Chapter V: Preface (3)

The treaty of peace between England and the United States was signed at Ghent on December 24, 1814, but it required nearly a month for the Government to receive information that the treaty had been signed and that the war was ended. On January 8, 1815, more than a fortnight after England and the United States were actually at peace by their own treaty, the battle of New Orleans was fought between Jackson and Packenham, and a victory achieved over the English that then electrified the country as thoroughly as did Dewey’s victory at Manila. That victory, and that victory alone, made Jackson President, and with his rugged and indomitable will, for nearly a generation he stamped his impress upon the policy of the Government with greater emphasis than any other living man since Washington.

The Presidential contest of 1828 formally began soon after the inauguration of Adams, when the Legislature of Tennessee presented Jackson as a candidate, and the criticisms of the Adams administration revived much of the political asperities and resentments of the violent discussions between the old Federalist and Republican parties in the days of Jefferson and the elder Adams. One of the reasons strongly urged against the re-election of Adams was that his administration had become recklessly extravagant, as the expenditures of the Government under him had reached the enormous sum of nearly $14,000,000 a year.

Adams was attacked also because of his liberal views on the questions of protection and public improvements, although Jackson had sustained nearly or quite the same views by his votes in Congress. Adams had no trained political leaders; his Cabinet was divided even on the question of supporting himself, and the ideal statesmanship that Adams worshipped was not calculated to school and equip great politicians. Chiefly through the efforts of Martin Van Buren the supporters of Crawford were brought into the support of Jackson, a feat that was probably not difficult from the fact that Clay, the Secretary of State under Adams, was not friendly with Crawford.

The Congressional caucus was not thought of, and Adams became a candidate to succeed himself by resolutions of Legislatures and mass-meetings. Calhoun, who was the Vice-President under Adams, was accepted by the friends of Jackson and received nearly as large an electoral vote as his chief. It was a contest between the dignified statesmanship of that day and the Democratic element of the country. Adams was accepted as the National Republican candidate and Jackson was supported under the flags of Republican Democracy, and in some sections of Democracy alone. It was this contest and the success of Jackson that crystallized the Republican party of Jefferson into the Democratic party that then had the ablest political leaders of the nation.

The friends of Adams seem to have been confident of his re-election, and a majority of the States chose their electors by popular vote. It was a battle between the Democratic hero of New Orleans, the friend of the people, and the aristocratic power of the Republic. With Jackson’s great prestige and Adams’s feebleness in resources to support himself in the great contest before the people, it is not surprising that Jackson was elected by a very large popular and electoral majority. The following is the popular vote where a direct vote was had in the several States between Jackson and Adams:

══════════════════╤══════════╤═══════════════
STATES. │ Jackson. │ Adams.
──────────────────┼──────────┼───────────────
Maine[8] │ 13,927 │ 20,733
New Hampshire │ 20,922 │ 24,134
Vermont │ 8,350 │ 25,363
Massachusetts │ 6,016 │ 29,876
Rhode Island │ 821 │ 2,754
Connecticut │ 4,448 │ 13,838
New York[8] │ 140,763 │ 135,413
New Jersey │ 21,951 │ 23,764
Pennsylvania │ 101,652 │ 50,848
Delaware[9] │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Maryland[8] │ 24,565 │ 25,527
Virginia │ 26,752 │ 12,101
North Carolina │ 37,857 │ 13,918
South Carolina[9] │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Georgia[9] │ 19,363 │ No opposition.
Alabama[9] │ 17,138 │ 1,938
Mississippi[9] │ 6,772 │ 1,581
Louisiana[9] │ 4,603 │ 4,076
Kentucky[9] │ 39,397 │ 31,460
Tennessee[8] │ 44,293 │ 2,240
Missouri │ 8,272 │ 3,400
Ohio │ 67,597 │ 63,396
Indiana │ 22,257 │ 17,052
Illinois │ 9,560 │ 4,662
├──────────┼───────────────
Totals │ 647,276 │ 508,064
══════════════════╧══════════╧═══════════════

[8] Chosen by districts.

[9] By Legislature.

The majority for Jackson was so decisive both in popular and electoral votes that the verdict was accepted by the country, and the vote was counted and declared by Congress without any incident worthy of note. The following table presents the vote in detail for President and Vice-President in the Electoral College:

══════════════╤════════════════════════════╦═══════════════════════════════════════════
│ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT.
STATES. ├───────────────┬────────────╫──────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────
│Andrew Jackson,│John Quincy ║ John C. │Richard Rush,│William Smith,
│ Tenn. │Adams, Mass.║Calhoun, S. C.│ Penn. │ S. C.
──────────────┼───────────────┼────────────╫──────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────
Maine │ 1 │ 8 ║ 1 │ 8 │ ――
New Hampshire │ ―― │ 8 ║ ―― │ 8 │ ――
Vermont │ ―― │ 7 ║ ―― │ 7 │ ――
Massachusetts │ ―― │ 15 ║ ―― │ 15 │ ――
Rhode Island │ ―― │ 4 ║ ―― │ 4 │ ――
Connecticut │ ―― │ 8 ║ ―― │ 8 │ ――
New York │ 20 │ 16 ║ 20 │ 16 │ ――
New Jersey │ ―― │ 8 ║ ―― │ 8 │ ――
Pennsylvania │ 28 │ ―― ║ 28 │ ―― │ ――
Delaware │ ―― │ 3 ║ ―― │ 3 │ ――
Maryland │ 5 │ 6 ║ 5 │ 6 │ ――
Virginia │ 24 │ ―― ║ 24 │ ―― │ ――
North Carolina│ 15 │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ――
South Carolina│ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ――
Georgia │ 9 │ ―― ║ 2 │ ―― │ 7
Alabama │ 5 │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ――
Mississippi │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ――
Louisiana │ 5 │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ――
Kentucky │ 14 │ ―― ║ 14 │ ―― │ ――
Tennessee │ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ――
Ohio │ 16 │ ―― ║ 16 │ ―― │ ――
Indiana │ 5 │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ――
Illinois │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ――
Missouri │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ――
├───────────────┼────────────╫──────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────
Totals │ 178 │ 83 ║ 171 │ 83 │ 7
══════════════╧═══════════════╧════════════╩══════════════╧═════════════╧══════════════

