A history of presidential elections
Stanwood, Edward, 1841-1923
Totals 762,678 Van Buren. Whig. Whig Candidate, 22,990 18,722 14,039 34,474 2,964 19,291 166,815 25,592 91,475 4,153 22,168 80,261 26,910 22,104 20,506 9,979 3,653 2,400 33,025 26,129 10,995 96,948 32,478 17,275 7,332 . 15,239 6,228 20,996 42,247 2,710 18,749 138,543 26,137 87,111 4,733 25,852 23,408 23,626 24,876 15,(il2 9,688 3,383 1,2.38 36,687 36,168 7,337 105,404  .^ . <■ Cl 1 VAN BUEEN. 119 The usual resolution for the appointment of a com- mittee to report upon the manner of conducting the count of votes was introduced in the Senate on the 26th of January, 1837. An amendment offered by Mr. Clay, and adopted by the Senate, dit-eoted -the committee also " to inquire into the expediency of ascertaining whether any votes were given at the recent election contrary to the prohibition contained in the second section of the second article of the Constitution ; and, if such votes were given, what ought to be done with them ; and whether any, and what', provision ought to be made for securing the faithful observance, in future, of that section of the Constitution." The House having assented to the resolution as thus amended, the committee reported to the Senate on the 4th of February. After remarking that the shortness of the time allowed had prevented a proper investigation of the matters referred to the committee, the report proceeds : — The correspondence which has taken place between the chair- man of the committee and the heads of the different departments of the executive branch of the government accompanies tliis report, from which it appears tliat Isaac Waldron, wlio was an. elector in New Hampshire, was, at the time of his appointment as elector, president of a deposit bank at Portsmouth, and was appointed and acting as pension agent, without compensation, under the authority of the United States ; that in two cases persons of the same names with the individuals who were appointed and voted as electors in the State of North Carolina held the offices of deputy-postmasters under the general government. It also appears that in New Hampshire tliere is one case, in Connecticut there is one case, in North Carolina there is one case, in which, from the report of the Postmaster-General, it is probable that, at the time df the appoint- ment of electors in these States, respectively, the electors, or per- sons of the same name, were deputy-postmasters. The committee have not ascertained whether the electors are the same individuals who held, or are presumed to have held, the offices of deputy- postmasters at the time when the appointment of electors waa 120 A HISTOKY OP PKESrOENTIAL ELECTIONS. made ; and this is tlie less to be regretted as it is confidently believed that no cliange in the result of the election of either the President or Vice-President would be affected by the ascertainment of the fact in either way, as five or six votes only would in any event be abstracted from the whole number; for the committee cannot adopt the opinion entertained by some that a single illegal vote would vitiate the whole electoral vote of the college of electors in which it was given, particularly in cases where the vote of the whole college has been given to the same persons. The committee are of opinion that the second section of the second article of the Constitution, which declares that no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector, ought to be carried in its whole spirit into rigid execution in order to prevent officers of the general government from bringing their official power to influence the elections of President and Vice-President of the United States. This provision of the Constitution, it is believed, excludes and disqualifies deputy-postmasters from the appointment of electors; and the disqualification relates to the time of the appointment, and that a resignation of the office of deputy-post- master after his appointment as elector would not entitle him to vote as elector under the Constitution. Should a case occur in which it became necessary to ascertain and" determine upon the qualification of electors of "President and Vice-President of the United States, the important question would be presented. What tribunal would, under the Constitution, be competent to decide ? Whether the respective colleges of electors in tlie different States should decide upon the qualifications of their own members, or Congress should exercise the power, is a question which the committee are of opinion ought to be settled by a per- manent provision upon the subject. The committee reported no bill or resolution on the subject ; but it appended to the usual resolution for count- ing the votes a second resolution, exactly like that which had been adopted in 1821 in regard to the votes of Mis- souri, to cover the new case of Michigan. This latter provoked some discussion, certain senators contending that Michigan was, and others that it was not, a State in the Union for the purposes of election, but the resolution VAN BUEEN. 