Chapter 13 of 48 · 3946 words · ~20 min read

Part 13

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