More Conventions

This chapter follows the events of the contested Democratic nominating convention of 1844 in Baltimore, Maryland. Martin Van Buren entered the convention as the favorite but faced stiff competition from Lewis Cass. After several ballots, a third candidate rose above Van Buren and Cass: James K. Polk. Polk was eventually nominated to run on the Democratic ticket against the Whig candidate, Henry Clay. This chapter also considers the small convention held by supporters of President John Tyler, who had been expelled from the Whig Party two years earlier. Meanwhile, in Nauvoo, the Mormons had a nominating convention of their own and formally nominated Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon to be an independent ticket for the presidency.

Presidential Hopefuls

This chapter considers Joseph Smith’s attempts to get the men believed to be the likeliest candidates for president to commit to helping the Latter-day Saints gain their long-sought redress for their lost property in Missouri and to protect their civil rights to prevent a repeat of the Missouri conflict in Illinois. Accordingly, Smith writes to five potential candidates: John C. Calhoun, Lewis Cass, Henry Clay, Richard Mentor Johnson, and Martin Van Buren. Only Calhoun, Cass, and Clay respond. None of the three men commit to help the Mormons. Smith is frustrated by these responses and determines that there is no candidate for the presidency who will ensure the protection of the Mormons’ rights as American citizens. Accordingly, church leaders determine that they should support Smith as an independent candidate for president.

Convention Season

This chapter describes the 1844 Whig nominating convention held in Baltimore, Maryland. Henry Clay was the clear favorite and was nominated by acclamation on the convention floor. The convention selected Theodore Frelinghuysen as his running mate, in part because they believed his presence on the Whig ticket would help win the votes of the country’s evangelical Christians. The Mormons sent delegates to observe the convention, and possibly to try to earn support for Smith, if not sympathy for the Mormons’ plight. However, the convention concluded its business in just one day, which meant that when the Mormons finally arrived in the city, the convention was over.

Introduction

This book is about politics, exploring the general outlook of a group of Americans called Whigs. Between 1834 and 1856, the Whigs were one of the two great political parties in the United States, battling their opponents, the Jacksonian Democrats, for office, prestige, power, and ideas. Boasting famous members such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and William Henry Seward, they supported tariffs, banks, internal improvements, moral reform, and public education....