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Jonathan Jennings
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==Congressman== ===Battle with Harrison=== {{See also|History of slavery in Indiana|Indiana in the War of 1812|Tecumseh's War}} [[File:Rembrandt Peale - William Henry Harrison - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|upright| [[Portrait]] of General William Henry Harrison in military uniform during the [[War of 1812]]]] Angered over his electoral loss, Randolph harangued anti-Harrison supporters, even challenging one to a [[duel]]. He was stabbed three times, but recovered and challenged Jennings in his bid for reelection in 1810.<ref>Mills, pp. 116-117</ref> Harrison came out to personally stump on Randolph's behalf. Jennings focused on the slavery issue and tied Randolph to Harrison's continued attempts to legalize the institution. The congressional election coincided with the first popular election of delegates to the territorial legislature. In 1809, a year prior to the election, the territory's pro-slavery faction suffered a significant setback when Illinois was separated from the Indiana Territory, cutting Harrison off from his supporters in the western portion of the territory.<ref>Mills, p. 96</ref> Harrison suggested that Jennings further expanded his political base by stumping among the disaffected French residents of the territory.<ref>Mills, p. 107</ref> Jennings's defeat of Randolph in 1810 repudiated Harrison's pro-slavery policies. Following his triumph in the election, Jennings's and his anti-slavery allies were successful in enacting a legislative agenda that limited the territorial governor's authority and repealed an 1805 act regarding indentured service.<ref name = w31/><ref name=c25051>Cayton, pp. 250-251</ref> In his first full term in Congress, Jennings stepped up his attacks on Harrison, accusing him of using his office for personal gain, of taking part in questionable land speculation deals, and needlessly raising tensions with the Native American tribes on the frontier.<ref>Mills, pp. 124-126, 143</ref> Jennings presented a congressional resolution that intended to reduce Harrison's authority to make political appointments and opposed his policy of purchasing lands from the Indians.<ref>Riker, pp. 230-231</ref> When Harrison was up for reappointment as territorial governor in 1810, Jennings sent a scathing letter to President [[James Madison]] that argued against his reappointment. Harrison's allies in Washington argued on his behalf and aided in securing his reappointment.<ref>Mills, p. 120</ref> After hostilities broke out on the frontier between the Americans and the native tribes, culminating in the [[Battle of Tippecanoe]] in November 1811, Jennings successfully promoted passage of a bill to grant compensation to veterans of the battle and to give pensions for five years to the widows and orphans of those who were killed. Privately, Jennings lamented the battle, while his friends in the territory faulted Harrison for agitating the situation and causing the needless loss of life.<ref>Mills, pp. 145-149</ref> As calls for war with [[Great Britain]] increased, Jennings was not among the [[war hawks]], but ultimately accepted the arrival of the [[War of 1812]].<ref name=m15153>Mills, pp. 151-153</ref> Early in the war, Harrison was commissioned as a military general and dispatched to defend the frontier and invade [[Canada]], which caused him to resign from his post as territorial governor in 1812.<ref name=m15153/><ref>Cayton, p. 251</ref> Prior to Harrison's resignation, Jennings and his allies moved quickly to take advantage of the situation and initiated efforts to weaken the governor's authority. In 1811, the territorial legislature voted to move the capital away from Vincennes, a pro-Harrison stronghold, and began a shift in political power from the territorial governor to the delegates in the territorial legislature and its elected officials.<ref name=c25051/> [[John Gibson (Indiana)|John Gibson]], the elderly, acting governor, whose territorial duties largely dealt with military affairs, did not challenge the territorial legislature. When Harrison's successor, [[Thomas Posey]], was confirmed on March 3, 1813, Jennings's party in the territorial legislature had become entrenched and began to advance their request for statehood.<ref>Dunn, pp. 284-285, 287</ref><ref>Mills, p. 159</ref> Jennings ran for reelection to Congress in 1811 against another pro-slavery candidate, [[Waller Taylor]]. The campaign was the most divisive in Jennings's career. Taylor derided Jennings as a "pitiful coward" and went so far as to challenge Jennings to a duel, but he refused.<ref name = w32>Woollen, p. 32</ref> Jennings ran on the slavery issue again, fielding his new motto, "No slavery in Indiana". Jennings's supporters tied Taylor, a territorial judge, to the pro-slavery movement.<ref name = w31/> Jennings easily won reelection, thanks to an expanding base of support that included the growing community of [[New Harmony, Indiana|Harmonists]].<ref>Mills, pp. 153-154</ref><ref group = n>According to historian Randy Mills, the [[Harmonists]] began to arrive in the territory 1814 and quickly became a political factor in elections because they voted as a block under the direction of their leader, [[George Rapp]]. Jennings made an effort to gain Rapp's political support, especially after Jennings became governor. See Mills, pp. 184-185.</ref> Following his reelection, Jennings developed [[jaundice]], an illness often caused by alcoholism, but he recovered.<ref>Mills, pp. 15, 78</ref> During his third term in Congress, Jennings began advocating that statehood be granted to Indiana, but held off formally introducing legislation until the end of the War of 1812. Jennings ran against Elijah Sparks in his 1814 reelection campaign and easily won.<ref name = w32/><ref>Mills, p. 156</ref> ===Push for statehood=== By 1815 Jennings and the territorial legislature were ready to embark on a course for statehood.<ref>Cayton, p. 252</ref> In December 1815, Jennings's introduced a petition from the territorial legislature to Congress that requested statehood for Indiana.<ref>Mills, p. 164</ref> The 1815 census showed the territory had a population exceeding 63,000, more than the minimum requirement for statehood under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.<ref name=r232/> The House began a debate on the measure and passed the Enabling Act on April 11, 1816. The act granted Indiana the right to form a government and elect delegates to a constitutional convention that would create a state [[constitution of Indiana|constitution]].<ref name=r232/><ref name = w32/><ref name=Mills167>Mills, p. 167</ref> The territorial governor, Thomas Posey, expressed concern that the territory was too under-populated to provide sufficient tax revenue to fund a state government.<ref name=Mills162>Mills, p. 162</ref> In a letter to President Madison, he recommended that the president veto the bill and delay statehood for another three years, which would allow him to finish his term as governor. Madison signed the bill, ignoring Posey's plea.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} [[Dennis Pennington]], a leading member of the territorial legislature, was able to secure the election of many anti-slavery delegates to the constitutional convention. Jennings was a delegate from Clark County.<ref name=r232/> At the convention, held in June 1816 in the new territorial capital of [[Corydon, Indiana|Corydon]], Jennings was elected president of the assembly, which permitted him to appoint the convention's committee chairmen.<ref name=w32/><ref>Mills, p. 166</ref> Although the delegates drafted a new constitution for Indiana, the majority of the content was copied from other state constitutions, most notably Ohio and Kentucky.<ref>Cayton, p. 253</ref><ref>Mills, p. 171</ref> A few items were new and unique to Indiana.<ref name=Mills167/> Slavery, which was already prohibited in territorial legislation, was banned in the Indiana constitution; however, contracts for indentured servants, if they were already in existence, were preserved.<ref>Mills, p. 172</ref> The new state government, divided into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, gave the governor limited powers and concentrated authority in the hands of the [[Indiana General Assembly]] and county officials.<ref>Cayton, p. 254</ref><ref name=Mills168>Mills, p. 168</ref> Shortly after the convention, Jennings publicly announced his candidacy for governor.<ref name = w32/><ref>Mills, p. 173</ref>
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