D2) 1856 election Flashcards
Who were the candidates?
DEM- james buchanan, john c breckinridge
REP- john c fremont, william l dayton
KNOW NOTHING- millard fillmore (alliance w whigs), andrew j donelson
who was john c fremont?
- 43 y/o
- limited politcal experience
- a Western explorer- romance surrounding his career elevated him to a NATIONAL HERO
- many (wrongly) saw him as the CONQUERER OF CALI
- born in S
- ex-KN, ex-Dem
- was rash & egotistical, but could disguise this in campaign
- publically criticised KNA & sl expansion into US ter
who was millard fillmore?
- ex- president
- old fashioned whig & KN
- pro-Southern sympathies= limited appeal in N- had signed FSA in 1850 as pres
who was James Buchanan?
- a long 4 decades in civil service
- had taken many pol posts- as state legislator, Congressman, minister to Russia, to BRITAIN too- an author of the Ostend manifesto
who did james buchanan have sympathies with?
- the south!
- rumours of gay relationship w willaim rufus king, who was from alabama
- friends w S congressmen
- disliked N abs- thought they were the cause of all the rucus in Kansas- travelled a lot but never went N
- liked S- thought ppl were traditional, graceful & civil
how did bucanan immediately show his s leanings?
- 4 of his 6 cabinet members were sl owners
- encourages a n on SC to side w S in dredd scott case
- ultimately decides to supp kansas const written by pro sl settlers
where was buchanan from?
- pensylvania- borders loads of sl st, in the midwest, largely agricultural in western bits
- jb not part of the urban elite- he’s landed gentry- sympathies w that kind of life
why was buchanan chosen as candidate?
- peirce= unpop, faced almost certain defeat
- diuglas= v dynamic but tarnished by events in kansas
- jb is from pa- a crucial state to win
why was john c fremont chosen as the republican candidate?
- other candidates:
- chase= seemed too ab
- seward= had denounced KNs & unlikely to win nativist supp
what did the republicans’ platform like?
- radical!
- said it had the right & duty to prohibit the two ‘barbarisms’ of polygamy (attack on mormon practises in utah) & slavery
- ‘free soil, free labour, free men, fremont’= motto
what kind of approach did democrats take?
- MODERATE- supp pop sov
how was the competition of the election split?
- N= between buchanan & fremont
- S= between fillmore & buchanan
was the union on the line?
- for 1st time, widespread fear for union’s safety
- if fremont won, was conceivable s states may secede
how did the paties portray eachother?
- rep stressed fremont was YOUNG & VIBRANT- portrayed buchanan as OLD & DAZED & supp of s
- dem claimed to be P of UNION- attacked rep for being RABID ABS who aimed to elevate black ppl to EQUALITY w white ppl
how did democrats feel abt the result?
- jb wins!
- won all but 1 s st & new jersey, pensylvania, new jersey, illinios, cali etc
- happy- have seen off fillmore challenge in s, and retained some trad supp in n
how did republicans feel abt the result?
- happy- if they’d gotten pa & illinois, f would have become pres
- he won 45% of n vote, but virtually no s vote
- they’d trounced the american P- the elction indicated that Ns percieved slave power to be a greater threat than cath church
how di reps now feel abt the next election?
- laders confident they can win over remaining anti-dem groups in n- soon predicting victory in 1860
- but no guarentee n would keep voting rep- succes could fall as quickly as it came
what was the result?
