1848 Democratic National Convention

Last updated
1848 Democratic National Convention
1848 presidential election
Lewis Cass crop.jpg WilliamOButler.jpg
Nominees
Cass and Butler
Convention
Date(s)May 22–26, 1848
City Baltimore, Maryland [1]
VenueUniversalist Church [1]
Candidates
Presidential nominee Lewis Cass of Michigan
Vice presidential nominee William O. Butler of Kentucky
  1844  ·  1852  

The 1848 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from Monday May 22 to Friday May 26 in Baltimore, Maryland. [2] [3] It was held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for President and Vice president in the 1848 election. The convention selected Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan for President and former Representative William O. Butler of Kentucky for Vice President.

Contents

As incumbent Democratic President James K. Polk declined to seek re-election, the Democratic Party nominated a new presidential candidate for the 1848 election. The major competitors for the presidential nomination were Cass, Secretary of State James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and Supreme Court Justice Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire. Cass led on the first presidential ballot, and he continued to gain delegates until he clinched the nomination on the fourth ballot. Butler won the vice presidential nomination on the second ballot, defeating former Governor John A. Quitman of Mississippi and several other candidates. The Democratic ticket was defeated in the 1848 election by the Whig ticket of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore.

Proceedings

Former Speaker of the House Andrew Stevenson of Virginia was made the president (chair) of the convention.

After readopting the two-thirds rule for selecting the nominee, the assembly turned to the thorny problem of competing delegations representing different factions of the New York party. [1] The convention adopted a compromise (by a vote of 133 to 118) of splitting the thirty-six votes between the pro-Van Buren faction and the Hunkers that opposed them: Van Buren and the Barnburners promptly walked out of the convention, while the Hunkers cast blank ballots throughout.

The Democratic National Committee was established at this convention. [4]

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

Declined

The main competitors for the nomination were Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, Secretary of State James Buchanan from Pennsylvania, and Supreme Court Justice Levi Woodbury from New Hampshire. Former President Martin Van Buren also desired to become the Democratic Party's candidate in the 1848 election. Some party leaders asked William Allen to enter the contest as a compromise candidate, but he refused to run for the presidency. Instead, Allen chose to support Cass over Van Buren due to the two men's mutual support of popular sovereignty.

Van Buren withdrew before balloting began due to a dispute over the seating of the New York delegation that culminated in the convention voting that half of the state's delegates be made up of the anti-slavery "Barnburner" faction, led by Van Buren, with the remaining half from the pro-slavery "Hunker" faction.

Van Buren, knowing he had no feasible path to winning the nomination without the full support of the New York delegation, promptly led the Barnburners in walking out of the convention. Bitter and aging, Van Buren did not care despite the fact that his life had been built upon the rock of party solidarity and party regularity. He loathed Lewis Cass and the principle of popular sovereignty with equal intensity. [5] After it was further ruled the Hunkers would not be allowed to take the vacated seats of their absent Barnburner counterparts, they cast blank ballots during the voting.

On the first ballot, Cass had a large lead with 125 of the 254 delegate votes cast, with Buchanan and Woodbury receiving 55 and 53 votes respectively. [1] On the next two ballots Cass gained a simple majority, while Woodbury's total was steady and Buchanan's began to fall. After Cass received 179 votes out of 254 on the fourth ballot, the chair declared that Cass had reached the required 170 votes and was therefore nominated.

Presidential Ballot
1st2nd3rd4th
Cass 125133156179
Woodbury 53565338
Buchanan 55544033
Calhoun 9000
Worth 6551
Dallas 3300
Butler 0003
Not Voting21211818
Not Represented18181818


Vice Presidential nomination

Vice Presidential candidates

Declined

Cass/Butler campaign poster 1848DemocraticPoster.png
Cass/Butler campaign poster

Turning to the choice of a vice presidential running mate, the convention picked General William O. Butler of Kentucky [1] over General John A. Quitman of Mississippi, former Senator and Minister to France William R. King of Alabama, Secretary of the Navy John Y. Mason of Virginia, and Representative James Iver McKay of North Carolina. Before it adjourned on May 25, this convention also appointed the first Democratic National Committee. [1]

Vice Presidential Ballot
1st2nd (Before Shifts)2nd (After Shifts)
Butler 114170254
Quitman 74610
King 2690
Mason 2430
McKay 13110
Davis 100
Not Voting201818
Not Represented181818


See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Van Buren</span> President of the United States from 1837 to 1841

Martin Van Buren was an American lawyer, diplomat, 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 and 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 from 1833 to 1837, after being elected on Jackson's ticket in 1832. Van Buren won the presidency in 1836 against divided Whig opponents. Van Buren 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 anti-slavery leader who led the Free Soil Party ticket in the 1848 presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1848 United States presidential election</span> 16th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1852 United States presidential election</span> 17th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1852 United States presidential election was the 17th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 1852. Democrat Franklin Pierce defeated Whig nominee General Winfield Scott. A third party candidate from the Free Soil party, John P. Hale, also ran and came in third place, but got no electoral votes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1856 United States presidential election</span> 18th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1856 United States presidential election was the 18th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 1856. In a three-way election, Democrat James Buchanan defeated Republican nominee John C. Frémont and Know Nothing nominee Millard Fillmore. The main issue was the expansion of slavery as facilitated by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854. Buchanan defeated President Franklin Pierce at the 1856 Democratic National Convention for the nomination. Pierce had become widely unpopular in the North because of his support for the pro-slavery faction in the ongoing civil war in territorial Kansas, and Buchanan, a former Secretary of State, had avoided the divisive debates over the Kansas–Nebraska Act by being in Europe as the Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Soil Party</span> Precursor to the US Republican 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.

