1844 Whig National Convention

Convention chairman

Ambrose Spencer served as chairman of the convention, taking over from Arthur S. Hopkins, who was temporary chairman in the early stages of planning.

Presidential nomination

President John Tyler had been expelled from the party and the delegates searched for a new nominee. President Tyler's break with the Whig Party, combined with Daniel Webster's decision to serve in the Tyler administration, positioned Clay as the leading contender for the Whig nomination in the 1844 presidential election. At the convention, Clay was nominated unanimously.

Nomination

Vice presidential nomination

Candidates

Source:

File:Theodore Frelinghuysen - Brady-Handy.jpg|Former Mayor Theodore Frelinghuysen of New Jersey File:John Davis daguerreotype by Mathew Brady 1849.jpg|Governor John Davis of Massachusetts File:Millard Fillmore.jpg|Former Representative Millard Fillmore of New York File:Thomas Sully - John Sergeant - NPG.84.179 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg|Former Representative John Sergeant of Pennsylvania File:JMiddletonClayton-SecofState.jpg|Former Senator John M. Clayton of Delaware (Withdrawn) File:Senator George Evans of Maine.jpg|Senator George Evans of Maine (Withdrawn) File:JMcLean.jpg|Former Associate Justice John McLean of Ohio (Withdrawn)

Clayton, Evans, and McLean withdrew themselves from consideration before the first round of balloting had commenced. After three rounds of voting, Theodore Frelinghuysen – "the Christian Statesman" – was selected as Clay's running mate. An advocate of colonization of emancipated slaves, he was acceptable to southern Whigs as an opponent of the abolitionists. His pious reputation balanced Clay's image as a slave-holding, hard-drinking duelist. Their party slogan was the bland "Hurray, Hurray, the Country's Risin' – Vote for Clay and Frelinghuysen!"

Nomination

Maps

File:1844 Whig National Convention 1st vice presidential ballot.svg|1st vice presidential ballot: results by state File:1844 Whig National Convention 2nd vice presidential ballot.svg|2nd vice presidential ballot: results by state File:1844 Whig National Convention 3rd vice presidential ballot.svg|3rd vice presidential ballot: results by state

Platform

Clay, a slaveholder, presided over a party in which its Southern wing was sufficiently committed to the national platform to put partisan loyalties above slavery expansionist proposals that might undermine its north–south alliance. The Whig party leadership was acutely aware that any proslavery legislation advanced by its southern wing would alienate its anti-slavery northern wing and cripple the party in the general election. In order to preserve their party, Whigs would need to stand squarely against acquiring a new slave state. As such, Whigs were content to restrict their 1844 campaign platform to less divisive issues such as internal improvements and national finance. Clay himself had previously stated that he was opposed to the annexation of Texas.

Notes

References

Bibliography

References

1. (1962). "The United States of America: A History". Macmillan.
2. (30 Apr 1844). "30 Apr 1844, 4 - The Baltimore Sun at Newspapers.com". The Baltimore Sun.
3. Havel, James T.. (1996). "U.S. Presidential Elections and the Candidates: A Biographical and Historical Guide". Simon & Schuster.
4. Kane, Joseph. (1959). "Facts about the Presidents: A Compilation of Biographical and Historical Data". H W Wilson.
5. (2010). "Henry Clay: The Essential American". Random House.
6. Wilentz, 2008, p. 569: The Whig convention "unanimously approved Clay's nomination"..."a thoroughly joyous and exciting affair."
7. Wilentz, 2008, p. 569: The Whig convention [of 1844] in Baltimore, which assembled on May 1..."
8. (May 3, 1844). "Whig National Convention". New-York Daily Tribune.
9. Finkelman, 2008, p. 21: "...as an avid colonizationist [Freylinghuysen's] conservative views on slavery made him acceptable to southerners, and at the convention, almost all southern delegates voted for him." And p. 19-20: "...he was clearly an opponest of the abolitionists."
10. Finkelman. 2011, p. 17, p. 21: Freylinghuysen "the perfect northerner to balance the somewhat sordid reputation of the slaveowning, dueling, hard-drinking Clay."
11. Wilentz, 2008, p. 569: Freylinghuysen served to "offset Clay's reputation for moral laxity..."
12. Finkelman. 2011, p. 22: The "less than snappy slogan..."
13. (May 10, 1844). "National Whig Convention [...]". Vermont Phoenix.
14. Finkelman. 2011, p. 18: "In Congress, the Whigs had blocked Texas annexation, with southern Whigs joining their northern colleagues...who opposed Texas annexation because of slavery."
15. Wilentz, 2008, p. 569: The Whig platform "did not even mention Texas..."
16. Freehling, 1991, p. 426-427: "Southern Whigs thus had to weigh the possibility that Texas might be abolitionized [by Great Britain] against the certainty that campaigning for [Texas] annexation would split their party."
17. Wilentz, 2008, p. 568-569: "The Texas issue struck [Clay] as a giant distraction from the real issues...internal improvements, the tariff and the rest of the American System..." and "ratified a four-part unity platform" based on the "American System."
18. Freehling, 1991, p. 353, p. 355, p. 436
19. Finkelman. 2011, p. 22: "The Whigs wanted to talk about the tariff and currency, which were no longer exciting issues."
20. Freehling, 1991, p. 427: "Clay...would halt annexation unless Mexico assented. He would also deny Texas entrance in the Union, no matter whether Mexico agreed, should 'a considerable and respectable portion' of the American people "express 'decided opposition'"