1843 Chicago mayoral election
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1843, Democratic nominee Augustus Garrett defeated Whig nominee Thomas Church and Liberty nominee Henry Smith by a landslide 26.5% margin.


1843 Chicago mayoral election
Incumbent Whig Benjamin Wright Raymond did not run for reelection to a third term.


1843 Chicago mayoral election
Democratic nominee Augustus Garrett had been an unsuccessful election in the preceding 1842 election. He was also a former city alderman.


1843 Chicago mayoral election
Like Garrett, Liberty candidate Henry Smith had also been a candidate in the previous election.


1843 Chicago mayoral election
As with other mayoral elections of the era, returns in the city's wards heavily matched the partisan makeup of the votes that had been cast in the city's aldermanic election.


1843 Connecticut gubernatorial election
The 1843 Connecticut gubernatorial election was held on April 5, 1843. Incumbent governor and Democratic nominee Chauncey Fitch Cleveland was re-elected, defeating former state legislator, Amistad lawyer and Whig nominee Roger Sherman Baldwin with 50.13% of the vote.


1843 Constitution of Haiti
The 1843 Constitution of Haiti was enacted on December 30, 1843, during the administration of Charles Rivière-Hérard.


1843 Constitution of Haiti
The constitution contained many important innovations. The judges were to be elected by the people, instead of being appointed by the President; all offenses, either criminal, political, or by the press, were to be submitted to trials by jury. Presidency for life was abolished; the term of the Chief of the Executive Power was limited to four years; and no measure could be adopted by the President without the countersign of the proper Minister. The right to introduce laws was conferred on the House of Representatives and on the Senate as well as on the President.


1843 Constitution of Haiti
Matters concerning the communes and the arrondissements were in charge of the municipalities and the arrondissement councils. An estimate of the revenues and expenses was to be voted annually; a Court of Accounts was instituted. The Army was declared a law-abiding body; and strict measures were enacted in view of guaranteeing personal freedom and respect of property.


1843 East Suffolk by-election
The 1843 East Suffolk by-election was held on 18 April 1843 after the death of the incumbent Conservative MP Charles Broke Vere. It was retained by the Conservative candidate Frederick Thellusson. The Whig candidate had already stood in 1841.


1843 Georgia gubernatorial election
The 1843 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on October 2.


1843 Georgia gubernatorial election
The Whig candidate George W. Crawford defeated the Democratic challenger Mark A. Cooper and was elected Governor.


1843 Grand National
The 1843 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the fifth official annual running of a handicap steeplechase, later to become known as the Grand National Steeplechase handicap horse race which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool on Wednesday 1 March 1843 and attracted a field of 16 runners.


1843 Grand National
Although recorded by the press at the time as the eighth running of the Grand Liverpool, which was renamed the Grand National in 1847, the first three runnings were poorly organised affairs and are not currently officially recognised.


1843 Grand National
This year the race was run as a handicap, with horses weighted according to their ability. In previous years they had all carried the same amount. The National has remained a handicap ever since.


1843 Grand National, The course
The course was described by the reporter of the Liverpool Mercury as follows. Start - Just beyond the Melling Road. Fences 1-4 [16-19 on the second circuit] - described as good fences on the run down to Becher's Brook. Fence 5  [20] - Becher's Brook. Although at this time it did not carry the name and was merely described as the brook where the captain had fallen four years earlier. Fences 6, 7 & 8 [21, 22 & 23] - Fences situated across three fields inclined to the left that took the runners towards the Canal side.


1843 Grand National, The course
There is no mention at this time of there being a Canal turn. Fence 9  [24] - A large water jump, which was probably the modern Valentine's Brook. Fences 10, 11 & 12 [25, 26 & 27] - These fences were not described except to say the runner crossed three fields, the third of which was of grass before reaching the Anchor Bridge crossing and running into the training ground, which was the wide extreme of the modern race course proper.


1843 Grand National, The course
Fence 13 - A wall by the distance chair, reintroduced this year at the request of Irish competitors and supporters used to such obstacles in Ireland. Fence 14 - An artificial brook, the modern water jump, which this year was widened and was described as being thirteen feet wide with a rail. Fence 15 - A bank, which took the runners back over into the Melling Road to start the second circuit. Fence 28 - A hurdle situated on the run in beside the wall. On the second circuit the runners turned onto the race course at an earlier point, not running onto the training ground as on the first circuit.


1843 Grand National, The Race
The most detailed description of the race was given by the reporter of the Liverpool Mercury who stated that Croxby led them out towards the first fence before being passed by Nimrod. Nothing was reported until the fourth fence when Victoria fell and continued riderless before running into the fields inside the course. At this point Peter Simple and Vanguard led the field towards the Canal side of the course, the former increasing the pace on reaching the Canal side plough, which stretched the runners out considerably.


1843 Grand National, The Race
The pace was increased running towards the wall in front of the stands, which Peter Simple and Vanguard took together ahead of Nimrod and Goblin. Teetotum and Tinderbox both fell and the former's jockey, Moore sustained a broken collar bone, which was attended to on the spot. The Returned, Dragsman and Lottery were the only other runners recorded at this point with the loose running Tinderbox being caught by the stables after jumping the brook. Bucephalus, Croxby and Claude Duval were also all still running.


1843 Grand National, The Race
At the bank before the Melling Road, Peter Simple refused and in doing so carried out Vanguard and Goblin, leaving Nimrod in the lead from Dragsman. Vanguard quickly recovered and was back on terms with the two leaders by the time Becher's Brook was reached for the second time.


1843 Grand National, The Race
After taking the Water jump at the vicinity of Valentine's Brook, Dragsman opened up a twenty length lead over Vanguard, Nimrod and The Returned, the latter of whom fell and threw Major Campbell a complete somersault three fences from home at a time when the horse was considered to be running as fresh as at the start.


1843 Grand National, The Race
At the penultimate fence at Anchor Bridge, Dragsman made a bad mistake and almost fell, leaving Crickmere clinging around his neck as the horse ran up the road off the course. Vanguard now held a good lead over Nimrod coming back onto the racecourse while Dragsman had recovered and was making up the lost ground with Lottery, Peter Simple, Goblin and Claude Duval all considered still close enough to have a chance.


1843 Grand National, The Race
On the long run from the turn at the top of the course to the final hurdle, Nimrod made up the ground on Vanguard and took the final flight in front. Vanguard overhauled him in the run in to win by two lengths with Dragsman a close third. Four other finishers were recorded as Peter Simple bypassed the final hurdle and walked in. The horses all returned safely with the only injured rider being Mr Moore.


1843 Grand National, The Race
Vanguard was owned by George Stanhope, the 6th Earl of Chesterfield and ran in his blue colours with red sleeves and was trained by his grooms at the Earl's private stables and gallops at Bretby Hall in Derbyshire.


1843 Grand National, The Race
Both Major Campbell and John Crickmere were considered to be very unlucky not to have won, the former falling when going well and the latter having bolted when making a mistake at Anchor Bridge before he was able to get the horse back into the race to finish just three and a half lengths behind the winner.


1843 Grand National, The Race
In the winners enclosure Crickmere was telling anyone who would listen how unlucky he was when Tom Olliver responded in jest "But John did we not stop for a smoke at the turn to give you a chance to catch up" Olliver neglected to mention that his own mount had been carried out at the start of the second circuit.


1843 Greek legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 16 December 1843. The elected body was also tasked with drawing up a constitution, following the 3 September 1843 Revolution. The Three-Party Coalition won almost half the seats in the 243-seat Chamber.


