The principles of 1798 in 1812: The importance of principle and practicality on political decision making in the Early Republi

It is my intention to display the role of ideology, principle, and republican doctrine in determining Republican policy in the Early Republic. In order to produce an interpretation of the relationship between Republican principle and policy, I focus on one party, one chamber, and one session of congress. The House of Representatives' debates and votes in the first session of the Twelfth Congress provide an excellent window into Republican thought in the Early Republic. I focus on the House of Representatives because of the abundance of recorded speeches in the Annals of Congress. Although all Republicans derived from the Jeffersonian Republican party in the 1790s, by 1812 most Republicans differed in their opinions on policy. In analyzing the debates in the Twelfth Congress, I compare them to the debates in the Fifth Congress and the Eleventh Congress in order to document changes and consistencies among the periods. Like myself, the Republicans in 1812 studied their party's founding in the opposition to John Adams' administration and applied evidence from the 1790s in support of their arguments. All Republicans believed they adhered to the "principles of '98", but few agreed on exactly what those principles meant and how they should employ them.