Uriah Tracy Defends President Washington's Foreign Policy
Uriah Tracy was a major Federalist politician at the turn of the nineteenth century who defended the Washington Administration against the attacks of James Monroe.
Uriah Tracy
When the Battle of Lexington and Concord broke out, Uriah Tracy was not yet 20-years-old.
Still, he left school to fight with the Patriots outside Boston.
Tracy’s time in the Revolutionary War was brief, however, and he sat out most of the conflict attending Yale and studying law.
Connecticut Politics
Tracy’s short stint in the war did not hold him back in Connecticut politics.
By his 30th birthday Uriah had been selected as his State’s Attorney General.
He spent several years in Connecticut’s State Assembly while making his way up the militia ranks to Major General.
By 1793, Tracy had been elected to the US House of Representatives.
Senator
When an opening in the United States Senate arose, Uriah was chosen to fill the position and would continue in it for the next eleven years.
Tracy became one of the leading Federalists in the Senate, working closely with other prominent party members, including Alexander Hamilton.
In fact, writing under the pen name Signature of Scipio, Tracy penned a document that had long been thought to have been written by Hamilton.
This essay, Reflections on Monroe’s View of the Conduct of the Executive, defending the foriegn policy promoted by the Washington Administration. Specifically, it argued the benefits of the Jay Treaty and blamed problems between the United States and France on elements within the Democratic-Rebuplican Party.
President Pro Tempore
Tracy was named as President Pro Tempore of the Senate for six months in 1800, making him arguably the most powerful legislature in the nation.
He followed this up by serving at the head of several committees, including one that oversaw the impeachment trial of Justice John Pickering and established the still-used rules for cases of this nature.
Uriah passed away in the Summer of 1807 while still serving in the Senate.
Due to his long tenure in the government, Tracy became the first Senator buried in the Congressional Cemetery.
Do you want to learn about other Connecticut Founder?
Enjoy these articles:
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Tracy does not yet have a biography about his life.
Instead, I will recommend a further reading on the Jay Treaty ‘Battleground of the Founding Fathers’.
Pick up a copy through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).
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