1843 Greek legislative election, Background
During and after the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), a series of elections for national assemblies had taken place, and promulgated a series of liberal constitutions that enshrined democratic principles. Nevertheless, the Kingdom of Greece, established in 1832 under the Bavarian prince Otto, disregarded the existence of the 1832 Constitution passed by the Fifth National Assembly. From 1832 until 1835, the kingdom was ruled by a Bavarian regency, and after that by Otto as an absolute monarchy.


1843 Greek legislative election, Background
This situation lasted until the 3 September 1843 Revolution, when an uprising by the garrison and populace of Athens forced King Otto to concede elections for a constitutional assembly. The election resulted in the "Third of September National Assembly of the Greeks at Athens". The new assembly promulgated the Greek Constitution of 1844 in February, which was ratified by Otto in March. After this the National assembly  was dissolved and elections proclaimed for the first regular parliament.


1843 Guadeloupe earthquake
The 1843 Guadeloupe earthquake occurred at 10:37 local time on 8 February in the island of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles. It had an estimated magnitude (scale unspecified) of 8.5, making it the strongest recorded earthquake in the Caribbean and a maximum perceived intensity of shaking of IX on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake was felt widely throughout the Caribbean and as far away as New York. Around 1,500 to 5,000 people were killed.


1843 Guadeloupe earthquake, Tectonic setting
The Lesser Antilles are an island arc formed above the destructive plate boundary where the North American Plate is being subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate at a rate of about 2 cm per year. Historical earthquakes in this region include large megathrust earthquakes on the plate interface, such as those in 1839 and 1843, and smaller intraplate earthquakes within the arc itself, associated with oblique convergence on the plate boundary.


1843 Guadeloupe earthquake, Earthquake
The magnitude of the earthquake was calculated in the range 7.5–8.0 by Bernard & Lambert in 1988. This was reassessed in 2011 by Feuillet and others, giving an 8.5 magnitude. Later work by Hough in 2013, taking account of reports of the earthquake from the US, supported a magnitude of at least 8.5 for this event.


1843 Guadeloupe earthquake, Damage
On Guadeloupe, Pointe-à-Pitre suffered severe damage with a maximum of 8–900 houses being destroyed of the 1,222 that existed before the earthquake. The earthquake was quickly followed by fires that caused further destruction.


1843 Guadeloupe earthquake, Damage
The island of Antigua was also badly affected, with all churches and mills throughout the island reported destroyed. Forty deaths were reported. Damage was also reported from Montserrat, with six casualties.


1843 Iowa Council election
In the 1843 Iowa Territory Council elections, electors selected councilors to serve in the sixth Iowa Territory Council. All 13 members of the Territory Council were elected. Councilors served one-year terms.


1843 Iowa Council election
The Iowa Territory existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when Iowa was admitted to the Union as a state. At the time, the Iowa Territory had a Legislative Assembly consisting of an upper chamber (i.e., the Territory Council) and a lower chamber (i.e., the Territory House).


1843 Iowa Council election
Following the previous election in 1842, Democrats held a majority with seven seats to Whigs' six seats.


1843 Iowa Council election
To claim a majority of seats, the Whigs needed to net one seat from Democrats.


1843 Iowa Council election
Democrats maintained a majority of seats in the Iowa Territory Council following the 1843 general election with the balance of power remaining unchanged with Democrats holding seven seats and Whigs having six seats. Democratic Councilor Thomas Cox was chosen as the President of the sixth Territory Council to succeed Whig Councilor John D. Elbert in that leadership position.


1843 Iowa Council election
However, during the session, Democratic Councilor Thomas Cox died on November 9, 1844, causing a vacancy. Following Cox's death, Democrats and Whigs were tied with six seats each.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election
Elections to Liverpool Town Council were held on Wednesday 1 November 1843. One third of the council seats were up for election, the term of office of each councillor being three years.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Abercromby
Although both candidates were Conservative, Charles Boutflower "promised to support the exclusive system at the Corporation Schools", whilst Daniel Neilson stood in opposition to this stance.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Abercromby
Polling Place : A Booth in the Joiner's Yard of Thomas Bag?, on the east side of Mount-pleasant, nearly opposite the fever ward.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Castle Street
Polling Place : The House, formerly the Queen's Arms Hotel, Castle-street.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Exchange
Polling Place : The north end of the Sessions'-house, in Chapel-street.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Great George
Polling Place : The Shop, No. 64, on the north side of Nelson-street, occupied by Mr. Richard Hesketh.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Lime Street
Polling Place : The Public-house of William Precott, at the corner of St. Vincent-street, London Road.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, North Toxteth
Polling Place : A Booth, on the Land situated on the east side of Park-road, and south side of St. Patrick's Chapel.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Pitt Street
Polling Place : The Committee-room of the South Corporation School, in Park-lane.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Rodney Street
Polling Place : The Shop near the entrance of the New Arcade, on the west side of Renshaw-street, occupied by Mr. Bryson.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, St. Anne Street
Polling Place : The House of William Dyer, No. 52, on the south side of Christian-street


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, St. Paul's
Polling Place : Mr. Mather's Baths, at the north west corner of St. Paul's-square.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Scotland
Polling Place : The House, No. 61, on the south side of Burlington Street, near Limekiln-lane occupied by Mrs. Bell.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, South Toxteth
Polling Place : The Shop on the west side of Park-road, occupied by William McCartney, near the Church of John the Baptist.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, Vauxhall
Polling Place : The House occupied by Edward Ashort, nearly opposite the end of Naylor-street, being on the west side of Vauxhall-road.


1843 Liverpool Town Council election, Ward results, West Derby
Polling Place : The House on the south side of Edge-hill, opposite the Church in the occupation of Mr. Thomas Proctor.


1843 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
The 1843 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 13, 1843.


1843 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
Incumbent Democratic Governor Marcus Morton was defeated by Whig nominee George N. Briggs.


1843 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
Since no candidate received a majority in the popular vote, Briggs was elected by the Massachusetts Senate per the state constitution.


1843 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, General election, Legislative election
As no candidate received a majority of the vote, the Massachusetts House of Representatives was required nominate two of the four top vote-getters to the Massachusetts Senate, which then chose one of the two as Governor. The House nominated Briggs and Morton. The election in the Senate was held on January 8, 1844.


1843 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Bibliography
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1843 Massachusetts legislature
The 64th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1843 during the governorship of Marcus Morton. Phineas W. Leland and Frederick Robinson served as presidents of the Senate and Daniel P. King served as speaker of the House.


1843 Michigan gubernatorial election
The 1843 Michigan gubernatorial election was held from November 6, 1843 to November 7, 1843. Incumbent Democrat John S. Barry defeated Whig nominee Zina Pitcher with 54.76% of the vote.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens
The National Convention of Colored Citizens was held August 15–19, 184 at the Park Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, New York. Similar to previous colored conventions, the convention of 1843 was an assembly for African American citizens to discuss the organized efforts of the anti-slavery movement. The convention included individuals and delegates from various states and cities. Henry Garnet and Samuel Davis delivered key speeches. Delegates deliberated courses of action and voted upon resolutions to further anti-slavery efforts and to help African Americans.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Background
National colored conventions were organized to discuss changes in approaching anti-slavery actions and movements and to combine efforts between various African American groups that were spread throughout the northern states. Colored Conventions were held in the early 1830s, but efforts to combine groups in places like New York and Philadelphia became increasingly difficult due to the differing approaches to combating slavery. The Liberty Party in 1840 advanced abolitionist movements through political action and more formal forms of persuasion.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Background
In 1841, former convention heads and leaders from Philadelphia proposed a revival of the conventions and planned for a meeting with black representatives from the surrounding states. However, white protests instigated a riot that blocked all conventions and assemblies that had been planned for that time.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Background
Two years later, in 1843, black leaders—different from those of past conventions—stepped up to assemble on behalf of black Americans. Although groups disagreed on how to combat slavery, they were united by a common goal in which they were "... Against TWO of the greatest evils ever inflicted upon an innocent and inoffensive people - slavery and prejudice."


