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1767

Richard Stockton, Jr

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Richard Stockton, Jr

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Auction Date:2012 Feb 15 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Lawyer who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate and later served in the United States House of Representatives, and also the son of Declaration of Independence signer Richard Stockton. ALS signed “Rd. Stockton,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 8 x 9.5, November 27, 1803. Letter to General J. Dayton in the Senate in Washington. In part: “I have received your kind favor of the 17th inst. with its enclosures-for which and their attentions of the like nature you are entitled to my best acknowledgements…From the first moment this amendment was proposed, I was directly against it, and when it was adopted by the Federal Party in the hope of representations and sent up to the senate in the year 1790…all in my power to, and I believe was instrumental in causing its…in that body.

But the day of reasoning on the true principles of the constitution is over-the most important articles of your national compact must be constantly called on to guild party and earn personal views-The degradation of the Federal Judiciary by its being now completely placed at the feet of the legislative body only to get rid of obnoxious judges has taught us what we are to expect on subordinate points-In truth I give up this constitution as gone-its death will be lingering-but its sentence has passed-It was only calculated to the administrations by the same kind of men as those who formed it-it proposes nothing which can essentially guard it against the progress of democracy-but perhaps will ultimately be found only to have organized democracy-and given plan and system to it which it never has had in any other country-This will probably prolong the reign of the Demon-will give it a…which it has had in no other nation-and in the end…find little bit of much boasted of Constitution-it will be dissected limb by limb with as much indifference as it felt by a surgeon in cutting up a dead body.

I altogether despair of Mr. Condat acting the enlightened heart you seem to take from him-and as to any of the States at present under Democratic Sway into passing…form no idea of-the proposed wagon given by Mr. Ketchel in our House of Assembly for an adjourned session was that they might be ready to…and act on the proposition.” Second integral page is inlaid into a larger sheet. Reverse of second integral page bears an address panel to Dayton, and franked “Free,” in the upper right of the panel. In very good condition, with intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature, a few pencil notations to edges, slight paper loss to second page from wax seal, a uniform shade of toning, and a few creases. Letter is housed in a Parke-Bernet Galleries folder with an old catalog entry affixed to the front.

When Stockton received the "17th inst. with its enclosures" from Dayton he must have felt a certain déjà vu. As a member of the House of Representatives, he was at the center of a 1797 debate over the Sixth Amendment and the Articles of Impeachment in which Stockton's party, the Federalists, lost a vote on the Senate's right to be the "sole Power to try all impeachments." As the Twelfth Amendment was being debated in 1803, the Federalist position of a strong central government was eroding in favor of Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans who believed the government had taken a step back from democracy towards monarchy during Adams' administration. In his letter to Dayton, the former representative declared, "I give up this constitution as gone - its death will be lingering - but its sentence has passed." In actuality, it sunk another nail in the coffin of the Federalist Party.

The 1800 presidential election ended in a tie between Republican Thomas Jefferson and Federalist Aaron Burr. Under the Constitution, the House had the power to choose the winner, declaring Jefferson president in February 1801. Passage of the controversial Twelfth Amendment intended to resolve disputed elections, but turned the House into a polarized battleground between the two political parties. At one point during the debates New Jersey senator Jonathan Dayton, a Federalist, proposed abolishing the vice-presidency. Stockton wrote the senator, "[the Amendment] proposes nothing which can essentially guard it against the progress of democracy - but perhaps will ultimately be found only to have organized democracy - and given plan and system to it which it never has had in any other country- This will probably prolong the reign of the Demon." After much debate, Congress passed the amendment on December 9, 1803, materially changing the original concept of the vice presidency forever. The "Demon" Jefferson easily won reelection in 1804 over his Federal rival Pinckney; the Twelfth Amendment was ratified June 15 with the amended electoral process still in effect today.
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