STATES. │ Jackson.│ Adams. │Crawford.│ Clay.
─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────
Maine[6] │ ―――――― │ 10,289 │ 2,336 │ ――――――
New Hampshire │ 643 │ 4,107 │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Vermont[7] │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Massachusetts[6] │ ―――――― │ 30,687 │ 6,616 │ ――――――
Rhode Island │ ―――――― │ 2,145 │ 200 │ ――――――
Connecticut │ ―――――― │ 7,587 │ 1,978 │ ――――――
New York[7] │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ――――――
New Jersey │ 10,985 │ 9,110 │ 1,196 │ ――――――
Pennsylvania │ 36,100 │ 5,440 │ 4,206 │ 1,609
Delaware[7] │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Maryland[6] │ 14,523 │ 14,632 │ 3,646 │ 695
Virginia │ 2,861 │ 3,189 │ 8,489 │ 416
North Carolina │ 20,415 │ ―――――― │ 15,621 │ ――――――
South Carolina[7]│ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Georgia[7] │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Alabama │ 9,443 │ 2,416 │ 1,680 │ 67
Mississippi │ 3,234 │ 1,694 │ 119 │ ――――――
Louisiana[7] │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Kentucky[6] │ 6,455 │ ―――――― │ ―――――― │ 17,321
Tennessee │ 20,197 │ 216 │ 312 │ ――――――
Missouri │ 987 │ 311 │ ―――――― │ 1,401
Ohio │ 18,457 │ 12,280 │ ―――――― │ 19,255
Indiana │ 7,343 │ 3,095 │ ―――――― │ 5,315
Illinois[6] │ 1,901 │ 1,542 │ 219 │ 1,047
├─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────
Totals │ 153,544 │ 108,740 │ 46,618 │ 47,136
═════════════════╧═════════╧═════════╧═════════╧═════════
[6] By districts.
[7] By Legislature.
The popular vote as given in the foregoing table does not fully
represent the relative strength of the opposition candidates to
Jackson. There were what were called “Opposition” tickets, “People’s”
tickets, and “Convention” tickets voted in different States. It will be
seen that Jackson received no votes in New England excepting a few in
New Hampshire, and in most of those States electoral tickets were known
as “Opposition” designed to concentrate all the opposition to Adams,
and in North Carolina the Jackson ticket was voted as the “People’s”
ticket, but no more intelligent and satisfactory presentation of the
popular vote can be gathered from the records than that presented.
The following is the vote of the Electoral College:
═══════════════╤══════════════════════════════════╦═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
│ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT.
├────────┬──────┬─────────┬────────╫────────┬────────┬─────────┬────────┬──────┬─────────
STATES │Andrew │J. Q. │ W. H. │H. Clay,║John C. │ Nathan │Nathaniel│ Andrew │M. Van│H. Clay,
│Jackson,│Adams,│Crawford,│ Ky. ║Calhoun,│Sanford,│ Macon, │Jackson,│Buren,│ Ky.
│Tenn. │Mass. │ Ga. │ ║ S. C. │ N. Y. │ N. C. │ Tenn. │ N. Y.│
───────────────┼────────┼──────┼─────────┼────────╫────────┼────────┼─────────┼────────┼──────┼─────────
Maine │ ―― │ 9 │ ―― │ ―― ║ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Hampshire │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ――
Vermont │ ―― │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― ║ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Massachusetts │ ―― │ 15 │ ―― │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Rhode Island │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Connecticut │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ――
New York │ 1 │ 26 │ 5 │ 4 ║ 29 │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
New Jersey │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Pennsylvania │ 28 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 28 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Delaware │ ―― │ 1 │ 2 │ ―― ║ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 2
Maryland │ 7 │ 3 │ 1 │ ―― ║ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ――
Virginia │ ―― │ ―― │ 24 │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ 24 │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
North Carolina │ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
South Carolina │ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Georgia │ ―― │ ―― │ 9 │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 9 │ ――
Alabama │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Mississippi │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Louisiana │ 3 │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Kentucky │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 14 ║ 7 │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Tennessee │ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Missouri │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 3 ║ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ――
Ohio │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 16 ║ ―― │ 16 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Indiana │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
Illinois │ 2 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ――
├────────┼──────┼─────────┼────────╫────────┼────────┼─────────┼────────┼──────┼─────────
Total │ 99 │ 84 │ 41 │ 37 ║ 182 │ 30 │ 24 │ 13 │ 9 │ 2
═══════════════╧════════╧══════╧═════════╧════════╩════════╧════════╧═════════╧════════╧══════╧═════════
Jackson led the popular vote, as was generally expected, and next
to him is Adams, with Clay third and Crawford fourth. While all of
the 4 candidates were regarded as Republicans as between Federalism
and Republicanism, the friends of Adams in a number of the States
fought the battle under the title of National Republicans, and the
supporters of Jackson, who represented the more Democratic element of
the opponents of Federalism, entitled themselves in some States the
Democratic Republicans. As was generally expected, there was no choice
for President, as no one of the 4 candidates had a majority of either
the popular or electoral votes, but Calhoun was elected Vice-President
by a large majority, having received the support of the Adams men
generally in New England, and of the Jackson men in Pennsylvania,
Maryland, North and South Carolina, and indeed in all of the Southern
States, excepting Georgia, Kentucky, and Missouri.
