Like most members of Congress during the Era of Good Feelings, Senator Edwards sat as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. As his second term drew on, he joined the Adams-Clay faction that would develop into the National Republicans after Edwards left office. Edwards voted for the Missouri Compromise in 1820, a bill that Thomas sponsored. He voted against a law reducing prices for federal land, which made both Edwards and Representative Daniel Pope Cook targets of criticism at home. On May 6, 1821, Cook married Edwards' daughter Julia.