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Background
The location and time of the convention were agreed upon during a preliminary meeting held May 9–10, 1843. They also wrote and sent out a call for colored citizens to attend.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Convention proceedings
The 1843 National Colored Convention was held in Buffalo, New York, August 15–19. The National Convention included delegates from Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Convention proceedings
Each session opened with a prayer given by a minister. The appointed chair started the meeting by calling roll and reading the minutes from the previous session. During the course of the convention, committees were generally appointed by the head Chairman. Committees were formed to create reports that were read to the attendees. Delegates voted on the adoption of these reports and the adoption of resolutions. Thirty numbered resolutions were voted upon with almost all of them passing. Various other resolutions, including 15 parliamentary rules, were passed for the administration of the convention.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Convention proceedings
In addition to the sessions, evening meetings were held, in which delegates from the convention addressed the general public.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Issues discussed at the convention
During the Colored Convention, committees were created to discuss such issues as the condition of colored people, the mechanical arts, agriculture, and the press. A statistical report was created reporting on the number of colored people, their professions, and their holdings. Colored citizens were encouraged to learn mechanic arts because it created opportunities for influence. In addition, it was concluded that there are broad benefits to agriculture and that colored people in cities should be encouraged to move to farms. It was also resolved that a weekly newspaper should be created in support of the people’s freedom. These ideas included in the committee reports were supported by the convention.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Issues discussed at the convention
The condition of colored people was a main subject for the convention. It was concluded that American colonization, although it had initial good intent, actually hindered freedom. In particular, corrupt missionary work was condemned. The convention stressed the importance of education for colored children, and it was determined of vital importance for colored people who were citizens to vote.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Issues discussed at the convention
Additionally, the convention argued for the support of the Liberty party. There was disagreement, as some attendees were opposed to the idea of pledging their vote to any political party. The support of the formation of The Freeman party was also argued but was controversial because some thought they should not support both the Liberty and the Freeman party. Ultimately, both resolutions passed.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Issues discussed at the convention, The Address to Slaves
Resolution no. 10 was a resolution dealing with a potential address to slaves. This was one of the most heavily-discussed and controversial resolutions. In the end, it did not pass. Henry Garnet and Frederick Douglass had different points of view: Henry Garnett’s speech advocated for slaves to up rise against their masters,  whereas Frederick Douglass countered that peaceful methods were the best solution. When the address was written, it met with a lot of resistance. One of the arguments against the address was that it would endanger free black citizens, and the motion to move forward was rejected. After further discussion, the motion was again rejected, but only by one vote. In a later session, a revote was called. President Amos G. Beman spoke out against the address on moral grounds, stating that it advocated violence. The address was voted on a third time and was rejected indefinitely.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Issues discussed at the convention, The Support of the Church
Another major discussion was over resolution no. 1 which dealt with the support of the church. Frederick Douglass suggested that the word “Christian” be added to the resolution. While most of the delegates were supportive of religion, various members of the convention did not support the existing Christian church. Some thought that the church was too corrupt to be reformed. Others believed that abandoning the church would prevent any reform from happening at all. Eventually, the original resolution in support of the church passed. The word “Christian” was not added.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Key figures, Samuel H. Davis
The convention chairman was Samuel H. Davis. Davis gave the keynote address at the convention and opened up the discussions and speeches.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Key figures, Henry Garnet
A key speaker during the convention was Rev. Henry Highland Garnet. Garnet grew up having been born into slavery and escaping to Maryland with his family to an area where slavery was less tolerated. In Maryland, he was able to attend school uninterrupted until adulthood. At 21 years old and already well educated, Garnet entered the Presbyterian school of  the Oneida Institute to study religion. In 1834, Garnet and other students founded the first anti-slavery society in New York. They began holding assemblies and gatherings and pursued interests in serious anti-slavery movements.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Key figures, Henry Garnet
The Emancipator and Free American paper described Garnet as "Guided by the will of Heaven, and impelled by the highest motives that man can be susceptible of." In 1843, Garnet was ordained and became a pastor of Liberty Street Presbyterian Church. He often struggled to balance his religious duties and his work in anti-slavery movements. In comparison to his peers, he held more radical and straightforward views on approaches to end slavery and to fight for equality.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Key figures, Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass, a notable participant and budding abolitionist, was one of the vice presidents of the convention. He served as the delegate for Massachusetts and was on the committee for resolution 10. Unlike Henry Garnet, Frederick Douglass argued against the use of physical force


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Speeches, Samuel Davis.
Samuel Davis gave the keynote address and set the convention in motion. Davis' speech aimed to unify convention participants and their strategies; he emphasized that the main goal of all black citizens should be to "make known our wrongs to the world and our oppressors." Davis said that the movement to free the African American people should be led by African Americans. He stated that "Two objects should distinctly and constantly be borne in mind, in all our deliberations. One is the diffusion of truth and the other the elevation of our own people. By diffusion of truth, I mean that we must take a bold and elevated stand for the truth."


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Speeches, Samuel Davis.
Davis called upon all attending to expand their reach to become more politically aligned with popular parties and people that would accept them and help their cause. He explained that appealing to the government for rights was a hollow attempt. Continuing the speech, Davis explained the importance of fighting for the rights of all black citizens and securing happiness wherever they settle or congregate. He said that few states recognized any rights for blacks and that members of the convention should work tenaciously to secure an elective franchise in areas they are denied and were currently subordinate to oppressive law. Davis ended his speech with a plea for attendees to unite and combine their efforts despite their differing views and factions.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Speeches, Henry Garnet
Henry Garnet gave a powerful speech most commonly known as the "Address to the Slaves of the United States" which was regarded widely as a call to arms and violence for the cause of freedom. This fiery address to this assembly of African Americans was meant to stoke the coals of emotion. He stirred the audience by recounting the ongoing and historical suffering of slavery and oppression. Garnet set a precedent by publicly and directly addressing slaves with these topics. This had not occurred in previous conventions in which white supervision was required.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Speeches, Henry Garnet
This was a reason for the ill and more timid attempts that called for change in earlier assemblies and conventions. Garnet began the speech with a beacon of hope, saying that God was on their side and was guiding their efforts. Garnet spoke about the slave-owners’ waning authority and the black citizen’s growing opportunity. He reminded them of how slave-owners, proclaiming Christianity, captured their ancestors and brought them across the ocean where they had no future or prospects of an enjoyable and free life. He declared that this nation, founded in the pursuit of freedom, would one day face the wrath of God and the disgust of other civilized nations because of its hypocrisy and inconsistency in denying others the same liberties.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Speeches, Henry Garnet
"Nearly three millions of your fellow-citizens are prohibited by law and public opinion, (which in this country is stronger than law) from reading the Book of Life. Your intellect has been destroyed as much as possible, and every ray of light they have attempted to shut out from your minds."


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Speeches, Henry Garnet
Garnet explained that a slave's submission and adherence to their masters made them unable to fully worship God, whom their masters claimed to believe and follow. He further explained that slavery and oppression acted as a roadblock to African Americans partaking in God's blessings and the freedoms they inherited at birth: the inalienable rights at the very roots and foundation of this country. He stated that God views men and women as equals and are by nature free spirits.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Speeches, Henry Garnet
As Garnet continued his speech, he changed gears to address the actions which he believed necessary to liberate slaves. The only way forward, Garnet claimed, was through violence— treating slave owners and captors with the same intensity that slaves had experienced. Garnet's vision for freeing slaves included a short-term antidote of violent actions and a widespread refusal to work. Of this, he exclaimed: "You cannot be more oppressed than you have been; you cannot suffer greater cruelties than you have already. Rather die freemen than live to be slaves. Remember that you are three millions!"