Thus for the second time in the history of the Republic the
Presidential election was remanded to the House for final decision,
and the names of Jackson, Adams, and Crawford, the three highest in
the Electoral College, were returned to that body from which a choice
had to be made by a majority of the States. Although Clay had received
less votes than Crawford, he was a very much more potent factor in
deciding the contest between the three candidates than Crawford could
have been, and it soon became evident that the friends of Clay were
in much closer accord and sympathy with Adams than they were with the
friends of either Crawford or Jackson. Clay certainly had no love for
Jackson, as Jackson was not accredited with any great qualities of
statesmanship, and it was the general apprehension that Clay would
control the election in favor of Adams that made the friends of Jackson
publish the accusation of “bargain and sale” between Adams and Clay,
by which Clay was to make Adams President and receive the position of
Premier under the administration. Although the Legislature of Kentucky
had requested the Congressmen from that State to vote for Jackson,
there were well-known reasons, both public and personal, why Clay could
not favor Jackson, and on the first ballot in the House Adams received
the votes of 13 States, with 7 for Jackson and 4 for Crawford. The
majority of the delegation of each State decided how the vote should be
cast, and the following table shows not only how the vote of each State
was given, but the divisions in the different delegations in deciding
between the three candidates:
═══════════════╤═════════╤═════════╤═════════╤═══════════
STATES. │ Adams. │ Jackson.│Crawford.│ Vote for—
───────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────
Maine │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ Adams.
New Hampshire │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ Adams.
Vermont │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ Adams.
Massachusetts │ 12 │ 1 │ ―― │ Adams.
Rhode Island │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ Adams.
Connecticut │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ Adams.
New York │ 18 │ 2 │ 14 │ Adams.
New Jersey │ 1 │ 5 │ ―― │ Jackson.
Pennsylvania │ 1 │ 25 │ ―― │ Jackson.
Delaware │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ Crawford.
Maryland │ 5 │ 3 │ 1 │ Adams.
Virginia │ 1 │ 1 │ 19 │ Crawford.
North Carolina │ 1 │ 2 │ 10 │ Crawford.
South Carolina │ ―― │ 9 │ ―― │ Jackson.
Georgia │ ―― │ ―― │ 7 │ Crawford.
Alabama │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ Jackson.
Mississippi │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ Jackson.
Louisiana │ 2 │ 1 │ ―― │ Adams.
Kentucky │ 8 │ 4 │ ―― │ Adams.
Tennessee │ ―― │ 9 │ ―― │ Jackson.
Missouri │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ Adams.
Ohio │ 10 │ 2 │ 2 │ Adams.
Indiana │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ Jackson.
Illinois │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ Adams.
├─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤
│ 87 │ 71 │ 54 │
═══════════════╧═════════╧═════════╧═════════╧═══════════
The administration of John Quincy Adams will be regarded by the careful
and dispassionate student of American history as the model government
of the Republic. He was the most accomplished scholar who ever filled
the position, and surpassed all others in general and accurate
intelligence. He was a tireless student until the day of his death, and
he had no taste and no fitness for political manipulation. He removed
but two men from office during his four years in the Presidency, and
they were dismissed for very good cause, and in the discharge of
his official duties he looked solely to what he conceived to be the
interests of the nation.
He made no efforts to popularize himself personally; was regarded as
austere and unapproachable, but he was always courteous, and the arts
of the demagogue had no place in the Executive Mansion. He was the real
author of the Monroe Doctrine, and earnestly attempted to accomplish
what Blaine struggled to accomplish three-quarters of a century
later—that is, the unity of the South American governments in sympathy
with our Government. His Cabinet was not in political harmony, but as
he regarded politics as entirely outside of Cabinet duties, he never
took note of political disagreements. He aimed to win a re-election
solely by deserving the considerate approval of the American people.