121 was finally carried by a vote of 34 to 9. In the course of this debate a senator asked Mr. Grundy of Tennessee, who Pbesideht. Vice-Pkesident. STATES. d S- Cfi bo  — Missouri. 4 - - 4 - - - Ohio .. - 21  — - Michigan. 3. - - — — 3 — _ - Totals 170 73 26 14 11 147, 77 47 23 had reported the resolutions, as chairman of the joint committee, what course would have been pursued if the 122 A HISTORY OF PKESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. vote of Michigan had varied the result? Mr. Grundy replied that the gentleman could not expect him "to answer a question which the wisest of their predecessors had purposely left undetermined. What might be done under the circumstances adverted to, should they ever occur, the wisdom of the day must decide." The official count of the electoral votes is given on the preceding page. The result was announced in the alternative form pro- vided for by the joint resolution, concluding with the declaration that, whether the votes of Michigan were counted or not counted, Martin Van Bureu was elected President, and that no person had a majority of votes for Vice-President; that an election to that office had not been effected; that Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, and Francis Granger of New York, were the two highest on the lists of electoral votes, and that it devolved on the Senate to choose a Vice-President from these persons. On returning to its own chamber, the Senate adopted a resolution prescribing the manner in which an election should be made. The names of the senators were to be called in alphabetical order, and they were to vote viva voce. On the first trial, Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky was chosen by a vote of 33 to 16 for Francis Granger. This was the only occasion in our political history that the choice of the Vice-President has devolved upon the Senate. XV. THE HAEEISON CAMPAIGN. No other political canvass that has ever taken place in the United States bears even a near resemblance to the " log-cabin" and " hard-cider " campaign of 1840. It was marked by intense and extraordinary enthusiasm on the part of young men for a candidate who was close upon seventy years of age. The party which won the victory^ was a party only in name, for its only bond of union was I opposition to the administration of the day. It announced no positive principles, it had no definite policy. Yet it triumphed over the closely-organized party which had governed the country since the beginning of the century, — unless the four years' term of the second Adams is to be excepted, — strongly intrenched in the offices, and using the public patronage without scruple to perpetuate its own power. Mr. Van Buren's administration was a continuation of General Jackson's. The new President had far more political shrewdness than his predecessor, but far less per- sonal force. His public life was characterized from be- ginning to end hj finesse. He contrived to be on neither side of many of the most important questions of the day, — at least until it had become very evident which view was likely to be the more popular. But when he cast in his fortunes with Jackson, after the failure of the caucus in 1824, he supported his chief zealously and loyally, and he had his reward. The people had, however, begun to tire of Jackson before his second term expired, and Van 123 124 A HISTOEY OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION'S. Bui-en was unequal to the task of bringing them back to their allegiance. The great panic of 1837 — the direct result of the reckless financing of Jackson, of the ex- tinction of the Bank of the United States, which had given stability to the currency, of the treasury circular which required the payment of all dues of the United States in coin, and of the distribution of the surplus reve- nue — dealt a blow at the administration iu the first year of its existence. Its weakness was shown by its repeated defeats in two successive Congresses, in each of which there was a Democratic majority, upon the President's favorite scheme of establishing that anomalous institution, the Independent Treasury, — the one great measure of Mr. Van Buren's administration. Still, it would be a mistake to suppose either that Mr. Van Buren was abandoned by his party, or that his ad- ministration was an unpopular one among Democrats. On the contrary, a very large majority of them believed in him, approved his measures, and desired his re-election. They were in favor of completing the work which Jackson had begun, by divorcing the State altogether from private banking corporations. Mr. Van Buren was then, and to the end of his life, as his "Political History" shows, an enemy of banks as well asof the The Bank, the " monster " which Jackson crushed. It is extremely probable that if the issue in the canvass of 1840 had been made whoUy upon the bank question, the result would have shown that the people were with Van Buren. The Whigs were too shrewd to avow friendliness to the bank, or to any bank. They took advantage of the opposition to, and the bad results of, the Jackson-Van Buren fiscal plans, without declaring themselves in favor of restoring what had been destroyed ; and they also profited by the Southern hos- tility to the administration, without promising to reverse THE HAEKISON CAMPAIGK. 