1840 Liberty Party The opening of the Presidential campaign of this year was signalized by the appearance of a new political organization, the Abolition, or Liberty, party. On November 13, 1839, it held a convention at Warsaw, New York, which adopted the following: "Resolved, That, in our judgment, every consideration of duty and expediency which ought to control the action of Christian freemen requires of the Abolitionists of the United States to organize a distinct and independent political party, embracing all the necessary means for nominating candidates for office and sustaining them by public suffrage." James G. Birney, of New York, was nominated for President, and Francis J. Le Moyne, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President; both declined-Birney because the convention was not a national body held for nominating purposes, LeMoyne on account of modesty.1 A national nominating convention of Abolitionists met in Albany, New York, April 1, 1840, six States being represented. Nominations:-President, James G. Birney, of New York; Vice-President, Thomas Earle, of Pennsylvania. Although the organization which originally was 1See McMaster, A History of the People of the United States, vol. vi, P. 569. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK known as the Abolition or Liberty party, and afterward was merged into the Free Soil party, participated in all the Presidential contests from 1840 until the appearance of the Republican party, neither it nor the Free Soil organization ever carried a State for President or secured a single Electoral vote. It held positive antislavery views, based upon moral principle; but nevertheless claimed to pursue a policy of constitutional foundation and proceeding, as opposed to the avowed disunionism of the Garrisonians, who took their stand on the doctrine that the Constitution was "a covenant with death and an agreement with hell." In spite of the smallness of this new party's vote, its ideas exercised a growing influence upon political thought, particularly as the result of the startling events that followed the Mexican War. Opinions differ concerning the extent to which the modern Republican party is to be regarded as having originated from it. In view of the historical interest of this question, the successive national platforms of the Abolitionists and Free Soilers will be given in full (see 1844, 1848, and 1852). Whig Party National convention held at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, December 4-7, 1839; temporary chairman, Isaac C. Bates, of Massachusetts; permanent chairman, James Barbour, of Virginia; twenty-two States represented. A novel method of nomination was adopted. Instead of balloting in the full convention, a "committee of the whole" was appointed, consisting of not more than three delegates from each State; these delegates then met, received the ballots of their respective States, and made the footings but did not report to the convention until a nomination was effected. After a protracted struggle William Henry Harrison was chosen as the candidate, receiving on the final ballot 148 votes to 90 for Henry Clay and 16 for Winfield Scott, of New Jersey. John Tyler was unanimously nominated for Vice-President. No platform. Democratic Party National convention met in Baltimore, May 5, 1840; temporary chairman, Isaac Hill, of New Hampshire; permanent chairman, William Carroll, of Tennessee; twenty-one States represented. Martin Van Buren was renominated for President unanimously. Owing to serious disagreements about the Vice-Presidency, no one was named for that office, but a resolution was adopted which left the decision to the States, the hope being expressed "that before the election shall take place this opinion will become so concentrated as to secure the choice of a Vice-President by the Electoral College." The first national platform to be promulgated by the Democratic party was adopted by this convention, as follows: "1. Resolved, That the Federal government is one of limited powers, derived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of power shown therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK and agents of the government, and that it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. "2. Resolved, That the Constitution does not confer upon the general government the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal improvements. "3. Resolved, That the Constitution does not confer authority upon the Federal government, directly or indirectly, to assume the debts of the several States contracted for local internal improvements or other State purposes; nor would such assumption be just or expedient. "4. Resolved, That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal government to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another, or to cherish the interests of one portion to the injury of another portion of our common country; that every citizen and every section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon an equality of rights and privileges, and to complete and ample protection of person and property from domestic violence or foreign aggression. "5. Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the government to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the government. "6. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a United States Bank; that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the best interests of the country, dangerous to our republican institutions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place the business of the country within the control of a concentrated money power and above the laws and the will of the people. "7. Resolved, That Congress has no power under the Constitution to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the Constitution; that all efforts by Abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people and endanger the stability and permanence of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend of our political institutions. "8. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the government from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the government and the rights of the people. "9. Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitution, which make ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith; and every attempt to abridge the present privilege of becoming citizens and the owners of soil among us ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the Alien and Sedition laws from our statute-book." The most significant feature of this platform was its recognition of the anti-slavery agitation, which, on account of the continual presentation of petitions to Congress with special reference to the demanded abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and the circulation of Abolitionist literature through the mails, had begun to rise to national prominence. In addition to the direct expression on the subject made in the seventh resolution, other planks were so worded as authoritatively to establish the Democratic creed of strict adherence to the Constitution and the protection of property rights accordingly. The Election 'The Democratic party suffered from a widespread reaction of popular sentiment, resulting in its first national defeat. An aggressive campaign was waged by the Whigs from the start, which soon became marked by immense popular enthusiasm for Harrison. This |