Campaign and election At the state convention in June 1816, Jennings may have informed some of the delegates that he intended to run for governor and by early July 1816 he had publicly announced his candidacy. Thomas Posey, Indiana's last territorial governor, was Jennings's opponent. Posey announced his own candidacy for governor prior to the convention's adjournment on June 29, 1816. With just five weeks before the
August 5 election, there was little active campaigning. Posey, who thought Indiana statehood was premature, was not a popular candidate and suffered from health issues. Jennings won by a large majority, 5,211 votes to 3,934. Most of Jennings's votes probably came from the eastern portion of the state, where his support was particularly strong, while Posey's probably came from the western portion. Jennings moved to the new state capital at
Corydon, where he served the duration of his term as governor. Under the constitution, the governor served a three-year term and was prohibited from serving more than six years in a nine-year period. Jennings's agenda called for establishing court proceedings to secure justice, organizing a state-funded educational systems, creating a state banking system, preventing unlawful seizure and enslavement of free blacks, organizing a state library, and planning internal improvements. Jennings strongly condemned slavery in his inauguration speech and as governor, he refined his stance on the institution. On November 7, 1816, Jennings encouraged the state legislature to enact
personal liberty laws to prevent "unlawful attempts to seize and carry into bondage persons of color legally entitled to their freedom" while preventing "those who rightfully owe service to the citizens of any other State or Territory, from seeking, within the limits of this state, a refuge from the possession of their lawful owners."
Internal improvements In 1818, Jennings began promoting a large-scale plan for internal improvements in the state. Most of the projects were directed toward construction of roads, canals, and other projects to enhance the commercial appeal and economic viability of the state. During Jennings's second term the state government continued to support public improvements, with new road construction and expanded settlement into central Indiana. After Indianapolis became the site for the state's permanent capital in 1821 and new settlers arrived in the area, the Indiana General Assembly appropriated $100,000 (~$ in ) for new road construction and improvements to some of the more important routes, but it was considerably short of the amount needed. The state experienced budget shortages because of low tax revenues, which forced Jennings to pursue other means of financing the projects. The main sources of funds came from issuing government bonds to the state bank and sales of public lands. The state's spending and borrowing led to short-term budget problems, but despite early setbacks (poor access to capital eventually halted improvement programs and caused the
Indiana Canal Company to fold because of lack of funds), the infrastructure improvements initiated by Jennings attracted new settlers to the state. By 1810 the Indiana Territory's population within the boundaries of the new state was 24, 520. In the decades following his governorship, Indiana's population grew from sixty-five thousand in 1816 to 147,178 in 1820 and surpassed one million by 1850. In his 1817 annual message to the state legislature, he encouraged the establishment of a free, state-funded education system, as called for in the state constitution, but few of the state's citizens were willing to impose taxes to fund public schools. The state legislature believed priority should be given to creating government infrastructure. Lack of public funds postponed creation of a state library system until Governor James B. Ray's administration in 1826. "Indiana banking rested on shaky foundation even in the prosperous years preceding the Panic of 1819." The First State Bank soon became a depository of federal funds and was involved in land speculation. The Farmers and Mechanics Bank of
Madison, established in 1814, chose to remain separate from the state bank under a territorial charter that was valid until 1835. When state expenditures exceeded its revenues, Jennings preferred to secure the state's debts with bank loans to cover the shortfall rather than issuing treasury notes. Although taxes were levied and the state borrowed from the First State Bank of Indiana, the state's fiscal status remained bleak, worsened by the economic depression of 1819. Around 1820 federal deposits at the First State Bank were suspended and the bank's notes were no longer accepted for purchases from federal land offices. For several years after the First State Bank's failure, Indiana citizens depended on the Bank of the United States, with a branch in Louisville, and the Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Madison for financial services. Jennings was criticized for not monitoring the state's banks more carefully and investigating bank officials for potential wrongdoing.
Treaty of St. Mary's In late 1818, Jennings was appointed as a federal commissioner, along with
Lewis Cass and
Benjamin Parke, to negotiate a treaty with the
Native Americans (Potawatomi, Wea, Miami, and Delaware), who lived in the northern and central parts of Indiana. The
Treaty of St. Mary's allowed the State of Indiana to purchase millions of acres of land north of an 1809 treaty line and extending west to the Wabash River and two more parcels of land, which opened most of central Indiana to American settlement. The appointment created a crisis in Jennings's political career. Because the state constitution prohibited a person from holding a federal government position while exercising duties as the state's governor, Jennings's political enemies seized the opportunity to force him from office by arguing that he had vacated the governor's office when he accepted the federal appointment.
