Election of 1864ABAA
213 résultats
186436781New York 1864. Broadside 9" x 8-3/8." Lightly foxed. lower margin browned Good<br/><br/> McClellan the 1864 Democratic Party presidential candidate is depicted as a lion. His running mate George Pendleton as a lamb; and a wizard-like Sammy Barlow as their handler. "Sammy Barlow" is Samuel Latham Mitchell Barlow 1826-1889 an owner of the New York World newspaper a successful lawyer and a noisy Democrat-Copperhead. He is occasionally called "Sammy Barlow" in satiric verse "the great peace-shrieker of New York city" vociferously advocating a Copperhead platform Philadelphia Evening Telegraph 24 September 1864.<br/>Not in Reilly or Weitenkampf. Located at the online sites of Library Company of Philadelphia Brown University and Free Library of Philadelphia which identifies the artist as Henry Louis Stephens a New Yorker . OCLC 77530460 1- Lincoln Pres. Lib. as of June 2020. unknown books
184838376Augusta GA: Printed at the Office of the Chronicle and Sentinel 1848. 32pp. Light toning and foxing. Frontis portrait of Taylor with facsimile inscription "Your obt Servt Z. Taylor." Good or better in later quarter morocco and modern marbled paper over boards. <br /> <br /> No consulted source records this Georgia printing among the several issues of this item with several variations in title. The Chronicle & Sentinel published at Augusta during the years 1837-1876. <br /> This Whig campaign document presents Taylor a Louisiana planter as the hero of the Mexican War. He surely had no other qualifications for the Presidency having never even previously voted. But it was enough for the Whigs to capture the Presidency for the second and last time. <br /> Not in Wise & Cronin Taylor Miles De Renne Sabin Eberstadt Decker. <br /> bound with SPEECH OF JOHN M. CLAYTON OR DELAWARE IN DEFENCE OF ZACHARY TAYLOR. Washington: 1848. 16pp. Caption title as issued. A few fox marks Very Good.<br /> bound with Botts John Minor: TO THE WHOLE WHIG PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES. Washington: Gideon. 1848. 16pp. Caption title as issued. Light wear and fox Good. <br /> The Virginia Whig argues that Henry Clay not the Mexican War hero Zachary Taylor should be the Whigs' presidential nominee in 1848. Botts argues that Clay is the embodiment of Whig principles; Taylor stands for nothing discernible. <br /> Sabin 6832n. Not in Haynes Tutorow Haferkorn.<br /> bound with Botts John Minor: TO THE WHIGS OF VIRGINIA. Washington: Gideon. 1848. 15 1 blank pp. Caption title as issued. Foxed Good. <br /> Botts supports Henry Clay the Party's candidate in 1844. Botts analyzes the vote in the 1844 election "when the largest Whig vote ever cast in the State was given for Mr. Clay." Taylor has made it clear that if nominated he will not be bound by Whig doctrines. <br /> Sabin 6832n.<br /> bound with GREAT WHIG DEMONSTRATION IN FAVOR OF THE NOMINATION OF GEN. TAYLOR TO THE PRESIDENCY. THE BUENA VISTA FESTIVAL AT PHILADELPHIA FEBRUARY 22 1848. Washington: Gideon. 1848. Caption title as issued 32pp. Printed in double columns. Very Good.<br /> "Nothing superior in the way of a Political Festival has occurred in this city for many years. All point to ZACHARY TAYLOR AS AN UNDOUBTED WHIG as THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE and capable to bear the Whig standard- as he bore the National Flag at Buena Vista." A lineup of distinguished Whigs gets on the Taylor bandwagon all showcased in this rare campaign pamphlet.<br /> Not in Eberstadt Decker Sabin Miles. OCLC 32271765 1- DLC as of May 2022. Printed at the Office of the Chronicle and Sentinel unknown
183838949New York: H.R. Robinson 1838. Oblong lithograph broadside 13-1/4" x 20." Shallow blank left margin chips from a prior mounting. Light outer margin darkening. A clean image signed 'Blanks fecit' perhaps Edward Williams Clay. Very Good.<br /> <br /> A satiric commentary on thwarted Democratic hopes to control New York City. Whigs dashed Democratic expectations in the New York municipal elections of spring 1838. Successful Whig mayoral candidate Aaron Clark holds and restrains two horses by their tails: 'Stop my good fellows you are going on a fools errand you are counting your chickens before they are hatched'." His victory has delayed if not destroyed Loco Foco hopes of political dominance. <br /> On the right a Loco Foco supporter in the garb of a carman or driver sits on a horse and tries to ride toward Albany to fulfill his ambitions: 'Marcy must resign in my favor and I'll be next Governor myself for this job!' Reilly suggests the man is either Isaac Varian the Loco Foco mayoral candidate or Democratic Congressman C.C. Cambreling.<br /> On the left a uniformed Jacksonian Democrat sits on his horse. He wants to go to Washington: 'I shall insist on Matty's making me next Collector.' He is probably Tammany leader Jesse Hoyt who indeed was successful in his quest to be Collector of the Port of New York.<br /> Reilly 1838-11. Weitenkampf 52. OCLC 299944597 1- DLC 1136565725 1- AAS as of December 2025. Not at NYPL or NYHS web sites. H.R. Robinson unknown
