Chapter VIII: Preface (6)

The passage of the Compromise Measures practically united the Democratic party, as the friends of slavery extension had won a substantial triumph, and the Democrats of the North were generally in harmony with that policy, but it greatly weakened the Whigs in the North without strengthening them in the South, and Fillmore, and Webster, then Secretary of State, became rival candidates for the Whig nomination, while the anti-Compromise or antislavery element of the Whigs united on General Scott.

When the Democratic National Convention met at Baltimore, June 1, 1852, the leaders were entirely confident of electing their candidates. John W. Davis, of Indiana, was made President, and the two-thirds rule reaffirmed. The sessions of the convention were protracted, lasting six days, but there was little angry dispute as to either candidates or measures. There were 49 ballots for President, Cass and Buchanan being the leading competitors at the start. The Virginia delegation, that was always potential in Democratic conventions, had become weary of the hopeless contest between the candidates, and on the 35th ballot cast a solid vote for Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, whose name had not up to that time been before the convention. The friends of Cass made an earnest rally, but were unable to concentrate sufficient strength to approach the two-thirds vote, and Marcy finally loomed up as the leading competitor of Pierce. The following table gives the detail vote on each ballot:

════════╤═════╤═════════╤════════╤══════╤═══════╤════════╤══════╤═════╤══════════╤═══════
BALLOTS.│Cass.│Buchanan.│Douglas.│Marcy.│Butler.│Houston.│Dodge.│Lane.│Dickinson.│Pierce.
────────┼─────┼─────────┼────────┼──────┼───────┼────────┼──────┼─────┼──────────┼───────
1 │ 116 │ 93 │ 20 │ 27 │ 2 │ 8 │ 3 │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
2 │ 118 │ 95 │ 23 │ 27 │ 1 │ 6 │ 3 │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
3 │ 119 │ 94 │ 21 │ 26 │ 1 │ 7 │ 3 │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
4 │ 115 │ 89 │ 31 │ 25 │ 1 │ 7 │ 3 │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
5 │ 114 │ 88 │ 34 │ 26 │ 1 │ 8 │ 3 │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
6 │ 114 │ 88 │ 34 │ 26 │ 1 │ 8 │ 3 │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
7 │ 113 │ 88 │ 34 │ 26 │ 1 │ 9 │ 3 │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
8 │ 113 │ 88 │ 34 │ 26 │ 1 │ 9 │ 3 │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
9 │ 112 │ 87 │ 39 │ 27 │ 1 │ 8 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
10 │ 111 │ 86 │ 40 │ 27 │ 1 │ 8 │ ―― │ 14 │ 1 │ ――
11 │ 101 │ 87 │ 50 │ 27 │ 1 │ 8 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
12 │ 98 │ 88 │ 51 │ 27 │ 1 │ 9 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
13 │ 98 │ 88 │ 51 │ 26 │ 1 │ 10 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
14 │ 99 │ 87 │ 51 │ 26 │ 1 │ 10 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
15 │ 99 │ 87 │ 51 │ 26 │ 1 │ 10 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
16 │ 99 │ 87 │ 51 │ 26 │ 1 │ 10 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
17 │ 99 │ 87 │ 50 │ 26 │ 1 │ 11 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
18 │ 96 │ 85 │ 56 │ 25 │ 1 │ 11 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
19 │ 89 │ 85 │ 63 │ 26 │ 1 │ 10 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
20 │ 81 │ 92 │ 64 │ 26 │ 1 │ 10 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
21 │ 60 │ 102 │ 64 │ 26 │ 13 │ 9 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
22 │ 53 │ 104 │ 77 │ 26 │ 15 │ 9 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
23 │ 37 │ 103 │ 78 │ 26 │ 19 │ 11 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
24 │ 33 │ 103 │ 80 │ 26 │ 23 │ 9 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
25 │ 34 │ 101 │ 81 │ 26 │ 24 │ 9 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
26 │ 33 │ 101 │ 80 │ 26 │ 24 │ 10 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
27 │ 32 │ 98 │ 85 │ 26 │ 24 │ 9 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
28 │ 28 │ 96 │ 88 │ 26 │ 25 │ 11 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
29 │ 27 │ 93 │ 91 │ 26 │ 25 │ 12 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
30 │ 33 │ 91 │ 92 │ 26 │ 20 │ 12 │ ―― │ 13 │ 1 │ ――
31 │ 64 │ 79 │ 92 │ 26 │ 16 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ――
32 │ 98 │ 74 │ 80 │ 26 │ 1 │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ――
33 │ 123 │ 72 │ 60 │ 25 │ 2 │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ――
34 │ 130 │ 49 │ 53 │ 23 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 16 │ ――
35 │ 131 │ 39 │ 52 │ 44 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 15
36 │ 122 │ 28 │ 43 │ 58 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 30
37 │ 120 │ 28 │ 37 │ 70 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 29
38 │ 107 │ 28 │ 33 │ 84 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 29
39 │ 106 │ 28 │ 33 │ 85 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 29
40 │ 106 │ 27 │ 33 │ 85 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 29
41 │ 107 │ 27 │ 33 │ 85 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 29
42 │ 101 │ 27 │ 33 │ 91 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 29
43 │ 101 │ 27 │ 33 │ 91 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 29
44 │ 101 │ 27 │ 33 │ 91 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 29
45 │ 96 │ 27 │ 32 │ 97 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 29
46 │ 78 │ 28 │ 32 │ 97 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 44
47 │ 75 │ 28 │ 33 │ 95 │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 49
48 │ 73 │ 28 │ 33 │ 90 │ 1 │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 55
49 │ 2 │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 282
════════╧═════╧═════════╧════════╧══════╧═══════╧════════╧══════╧═════╧══════════╧═══════