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Speeches, Henry Garnet
Garnet concluded his speech proposing that the motto for slaves and free Blacks alike should be a resounding cry of 'Resistance!' against their oppressors. He added that no slave or bondsmen ever became free without resistance.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Impact of the Convention
The Colored Convention of 1843 was the first successful national convention since that held in 1835, and it reestablished the pattern of regular conventions, increasing the opportunities for political and social discussions. It helped unite colored people in support of anti-slavery and actions towards freedom.


1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens, Impact of the Convention
The militant nature of Henry Garnet's speech was surprising for many slaves and abolitionist leaders. This speech made Henry Garnet a controversial and well-known abolitionist. His speech influenced subsequent colored conventions and anti-slavery literature to increase calls for action, especially to slaves. The speech was written about in several black newspapers, including The Liberator and The North Star. The Liberator wrote, "Rev. H.H. Garnet introduced... advice to this effect: that the slave was to go to his master, tell of the injustice of slavery." Garnet's speech became known as his “call to rebellion” and was later published by Garnet in 1848.


1843 Naval Air Squadron
1843 Naval Air Squadron (1843 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.


1843 Naval Air Squadron, History
No.1843 Squadron Fleet Air Arm formed at Brunswick on 1. May 1944 as a single seater fighter squadron. Equipped with 18 Corsair IIIs, these were replaced by Mk. IIs before embarking in HMS Trouncer for the UK in August 1944. Joining the 10th Naval Fighter Wing, the squadron embarked in HMS Arbiter with 24 Corsair IVs in February 1945 and sailed to Australia, but saw no action before the war ended. In August it became part of the 3rd Carrier Air Group. The aircraft were withdrawn in September, and the squadron personnel sailed home in SS Stratheden to disband on arrival on 10. December 1945.


1843 Naval Air Squadron, History
On 1. October 1952, No.1830A Squadron formed at Donibristle as an Anti-Submarine squadron of the Scottish Air Division of the RN Volunteer Reserve, moving shortly afterwards to Abbotsinch. It shared the aircraft of No.1830 Squadron, becoming No.1843 Squadron in March 1953. Avengers arrived in November 1955, but No.1843 disbanded on 10. March 1957 under the defence cuts of that year.


1843 Philadelphia mayoral election
The Philadelphia mayoral election of 1843 saw the reelection of John Morin Scott to a third consecutive term.


1843 Philadelphia mayoral election, Electoral system
Beginning in 1839, the city operated under a mixed electoral system. Citizens voted for mayor in a general election. If a candidate receive a majority of the vote, they would be elected mayor. However, if no candidate received a majority, the City Council would select a mayor from the top-two finishers.


1843 Salisbury by-election
There were two by-elections for the constituency of Salisbury in 1843:


1843 United States Senate election in New York
The 1843 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 7, 1843, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator (Class 3) to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.


1843 United States Senate election in New York, Background
Silas Wright, Jr., had been elected in 1833 to this seat after the resignation of William L. Marcy, and had been re-elected in 1837. Wright's term would expire on March 3, 1843.


1843 United States Senate election in New York, Background
At the State election in November 1842, Democrat William C. Bouck was elected Governor, 92 Democrats and 36 Whigs were elected to the Assembly, and 8 Democrats and 1 Whig were elected to the State Senate. The 66th New York State Legislature met from January 3 to April 18, 1843, at Albany, New York.


1843 United States Senate election in New York, Candidates
The incumbent U.S. Senator Silas Wright, Jr. was re-nominated unanimously by a Democratic caucus on the eve of the election.


1843 United States Senate election in New York, Candidates
Congressman Millard Fillmore was the candidate of the Whig Party.


1843 United States Senate election in New York, Result
Silas Wright, Jr., was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.


1843 United States Senate election in New York, Aftermath
Wright continued in the U.S. Senate, and remained in office until November 1844 when he resigned after his election as Governor of New York. Henry A. Foster was appointed to fill the vacancy temporarily, but the State Legislature elected John A. Dix for the remainder of Wright's term.


1843 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania
The 1843 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on January 10, 1843. Future President of the United States James Buchanan was re-elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.


1843 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, Results
The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 10, 1843, to elect a new Senator to fill the term beginning on March 4, 1843. Incumbent Democrat James Buchanan, who was elected in 1834 and re-elected in 1836, was a successful candidate for re-election to another term. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:


1843 United States Senate special elections in Tennessee
In 1841, Spencer Jarnagin was nominated for U.S. Senator by the Whig caucus in the Tennessee General Assembly. However, some of the Democrats in the legislature decided that no senator would be preferable to a Whig. Known as the "Immortal Thirteen" by Tennessee Democrats, they refused to allow a quorum on the issue. By the time Jarnagin was eventually elected to the seat and sworn in, over two and half years, almost half of the term, had elapsed. Jarnagin finally assumed office on October 17, 1843.


1843 Wanganui earthquake
The 1843 Whanganui earthquake occurred on 8 July at 16:45 local time with an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the Mw scale. The maximum perceived intensity was IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale' possibly reaching X (Extreme). The epicentre is estimated to have been within a zone extending 50 km northeast from Whanganui towards Taihape. GNS Science has this earthquake catalogued and places the epicenter 35 km east of Taihape, near the border of Hawke's Bay. This was the first earthquake in New Zealand over magnitude 7 for which written records exist, and the first for which deaths were recorded.


1843 Wanganui earthquake, Tectonic setting
New Zealand lies along the boundary between the Australian and Pacific Plates. In South Island most of the relative displacement between these plates is taken up along a single dextral (right lateral) strike-slip fault with a major reverse component, the Alpine Fault. In North Island the displacement is mainly taken up along the Kermadec subduction zone, although the remaining dextral strike-slip component of the relative plate motion is accommodated by the North Island Fault System (NIFS). A group of dextral strike-slip structures, known as the Marlborough Fault System, transfer displacement between the mainly transform and convergent type plate boundaries in a complex zone at the northern end of South Island. The presumed epicenter of the 1843 earthquake is not, however, associated with any known fault.


1843 Wanganui earthquake, Earthquake characteristics
The shock was felt over much of North Island and was reported as lasting for three minutes near Mokoia. A magnitude of 7.5 was estimated from the extent of the area that was subject to a shaking level of at least VIII (Severe). At least ten aftershocks were reported on the same day as the mainshock and further shocks were reported until January 1845.


