What issues were important to the campaign of 1840?
What positions on the issues did the Democrats adopt?
What positions on the issues did the Whigs adopt?
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
Discuss the background of the Democrats and Whigs.
Identify some basic differences on the issues between the Democrats and
Whigs.
Background
Many accounts portray the campaign of 1840 as almost exclusively image-based.
This lesson offers students the opportunity to reflect on the nature of the campaign.
Though intended for the teacher, all or part of the following background information
may be useful for some students.
In 1836, with Andrew Jackson's endorsement, Van Buren was elected
the country's eighth President. In his inaugural address he promised a continuation
of the good times of the Jackson presidency. But less than two weeks into his
administration, a major financial crisis erupted. As panic spread across the
country, local banks refused to pay off their depositors. "The situation of
the . . . banks . . . is a matter [for] the gravest consideration," Van Buren
wrote. "You cannot form an adequate idea of the dreadful state of the money
market."
Critics charged that it was Andrew Jackson's destruction of the U.S. Bank that
had led to the crash, and that a new national bank was now needed to reverse
it. Determined not to depart from his predecessor's key commitment, Van Buren
presented a counterproposal -- the establishment of an independent Treasury.
In a striking act of presidential leadership, he united his critics around a
new course of action.
Van Buren's idea for an independent Treasury would be the central accomplishment
of his presidency, preparing the way for what would become the backbone of the
U.S. financial system for the next seventy years. In the short-run, however,
Van Buren prolonged the recession and deepened it into a significant depression.
… As the election of 1840 approached, the economy took another sudden plunge
downward.
The Democrats felt, despite hard times, that the issues were on their side. They
published a fairly specific platform, the first document of its kind from a major
national party.
The Democrats re-nominated Van Buren and adopted a platform denouncing
internal improvements at national expense, a protective tariff, a national bank,
and any interference by Congress with slavery. The campaign, however, was not
fought on these issues…
—From Blyndon G. Van Deusen ("The Whig Party," History of U.S. Political
Parties, Volume 1. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Ed. 4 vols. New York: Chelsea
House Publishers, 1973. 343.)
But the Whigs controlled the direction of the campaign. According to Van Deusen
(343-344): "Hard times and falling prices for wheat and cotton played a large
part in the contest, but the main issue presented to the people was a manufactured
one. …Portraying their candidate (the WHIG candidate, Harrison) as an honest high-principled
farmer who lived in a log cabin with the latch string always out, a coon skin
nailed to the door and a barrel of cider (sweet cider in prohibition areas) for
the refreshment of visitors… they contrasted this democratic simplicity with the…
luxury that surrounded 'Sweet Sandy Whiskers' Van Buren at the While House."
The Whigs did not publish a platform—not surprisingly, as the practice was
not yet an obligatory part of the nominating process. In fact, the Democratic
platform was the first of its kind from a major party. But Van Deusen ascribes
a different reason to the lack of a platform (343): "With an eye to the… need
for stressing different aims in different sections of the country, the convention
agreed that it would be better not to have a platform and none was drafted."
Whatever the reason, no Whig position statement came out of the nominating
convention. Whether or not issues were important to the campaign is a question
on which students can reflect as they analyze campaign documents. Whether largely
based on issues or image, the campaign saw both parties using traditional organizing
on a national scale, combined—especially in the case of the Whigs—with
a style of campaigning that was new or on a much grander scale.
The Democrats undertook a campaign in what had become a traditional
style. They depended on organization, full use of their patronage platoons and
a conventional propaganda barrage. They deplored the "demagoguery" of the Whigs
and tried to deal with issues, although they also heaped abuse on Harrison.
The total effect was rather staid and prosaic.
The Whigs, on the other hand, elaborated their new-style campaign and made
it as diverting as it was professional. They used organization to draw huge
crowds… Whig propaganda included a panoply of visual devices like Harrison
"Liberty Poles" as well as mottoes, songs, jokes, along with "efficient orators."
…It was all drama and popular commotion mixed with slander and smears designed
to destroy "Martin Van Ruin." It was a combination of merchandizing and militia
styles, with all the stops pulled out.
—From William Nisbet Chambers ("Election of 1840," History of American
Presidential Elections, Volume 1. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Ed. 5 vols.