After his defeat he returned to his home in Massachusetts, but was soon
elected to Congress, where he continued until his death in 1848.
As an illustration of the careful methods of his life my own experience
in obtaining his autograph serves a good purpose. A few weeks before
his death, when I was the editor of a village newspaper and ambitious
to have the autographs of the celebrated men of the country, I wrote
him asking for an autograph letter. I received no reply, and after his
death was announced I assumed that the letter had gone into the waste
basket; but three months after his death I received a letter franked
by Louise Catharine Adams (widows of Presidents were then accorded the
franking privilege), and the envelope contained only the autograph of
John Quincy Adams, clipped from a public document that he had franked.
The pressure of duties had prevented him from answering my letter, but
the fact that it was answered by his wife so long after his death is
evidence that many letters had accumulated, all of which were answered
by Mrs. Adams. He fitly died in the Capitol of the nation. He was
stricken with paralysis during a session of the House, and died on
the following day, having written, as I believe, the most lustrous
political record of any of our statesmen, with the single exception of
Abraham Lincoln.
THE JACKSON-ADAMS-CLAY CONTESTS
1828–32
The election of Jackson to the Presidency in 1828 was not in any
sense a revolution as to the general policy of the Government, but
it was a decided revolution in the political methods of our national
administrations. Madison, Monroe, and Adams were not confronted by the
spoils system. They never entertained the question of removing men from
office to reward political friends or to punish political enemies.
[Illustration: ANDREW JACKSON]
The civil service system of the Government under those administrations
was an ideal system, but the Jackson leaders openly inspired the
followers of their favorite to earnest political action by the
declaration that “to the victors belong the spoils.” That slogan was
first heard in the Jackson-Adams campaign of 1828, and when Jackson
succeeded, for the first time Washington was overrun with a countless
host of greedy spoilsmen, clamoring for the dismissal of every man who
had not supported Jackson.
Jackson himself was thoroughly committed to the policy of political
proscription, and from that day until the present time it has
been generally accepted that a change of politics in the national
administrations means a general change of the now enormous army of
Federal officers, excepting as it is feebly restrained by all parties
professing devotion to a civil service system with none honestly
maintaining it.
When it is remembered that Jackson was defeated by Adams in 1824,
although having more popular and electoral votes than Adams, it is not
surprising that the friends of Jackson became intensely embittered, and
they opened the campaign of 1828 immediately after the inauguration of
Adams in 1825. In the Southwest, where Jackson lived and had his chief
strength outside of Pennsylvania, the cockpit, the race-course and the
gaming-table were favorite amusements, and the people were strongly
prejudiced against what they regarded as the aristocratic power that
had been maintained by the Virginia Presidents and continued by Adams.
They had a candidate who enthused his followers to the uttermost, and
the quiet citizens of Washington, long used to the delectable and
cultivated official circles which had prevailed from Washington to
the second Adams, were shocked at the mob of Democratic place-hunters
who crowded into the Capitol when Jackson became President, and had
access to the White House regardless of conventionality, where Jackson
is reported to have smoked his corn-cob pipe during his greeting of
visitors. With Jackson came the spoils system that has done so much to
demoralize the politics of the Republic.
Jackson held a very strong position before the nation, not only because
of his triumph over the British at New Orleans, but because of the
high civil positions which he had filled with reasonable credit, but
without displaying any high standard of statesmanship. He aided in
framing the Tennessee Constitution in 1796, and was elected as the
first Representative in Congress by the people after the admission of
the State, then entitled to only one member.
He had been an ardent supporter of Jefferson in his first contest
with the elder Adams, and in 1797 he was elected to the United States
Senate, but he resigned a year later to become a Judge of the Supreme
Court of the State, where he served until 1804, and was again elected
Senator in 1823. He had filled all those important civil positions
before he had attained any military distinction. He had served in the
last year of the war of the revolution as a boy, and the only thing
notable that is preserved of his military record of that day is the
tradition that after he had been captured by the British he was wounded
by an English officer because he refused to clean the officer’s boots.
It is not likely that he ever would have been a prominent candidate for
President but for the fact that he defeated the English in the battle
of New Orleans on the 8th of January, 1815. Had there been steamships,
cables, and telegraphs at that time Jackson could never have commanded
the hero worship that twice elected him President and made him
practically political dictator.
The treaty of peace between England and the United States was signed
at Ghent on December 24, 1814, but it required nearly a month for the
Government to receive information that the treaty had been signed
and that the war was ended. On January 8, 1815, more than a fortnight
after England and the United States were actually at peace by their
own treaty, the battle of New Orleans was fought between Jackson
and Packenham, and a victory achieved over the English that then
electrified the country as thoroughly as did Dewey’s victory at Manila.
