The Election of 1844By Angel Ortiz

FrontRunners

FrontRunners Cont.

• Martin Van Buren (left, Democrat) and Henry Clay (right, Whig) were at the fore front of their parties nominations in 1844.

• Another party involved was the Liberty Party, headed by James Birney.

• Arguably the biggest issue at this time was the possible annexation of Texas.

• Most people supported the annexation of Texas, and so did Clay, so he easily got the nomination, but Van Buren ran into trouble.

Martin Van Buren

• The delegates at the Democratic convention reinstated a new rule where the nominee would need two-thirds majority vote to obtain the nomination.

• Since Van Buren had openly opposed the annexation of Texas, it was extremely unlikely that he would get the nomination.

• In fact, one Van Buren stated that he had opposed the annexation of Texas, he assured his loss of the nomination.

The “Dark Horse”

• James K. Polk first appealed to delegates because he has the protegé of Andrew Jackson.

• Polk also openly showed his support of annexing Texas, which appealed to many voters.

• In addition to this, Polk was a very hard worker that showed his support for Van Buren before he declared his opposition to annexing Texas.

Slogans

• Slogan used by the Democrats was 54-40 or fight! Which referred to Polk’s determination in obtaining the Oregon territory from Europe.

• Clay and the Whigs used the slogan “Who’s James K Polk?” appealing to the fact that not many people had ever heard of Polk.

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Results

Works Cited

• History Contributors. "Election of 1844." Http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h319.html. U-s-History, 12 Nov. 2006. Web. 25 July 2015.

• "James K. Polk." James K. Polk. Ed. Michael R. Resse. History Channel, 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 July 2015.