187238915Hartford 1872. Broadside 6" x 9-1/2" text surrounded by mourning border. A few spots Very Good. Illustrations of two steamers. At the bottom: "This is Good for ONE PASSAGE Only. - H.G." Dated at Hartford November 5 1872.<br /> <br /> "Salt River" is 19th century American slang: a losing candidate for office was taking a trip "up Salt River." Tickets for passage "up Salt River" were frequently printed to mock supporters of losing candidates. <br /> This humorous scarce broadside taunts Horace Greeley and other defectors from the Republican Party for their support of Greeley in 1872. "On the overwhelming defeat of the Liberal Republican Party and its candidate Horace Greeley in the presidential election of 1872. Greeley had been nominated at a Liberal Republican convention at Cincinnati in May and at the Democratic National Convention at Baltimore in July 1872" AAS description.<br /> Pall bearers include Charles Sumner and General Banks prominent Republican supporters of Greeley.<br /> OCLC 191231113 2- AAS Middlebury 47090036 1- CT Hist. Soc. as of August 2025. unknown
186440557New York: Bromley & Company 1864. 19" x 24" lithograph broadside cartoon. Old tears repaired with tape on verso. Long horizontal tear at center has been reinforced by tape on verso. Light wrinkling and toning. The cartoon remains bold solid and intact. Good.<br /> <br /> "The first in a series of four harsh anti-Lincoln satires published by Bromley & Co. in New York. An imaginary dream of Jack Downing a comic Yankee character created in the 1830s by Seba Smith has Lincoln and some of his supporters and cabinet members as a band of undertakers about to inter the Constitution. <br /> "In 1862 displeased by Attorney General Edward Bates's slowness in enforcing the Conspiracies Act the President took matters into his own hands and issued a proclamation 'directing trial by court martial or military commissions of all persons who impeded the draft discouraged enlistments or committed other disloyal acts.' Around thirty-eight thousand people were arrested denied the right of habeas corpus and held in jail until brought to trial. This heavy-handed act provides the fuel for the artist's attack here. <br /> "Secretary Stanton is shown driving a hearse 'War Democracy' drawn by four horses with the heads of War Democrats left to right: John Cochrane Benjamin F. Butler Thomas Francis Meagher and Daniel S. Dickinson. Secretary Stanton says 'My jackasses had a load but they pull'd it through bravely. Cochrane: 'I pull for the side that pays the best always.' Butler: 'A million of dollars from New-Orleans'. . . <br /> "At right journalist Horace Greeley and Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner bury a casket labeled 'Constitution. Three other caskets 'Union' 'Habeas Corpus' and 'Free Speech Charge Express' wait nearby. Greeley: 'I guess we'll bury it so deep that it will never get up again.' Sumner: 'Be still you old fool. Let us first be sure that it is all under.' <br /> "A sober Lincoln watches with folded arms asking 'Chase will it stay down" Beside him treasury secretary Salmon P. Chase responds '. . . It must stay down. Or we shall all go up!' . . . <br /> "Abolitionist clergyman Henry Ward Beecher presides over the ceremony with a black child in his arms praying 'Not thy will oh Lord! But mine be done.' Above them Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton who has the legs and tail of a demon and holds a dagger flies off crying 'If it were done when 'tis done'." Reilly<br /> Reilly 1864-37. Weitenkampf 141. OCLC 647912979 2- AAS Clements 299947771 1- DLC as of December 2024. Bromley & Company unknown
