Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution established the President's cabinet with the responsibility to advise the president on any subject he may require relating to his duties. Today, the Cabinet consists of 15 executive departments and more than 2 million employees (Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Attorney General), but when our constitution was first adopted there were only three (Foreign Affairs or State, Treasury and War). The Attorney General did not become a full-fledged member of the Cabinet until 1814, and while there was a lot of talk about creating a separate department to handle domestic matters, it wasn't until 1849 that Congress passed a bill to crate the Department of Interior. After the War of 1812, President Madison and members of Congress pushed several attempts to establish a distinct Home Department, but each failed. In his first State of the Union, President Andrew Jackson recognized the attempts of his predecessors, but also the concerns of Congress, and made it clear that he did not intend to "revive the recommendation". Simply stated, the Federal government already had too much power.
For some in Congress, it must have been very disappointing to hear Jackson dismiss any proposals to create a distinct Home Department. Since the founding of nation, there had been many attempts to establish one, and the need for one was clear in their minds. During the administrations of our first few presidents, internal affairs were divvied up by Congress among the other departments. For example, Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State spent a significant percentage of this time dealing with matters such as managing the patents office or supervising the operations of the Mint. In 1796, President Washington proposed several ideas to set up additional departments such as an agricultural board to handle domestic matters, and in the years leading up to the War of 1812 a House Committee suggested establishing a distinct Home Department. After the War of 1812, the Senate instructed President Madison's cabinet heads to submit a joint plan for administrative reform to deal with rising administrative problems. They delivered what is known as the "report of the Four Secretaries" that included a proposal for a Home, or Interior, Department to supervise territorial governments, construction of Federal highways and canals, and the operations of the Post Office, Patent Office and Indian Office. President Madison fully supported the office and urged Congress to pass such a resolution. Under President James Monroe, Senator Nathan Sanford of New York tried to get the bill passed in the Senate, but his efforts failed. Additional attempts were made during the administration of John Quincy Adams, but nothing came to fruition. Now Congress was looking to Jackson to see what he would do.
Jackson first reminded Congress of the earnest recommendation that Madison made thirteen years earlier and repeated by both Monroe and Adams. The demands it was putting on his existing Cabinet members especially Secretary of State Martin Van Buren were very pressing and required his immediate attention. The need for a Home Department was clear, but Jackson pointed out that such a proposal "does not appear to have met the views of Congress". In Jackson's understanding this was because many in Congress believed that by creating a Home or Interior Department would "gradually and imperceptibly" increase the "already too strong bias of the federal system toward the exercise of authority not delegated to it". In other words, there was fear that the government was moving beyond the powers enumerated within the constitution, and by creating a fifth department and a fifth secretary in the President's cabinet, it would lead to even further expansion. Just imagine their fears today with 15 separate departments and 2 million employees! Perhaps Jackson agreed, or perhaps he just didn't think it was worth the fight, nevertheless, despite this fear, Jackson knew that the extra pressures from internal affairs were wearing the State Department thin, and something needed to be done. Jackson urged Congress to do something to reorganize the Department of State so that more of the secretary's time could be devoted to foreign relations.
"The great and constant increase of business in the Department of State forced itself at an early period upon the attention of the Executive. Thirteen years ago it was, in Mr. Madison's last message to Congress, made the subject of an earnest recommendation, which has been repeated by both of his successors; and my comparatively limited experience has satisfied me of its justness. It has arisen from many causes, not the least of which is the large addition that has been made to the family of independent nations and the proportionate extension of our foreign relations. The remedy proposed was the establishment of a home department -- a measure which does not appear to have met the views of Congress on account of its supposed tendency to increase, gradually and imperceptibly, the already too strong bias of the federal system toward the exercise of authority not delegated to it. I am not, therefore, disposed to revive the recommendation, but am not the less impressed with the importance of so organizing that Department that its Secretary may devote more of his time to our foreign relations. Clearly satisfied that the public good would be promoted by some suitable provision on the subject, I respectfully invite your attention to it."On March 3, 1849, the Home Department was created by consolidating the General Land Office, the Patent Office, the Indian Affairs office and the military pension office.
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). First Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/first-annual-message-3 [Accessed 8 Dec. 2018].
Doi.gov. (2018). History of The Department of the Interior. [online] Available at: https://www.doi.gov/whoweare/history/ [Accessed 12 Dec. 2018].
Pubs.usgs.gov. (2018). Creation of the Department of the Interior, March 3 1849. [online] Available at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/unnumbered/70094977/report.pdf [Accessed 12 Dec. 2018].
Wagner, D. (2018). 1796 George Washington - Domestic Policies. [online] Stateoftheunionhistory.com. Available at: http://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2016/01/1796-george-washington-domestic-policies.html [Accessed 12 Dec. 2018].
whitehouse.gov. (2018). The Cabinet. [online] Available at: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/cabinet [Accessed 12 Dec. 2018].
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