That victory, and that victory alone, made Jackson President, and with
his rugged and indomitable will, for nearly a generation he stamped his
impress upon the policy of the Government with greater emphasis than
any other living man since Washington.
The Presidential contest of 1828 formally began soon after the
inauguration of Adams, when the Legislature of Tennessee presented
Jackson as a candidate, and the criticisms of the Adams administration
revived much of the political asperities and resentments of the violent
discussions between the old Federalist and Republican parties in the
days of Jefferson and the elder Adams. One of the reasons strongly
urged against the re-election of Adams was that his administration had
become recklessly extravagant, as the expenditures of the Government
under him had reached the enormous sum of nearly $14,000,000 a year.
Adams was attacked also because of his liberal views on the questions
of protection and public improvements, although Jackson had sustained
nearly or quite the same views by his votes in Congress. Adams had
no trained political leaders; his Cabinet was divided even on the
question of supporting himself, and the ideal statesmanship that Adams
worshipped was not calculated to school and equip great politicians.
Chiefly through the efforts of Martin Van Buren the supporters of
Crawford were brought into the support of Jackson, a feat that was
probably not difficult from the fact that Clay, the Secretary of State
under Adams, was not friendly with Crawford.
The Congressional caucus was not thought of, and Adams became a
candidate to succeed himself by resolutions of Legislatures and
mass-meetings. Calhoun, who was the Vice-President under Adams, was
accepted by the friends of Jackson and received nearly as large an
electoral vote as his chief. It was a contest between the dignified
statesmanship of that day and the Democratic element of the country.
Adams was accepted as the National Republican candidate and Jackson
was supported under the flags of Republican Democracy, and in some
sections of Democracy alone. It was this contest and the success of
Jackson that crystallized the Republican party of Jefferson into the
Democratic party that then had the ablest political leaders of the
nation.
The friends of Adams seem to have been confident of his re-election,
and a majority of the States chose their electors by popular vote. It
was a battle between the Democratic hero of New Orleans, the friend of
the people, and the aristocratic power of the Republic. With Jackson’s
great prestige and Adams’s feebleness in resources to support himself
in the great contest before the people, it is not surprising that
Jackson was elected by a very large popular and electoral majority.
The following is the popular vote where a direct vote was had in the
several States between Jackson and Adams:
══════════════════╤══════════╤═══════════════
STATES. │ Jackson. │ Adams.
──────────────────┼──────────┼───────────────
Maine[8] │ 13,927 │ 20,733
New Hampshire │ 20,922 │ 24,134
Vermont │ 8,350 │ 25,363
Massachusetts │ 6,016 │ 29,876
Rhode Island │ 821 │ 2,754
Connecticut │ 4,448 │ 13,838
New York[8] │ 140,763 │ 135,413
New Jersey │ 21,951 │ 23,764
Pennsylvania │ 101,652 │ 50,848
Delaware[9] │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Maryland[8] │ 24,565 │ 25,527
Virginia │ 26,752 │ 12,101
North Carolina │ 37,857 │ 13,918
South Carolina[9] │ ―――――― │ ――――――
Georgia[9] │ 19,363 │ No opposition.
Alabama[9] │ 17,138 │ 1,938
Mississippi[9] │ 6,772 │ 1,581
Louisiana[9] │ 4,603 │ 4,076
Kentucky[9] │ 39,397 │ 31,460
Tennessee[8] │ 44,293 │ 2,240
Missouri │ 8,272 │ 3,400
Ohio │ 67,597 │ 63,396
Indiana │ 22,257 │ 17,052
Illinois │ 9,560 │ 4,662
├──────────┼───────────────
Totals │ 647,276 │ 508,064
══════════════════╧══════════╧═══════════════
[8] Chosen by districts.
[9] By Legislature.
The majority for Jackson was so decisive both in popular and electoral
votes that the verdict was accepted by the country, and the vote was
counted and declared by Congress without any incident worthy of note.
The following table presents the vote in detail for President and
Vice-President in the Electoral College:
══════════════╤════════════════════════════╦═══════════════════════════════════════════
│ PRESIDENT. ║ VICE-PRESIDENT.
STATES. ├───────────────┬────────────╫──────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────
│Andrew Jackson,│John Quincy ║ John C. │Richard Rush,│William Smith,
│ Tenn. │Adams, Mass.║Calhoun, S. C.│ Penn. │ S. C.