185236045Boston: Boston Commonwealth. Extra. 1852. Broadsheet 21-3/4" x 16". Recto printed in three columns; verso printed in five columns. Untrimmed light edge wear a few spots and old folds with several light crimps and one or two small separations at fold intersection affecting three or four letters. Good. "Boston Commonwealth. Extra." at head of title.<br/><br/> The broadsheet a dramatic illustration of the growing split in the Democratic Party supports the "Free Democratic" Party led by Senator John Hale of New Hampshire and George Julian of Indiana. A precursor of the Republican Party the Free Democratic Party was created by Northern Democrats who broke with the national Democratic Party which was dominated by southern pro-slavery men. The Free Democrats pledged "NO MORE SLAVE STATES NO SLAVE TERRITORY NO NATIONALIZED SLAVERY and NO NATIONAL LEGISLATION FOR THE EXTRADITION OF SLAVES." That bold promise is contrasted with the temporizing pro-slavery Platforms of the two major Parties-- the "Compromise Democratic Nominations" of Franklin Pierce; and the Whigs headed by Winfield Scott.<br/> The verso is headed in bold type: "The Fugitive Slave Law! America's Bill of Abominations!!" Its text with the signature in bold type of President Millard Fillmore is printed in five columns at the top half of the verso. The lower half is an address by "Alexander" "To the People of the United States!--- The Issue before the Nation!" Unlike the Whigs and Democrats the "Free Democracy will favor the early policy of the country to limit localize and discourage slavery. the immediate repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law." The Free Democratic Platform is printed along with that of the Democrats and Whigs. <br/>OCLC 83679097 2- NYHS Peabody-Essex 45737584 2- Boston Public Wellesley as of October 2019. Not located at the online site of AAS. Boston Commonwealth... Extra. unknown books
1848346068Washington D.C.: George S. Gideon 1848. Vol. 1 Numbers 1-18 plus a November 16 extra all published. 312pp. 4to. Contemporary half black morocco and marbled paper boards worn at joints and edges. Provenance: Truman Smith morocco label on the upper cover. Vol. 1 Numbers 1-18 plus a November 16 extra all published. 312pp. 4to. Scarce complete run of the weekly political newspaper "devoted to the support of Taylor and Fillmore" published during their campaign in the Election of 1848 which pitted the Whig Zachary Taylor against the Democrat Lewis Cass. The masthead features a woodcut of a horseback Taylor with his Mexican War troops firing a canon at Cass. In the final post-election Extra which includes the news of Taylor's victory the masthead has changed to the canon blowing Cass to pieces. The final page of the Extra comprises a prospectus for a New Series of the Battery.<br /> <br /> This example with provenance to ardent Taylor supporter Senator Truman Smith of Connecticut who served on the Whig Executive Committee of Congress and who contributed within the pages of the campaign newspaper. George S. Gideon unknown
186836501New York: Currier & Ives 1868. Lithograph illustrated broadside by Currier & Ives oblong 11" x 15-1/2". Matted. Light dusting Near Fine. Cartoon characters identified by name; in lower right corner "on Stone by Cameron." John Cameron was a talented artist employed at Currier & Ives. In lower left corner "Thos. Worth. Sketch." Worth designed many cartoon broadsides for Currier & Ives. <br /> <br /> "An election-year cartoon invoking both Grant's humble beginnings as a tanner and his successful Civil War military career. Popular New York governor John Thompson Hoffman dressed as an Indian the 'Great Sachem of Tammany' presents Democratic candidates Horatio Seymour and Francis P. Blair Jr. to Grant. He addresses Grant 'Here General is a couple more hides to be tanned when will they be done' Grant smokes a cigar and wears the leather apron of a tanner rolled-up sleeves exposing his muscular arms. He replies 'Well I'll finish them off early in November.' <br /> "At right corner former Confederate generals Robert E. Lee Simon Bolivar Buckner and John C. Pemberton hold their rumps and hop about in pain. They announce 'This is to Certify that we have had our hides tanned and that the work was by him thoroughly done." Reilly AAS's entry asserts "Issued well before 1868 election." <br /> Reilly 1868-11. Weitenkampf 159. OCLC 191119896 1- Villanova 1136555720 1- AAS as of October 2024. Currier & Ives unknown
