The 1844 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

from May 27 through 30. The convention nominated former

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

James K. Polk of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

for president and former Senator George M. Dallas of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

for

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

. The convention included three former vice presidents who sought the presidential nomination, John C. Calhoun, Van Buren and

Richard Mentor Johnson Richard Mentor Johnson (October 17, 1780 – November 19, 1850) was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the ninth vice president of the United States from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren. He is ...

. Though his opposition to the annexation of Texas cost him support with expansionists and Southerners, former President

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

entered the convention with the backing of a majority of the delegates. Before presidential balloting commenced, the convention voted to reinstate a rule requiring the presidential nominee to win two-thirds of the vote. On the first presidential ballot, Van Buren won a majority, but fell short of a two-thirds requirement. As the balloting continued, Van Buren continually lost support to Johnson, former

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was a United States Army officer and politician. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1 ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and Senator

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

of Pennsylvania. Though he had entered the convention hoping to be nominated for vice president, Polk had the strong support of former President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

and was acceptable to the different factions of the party. He won the nomination on the ninth presidential ballot, thus becoming the first dark horse candidate to win a major party's presidential nomination. After Senator Silas Wright of New York declined the vice presidential nomination, the convention selected Dallas as Polk's running mate. The Democratic ticket went on to win the 1844 presidential election.

Proceedings

At the outset of the convention, the leading contender was former President

of New York, who had been defeated in the 1840 election. His principal opponent was

, who had served as

United States Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the President of the United States, U.S. president's United States Cabinet, Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's Presidency of George Washington, administration. A similar position, called either "Sec ...

under President Andrew Jackson. The annexation of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

was a major issue. Van Buren publicly opposed immediate annexation because it might lead to a sectional crisis over the status of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in the West. This position cost Van Buren the support of Southern and expansionist Democrats, but he believed that backing annexation would cost him the support of his fellow New Yorkers and other Northeasterners. Van Buren's supporters arrived at the convention with a majority of the delegates pledged to support him on the first ballot. Cass, meanwhile, had support from a handful of Southern states, but far fewer delegates pledged to him. At the previous convention, in 1840, a majority of votes had been sufficient to secure the nomination, but this had been a departure from the party's previous rule requiring a two-thirds majority.Widmer, 2005, p. 151 Early in the proceedings, Senator Robert J. Walker of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, in cooperation with Senator (and future president)

called for reinstatement of the 1832 and 1835 convention rule requiring the nominee to win two-thirds of the votes. Following a historical pattern in which a minority faction of Northern Democrats delivered votes to produce southern wing victories for pro-slavery legislation, the Van Burenite delegates split over the pivotal vote. Fully one-third of the pro-Van Buren delegates (52 of 154) voted to reinstate the two-thirds rule, along with 90 of 104 anti-Van Buren delegates, producing a final vote of 148 to 116. The rule would remain in place until the 1936 Democratic National Convention, when it was revoked by supporters of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

File:Martin Van Buren circa 1837 crop.jpg, Former President

of New York File:Lewis Cass crop.jpg, Former Ambassador to France

File:Richard Mentor Johnson A29919 (cropped 3x4).jpg, Former

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Richard M. Johnson
of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

File:James Buchanan painted by J. Eichholtz.jpg,

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

File:George Peter Alexander Healy - John C. Calhoun - Google Art Project.jpg, Secretary of State
John C. Calhoun
of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

File:Levi Woodbury SecNavy.jpg,

Levi Woodbury
of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Van Buren supporters persisted in spite of the two-thirds rule setback, garnering 146 votes for their candidate on the first ballot, a 55% simple majority, but short of the now required 177 votes. Middle and Deep South pro-annexationists opposed Van Buren 75 to 3, depriving northern anti-annexationists the 31 votes needed for victory. Support for Van Buren dwindled in subsequent ballots from 146 to 99, at which point Van Burenites were reduced to blocking nominations of numerous candidates, among them James Buchanan, Lewis Cass of Michigan, John C. Calhoun, and Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire. Incumbent President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president of the United States, vice president in 1841. He was elected ...

