Book Reviews |
Free Soil: The Election of 1848. By JOSEPH G. RAYBACK. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1971. ix + 326p.; notes and index. $12.50.) Rayback's purpose is to analyze the cam- paign of 1848 from its origin in the early days of Polk's administration to the election of the Whig Zachary Taylor over Martin Van Buren for the Free Soilers and Lewis Cass for the Democrats. The author finds that the presidential election of 1848 marked the emergence of antislavery sentiment as a determining political force, and that seces- sions occurred in the ranks of both the Whig and Democratic parties because of anti- slavery opposition to the candidates and platforms of the major parties. The seceders, in turn, organized the Free Soil party, which then drew up a platform opposing the ex- tension of slavery to the territories. The political contest began to take shape early in the Polk administration when sev- eral candidacies were privately launched. The Mexican War, however, brought Zach- ary Taylor forward, first as the "people's candidate," and later as the choice of the Whigs. After analyzing the returns, Rayback concludes that Taylor's victory came largely because of party loyalty and the appeal of Taylor's military glory. The Barnburner supporters of Martin Van Buren are characterized as men of principle dedicated to the prevention of the extension of slavery, rather than as politicians who follow the dictates of political expediency. Thus, in effect, Rayback rejects the Free Soiler George Julian's characterization of the Barnburners as "the compromising and trading elements." When the Barnburners bolted the Democratic party after the state convention refused to endorse the Wilmot Proviso, they declared that they seceded be- cause the Democratic platform, without the Proviso, was a menace to free labor. Ray- back states the Barnburners insisted that their departure was taken on this ground because the Proviso "appealed strongly to the Democratic rank and file" that they |
hoped to carry with them (p. 80). Even though Rayback admits Van Buren had gone to great lengths as the servant of the "slave power" in the 1830's, he feels the former President would have been faithful to the Free Soil platform of 1848. Although Rayback gives only one short chapter to the Liberty Party, he recognizes the dilemma the Liberty men faced in vot- ing for Van Buren after-the withdrawal of their own candidate, John P. Hale. The Whigs and Democrats delighted in remind- ing the Free Soilers of Van Buren's old pledge to veto any bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, which he publicly retracted in 1848, and the willingness of his administration to permit the reenslavement of the Amistad captives (pp. 230, 246). Van Buren's record, therefore, caused much hesi- tation among Liberty men in accepting the Free Soil ticket in 1848. The election revealed signs of the break- ing up of the major parties. The problem was slavery, and politics was becoming sec- tionalized. The Whigs would soon be in serious trouble, but the crisis for the Demo- crats would be postponed. The returns showed that the Democratic party was al- ready in a state of division, but the impact of the third party vote was not immediately recognized because of the temporary recov- ery of the Democrats in the elections of 1852 and 1856. Rayback's concluding thought is that a solution to the problem of slavery in the territories continued to be imperative, and that the Nebraska bill of 1854, a Demo- cratic solution applying the principle of equality to the territory, was not acceptable. Therefore, passions which had been awak- ened in 1848 were re-aroused, resulting in the ultimate split in the Democratic party, the decline of the Whigs, and the creation of "an enlarged Free Soil organization--the Republican party" (p. 310). The study is well edited and free of print- ing mistakes. The Amistad captives, how- ever, are called the "Amistead captives." The author's style is lively and his research is impressive. Rayback made extensive use |