The campaign of 1832 resulting in the triumphant re-election of Jackson developed a more confused condition of politics in the nation than had ever been presented. The Federal party was dead, and did not even pretend to maintain its organization in any of the States. The Republican party was divided between the National Republicans and the Democratic Republicans, who followed Jackson, and finally adopted the flag of Democracy. Jackson’s first administration had been anything but a peaceful one. An open quarrel had broken out between Jackson and Vice-President Calhoun, and Jackson was not only a good hater, but a good fighter. He was largely influenced by Van Buren, who was his Secretary of State, and who was one of the most sagacious political managers of his day. He aimed to succeed Jackson as President by having the Jackson administration enlisted in his favor, and his first step toward that end was to overthrow Calhoun, and Jackson emphasized his hostility to Calhoun by dictating the nomination of Van Buren for Vice-President.

A considerable number of prominent old Republicans who had supported Jackson had become alienated from him because of the intensely partisan qualities of his administration and because of his aggressive interference in the Cabinet scandal resulting from Mrs. Eaton’s social ambition as the wife of a Cabinet minister. Scandals were multiplied in Washington about the Jackson Kitchen Cabinet, of which Amos Kendall was regarded as the chief, but with all the disturbance in the National Capitol, the people of the country were sturdy in their devotion to Jackson, as was proved by his large majority, both in popular and electoral votes, over Clay, who was confessedly the ablest leader of the opposition.

This contest brings us to the introduction of the National Convention. The first political national convention held in this country was called to meet in Philadelphia in September, 1830, by a number of prominent anti-Masonic leaders. The anti-Mason party had sprung up suddenly and attained great power in the North, as it was the only outlet for the old Federalists, most of whom were in sympathy with the opposition of the new party to Masonic and all other secret societies.

The death of William Morgan, who, it was claimed, had been murdered by the Masons for revealing the secrets of the order, was most dramatically presented in the political organs of the day, and the new party speedily absorbed most of the opposition elements to the Democracy in the Northern States. The anti-Masonic national convention that met in Philadelphia in 1830 was presided over by Francis Granger, of New York, and was composed of 96 delegates, representing New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, and the Territory of Michigan. This convention was held more than two years before the Presidential election, for which it was expected to nominate candidates for President, but instead of making nominations, it adjourned to meet in Baltimore in September, 1831, when it had 112 delegates, with Indiana and Ohio added to the States presented. John C. Spencer was its president, and William Wirt, of Maryland, was nominated for President, and Amos Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. Instead of passing a platform, as is now common, the convention issued an elaborate address to the people of the Union.

This action of the anti-Masons was followed by the National Republicans, who met in national convention at Baltimore, on December 12, 1831, with 17 States, represented by 157 delegates. Henry Clay was nominated for President and John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. No platform was adopted by this convention, but it followed the anti-Masons by issuing an address to the people of the country in which it was stated that “the political history of the Union for the last three years exhibits a series of measures plainly dictated in all their principal features by blind cupidity or vindictive party spirit, marked throughout by a disregard of good policy, justice, and every high and generous sentiment, and terminating in a dissolution of the Cabinet under circumstances more discreditable than any of the kind to be met with in the annals of the civilized world.”

The Democrats followed the anti-Masons and National Republicans by calling a National Democratic convention, to meet in Baltimore in May, 1832, to nominate a candidate for Vice-President. Jackson was so universally accepted as the candidate of the Democrats for re-election that the convention was not allowed to make a nomination for the first office, but a resolution was passed declaring that the convention “cordially concurred in the repeated nominations that General Jackson had received in various parts of the country for re-election as President.” The convention adopted the two-thirds rule that has prevailed in every Democratic convention from that day until the present time, requiring that “two-thirds of the whole number of the votes in the convention shall be necessary to constitute a choice.”

Van Buren was nominated for Vice-President, receiving 208 votes to 26 for Richard M. Johnson and 49 for Philip P. Barbour. No platform of principles was adopted, nor was an address issued by the convention to the people, but a resolution was passed declaring that “in place of a general address from this body” the delegations should address their respective constituents on the political issues of the day.

