1820 SAMUEL AUGUSTUS FOOT—IMPORTANT CONGRESSIONAL LETTER ON PUBLIC LANDS, HENRY CLAY AND THE MISSOURI CRISIS
FOOT, SAMUEL AUGUSTUS (1780–1846). United States representative and senator from Connecticut; governor of Connecticut; author of the celebrated 1829 “Foot Resolution” that precipitated the Webster–Hayne debate. Autograph Letter Signed, “S. A. Foot,” approximately three closely written pages on a folded sheet. Washington, November 28, 1820. Integral address leaf docketed “Honble Saml A. Foot / Letter 28 Nov 1820 / ansd 5 Dec 1820.”
An exceptionally substantive congressional letter in which Samuel Augustus Foot discusses the new federal policy governing the sale of public lands, the financial distress of western settlers, the opposition of Henry Clay, and the still-unresolved controversy surrounding Missouri’s admission to the Union.
Foot writes only months after Congress enacted the Land Act of 1820, which abolished the credit system for purchasing federal land and reduced the minimum price from two dollars to $1.25 per acre. Acknowledging his correspondent’s concern about the reduced price, Foot records the act’s congressional vote and observes that it passed despite “the strong opposition made by Mr. Speaker Clay.”
Foot explains that western members supported the measure partly because of “the alarming amount of debt to the United States in the West.” He remarks upon land having been purchased under the old system for as much as twelve or fifteen dollars per acre and reports fears that unpaid public-land debt had accumulated to “6 or 7 millions per annum.” He warns that reducing land prices too far could enable wealthy speculators to acquire enormous tracts before ordinary settlers could participate:
“It may appear almost incredible that sales to a considerable extent should be made by the large purchasers at so low a rate, but when you consider that on some sales…they were able to obtain from 12 to 30 Dols pr acre…the large purchaser could well afford to sell the remainder low.”
Foot also considers relief for purchasers who had acquired land under the former credit system, particularly those holding property in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He believed Congress should permit purchasers to surrender part of their holdings, apply prior payments to the remaining acreage, and receive additional time to complete payment. His comments reveal the severe financial consequences of the Panic of 1819 and the federal government’s attempt to reform the administration of its western lands.
The letter then turns to the great sectional issue confronting Congress:
“The Missouri Question seems now to engross public attention, & will probably soon engage the attention of Congress…”
Although the first Missouri Compromise legislation had passed in March 1820, Missouri’s proposed constitution generated a second crisis that delayed its formal admission until 1821. Foot’s letter was written as members of Congress prepared to confront that renewed controversy.
Foot later returned to the question of western public lands. His December 1829 resolution proposing an inquiry into limiting federal land sales produced the historic Webster–Hayne debate, during which Daniel Webster delivered his famous defense of “Liberty and Union.” This 1820 letter demonstrates that Foot had already been deeply engaged with the political and economic consequences of federal land policy nearly a decade earlier.
The old collector’s label attached to the verso incorrectly characterizes the letter as Foot’s 1829 resolution. It is instead a previously unrecognized 1820 discussion of the Land Act, western settlement, federal land debt, and the approaching Missouri controversy.
Condition: Numerous original folds with several small fold separations, marginal tears, minor losses at intersections, toning, soiling, and ink show-through. A few passages are affected by folds or small losses, but the manuscript remains substantially complete and generally legible. Foot’s concluding signature is dark, clear, and unaffected. Old collector’s label and inventory markings on the verso.
An important early American political letter connecting federal land policy, western expansion, Henry Clay, the aftermath of the Panic of 1819, and the sectional struggle over Missouri.
FOOT, SAMUEL AUGUSTUS (1780–1846). United States representative and senator from Connecticut; governor of Connecticut; author of the celebrated 1829 “Foot Resolution” that precipitated the Webster–Hayne debate. Autograph Letter Signed, “S. A. Foot,” approximately three closely written pages on a folded sheet. Washington, November 28, 1820. Integral address leaf docketed “Honble Saml A. Foot / Letter 28 Nov 1820 / ansd 5 Dec 1820.”
An exceptionally substantive congressional letter in which Samuel Augustus Foot discusses the new federal policy governing the sale of public lands, the financial distress of western settlers, the opposition of Henry Clay, and the still-unresolved controversy surrounding Missouri’s admission to the Union.
Foot writes only months after Congress enacted the Land Act of 1820, which abolished the credit system for purchasing federal land and reduced the minimum price from two dollars to $1.25 per acre. Acknowledging his correspondent’s concern about the reduced price, Foot records the act’s congressional vote and observes that it passed despite “the strong opposition made by Mr. Speaker Clay.”
Foot explains that western members supported the measure partly because of “the alarming amount of debt to the United States in the West.” He remarks upon land having been purchased under the old system for as much as twelve or fifteen dollars per acre and reports fears that unpaid public-land debt had accumulated to “6 or 7 millions per annum.” He warns that reducing land prices too far could enable wealthy speculators to acquire enormous tracts before ordinary settlers could participate:
“It may appear almost incredible that sales to a considerable extent should be made by the large purchasers at so low a rate, but when you consider that on some sales…they were able to obtain from 12 to 30 Dols pr acre…the large purchaser could well afford to sell the remainder low.”
Foot also considers relief for purchasers who had acquired land under the former credit system, particularly those holding property in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He believed Congress should permit purchasers to surrender part of their holdings, apply prior payments to the remaining acreage, and receive additional time to complete payment. His comments reveal the severe financial consequences of the Panic of 1819 and the federal government’s attempt to reform the administration of its western lands.
The letter then turns to the great sectional issue confronting Congress:
“The Missouri Question seems now to engross public attention, & will probably soon engage the attention of Congress…”
Although the first Missouri Compromise legislation had passed in March 1820, Missouri’s proposed constitution generated a second crisis that delayed its formal admission until 1821. Foot’s letter was written as members of Congress prepared to confront that renewed controversy.
Foot later returned to the question of western public lands. His December 1829 resolution proposing an inquiry into limiting federal land sales produced the historic Webster–Hayne debate, during which Daniel Webster delivered his famous defense of “Liberty and Union.” This 1820 letter demonstrates that Foot had already been deeply engaged with the political and economic consequences of federal land policy nearly a decade earlier.
The old collector’s label attached to the verso incorrectly characterizes the letter as Foot’s 1829 resolution. It is instead a previously unrecognized 1820 discussion of the Land Act, western settlement, federal land debt, and the approaching Missouri controversy.
Condition: Numerous original folds with several small fold separations, marginal tears, minor losses at intersections, toning, soiling, and ink show-through. A few passages are affected by folds or small losses, but the manuscript remains substantially complete and generally legible. Foot’s concluding signature is dark, clear, and unaffected. Old collector’s label and inventory markings on the verso.
An important early American political letter connecting federal land policy, western expansion, Henry Clay, the aftermath of the Panic of 1819, and the sectional struggle over Missouri.