1843 Wanganui earthquake, Damage
Damage in the Whanganui area reached IX-X on the Mercalli intensity scale. Many houses were damaged, and a brick church at Putiki was destroyed. There was extensive lateral spreading of the terrace margin to the Whanganui River, and a section of Shakespeare Cliff fell into the river. Two people were killed when their house was swept away by one of the landslides caused by the earthquake.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari
A series of massacres in Hakkari in the years 1843 and 1846 of Assyrians were carried out by the Kurdish emirs of Bohtan and Hakkari, Bedr Khan Bey and Nurullah. The massacres resulted in the killing of more than 10,000 Assyrians and the captivity of thousands of others.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Background, Ottoman affairs
By the 19th century, the weakened Ottoman Empire had started losing control over Upper Mesopotamia and Kurdistan. The Empire seemed on the brink of collapse when Muhammad Ali revolted in Egypt and took control of Syria. It was then that Kurdish Emirs found an opportunity to assert their independence.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Background, Ottoman affairs
Among them was Ibrahim Pasha, a Kurdish Emir whose dominion included a region extending from Diyarbakir to Aleppo, and who fought alongside Muhammad Ali against the Ottomans and their allies from the Arab Shammar tribe in Jazira. Despite the failure of Muhammad Pasha in his Syrian campaign, the events showed the vulnerability of the Ottomans and encouraged Kurdish aghas to try and increase their control in the region.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Background, Ottoman affairs
British fears of another French attempt similar to Napoleon's Egyptian campaign contributed to an increase of British influence. As these events unfolded, the British appointed Hormuzd Rassam, an ethnic Assyrian archaeologist from Mosul, and brother-in-law of Britain's ambassador in the city, as a delegate to expand British influence to the areas of the independent Assyrian tribes. British and American Protestant missionaries, such as Justin Perkins and Asahel Grant, started visiting the area in the same period. They generally showed great sympathy to the Assyrian Christians.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Background, Ottoman affairs
The Kurds however were wary of them, and Assyrians hospitality towards the foreigners only increased their suspicion. The "hostile intention of the Kurds towards the Assyrians "was well known to British officials". On 27 January 1842, Canning wrote to the foreign secretary, Lord Aberdeen, informing him that the Nestorians of Kurdistan have been subdued by a "Kurdish Bey" acting in concert with the Ottomans.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Background, Kurdish internal conflicts
War broke out in Hakkari in 1839 between Nurullah, brother of the former Emir, who governed from Bash Qal'a, and Suleyman his nephew whose capital was in Gullamerk. The Assyrians were also split in their allegiances, according to their distribution. Most of them, including the Patriarch of the Church of the East Shimun XVII Abraham, supported Suleyman as the rightful successor to his father.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Background, Kurdish internal conflicts
The conflict turned into a massacre when Nurullah defeated his opponent and retaliated by attacking Assyrian villages and the Patriarchate of Qodshanis in 1841. This led to a permanent rift in relations between the Kurds and Christians in general. However, not all Assyrian allied themselves with the Patriarch, some took advantage of his weakness to join Nurullah.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Background, Kurdish internal conflicts
The region descended into another war after a disagreement between Ottoman Vali of Mosul, Mohammed Pasha, and the Kurdish Agha Ismael Pasha of Amadiya. The latter resorted to Nurullah of Hakkari and Badr Khan, the ambitious emir of Buhtan. The three formed an alliance and called Assyrians to join them. The Patriarch however refused to do so after receiving promises from Mosul to protect them in case of the Kurds decided to retaliate again. War between the Kurds and Ottomans broke out in summer 1842.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Background, Kurdish internal conflicts
The next months were particularly calm in Hakkari with the Kurds busy with the war in Mosul, and missionary Asahel Grant commenced building a large religious school in the Christian town of Ashitha and provided it with Syriac books and scriptures from Mosul in September 1842. The Kurdish campaign ended the same month with failure, and Assyrians were blamed for refusing to intervene in the war. Rumours spread that Grant built a castle to be used against the Kurds, and Nurullah protested to the vali of Erzurum. In addition, Ibrahim Pasha of Mosul was also alarmed by the rumours and the increased missionary activities in the region. He described in a letter to the Porte how Grant and the Christians built a huge building containing 200 rooms at least.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, 1843 massacre
In early 1843 Nurullah sent for a meeting with the Patriarch and the latter apologized using the weather, his religious duties, and the presence of a guest, the British missionary George Badger, as a pretence. It seemed that the Patriarch made his decision after being convinced by Badger to distrust the Kurds and to request assistance from the English or the Porte if the Kurds were to attack. Once Badger left, Nurullah renewed his alliance with the Badr Khan and Ismail Pasha, and requested permission from the Ottoman Vali of Mosul to subjugate the Christians.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, 1843 massacre
In July 1843 the Kurdish alliance, led by Badr Khan attacked the Assyrians in Hakkari, destroyed their villages and killed many of them. Hormuzd Rassam tried using his influence with the Vali of Baghdad Najib Pasha to pressure Badr Khan for the release of prisoners which included close relatives of the Patriarch of the Church of the East who had in the meantime taken refuge in Mosul. His attempts only led to the release of about 150, one of whom was the sister of the Patriarch, while the rest were distributed as war booty between Kurdish and Turkish Agha's and Mullahs.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, 1843 massacre
On 3 August, the Kurdish forces had succeeded in "subduing the tribes and it was reported that 'still the slaughter is not yet ended, and several who have attempted to flee have been murdered...'". Then the invaders had turned "against the district of Tiyari, where they had succeeded in occupying the villages and indulged in the cruelest acts against its people". Even "those who had not opposed the Kurdish invasion had been treated in the same way as the fighters." The patriarch's mother's body was chopped into four pieces.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, 1843 massacre
Many women and young children "were taken captive to be sold as slaves." On 21 August 1843, the British consul Abbott reported on "the role of the Persian Kurds" in the massacres of Assyrian and Nestorian tribes. The "prime agitator for the attack from the Persian frontier was the 'Shaik'" of the Kurds of Bradost". The Kurdish tribes were "marching in large numbers directly to the Assyrian provinces."


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, 1843 massacre
It was reported that the "killing and destruction continued apace. Corpses lay everywhere. The surviving men and women were forced to carry unbearable loads of booty for very long distances, while being lashed all along the way until they fell from torture and exhaustion". Ross wrote, '[ T]hey were tortured in an awful manner to force them to expose what they call hidden treasures, while others were killing them just for entertainment and as sport and games'. The tribes "were all but encircled and left with no safe route to escape" the slaughter.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, 1843 massacre
Those that tried to flee had to take a route that  passed through the hostile Kurds of Berwar. One group after another was caught and slaughtered "while trying to escape". It is estimated by contemporary sources that the victims of the assault of 1843 numbered ten thousand, but according to Adoona, that figure "cannot represent the total victims of the attack".


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, 1846 massacre
Another massacre was inflicted by Badr Khan in 1846. This massacre received international attention through western press; it also woke European politicians and public opinion to the plight of Ottoman Christians. This led the European countries to pressure the Porte to intervene and stop the massacres.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Aftermath
More than 10,000 Assyrians perished during the massacres. The Kurdish massacres were a precursor to the later Ottoman incursions which ended both the semi-independent status which the Assyrian tribes enjoyed in the mountainous areas, and that which the Kurds had as well. The Ottomans saw the communal conflict as an opportunity to overthrow the last semi-independent Kurdish Emirates in 1847, establishing direct control of the entire region. An Ottoman army was sent to the region in 1847, and clashed with the Kurds in several battles that ended with the arrest of both Badr Khan and Nurullah, and their exile in 1850. Following the Ottoman Hakkari province was established and governed from Başkale.


1843 and 1846 massacres in Hakkari, Aftermath
Due to the massacres of 1843-1846 committed by the troops of the Kurdish leader Bedr Khan Beg against the independent Assyrian tribes,  "the long-Iasting existence of the Assyrian people as an independent body" was ended.


1843 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1843 in Australia.


1843 in Chile
The following lists events that happened during 1843 in Chile.


1843 in New Zealand
The following lists events that happened during 1843 in New Zealand.


1843 in New Zealand, Population
The estimated population of New Zealand at the end of 1843 is 75,400 Māori and 11,848 non-Māori.


1843 in South Africa
The following lists events that happened during 1843 in South Africa.


1843 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1843 to Wales and its people.


1843 in architecture
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Cote d'Azur (talk | contribs) at 15:34, 2 December 2019 (ce). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1843 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1843.


1843 in paleontology
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1843.


1843 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).


1843 in poetry, Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1843 in poetry, Deaths
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1843 in rail transport
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1843.


1843 in science
The year 1843 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.


1843 in sports
1843 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.


1844
1844 (MDCCCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1844th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 844th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 44th  year of the 19th century, and the  5th   year of the 1840s decade. As of the start of 1844, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


1844 Chicago mayoral elections
The 1844 Chicago mayoral elections is the first of only two instances in which a Chicago mayoral election was declared invalid (the other being the disputed April 1876 mayoral election).