Never were two candidates presented for the first office of the nation who so widely differed in their chief qualities. Jackson was a clear-headed man of rugged intellect, of inflexible purpose, a relentless opponent and a devoted friend, while Clay was the most magnetic of all the popular leaders this country has ever produced. No one before or since Clay’s time has approached him in that peculiar quality but James G. Blaine. The hero-worship of Jackson was earnest and always aggressive when summoned to battle, but Clay was beloved and idolized beyond that accorded to any leader of any party in the history of the Republic. He was a most brilliant orator, imposing in presence and gifted in every grace that attracted the multitude, and he was imperious as Cæsar in his leadership. His friends battled for him with matchless enthusiasm, but Jackson was so strongly entrenched in the confidence of the masses that he won an easy victory over the Sage of Ashland.

The contest was one of unusual violence and defamation, and it was doubtless aggravated by the personal enmity that existed between Jackson and Clay. The veto of the bill rechartering the Bank of the United States had greatly disturbed financial circles, and it was believed in the early part of the struggle that the financial and business interests of the country would endanger Jackson’s success, but the popular prejudice against banks in that day was so great that Jackson largely profited by the open opposition of his former supporters who were interested in maintaining a national financial institution. The anti-Masonic electoral ticket was adopted by the National Republicans in several of the States, and it is specially shown in the popular vote of Vermont, where Clay appears to have carried the State, and yet the electoral vote was given to William Wirt, the anti-Masonic candidate. Had it been possible for the electoral vote of that State to elect Clay President, it would have been cast for him.

The number of electors had been enlarged by the new apportionment, and Delaware had provided for the choice of electors by a popular vote, leaving South Carolina as the only State to appoint electors by the Legislature. That State continued the system of the legislative choice of electors without interruption until the civil war of 1861. Several of the States also abandoned the election of delegates by the district system, Maryland alone adhering to it. In Alabama there was no electoral ticket opposed to Jackson, and the popular vote is not attainable. Georgia was also without an anti-Jackson electoral ticket, while Missouri, that was friendly to Clay in 1824, seems to have made no battle for him against Jackson. The following is the popular vote, as nearly as it can be ascertained:

═══════════════╤══════════╤════════
STATES. │ Jackson. │ Clay.
───────────────┼──────────┼────────
Maine │ 33,291 │ 27,204
New Hampshire │ 25,486 │ 19,010
Vermont │ 7,870 │ 11,152
Massachusetts │ 14,545 │ 33,003
Rhode Island │ 2,126 │ 2,810
Connecticut │ 11,269 │ 17,755
New York │ 168,497 │ 154,896
New Jersey │ 23,856 │ 23,393
Pennsylvania │ 90,983 │ 56,716
Delaware │ 4,110 │ 4,276
Maryland │ 19,156 │ 19,160
Virginia │ 33,609 │ 11,451
North Carolina │ 24,862 │ 4,563
South Carolina │ ――――――― │ ―――――――
Georgia │ 20,750 │ ―――――――
Alabama │ ――――――― │ ―――――――
Mississippi │ 5,919 │ ―――――――
Louisiana │ 4,049 │ 2,528
Kentucky │ 36,247 │ 43,396
Tennessee │ 28,740 │ 1,436
Missouri │ 5,192 │ ―――――――
Ohio │ 81,246 │ 76,539
Indiana │ 31,552 │ 15,472
Illinois │ 14,147 │ 5,429
├──────────┼────────
Totals │ 687,502 │ 530,189
═══════════════╧══════════╧════════

There was some ragged voting for President and much more for Vice-President. Jackson received 219 votes in the Electoral College to 49 for Clay, 11 for Floyd, and 7 for Wirt, given by Vermont, and which would have gone to Clay had they been needed. South Carolina, under the influence of Calhoun, refused to vote for either Jackson or Van Buren, but cast the electoral vote for John Floyd, of Virginia, for President, and for Henry Lee, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President. Van Buren was not acceptable to all the friends of Jackson, as the Pennsylvania Democratic Convention positively instructed the electors to vote for William Wilkins for Vice-President, which instructions were obeyed in the Electoral College, and a convention of Jackson men had been held in June, in Charlottesville, Va., and nominated P. P. Barbour, of that State, for the Vice-Presidency, with Jackson for President. A like convention was held, composed of delegates from a number of counties in North Carolina, in which Jackson and Barbour were nominated, but Barbour did not reach the dignity of support in the Electoral College.

There were no disputes as to the return of the electoral colleges, and the vote was declared by Congress as follows:

═══════════════╤═════════════════════════════╦═════════════════════════════════════════════
│ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT.
├────────┬─────┬──────┬───────╫──────────┬─────────┬────────┬─────┬─────────
STATES. │ Andrew │Henry│John │William║ Martin │ John │William │Henry│ Amos
│Jackson,│Clay,│Floyd,│ Wirt, ║Van Buren,│Sergeant,│Wilkins,│Lee, │Ellmaker,
│ Tenn. │ Ky. │ Va. │ Md. ║ N. Y. │ Penn. │ Penn. │Mass.│ Penn.
───────────────┼────────┼─────┼──────┼───────╫──────────┼─────────┼────────┼─────┼─────────
Maine │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Hampshire │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Vermont │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 7 ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 7
Massachusetts │ ―― │ 14 │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 14 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Rhode Island │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Connecticut │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New York │ 42 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 42 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Jersey │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Pennsylvania │ 30 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ 30 │ ―― │ ――
Delaware │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Maryland │ 3 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Virginia │ 23 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 23 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
North Carolina │ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
South Carolina │ ―― │ ―― │ 11 │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 11 │ ――
Georgia │ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Alabama │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Mississippi │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Louisiana │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Kentucky │ ―― │ 15 │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Tennessee │ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Ohio │ 21 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 21 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Indiana │ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Illinois │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Missouri │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
├────────┼─────┼──────┼───────╫──────────┼─────────┼────────┼─────┼─────────
Totals │ 219 │ 49 │ 11 │ 7 ║ 189 │ 49 │ 30 │ 11 │ 7
═══════════════╧════════╧═════╧══════╧═══════╩══════════╧═════════╧════════╧═════╧═════════