Two ballots were had for Vice-President, the first resulting as follows:

Wm. R. King, Ala. 126
Gideon J. Pillow, Tenn. 25
D. R. Atchison, Mo. 25
T. J. Rusk, Texas 12
Jefferson Davis, Miss. 2
Wm. O. Butler, Ky. 27
Robert Strange, N. C. 23
S. U. Downs, La. 30
J. B. Weller, Cal. 28
Howell Cobb, Ga. 2

The 2d ballot ended with the unanimous nomination of Mr. King.

The party platform was precisely that of 1848, all embodied in full text, with two new resolutions added on the subject of slavery and additional resolutions relating to other national issues. The Democratic platform of 1852, therefore, embraced all the previous Democratic platforms with the following added:

_Resolved_, That the foregoing proposition covers, and is intended to embrace, the whole subject of slavery agitated in Congress; and therefore the Democratic party of the Union, standing on this national platform, will abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the acts known as the “Compromise” Measures settled by the last Congress—the act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor included; which act, being designed to carry out an express provision of the Constitution, cannot with fidelity thereto be repealed, nor so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency.

_Resolved_, That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at renewing in Congress, or out of it, the agitation of the slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made.

Then follow the resolutions in former platforms respecting the distribution of the proceeds of land sales, that respecting the veto power, and these additions:

_Resolved_, That the Democratic party will faithfully abide by and uphold the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1792 and 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia Legislature in 1799; that it adopts those principles as constituting one of the main foundations of its political creed, and is resolved to carry them out in their obvious meaning and import.

_Resolved_, That the war with Mexico, upon all the principles of patriotism and the law of nations, was a just and necessary war on our part in which no American citizen should have shown himself opposed to his country, and neither morally nor physically, by word or deed, given aid and comfort to the enemy.

_Resolved_, That we rejoice at the restoration of friendly relations with our sister republic of Mexico, and earnestly desire for her all the blessings and prosperity which we enjoy under republican institutions, and we congratulate the American people on the results of that war, which have so manifestly justified the policy and conduct of the Democratic party, and insured to the United States indemnity for the past and security for the future.

_Resolved_, That, in view of the condition of popular institutions in the Old World, a high and sacred duty is devolved, with increased responsibility, upon the Democracy of this country, as the party of the people, to uphold and maintain the rights of every State, and thereby the union of States, and to sustain and advance among them constitutional liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the Constitution which are broad enough and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it is, and the Union as it should be, in the full expansion of the energies and capacity of this great and progressive people.

The nomination of Pierce was received very generally by the Democrats with great enthusiasm. The spirit of young Democracy had grown up in the party and become very formidable. The _Democratic Review_, the monthly organ of Democracy, had been reorganized with an able and most aggressive staff devoted to the overthrow of “old fogyism” in the party, and when Pierce was nominated the boys who do the shouting were almost wholly in sympathy with the young Democracy, and the old-timers had to fall in the rear of the procession. With the Democratic party united on candidates who were free from factional complication, and with the Compromise Measures, on which they could unite both the North and South, they started in the contest with every advantage and maintained it until election day, when the Whig party suffered its Waterloo.

The Whig convention met in Baltimore on the 16th of June with every State represented, and John G. Chapman, of Maryland, was made the presiding officer. The Southern delegates fortified themselves before the meeting of the convention by a caucus declaration of the party platform, and it was an open secret that if the convention accepted the platform, enough Southern men would support Scott to give him the nomination. They knew that Fillmore could not be elected, and that Webster was even weaker than Fillmore, and they were willing to accept Scott, who was the candidate of the antislavery element of the party, if the Compromise Measures were squarely affirmed by the party convention, while Scott was willing to accept the nomination with any platform the convention might formulate. Fillmore had carried the Compromise Measures and forced the Whigs to accept them in the party platform, but the insincerity of that expression was manifested by the refusal to nominate Fillmore, and by the nomination of Scott, who represented the anti-Compromise Whigs of the country. There were 53 ballots for President, but during the long struggle there was little exhibition of ill-temper. Scott started with 131 to 133 for Fillmore and 29 for Webster, and ended with 159 for Scott to 112 for Fillmore and 21 for Webster. The following table presents the ballots in detail:

═════════╤════════╤═══════════╤═════════
BALLOTS. │ Scott. │ Fillmore. │ Webster.
─────────┼────────┼───────────┼─────────
1 │ 131 │ 133 │ 29
2 │ 133 │ 131 │ 29
3 │ 133 │ 131 │ 29
4 │ 134 │ 130 │ 29
5 │ 130 │ 133 │ 30
6 │ 133 │ 131 │ 29
7 │ 131 │ 133 │ 28
8 │ 133 │ 131 │ 28
9 │ 133 │ 133 │ 29
10 │ 135 │ 130 │ 29
11 │ 134 │ 131 │ 28
12 │ 134 │ 130 │ 28
13 │ 134 │ 130 │ 28
14 │ 133 │ 130 │ 29
15 │ 133 │ 130 │ 29
16 │ 135 │ 129 │ 28
17 │ 132 │ 131 │ 29
18 │ 132 │ 131 │ 28
19 │ 132 │ 131 │ 29
20 │ 132 │ 131 │ 29
21 │ 133 │ 131 │ 28
22 │ 132 │ 130 │ 30
23 │ 132 │ 130 │ 30
24 │ 133 │ 129 │ 30
25 │ 133 │ 128 │ 31
26 │ 134 │ 128 │ 30
27 │ 134 │ 128 │ 30
28 │ 134 │ 128 │ 30
29 │ 134 │ 128 │ 30
30 │ 134 │ 128 │ 29
31 │ 134 │ 128 │ 30
32 │ 134 │ 128 │ 30
33 │ 134 │ 128 │ 29
34 │ 134 │ 126 │ 28
35 │ 134 │ 128 │ 28
36 │ 136 │ 127 │ 28
37 │ 133 │ 128 │ 28
38 │ 136 │ 127 │ 29
39 │ 134 │ 128 │ 30
40 │ 132 │ 129 │ 32
41 │ 132 │ 129 │ 32
42 │ 134 │ 128 │ 30
43 │ 134 │ 128 │ 30
44 │ 133 │ 129 │ 30
45 │ 133 │ 127 │ 32
46 │ 134 │ 127 │ 31
47 │ 135 │ 129 │ 29
48 │ 137 │ 124 │ 30
49 │ 139 │ 122 │ 30
50 │ 142 │ 122 │ 28
51 │ 142 │ 120 │ 29
52 │ 146 │ 119 │ 27
53 │ 159 │ 112 │ 21
Necessary to choose, 147
════════════════════════════════════════

The nomination of Scott was made unanimous, and William A. Graham, of North Carolina, who was Secretary of the Navy under the Fillmore administration, was given a unanimous nomination for Vice-President on the 2d ballot. The following platform was adopted without opposition, excepting as to the eighth and last, affirming the new and stringent Fugitive Slave law. After an earnest debate it was adopted by a vote of 212 to 70. Many of the friends of General Scott voted for that resolution from considerations of expediency. General Scott in his letter of acceptance broadly affirmed the platform in its entirety.

The Whigs of the United States, in convention assembled, adhering to the great conservative principles by which they are controlled and governed, and now, as ever, relying upon the intelligence of the American people, with an abiding confidence in their capacity for self-government, and their devotion to the Constitution and the Union, do proclaim the following as the political sentiments and determination for the establishment and maintenance of which their national organization as a party was effected:

_First._ The Government of the United States is of a limited character, and it is confined to the exercise of powers expressly granted by the Constitution, and such as may be necessary and proper for carrying the granted powers into full execution, and that powers not granted or necessarily implied are reserved to the States respectively and to the people.

_Second._ The State governments should be held secure to their reserved rights, and the General Government sustained on its constitutional powers, and that the Union should be revered and watched over as the palladium of our liberties.

_Third._ That while struggling freedom everywhere enlists the warmest sympathy of the Whig party, we still adhere to the doctrines of the Father of his Country, as announced in his Farewell Address, of keeping ourselves free from all entangling alliances with foreign countries, and of never quitting our own to stand upon foreign ground; that our mission as a republic is not to propagate our opinions, or impose on other countries our forms of government by artifice or force; but to teach by example, and show by our success, moderation and justice, the blessings of self-government and the advantage of free institutions.

_Fourth._ That, as the people make and control the Government, they should obey its Constitution, laws, and treaties, as they would retain their self-respect and the respect which they claim and will enforce from foreign powers.

_Fifth._ That the Government should be conducted on principles of the strictest economy; and revenue sufficient for the expenses thereof, in time of peace, ought to be mainly derived from a duty on imports, and not from direct taxes; and in laying such duties sound policy requires a just discrimination, and protection from fraud by specific duties, when practicable, whereby suitable encouragement may be afforded to American industry, equally to all classes and to all portions of the country.

_Sixth._ The Constitution vests in Congress the power to open and repair harbors, and remove obstructions from navigable rivers, whenever such improvements are necessary for the common defence and for the protection and facility of commerce with foreign nations or among the States—said improvements being in every instance national and general in their character.

_Seventh._ The Federal and State governments are parts of one system, alike necessary for the common prosperity, peace and security, and ought to be regarded alike with a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment. Respect for the authority of each, and acquiescence in the just constitutional measures of each, are duties required by the plainest considerations of national, State and individual welfare.

_Eighth._ That the series of acts of the Thirty-second Congress, the act known as the Fugitive Slave law included, are received and acquiesced in by the Whig party of the United States as a settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting questions which they embrace; and, so far as they are concerned, we will maintain them, and insist upon their strict enforcement, until time and experience shall demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against the evasion of the laws on the one hand and the abuse of their powers on the other, not impairing their present efficiency; and we deprecate all further agitation of the question thus settled, as dangerous to our peace, and will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, whenever, wherever, or however the attempt may be made; and we will maintain this system as essential to the nationality of the Whig party and the integrity of the Union.

