November 4th, 1836 · The Long Thaw
By player
Bring out ye hard cider, for it is campaign season! Elections for the 25th Congress and the 8th President are already underway.
The candidates are:
Richard Mentor Johnson: A Kentuckian slaveholder who has been haunted by scandal since his nomination. As a young man he won fame by slaying the Savage leader of the Indians, Tecumseh. Although there are doubts about the validity of this story, it has elevated him to the height of fame, which he used to win federal offices. All would be well for Johnson if it were not for a big skeleton in the open: he has a slave-wife! That would not be uncommon for the South, but Mr. Johnson talks of her as his common-law wife and claims to give his family name to daughters by her! His nomination caused yells and roaring in the convention hall, will this scandalous relationship cost him the presidency?
William Henry Harrison: A famous war hero of the War of 1812, the moderate Harrison has shown himself an able campaigner. For the first time in American history, campaign songs are being sung by crowds of supporters. The most famous of these is the catchy "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!", the title coming from Harrison's victory at Tippecanoe and the last name of his running mate, John Tyler. The ball is a-rollin' on!
John Quincy Adams: The former president and hater of everything Jacksonian, President Adams has restarted his political career as a representative from Massachusetts. Nominated as a New England Whig, his fiery rhetoric is sure to cause embarrassment for other party members, but it shall also stir the hearts of abolitionists and slaves alike. Adams is personally not much involved in the campaign, not expecting to win anyway.
Daniel Webster: Senator Webster's illustrious career reached a high point with his famous Second Reply to Hayne in the Senate chamber. "Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable" rings true now as it did half a decade ago, in the tense run-up to the Nullification Crisis. The Senator hopes to win the more moderate Northern states where Adams has little chance, or at least split the Democratic vote.
The results are trickling in and after a few days it is clear that:
Richard Mentor Johnson has won the presidency by the skin of his teeth and shall soon become the 8th President of the United State! With wins in the Senate and small losses in the House, the Democrats have gotten a governmental trifecta! The President-elect faces a dilemma with his wife Julia Chinn: already she is being called the Last Lady. Should he free her or let her remain enslaved? Whatever he does, it will stir ridicule and hatred either in the North or South.
The election result bodes ill for opponents to the expansion of slavery...