Jackson’s second administration was even more tempestuous than the first. His nullification proclamation that convulsed the country from centre to circumference, and the first “pocket veto” in the history of the country by which he had killed the Land bill, were among the later acts of his first administration, and entered very largely into the bitterness of political dispute that continued during his second term. Both were denounced as violent usurpations, and it is doubtful whether any but Andrew Jackson could have made the record he left on both of those vital issues.

He had vetoed the recharter of the United States Bank during his first term, and supplemented that hostility to the institution early in his second term by the removal of the Government deposits from the bank. His Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Duane, resolutely opposed the removal of the deposits, but Jackson would not brook opposition, and in order to carry out his new financial policy, he accepted Duane’s resignation and appointed Roger B. Taney, who was in accord with the President, and who was finally rewarded by his promotion to the Chief Justiceship of the United States.

He had devoted followers in Congress; he was absolute master of Congressional action during his second term, and he was heartily supported by the great mass of the people, a very large portion of whom regarded him as the model patriot and the infallible political oracle of the nation. They loved his courage and his pugnacity, and as he always was the winner, they had every inspiration to rejoice over the triumphs of their devotedly worshipped leader.

Strange as it may seem, the first evidence of the weakness of Jackson’s popular strength was exhibited in his own State of Tennessee, where Hugh L. White, a Senator from that State, was nominated to succeed Jackson as President by the Tennessee Legislature. Jackson was much disturbed by it. When the question was before the Legislatures of Alabama and Tennessee, copies of the Washington _Globe_, the organ of the administration, containing severe assaults upon Senator White, were franked to the members of those Legislatures by the President himself; but notwithstanding all Jackson’s efforts to make Van Buren his successor, Tennessee voted for Judge White by 10,000 majority.

Upon his retirement from the Presidency in 1837, he imitated Washington by a farewell address to the American people, that was received by a large majority as second in reverence only to the farewell address of Washington. His health was feeble when his stormy eight years of Presidential rule were ended, and after the inauguration of Van Buren he retired to “The Hermitage,” his home, near Nashville, in Tennessee, where he died on the 8th of June, 1845.

THE VAN BUREN-HARRISON CONTEST

1836

The national contest of 1836 that made Martin Van Buren President gave birth to a new political organization known as the Whig party. The opposition to Jackson agreed only in opposing Jackson, but it was not possible to unite on any national policy. The strongest organized element of the opposition was the anti-Masonic party, that was very powerful in the North, but among the opponents of Jackson were many who, like Mr. Clay, were Masons of high degree, and they could not act with a political party that made anti-Masonry one of the cardinal principles of its faith.

The National Republican party practically perished with the defeat of Clay in 1832, and a very large majority of its members were not in sympathy with the anti-Masons. These conditions led to the organization of the Whig party in 1834, and it gradually absorbed all the old National Republicans, Federalists, anti-Masons, and all the other varied forms of opposition to Jackson. Its name and its declaration of principles were declared by a number of leading men in 1834, and it gradually developed in strength until it was the leading factor in the support of Harrison in 1836, and won the election of Harrison by an overwhelming majority of both the popular and electoral votes in 1840. The Whig party maintained itself as one of the ablest political organizations the country has ever had, but it was much more noted for its conservative restraints upon the Democrats than for the successful establishment of its policy in the administration of the Government. It elected two Presidents, Harrison and Taylor, but neither seriously impressed the policy of the Whig party upon the nation. It practically perished in 1852, when it made its last great battle for General Scott for President, and carried but four States.

As the contest of 1836 was approached the various elements of opposition to Jackson felt confident that they could poll a majority of the popular vote, but there was no possibility of their uniting upon any one candidate without suffering great loss in their popular following. It was decided, therefore, that instead of attempting to unite the opposition to Jackson on one candidate, they would support several candidates who were particularly strong in their respective localities, with the hope that a majority of the electors might thus be chosen who would unite in the election of the strongest of the opposition candidates.

The Democrats were very much disturbed, as signs of disintegration were visible to all. Jackson was the most potent of any of our retiring Presidents, with the exception of Washington, and he dictated Van Buren for the succession. Without the omnipotent power of Jackson, Van Buren could not have been nominated or elected. Jackson had the Democracy thoroughly organized, and he wielded all the official power of his administration relentlessly to carry out his political aims. There was much hesitation about the Democrats accepting a national convention, because of the opposition to Van Buren, but Jackson personally importuned the leading Democrats to summon a convention at an early period, and a convention was finally called, to be held in Baltimore on the 20th of May, 1835, nearly a year and a half before the Presidential election.

