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| Elections in Massachusetts |
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The 1838 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 12.
Incumbent Whig Governor Edward Everett was re-elected to a fourth term in office, defeating Democrat Marcus Morton.
The newly formed temperance movement considered putting a candidate into the race but was satisfied that Everett had linked himself to their movement through his support and signature of a strict temperance law. [1]
The Whigs presented a united front in opposition to "Van Burenism." Alongside Governor Everett, the campaign was led by Senator Daniel Webster, who Whigs identified as the key Washington opponent to Van Buren. [2] Behind the scenes, however, there was a growing divide between supporters of William Henry Harrison for President in 1840, including Webster, and those who supported Henry Clay, like Abbott Lawrence. [3]
As it had in 1837, the Whig Atlas assailed Morton as an "office-seeking" judge who was "false to the spirit of the Constitution." The Atlas once more called for his impeachment, arguing that he was "annually tucking up his Judicial robes for a bout at political fisticuffs" and could not rule impartially. The journal also attacked new Collector of Boston George Bancroft and Benjamin F. Hallett as exercising "imperial control over the total Loco Focoism of the state." [3]
The Democratic campaign was led by Bancroft, who focused the effort on a radical declaration of financial principles. He attempted to recruit John Quincy Adams to the campaign, arguing that as a national bank was now out of the question, "old Federalists and Whigs" should join with Democrats against the state banking system. Adams did not respond. [4]
The Democrats once again pressed the issue of anti-Masonry, arguing that no member of the soon-defunct Anti-Masonic Party could join with the Whigs in support of the "overbearing despotism of Nicholas Biddle's Bank when... Antimasonry 'plumed itself on equal rights and free privileges among all,' and uniformly denounced corporate dictation or supremacy." [4]
During the campaign, future U.S. Senator Isaac C. Bates allegedly led a gang of Northampton Whigs in serial assaults against Mr. Munn, a local Democratic newspaper editor. [5] Whig "disorganizers" were also alleged in Gloucester, where Robert Rantoul Jr. claimed that fisherman returning from months at sea for the election were misinformed that Joseph S. Cabot was the Democratic nominee for Congress, causing a large number of votes erroneously cast in his name. [6]
Everett defeated Morton for the fourth consecutive year, but the margin narrowed from its peak in 1837. The overall turnout reached a record of 93,941, with nearly all of the gains going to Morton. [5] The result may have been attributable to Massachusetts's rapid recovery from the Panic of 1837, which was the major theme of the Whig campaign against Van Buren. [7]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | Edward Everett (incumbent) | 51,642 | 54.97% |  5.34 | |
| Democratic | Marcus Morton | 41,795 | 44.49% |  5.14 | |
| Write-in | 504 | 0.54% | 0.20 | ||
| Total votes | 93,941 | 100.00% | |||
Martin Van Buren was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he served as New York's attorney general, U.S. senator, then briefly as the ninth governor of New York before joining Andrew Jackson's administration as the tenth United States secretary of state, minister to Great Britain, and ultimately the eighth vice president when named Jackson's running mate for the 1832 election. Van Buren won the presidency in 1836, lost re-election in 1840, and failed to win the Democratic nomination in 1844. Later in his life, Van Buren emerged as an elder statesman and an important anti-slavery leader who led the Free Soil Party ticket in the 1848 presidential election.
The Whig Party was a conservative political party that existed in the United States during the mid-19th century. Alongside the slightly larger Democratic Party, it was one of the two major parties in the United States between the late 1830s and the early 1850s as part of the Second Party System. Four presidents were affiliated with the Whig Party for at least part of their terms. Other prominent members of the Whig Party include Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Rufus Choate, William Seward, John J. Crittenden, and John Quincy Adams. The Whig base of support was centered among entrepreneurs, professionals, planters, social reformers, devout Protestants, particularly evangelicals, and the emerging urban middle class. It had much less backing from poor farmers and unskilled workers.
The 1836 United States presidential election was the 13th quadrennial presidential election, held from Thursday, November 3 to Wednesday, December 7, 1836. In the third consecutive election victory for the Democratic Party, incumbent Vice President Martin Van Buren defeated four candidates fielded by the nascent Whig Party.
The 1840 United States presidential election was the 14th quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, October 30 to Wednesday, December 2, 1840. Economic recovery from the Panic of 1837 was incomplete, and Whig nominee William Henry Harrison defeated incumbent President Martin Van Buren of the Democratic Party. The election marked the first of two Whig victories in presidential elections, but was the only one where they won a majority of the popular vote.
The 1848 United States presidential election was the 16th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1848. In the aftermath of the Mexican–American War, General Zachary Taylor of the Whig Party defeated Senator Lewis Cass of the Democratic Party.
Marcus Morton was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Taunton, Massachusetts. He served two terms as Governor of Massachusetts and several months as Acting Governor following the death in 1825 of William Eustis. He served for 15 years as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, all the while running unsuccessfully as a Democrat for governor. He finally won the 1839 election, acquiring exactly the number of votes required for a majority win over Edward Everett. After losing the 1840 and 1841 elections, he was elected in a narrow victory in 1842.
John Davis was an American lawyer, businessman and politician from Massachusetts. He spent 25 years in public service, serving in both houses of the United States Congress and for three non-consecutive years as Governor of Massachusetts. Because of his reputation for personal integrity he was known as "Honest John" Davis.
The 1838–39 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between July 2, 1838 and November 5, 1839. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 26th United States Congress convened on December 2, 1839. They occurred during President Martin Van Buren's term. Elections were held for all 242 seats, representing 26 states.
The 1844 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held in Baltimore, Maryland from May 27 through 30. The convention nominated former Governor James K. Polk of Tennessee for president and former Senator George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania for vice president.
The 1839 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was a tightly-contested race won by Marcus Morton. Under Massachusetts law at the time, a majority of the votes cast was required to win, and Morton received exactly half the votes cast. Despite the presence of some irregularities, incumbent Whig Governor Edward Everett refused to contest the results once a legislative committee dominated by his party accepted a report giving Morton 51,034 votes out of 102,066 cast.
In 1840, William Henry Harrison was elected President of the United States. Harrison, who had served as a general and as United States Senator from Ohio, defeated the incumbent president, Democrat Martin Van Buren, in a campaign that broke new ground in American politics. Among other firsts, Harrison's victory was the first time the Whig Party won a presidential election. A month after taking office, Harrison died and his running mate John Tyler served the remainder of his term, but broke from the Whig agenda, and was expelled from the party.
The 1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 15. American Party candidate Henry J. Gardner was elected to his first term as governor, defeating incumbent Whig Governor Emory Washburn.
The 1840 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 9.
The 1837 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 13.
The 1836 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 14.
The 1835 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 9.
The 1834 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 10.
The 1832 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 12.
The second 1831 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 14.
The 1833–34 Massachusetts gubernatorial election consisted of a popular election held on November 11, 1833 that was followed by a legislative vote held in January 1834. The ultimate task of electing the governor had been placed before the Massachusetts General Court because no candidate received the majority of the vote that was constitutionally required for a candidate to be elected through the popular election.
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