Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 569
But South Carolina went still further and threatened to nullify the
tariff law. Calhoun's fatal philosophy was beginning to bear fruit.
Inevitably the protective tariff became a dominant issue in the presi
dential campaign of 1832; but President Jackson was re-elected, defeat
ing Henry Clay. Strange to say, he received Georgia's undivided sup
port, consisting in this election of eleven electoral votes. But there were
other grounds on which her support was based. General Jackson had
subdued the Indian outbreaks upon her borders. He had defeated the
seasoned veterans of Packenham in the great Battle of New Orleans.
He had withdrawn the Federal troops from the Cherokee Territory, had
revoked the appointment of Worcester as postmaster at New Echota,
and had strongly advocated a removal of the Indian tribes to the West;
and for these things Georgia could not forget him. The state's electoral
vote this year was cast by the following electors: from the state at large,
Beverly Alien and Henry Holt; district electors, Elias Beall, Henry
Jackson, David Blackshear, William Terrell, W. B. Bulloch, John
Whitehead, John Floyd, Wilson Williams and Steaton Grantland.*
But opposition to the protective principle was by no means effectually
suppressed. During the summer of 1832, at Athens, quite a number
of prominent Georgians who were then attending the commencement
exercises of Franklin College held a meeting on the campus and passed
a resolution calling for an anti-tariff convention to assemble at Milledge-
ville, in the fall of 1832, during the annual legislative session.
Pursuant to this call, 131 delegates, representing sixty-one coun
ties met at Milledgeville, on November 12, 1832. Ex-Governor George
R. Gilmer was elected chairman. This convention will ever be famous
for the great debate in which two of Georgia's most illustrious sons,
Berrien and Forsyth, were pitted against each other in an argument
which lasted for three days. We' quote the following account from the
pen of an eye-witness to this historic encounter between two intellectual
giants.t Says he:
"On motion of Mr. [W. H.] Torrance, it was decided to appoint a
Committee of Twenty-One, whose duty it should be'to report resolutions
expressive of the sense of the Convention in regard to the best mode of
obtaining relief from the Protective System, to report what objects
ought to engage the attention of the Convention, and to suggest the most
effective means of accomplishing the same. [Time was required for
selecting this important committee; and consequently, after transacting
a few minor matters, the Convention adjo.urned.]
"On the second day, Mr. Forsyth moved that a committee of five be
appointed by the President to examine and report at the next meeting
by what authority the various persons present were empowered to act as
delegates, the credentials which they possessed, etc. Mr. Torrance, in
lieu thereof, moved as a substitute that a Committee of Elections be
named to inquire into the right of any member to hold his seat,
whenever the same should be contested. Both motions were laid on the
table for the time being. The President then announced the Committee
of Twenty-One, to wit: Messrs. Blackshear, Berrien, Forsyth, Cum-
*Lanman's " Biographical Annals of the II. S. Govt.," pp. 533-535.
t Miller's "Bench and Bar of Georgia," Vol. I, chapter on Berrien.