It was not a representative convention, as although over six hundred delegates attended, a majority of them were from Maryland alone, but each State was allowed to cast the vote corresponding with its representation in Congress. Van Buren was nominated unanimously on the 1st ballot, and Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, was made the candidate for Vice-President, receiving 178 votes, with 87 cast for William C. Rives, of Virginia. The two-thirds rule was reaffirmed in the convention, and even after Johnson had been nominated under the rule Virginia refused to approve the action of the convention presenting him as the candidate for Vice-President. No platform was adopted and no address was issued by the body to the people of the country.

The prominent candidates presented in opposition to Van Buren were General William H. Harrison and Judge John McLean, of Ohio; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, and Judge Hugh L. White, of Tennessee. Willie P. Mangum, who received the electoral vote of South Carolina chosen by the Legislature, was not a candidate before the people, and it is remarkable that South Carolina, at war with Jackson on the right of nullification, cast her electoral vote for Mangum, who was one of the leaders of the Whig party and afterward distinguished as a Whig United States Senator.

No attempt was made to bring these opposing opposition elements together. Harrison was first nominated at Harrisburg, Penn., by two State conventions, both meeting ostensibly as anti-Masons, the one being Democratic and the other inclining to the new Whig organization, and he was also presented by Legislatures and mass-meetings in other States. Webster was nominated by the Whig Legislature of Massachusetts, and Judge White was nominated by the Legislatures of Tennessee and Alabama, and by mass-meetings in different sections of the South. He was then a United States Senator from Tennessee, but at war with Jackson, and he was confessedly the strongest opponent of Jackson in the entire South. The fact that he could command a nomination from the Democratic Legislature of Tennessee while Jackson was President is the best evidence of his exceptional popularity with the people, and it was proved also by him carrying the electoral vote of the State over Van Buren by a decided majority. Judge McLean gradually dropped out of the fight, as he was from Harrison’s State, and Harrison soon developed as much the strongest candidate of the entire opposition competitors.

The contest was one of intense bitterness. There were no conflicting opposition tickets run against Van Buren. In States where White was strongest the opposition united on White electoral tickets, where Harrison was strongest they united on Harrison electoral tickets, and where Webster was strongest they united on Webster electoral tickets. The campaign was thus shrewdly managed by the opposition, and it gave some promise of success, as if a majority of the electoral votes had been chosen against Van Buren, they would doubtless have been united upon one candidate before the time for meeting of the electoral colleges. In Clay’s State the battle was made for Harrison with him in the forefront of the fight, and Harrison carried the State by a safe majority.

The defamation of the contest of 1836 was equal to any of the malignant contests of the early days of the Republic. Van Buren, Harrison, White, and Webster were most vindictively assailed, and their public and private lives criticised far beyond the lines of decent disputation. Van Buren was proclaimed the mere puppet of Jackson; Harrison was denounced as a failure in field and forum, where he had been General, Governor, and Senator; Webster was defamed as an old blue-light Federalist, and White was assailed in the South as an ingrate who had sacrificed his self-respect to ambition.

There were twenty-six States to participate in the election of 1836. Arkansas had come into the Union on the 15th of June, and Michigan, where electors were chosen before the admission of the State, was formally admitted into the Union on the 26th of January, 1837, before the electoral count took place in Congress, and the precedent in the Missouri case in 1821 settled the right of Michigan to participate in the election. In all of the States, with the single exception of South Carolina, the electors were chosen by popular vote and by general ticket. The following was the popular vote as returned for the several candidates, taking the vote of the opposition electors chosen as an indication of the choice of their respective States:

═══════════════════╤════════════╤═══════════╤═════════╤═════════
STATES. │ Van Buren. │ Harrison. │ White. │ Webster.
───────────────────┼────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼─────────
Maine │ 22,990 │ 15,239 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
New Hampshire │ 18,722 │ 6,228 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Vermont │ 14,039 │ 20,996 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Massachusetts │ 34,474 │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ 42,247
Rhode Island │ 2,964 │ 2,710 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Connecticut │ 19,291 │ 18,749 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
New York │ 166,815 │ 138,543 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
New Jersey │ 25,592 │ 26,137 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Pennsylvania │ 91,475 │ 87,111 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Delaware │ 4,153 │ 4,733 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Maryland │ 22,168 │ 25,852 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Virginia │ 30,261 │ ―――――― │ 23,468 │ ――――――
North Carolina │ 26,910 │ ―――――― │ 23,626 │ ――――――
South Carolina[10] │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Georgia │ 22,104 │ ―――――― │ 24,876 │ ――――――
Alabama │ 20,506 │ ―――――― │ 15,612 │ ――――――
Mississippi │ 9,979 │ ―――――― │ 9,688 │ ――――――
Louisiana │ 3,653 │ ―――――― │ 3,383 │ ――――――
Arkansas │ 2,400 │ ―――――― │ 1,238 │ ――――――
Kentucky │ 33,025 │ 36,687 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Tennessee │ 26,129 │ ―――――― │ 36,168 │ ――――――
Missouri │ 10,995 │ ―――――― │ 7,337 │ ――――――
Ohio │ 96,948 │ 105,404 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Indiana │ 32,478 │ 41,281 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Illinois │ 17,275 │ 14,292 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Michigan │ 7,332 │ 4,045 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
├────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼─────────
Totals │ 762,678 │ 548,007 │ 145,396 │ 42,247
═══════════════════╧════════════╧═══════════╧═════════╧═════════

[10] Chosen by the Legislature.

