History of Illinois, from 1778-1833; and life and times of Ninian Edwards
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Substance of the remarks of Mr. Edwards, of Illinois
(Substance of the remarks of Mr. Edwards, of Illinois, in ...)
Substance of the remarks of Mr. Edwards, of Illinois, in the Senate of the United States, on the resolution that appropriations of Territory for the purposes of Education should be made to those states in whose favor no such appropriations have been made to other States in the Union. This book, "Substance of the remarks of Mr. Edwards, of Illinois", by Ninian Edwards, is a replication of a book originally published before 1822. It has been restored by human beings, page by page, so that you may enjoy it in a form as close to the original as possible.
The Edwards Papers: Being a Portion of the Collection of the Letters, Papers, and Manuscripts of Ninian Edwards
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
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Ninian Edwards was an American politician, who served as Governor of the Illinois Territory (1809 - 1818), U. S. Senator from Illinois (1818 - 1824), and Governor of Illinois (1826 - 1830).
Background
Ninian Edwards was born on March 17, 1775, in Montgomery County, Maryland, the son of Benjamin Edwards and Margaret Beall.
His father, a native of Stafford County, Virginia, and a brother of John Edwards, United States senator from Kentucky, was a member of the Maryland convention which ratified the Federal Constitution and a representative in the Third Congress.
Education
Edwards was instructed by private tutors and later attended Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. After leaving college he entered upon the study of law.
Career
In 1795 Edwards removed to Kentucky, where he took up a tract of land on behalf of his father. Within a short time he began the practise of law and almost immediately entered state politics, being elected to the legislature before he was of age.
In 1803 he was appointed to the bench and at the age of thirty-two became chief justice of the Kentucky court of appeals. A decisive event in his early life was his appointment as governor of Illinois Territory by President Madison in 1809, a post which he held until 1818, when the territory became a state. Edwards also became ex officio superintendent of Indian affairs, and during the period of his governorship occupied much of his time in maintaining the authority of the United States among the Indians upon the frontier.
During the War of 1812 Edwards was active in the defense of the Illinois border, and in the first year of the war organized and led an expedition to Peoria. By the time of the admission of Illinois in 1818, there had emerged from the chaos of territorial politics two factions, an Edwards and an anti-Edwards group, an alignment which persisted through the early years of statehood.
At the first state election, Edwards was chosen United States senator for the short term, and was reelected for the full term in 1819. His career in the Senate was scarcely a brilliant one. He was a strong advocate of legislation which would grant land to settlers on easier terms, and he favored the admission of Missouri as a slave state. He seems to have played little part in the famous convention struggle in Illinois, culminating in 1824, which turned largely on the issue of slavery.
In 1824, Edwards resigned from the Senate to accept an appointment by President Monroe as minister to Mexico. Before taking his post, however, he was obliged to resign this office in turn, owing to his having made certain reckless charges against William H. Crawford, secretary of the treasury, which he was unable to substantiate.
He sought to rehabilitate and vindicate himself by turning to state politics, and in 1826 was elected governor of Illinois by a narrow margin. Though his power had begun to wane, he was still the main center around which Illinois factional politics revolved. Both before and after his election, he carried on a bitter attack against those w'ho had been responsible for the administration of the state bank at Edwardsville, which added nothing to his popularity. As governor, he urged the removal of the Indians from the state. He also continued to insist upon the right of the state to that part of the public domain lying within its borders. He did not seek reelection in 1830, but two years later he was defeated in an attempt to win a seat in Congress. Ninian Edwards died on July 20, 1833, of cholera at Belleville, Illinois.
(Substance of the remarks of Mr. Edwards, of Illinois, in ...)
Politics
Ninian Edwards began his political career in Kentucky, where he served as a legislator and judge. He rose to the position of Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1808, at the time Kentucky's highest court. In 1809, U. S. President James Madison appointed him to govern the newly created Illinois Territory. He held that post for three terms, overseeing the territory's transition first to democratic "second grade" government, and then to statehood in 1818. On its second day in session, the Illinois General Assembly elected Edwards to the U. S. Senate, where conflict with rivals damaged him politically.
Edwards won an unlikely 1826 election to become Governor of Illinois. Conflict with the legislature over state bank regulations marked Edwards' administration, as did the pursuit of Indian removal. As governor or territorial governor he twice sent Illinois militia against Native Americans, in the War of 1812 and the Winnebago War, and signed treaties for the cession of Native American land. His political career ended with defeat in a run for Congress in 1832.
Connections
In 1803, Ninian Edwards married Elvira Lane, a relative from Maryland. They had several children.