Competitive Pre-Civil War Cycle:
[5 Terms]
Major Parties: Whigs, Democrats, Republicans
Major 3rd Parties: Free Soil
Presidents: (W) William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, (D) James Polk, (W) Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, (D) Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan
Vice Presidents: (W) John Tyler, (D) George Dallas, (W) Millard Fillmore, (D) William Rufus King, John C. Breckinridge
Dominant Issue: Slavery symbolized over the fight of new states entering the union as free or slave.
Events: Manifest Destiny, Compromise of 1850, Mexican-American War, California Gold Rush, Bleeding Kansas, Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Invention of the Camera and Telegraph, Commodore Perry's trip to Japan and the Kanawaya Treaty, the Pony Express, Sumner-Brookes Affair, Harper's Ferry Raid, Underground Railroad
--Democrat Party Fractions: In the south two Factions formed: the Southern Democrats who were more willing to compromise to avoid war over slavery and the Fire Eater Democrats who were opposed to
compromise even if it meant war. In the north were were the Moderate Democrats who didn't care about slavery and the Barn Burner Democrats opposed to slavery who primarily used humanist arguments against it. Also in the north there was a split between the anti-Jackson Democrats who viewed his class warfare populism as the major reason for the Financial Panic of 1837 and the pro-Jackson Democrats who still supported his economic populism and viewed it more as a conspiracy by the big banks back east to undermine his policies.
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| Buchanan |
A good example of the rift was in Pennsylvania where they had two party chairmen: In the Philadelphia area the party chairman was George Dallas representing the wealthier anti-Jackson Democrats and across the backwoods of rural Pennsylvania was James Buchanan representing the pro-Jackson Democrats.
--Whig Party Factions: In the south they were the Southern Whigs who were pro-slavery and nullification but preferred compromise to war. And a sub-group known as Border State Whiggery which much
more adamant about compromise to avoid war at all costs as well as stronger proponents of Henry Clay's American System.
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| Taylor |
In the north there were the Northern Whigs who generally gave lip service against slavery but opposed any immediate ending of slavery out of fear of starting a war or if slavery ended abruptly that the economy would collapse into a depression. The Conscious Whigs were anti-slavery abolitionists who used primarily religious rhetoric against it whipped up by tent preachers of the backwoods railing against slavery as a sin and the God would punish the nation with war.
*When the Whigs would merge with the Free Soil Party to from the Republican Party, each state chapter would go by different names. Some went by Whig, some by the American Party (mostly in the south) and some by the Know-Nothing Party (mostly in the east where they were the remnants of the Anti-Masonic Party that had merged into the Whigs the previous cycle). This is why in historical lists of the 1856 election you will see Fillmore listed as any of those names for party affiliation as well as those listed as members of Congress at that time.
--Republican Party was formed by the merger of Whigs and the Free Soil Party. Their platform was basically the Free Soil platform.
3rd Party: Free Soil Party was founded on the premise of ending slavery slowly over time so as to not start a war or crash the south's.jpeg)
economy. Rather they would begin hemming it in by stooping it's expansion by demanding that all new states be free states. They operated in the north only and had seats in both the House and Senate and state and local government. They ran 2 major 3rd party campaigns netting them 10% then 5% of the vote but won no states.
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End of Cycle: Ended with the election that began the next - the election of abolitionist Abraham Lincoln.
Tickets for President:
1840:
Whig Convention: Back East in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Whig Ticket: Harrison/Tyler
President: Former Army General William Henry Harrison (Ohio)
Vice President: Former Governor John Tyler (Virginia)
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| Tyler |
*Harrison died in office and was succeeded bu Tyler.
Democrat Convention: Back East in Baltimore, Maryland
Democrat Ticket: Van Buren
President: President Martin Van Buren (New York) Vice President: No one was nominated for Vice President. The current one, Richard Johnson, was so despised by the whole party that they didn't renominate him and instead of a floor fight over his replacement they decided to let the electors in December pick who they wanted after the election so as not to fracture the party before the election. They already had their hands full with a recession.
