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tute a pledge of honor, instead of other obligations, for fellowship and admission into the party.

"16. A free and open discussion of all political principles embraced in our platform."

Although no specific reference was made to the Roman Catholic church, horror of that denomination was one of the recognized and binding articles of the Know-Nothing faith. In 1855 the national council had adopted a platform which declared:

"8. Resistance to the aggressive policy and corrupting tendencies of the Roman Catholic church in our country, by the advancement to all political stations-executive, legislative, judicial, or diplomaticof those only who do not hold civil allegiance, directly or indirectly, to any foreign power, whether civil or ecclesiastical, and who are Americans by birth, education, and training-thus fulfilling the maxim, 'Americans only shall govern America.'"

This plank, like the other declarations of the KnowNothings, was not without the plausibility that generally attaches to matured deliverances by representative bodies. The trouble with the Know-Nothings was not that they lacked engaging words with which to present their ideas, but that they ignored the fundamental plan of popular institutions. Universal suffrage for loyal citizens had become as solidly and lastingly established as the country itself; and universal suffrage meant equal opportunities and privileges of civil influence and advancement for all, or it meant nothing. The imputation of disqualifying allegiances to the particular classes of citizens specified by the Know-Nothings was mere dogmatic assertion, and was not intended to assume any other character for conver

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

sion into public action; there was no legalistic question or proof of disloyalty concerned or contemplated.

In the 1855 platform of the Know-Nothings an endeavor was made to remove the objection to the party on the score of its secrecy, one of the resolutions relieving members from their obligations of concealment in several respects.

The anti-slavery Know-Nothings held a convention in New York City on June 2, 1856, which demanded free Territories and a free Kansas and nominated Nathaniel P. Banks for President; he withdrew in favor of the Republican candidate, Fremont.

Democratic Party

National convention held in Cincinnati, June 2-6, 1856; temporary chairman, Samuel Medary, of Ohio; permanent chairman, John E. Ward, of Georgia. The two-thirds rule was readopted without opposition. Among the delegates were former prominent members of the Whig party.

There were three contestants for the Presidential nomination-President Pierce, James Buchanan, and Stephen A. Douglas. Vote on the first ballot:Buchanan, 1352; Pierce, 1222; Douglas, 33; Lewis Cass, 5. Buchanan maintained the lead throughout the struggle, and on the thirteenth ballot received a majority. As it became evident that Pierce could not be nominated his name was withdrawn, and an effort was then made to combine his supporters and those of Douglas in favor of the latter. This was largely suc

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John Tyler, 10th president; born at Greenway, Charles City county, Va., March 29, 1790; lawyer; member of house of delegates, 1811-16; served in congress from December 16, 1817 to March 3, 1821; again member of house of delegates, 1823-25; United States senator from March 4, 1827 to February 20, 1836, when he resigned; member of house of delegates, 1839; elected vice president, 1840; became president on the death of Harrison, April 4, 1841, and served until March 3, 1845; delegate to Confederate provisional convention, 1861; elected to Confederate congress, but before it assembled he died on January 18, 1862 at Richmond, Va.

cessful, but Buchanan retained his full strength and also received some of the Pierce votes. The sixteenth ballot stood:-Buchanan, 168; Douglas, 122; Cass, 5. Douglas, feeling that it would be improper for his friends to persist after the preference of a majority of the convention had been so clearly manifested, telegraphed his withdrawal. Buchanan was unanimously nominated on the seventeenth ballot. His selection was due to several weighty considerations: he was one of the veteran leaders of the party; was expected to carry his State of Pennsylvania, which was believed to be indispensable to Democratic victory; and, having been absent from the country as Minister to England, was not directly identified with the Kansas disputation, yet was known to be as "safe," from the southern point of view, as either Pierce or Douglas. He was moreover a man of preeminent public reputation and irreproachable character.

On the first ballot for Vice-President ten men were voted for. John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, received the unanimous vote of the convention on the second ballot.

The platform, adopted with practically no dissension-none whatever concerning the slavery question, -was as follows:

"Resolved, That the American Democracy place their trust in the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of the American people.

"Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature of our political creed, which we are proud to maintain before the world as the great moral element in a form of government springing from and upheld by the popular will; and we contrast it with the creed and

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