1844 Chicago mayoral elections
As a result of the Common Council declaring the result of the city's March 1844 mayoral election null and void, a second election was held in April.


1844 Chicago mayoral elections
While the result of the March election had been a victory for incumbent mayor Augustus Garrett, Garrett was defeated in the April election by Alson Sherman, who had not been a candidate in March.


1844 Chicago mayoral elections, March election
In the Chicago mayoral election of March 1844, Democrat Augustus Garrett was reelected, defeating Whig nominee George Dole by a margin of only seven votes out of 1,796 votes cast.


1844 Chicago mayoral elections, March election, Campaign
In February incumbent mayor Augustus Garrett was unanimously nominated by the Democratic Party to run for reelection. George Dole was the Whig Party nominee. Also running was abolitionist Henry Smith, making this the third consecutive Chicago mayoral election he competed in.


1844 Chicago mayoral elections, March election, Results
Had the results of this election not been overturned, Garrett would have become the first individual to be elected to two consecutive terms as mayor of Chicago. This accolade instead went to James H. Woodworth in 1849.


1844 Chicago mayoral elections, Voiding of the March election
The Common Council investigated allegations that the Democrats had conducted electoral fraud in the mayoral election. Whigs alleged that the Democrats had bought votes, violated the secrecy of ballots in two wards (the 3rd and 5th), and altering the clocks at election places. The Common Council assembled an investigating committee which heard more than two weeks of testimony from more than thirty witnesses. While the committee ignored many allegations, the Common Council, nevertheless, ordered for a new election to be conducted on the grounds that clerks in wards had been unqualified to vote.


1844 Chicago mayoral elections, April election
In the Chicago mayoral election of April 1844, Independent Democrat Alson Sherman defeated Democratic incumbent Augustus Garrett and Liberty Party nominee Henry Smith by a 9 point margin.


1844 Christchurch by-election
The Christchurch by-election, 1844 was a parliamentary by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Christchurch, Hampshire held on 28 March 1844. It was won by Conservative Edward Harris.


1844 Connecticut gubernatorial election
The 1844 Connecticut gubernatorial election was held on April 3, 1844. Former state legislator, Amistad lawyer and Whig nominee Roger Sherman Baldwin was elected, defeating incumbent governor and Democratic nominee Chauncey Fitch Cleveland with 49.41% of the vote.


1844 Connecticut gubernatorial election
Although Baldwin won a plurality of the vote, he fell short of a majority. The state constitution at the time required that in such a case, the Connecticut General Assembly decides the election. The state legislature voted for Baldwin, 116 to 93, and Baldwin became the governor.


1844 Costa Rican Head of State election
The election of the Head of State of Costa Rica in 1844 was the first Costa Rican election in which the system of direct suffrage was used to elect the Supreme Head of State, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of April 9, 1844. A method that was abolished by the next election returning to indirect suffrage until 1913.


1844 Costa Rican Head of State election
The candidacy of Oreamuno triumphed unanimously at the polling stations of Bagaces, Boruca, West Cartago, South Cartago, Cot, Guanacaste, La Union, Orosí, Paraiso, Quircot, San Pablo de Heredia, Santa Cruz, Térraba, Tobosi and Tucurrique, and won comfortable victories in Cartago center, Curridabat, Desamparados, Heredia center, San José north and San José south. Alfaro won at the polls of West Alajuela, East Alajuela, Atenas, Barva, Cañas, Esparza and Puntarenas, Nicoya and San Juan del Murciélago. Mora triumphed in Escazú and Pacaca, and Blanco in Aserrí. None of the other candidates managed to win polls.


1844 Costa Rican Head of State election
On November 15, 1844, the legislative chambers declared Francisco María Oreamuno Bonilla elected as Head of State for the period 1844-1848. Oreamuno took possession on November 29, 1844.


1844 Delaware gubernatorial election
The 1844 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1844. Whig Governor William B. Cooper was unable to seek re-election to a second term. Thomas Stockton, the former New Castle County Register in Chancery Thomas Stockton ran as the Whig nominee to succeed Cooper. He faced former State Senator William Tharp, the Democratic nominee. Despite the state's strong financial condition, Whigs came close to losing their grip on power; Stockton only defeated Tharp by 45 votes, or 0.37%. However, Stockton died a year into his term, on March 2, 1846, elevating the Speaker of the State Senate, Joseph Maull, to the governorship, and triggering a special election in 1846. Maull, too, died, serving just two months before passing away, elevating State House Speaker William Temple to the governorship.


1844 Delaware gubernatorial election, Bibliography
This Delaware elections-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .


1844 Democratic National Convention
The 1844 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held in Baltimore, Maryland from May 27 through 30. The convention nominated former Governor James K. Polk of Tennessee for president and former Senator George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania for vice president.


1844 Democratic National Convention
Though his opposition to the annexation of Texas cost him support with expansionists and Southerners, former President Martin Van Buren entered the convention with the backing of a majority of the delegates. Before presidential balloting commenced, the convention voted to reinstate a rule requiring the presidential nominee to win two-thirds of the vote. On the first presidential ballot, Van Buren won a simple majority of the vote, but fell short of a two-thirds majority. As the balloting continued, Van Buren continually lost support to former Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan, former Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky, and Senator James Buchanan of Pennsylvania.