As Van Buren was successful, not only by a small popular majority, but by a clear majority of the electoral vote, no effort was necessary to unite the opposition electoral colleges, and they divided their votes between Harrison, White, and Webster, according to the preferences of the respective States. Virginia refused to give her electoral vote to Johnson for Vice-President, and that left him without an election, as he had not a majority of the whole Electoral College. He was, however, promptly elected by the Senate, receiving 33 votes to 16 for Francis Granger. He was the only Vice-President in the history of the Republic who was not elected by the Electoral College. When Adams, Jackson, Crawford, and Clay ran in 1824, and there was no choice for President in the Electoral College, John C. Calhoun received a decided majority in the college and was elected without an appeal to the Senate. The following is the vote as cast for President and Vice-President in the electoral colleges:

══════════════╤════════════════════════════════════════════════╦══════════════════════════════════
│ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT.
├──────────┬──────────┬───────┬────────┬─────────╫──────────┬────────┬──────┬───────
STATES. │Martin │William H.│Hugh L.│Daniel │Willie P.║Richard M.│Francis │John │William
│Van Buren,│Harrison, │White, │Webster,│Mangum, ║Johnson, │Granger,│Tyler,│Smith,
│N. Y. │O. │Tenn. │Mass. │N. C. ║Ky. │N. Y. │Va. │Ala.
──────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼───────┼────────┼─────────╫──────────┼────────┼──────┼───────
Maine │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Hampshire │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Vermont │ ―― │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 7 │ ―― │ ――
Massachusetts │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 14 │ ―― ║ ―― │ 14 │ ―― │ ――
Rhode Island │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Connecticut │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New York │ 42 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 42 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Jersey │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ――
Pennsylvania │ 30 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 30 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Delaware │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ――
Maryland │ ―― │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ 10 │ ――
Virginia │ 23 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 23
North Carolina│ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
South Carolina│ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 11 ║ ―― │ ―― │ 11 │ ――
Georgia │ ―― │ ―― │ 11 │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ 11 │ ――
Alabama │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Mississippi │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Louisiana │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Arkansas │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Kentucky │ ―― │ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 15 │ ―― │ ――
Tennessee │ ―― │ ―― │ 15 │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ 15 │ ――
Missouri │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Ohio │ ―― │ 21 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 21 │ ―― │ ――
Indiana │ ―― │ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 9 │ ―― │ ――
Illinois │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Michigan │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
├──────────┼──────────┼───────┼────────┼─────────╫──────────┼────────┼──────┼───────
Totals │ 170 │ 73 │ 26 │ 14 │ 11 ║ 147 │ 77 │ 47 │ 23
══════════════╧══════════╧══════════╧═══════╧════════╧═════════╩══════════╧════════╧══════╧═══════

THE HARRISON-VAN BUREN CONTEST

1840

Memorable as was the campaign of 1840 that called General Harrison to the Presidency by a popular whirlwind, the thoughtful student of American politics will regard that campaign as even more memorable because it gave birth to a party, of the humblest pretensions at the start as a political power, that twenty years later saw its principles triumph in the election of Lincoln, and the mastery of the party that has controlled the policy of the Government for forty years. The Abolition party, that was the corner-stone upon which the modern Republican party is reared, was organized in December, 1839, at Warsaw, Genesee County, N. Y., when, at a mass convention, with but few States represented, it nominated James G. Birney, of New York, for President, and Francis G. Lemoyne, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President.

This party had but one vital principle that made up its political faith, and that was the abolition of slavery. It was looked upon as a movement of a few political cranks, and was not regarded as a possible factor in that or any future political contest. It cast a few votes in 1840, but in 1844 it diverted enough votes from Henry Clay in New York State to defeat him for the Presidency. Its total vote in 1840 aggregated only 7069, one-third of which was cast in New York and one-fourth in Massachusetts; but it was the party of destiny, and its origin can be studied with profit. Its few supporters of that day who braved the prejudices of all parties were actuated by a sincere conviction, and that conviction was made more and more acceptable from year to year as the aggressions of slavery multiplied, until it finally died a colossal suicide.

The divided opposition elements which had polled within 30,000 of the vote received by Van Buren in 1836 were coerced by supreme necessities to united action for the campaign of 1840. But three candidates were prominently discussed. They were General William H. Harrison of Ohio, Henry Clay of Kentucky, and Winfield Scott of Virginia. Clay was much the ablest of them, and had the most enthusiastic and earnest friends, but the old anti-Masonic element crucified Clay in the Whig convention of 1839, just as Seward was crucified in the convention of 1860 by the American sentiment that was an indispensable factor to enable the Republicans to win. Clay was a Royal Arch Mason, and he would doubtless have lost largely in the rank and file of the anti-Masons, who had been educated in the fiercest strife of political contests to believe that Masonry was incompatible with patriotism.

Harrison had been Governor of the Indiana Territory, Senator in Congress and a successful general, having won a decisive victory over the English and the Indians at Tippecanoe. Scott was green with the laurels of Chippewa and Lundy’s Lane, and was regarded as the first soldier of the Republic. One thing strongly in Harrison’s favor was the fact that in the free-for-all race of 1836 he had largely outstripped his anti-Jackson associate candidates for President.