The Compromise Measures were pressed upon the country as a finality, and the Democrats, with all of the Southern Whigs and many Northern Whigs, accepted them as such. Had the Pierce administration permitted the slave issue to rest on the Compromise Measures, it is probable that the birth of the Republican party would have been long postponed, but the repeal of the Missouri Compromise gave fresh vitality to the slavery dispute and quickened the antislavery sentiment of the country to the aggressive battle that culminated in the election of Lincoln in 1860.

The Free-Soil Democrats called a national convention to meet at Pittsburg on the 11th of August, over which Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, presided. John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, was nominated for President, and George W. Julian, of Indiana, for Vice-President without the formality of a ballot. The following platform was adopted:

Having assembled in national convention as the Democracy of the United States; united by a common resolve to maintain right against wrong and freedom against slavery; confiding in the intelligence, patriotism, and discriminating justice of the American people; putting our trust in God for the triumph of our cause, and invoking His guidance in our endeavors to advance it—we now submit to the candid judgment of all men the following declaration of principles and measures:

1. That governments deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed are instituted among men to secure to all those unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with which they are endowed by their Creator, and of which none can be deprived by valid legislation, except for crime.

2. That the true mission of American Democracy is to maintain the liberties of the people, the sovereignty of the States, and the perpetuity of the Union, by the impartial application to public affairs, without sectional discriminations, of the fundamental principles of human rights, strict justice, and an economical administration.

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

4. That the Constitution of the United States, ordained to form a more perfect Union, to establish justice, and secure the blessings of liberty, expressly denies to the General Government all power to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; and, therefore, the Government, having no more power to make a slave than to make a king, and no more power to establish slavery than to establish a monarchy, should at once proceed to relieve itself from all responsibility for the existence of slavery wherever it possesses constitutional power to legislate for its extinction.

5. That, to the persevering and importunate demand of the slave power for more Slave States, new Slave Territories, and the nationalization of slavery, our distinct and final answer is: No more Slave States, no Slave Territory, no nationalized slavery, and no national legislation for the extradition of slaves.

6. That slavery is a sin against God and a crime against man, which no human enactment or usage can make right; and that Christianity, humanity, and patriotism alike demand its abolition.

7. That the Fugitive Slave act of 1850 is repugnant to the Constitution, to the principles of the common law, to the spirit of Christianity, and to the sentiments of the civilized world. We therefore deny its binding force upon the American people, and demand its immediate and total repeal.

8. That the doctrine that any human law is a finality, and not subject to modification or repeal, is not in accordance with the creed of the founders of our Government, and is dangerous to the liberties of the people.

9. That the acts of Congress known as the “Compromise” Measures of 1850—by making the admission of a sovereign State contingent upon the adoption of other measures demanded by the special interest of slavery; by their omission to guarantee freedom in the Free Territories; by their attempt to impose unconstitutional limitations on the power of Congress and the people to admit new States; by their provisions for the assumption of five millions of the State debt of Texas, and for the payment of five millions more and the cession of a large territory to the same State under menace, as an inducement to the relinquishment of a groundless claim; and by their invasion of the sovereignty of the States and the liberties of the people, through the enactment of an unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional Fugitive Slave law—are proved to be inconsistent with all the principles and maxims of Democracy, and wholly inadequate to the settlement of the questions of which they are claimed to be an adjustment.

10. That no permanent settlement of the slavery question can be looked for except in the practical recognition of the truth that slavery is sectional and freedom national; by the total separation of the General Government from slavery, and the exercise of its legitimate and constitutional influence on the side of freedom; and by leaving to the States the whole subject of slavery and the extradition of fugitives from service.

11. That all men have a natural right to a portion of the soil; and that, as the use of the soil is indispensable to life, the right of all men to the soil is as sacred as their right to life itself.

12. That the public lands of the United States belong to the people, and should not be sold to individuals nor granted to corporations, but should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit of the people, and should be granted in limited quantities, free of cost, to landless settlers.

13. That a due regard for the Federal Constitution and a sound administrative policy demands that the funds of the General Government be kept separate from banking institutions; that inland and ocean postage should be reduced to the lowest possible point; that no more revenue should be raised than is required to defray the strictly necessary expenses of the public service, and to pay off the public debt; and that the power and patronage of the Government should be diminished, by the abolition of all unnecessary offices, salaries, and privileges, and by the election, by the people, of all civil officers in the service of the United States, so far as may be consistent with the prompt and efficient transaction of the public business.

14. That river and harbor improvements, when necessary to the safety and convenience of commerce with foreign nations or among the several States, are objects of national concern; and it is the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, to provide for the same.

15. That emigrants and exiles from the Old World should find a cordial welcome to homes of comfort and fields of enterprise in the New; and every attempt to abridge their privilege of becoming citizens and owners of soil among us ought to be resisted with inflexible determination.

