The 3rd Parliament
Upon the narrow reelection of Prime Minister John Adams’ government to a third term in 1799, Adams decided to have his government undergo a Cabinet shakeup.
Perhaps most obviously, the position of Leader of the Opposition had been held by Thomas Jefferson for 10 years by the 1799 election. With his party slipping into third place, Aaron Burr (as the leader of the second-largest Cabinet party) led the Opposition.
The position of Minister of State was vacant, as incumbent Edmund Randolph had chosen to leave Parliament. In his later years, Randolph became a good friend, and political ally, of Aaron Burr, though he never reentered Parliament.
Randolph’s replacement was James Madison. Although some criticized Adams for nominating someone who had never served in Cabinet to the second highest office in the land, Madison was nevertheless a well-known figure: one of the authors of the final, compromise version of the Constitution, one of the authors of the Bill of Rights, and the man who had led opposition to the Sedition Act from within the Federalist Party.
At the time of his nomination, Madison was undergoing a feud with Alexander Hamilton, and some have argued that this feud was the reason Madison was nominated Minister in the first place. Although some staunch Hamiltonians voted against Madison’s confirmation, Madison’s friendship with Thomas Jefferson resulted in Jefferson’s convincing several Radicals to back Madison. In the end, Madison was confirmed.
Adams’ Attorney General, John Marshall, had been elected King. Adams nominated Charles Lee, an M.P. from Virginia elected in the 1795 election that was widely considered one of the nation’s best attorneys. There was little opposition to Lee’s nomination from any part of Parliament.
The incumbent Minister of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton, a man who Adams now rather disliked. However, Adams could not afford to upset the Hamiltonians too badly, as his majority depended on them. Adams, who had been ready to clench his teeth and re-nominate Hamilton, was suddenly faced with a pleasant surprise, as Hamilton tendered his resignation. Adams nominated Oliver Wolcott, Jr. – M.P. from Connecticut since 1795, and one of Adams’ key economic advisors for longer – Minister of the Treasury. Wolcott was confirmed without much difficulty.
Adams’ Minister of War, Timothy Pickering, was a Hamiltonian – however, Adams decided to keep Pickering, who was re-nominated and confirmed easily. The Minister of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, who was not a Hamiltonian, faced an even smoother ride.
Adams also re-nominated his Postmaster General, Joseph Habersham, whose re-nomination faced little difficulty.
The Third Adams Government –
Prime Minister: The Rt. Hon.1 John Adams (Federalist-Massachusetts)
Minister of State: James Madison (Federalist-Virginia)
Attorney General: Charles Lee (Federalist-Virginia)
Minister of the Treasury: Oliver Wolcott, Jr. (Federalist-Connecticut)
Minister of War: Timothy Pickering (Federalist-Massachusetts)
Minister of the Navy: Benjamin Stoddert (Federalist-Maryland)
Postmaster General: Joseph Habersham (Federalist-Georgia)
The 3rd Parliament was, like the second, a seemingly quiet, almost do-nothing Parliament, but one which hid the tensions between the parliamentary groups. The informed observer might have likened this period to a mine before its explosion – calm, you may not even notice it – but about to go off.
In the early 1800s, the Library of Parliament was established. The Library of Parliament, intended for the use of, well, Parliament, quickly became one of, and eventually the, largest libraries in the United States.
Some debating occurred during the 3rd Parliament about the status of the capital city of Columbia. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, which made the city independent from any state, without any representation in Parliament, was viewed a suitable solution to the problem. The act ensured that the state of Maryland would not house the nation’s capital (this was viewed as giving it a ‘leg up’ against other states). To a modern reader, the act of not giving Columbia any Parliamentary representation may seem odd, but at the time it was viewed like giving Parliament its own vote in Parliament.
In 1801, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Oliver Ellsworth, aging rapidly, decided to retire from the Court. As expected, King John nominated Attorney General Charles Lee to the Supreme Court. Parliament confirmed Lee with little debate.
The vacancy in the position of Attorney General resulted in another Cabinet reshuffle, as Adams promoted Postmaster General Joseph Habersham to the position of Attorney General; demoted Minister of War Timothy Pickering to the position of Postmaster General; and appointed Samuel Dexter, a Federalist M.P. from Massachusetts, Minister of War. Dexter had been elected in a 1793 by-election.
Meanwhile, some areas of the western frontier were reaching statehood – in particular the very western portion of Indiana Territory, which styled itself ‘Ohio’. The Enabling Act of 1802 created a procedure for turning U.S. territories into U.S. states; summarized, it said that the U.S. government would create a territorial government, which must then be propped up by voters; only an elected territorial government could petition for statehood (which, as outlined by the Constitution, must then be accepted by Parliament). Soon afterward, the Indiana territorial legislature petitioned for a large section of itself to be admitted as the U.S. state of Ohio. Ohio was admitted to the Union in late 1802.
Then, in 1803, the mine known as the 3rd Parliament exploded.
1In the late twentieth century, it became standard to add the title ‘Rt. Hon.’ to those nominated for King. This also applied retroactively.