1856WRCAM53064Suffield Ct 1856. Broadside 17 x 10 1/2 inches visible area. Matted and framed. Light dampstaining at top edge light foxing. Very good. An attractive broadside advertisement that promotes a meeting of James Buchanan supporters the "Keystone Club" in Suffield Connecticut on Sept. 27 1856. The poster promises a number of speeches against the candidate of the newly-formed Republican Party John C. Fremont that assert the complicity of his supporters in the violence roiling Kansas. The key and virulent disagreement between the Democratic party for whom Buchanan was the nominee and the Republicans was over the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the issue of popular sovereignty which would allow the residents of new states to vote on the existence of slavery within their borders. This broadside accuses anti-slavery and pro-Fremont partisans in Kansas of fomenting violence there for political gain. The text reads in full: <br> <br> "Messrs. A.G. Howard C.W. Philleo and others will address the Keystone Club at the Town Hall in Suffield on Saturday Eve'g Sept. 27 1856. We make the charge that the troubles in Kansas are encouraged and kept alive by the supporters of Freemont sic in the hope of gaining political capital. And we can prove the charge!" <br> <br> The text is headed by an American eagle gripping arrows and olive branch in the style of the Great Seal. OCLC records only two copies of this interesting broadside at the Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut State Library. unknown books
186836501New York: Currier & Ives 1868. Lithograph illustrated broadside by Currier & Ives oblong 11" x 15-1/2". Matted. Light dusting Near Fine. Cartoon characters identified by name; in lower right corner "on Stone by Cameron." John Cameron was a talented artist employed at Currier & Ives. In lower left corner "Thos. Worth. Sketch." Worth designed many cartoon broadsides for Currier & Ives. <br/><br/> "An election-year cartoon invoking both Grant's humble beginnings as a tanner and his successful Civil War military career. Popular New York governor John Thompson Hoffman dressed as an Indian the 'Great Sachem of Tammany' presents Democratic candidates Horatio Seymour and Francis P. Blair Jr. to Grant. He addresses Grant 'Here General is a couple more hides to be tanned when will they be done' Grant smokes a cigar and wears the leather apron of a tanner rolled-up sleeves exposing his muscular arms. He replies 'Well I'll finish them off early in November.' <br/> "At right corner former Confederate generals Robert E. Lee Simon Bolivar Buckner and John C. Pemberton hold their rumps and hop about in pain. They announce 'This is to Certify that we have had our hides tanned and that the work was by him thoroughly done." Reilly AAS's entry asserts "Issued well before 1868 election." <br/>Reilly 1868-11. Weitenkampf 159. OCLC 191119896 2- AAS Villanova as of January 2020. Currier & Ives unknown books
1828WRCAM56438N.p. 1828. Broadside 20 3/4 x 14 inches. Old folds small closed tears along most folds some separation at center fold. Residue and mild staining from previous tape repairs one older tape repair still in place. Minor edge wear and a few small chips even tanning. About very good. One version of the infamous "Coffin Broadsides" attacking Andrew Jackson in the presidential campaign of 1828. There was considerable mud-slinging between the Jackson and Adams camps during that campaign which eventually saw the defeat of incumbent John Quincy Adams and the election of Andrew Jackson. Across the top of the present broadside are six woodcut coffins bearing the names of six militiamen shot for mutiny on Jackson's orders during the War of 1812; an account of their wrongful execution follows. Below that there are more accounts of Jackson's evil and murderous deeds including twelve regular soldiers shot for desertion despite their "not guilty" pleas complete with twelve more coffin woodcuts; Jackson assaulting another man Samuel Jackson in the streets of Nashville and running him through with a sword while Samuel bent over to pick up a rock for defense with a woodcut of a demonic Jackson committing the murderous act; the tale of another soldier unfairly executed another woodcut coffin; and a brief account of some Indian prisoners executed on Jackson's orders four more coffins. The bottom portion includes a testimonial by Thomas Hart Benton who himself had fought a duel with Jackson. <br> <br> The "Coffin Handbill" was printed and reprinted in several sizes and formats. Sabin quotes John Spencer Bassett in his LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON who notes that the "execution of mutinous militiamen in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 was recalled to show Jackson's ferocious temper; and when a Philadelphia editor published a hand-bill showing a coffin with the victims standing by its side the idea was caught up eagerly and repeated in all parts of the country." SABIN 86569. OCLC 18042341 45888498. unknown books