16. That every nation has a clear right to alter or change its own government, and to administer its own concerns, in such a manner as may best secure the rights and promote the happiness of the people; and foreign interference with that right is a dangerous violation of the laws of nations, against which all independent governments should protest, and endeavor by all proper means to prevent; and especially is it the duty of the American Government, representing the chief republic of the world, to protest against, and by all proper means to prevent, the intervention of kings and emperors against nations seeking to establish for themselves republican or constitutional governments.

17. That the independence of Hayti ought to be recognized by our Government, and our commercial relations with it placed on a footing of the most favored nation.

18. That as, by the Constitution, the “citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States,” the practice of imprisoning colored seamen of other States, while the vessels to which they belong lie in port, and refusing the exercise of the right to bring such cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, to test the legality of such proceedings, is a flagrant violation of the Constitution, and an invasion of the rights of the citizens of other States, utterly inconsistent with the professions made by the slaveholders, that they wish the provisions of the Constitution faithfully observed by every State in the Union.

19. That we recommend the introduction into all treaties hereafter to be negotiated between the United States and foreign nations, of some provision for the amicable settlement of difficulties by a resort to decisive arbitration.

20. That the Free Democratic party is not organized to aid either the Whig or the Democratic wing of the great slave-compromise party of the nation, but to defeat them both; and that, repudiating and renouncing both as hopelessly corrupt and utterly unworthy of confidence, the purpose of the Free Democracy is to take possession of the Federal Government, and administer it for the better protection of the rights and interests of the whole people.

21. That we inscribe on our banner, “Free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men!” and under it will fight on and fight ever until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions.

22. That upon this platform the convention presents to the American people as a candidate for the office of President of the United States, John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and as a candidate for the office of Vice-President of the United States, George W. Julian, of Indiana, and earnestly commends them to the support of all free men and all parties.

The contest of 1852 was a hopeless one for the Whigs from the start. General Scott had great faith in his own election, but he stood almost entirely alone in that confidence. After the disastrous October elections he took the stump against the advice of his more discreet friends, and delivered a number of campaign speeches, which are now remembered chiefly because of his flattery to the foreign vote, complimenting the “rich Irish brogue” and “the sweet German accent” of many of his supporters. The result was that Pierce, a man who had never been discussed for the Presidency, but had been brought out as the “dark horse” at the national convention, carried every State in the Union but four—Massachusetts and Vermont, in the North, and Kentucky and Tennessee, in the South. The following is the popular and electoral vote:

═══════════════════╤═════════════════════════════════╦══════════════════
│ POPULAR VOTE. ║ ELECTORS.
├───────────┬───────────┬─────────╫─────────┬────────
STATES. │ Franklin │ Winfield │ John P. ║ │
│ Pierce, │ Scott, │ Hale, ║ Pierce. │ Scott.
│ N. H. │ N. Y. │ N. H. ║ │
───────────────────┼───────────┼───────────┼─────────╫─────────┼────────
Maine │ 41,609 │ 32,543 │ 8,030 ║ 8 │ ――
New Hampshire │ 29,997 │ 16,147 │ 6,695 ║ 5 │ ――
Vermont │ 13,044 │ 22,173 │ 8,621 ║ ―― │ 5
Massachusetts │ 44,569 │ 52,683 │ 28,023 ║ ―― │ 13
Rhode Island │ 8,735 │ 7,626 │ 644 ║ 4 │ ――
Connecticut │ 33,249 │ 30,357 │ 3,160 ║ 6 │ ――
New York │ 262,083 │ 234,882 │ 25,329 ║ 35 │ ――
New Jersey │ 44,305 │ 38,556 │ 350 ║ 7 │ ――
Pennsylvania │ 198,568 │ 179,174 │ 8,525 ║ 27 │ ――
Delaware │ 6,318 │ 6,293 │ 62 ║ 3 │ ――
Maryland │ 40,020 │ 35,066 │ 54 ║ 8 │ ――
Virginia │ 73,858 │ 58,572 │ ―――― ║ 15 │ ――
North Carolina │ 39,744 │ 39,058 │ ―――― ║ 10 │ ――
South Carolina[14] │ ―――― │ ―――― │ ―――― ║ 8 │ ――
Georgia │ 34,705 │ 16,660 │ ―――― ║ 10 │ ――
Alabama │ 26,881 │ 15,038 │ ―――― ║ 9 │ ――
Florida │ 4,318 │ 2,875 │ ―――― ║ 3 │ ――
Mississippi │ 26,876 │ 17,548 │ ―――― ║ 7 │ ――
Louisiana │ 18,647 │ 17,255 │ ―――― ║ 6 │ ――
Texas │ 13,552 │ 4,995 │ ―――― ║ 4 │ ――
Arkansas │ 12,179 │ 7,404 │ ―――― ║ 4 │ ――
Missouri │ 38,353 │ 29,984 │ ―――― ║ 9 │ ――
Tennessee │ 57,018 │ 58,898 │ ―――― ║ ―― │ 12
Kentucky │ 53,806 │ 57,068 │ ―――― ║ ―― │ 12
Ohio │ 169,220 │ 152,526 │ 31,682 ║ 23 │ ――
Michigan │ 41,842 │ 33,859 │ 7,237 ║ 6 │ ――
Indiana │ 95,340 │ 80,901 │ 6,929 ║ 13 │ ――
Illinois │ 80,597 │ 64,934 │ 9,966 ║ 11 │ ――
Wisconsin │ 33,658 │ 22,240 │ 8,814 ║ 5 │ ――
Iowa │ 17,763 │ 15,856 │ 1,604 ║ 4 │ ――
California │ 40,626 │ 35,407 │ 100 ║ 4 │ ――
├───────────┼───────────┼─────────╫─────────┼────────
Totals │ 1,601,274 │ 1,386,580 │ 155,825 ║ 254 │ 42
═══════════════════╧═══════════╧═══════════╧═════════╩═════════╧════════

[14] Chosen by Legislature.

