Part 7

═══════════════╤═════════════════════════════╦═════════════════════════════════════════════ │ 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.