125 or to modify in any respect the policy of tlie general gov- ernment on the subject of State Eights. In short, the Democrats had principles and a policy, right or wrong, as people may think ; the Whigs were united only in con- demning, and, whatever they may have intended, what- ever they may have done or attempted to do when they were in power, they did not venture to declare principles or policy beforehand. The State elections in 1837 and 1838 resulted unfavor- ably to the Democrats. In the latter year the most of the elections of members of the twenty-sixth Congress took place ; and they were so decidedly adverse to the Democrats that only by extraordinary exertions in the spring elections of 1839 did they succeed in saving any majority at all. So close was the contest that, when the House assembled in December, 1839, there were 119 Dem- ocrats, 118 Opposition, and five members from New Jersey whose seats were contested. The certificates \\(ere held by Whigs, who were not allowed to participate in the organization. On that occasion Mr. Adams, the ex-Presi- dent, who had returned to the House of Representatives, prevented anarchy by calling the members to order and persuading . them to choose a temporary chairman, — a position which was assigned to him. Long before this, the plans of the Whigs had been form- ing ; and, two days after the assembling of Congress, the National Wliig convention met at Harrisburg, — on Dec. 4, 1839. The leaders were resolved on union, and the only question was as to the candidate who would com- mand the largest support. Mr. Clay had the advantage of a very long public service, and of having been a leader in national affairs for almost thirty years ; but he also labored under the double disadvantage of being a Free- mason, and therefore not acceptable to the faction which 126 A HISTOEX OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. still mustered many followers in the Eastern States, and of having been a conspicuous advocate of the " American system," or protective tariff, wliich was highly unpopular in the South Atlantic States. General William Henry Harrison was not a great leader ; but he had been more or less in the public service, military and civil, for nearly haH a century, and was well known throughout the coun- try. Moreover, he had made a gallant run for the presi- dency in the Northern States in 1836, and was open to neither of the objections urged against Mr. Clay. It was evident that one of these two would be selected to lead the Whig opposition. Each had his strong partisans; but not only they, but the candidates as well, were anx- ious chiefly that the Whig party should carry the election. Mr. Clay's earnest and laudable ambition to be President was not so great that he would put it before the cause. Moreover, he was aware of the objections which some Whigs entertained to him ; and, when the autumn elec- tions of 1839 indicated something of a reaction in favor of the Democrats, and the necessity of a complete union of the Opposition, he wrote, in a letter which was read at the Harrisburg convention, that, " if the deliberar tions of the convention shall lead them to the choice of another as the candidate of the Opposition, far from feel- ing any discontent, the nomination will have my best wishes and receive my cordial support." He further begged his friends to " discard all attachnient or par- tiality to me, and be guided solely by the motive of res- cuing our country from the dangers which now encom- pass it." Already, during the preceding summer, he had said in an address at Buffalo : " If my name creates any obstacle to union and harmony, away with it,~ and concen- trate upon some individual more acceptable to all branches of the Opposition." The action of the great " union and THE HAEEISON CAMPAIGN. 