The Whig National Convention was called to meet at Harrisburg on the 4th of December, 1839, just one year before the Presidential election, and no national convention in the history of our politics ever moved with such extreme caution. It was three days after the convention was organized before a ballot was reached for President, the whole time having been occupied in formal conferences of committees appointed by each delegation to confer in the frankest way as to the best ticket to unite the incongruous opposition elements. Clay had made exhaustive effort to unite the opposition, even if necessary to sacrifice himself. On repeated occasions he publicly declared that his name should not be entertained if it was in any degree an obstacle to success, and in a Buffalo address delivered some time before the convention met, he said: “If my name creates any obstacle to union and harmony, away with it, and concentrate upon some individual more acceptable to all branches of the office.”

A Union Pennsylvania convention had been held in Harrisburg in September, embracing representatives of the old National Republicans, anti-Masons, and Whigs. It was largely planned and carried out by Thaddeus Stevens, whose violent anti-Masonic convictions made him the opponent of Clay, and that convention, while highly complimenting Clay, declared that General Harrison was the most available of all the candidates named for President. Governor Barbour, of Virginia, presided over the national convention, and instead of proceeding to ballot for candidates, the convention, after careful consideration, decided that the delegations from the different States should confer with each other, through sub-committees, and if possible reach a conclusion as to the best nomination and report to the convention.

While there is no official record of the action of these committees, it is known that at the start more favored Clay than any of the two other candidates, as one of the known facts relating to their action gave Clay 103 votes to 94 for Harrison and 57 for Scott. This vote is based on the assumption that the entire delegation of each State would vote in harmony with its committee, as the resolution under which the committees were appointed provided that “each State represented shall vote its full electoral vote by such delegation in the committee.” After three days of conference, the joint committees reported to the convention that they had decided in favor of Harrison by a vote of 148 to 90 for Clay and 16 for Scott.

On the following day the convention accepted the report of the committees by adopting a resolution declaring General Harrison the candidate of the convention, and it was unanimously approved amidst great enthusiasm. The friends of Clay gave very prompt and cordial support to the action of the convention, and the friends of Harrison proved their appreciation of the magnanimity of Clay’s friends by unanimously nominating John Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice-President, who was the leader of the Clay forces in the convention. No platform or expression of principles was given in any manner. Indeed, none of the political questions of the day diverted the convention at any time from the supreme purpose of uniting the opposition to Van Buren on a single ticket.

It was the vote of Virginia that finally decided the question of making Harrison the candidate of the convention. The three prominent candidates were all sons of Virginia, and had Clay been available he would doubtless have been preferred. A very earnest effort was made to force the nomination of General Scott when Clay was conceded to be unavailable, and the Virginia delegates long hesitated in making a choice between Harrison and Scott. Both were of Old Dominion birth, and the pride of the Mother of Presidents would have been gratified with the nomination of either.

It was at this stage of the contest that Thaddeus Stevens, who was the leading delegate from Pennsylvania, controlled the Virginia delegation by a scheme that was more effective than creditable. Scott, who was quite too fond of writing letters, had written a letter to Francis Granger, of New York, in which he evidently sought to conciliate the antislavery sentiment of that State. It was a private letter, but Granger exhibited it to Stevens and permitted Stevens to use it in his own way. As the headquarters of the Virginia delegation were the centre of attraction, they were always crowded, and Stevens called there along with many others. Before leaving he dropped the Scott letter on the floor, and it was soon discovered and its contents made known to the Virginians. That letter decided the Virginians to support Harrison and to reject Scott. Either could have been elected if nominated, as the Van Buren defeat of 1840 was one of the most sweeping political hurricanes in the history of the country.

My authority for this is Mr. Stevens himself. He disliked Scott on general principles through his great aversion to all men whose vanity was conspicuous, but he had a much stronger reason for nominating Harrison in his possession of an autograph letter from General Harrison, assuring Stevens that if he, Harrison, was elected President, Stevens would be a member of his Cabinet. After the election Stevens said nothing and made no movement to make himself prominent as a candidate for the Cabinet, as he felt entirely secure, while Josiah Randall, father of the late Samuel J. Randall, and then a prominent Whig, and Charles B. Penrose, grandfather of the present United States Senator Penrose, entered the field aggressively as candidates for a Cabinet portfolio. When the Cabinet was announced, Stevens was dumbfounded to find his name omitted. He never forgave Webster, who was made the head of the Cabinet, for the failure, and he believed until the day of his death that Webster had prevented his appointment.

There was much dissatisfaction with the Van Buren administration. The severe business and industrial depression which came upon the country about the middle of Van Buren’s term was very disastrous, and the financial troubles were largely charged to the arbitrary financial system introduced by Jackson and maintained by Van Buren. Labor was largely unemployed and business was paralyzed. So grave were the financial disturbances that several of the States were swept from their honest moorings by the cheap money craze, and irresponsible banks were created almost without limit or restraint, all of which brought speedy and fearful disaster to the people.

A large portion of the Democratic party had not at any time heartily favored Van Buren, and only their devotion to Jackson made them accept Van Buren as their candidate. The Democratic leaders of a number of the States openly declared that they would not participate in the national convention. A convention was finally called, and met in Baltimore on the 5th of May, 1840, with Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia, South Carolina, and Illinois not represented, while some of the other States had but one or two delegates. Governor William Carroll, of Tennessee, presided over the convention, and Van Buren was renominated by the adoption of a resolution declaring that as he was the unanimous choice of the party and the convention, “he should be presented as the Democratic candidate for the office of President.” Another resolution, offered at the same time and by the same man, Mr. Clay, of Alabama, was as follows: “That the convention deem it expedient at the present time not to choose between the individuals in nomination, but to leave the decision to their Republican Democratic fellow-citizens in the several States, trusting that before the election shall take place their opinions shall become so concentrated as to secure the choice of a Vice-President by the electoral colleges.”