1844 Democratic National Convention
Though he had entered the convention only hoping to be nominated for vice president, Polk had the strong support of former President Andrew Jackson and was acceptable to the different factions of the party. He won the nomination on the ninth presidential ballot, thus becoming the first dark horse candidate to win a major party's presidential nomination. After Senator Silas Wright of New York declined the vice presidential nomination, the convention selected Dallas as Polk's running mate. The Democratic ticket went on to win the 1844 presidential election.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Proceedings
At the outset of the convention, the leading contender was former President Martin Van Buren of New York, who had been defeated in the 1840 election. His principal opponent was Lewis Cass of Michigan, who had served as United States Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson. The annexation of Texas was a major issue. Van Buren publicly opposed immediate annexation because it might lead to a sectional crisis over the status of slavery in the West. This position cost Van Buren the support of Southern and expansionist Democrats, but he believed that backing annexation would cost him the support of his fellow New Yorkers and other Northeasterners.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Proceedings
Van Buren's supporters arrived at the convention with a majority of the delegates pledged to support him on the first ballot. Cass, meanwhile, had support from a handful of Southern states, but far fewer delegates pledged to him. At the previous convention, in 1840, a majority of votes had been sufficient to secure the nomination, but this had been a departure from the traditional practice of requiring a two-thirds vote to win the nomination.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Proceedings
Early in the proceedings, Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, in cooperation with Senator James Buchanan of Pennsylvania (who would later become president himself), called for the reinstatement of the traditional 1832 and 1835 convention rule requiring the nominee to win two-thirds of the votes. Following a historical pattern in which a minority faction of Northern Democrats delivered votes to produce southern wing victories for pro-slavery legislation, the Van Burenite delegates split over the pivotal vote.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Proceedings
Fully one-third of the pro-Van Buren delegates (52 of 154) voted to reinstate the two-thirds rule, along with 90 of 104 anti-Van Buren delegates, producing a final vote of 148 to 116. The rule would remain in place until the 1936 Democratic National Convention, when it was revoked by supporters of Franklin D. Roosevelt.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Presidential nomination, Presidential candidates
Van Buren supporters persisted in spite of the two-thirds rule setback, garnering 146 votes for their candidate on the first ballot, a 55% simple majority, but short of the now required 177 votes. Middle and Deep South pro-annexationists opposed Van Buren 75 to 3, depriving northern anti-annexationists the 31 votes needed for victory.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Presidential nomination, Presidential candidates
Support for Van Buren dwindled in subsequent ballots from 146 to 99, at which point Van Burenites were reduced to blocking nominations of numerous candidates, among them James Buchanan, Lewis Cass of Michigan, John C. Calhoun, and Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire. Incumbent President John Tyler, a former Democrat who was elected to the Vice Presidency on the 1840 Whig Party ticket, also hoped to win the support of delegates, but he was unable to find any backers. Southern intransigence had succeeded in eliminating Van Buren and his stand on Texas annexation.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Presidential nomination, Presidential candidates
If the Democratic Party was to avoid dissolution at a national level, an acceptable nominee, fully committed to immediate annexation would be required, yet capable of unifying the party in the general election. Van Buren was open to deferring to Senator Silas Wright of New York, but Wright was a major supporter of Van Buren for president and had already declined to be considered.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Presidential nomination, Presidential candidates
On the eighth ballot, the historian George Bancroft, a delegate from Massachusetts, proposed former Speaker of the House of Representatives James K. Polk as a compromise candidate. Polk, who had also served as Governor of Tennessee, had entered the convention in hopes of becoming the vice presidential nominee. However, former President Andrew Jackson, who remained popular in the party, believed Polk was just the man to head the Democratic ticket. Although a slaveholder himself, Polk never enunciated a slavery expansionist position with respect to Texas annexation, as had John C. Calhoun and the southern extremists.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Presidential nomination, Presidential candidates
Despite Polk's fervent advocacy for annexation, he had remained loyal to Van Buren throughout the Texas controversy, and anti-annexationist Van Burenites were willing to accept Polk, with reservations, having already recognized him as a suitable vice-presidential choice to have complimented a Van Buren ticket. Southern Democrats benefited from the Tyler-Calhoun machinations in eliminating Martin Van Buren as a presidential candidate, and clearing the way for the pro-annexation nationalist Polk. On the ninth ballot, Van Buren instructed his delegates to support Polk, beginning a stampede to Polk that ended with him winning the nomination unanimously. Consequently, Polk became the first dark horse, or little-known, presidential nominee. Van Buren complied with his party's decision to unite under a pro-annexation candidate, and worked to win New York state for Polk.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Presidential nomination, Presidential candidates
Despite Whig efforts to cast Polk as an unknown – "Who is James K. Polk?" they asked rhetorically – he was respected as an effective political operator. His sobriquet "The Young Hickory" contained a dual reference, one to his mentor Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson, and one to the term Young America, a reference to an international movements struggling to establish republican forms of government and the overthrow of monarchies and ascribed to Manifest Destiny Democrats.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Presidential nomination, Presidential candidates
As a national imperialist, he exhibited an unwavering support for Manifest Destiny, perceived as a non-sectional devotion to expansionism, whether slave-soil Texas or free-soil Oregon Territory. Polk argued that Texas and Oregon had always belonged to the United States by right. He called for "the immediate reannexation of Texas" and for the "reoccupation" of the disputed Oregon territory. Polk's political reputation was expected to diffuse northern Democratic resentment towards the Slavepower, while delivering Texas to the Deep South.


1844 Democratic National Convention, Vice Presidential nomination, Declined
Polk and Richard Mentor Johnson had both campaigned for the vice presidency prior to the convention, but with Polk's nomination for president, the party looked to the northern states for a running mate. The anti-annexationist Silas Wright, US Senator from New York, was nominated unanimously on the first ballot. When informed by telegraph at the US Capitol, Wright declined, partly out of a refusal to support a ticket backing the annexation of Texas, and partly because he didn't want to be accused of intriguing against Van Buren to benefit himself. After Wright refused to reconsider, John Fairfield attracted significant support during the second ballot, but on the third ballot the convention settled on George M. Dallas, a conservative from Pennsylvania.


1844 Democratic National Convention, In popular culture
The basic events of the convention are outlined in the song "James K. Polk" by the rock band They Might Be Giants.


1844 Grand National
The 1844 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the ninth annual running of a handicap steeplechase, later to be regarded as the sixth official running of the Grand National Steeplechase, a horse race which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool on Wednesday 28 February 1844 and attracted a field of 16 runners from a field of 41 entrants. It was won by the 5/1 co favourite, Discount, ridden by John Crickmere.


1844 Grand National, The Course
The only change to the course recorded by the reporter of the Liverpool saturn was that fence thirteen, the stone wall, in front of the stands, was removed and replaced with an artificial hurdle. Another hurdle was added on the course between the training ground and the distance chair. The other fifteen fences were described as being unchanged from the description provided by the same newspaper the previous year.


1844 Grand National, The Course
Start - Just beyond the Melling Road. Fence 1 [17] on the second circuit] Plain good fence. Fence 2 [18] Plain good fence. Fence 3 [19] Plain good fence. Fence 4 [20] Plain good fence. Fence 5 [21] The Upper Brook, where Captain Beecher fell in 1839. Fence 6 [22] A fence inclined to the left that takes the runners towards the Canal side. Fence 7 [23] A fence inclined to the left that takes the runners towards the Canal side. Fence 8 [24] A fence inclined to the left that takes the runners towards the Canal side.


1844 Grand National, The Course
Fence 9 [25] A large water jump. Fence 10 [26] Out of the second field along the Canal. Fence 11 [27] Out of the third field along the Canal. Fence 12 [28] A fence into the Anchor Bridge Road. Fence 13 An artificial hurdle leaving the training ground on the racecourse proper [this was a newly added obstacle]Fence 14 An artificial hurdle at the distance chair in front of the stands [replaced the stone wall]. Fence 15 An artificial brook thirteen feet span with a rail. Fence 16 A bank into the Melling Road. Fence 29 An artificial hurdle adjacent to the distance chair on the run in.


1844 Grand National, The Course
On jumping fence twelve the runners would continue onto the widest part of the course, known as the training ground, making the straight along the stands as long as possible a run before starting the second circuit. After jumping fence twenty-eight the runners would turn towards the racecourse at an earlier point, this time jumping the hurdle on the other side of the distance judge's chair.


1844 Grand National, Details
The only detailed record of the day and the race was taken by the journalist of the Liverpool Mercury, which was syndicated and published by most other papers that reported the events of the race. Heavy rain had fallen regularly in the days leading up to the race, resulting in a smaller attendance than had recently been seen. A further heavy shower, which started shortly before the race, continued throughout the event.


1844 Grand National, Details
Of the sixteen riders who weighed out for the race, five were making their debut, all on largely unconsidered outsiders. Allen McDonough was the most experienced rider in the weighing room, taking what was regarded at the time as his seventh ride in the race, however two of these renewals are now regarded as unofficial precursors to the Grand National. This revision of the history means he is now regarded as having been jointly the most experienced with Bartholomew Bretherton, Horatio Powell, P Barker and Tom Olliver who were all matching Jem Mason's record of five official rides in the National.


1844 Grand National, Details
The runners set off at a moderate pace, led by The Returned towards the first fence where Tom Tug and Robinson both refused. The former very quickly took the fence at the second attempt but Parker was unable to induce his mount and after several attempts, gave up and returned to the stables. On the very heavy going the pace was so slow on the plough that Tom Tug was soon able to make up the ground and led the field over the great water jump by the Canal. Peter Simple was among the leading half dozen when he fell at the Anchor Bridge but was remounted very quickly before many of the horses struggling at the rear has reached the fence.


1844 Grand National, Details
Tom Tug retained a good lead on jumping the artificial brook and was followed by The Returned, Discount, Peter Simple, The Romp and Charity who fell. Powell was able to quickly remount and continue with only the tailed off Little Peter behind him.


1844 Grand National, Details
Rackley upped the tempo on Tom Tug and increased his lead throughout the second circuit, coming back over the Anchor Bridge many lengths ahead of Marengo, Discount and The Returned, who themselves were clear of the remainder, most of whom now appeared to be quite distressed. Tom Tug too appeared to be rapidly tiring and his lead was quickly cut down by the chasing trio of whom Marengo appeared to be travelling the strongest.


