- When
- 1848
In one line: the Whig Zachary Taylor beat the Democrat Lewis Cass and the Free Soil candidate Martin Van Buren, and this page holds three campaign prints for each of the three.
Context
Taylor (Whig) won 163 electoral votes and Cass (Democratic) 127; Van Buren (Free Soil) won none [1]. The popular vote was Taylor 1,361,393 (47.3%), Cass 1,223,460 (42.5%) and Van Buren 291,501 (10.1%) [2]. Taylor died in July 1850 and Vice President Millard Fillmore succeeded him [1].
Wikipedia's cross-check summary says Van Buren left the Democratic Party after Cass was nominated, took the Free Soil nomination, and ran on opposing the extension of slavery into the territories [3]. The objects held here are lithographed banners and portrait prints, mostly published by N. Currier in New York, plus one Hartford print and one cartoon.
Campaign literature
| Candidate (party) | Objects in the archive |
|---|---|
| Zachary Taylor (Whig) | 3 |
| Lewis Cass (Democratic) | 3 |
| Martin Van Buren (Free Soil) | 3 |
Each candidate has three objects, and each is tied to its ticket by the issuer or by an LOC description of the ticket it served.
Zachary Taylor (Whig)
- Grand National Whig Banner: Press Onward (Currier, Taylor and Fillmore), 1848 (print, 1848): a Currier draped-cloth banner with portraits of Taylor and Fillmore, "The People's Choice" and "Press Onward".
- Zachary Taylor, People's Candidate for President (Currier banner), 1848 (print, 1848): a horizontal Currier print with laurel-wreathed portraits of Taylor and Fillmore, captioned "People's Candidate for President".
- Zachary Taylor, the People's Choice for 12th President (Currier), 1848 (print, June 23, 1848): Taylor ringed by eleven portraits of earlier presidents, under a ribbon reading "The Presidents of the United States".
Lewis Cass (Democratic)
- Grand, National, Democratic Banner: Press Onward (Currier, Cass and Butler), 1848 (print, June 23, 1848): a Currier banner with portraits of Cass and Butler beneath an eagle, "The Democrats' Choice" and "Press Onward".
- Lewis Cass, Democratic Candidate for President (Currier), 1848 (print, August 12, 1848): a horizontal Currier print with oak-wreathed portraits of Cass and Butler beneath an eagle on a globe.
- The Presidents of the United States: Lewis Cass, Democratic Candidate for 12th President (Currier), 1848 (print, June 6, 1848): Cass ringed by eleven portraits of earlier presidents, under a ribbon reading "The Presidents of the United States".
Martin Van Buren (Free Soil)
- Grand Democratic Free Soil Banner (Currier, Van Buren and Adams), 1848 (print, September 1, 1848): a Currier banner with portraits of Van Buren and Adams, the slogan "Free Soil.-Free Labor.-Free Speech." and a farm vignette.
- Free Soil Candidates for President and Vice-President (Kellogg and Comstock), 1848 (print, 1848): a Kellogg and Comstock print of Van Buren and Adams under an eagle, with views of the Capitol and the White House.
- 'Can you rest one hand on the sacred altar of Liberty...' (Free Soil cartoon, Currier), 1848 (cartoon, August 12, 1848): Van Buren and the Goddess of Liberty at a monument, while opponents' speech balloons call Free Soil supporters "doughfaces" and Van Buren a "traitor".
Techniques visible
The same definitions apply to every candidate. Each list below is generated from the techniques tags in the entries.
- Transfer: Taylor (Grand National Whig Banner: Press Onward (Currier, Taylor and Fillmore), 1848, Zachary Taylor, the People's Choice for 12th President (Currier), 1848); Cass (Grand, National, Democratic Banner: Press Onward (Currier, Cass and Butler), 1848, Lewis Cass, Democratic Candidate for President (Currier), 1848, The Presidents of the United States: Lewis Cass, Democratic Candidate for 12th President (Currier), 1848); Buren (Grand Democratic Free Soil Banner (Currier, Van Buren and Adams), 1848, Free Soil Candidates for President and Vice-President (Kellogg and Comstock), 1848, 'Can you rest one hand on the sacred altar of Liberty...' (Free Soil cartoon, Currier), 1848). The tell is the same for each: the standing of a person, place, symbol or event is attached to a candidate.
- Bandwagon: Taylor (Grand National Whig Banner: Press Onward (Currier, Taylor and Fillmore), 1848, Zachary Taylor, the People's Choice for 12th President (Currier), 1848); Cass (Grand, National, Democratic Banner: Press Onward (Currier, Cass and Butler), 1848). The tell is the same for each: a slogan, verse or picture announcing that the candidate is winning or that others are joining.
- Glittering generalities: Taylor (Zachary Taylor, People's Candidate for President (Currier banner), 1848); Buren (Grand Democratic Free Soil Banner (Currier, Van Buren and Adams), 1848). The tell is the same for each: virtue words offered with no testable claim.
- Name-calling: Buren ('Can you rest one hand on the sacred altar of Liberty...' (Free Soil cartoon, Currier), 1848). The tell is the same for each: a derisive or loaded label, animal or ethnic image attached to a candidate, his backers or his opponents in place of an argument.
- Plain folks: Taylor (Zachary Taylor, People's Candidate for President (Currier banner), 1848). The tell is the same for each: the candidate is presented through plain-living props or a frontier or farm persona.
Sources
- National Archives, "Electoral College: 1848 Election", https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/1848
- American Presidency Project, "1848", https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/elections/1848
- Wikipedia, "1848 United States presidential election" (cross-check only), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1848_United_States_presidential_election
- LOC records, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ followed by: 2003656579 (Taylor banner), 2003674554 (Taylor people's candidate), 2003674556 (Taylor presidents), 2003656598 (Cass banner), 2003656597 (Cass candidates), 2003656599 (Cass presidents), 2001700249 (Van Buren banner), 2021651208 (Van Buren candidates), 2004665354 (altar of Liberty).