──────────────┼───────────────┼────────────╫──────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────
Maine │ 1 │ 8 ║ 1 │ 8 │ ――
New Hampshire │ ―― │ 8 ║ ―― │ 8 │ ――
Vermont │ ―― │ 7 ║ ―― │ 7 │ ――
Massachusetts │ ―― │ 15 ║ ―― │ 15 │ ――
Rhode Island │ ―― │ 4 ║ ―― │ 4 │ ――
Connecticut │ ―― │ 8 ║ ―― │ 8 │ ――
New York │ 20 │ 16 ║ 20 │ 16 │ ――
New Jersey │ ―― │ 8 ║ ―― │ 8 │ ――
Pennsylvania │ 28 │ ―― ║ 28 │ ―― │ ――
Delaware │ ―― │ 3 ║ ―― │ 3 │ ――
Maryland │ 5 │ 6 ║ 5 │ 6 │ ――
Virginia │ 24 │ ―― ║ 24 │ ―― │ ――
North Carolina│ 15 │ ―― ║ 15 │ ―― │ ――
South Carolina│ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ――
Georgia │ 9 │ ―― ║ 2 │ ―― │ 7
Alabama │ 5 │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ――
Mississippi │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ――
Louisiana │ 5 │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ――
Kentucky │ 14 │ ―― ║ 14 │ ―― │ ――
Tennessee │ 11 │ ―― ║ 11 │ ―― │ ――
Ohio │ 16 │ ―― ║ 16 │ ―― │ ――
Indiana │ 5 │ ―― ║ 5 │ ―― │ ――
Illinois │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ――
Missouri │ 3 │ ―― ║ 3 │ ―― │ ――
├───────────────┼────────────╫──────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────
Totals │ 178 │ 83 ║ 171 │ 83 │ 7
══════════════╧═══════════════╧════════════╩══════════════╧═════════════╧══════════════
The campaign of 1832 resulting in the triumphant re-election of Jackson
developed a more confused condition of politics in the nation than
had ever been presented. The Federal party was dead, and did not
even pretend to maintain its organization in any of the States. The
Republican party was divided between the National Republicans and the
Democratic Republicans, who followed Jackson, and finally adopted the
flag of Democracy. Jackson’s first administration had been anything
but a peaceful one. An open quarrel had broken out between Jackson and
Vice-President Calhoun, and Jackson was not only a good hater, but
a good fighter. He was largely influenced by Van Buren, who was his
Secretary of State, and who was one of the most sagacious political
managers of his day. He aimed to succeed Jackson as President by having
the Jackson administration enlisted in his favor, and his first step
toward that end was to overthrow Calhoun, and Jackson emphasized his
hostility to Calhoun by dictating the nomination of Van Buren for
Vice-President.
A considerable number of prominent old Republicans who had supported
Jackson had become alienated from him because of the intensely
partisan qualities of his administration and because of his aggressive
interference in the Cabinet scandal resulting from Mrs. Eaton’s social
ambition as the wife of a Cabinet minister. Scandals were multiplied
in Washington about the Jackson Kitchen Cabinet, of which Amos Kendall
was regarded as the chief, but with all the disturbance in the National
Capitol, the people of the country were sturdy in their devotion to
Jackson, as was proved by his large majority, both in popular and
electoral votes, over Clay, who was confessedly the ablest leader of
the opposition.
This contest brings us to the introduction of the National Convention.
The first political national convention held in this country was called
to meet in Philadelphia in September, 1830, by a number of prominent
anti-Masonic leaders. The anti-Mason party had sprung up suddenly and
attained great power in the North, as it was the only outlet for the
old Federalists, most of whom were in sympathy with the opposition of
the new party to Masonic and all other secret societies.
The death of William Morgan, who, it was claimed, had been murdered
by the Masons for revealing the secrets of the order, was most
dramatically presented in the political organs of the day, and the
new party speedily absorbed most of the opposition elements to the
Democracy in the Northern States. The anti-Masonic national convention
that met in Philadelphia in 1830 was presided over by Francis Granger,
of New York, and was composed of 96 delegates, representing New York,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, and the Territory of Michigan. This convention
was held more than two years before the Presidential election, for
which it was expected to nominate candidates for President, but instead
of making nominations, it adjourned to meet in Baltimore in September,
1831, when it had 112 delegates, with Indiana and Ohio added to the
States presented. John C. Spencer was its president, and William
Wirt, of Maryland, was nominated for President, and Amos Ellmaker, of
Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. Instead of passing a platform, as is
now common, the convention issued an elaborate address to the people of
the Union.