Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874 to William H. Seward
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04717.12 Author/Creator: Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874 Place Written: Peterboro, New York Type: Printed letter Date: 1 January 1845 Pagination: 3 p. : Height: 32 cm, Width: 20.3 cm Order a Copy
Informs Seward why he did not support Henry Clay, the Whig Candidate, in the Presidential election of 1844. Presents an argument as to why the Liberty Party did not support Clay: "Mr. Clay would not have been defeated, had he done his duty. If he had, as soon as he learned that he was put in nomination, publicly washed his hands of the blood of duelling and slavery, he would have been elected."
In the Presidential election of 1844, opponents of slavery were faced with a dilemma: whether to vote for Whig candidate Henry Clay, or support Liberty party candidate James G. Birney, and possibly throw the election to the Democratic nominee James Knox Polk, an ardent supporter of territorial expansion. In 1844, the Liberty party polled some 62,000 votes--nine times as many votes as it had received four years earlier--and captured enough votes in Michigan and New York to deny Clay the presidency.
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