republican government is the equal rights of every citizen in his person and property, and in their management; that the idea is quite unfounded that on entering into society we give up any natural right; that the rightful power of all legislation is to declare and enforce only our natural rights and duties, and to take none of them from us; that no man has the natural right to commit aggressions on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the law ought to restrain him; that every man is under the natural duty of contributing to the necessities of society, and this is all the law should enforce on him; that when the laws have declared and enforced all this they have fulfilled their functions. We declare unqualified hostility to bank notes and paper money as a circulating medium, because gold and silver is the only safe and constitutional currency; hostility to any and all monopolies by legislation, because they are violations of equal rights of the people; hostility to the dangerous and unconstitutional creation of vested rights or prerogatives by legislation, because they are usurpations of the people's sovereign rights; no legislative or other authority in the body politic can rightfully, by charter or otherwise, exempt any man or body of men, in any case whatever, from trial by jury and the jurisdiction or operation of the laws which govern the community. We hold that each and every law or act of incorporation passed by preceding legislatures can be rightfully altered and repealed by their successors; and that they should be altered or repealed when necessary for the public good, or when required by a majority of the people. NATIONAL REPUBLICAN OR WHIG. No CONVENTION. The candidates named by the several states were— For President, William Henry Harrison, of Ohio. Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts. Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina. For Vice-President, John Tyler, of Virginia. Francis Granger, of New York. John McLean, of Ohio. William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, and Francis Granger, of New York, were nominated for President and VicePresident respectively, by a state convention held at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A Democratic Anti-Masonic Convention held in the same place at a different date, nominated the same candidates. A Whig state convention held in Maryland nominated William Henry Harrison for President, with John Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice-President. General Harrison was also nominated by state conventions in New York, Ohio, and elsewhere. Hugh L. White, of Tennessee, was nominated for President by the legislatures of Alabama and Tennessee, as the opposition or Anti-Jackson candidate. Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, and Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina, were also named as candidates for President. No platform was adopted, but the Whigs in state convention at Albany, N. Y., February 3, 1836, adopted the following resolutions: Resolved, That in support of our cause we invite all citizens opposed to Martin Van Buren and the Baltimore nominees. Resolved, That Martin Van Buren, by intriguing with the Executive to obtain his influence to elect him to the Presidency, has set an example dangerous to our freedom and corrupting to our free institutions. Resolved, That the support we render to William H. Harrison is by no means given to him solely on account of his brilliant and successful services as leader of our armies during the last war, but that in him we view also the man of high intellect, the stern patriot, uncontaminated by the machinery of hackneyed politicians—a man of the school of Washington. Resolved, That in Francis Granger we recognize one of our most distinguished fellow citizens, whose talents we admire, whose patriotism we trust, and whose principles we sanction. The election occurred on November 8, 1836. TWENTY-SIX STATES VOTED. No candidate for Vice-President having received a majority of the votes cast, the Senate elected Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Vice-President. Martin Van Buren was elected President and Richard M. Johnson as Vice-President. During this period Congress was divided politically as follows: Twenty-fifth Congress. Senate 31 Democrats, 18 Whigs, 3 Independents Twenty-sixth Congress. Senate 22 Democrats, 28 Whigs, 2 Independents..... 1 vacancy. |