Sketches of Debate in the First Senate of the United States, in 1789-90-91 1880
(Originally published in 1880. This volume from the Cornel...)
Originally published in 1880. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies. All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume.
William Maclay was an American lawyer, senator, and diarist.
Background
William Maclay was the son of Charles and Eleanor (Query) Maclay. His father, a farmer, came to America in 1734 from the north of Ireland, settling first in New Garden township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, where William was born was born on July 27, 1734, and afterward moving to Franklin County.
Education
The Rev. John Blair, successor to his brother Samuel Blair as head of a noted school in Chester County, and a prominent guardian of Scotch-Irish discipline in the New World, gave the stalwart youth his classical training.
Career
In 1758, Maclay was a lieutenant with Gen. John Forbes's expedition to Ft. Duquesne; in 1763-64, he participated in the expedition of Col. Henry Bouquet against the Indians. After the French and Indian War, visiting England, he took up the matter of surveys with Thomas Penn; he was engaged in surveying land in 1766, if not earlier.
He was admitted to the bar of York County in 1760, whether or not he practised there. He held various local offices in the new county of Northumberland, organized in 1772, laid out the town of Sunbury that year, and lived there himself until his removal to Harrisburg in 1786.
He served for a time in the militia, acted as issuing commissary in Sunbury, and played a considerable part in organizing the frontier defense against Indian raids. The successful conclusion of the Revolution carried him to the state legislature, where he represented Northumberland County from 1781 to 1785.
He was also a member of the Supreme Executive Council, in 1786 and 1788, a judge of the court of common pleas, deputy-surveyor, and a member of commissions to examine the navigation of the Susquehanna (1783) and to treat with the Indians for the purchase of lands (1784 - 85).
As United States senator he represented rural Pennsylvania in the first Congress held under the Constitution (1789 - 91). His colleague was Robert Morris who, in the drawing of lots, secured the long-term seat whereas Maclay got the short term. When he stood for reelection he lost his seat to a Federalist.
His neighbors sent him to the state legislature again in 1795, and in 1803. In the meantime, he had been a presidential elector in 1796 and associate judge of Dauphin County (1801 - 03).
Maclay's historical significance consequently was lost until 1880, when the publication of a private journal he kept during the time, he served in Congress revealed both the extent and nature of the debates in the Senate on the financial proposals of Hamilton and the rôle of Maclay in opposition. His notes are the only continuous report in existence of that early federal period when debates occurred behind closed doors and no official record was prepared for the public.
They reveal the diarist as such a stanch antagonist of the Hamiltonian program, such a strong defender of the interests of the small-farming class, such a denunciator of the speculation rife at the time, that Pennsylvania may be called the home of the first Jeffersonian democrat.
Jefferson did not reach the seat of government until eleven months after Congress commenced to work and during that time Maclay was at the democratic helm.
As his journal discloses, moreover, he was often distressed by Jefferson's attitude when he became secretary of state, particularly with reference to the building up of a navy for an attack on the Algerian pirates and for dealing with the fisheries question.
His comments on all the leaders of that critical period, including Washington, are invaluable sidelights on the contest so bitterly fought between the Federalists and their opponents over the interpretation of the new Constitution, the funding of the debt, the tariff, the bank, the excise tax, proper ceremonials and a title for the president, and manners and tastes in the young republic.
Since Maclay sat in on conferences with Morris and others relative to the location of the federal capital and attended functions where the ladies of the "republican court" were present, his comments are warm with the personal aspects of the economic struggle.
Personality
Though Maclay had been on good terms with the proprietors, he gave his allegiance to the patriot side when the battle for independence opened. His wit is caustic, perhaps because he suffered from rheumatism, but the journal was meant solely for private release.
Connections
On April 11, 1769, Maclay was married to Mary McClure, daughter of John Harris, founder of Harrisburg, and settled at Mifflintown, where he owned 300 acres of land.