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| Elections in Massachusetts |
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The 1840 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 9.
Incumbent Democratic Governor Marcus Morton, who had won election by just one vote, stood for a second term in office. He was defeated by Whig U.S. Senator John Davis.
Morton out-ran President Martin Van Buren by about 2,000 votes in the state.
This was the first election in which the Liberty Party participated.
In 1839, Governor Marcus Morton won his first election in thirteen attempts by a single vote. However, he stood at the head of a hostile Whig government which obstructed his agenda. Morton was opposed to paper currency in favor of hard specie controlled by an Independent Treasury system, critical of the state's private banking system as a "monopoly," and supportive of a general corporation law, but Whigs controlling both houses of the General Court obstructed his agenda on every count. [1]
Morton also proposed electoral reforms, including a secret ballot, an elimination of the property qualification for voting and holding office, and a reapportionment of the legislature according to population rather than assessed property value. All were rejected. [2]
Whig Senator Daniel Webster attempted to recruit former Governor Edward Everett to run again, but Everett preferred to travel Europe. U.S. Senator and former Governor John Davis ran instead. [3]
Democrats led by George Bancroft and Benjamin Hallett opened their campaign in April, as soon as Davis was announced as the Whig nominee. The Democrats accused Davis of hypocrisy in his claimed support for the "poor mechanic," given Davis's strong personal support for the Whigs' protective tariff policy, which Democrats claimed would cause "high prices for everything except labor." [4] The Democratic campaign may have been hampered by the fact that Bancroft was Davis's brother-in-law. [4]
Whigs ran a campaign focused on opposition to President Martin Van Buren, who was up for re-election, particularly over the issue of the Maine boundary dispute. One Whig, future U.S. Attorney General Caleb Cushing, even predicted that war with Great Britain was on the horizon. Whigs also campaigned against the proposal for an Independent Treasury system and in favor of their presidential candidate, the military hero William Henry Harrison. [4] The Whig Boston Atlas attacked Bancroft and Hallet and accused the entire Democratic leadership of Locofocoism, while the more moderate Advertiser focused on promoting the Whig's national economic plan. [4]
Whigs also attempted to attach the Morton campaign to the radical writings of Orestes A. Brownson, who had proposed an end to hereditary property inheritance, among other reforms. Democrats successfully distanced themselves from these proposals, but Morton did personally campaign in favor of a reduced ten-hour working day. [4]
A September 10 rally by Whigs at Bunker Hill drew an estimated 50,000 supporters from as far as Mississippi. Senator Webster and Governors William Pennington of New Jersey and William W. Ellsworth of Connecticut, among others, spoke at the rally. Another Whig rally was held at Faneuil Hall on November 7, headed by Abbott Lawrence. [4]
Late in the campaign on September 19, Bancroft launched an accusation that the Whigs were working with British capitalists, specifically the banking house Barings Brothers, to finance Harrison's campaign in exchange for the federal assumption of state debts. As support, Bancroft's Bay State Democrat cited the opinion of several London papers that Harrison's election would mean a return to a "sound and rational system." The Whigs dismissed the accusation out of hand. [4]
The newly formed Liberty Party participated in the election, but was rejected by William Lloyd Garrison and other abolitionists as insufficiently resistant to slavery. Garrison's Liberator urged opposition to all three tickets. [5]
Although Morton increased his total vote, the Whig increase was so great that he lost by over 15,000 votes. The Liberty Party also received scattering votes throughout the state. Fifty-seven towns flipped from Morton to Davis and the Democratic gains in 1839 in Whig counties largely evaporated. [6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | John Davis | 70,884 | 55.68% |  5.98 | |
| Democratic | Marcus Morton (incumbent) | 55,169 | 43.33% |  6.67 | |
| Liberty | George W. Robinson | 1,081 | 0.85% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 181 | 0.14% | 0.16 | ||
| Total votes | 127,315 | 100.00% | |||
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 1844 United States presidential election was the 15th quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, November 1 to Wednesday, December 4, 1844. Democrat James K. Polk defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest turning on the controversial issues of slavery and the annexation of the Republic of Texas. This is the only election where both major party nominees served as Speaker of the House at one point, and the first where both candidates were not in an elected office at the time.
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.
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into the western territories of the United States.
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 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 1841 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 8.
The 1838 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 12.
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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