127 harmony" convention of Pennsylvania, held at Harris- burg on the 4th of September, probably did much to concentrate the Whig forces on Harrison, for, while that convention extolled Clay in extravagant phrases, it ex- pressed the opinion that only General Harrison could unite the anti-Van Buren party. Delegates appeared at the Whig convention from twenty-two States. South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Arkansas were not represented. On tlie second day of the convention, an organization was effected by the choice of Governor J. Barbour of Virginia as president. After a long debate, a plan of nomination was agreed upon. As this scheme was very peculiar, and is now quite obsolete, the order of the convention is given en- tire : — That the delegates from each State be requested to assemble as a delegation, and appoint a committee, not exceeding three In num- ber, to receive the views and opinions of such delegation, and communicate the same to the assembled committees of all the delegations, to be by them respectively reported to their principals. And that thereupon the delegates from each State be requested to assemble as a delegation, and ballot for candidates for the offices of President and Vice-President, and, having done so, to commit the ballot designating the votes of each candidate, and by whom given, to its committee. And thereupon all the committees shall assemble and compare the several ballots, and report the result of the same to their several delegations, together with such facts as may bear upon the nomination. And said delegations shall forth- with reassemble and ballot again for candidates for the above offices, and again commit the result to the above committees; and if it shall appear that a majority of the ballots are for any one man for candidate for President, said committee shall report the result to the convention for its consideration. If there shall be no such majority, then the delegations shall repeat the balloting until such a majority shall be obtained, and then report the same to the convention for its consideration. That the vote of a major- ity of each delegation shall be reported as the vote of that State. 128 A HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. And each State represented here shall vote its full electoral vote by sueh delegation in the committee." It will be observed tbat this rule bears a resemblance to, although it was not precisely like, the "unit rule," which has caused so much trouble in Republican and Democratic conventions since that time. The action of the committees and of the delegations was not to be bind- ing upon the convention until accepted by it. The scheme was adopted as a method of learning what candi- date would be most acceptable to the States. An effort was made the next day, by Mr. Cassius M. Clay of Ken- tucky, to secure a reversal of the decision ; but the conven- tion adhered to its former resolution by a strong vote. The action of the committees and delegations is not a part of the official record ; but it is known that on the first informal ballot, in which the wish of each delegate was expressed, without unifying the votes of the States, Mr. Clay had a small plurality. On the first ballot by States, Mr. Clay had 103, Genei-al Harrison 94, and Gen- eral Winfield Scott 57. After repeated ballotings, late on Friday evening, the third day of the convention, a report was made by the committees that they had agreed upon a candidate. General Harrison had 148, Mr. Clay, 90, and General Scott, 16. On the next day a resolution was introduced declaring General Harrison the nominee of the convention, and it was supported in enthusiastic speeches by many of the friends of Clay. While the jubilee was still going on, the committees which had been con- sidering the question of Vice-President, made a report that John Tyler had received the unanimous vote of the convention. His name was thereupon joined to that of General Harrison in the pending resolution, and the vote was carried amid a whirl of enthusiasm. The convention then adjourned, without having given expression to the THE HARIIISON CAMPAIGN. 129 principles of the party which it represented, in any form. Even' in tlie many speeches made during the four days' session, there was hardly a positive assertion of a principle made by any delegate. It was all hatred and opposition to Van Buren and the " Loco-Focos." The nomination was received with great enthusiasm by the Opposition. Meeting after meeting was held in many States, and the candidacy of the "Old Hero of Tij)pecanoe" was noisily ratified. The Whigs prepared to shout and sing their candidate into office. In February, 1840, the Whig Convention of Ohio at Columbus was made the occasion of a great "demonstration," a procession with , banners, representations of log-cabins, coon-skins, pictures of the " old hero " drinking a mug of hard cider, and other equally logical appeals to the political sound sense of the voters of Ohio. A still more imposing affair was the great procession in Baltimore, on the 4th of May, in con- nection with the National Convention of young men, which was nicely timed to occur simultaneously with the Democratic Convention in the same city. An excellent illustration of the political eloquence of the time is afforded by the ostentatious failure of the Baltimore "Patriot" to express the emotions which this great procession excited ; but the editor certainly tried to do his subject justice. Monday was a