, a former Democrat who was elected to the vice presidency on the 1840 Whig Party ticket, also hoped to win the support of delegates, but he was unable to find any backers. Southern intransigence had succeeded in eliminating Van Buren and his stand on Texas annexation. If the Democratic Party was to avoid dissolution at a national level, an acceptable nominee, fully committed to immediate annexation would be required, yet capable of unifying the party in the general election. Van Buren was open to deferring to Senator Silas Wright of New York, but Wright was a major supporter of Van Buren for president and had already declined to be considered. On the eighth ballot, the historian George Bancroft, a delegate from Massachusetts, proposed former Speaker of the House of Representatives James K. Polk as a compromise candidate. Polk, who had also served as Governor of Tennessee, had entered the convention in hopes of becoming the vice presidential nominee. However, former President

, who remained popular in the party, believed Polk was just the man to head the Democratic ticket. Although a slaveholder himself, Polk never enunciated a slavery expansionist position with respect to Texas annexation, as had John C. Calhoun and the southern extremists. Despite Polk's fervent advocacy for annexation, he had remained loyal to Van Buren throughout the Texas controversy, and anti-annexationist Van Burenites were willing to accept Polk, with reservations, having already recognized him as a suitable vice-presidential choice to have complemented a Van Buren ticket. Southern Democrats benefited from the Tyler-Calhoun machinations in eliminating Martin Van Buren as a presidential candidate, and clearing the way for the pro-annexation nationalist Polk. On the ninth ballot, Van Buren instructed his delegates to support Polk, beginning a stampede to Polk that ended with him winning the nomination unanimously. Consequently, Polk became the first dark horse, or little-known, presidential nominee. Van Buren complied with his party's decision to unite under a pro-annexation candidate, and worked to win New York state for Polk. Despite Whig efforts to cast Polk as an unknown – "Who is James K. Polk?" they asked rhetorically – he was respected as an effective political operator. His sobriquet "The Young Hickory" contained a dual reference, one to his mentor Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson, and one to the term Young America, a reference to an international movements struggling to establish republican forms of government and the overthrow of monarchies and ascribed to

Manifest Destiny Manifest destiny was the belief in the 19th century in the United States, 19th-century United States that American pioneer, American settlers were destined to expand westward across North America, and that this belief was both obvious ("''m ...

Democrats. As a national imperialist, he exhibited an unwavering support for Manifest Destiny, perceived as a non-sectional devotion to expansionism, whether slave-soil Texas or free-soil

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...

. Polk argued that Texas and Oregon had always belonged to the United States by right. He called for "the immediate reannexation of Texas" and for the "reoccupation" of the disputed Oregon territory. Polk's political reputation was expected to diffuse northern Democratic resentment towards the Slavepower, while delivering Texas to the Deep South.
File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png, 1st Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination2ndBallot.png, 2nd Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination3rdBallot.png, 3rd Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination4thBallot.png, 4th Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination5thBallot.png, 5th Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination6thBallot.png, 6th Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination7thBallot.png, 7th Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination8thBallot.png, 8th Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination9thBallotBefore.png, 9th Presidential Ballot Before Shifts File:1844DemocraticPresidentialNomination9thBallotAfter.png, 9th Presidential Ballot After Shifts

Vice presidential nomination

Vice presidential candidates

File:George Mifflin Dallas 1848 crop.png, Former Minister to Russia
George M. Dallas
of

File:JohnFairfield (cropped).jpg,

John Fairfield
of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

File:Levi Woodbury SecNavy.jpg,

Levi Woodbury
of

File:Lewis Cass crop.jpg, Former Ambassador to France

File:Richard Mentor Johnson A29919 (cropped 3x4).jpg, Former

Richard M. Johnson
of

File:Commodore Charles Stewart 1841.jpg,

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Captain
Charles Stewart
of

File:William L. Marcy - Brady-Handy.jpg, Former

William L. Marcy
of New York

Declined

Image:SilasWright.png,

Silas Wright
of New York Polk and

had both campaigned for the vice presidency prior to the convention, but with Polk's nomination for president, the party looked to the northern states for a running mate. The anti-annexationist Silas Wright, US Senator from New York, was nominated almost unanimously on the first ballot, but when he was informed by telegraph at the US Capitol, Wright declined: this was partly out of refusal to support a ticket backing the annexation of Texas, and partly because he did not want to be accused of intriguing against Van Buren to benefit himself. Wright refused to reconsider despite Democratic Party attempts to convince him to do so. On the second ballot, John Fairfield attracted significant support, but this was not even close to the 184 votes required for nomination: on the third ballot, the convention settled on George M. Dallas, a conservative from Pennsylvania.
File:1844DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination1stBallot.png, 1st Vice Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination2ndBallot.png, 2nd Vice Presidential Ballot File:1844DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination3rdBallot.png, 3rd Vice Presidential Ballot

In popular culture

The basic events of the convention are outlined in the song "James K. Polk" by the rock band

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

.Flansburgh, J. and J. Linnell, 1996, "James K. Polk" ''Factory Showroom''

References

External links

Democratic Party Platform of 1844
at ''The American Presidency Project'' {{Authority control 1844 United States presidential election 1844 in Maryland 1840s in Baltimore Political conventions in Baltimore Maryland Democratic Party Political events in Maryland Democratic National Conventions 1844 conferences May 1844 19th-century political conferences Martin Van Buren James Buchanan James K. Polk Richard Mentor Johnson George M. Dallas