1852 Democratic National Convention

1852 Democratic National Convention
1852 presidential election;
	Nominees ; Pierce and King
Convention
Date(s)	June 1–5, 1852
City	Baltimore, Maryland
Venue	Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts [above Centre ("Marsh") Market]
Candidates
Presidential nominee	Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire
Vice-presidential nominee	William R. King of Alabama
	‹ 1848 · 1856 ›

The 1852 Democratic National Convention nominated the dark horse candidate Franklin Pierce for President on the 49th ballot, passing over better known candidates Lewis Cass of Michigan (the previous nominee in 1848), James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. It was held at the Maryland Institute in the eastern downtown business district of Baltimore, Maryland, just two weeks before the opposing Whig Party met in the same hall for their nominating convention.

This convention was notable for the hostility between several groups within the party, divided over the "Compromise of 1850". The convention was called to order by Democratic National Committee chairman Benjamin F. Hallett. Romulus M. Saunders served as the temporary convention chairman and John W. Davis served as the permanent convention president.

Location

The Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, then an academic institution founded 1825-1826 with a variety of curriculums including mechanical arts along with visual art and design, was located on the second floor of their recently constructed 1851 landmark structure with two clock towers at each end of the long structure set atop arched, stone and brick piers which covered the ancient "Centre Market", founded in the 1760s as the original main marketplace of old Baltimore Town. Located at Market Place (formerly Harrison Street) and South Frederick Street between East Baltimore Street on the north and Water Street (old colonial shoreline) to the south. It was also known as "Marsh Market" because of the old colonial marsh of Thomas Harrison then located along the western bank of the Jones Falls stream which flowed through downtown Baltimore to the Harbor), and east of "The Basin" (today's "Inner Harbor re-developed entertainment, commercial and hotel area) along the northern shore of the Patapsco River's Northwest Branch. 16th President Abraham Lincoln spoke at the Institute a decade later with his "Liberty Address" or "Baltimore Address" during the Sanitary Fair to raise money to benefit orphans and widows of Union Army soldiers and sailors, held by the United States Sanitary Commission in April 1864. Old Maryland Institute and the Centre Market buildings perished in the Great Baltimore Fire of February 1904. The Institute's buildings were rebuilt with three new parallel structures here for the marketplace and the second floors for the M.I.'s mechanical arts along with another "Main Building" at Mount Royal Avenue in northwestern city in 1906. They were razed in the 1980s for an entranceway into the new Baltimore "Metro" subway system, and one building (the old "Fish Market") was renovated as the "Port Discovery" children's museum, part of the new "Power Plant Live!" entertainment complex of the 1990s.

Presidential Candidates

Former Senator Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire
Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan

Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan
Former Secretary of State James Buchanan of Pennsylvania
Delegate Joseph Lane of Oregon
Senator Sam Houston of Texas
Associate Justice Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire (Died Before Convention)
Former Congressmen and General William O. Butler of Kentucky
Senator Daniel S. Dickinson of New York
Governor Philip Allen of Rhode Island
Senator Henry Dodge of Wisconsin

Withdrew During Balloting

The Convention

As Democrats convened in Baltimore in June 1852, four major candidates vied for the nomination- Lewis Cass of Michigan, the nominee in 1848, who had the backing of northerners in support of the Compromise of 1850; James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, popular in the South as well as in his home state; Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, candidate of the expansionists and the railroad interests; and William L. Marcy of New York, whose strength was centered in his home state. Throughout the balloting, numerous favorite son candidates received a few votes.

Cass led on the first 19 ballots, with Buchanan second, and Douglas and Marcy exchanging third and fourth places. Buchanan took the lead on the 20th ballot and retained it on each of the next nine tallies. Douglas managed a narrow lead on the 30th and 31st ballots. Cass then recaptured first place through the 44th ballot. Marcy carried the next four ballots.

Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, a former Congressman and Senator, did not get on the board until the 35th ballot, when the Virginia delegation brought him forward as a compromise choice, selecting Pierce as their dark horse by one vote over former New York Congressman and Brooklyn Mayor Henry C. Murphy.^[1] After being nominated by the Virginia delegation, Pierce's support remained steady until the 46th ballot, when it began to increase at Cass's expense. Pierce's support was consolidated in subsequent voting, and he was nominated nearly unanimously on the 49th ballot.^[2]

In a peace gesture to the Buchanan wing of the party, Pierce's supporters allowed Buchanan's allies to fill the second position, knowing that they would select Alabama Senator William R. King, to whom Pierce had no objections. King won the nomination on the second ballot. During the ensuing campaign, King's tuberculosis, which he believed he had contracted while living in Paris, denied him the active behind-the-scenes role that he might otherwise have played, although he worked hard to assure his region's voters with the statement that New Hampshire's Pierce was a "northern man with southern principles."

Ballots

Presidential Ballots

Ballot	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23rd	24th	25th
Presidential Ballot
Franklin Pierce	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lewis Cass	116	118	119	115	114	114	113	113	112	111	101	98	98	99	99	99	99	96	89	81	60	43	37	33	34
James Buchanan	93	95	94	89	88	88	88	88	87	86	87	88	88	87	87	87	87	85	85	92	102	104	104	103	101
William L. Marcy	27	27	26	25	26	26	26	26	27	27	27	27	26	26	26	26	26	25	26	26	26	26	27	26	26
Stephen A. Douglas	20	23	21	33	34	34	34	34	39	40	50	51	51	51	51	51	50	56	63	64	64	77	78	80	79
Others	40	33	36	34	34	34	35	35	31	32	31	32	33	33	33	33	34	34	33	33	44	46	50	54	56

Ballot	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th	31st	32nd	33rd	34th	35th	36th	37th	38th	39th	40th	41st	42nd	43rd	44th	45th	46th	47th	48th	49th
Presidential Ballot
Franklin Pierce	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	30	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	44	49	55	282
Lewis Cass	33	32	28	27	33	65	93	123	130	131	122	120	107	106	107	107	101	101	101	96	78	75	72	2
James Buchanan	101	98	96	98	91	83	74	72	49	39	28	28	28	28	27	27	27	27	27	27	28	28	28	0
William L. Marcy	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	25	33	34	58	70	84	85	85	85	91	91	91	97	98	95	89	0
Stephen A. Douglas	80	85	88	91	92	92	80	60	53	52	43	34	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	32	32	33	33	2
Others	56	55	58	54	54	30	23	16	31	25	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	19	10

Source: US President - D Convention. Our Campaigns. (August 24, 2009).

Vice Presidential Ballots

Ballot	1st	2nd
Vice Presidential Ballot
William R. King	125	277
Solomon W. Downs	30	0
John B. Weller	28	0
David R. Atchison	25	0
Gideon J. Pillow	25	0
Robert Strange	23	0
William O. Butler	13	0
Thomas J. Rusk	13	0
Jefferson Davis	2	11
Howell Cobb	2	0
Abstaining	2	0

Source: US Vice President - D Convention. Our Campaigns. (August 25, 2009).

References

^ Stiles, Henry Reed (1883). Memoir of Hon. Henry C. Murphy, LL.D., of Brooklyn, N.Y. The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volumes 13-14. p. 14.
^ William DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Gramercy 1997

External links

Proceedings of the Democratic national convention held at Baltimore, June 1-5, 1852
Democratic Party Platform of 1852 at The American Presidency Project

Preceded by 1848	Democratic National Conventions	Succeeded by 1856

[1] Stiles, Henry Reed (1883). Memoir of Hon. Henry C. Murphy, LL.D., of Brooklyn, N.Y. The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volumes 13-14. p. 14.

[2] William DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Gramercy 1997

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