proud day for Baltimore, for Maryland, for the Union. It was a day on which the Young Whigs of all tlie States were to meet in grand convention. Never before was seen such an assemblage of the people, in whose persons are concentrated the. sovereignty of the government. In the language of the president of the day, — ^^ Every mountain sent its rill, — evbht valley its STREAM,— and, Lo! THE AVALANCHE OF THE PEOPLE IS HERE!" It is impossible to convey the slightest idea of the sublime spec- tacle presented by the procession as it moved through the city. All that pen could write, all that the mouth of man could speak, 130 A HISTOBY 0¥ PEESID ENT [AL ELECTIONS. all that the imagination can conceive of beauty, grandeur, and sub- limity, would fall short, far short of the reality. The excitement, the joy, the enthusiasm which everywhere prevailed, lighting up the countenance of every man in the procession ; the shouts, the applause, the cheers, of those who filled the sidewalks and crowded the windows; the waving of handkerchiefs by the ladies; the re- sponsive cries of the people; the flaunting banners; the martial music; the loud roar, at intervals, of the deep-mouthed cannon, — all these and more, much more, must be described, seen in the mind's eye, vibrate through the frame, fill the heart, before the reader can approach to any conception of the reality ; and when all these are done, if they were possible, he has still but a faint and meagre impression of the scene that was presented. In no countiy, in no time, never before in the history of man, was there a spec- tacle so full of " natural glory." The aged veteran, whose declining years forbade his joining the procession, looked on ; his feeble voice went to swell the general shout that penetrated even to the blue vault of heaven ; his hand waved above his head, whilst down his furrowed cheek ran tears, the overflowing of a heart full even to bursting with joy and happiness and gladness, of all that goes to make up life's best pleasures, and these crowded, as it were, into one moment. The father, who brought bis children to see the patriots of the land ; the mother to look upon her son, one of the patriot crew ; the sister to behold the brother give vent to his youthful and extravagant joy, — were all there, and all went to make up the spectacle. Standing on an eminence commanding a view of the line of the procession in the whole extent of Baltimore Street, you beheld a moving mass of human beings. A thousand banners, burnished by the sun, floating in the breeze, ten thousand hand- kerchiefs waved by the fair daughters of the city, gave seeming life and motion to the very air. An epitaph of glory for the tomb Of murdered Europe, may thy fame be made, Great people ! as the sand Shalt thou become ! Thy growth is swift as morn, when night must fade; The multitudinous earth sha;ll sleep beneath thy shade. Thus much we may say in reference to what words can describe the procession to be, not what it was; for the reality we must give tlie dry details of the programme by which it was arranged. We can give nothing of the living spectacle, we can give nothing of the joy and gladness which, — Spread through the multitudinous streets fast flying Upon the wings of hope — from house to house replying With loud acclaim; the living shook heaven's cope. And flUed the earth with echoes ! We can give nothing of these, and here all fail; but we must essay to present the scene, as far as feeble words can do it. The procession does really seem to have been a grand affair, and there were numerous emblems of the Whigs, — log-cabins, barrels of hard cider, brooms to sweep the Augean stables, and others which it would be tedious to enumerate. The poet was with the Whigs that year. Among the mottos on the banners was this : — Farewell, dear Van, You 're not our man ; To guide the ship, We '11 try old Tip. But quite enough has been said to show the character of the canvass on the side of the Opposition, and we turn to the course of the Administration and its friends. The 132 A HISTOBY OF rRESDDENTrAL ELECTIONS. party was not united ou a candidate for the vice-presi- dency, and it was seen very early that any attempt to unite it would result in failure. Colonel Johnson had not been altogether popular with the Democrats, and it was certain that if he were nominated he would not be able to com- mand the strength of the party. . On the other hand his friends were by no means disposed to submit to his defeat. Inasmuch as the party was united in the support of Van Buren for the first place, there was a cry that there was no need of a convention. The people, it was urged, have ah"eady spontaneously nominated the President, and the vice-presidency is safe in the hands of a Democratic Senate, which had already once elected Colonel Johnson. A list was made of ten States whicli already had declined, or would decline, to send representatives to a