1828WRCAM56513N.p. 1828. Broadsheet 19 x 9 inches text printed in two columns on both sides. Old folds some chips to edges minor loss to upper left corner and closed tear to bottom edge no text affected. Two small holes affecting just one word a few areas of soiling light foxing even tanning. Manuscript annotations to verso. About very good. A rare broadside recounting Andrew Jackson's infamous execution of Private John Woods published in 1828 by Jackson's opponents during the 1828 election. There was considerable mud-slinging between the Jackson and Adams camps during that campaign which eventually saw the defeat of incumbent John Quincy Adams and the election of Andrew Jackson. This dense broadside recounts the events of March 1814 at Fort Strother during the Creek Campaign when Jackson charged John Woods an eighteen year-old militiaman with disobedience disrespect and mutiny. According to the text the trial itself only occurred because Jackson's soldiers would not shoot Woods' at the moment of the offense despite Jackson's cries to "Shoot the damned rascal!.blow ten balls through the damned rascal!" The court martial followed soon after; Woods was found guilty and sentenced to die. Some testimonies here state that Jackson offered to spare Woods' life if he would enlist in the regular army but Woods refused; others disagree. He was executed thirty-six hours later. <br> <br> Then follows the sworn testimony of several witnesses: Thomas Couch Robert Ferguson Samuel Hanna George A. Brock Isaac Roberts James Harris William Stewart Joseph Alexander Isaac Anderson Abm. Whitney and John Williams all fellow-soldiers of Woods who witnessed or had personal knowledge of the facts in the case. Their accounts of Woods' supposed mutiny substantially downplay the severity of Woods' disobedience suggesting that it was likely a misunderstanding; they also emphasize the draconian nature of the punishment and make several mentions of Woods' aging and infirm parents. Williams' account closes: "It is not true that Woods on the ground of Execution with oaths and defiance refused to promise obedience. On the contrary he wept loud and bitterly." All of the testimonies are datelined in Tennessee in the first few months of 1828. The nature of the printing lends itself to the possibility of a Tennessee press. <br> <br> Though not as famous as the "Coffin Handbills" that appeared at the same time listing Woods' execution among many other crimes by Jackson this was definitely addressed to the same audiences. John Spencer Bassett in his LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON notes that the "execution of mutinous militiamen in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 was recalled to show Jackson's ferocious temper; and when a Philadelphia editor published a hand-bill showing a coffin with the victims standing by its side the idea was caught up eagerly and repeated in all parts of the country." <br> <br> Not in Wise & Cronin and we could find no listing for this broadside in OCLC or in American Imprints. It has only appeared at auction twice and then not since 1925 when Anderson Galleries offered a copy as part of the sale of the Henry De Puy collection which was strong in Andrew Jackson material. The only copy in the trade seems to be one offered by the Eberstadts in 1939. unknown books
185227980<p><strong>Boston Fugitive Slave Law Printing on Free Soil Party Broadsheet</strong></p><p>"<em>a vote for either of the former candidates is as truly a vote in favor of the sustenance defence and encouragement of American slavery in all its hideousness as a vote for the devil were a vote in favor of sin…</em>"</p><p>This broadsheet prints a summary of the three major party platforms—the "Compromise Democratic" Party the Whig Party and the Free Democratic Free Soil Party—headed with the injunction to "<em>Read Reflect and then Act!</em>" The second page includes the text of the Fugitive Slave Law or "<em>America's Bill of Abominations!!</em>" passed in September 1850 and an editorial by "Alexander" that explains the benefits of the Free Soil Party over the other two parties.</p><p><strong>ELECTION OF 1852. FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW.</strong> Printed Broadsheet <em>Boston Commonwealth</em> Extra July 1852. 2 pp. 25½ x 22 in.</p><p><strong>Excerpts</strong><br />"<em>The Platforms of the Parties. Read Reflect and then Act!</em>" p1</p><p>"<em>The Fugitive Slave Law! America's Bill of Abominations!!