Senate Committee Assignments
Joseph Hayward - Judicial
As a result of his placement, Hayward gained expertise in the justice system. Of the
Federalists' six Senators, literally half of them were stashed away on the Judicial committee, which stood at 6-3 Democratic-Republican/Federalist.
House Committee Assignments
Theodore Dwight - Foreign/Military
Philip J Schuyler - Economic
Amos Slaymaker - Foreign/Military
A number of expertises were gained. Dwight gained Foreign Affairs knowledge, Slaymaker Military acumen, and Schuyler a deep understanding of Economics.
Dwight - Focus Rep for 3 Representatives
Schuyler - Focus Rep for 4 Representatives
Slaymaker - Focus Rep for 4 Representatives
As a sign of how far the
Moderate Federalists had come, at 11 Representatives, they were the largest Federalist faction in the House, accounting for approximately 27.9% of the Reds' 37 votes. ...Not that it mattered, since the
Commoners faction (spearheaded by
Hugh Lawson White), the single largest Democratic-Republican voting bloc, had 41 seats all by themselves which were enough to nullify any unified Federalist action, to say nothing of the other Blues.
A New Name
Although cursed still with the stink of former failed Presidential nominee
Richard Stockton, the
Moderate Federalists rebranded themselves as the
Finance Federalists, as they now were the faction of Wall Street money.
In consequence, the
Fusion faction of the D-Rs, having lost the support of Wall Street, became simply, the
Democratic-Republicans, or as they were rendered by later scholars for ease of distinction, the
democratic-republicans to distinguish the faction from the party at large.
From: The Jeffersonian Years Documentary Series Part 9: The Rise of Wall Street (2022)
Professor of American History Heinrich Weissblum
"What happens during and after the 1806 midterms is really fascinating. Wall Street doesn't like having to compete with the Big Corporations, Big Agriculture, the Expansionists, Big Pharma, and the Human Rights lobbies for influence over the Fusion faction. So they're looking around for a group they can dominate, which meant finding a weak faction, likely a Federalist one.
Winthrop Sargent's win in dark blue Mississippi and appointing a businessman as Senator catches the attention of the New York City financiers and after
John Quincy Adams defects, they see an opportunity to exert their influence and contribute heavily to
Philip J Schuyler's upset win and electoral victory over
Alexander Hamilton in the NY-4 House District.
So by the time Schuyler gets assigned to the House Economic committee as a freshman representative in 1806, you've got 7 politicians loyal to Wall Street:
Faction Leader Richard Stockton
Representative Philip J Schuyler
Peleg Coffin Jr
Benjamin Stoddert
George B Upham
Oliver Wolcott Jr
Silas Wood
The Wall Street guys, they're fine with Stockton in charge. Like Schuyler, he's the son of a guy who is a Founding Father, so very much part of the upper crust of society, and both of them are willing to look out for Wall Street's interests.
Richard Stockton, son of Richard Stockton, Faction Leader, and failed 1804 Federalist presidential nominee
Philip Jeremiah Schuyler, son of Revolutionary War General Philip Joseph Schuyler, freshman representative of New York's 4th District and conqueror of Alexander Hamilton
Amos Slaymaker, freshman representative of Pennsylvania's 2nd District
Theodore Dwight, freshman representative of Connecticut's 1st District
"So in looking at these guys, you've got Stockton, who is 42, and Schuyler, who is 38, as the two most powerful figures in the newly christened
Finance Federalists. Dwight's 42, Slaymaker is 51, Sargent is 53. And then you've got Supreme Court Justice
Alfred Moore who is 51.
Joseph Hayward's also 51. A fairly young group overall for this time period, and a lot of them are really wanting to put Schuyler in charge.
Ironically, the deep animosity Stockton's facing causing him to strike up a close friendship with Sargent. We have a lot of the letters they wrote to each other, where they're consoling each other over the feeling of being besieged by all these enemies. Sargent ends up offering advice on how to govern when you're in that situation, and Stockton's watching how the Democratic-Republicans are ruling Congress, so he grows his knowledge and skills in both governance and law-making while he maintains his hold on the group - putting him equal to
John Bayard in those arenas and making him the most talented Finance Federalist - because no one else has his sense of command and the only other commanding figure in the faction is Bayard, who at 68 and without office, isn't going to be a long-term solution to the anti-Stockton crowd.
So things aren't fantastic for the Finance Federalists in 1806, though it's a lot better than after the 1804 election. And in changing from the Moderate Federalists, they finally have a true identity - because most of the Federalists are moderate in this time period, so to call yourself a Moderate Federalist doesn't often a unique sense of what we call today branding."