national con- vention. By some of them Mr. Van Buren had even then been nominated for the presidency in conjunction with William R. King of Alabama for the second jilace, while elsewhere Mr. Johnson was nominated for re-election. James K. Polk of Tennessee and L. W. Tazewell of Virginia also received nominations more or less important for the position. But once more 'New Hampshire issued a call for a national convention, to be held at Baltimore on the 5th of May. Delegates from twenty-one States responded. The States not represented were Connecticut, Delaware, Vir- ginia, South Carolina, and Illinois. But some of the States were represented by only one or two persons. Massachu- setts sent but one delegate. Governor William Carroll of Tennessee was chosen president of the convention, and, pending the preparation of business, there was an abun- dance of speech-making. All who addressed the conven- tion were sure that a great victory for the Democratic party was impending, and each tried to outdo the rest in jeering at the Whigs. The gi-eat procession of the day THE HAEEISON CAMPAIGN. 133 before was referred to as an " animal show ; " the "Whigs were laughed at for shutting up their candidate and not allowing him the use of jjen and ink; and one speaker said that he had tried to get an introduction to some of the log-cabin men in the procession "for the purpose of feeling their soft, delicate hands," but " as soon as he had done so he was pretty careful to put his hand on his purse." On the second day of the convention the committee on resolutions reported the following platform of principles : — 1. Besolved, That the federal government is one of limited powers derived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of povrer shown therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments an^ agents of the government, and that it is inexpe- dient and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. 2. jResolved, That the Constitution does not confer upon the general government the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal improvement. 3. Eexohed, 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 improve- ments, 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 eveiy section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon an equality of rights and privileges, and to complete and ample protection of person and property from domestic violence or foreign aggi'ession. 5. Besolved, That it is.the duty of every branch of the govern- ment 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 govern- ment. 6. Besolved, That Congress has no power to charter a United States Bank; that we believe such an institution one of deadly 134 A HISTOKY OP PBBSIDENTIAIi ELECTIONS. hostility to tlie best interests of the country, dangerous to our Republican institutions and the liberties of the peoijle, and calcu- lated 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. Eesohed, That Congress has no power, under the Constitu- tion, 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 witli 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 om" political institutions. 8. Besolved, That the separation of the moneys of the govern- ment from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the government and the rights of the people. 9. Besolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Consti- tution, which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the Democi'atio faith; and every attempt to abridge the present privi- lege of becoming citizens and the owners of soil among us ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the Alien and Sedi- tion laws from our statute-book. A committee, which had been appointed on the preced- ing day, to consider and report " upon the subject of the nominations of President and Vice-President," made a report, through Mr. C. M. Clay of Alabama, in the shape of two resolutions, to each of which a preamble was pre- fixed. The first, reciting that Mr. Van Buren had received numerous nominations, and that he was the unanimous choice of the party and the convention, resolved, that he should be presented as the Democratic candidate for the office of President. The second, reciting the fact that THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN. 135 several gentlemen had been put in nomination for the vice-presidency; that some of the States presenting these candidates were not represented in the convention ; and that all of them, by their discharge of public trusts, had shown themselves worthy to be elected to the office, — Besolved, 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 fellow-citizens in tlie 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. The first resolution was adopted unanimously, without- debate. The second was opposed, and debated at some length ; but when it appeared that the differences among the delegates were really irreconcilable, opposition