President Pierce could have had a tranquil administration and generally maintained sectional peace if he had not wantonly reopened the slavery issue by assenting to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and making it a Democratic measure. Kansas and Nebraska, which were north of the Missouri line, whose territory had been solemnly dedicated to freedom by the Missouri Compromise of 1820, that admitted Missouri as a Slave State, were coveted by the slavery extensionists, and they decided not only against the solemnly plighted faith of the nation, but, in disregard of climatic objections, to force slavery in both of those Territories and make them Slave States. The slavery propagandists had failed to gather any substantial fruits for slavery from our Mexican acquisitions, and in the desperation of the suicide they resolved to force slavery into Kansas and Nebraska by a system of violence that was generally described at that time as “border ruffianism,” and that made the name of John Brown immortal.

The repeal of the Missouri Compromise was the beginning of the end of slavery. It was noticed that there could be no peace with Northern industry and progress advancing rapidly and hastening the formation of new States, while the South was standing still. A number of new and very able men had been called into the political arena by the slavery agitation. Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, and Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, were both elected to the Senate by a solid Democratic vote, united with the Free Soilers of their respective Legislatures. Henry Wilson, the “Natick Cobbler,” had become more potent in Massachusetts than was Webster at the time of his death; and the antislavery sentiment was visibly and speedily growing toward immense proportions.

The Whig party made its final battle in 1852, although it was nominally in the field in 1856, and a new party was created out of the odds and ends of the old Native American party. Opposition to Catholics had been intensified by Pierce appointing Judge Campbell, of Philadelphia, Postmaster-General. He was a very able and faithful Cabinet officer, and there was no pretence that his religious views in any way influenced his official appointments, but it revived the embers of Native Americanism, and the great mass of the Whigs, who knew that the Whig party had practically perished, and the antislavery Democrats were without political vocations. They were like the Federalists who first found refuge in anti-Masonry, and with anti-Masonry afterward found refuge in the Whig party. The result was the very rapid spread of the new American, or what was commonly called the Know-Nothing party, with secret lodges and its members all sworn not to divulge the movements of the organization and to vote for its nominated candidates. It exhibited wonderful strength in many localities early in 1854, and it was not uncommon in local elections, when the vote was counted, to find that all the officers elected were unknown to the public as candidates. Its first important triumph was in the municipal election of Philadelphia in May, 1854, when Judge Conrad, candidate of the Whigs and secret candidate of the Know-Nothings, was elected Mayor by an overwhelming majority.

The Democrats lost a large number of their ablest men on the slavery issue, provoked to defection by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and it was evident that the party would be divided in the next national campaign; but the various elements of opposition were even more incongruous and had little prospect of anything approaching the unity necessary to succeed. Pierce, like Fillmore, Polk, and Tyler, was a candidate for re-election, but failed disastrously in his own convention after wielding the power of his position to the uttermost, and his administration ended with the country rent by sectional feuds and gravely threatened with fraternal war.

THE BUCHANAN-FREMONT-FILLMORE CONTEST

1856

The Presidential battle of 1856, that gave Pennsylvania her only President in James Buchanan, is memorable chiefly because it dated the birth of the Republican party as a national organization, that was destined to conduct the greatest civil war of modern history, to abolish slavery, maintain its power uninterruptedly for a quarter of a century, and to write the most lustrous chapters in the annals of the Republic.

The Democrats were greatly demoralized by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and they suffered the aggressive defection of a number of Democratic leaders with large popular following, but the various shades of opposition to the Democracy were even more hopelessly divided. The Democrats had the advantage of being able to command a solid vote from the South on a square slavery issue, and they reasonably hoped that they could hold enough States in the North to give them success. Buchanan had been abroad as Minister during the troublesome times of the Pierce administration, and he returned just in good time to make the most out of the disturbed situation that confronted him. The renomination and re-election of Pierce were hopeless. Cass had been defeated by the people and suffered repeated defeats in national conventions. Buchanan thus had a strong lead for the Presidential nomination, and he was most fortunate in having the accomplished, devoted, and tireless Colonel Forney to manage his campaign, not only for the nomination, but to direct the national contest in the few Northern States which could be held to the Democratic flag.

The Southern leaders had absolute confidence in Buchanan, and they were entirely justified in their faith. He had been a Federal member of Congress in early days, and later entered the Democratic party with all the strict construction ideas of Federalism, which were then in harmony with the Democratic policy as applied to the slavery issue. He was the logical Democratic candidate for President in 1856; and President Pierce, an utterly impossible candidate, as it was known that he never could command the necessary two-thirds vote in the convention, was his only serious competitor when the balloting began.

