The Campaign of 1840: William Henry Harrison and Tyler, Too
—Curriculum Unit Overview—
Introduction
After the debacle of the one-party presidential campaign of 1824, a new two-party
system began to emerge. Strong public reaction to perceived corruption in the
vote in the House of Representatives, as well as the popularity of Andrew Jackson,
allowed Martin Van Buren to organize a Democratic Party that resurrected a Jeffersonian
philosophy of minimalism in the federal government. This new party opposed the
tendencies of National Republicans such as John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay to
invest more power in the federal government. Van Buren built a political machine
to support Jackson in the 1828 election. Van Buren's skills helped give the Democrats
a head start on modern-style campaigning and a clear advantage in organization.
The Democrats and Jackson defeated the National Republicans in 1828 and 1832 and
maintained their hold on the presidency when they bested the Whigs—a union
of former National Republicans, Antimasons, and some states' rights advocates—in
1836. But a major economic depression in 1837 finally gave the Whigs their best
chance to occupy the White House. They faced Andrew Jackson's political organizer,
vice president, and handpicked successor, President Martin Van Buren, vying for
a second term in the midst of hard times.
As they prepared for the election of 1840, both Democrats and Whigs were organized
for campaigning on a national scale. In an election that would turn out an astounding
80 percent of a greatly expanded electorate, campaigners sought to appeal to
a wide range of voters in a variety of voting blocks. The contest between Martin
Van Buren and William Henry Harrison marked the first truly modern presidential
campaign, with methods today's students are sure to recognize.
Lessons in this unit allow students to become familiar with the issues and
personalities and to review an assortment of primary documents. As students
analyze them, they reflect on the presidential campaign of 1840. How was it
conducted? What was the role of campaign advertising? How crucial were issues
to the election of William Henry Harrison? How crucial was image?
Guiding Questions
What issues were important to the presidential campaign of 1840?
In what ways was the campaign about issues? In what way was it about image?
What in William Henry Harrison's background made him the choice of the Whig
Party in 1840?
How did the Whigs promote Harrison's image in 1840?
In what ways did Harrison's background correspond with or contradict
his image?
What made Martin Van Buren the choice of the Democratic Party in 1836?
How did the Democrats promote Martin Van Buren's image?
In what ways did Van Buren's background correspond with or contradict that
image?
Why is the campaign of 1840 often cited as the first modern campaign?
Learning Objectives
After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
List some issues important during the campaign of 1840.
Compare and contrast the careers of Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison
before they became president.
Explain why the Whigs wanted to find a candidate in the mold of former president
Andrew Jackson.
Discuss the ways in which Harrison did and did not fit the mold.
Identify some basic differences between the Democrats and Whigs.
Discuss the use of visual images in the 1840 campaign.
Take a stand as to whether the campaign of 1840 was based more on substance
or image.
Preparing to Teach This Curriculum Unit
Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and other
useful websites. Download and print out documents you will use and duplicate
copies as necessary for student viewing.
Download the blackline
master for this lesson, available here as a PDF file. Print out and make
an appropriate number of copies of any handouts you plan to use in class.
Links to graphics on the EDSITEment resource American
Memory, which are used throughout this lesson, lead to a page with a low-resolution
image and links to bibliographic material and higher-resolution images.
Andrew Jackson's enormous popularity greatly contributed to the ability
of the newly constituted Democratic Party to win three consecutive terms in
the White House (1828, 1832, 1836). There are many similarities between Andrew
Jackson and William Henry Harrison, a fact that did not escape the notice
of those who backed Harrison's candidacy. Both Jackson and Harrison acquired
national reputations as war heroes. Both, at one time or another, embraced
the contradictory goals of fair treatment of American Indians and the acquisition
by the U.S. of land from the American Indians. Both men led troops in important
victories in the War of 1812. Though Jackson was the first presidential candidate
to use a variety of campaign novelties such as buttons, posters, flasks, matchboxes,
and mugs, Harrison's campaign took such promotion to new heights. Harrison
won election by a wide margin in a year when about 80 percent of eligible
voters went to the polls.
Students will learn about the careers of Jackson, Harrison, and Martin Van
Buren, when they read the following essays on the EDSITEment-reviewed website
The American President:
NOTE: The section of The American
President about William Henry Harrison is accompanied by an essay entitled
A
Manufactured Hero (From Philip Kunhardt, Jr., et. al., The American
President [New York: Riverhead Books, 1999], pp. 18-23). It raises many
questions that were the impetus for this lesson. What would it mean to manufacture
a hero? Were Jackson and Harrison truly heroes in their time? Would their deeds
be considered heroic today? Were either Jackson or Harrison manufactured heroes?
How were the similarities and differences between Jackson and Harrison reflected
in the content and conduct of the campaign of 1840? How were issues and image
used to promote Harrison (and, to a lesser extent, Van Buren)? Was the campaign
of 1840 focused more on image or substance? In what ways? Why?
For background on prior presidential election history, consult two complementary
EDSITEment curriculum units. The
Election Is in the House: The Presidential Election of 1824 reviews the
several serious contenders for president, all claiming allegiance to the Democratic-Republican
Party. It also covers the vote in the House of Representatives after no contender
received a majority of electoral votes. Students are given the opportunity
to reflect on the corruption claims of Andrew Jackson's supporters and how
historians gather evidence and draw conclusions. The expansion of the electorate
and the contest of 1828 are covered in The
1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics. In this
unit, students study the personalities and issues in the election of 1828,
and analyze statistics reflecting voting participation rates from 1824 to
1836 and voting results in 1828 to gauge the impact of both the new trends
in the electorate and the candidacy of Andrew Jackson.
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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