ceased, and the second resolution was also unanimously adopted. An address to the people was then accepted, on the re- port of a committee, and after more speech-making the convention came to an end. There was another convention, small in numbers and local in character, which made a third nomination for the office of President. Although the party cast but few votes in 1840, it is mentioned here as the beginning of great things. It was the Abolition party, which held a convention at Warsaw, Genesee County, New York, at the beginning of December, 1839, and nominated James G. Birney of New York for President, and Francis J. Lemoyne of Pennsylvania for Vice-President. The ques- tion of slavery had been very much discussed in Congress and by the press for many years, but the issue was not yet - a really important one in presidential elections. As will be seen from the platform of the Democrats, that party was ready to take its stand against any federal interfer- ence with slavery; but the Whigs were not, as long as 136 A HISTORY OF PEESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. they constituted a party, willing to make an issue with the Democrats on that subject. What the canvass had been from the beginning it con- tinued to be to the end. On the part of the Whigs it was a season of great and enthusiastic meetings- and stump- speeches. So far was it from being true that General Harrison was shut up by his political friends, that he even ajDpeared on the stump himself, at several j)laces in Ohio, and spoke at length. It is commonly supposed, at the present day, and sometimes said, that no candidate of a great party ever advocated his own election to the presi- dency in public addresses ; but General Harrison did so in September and October, 1840, at Urbana, Dayton, Chil- licothe, Columbus, and other places. In an address at Carthage, on August 20, he explicitly asserted tlie right of the jDeoj^le to discuss any subject, and to petition Con- gress for the redress of any grievance, including that of slavery; and for this he was roundly denounced as an Abolitionist. The Democrats wei-e unable to understand, and still more unable to look with patience upon, the shouting campaign of the Harrison men. They affected to treat the party and its candidate with contempt, but they were really very angry and very much alarmed. As State after State upon whose electoral vote they had counted gave the Whigs a majority, they became more desperate. They could not and would not believe what was going to happen, and predicted that "the bubble would burst " before November. That was a time when political slang was more current than it was ever before or has been since. The phrases, " Crow, Chapman, crow," " The ball is rolling on," " Clear the kitchen," with nu- merous variations, and similar exjaressions, are still remem- bered by the men, now old, who took part in that famous THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN. 137 ^anvass. The Whig song to the tune of " The Little Pig's Tail " has become historical, with its chorus : — ' >^or Tippecanoe and Tyler too — Tippecanoe and Tyler too; And with them we '11 beat little Van, Van, Van is a used up man; And with them we'll beat little Van." The shouts of the Whigs over their success in Vermont, Kentucky, Maine, Ohio, and other States had hardly ceased ringing when the presidential election began. It was required, however, to be made within thirty-four days preceding the meeting of the electors. The election began in Pennsylvania and Ohio, on the 30th of October, and ended in North Carolina, on the 12th of November, so far as popular elections were concerned. South Caro- lina, whose legislature made the choice of the electors for that State, appointed them a fortnight later. But it was evident as soon as the returns of Pennsylvania were in, showing a large gain for the Whigs, even since the State election, four weeks before, that Harrison was to be Presi- dent. The popular vote was as follows : — 138 A HISTORY OP PEESIDENTIAI, ELECTIONS. Bime^L! STATES. Maine . .. New Hampshire Vermont .. Massachusetts. Bhode Island. Connecticut New York .. New Jersey .. Pennsylvania. Delaware . , Maryland .. Virginia . .. North Carolina South Carolina* Georgia . ,. Alabama .. Mississippi .. Louisiana .. Kentucky .. Tennessee .. Missouri . .. Arkansas .. Ohio .... Indiana . .. Illinois , .. Michigan ,. Totals . .. Harrisou, 46,612 26,163 32,440 72,874 5,278 31,601 225,817 33,851 144,021 5,967 33,528 42,501 46,376 40,261 28,471 19,518 11,296 58,489 60,391 22,972 5,160 148,157 65,302 45,537 22,933 1,275,016 Van Buren. 31,921 33,991 16,995 7,616 32,616 48,289 29,760 6,766 124,782 51,604 47,476 21,131 1,129,102 40,201 194 32,761 126 18,018 319 51,944 1,621 3,301 42 25,296 174 212,527 2,808 31,034 09 143,672 343 4,874 - 28,752 - 43,893 - 33,782 - 149 321'; 7,069 * By Legislature. The electoral count was conducted in the usual manner, and there was no incident to mark the proceedings. The result was declared as follows : — THE HARBISON CAMPAIGN. 