The Democratic National Convention met in Cincinnati on the 2d of June, with full delegations from every State, and two contesting delegations from New York and Missouri. The quarrel between the factions in both States was intensely bitter. The opposing factions of New York were known as the “Hards,” who were a spawn of the old Hunkers, and the “Softs,” who took the place of the Barnburners. The Missouri delegations were known as the Bentonites and the Regulars, the Bentonites having lost the control of the party organization in the State. The convention solved the problem by admitting both delegations from each State, and giving each delegate only half a vote. John E. Ward, of Georgia, was made the permanent president, and the two-thirds rule was reaffirmed without a contest.

It was at this convention that Stephen A. Douglas first developed as an aggressive candidate for President, and as he had led the battle for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, he was in harmony with the Pierce administration. As will be seen by the ballots, his strength was almost wholly given to Pierce until Pierce’s unavailability was clearly established, when the Pierce vote was mostly transferred to Douglas. The following table presents the 17 ballots in detail, resulting in the nomination of Buchanan:

═════════╤═══════════╤═════════╤══════════╤══════
BALLOTS. │ Buchanan. │ Pierce. │ Douglas. │ Cass.
─────────┼───────────┼─────────┼──────────┼──────
1 │ 135 │ 122 │ 33 │ 5
2 │ 139 │ 119-1/2 │ 3-1/2 │ 6
3 │ 139-1/2 │ 119 │ 32 │ 5-1/2
4 │ 141-1/2 │ 119 │ 30 │ 5-1/2
5 │ 140 │ 119-1/2 │ 31 │ 5-1/2
6 │ 155 │ 117-1/2 │ 28 │ 5-1/2
7 │ 143-1/2 │ 89 │ 58 │ 5-1/2
8 │ 147-1/2 │ 87 │ 56 │ 5-1/2
9 │ 146 │ 87 │ 56 │ 7
10 │ 150-1/2 │ 80-1/2 │ 59-1/2 │ 5-1/2
11 │ 147-1/2 │ 80 │ 63 │ 5-1/2
12 │ 148 │ 79 │ 63-1/2 │ 5-1/2
13 │ 150 │ 77-1/2 │ 63 │ 5-1/2
14 │ 152-1/2 │ 75 │ 63 │ 5-1/2
15 │ 168-1/2 │ 3-1/2 │ 118-1/2 │ 4-1/2
16 │ 168 │ ―― │ 121 │ 6
17 │ 296 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
═════════╧═══════════╧═════════╧══════════╧══════

As Buchanan was from the North, the Vice-Presidency was conceded to the South, and 10 candidates were placed in nomination. The 1st ballot resulted as follows:

J. A. Quitman, Miss. 59
Linn Boyd, Ky. 33
A. V. Brown, Tenn. 29
J. A. Bayard, Del. 31
T. J. Rusk, Texas 2
J. C. Breckenridge, Ky. 55
B. Fitzpatrick, Ala. 11
H. V. Johnson, Ga. 31
Trusten Polk, Mo. 5
J. C. Dobbin, N. C. 13

When the 2d ballot was called, a number of the candidates had their names withdrawn, and Mr. Breckenridge was given a unanimous nomination. He was the idol of the young Democracy of the South, having won his spurs by two of the most remarkable Congressional campaigns in the history of Kentucky, in which he had defeated Governor Letcher and Leslie Combs, two of the ablest of the old Clay leaders in the Ashland district. His success was due entirely to his own personal popularity. He was not only one of the ablest of all the Breckenridges, but he was a most accomplished, genial, and delightful companion, and his nomination greatly strengthened the Democratic ticket in all sections of the country.

The platform was finally adopted without a contest. It recited first the preamble adopted in 1844, followed by ten resolutions from other previous platforms, embracing the first five of 1840, and others embracing the Democratic views on the proceeds of the public land; in opposition to a national bank; in favor of the subtreasury system; in support of the veto power, and opposing any new limitations upon naturalization. To these the following new resolutions were added:

_And whereas_, Since the foregoing declaration was uniformly adopted by our predecessors in national convention, an adverse political and religious test has been secretly organized by a party claiming to be exclusively American, and it is proper that the American Democracy should clearly define its relations thereto, and declare its determined opposition to all secret political societies, by whatever name they may be called—

_Resolved_, That the foundation of this Union of States having been laid in, and its prosperity, expansion, and pre-eminent example of free government built upon entire freedom in matters of religious concernment, and no respect of persons in regard to rank or place or birth, no party can be justly deemed national, constitutional, or in accordance with American principles which bases its exclusive organization upon religious opinions and accidental birthplace. And hence a political crusade in the nineteenth century, and in the United States of America, against Catholics and foreign-born, is neither justified by the past history nor future prospects of the country, nor in unison with the spirit of toleration and enlightened freedom which peculiarly distinguishes the American system of popular government.

_Resolved_, That we reiterate with renewed energy of purpose the well-considered declarations of former conventions upon the sectional issue of domestic slavery and concerning the reserved rights of the States—

1. That Congress has no power under the Constitution to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and that all 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 of our political institutions.