1844:
Democrat Convention: Back East in Baltimore, Maryland
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| Polk |
Democrat Ticket: Polk/Dallas
President: Governor James K. Polk (Tennessee) Vice President: Former Philadelphia Mayor George Dallas (Pennsylvania)
Whig Convention: Back East in Baltimore, Maryland
Whig Ticket: Clay/Frelinghuysen
President: U.S. Senator Henry Clay (Kentucky) Vice President: Former U.S. Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen (New Jersey)
1848:
Whig Convention: Back East in Baltimore, Maryland
Whig Ticket: Taylor/Fillmore
President: Army General Zachary Taylor (Louisiana) Vice
President: U.S. Congressman Millard Fillmore (New York)
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| Fillmore |
*President Taylor died in office of typhoid and was succeeded by Fillmore as President.
Democrat Convention: Back East in Baltimore, Maryland
Democrat Ticket: Cass/Butler
President: Governor Lewis Cass (Michigan) Vice President: U.S. Congressman Henry Butler (Kentucky)
Free Soil Convention: Back East in Buffalo, New York
Free Soil Ticket: Van Buren/Adams
President: Former Democrat President Martin Van Buren (New Yprk) Vice President: Attorney Charles Francis Adams (Massachusetts - son of John Quincy Adams and grandson of John Adams)
1852:
Democrat Convention: Back East in Baltimore, Maryland
Democrat Ticket: Pierce/King
President: Governor Franklin Pierce (New Hampshire) Vice
President: U.S. Senator William Rufus King (Alabama)
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| Scott |
Whig Convention: Back East in Baltimore, Maryland
Whig Ticket: Scott/Graham
President: Army General Winfield Scott (New Jersey) Vice President: U.S. Navy Secretary Alexander Graham (North Carolina)
Free Soil Convention: Back East in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Free Soil Ticket: Hale/Julian
President: U.S. Senator John Hale (New Hampshire) Vice President: U.S. Congressman George Washington Julian (Indiana)
1856:
Democrat Convention: Across the Midwest in Cincinnati, Ohio
Democrat Ticket: Buchanan/Breckinridge
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| Fremont |
President: U.S. Secretary of State James Buchanan (Pennsylvania) Vice President: U.S. Congressman John Breckinridge (Kentucky)
Republican Convention: Back East in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Republican Ticket: Fremont/Dayton
President: Frontiersman John C, Fremont (California) Vice President: U.S. Senator William Dayton (New Jersey)
Whig Convention: Back East in Baltimore, Maryland
Whig Ticket: Fillmore/Donelson
President: Former President Millard Fillmore (New York) Vice President: Former Ambassador Andrew Jackson Donelson (Tennessee - nephew of former Democrat President Andrew Jackson)
Hotly Contested Election of Cycle:
1852:
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In the map above the counties for the Whig Scott are in purplish, Democrat Pierce in Yellowish-Brown and the Free Soil Hale in Turquoise.
In this election one can see the fear of War in the election results as
many Northern Whig areas flip Democrat. What happened is the Whig Scott announced that he would end Slavery by the end of his term. The Democrats nominated the Moderate Democrat Pierce on Slavery and the Southern wing of Democrats King, who was thought to be by many Southerners not all that much in for Slavery. This allowed Pierce to capitalize on fear of Scott and possible War. The Free Soil Party vote dropped from 10% to 5% likely going to the abolitionist Scott. (why vote for a 3rd party that can't win when you could vote for a major party that can--right?) But many more swing voters and Northern Whigs, terrified of the prospect of Civil War, swung for Pierce by a bigger margin offsetting any Scott gain from Free Soilers.
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| Pierce |
many Northern Whig areas flip Democrat. What happened is the Whig Scott announced that he would end Slavery by the end of his term. The Democrats nominated the Moderate Democrat Pierce on Slavery and the Southern wing of Democrats King, who was thought to be by many Southerners not all that much in for Slavery. This allowed Pierce to capitalize on fear of Scott and possible War. The Free Soil Party vote dropped from 10% to 5% likely going to the abolitionist Scott. (why vote for a 3rd party that can't win when you could vote for a major party that can--right?) But many more swing voters and Northern Whigs, terrified of the prospect of Civil War, swung for Pierce by a bigger margin offsetting any Scott gain from Free Soilers.
-Note of Interest--
grandsons, one who lived into the internet age of the 20-teens and the other into the 2020's. The Grandsons college was paid for by FDR. From "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" to the age of cyberspace.
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