16 Jul 2018

History:

Lost Capitol Hill: A German View of the 1837 Inauguration

Last week, we looked at Ludwig de Wette’s visit to Washington in 1837, particularly his first impressions as well as his thoughts on John Quincy Adams. Today, we will look at the primary event of his time in the nation’s capital: The inauguration of Martin van Buren.

De Wette had had difficulties finding lodging due to the incipient festivities. On the other hand, it had also meant that there was much more going on, including evening sessions of both houses of Congress, the opportunities to observe he took as much advantage as he could. These sessions also meant that he was unable to observe the usual evening entertainments, which had to be curtailed due to the pressing business.

Finally the big day arrived, on which Jackson was to leave office, and Van Buren was to ascend to the Presidency. Early in the morning, the masses were out on the street; I eventually joined them and made my way to the Capitol around 10. A large crowd had already assembled at the portico on the back side of the building; there is a wide stairs from there to the second floor, which was where the new President was to give his speech. The courtyard, which was laid out with boards, so that the voting public would not get their feet dirty, was pretty well filled with viewers. I first went into the senate chamber, where I found a place to sit. About 10:30 Colonel Johnson, who had been elected Vice-President, gave his oath to the assembled Senators, then took the seat of the President of the Senate. Johnson is a man without personal influence and is nothing but a tool of the party. His main contribution in the eyes of the people is the many wounds that he suffered in fighting with Indians. He must be himself surprised to have been honored with the Vice-Presidency. We then had to wait another hour for the arrival of the old and new presidents. The entry of the diplomatic corps gave us something to talk about in the meantime.

The Senate chamber as it looked at the time of Van Buren’s inauguration (LOC)

Eventually the Presidents arrived. The order of the procession was now read, but we didn’t wait for this but instead went outside. The crowd had increased by now, the stairs and terrace of the portico were now almost completely filled with ladies, whose bright clothing added colorful [sic] to the scene, and made a good contrast against the light building behind them and the dark rug to their feet. The weather was as nice as one could hope, and could be seen as a foretelling a good term for Van Buren. Finally the new leader of the American people arrived, but no cheers, no cries rang out. He stepped onto the small stage and read his speech. The words were empty tones, we couldn’t understand them, and I think, almost nobody understood them. It was amusing to watch as his lips moved and his heads worked themselves, to no effect. After the speech was over, one would have expected to hear the crowd cheer, but they seemed unmotivated. After the oath, which was administered by Justice [Taney,] there was some applause, which was assisted by a fanfare. Boys who had been practicing their cries in the background, and who had ensured that nobody understood the speech, now commenced crying hurrah. The Whigs were mean enough to insist that someone had paid off the boys, but that their cries had not happened at the appropriate time since they could not hear what was going on; they had been standing in the passage under the stairs. The people showed, as mentioned, little interest and certainly Jackson had more adherents than the new President; Several cried ‘Long live Jackson!’ After the ceremony, the two men left in an open carriage that had been built of wood taken from the Constitution, which, if memory serves, had been given to the departing President by the people of New York.

De Wette left town almost immediately thereafter, as did most others that had been involved in the inauguration, and Washington went back to its usual sleepy self.


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