2. That the foregoing covers, and was intended to embrace, the whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress, and therefore the Democratic party of the Union, standing on this national platform, will abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the acts known as the “Compromise” Measures, settled by the Congress of 1850, the act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor included; which act, being designed to carry out an express provision of the Constitution, cannot, with fidelity thereto, be repealed, or so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency.

3. That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at renewing, in Congress or out of it, the agitation of the slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made.

4. The Democratic party will faithfully abide by and uphold the principle laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1797 and 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia Legislature in 1799; that it adopts these principles as constituting one of the main foundations of its political creed, and is resolved to carry them out in their obvious meaning and import.

And that we may more distinctly meet the issue on which a sectional party, subsisting exclusively on slavery agitation, now relies to test the fidelity of the people, North and South, to the Constitution and the Union—

1. _Resolved_, That, claiming fellowship with and desiring the co-operation of all who regard the preservation of the Union under the Constitution as the paramount issue, and repudiating all sectional issues and platforms concerning domestic slavery which seek to embroil the States and incite to treason and armed resistance to law in the Territories, and whose avowed purpose, if consummated, must end in civil war and disunion, the American Democracy recognize and adopt the principles contained in the organic laws establishing the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas as embodying the only sound and safe solution of the slavery question, upon which the great national idea of the people of this whole country can repose in its determined conservation of the Union, and non-interference of Congress with slavery in the Territories or in the District of Columbia.

2. That this was the basis of the compromise of 1850, confirmed by both the Democratic and Whig parties in national conventions, ratified by the people in the election of 1852, and rightly applied to the organization of the Territories in 1854.

3. That by the uniform application of the Democratic principle to the organization of Territories, and the admission of new States with or without domestic slavery, as they may elect, the equal rights of all the States will be preserved intact, the original compacts of the Constitution maintained inviolate, and the perpetuity and expansion of the Union insured to its utmost capacity of embracing, in peace and harmony, every future American State that may be constituted or annexed with a republican form of government.

_Resolved_, That we recognize the right of the people of all the Territories, including Kansas and Nebraska, acting through the legally and fairly expressed will of the majority of the actual residents, and whenever the number of their inhabitants justifies it, to form a constitution, with or without domestic slavery, and be admitted into the Union upon terms of perfect equality with the other States.

_Resolved_, Finally, that in view of the condition of popular institutions in the Old World (and the dangerous tendencies of sectional agitation, combined with the attempt to enforce civil and religious disabilities against the rights of acquiring and enjoying citizenship in our own land), a high and sacred duty is devolved, with increased responsibility, upon the Democratic party of this country, as the party of the Union, to uphold and maintain the rights of every State, and thereby the Union of the States; and to sustain and advance among us constitutional liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many; and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the Constitution which are broad enough and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it was, the Union as it is, and the Union as it shall be, in the full expansion of the energies and capacity of this great and progressive people.

1. _Resolved_, That there are questions connected with the foreign policy of this country which are inferior to no domestic question whatever. The time has come for the people of the United States to declare themselves in favor of free seas, and progressive free trade throughout the world, and by solemn manifestations to place their moral influence at the side of their successful example.

2. _Resolved_, That our geographical and political position with reference to the other States of this continent, no less than the interest of our commerce and the development of our growing power, requires that we should hold sacred the principles involved in the Monroe Doctrine. Their bearing and import admit of no misconstruction, and should be applied with unbending rigidity.

3. _Resolved_, That the great highway, which nature as well as the assent of States most immediately interested in its maintenance has marked out for free communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, constitutes one of the most important achievements realized by the spirit of modern times, in the unconquerable energy of our people; and that result would be secured by a timely and efficient exertion of the control which we have the right to claim over it; and no power on earth should be suffered to impede or clog its progress by any interference with relations that it may suit our policy to establish between our Government and the governments of the States within whose dominions it lies. We can, under no circumstances, surrender our preponderance in the adjustment of all questions arising out of it.

4. _Resolved_, That, in view of so commanding an interest, the people of the United States cannot but sympathize with the efforts which are being made by the people of Central America to regenerate that portion of the continent which covers the passage across the inter-oceanic isthmus.

5. _Resolved_, That the Democratic party will expect of the next administration that every proper effort be made to insure our ascendancy in the Gulf of Mexico, and to maintain permanent protection to the great outlets through which are emptied into its waters the products raised out of the soil and the commodities created by the industry of the people of our Western valleys and of the Union at large.

_Resolved_, That the administration of Franklin Pierce has been true to Democratic principles, and therefore true to the great interests of the country. In the face of violent opposition he has maintained the laws at home, and vindicated the rights of American citizens abroad; and therefore we proclaim our unqualified admiration of his measures and policy.

When Buchanan was nominated for President everything indicated his election by a very large majority and without a serious struggle. It was evident to all that the antislavery sentiment was making rapid strides in the North. The Democrats felt certain of a solid vote in the South, and they did not regard it as possible for the Republican party to unite the American and conservative Whig elements to sufficient extent to enable it to make a hopeful contest in Pennsylvania, New York, and the Western Democratic States; but very soon after the meeting of the first Republican National Convention the new party grew with such rapidity that the Democratic leaders finally looked the fact in the face that they had a very desperate and doubtful contest before them.