Lieutenant Governor Christopher Harrison claimed that Jennings had "abandoned" his elected office and took over as the state's acting governor in Jennings's absence. In the meantime the
Indiana House of Representatives launched an investigation. When Jennings learned of the situation, he was "mortified" that his actions were being questioned and burned the documents he received from the federal government that related to his assignment. The legislature called Jennings and Harrison to appear for questioning; however, Jennings declined, stating the assembly did not have the authority to interrogate him, and Harrison refused to appear unless the assembly recognized him as the acting governor. Because neither of the two men would meet with the legislature, the assembly demanded copies of the documents that Jennings received from the federal government to prove he was not acting as its agent. Jennings responded: If I were in possession of any public documents calculated to advance the public interest, it would give me pleasure to furnish them, and I shall at all times be prepared to afford you any information which the constitution or laws of the State may require. ... If the difficulty, real or supposed, has grown out of the circumstances of my having been connected with the negotiation at St Mary's, I feel it my duty to state to the committee that I acted from an entire conviction of its propriety and an anxious desire, on my part, to promote the welfare and accomplish the wishes of the whole people of the State in assisting to add a large and fertile tract of country to that which we already possess. The House votes opposing Jennings came largely from the state's western counties. Harrison was outraged by the decision and resigned as lieutenant governor. In 1819 Harrison ran against Jennings in his reelection bid. Jennings won the
election by a large majority, 11,256 votes to Harrison's 2,008. Jennings's win by a three-to-one margin suggests he remained a popular politician and the state's voters were not overly concerned by attacks on the governor's character.
Personal financial problems Jennings's personal finances suffered from the panic of 1819, while the Indiana governorship continued to increase his financial burden. Jennings was never able to recover from his debts. One historian suggests that Jennings's financial situation may arisen from the expenses incurred during his political campaigns, his long-time service in state government, and being too busy to adequately manage his farm. Jennings and his wife frequently entertained visitors, legislators, and other dignitaries at their Corydon home. At a high-profile dinner in 1819, he hosted President
James Monroe and General
Andrew Jackson at a dinner held in their honor in Jeffersonville, when the two leaders were making a tour of the frontier states. In 1822 Jennings solicited a $1,000 (~$ in ) personal loan from the
Harmonists in a letter to his political ally,
George Rapp, but his request was denied. Jennings was able to secure personal loans from friends by granting mortgages on his land. By the late 1820s, Jennings was critically short of cash. He depended on income from political office to pay his expenses. His farm was not likely to provide sufficient financial support. Because the thirty-eight-year-old Jennings was prohibited by law from running for reelection to a third term as Indiana governor in 1823, he was forced to consider other political options. Jennings decided to return to Congress.
Return to Congress In September 1822, shortly before his second term as governor expired, Jennings became a candidate for Congress after William Hendricks resigned his seat to run for Indiana governor. A special election was held on August 5, 1822, to fill Hendricks's vacant seat in Congress. At the same time, the state's increased population gave Indiana three congressional seats. A regular congressional election was held on the same day to elect three Indiana congressmen. Jennings and Davis Floyd were the principal candidates in the special election, which Jennings won. Jennings became a
Democratic-Republican to the
17th Congress and
Lieutenant Governor Ratliff Boon succeeded him as governor. Hendricks ran unopposed and was subsequently elected as governor to succeed Boon. Jennings won reelection to Congress and represented Indiana's Second District until in 1830. He introduced legislation to build more forts in the northwest, to grant federal funding for improvement projects in Indiana and Ohio, and led the debate in support of using federal funds to build the nations longest canal,
Wabash and Erie Canal, through Indiana. He introduced a legislative amendment that made a provision to locate and survey the
National Road to the west, toward the
Mississippi River, so the people living in Indiana and Illinois would have some assurance that the road's large federal appropriation would benefit them directly. Jennings helped secure appropriation of funds to survey the Wabash River and make it more accessible to year-round steamboat travel. In his reelection as the Second District congressman, Jennings supported tariff protection and internal improvements and vowed to support the presidential candidate that his constituents preferred if the election went to the House to decide the winner. Jennings won reelection to Congress in a close race, beating Jeremiah Sullivan of Madison. In the presidential election of 1824, American political parties organized around three candidates:
Andrew Jackson running against
John Quincy Adams and
Henry Clay. Jennings favored Adams, and later, Clay; however, when the contested presidential election passed to the House in 1825, Jennings voted with the majority and gave his political support to Jackson, but he was defeated in the House and Adams became president. Indiana voters who supported Jackson hoped for a victory in the next election. Jennings, seeking to advance his political career, ran for the
Senate twice, but was defeated in both attempts. In his second attempt, Jennings lost to
James Noble. Later that year he married Clarissa Barbee, but his drinking condition only worsened and he was frequently inebriated. While serving in Congress, Jennings's health continued to decline as he struggled with alcohol addiction and suffered from severe
rheumatism. In 1827, ceiling plaster from Jennings's Washington D.C. boarding room fell on his head, severely injuring him, and ill health limited his ability to visit his constituents, He won reelection in 1828, soundly defeating his opponent, Indiana's lieutenant governor, John H. Thompson. Jennings did not publicly favor a presidential candidate and won the Second District seat with support from voters who favored Jackson and Adams. During Jennings's final term in office House journals show that he introduced no legislation, was frequently not present to vote on matters, and only once delivered a speech. Jennings's friends, led by
Senator John Tipton, took note of his situation and took action to block Jennings's reelection bid when his drinking became a political liability.
John Carr, anti-Jackson man, opposed Jennings in a six-way race for the congressional seat and won the election. Tipton had arranged for others to enter the race and divide Jennings's supporters. Jennings left office on March 3, 1831. ==Later years==