Congress and the Crisis of the 1850s

“Agitation Is as Necessaryas Tranquility Is Dangerous”

143 Martin J. Hershock “Agitation Is as Necessary as Tranquility Is Dangerous” Kinsley S. Bingham Becomes a Republican On December 6, 1847,฀in฀the฀midst฀of฀a฀controversial฀war฀with฀neighboring ฀Mexico,฀the฀Thirtieth฀Congress฀of฀the฀United฀States฀gathered฀ together฀in฀Washington,฀D.C.,฀for฀the฀Wrst฀time.฀Among฀the฀230฀congressmen assembled that day were 110 Democrats, 116฀Whigs,฀two฀members฀from฀ the฀new฀state฀of ฀Wisconsin,฀and฀a฀handful฀of ฀freshman฀members,฀among฀ them฀Abraham฀Lincoln฀of฀Illinois,฀a฀Whig,฀and฀Kinsley฀Bingham,฀a฀Democrat ฀from฀Michigan. ฀ Nearly฀identical฀in฀age฀(Bingham฀was฀born฀on฀December฀16, 1808, and Lincoln on February 12, 1809)฀and฀hailing฀from฀states฀on฀the฀old฀northwestern ฀frontier,฀both฀men฀symbolized฀the฀West’s฀promise฀of฀economic฀security,฀ mobility,฀independence,฀and฀opportunity.฀Another฀parallel,฀though฀admittedly not one either man would have been proud of, is that neither Lincoln nor฀Bingham฀is฀much฀remembered฀for฀his฀actions฀during฀their฀brief฀stints฀in฀ the House (one term, 1847–49, for Lincoln and two terms, 1847–51,฀for฀Bingham ). Indeed, both men quietly returned to civilian life (Lincoln as an attorney ฀and฀Bingham฀as฀a฀farmer)฀immediately฀following฀their฀short฀service฀ in฀Congress฀and฀likely฀would฀have฀faded฀from฀the฀public฀consciousness฀if฀ not฀for฀the฀sectional฀upheaval฀that฀surrounded฀the฀passage฀of ฀the฀KansasNebraska ฀Act฀by฀Congress,฀in฀1854, and the subsequent formation of the Republican Party, a party that provided a new political home for both men and฀one฀that฀ensured฀both฀men’s฀historical฀legacy:฀Lincoln,฀of ฀course,฀as฀ the party’s Wrst elected president in 1860,฀and฀Bingham฀as฀one฀of฀the฀party’s฀ Wrst฀elected฀governors฀(and฀later฀as฀a฀Republican฀member฀of ฀the฀United฀ States Senate). 144 Martin J. Hershock In spite of the many similarities in their lives, however, the paths these two men pursued to the Republican standard were dramatically diVerent: Bingham฀joined฀the฀party฀at฀its฀inception,฀in฀1854, while his much more famous฀peer,฀Abraham฀Lincoln,฀remained฀consciously฀aloof ฀from฀it,฀only฀ cautiously฀embracing฀the฀new฀party฀in฀the฀spring฀of฀1856 after it became abundantly฀clear฀that฀his฀beloved฀Whig฀Party฀was฀no฀longer฀functional.฀ The฀story฀of ฀Lincoln’s฀guarded฀and฀protracted฀conversion฀to฀Republicanism is, thanks to historian David Donald and others, now fairly well known. Bingham’s฀story,฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀in฀spite฀of฀some฀attention฀from฀historian Eric Foner in his seminal work Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men, and฀regardless ฀of฀Bingham’s฀arguably฀purer฀Republican฀pedigree,฀remains฀a฀relatively฀ obscure฀one.฀This฀chapter฀seeks฀to฀partially฀address฀this฀gap฀and฀to฀shed฀some฀ light฀on฀the฀larger฀issue฀of฀party฀restructuring฀during฀the฀politically฀contentious decade of the 1850s, by oVering฀an฀overview฀of฀Kinsley฀Bingham’s฀ path from the Democratic Party into the Republican fold and of his motivations ฀and฀his฀justiWcation฀for฀undertaking฀this฀transformation.1 ฀ Born฀into฀a฀farming฀family฀of฀modest฀means฀near฀Camillus,฀New฀York,฀ in December 1808,฀Kinsley฀Scott฀Bingham฀grew฀up฀with฀a฀profound฀respect฀ for฀those฀who฀tilled฀the฀soil฀and฀was฀imbued฀with฀the฀fervent฀evangelical฀ moralism฀of฀New฀York฀State’s฀Yankee฀piety฀belt.฀Though฀he฀formally฀trained฀ as฀a฀lawyer,฀Bingham’s฀Wrst฀love฀was฀farming,฀and฀it฀was฀this฀devotion฀that฀ led him, in 1833,฀along฀with฀his฀new฀wife,฀Margaret,฀to฀join฀the฀thousands฀of฀ other฀New฀Yorkers฀smitten฀with฀Michigan฀Fever฀who฀were฀streaming฀west฀to฀ lay฀claim฀to฀new฀farmland฀on฀what฀was฀then฀the฀far฀western฀frontier.฀Settling฀ just฀north฀and฀west฀of฀Detroit฀in฀Livingston฀County’s฀Green฀Oak฀Township,฀ Bingham฀rapidly฀established฀himself฀as฀a฀successful฀farmer.฀In฀1837, after holding฀a฀number฀of฀minor฀elected฀local฀oYces,฀Bingham,฀running฀as฀a฀ Democrat,฀was฀chosen฀by฀voters฀in฀his฀home฀district฀to฀serve฀in฀the฀Michigan฀ state฀legislature.฀Apparently฀Bingham’s฀constituents฀approved฀of฀his฀actions฀ and he was reelected to the state House of Representatives for four additional terms (two of them as Speaker of the House).2 1 On Lincoln’s tentative drift toward the Republican Party, see Reinhard H. Luthin, “Abraham฀Lincoln฀Becomes฀a฀Republican,”฀Political Science Quarterly 59 (1944):420–38, and David Herbert Donald, Lincoln (New York, 1995), pp. 187–90.฀Some฀brief฀discussion฀of฀Bingham appears in Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War (New York, 1970).฀A฀more฀detailed฀account฀can฀be฀found฀in฀William฀McDaid,฀ “Kinsley฀S.฀Bingham฀and...