movement was an important one to the region, and had national implications
as well. Representing a political
movement of national importance, Knoxvillians could take several
approaches. In the case of The Knoxville Standard, that approach
would be opposition. In Brownlow’s case,
the approach would be hostile and divisive.
Yet in the case of the Moses brothers, the approach would be moderate,
compromising, and congenial. In many
ways, the Moses brothers epitomized the compromising efforts of the party,
which won it national appeal.
Furthermore, their less-hostile tone set well within a region that
preferred compromise on the major issues of the day. Though the Whig party would not play a major
role in the election of 1860, or be a political player in the secession
arguments of the 1860’s, The Knoxville
Register would represent an approach that would be favored in the years of
civil war, and the Moses brothers would illustrate a middle ground approach that
strongly characterized the people of East Tennessee during the 1860’s.
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