Elections of 1836 and 1840, Essay Example

The elections of 1836 and 1840 represent the change in national attitudes that was taking place at the same time. As the nation approached the election of 1836, retiring President, Andrew Jackson, remained popular and could have likely been reelected but he decided not to run. Instead, Jackson requested that the Democrat Party nominate his Vice-President, Martin Van Buren, as the party’s candidate. The Whig Party, meanwhile, which was still in its infancy as a political party, was still not strong enough to hold a national convention[1]. The result of this failure was that the Party nominated regional candidates from the country’s three major regions (New England, South, and West) and a separate candidate from South Carolina. The Whigs did not entertain any possibility that one of its candidates could capture the election but they did hope that they could split the vote sufficiently to deny Van Buren a majority and that the election could be thrown into the House of Representatives. Jackson’s popularity and the overall good health of the nation’s economy contributed to Van Buren’s election.

It is interesting to note, however, that the election of 1836 marked the first time that the issue of slavery became an important campaign issue. Van Buren, who himself was adamantly anti-slavery, managed to downplay the issue and campaigned on a basis of making the North and South happy with his candidacy. The 1836 election, however, would be the last election until the Civil War that slavery did not figure significantly in the election outcome.

The 1840 election was notable for a variety of reasons but none more important than the fact that it marked the first time that a Whig candidate was successfully elected[2]. The Whigs turned the tables on the Democrats and presented their candidate, William Henry Harrison, as the man of the people and Van Buren as a pampered aristocrat. The Whigs borrowed this approach from the campaigns of Democrat Andrew Jackson and, in the process, created renewed interest in national politics. The numbers of participating voters from the 1836 election increased by nearly a million as the Whigs were finally able to unify themselves behind one candidate. Assisting the Whigs in their victory was the fact the nation was fighting the effects of a depression that began in 1837. The Whig victory in 1837 was so overwhelming; in fact, they were able to capture both houses of Congress and three quarter of the governships. The young Whig Party had arrived on the national scene3.

References

Donald J. Ratcliffe, “The Forgotten Origins of the Northern Whigs,” Ohio Academy of History. 2002, http://www.ohioacademyofhistory.org/2002Ratcliffe.pdf.

Miller Center at the University of Virginia, Campaign and Elections,accessed on March 28, 2012, http://millercenter.org/president/harrison/essays/biography/3.

Profiles of U.S. Presidents, Martin Van Buren – Campaign of 1840, accessed on March 28, 2012, http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Washington-Johnson/Martin-Van-Buren-Campaign-of-1840.html.