A Guide to the Papers of John Randolph of Roanoke, 1781-1860, [n.d.] Randolph, John, of Roanoke, Papers : Multiple numbers

A Guide to the Papers of John Randolph of Roanoke, 1781-1860, [n.d.]

A Collection in
Special Collections
The University of Virginia Library
Multiple numbers


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Repository
Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Accession Number
Multiple numbers
Title
Papers of John Randolph of Roanoke 1781-1860, [n.d.]
Physical Characteristics
This collection consists of ca. 815 items, chiefly correspondence by and to John Randolph of Roanoke.
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of John Randolph of Roanoke, Accession#, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was acquired through gift, purchase and loan, ca. 1930-present.

Biographical/Historical Information

John Randolph was born on June 2, 1773, at Cawsons, a plantation in Prince George County, Virginia. He was educated at the College of New Jersey, Columbia College, and the College of William and Mary. He studied law with his relative Edmund Randolph, then attorney general of the United States.

Randolph was elected to the House of Representatives in 1799 and served in Congress almost continually until his death in 1833. He was a brilliant orator and was known and feared for his biting and sarcastic wit. An outspoken champion of individual liberty, he staunchly defended the Constitution and states' rights, and his views were influential in the South long after his death.

By 1801 Randolph was chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. He was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in January 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Judge John Pickering, and in December of the same year against Supreme Court Justice Samuel.

On principle Randolph opposed President Thomas Jefferson's attempt to obtain West Florida from Spain. He voted against the Embargo Act of 1807 and opposed the War of 1812. This cost him reelection, but he was back in the House two years later, in 1815. An ardent states' rights advocate, Randolph denounced the tariff of 1816, which he believed harmed Southern interests, and opposed chartering the Second Bank of the United States. In 1820 he denounced the Missouri Compromise as a cowardly surrender to antislavery agitators. His impassioned denunciations of Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams led to a duel (1826) with Clay.

Randolph was appointed to the United States Senate on December 8, 1825, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Barbour; he served from December 26, 1825, to March 3, 1827 and was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection in 1827. He was elected to the House and served from 1827 to 1829.

He was a member of the Virginia constitutional convention at Richmond in 1829. President Andrew appointed Randolph United States Minister to Russia in 1830. His health deteriorated soon after his arrival in St. Petersburg, so he returned home in 1831. Following his return he denounced Jackson's proclamation against nullification. Randolph was elected to the Twenty-third Congress and served from March 4, 1833, until his death in Philadelphia, Pa., May 24, 1833. He was buried at his residence, 'Roanoke,' in Charlotte County, Virginia and later re-interred at 'Hollywood,' Richmond, Virginia.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of ca. 815 items, chiefly correspondence by and to John Randolph of Roanoke.

Correspondents include: Harmanus Bleecker; Edward Booker; John Brockenbrough; Delia Forman Bryan; Joseph Bryan; Thomas Marsh Forman Bryan; Joseph Butterworth; Henry Carrington; Joseph A. Clay; Anne Frances Bland Tucker Coalter; Elizabeth Tucker Coalter; John Coalter; Alexander Dallas; Susan Wheeler Decatur; William Eustis; John Floyd; James Mercer Garnett; Francis Walker Gilmer; Peachy R. Gilmer; Jacob Harvey; George Hay; Thomas Jefferson; Benjamin Watkins Leigh; Richard E. Meade; James Monroe; Anne Cary Randolph Morris; David Parish; John Henry Purviance; John St. George Randolph; Judith Randolph; Theodorick Randolph; Tudor Randolph; Henry Middleton Rutledge; John S. Skinner; Richard Stanford; Andrew Stevenson; Creed Taylor; John Taylor; Henry St. George Tucker; Nathaniel Beverley Tucker; St. George Tucker; Martin Van Buren; Daniel Webster; Micajah Woods.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in two series. Series I: Letters and Documents, is arranged chronologically. Series II: Prints.

Contents List

Series I: Letters and Documents
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Series II: Prints
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