The Barnburners and Hunkers were the names of two opposing factions of the New York Democratic Party in the mid-19th century. The main issue dividing the two factions was that of slavery, with the Barnburners being the anti-slavery faction. While this division occurred within the context of New York politics, it reflected the national divisions in the United States in the years preceding the American Civil War.

The 1852 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from June 1 to June 5 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1852 election. The convention selected former Senator Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire for president and Senator William R. King of Alabama for vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horatio Seymour</span> 18th and 22nd Governor of New York

Horatio Seymour was an American politician. He served as Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 1868 United States presidential election, losing to Republican Ulysses S. Grant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1848 Whig National Convention</span> U.S. political event held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The 1848 Whig National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held from June 7 to 9 in Philadelphia. It nominated the Whig Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1848 election. The convention selected General Zachary Taylor of Louisiana for president and former Representative Millard Fillmore of New York for vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Van Buren</span> American lawyer and politician

John Van Buren was an American lawyer, official and politician. In addition to serving as a key advisor to his father, President Martin Van Buren, he was also Attorney General of New York from 1845 to 1847.

The 1856 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from June 2 to June 6 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1856 election. The convention selected former Secretary of State James Buchanan of Pennsylvania for president and former Representative John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for vice president.

The 1836 Democratic National Convention was held from May 20 to May 22, 1836, in Baltimore, Maryland. The convention nominated incumbent Vice President Martin Van Buren for president and Representative Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky for vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of James K. Polk</span> U.S. presidential administration from 1845 to 1849

The presidency of James K. Polk began on March 4, 1845, when James K. Polk was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1849. He was a Democrat, and assumed office after defeating Whig Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election. Polk left office after one term, fulfilling a campaign pledge he made in 1844, and he was succeeded by Whig Zachary Taylor. A close ally of Andrew Jackson, Polk's presidency reflected his adherence to the ideals of Jacksonian democracy and manifest destiny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1844 Democratic National Convention</span> U.S. political event held in Baltimore, Maryland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1849 United States Senate election in New York</span>

The 1849 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 6, 1849, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1848–49 United States Senate elections</span>

The 1848–49 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1848 and 1849, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">79th New York State Legislature</span> New York state legislative session

The 79th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 1 to April 9, 1856, during the second year of Myron H. Clark's governorship, in Albany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1848 United States elections</span>

The 1848 United States elections elected the members of the 31st United States Congress and the 12th president of the United States. The election took place during the Second Party System, nine months after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican–American War. With the issue of slavery dividing the nation, the Free Soil Party established itself as the third most powerful party in Congress. California joined the union before the next election, and elected its first congressional delegation to the 31st Congress. Whigs won the presidency, but Democrats won a plurality in the House and retained control of the Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1848 United States presidential election in New York</span>

The 1848 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 7, 1848, as part of the 1848 United States presidential election. Voters chose 36 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

National conventions of the Free Soil and Liberty parties met in 1847 and 1848 to nominate candidates for president and vice president in advance of the 1848 United States presidential election. The conventions resulted in the creation of the national Free Soil Party, a union of political abolitionists with antislavery Conscience Whigs and Barnburner Democrats to oppose the westward extension of slavery into the U.S. territories. Former President Martin Van Buren was nominated for president by the Free Soil National Convention that met at Buffalo, New York on August 9, 1848; Charles Francis Adams Sr. was nominated for vice president. Van Buren and Adams received 291,409 popular votes in the national election, almost all from the free states; his popularity among northern Democrats was great enough to deny his Democratic rival, Lewis Cass, the crucial state of New York, throwing the state and the election to Whig Zachary Taylor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Klunder, William (1996). Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. pp. 184–186. Archived from the original on 2015-10-14.
  2. "Proceedings of The Democratic National Convention". The Sun . Vol. XXIII, no. 6. May 23, 1848. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Proceedings of The Democratic National Convention. Fifth Day". The Sun . Vol. XXIII, no. 10. May 26, 1848. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  4. Smith, Melissa M.; Williams, Glenda C.; Powell, Larry; Copeland, Gary A. (2010). Campaign Finance Reform: The Political Shell Game. Lexington Books. p. 13. ISBN   9780739145678. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  5. They Also Ran, Irving Stone, pg. 263
  6. Levin Hudson Coe Archived 2018-08-07 at the Wayback Machine , Tennessee Encyclopedia, August 7, 2018
Preceded by
1844
Baltimore, Maryland
Democratic National Conventions Succeeded by
1852
Baltimore, Maryland