</em>" p2</p><p><em>"…Section 6</em></p><p><em>And be it further enacted That when a person held to service or labor in any State or Territory of the United States has heretofore or shall hereafter escape into another State or Territory of the United States the person or persons to whom such service or labor may be due or his her or their agent or attorney duly authorized by power of attorney in writing acknowledged and certified under the seal of some legal officer or court of the State or Territory in which the same may be executed may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person either by procuring a warrant from some one of the courts judges or commissioners aforesaid of the proper circuit district or county for the apprehension of such fugitive from service or labor or by seizing and arresting such fugitive where the same can be done without process and by taking or causing such person to be taken forthwith before such court judge or commissioner whose duty it shall be to hear and determine the case of such claimant in a summary manner; and upon satisfactory proof being made by deposition or affidavit in writing to be taken and certified by such court judge or commissioner or by other satisfactory testimony duly taken and certified by some court magistrate justice of the peace or other legal officer authorized to administer an oath and take depositions under the laws of the State or Territory from which such person owing service or labor may have escaped with a certificate of such magistracy or other authority as aforesaid with the seal of the proper court or officer thereto attached which seal shall be sufficient to establish the competency of the proof and with proof also by affidavit of the identity of the person whose service or labor is claimed to be due as aforesaid that the person so arrested does in fact owe service or labor to the person or persons claiming him or her in the State or Territory from which such fugitive may have escaped as aforesaid and that said person escaped to make out and deliver to such claimant his or her agent or attorney a certificate setting forth the substantial facts as to the service or labor due from such fugitive to the claimant and of his or her escape from the State or Territory in which he or she was arrested with authority to such claimant or his or her agent or attorney to use such reasonable force and restraint as may be necessary under the circumstances of the case to take and remove such fugitive person back to the State or Territory whence he or she may have escaped as aforesaid. In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence; and the certificates in this and the first fourth section mentioned shall be conclusive of the right of the person or persons in whose favor granted to remove such fugitive to the State or Territory from which he escaped and shall prevent all molestation of such person or persons by any process issued by any court judge magistrate or other person whomsoever.</em></p><p><em>Section 7</em></p><p><em>And be it further enacted That any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct hinder or prevent such claimant his agent or attorney or any person or persons lawfully assisting him her or them from arresting such a fugitive from service or labor either with or without process as aforesaid or shall rescue or attempt to rescue such fugitive from service or labor from the custody of such claimant his or her agent or attorney or other person or persons lawfully assisting as aforesaid when so arrested pursuant to the authority herein given and declared; or shall aid abet or assist such person so owing service or labor as aforesaid directly or indirectly to escape from such claimant his agent or attorney or other person or persons legally authorized as aforesaid; or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of such person after notice or knowledge of the fact that such person was a fugitive from service or labor as aforesaid shall for either of said offences be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars and imprisonment not exceeding six months by indictment and conviction before the District Court of the United States for the district in which such offence may have been committed or before the proper court of criminal jurisdiction if committed within any one of the organized Territories of the United States; and shall moreover forfeit and pay by way of civil damages to the party injured by such illegal conduct the sum of one thousand dollars for each fugitive so lost as aforesaid to be recovered by action of debt in any of the District or Territorial Courts aforesaid within whose jurisdiction the said offence may have been committed…"</em></p><p>"<em>To the People of the United States!