139 STATES. Pbesident. § Vice-Pbesident. Maine . .. New Hampshire. Vermont .. Massachusetts Bhode Island. Connecticut. New York .. New Jersey. Pennsylvania. Delaware .. Maryland .. Virginia . .. North Carolina South Carolina Georgia . .. Alabama .. Mississippi.. Louisiana .. Kentucky .. Tennessee .. Missouri .. Arkansas .. Ohio .... Indiana . .. Illinois . .. Michigan .. Totals .. 10 7 14 4 8 ■42 8 30 3 10 15 11 4 5 15 15 21 9 234 23 11 10 7 14 4 8 42 '8 30 3 10 15 11 22 11 4 _ 5 - 15 _ 15 _ _ 4 _ 3 21 - 9 - 60 234 48 11 XVI. THE FIKST "DAEK HORSE." The canvass for the election of 1844 may be said to have begun before Harrison was inaugurated as President on the 4th of March, 1841. The Democrats, disgusted as well as angry at the success of the Whigs, ascribing it in one breath to fraud and in the next to the momentary madness of the peojjle, were resolved to bring forward Mr. Van Buren again, and to elect him. The spu-it of the party at that time is illustrated by an incident. A St. Louis paper placed Mr. Van Buren's name at the head of its columns as a Candidate in 1844, and "nailed its colors to the mast," almost as soon as the result of the election of 1840 was known. Thereupon Senator Benton wrote a letter of commendation to the editor, saying that the Democratic party had won a victory twice before, after its only two national defeats, by adopting at once the can- didate in whose person it had suffered a reverse. Mr. Benton, it is true, had been an ardent admirer and unwav- ering follower of Jackson, and had transferred his allegi- ance in all its fervor to Jackson's political heir ; but, as subsequent events indicated, an overwhelming majority of the party took the same view of i^olitical policy and duty during the next three years. The Whigs were doomed to a sad disappointment. One month after General Harrison took the oath of ofBce he died, and John Tyler became President. Congress was summoned in extra session on the 31st of May, 1841. Among the first subjects to which the attention of Con- gress was called by the President was the question what 140 THE FIRST DARK HORSE. 141 should be substituted for the sub-treasury system, — a finan- cial device which had certainly been condemned by the popular voice in the then recent elections. It would be profitless, if this were the place for such a discussion, to consider whether Mr. Tyler gave the Whigs to undei^ stand that he would sign some bill creating a bank, or not. What is certain is that the Whigs thought he gave them such an assurance ; but when a bill which they supposed to have been drawn in accordance with his views was presented to him for approval he vetoed it, and the Whig majority was not strong enough to pass it over the veto. A second bill was jirepared, after ,a con- ference with the President, submitted to him after it was drafted and approved, and then passed without the altera- tion of a word. The President, possibly in a fit of very natural anger at a letter written by John M. Botts, a leading Whig member from Virginia, which was pub- lished by a breach of confidence, in which Mr. Botts spoke of Mr. Tyler's " turns and twists " with contempt, vetoed that also. It is needless to say that this act was I'eceived with uncontrollable indignation by the Whigs throughout the country. All the members of the cabinet except Mr. Webster, the Secretary of State, who retained oflice for reasons which were apjsroved by the Whigs, resigned. A caucus of members of the Senate and House of Re[)rc- sentatives adopted an address in which they announced that all political alliance between them and John Tyler was at an end, and that henceforth " those who brought the President into power can no longer, in any manner or degree, be j ustly held responsible or blamed for the admin- istration of the executive branch of the government." It is matter of history that Mr. Tyler continued to the end of his term to be what his early acts as President had in- 142 A HISTOKY OF PEESIDBNTIAL ELECTIONS. dicated that he would be. It may be said that he was what his whole political life had indicated that he would be. The only inconsistency of which he was guilty was in supposing, honestly no doubt, that he was " a firm and decided Whig," when he was opposed to a bank, opposed to a protective tariff, opposed to the distribution of the proceeds of the public lands, opposed to internal improve- ments, and devoted to the principle of " strict construc- tion " of the Constitution. The Whigs had not, to be sure, formally professed different principles from his in reso- lutions adopted by a national convention ; but they were really unanimous, or substantially so, in holding all the views from which he dissented. Whatever part an ambition to be i-e-elected, not by the Whigs, but by the Democrats, had in determining Mr. 