There was positive opposition to the election of Vice-President Johnson in 1836, as was shown by his failure to command a majority of the electoral votes, while Van Buren was elected President, and that opposition seems to have increased rather than diminished. There was much discussion in the convention after it had unanimously adopted the first resolution declaring Van Buren the candidate for President as to what action the convention should take on the Vice-Presidency, and finally the resolution before quoted was unanimously adopted, leaving the party without a formally nominated candidate for the second place on the ticket.

This convention for the first time presented a national party platform as follows:

1. _Resolved_, That the Federal Government is one of limited powers derived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of power shown therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the Government, and that it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers.

2. _Resolved_, That the Constitution does not confer upon the General Government the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal improvement.

3. _Resolved_, That the Constitution does not confer authority upon the Federal Government, directly or indirectly, to assume the debts of the several States, contracted for local internal improvements, or other State purposes; nor would such assumption be just or expedient.

4. _Resolved_, That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal Government to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another, or to cherish the interest of one portion to the injury of another portion of our common country; that every citizen and every section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon an equality of rights and privileges, and to complete an ample protection of person and property from domestic violence or foreign aggression.

5. _Resolved_, That it is the duty of every branch of the Government to enforce and practise the most rigid economy in conducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the Government.

6. _Resolved_, That Congress has no power to charter a United States Bank; that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the best interests of the country, dangerous to our Republican institutions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place the business of the country within the control of a concentrated money power, and above the laws and the will of the people.

7. _Resolved_, That Congress has no power, under the Constitution, to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the Constitution; that all efforts of the Abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend to our political institutions.

8. _Resolved_, That the separation of the moneys of the Government from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the Government and the rights of the people.

9. _Resolved_, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitution, which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith; and every attempt to abridge the present privilege of becoming citizens and the owners of soil among us ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the Alien and Sedition laws from our statute book.

The campaign of 1840 was the most unique of our political history. The Democrats, in attempting to belittle General Harrison, declared that he lived in a “log cabin” and drank hard cider. Instead of resenting these expressions, intended to prejudice the public against the Whig candidate, the Whigs at once took up the log cabin as one of the great illustrative features of the contest, and when the battle reached its zenith, and the people gathered by thousands at the mass-meetings, the log cabin was always in the procession as the symbol of the simplicity of the party candidate for President. It was a campaign of speeches and songs, and it developed a new class of campaign orators, of which the then celebrated and long after well-known Buckeye Blacksmith was a type.

It was the first national campaign in which the masses of the people took intense interest, and alike in the cities of the East, the prairies of the West, and the savannas of the South the people were singing and shouting for “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.” The Whig campaign culminated in a tempest against the Democrats, and resulted in the overwhelming defeat of Van Buren, and General Harrison certainly contributed largely to the result by taking the stump in Ohio in September and October, to vindicate himself against the accusations made that he was a mere puppet in the hands of political leaders and unable to speak for himself. The following was the popular vote for Harrison and Van Buren:

═══════════════════╤═══════════╤═══════════╤════════
STATES. │ Harrison. │ Van Buren.│ Birney.
───────────────────┼───────────┼───────────┼────────
Maine │ 46,612 │ 46,201 │ 194
New Hampshire │ 26,163 │ 32,761 │ 126
Vermont │ 32,440 │ 18,018 │ 319
Massachusetts │ 72,874 │ 51,944 │ 1,621
Rhode Island │ 5,278 │ 3,301 │ 42
Connecticut │ 31,601 │ 25,296 │ 174
New York │ 225,817 │ 212,527 │ 2,808
New Jersey │ 33,351 │ 31,034 │ 69
Pennsylvania │ 144,021 │ 143,672 │ 343
Delaware │ 5,967 │ 4,874 │ ―――――
Maryland │ 33,528 │ 28,752 │ ―――――
Virginia │ 42,501 │ 43,893 │ ―――――
North Carolina │ 46,376 │ 33,782 │ ―――――
South Carolina[11] │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ―――――
Georgia │ 40,261 │ 31,921 │ ―――――
Alabama │ 28,471 │ 33,991 │ ―――――
Mississippi │ 19,518 │ 16,995 │ ―――――
Louisiana │ 11,296 │ 7,616 │ ―――――
Kentucky │ 58,489 │ 32,616 │ ―――――
Tennessee │ 60,391 │ 48,289 │ ―――――
Missouri │ 22,972 │ 29,760 │ ―――――
Arkansas │ 5,160 │ 6,766 │ ―――――
Ohio │ 148,157 │ 124,782 │ 903
Indiana │ 65,302 │ 51,604 │ ―――――
Illinois │ 45,537 │ 47,476 │ 149
Michigan │ 22,933 │ 21,131 │ 321
├───────────┼───────────┼────────
Totals │ 1,275,016 │ 1,129,102 │ 7,069
═══════════════════╧═══════════╧═══════════╧════════

[11] Chosen by Legislature.