—The Issue Before the Nation!</em>" p2</p><p>"<em>We present you this Document for the Campaign in order that its doctrines may be scanned before the minds of men become steeled against the power of just reasoning by the intense zeal and party prejudice of an exciting election. It is a simple and earnest appeal to reason.</em>" p2/c1</p><p>"<em>The Free Democracy will favor the early policy of the country to limit localize and discourage slavery—the separation of national funds from banking institutions cheap postage a moderate revenue—the election of civil officers by the people—such internal improvements as are national and constitutional—the cordial reception of emigrants and exiles from the old world—the grant of the Public Lands free of cost to landless settlers—the immediate repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law—the recognition of the independence of Hayti—an arrangement in future treaties…</em></p><p>"<em>And the said party will oppose the exercise of doubtful constitutional powers—the demand for more slave States new slave territories and the nationalization of slavery—foreign interference with the right of a nation to govern itself.</em>" p2/c2</p><p>"<em>The intrepid Free Democracy have sought the arena of political strife with a determination to oppose each of these powerful clock-work organizations. They publish a platform which presents a point-blank contrast to either and both the others. They claim the support of the people because their policy is founded in Right and Justice; and because the application of that policy to governmental affairs cannot be secured by the triumph of any other party.</em>" p2/c3-4</p><p>"<em>While the attitude of the Free Democracy is that of a general championship of the rights of the humbler classes … its position upon the slavery question affords the great contrast and entitles it to the support of the lovers of Freedom and Right.</em>" p2/c4</p><p>"<em>Whigs and Democrats would sanction slavery by law. The Free Democracy forbid the high-handed endeavor.</em>" p2/c4</p><p>"<em>It follows that a vote for either of the former candidates is as truly a vote in favor of the sustenance defence and encouragement of American slavery in all its hideousness as a vote for the devil were a vote in favor of sin.</em>" p2/c4-5</p><p><strong>Historical Background</strong><br />The author of the editorial may have been Alexander De Witt 1798-1879 a former Democrat who joined the Free Soil Party and was one of the six signatories of the "Appeal of the Independent Democrats" in January 1854 in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.</p><p>President Zachary Taylor a Whig died in July 1850. His successor Millard Fillmore supported the Compromise of 1850 and enforcement of its stronger Fugitive Slave Law which made him unpopular in the North. At the Whig National Convention in Baltimore the delegates took 53 ballots to choose General Winfield Scott of New Jersey as their presidential candidate.</p><p>At the Democratic convention also in Baltimore it took 48 ballots to select dark-horse choice Senator Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire as their presidential candidate.</p><p>The Free Soil Party which opposed the extension of slavery chose Senator John P. Hale of New Hampshire as their presidential candidate. After the Compromise of 1850 many Barnburner Democrats and Conscience Whigs returned to their parties at the expense of the Free Soil Party.</p><p>With no major policy differences between the Democrats and Whigs the election became a contest of personalities between Scott the anti-slavery war hero of the Mexican War and the pro-slavery Pierce who though eighteen years younger had also served in the war.</p><p>In the election on November 2 1852 Pierce won 50.8 percent of the popular vote carrying 27 states with 254 electoral votes. Scott's 43.9 percent carried only 4 states with 42 electoral votes. Hale attracted 4.9 percent of the popular vote taking no electoral votes.</p><p><strong><em>The Commonwealth</em></strong> 1851-1853 was a newspaper published in Boston daily with occasional supplements under the motto "Circulate the documents<em>.</em>" In 1852 it became the official newspaper of the Free Soil Party in Massachusetts.</p><p>Condition: Very good overall.</p> Boston Commonwealth