New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1971. 669-670.)
William Henry Harrison spoke in public-unprecedented for a candidate for president.
On at least one occasion, he addressed the accusation that he (and, by implication,
his party) took no stand on the issues. He vehemently denied this in a speech
in Dayton, Ohio, on September 10, 1840. In this lesson, students can also look
at an annotated version of an excerpt from the speech to evaluate Harrison's defense.
American System (federally financed internal improvements)
Federal Land Policy
Indian Affairs
National Bank
Paper Money
Slavery
Tariffs
Territorial Expansion
If students are unfamiliar with any of these, review them as necessary using the
class text or another source.
Additional information about the campaign issues of 1840 can be gleaned from
the following accounts, found on the EDSITEment resource The
American President:
Campaign Document Analysis: Whole Group
The following activity can be done as a standalone or it can precede the next
activity. As such, analyzing a document in the whole-class setting serves
to model the skills students will need should they work independently. The
class can review an archival document to reflect on the nature of the 1840
campaign. How important were issues? How important were images? As a class,
analyze the archival document The
Madisonian—Prospectus, 1840 on the EDSITEment-reviewed website American
Memory. The Madisonian was a pro-Whig newspaper/newsletter published
in Washington, D.C., and mailed to subscribers. According to The Madisonian,
what issues make Harrison the best choice for president? What Democratic positions
were cited to criticize Van Buren? What matters of image did The Madisonian
use to praise William Henry Harrison and criticize Martin Van Buren? Was The
Madisonian more about image or issue?
For this activity and those that follow, consider using the following document
analysis worksheets provided by the EDSITEment resource Digital
Classroom:
Small Group Document Analysis
Students can work in small groups to practice the skills modeled in a whole-class
setting. Analyzing documents in a small-group setting allows for the review
of many documents, with a wider variety of media and a better opportunity
to avoid some of the pitfalls of using primary sources.
Divide the class into small groups and assign each group at least one document
from two or more categories below. Begin by discussing the use of primary
sources. What are the dangers and benefits of using them? By dividing a number
of documents among groups, the class attempts to avoid one pitfall of primary
sources—generalizing on the basis of insufficient sources. (The problem
is not eliminated, however, because it is difficult to know if this collection
of documents that survived for a century and a half is a representative sample.)
Continue by raising the questions you want the students to answer through
their analysis. How does each document portray party positions? Which aspects
of the document attempt to convey a particular image, and which parts deal
with substantive issues? (NOTE: Documents are labeled to indicate which are
largely graphic and which have more text. Assign them to groups accordingly.)
Harrison
Songs (Lyric sheets and audio of four songs, with analysis worksheet;
a particular group would not have to do all four songs. Also included
in the Anti-Van Buren list.)
Harrison
Songs (Lyric sheets and audio of four songs, with analysis worksheet;
a particular group would not have to do all four songs. Also included
in the Pro-Harrison list.)
Ask each group to select one particularly compelling document of those they
reviewed and share it with the class. What strategies are used in the document
to communicate a message? In what way, if at all, does the document communicate
information about issues? Which issues are referred to in the document? In
what way, if at all, does the document communicate an image? What image of
the candidate do the pro-documents attempt to communicate? What image of the
candidate do the anti-documents attempt to communicate? Which documents do
students believe would have been particularly effective? Particularly ineffective?
Students who have read the secondary accounts of the rival parties should be able
to respond effectively to the following short essay questions, appropriate for a test:
How did the Democrats and Whigs originate?
Which individuals were associated with each party?
What issues separated the two parties? In what ways? Present students with
the cartoon The
North Bend Farmer and His Visitors (Larger Image) on the EDSITEment-reviewed
website Harp Week. Discuss as a class
or ask students to answer the following questions in writing, working individually
or in small groups:
What strategies are used in the cartoon to communicate a message?
Which issues are referred to in the document?
What images of the candidates does the cartoon communicate?
Burr,
S. J.
[1840 ], The Life and Times of William Henry Harrison
(New York: L.W. Ransom. Permission: University of Chicago, SJB:Harrison.)
[http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/cgi-bin/navigate?/lib35/artfl1/
databases/sources/IMAGE/.206]
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