1844 Grand National, Details
It was Discount however who found the extra pace to kick on, passing Tom Tug well before reaching the distance chair and going on to win easily by twenty lengths. The Returned pipped a very distressed Tom Tug for second place while Marengo pulled up to a walk on the run in and was passed by Caesar, The Romp and Lather. Little Peter and Louis Philippe may also have completed the course  though a great number of the runners gave up the chase after Anchor Bridge and walked in, bypassing the final hurdle. The timekeeper lodged the official time as 13 minutes 58 seconds, which was 1 minute and 28 seconds slower than the record for the race.


1844 Grand National, Details
Although all the horses and riders returned uninjured, the very heavy going left many quite distressed at the finish and it was difficult to distinguish the colours of the riders as they were so heavily covered in mud. Rackley, the rider of Tom Tug was found to be so exhausted that he was unable to dismount unaided. Despite this, four of the competitors raced again in the next two races on the same card. Wiverton won a match race after the National while Heslington, Robinson and Peter Simple took part in the Champion Hurdle


1844 Grand National, Details
The winning rider, John Crickmere was riding in his second National having finished third the previous year. he was twenty-two years old and would go on to have one further ride in the race before dying of consumption in 1846. The previous year he had been very unlucky to lose the race and commented on this to the winning rider, Tom Olliver who had responded by saying that he had stopped for a smoke to allow Crickmere's mount to catch up.


1844 Grand National, Details
This year Olliver failed to complete the course, prompting Crickmere to ask him where Olliver had stopped for a smoke this year to which Olliver replied with a smile that this year he had instead stopped for a drink in Kirby. On the official Aintree records published each year in the race card he is listed as either Mr Crickmere or H Crickmere. The owner was a Piccadilly horse dealer by the name of Mr Quartermaine. The winning horse was by Sir Hercules out of Minikin and was originally named Magnum Bonum.


1844 Greek legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece between June and August 1844. Supporters of Andreas Metaxas emerged as the largest block in Parliament. However, Ioannis Kolettis became Prime Minister on 18 August.


1844 Greek legislative election, Background
During and after the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), a series of elections for national assemblies had taken place, and promulgated a series of liberal constitutions that enshrined democratic principles. Nevertheless, the Kingdom of Greece, established in 1832 under the Bavarian prince Otto, disregarded the existence of the 1832 Constitution passed by the Fifth National Assembly. From 1832 until 1835, the kingdom was ruled by a Bavarian regency, and after that by Otto as an absolute monarchy.


1844 Greek legislative election, Background
This situation lasted until the 3 September 1843 Revolution, when an uprising by the garrison and populace of Athens forced King Otto to concede elections for a constitutional assembly. The election was held on 17 September for the "Third of September National Assembly of the Greeks at Athens", and the new assembly promulgated the Greek Constitution of 1844 in February, after which it was dissolved and new elections proclaimed.


1844 Greek legislative election, Electoral system
The 1844 election was held by the Electoral Law of 18 March 1844, stipulating universal male suffrage over 25 years of age. Each of the Provinces of Greece was a separate constituency, and MPs were allocated by population: provinces with up to 10,000 inhabitants elected one MP, with up to 20,000 two, with up to 30,000 three, and over that four.


1844 Greek legislative election, Electoral system
In addition, the three islands that played a major role in the War of Independence, Hydra, Spetses and Psara—the latter still part of the Ottoman Empire and represented by the inhabitants who had fled to mainland Greece after the Destruction of Psara—exceptionally received the right to send MPs of their own, three for Hydra, and two for the other two islands. The professors of the University of Athens also elected one MP.


1844 Greek legislative election, Electoral system
The electoral process lasted for six months, with various constituencies voting at different times from May (Old Calendar) until August. The whole process was dominated by bribery, violence and efforts to falsify the results. Ioannis Kolettis and his French Party came third, but formed the new government in coalition with the Russian Party. The new parliament convened for the first time in January 1845.


1844 Icelandic parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland in 1844. They were the first elections in the country's history.


1844 Icelandic parliamentary election, Electoral system
The Althing was composed of 26 members, twenty of which were elected and six of which were appointed by the monarch. The twenty members were elected in single-member constituencies by plurality voting. Each voter had two votes, with the runner-up becoming the MP's deputy. Voting was restricted to male property owners over the age of 25.


1844 Iowa Council election
In the 1844 Iowa Territory Council elections, electors selected councilors to serve in the seventh Iowa Territory Council. All 13 members of the Territory Council were elected. Councilors served one-year terms.


1844 Iowa Council election
The Iowa Territory existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when Iowa was admitted to the Union as a state. At the time, the Iowa Territory had a Legislative Assembly consisting of an upper chamber (i.e., the Territory Council) and a lower chamber (i.e., the Territory House).


1844 Iowa Council election
Following the previous election in 1843, Democrats held a majority with seven seats to Whigs' six seats. During the sixth session of the Territory Council, Councilor Cox died, causing a vacancy in a Democratic Party seat. Therefore, on election day in 1844, the Democrats and Whigs both had six seats each.


1844 Iowa Council election
To claim a majority of seats, the Whigs needed to net one seat from Democrats.


1844 Iowa Council election
Democrats maintained a majority of seats in the Iowa Territory Council following the 1844 general election with the balance of power shifting to Democrats holding 11 seats and Whigs having two seats (a net gain of 5 seat for Democrats, including regaining the vacant seat). Democratic Councilor Serranus Clinton Hastings was chosen as the President of the seventh Territory Council to succeed the deceased Democratic Councilor Thomas Cox in that leadership position.


1844 Liverpool Town Council election
Elections to Liverpool Town Council were held on Wednesday 1 November 1844. One third of the council seats were up for election, the term of office of each councillor being three years.


1844 Liverpool Town Council election
After the election of Councillors on Friday 1 November 1844 and the Aldermanic election on Saturday 9 November 1844, the composition of the council was:


1844 Liverpool Town Council election, Aldermanic Elections
On 9 November 1844, the term of office of eight aldermen who were elected on 9 November 1838 expired.


1844 Liverpool Town Council election, Aldermanic Elections
The following were elected as Aldermen by the Council on 9 November 1844 for a term of office of six years.


1844 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
The 1844 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 11.


1844 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
Incumbent Whig Governor George N. Briggs was re-elected to a second term in office over Democrat George Bancroft.


1844 Massachusetts legislature
The 65th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1844 during the governorship of George N. Briggs. Josiah Quincy Jr. served as president of the Senate. Thomas H. Kinnicutt and Samuel H. Walley, Jr. served as speakers of the House.


1844 Missouri gubernatorial election
The 1844 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on August 5, 1844, Missouri Secretary of State John Cummins Edwards, the Democratic nominee, defeated Whig candidate Charles H. Allen.


1844 Naval Air Squadron
1844 Naval Air Squadron (1844 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.


1844 New Jersey Constitution
The 1844 New Jersey Constitution is the second state constitution for the State of New Jersey and was replaced by the current state constitution adopted in 1947. It was preceded by the 1776 New Jersey Constitution.


1844 New Jersey gubernatorial election
The 1844 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on October 8, 1844. Whig nominee Charles C. Stratton defeated Democratic nominee John Renshaw Thomson with 50.94% of the vote.


1844 New Jersey gubernatorial election
This was the first election held under the New Jersey Constitution of 1844, which was adopted on June 29 and reformed the state government, notably establishing an independent executive branch. Before 1844, New Jersey Governors were elected by a majority of the General Assembly and held office as a member of that body. Although the new constitution formally lifted the constitutional property requirement for suffrage, it added race and sex requirements; only white males over the age of 21 were eligible to vote in this election.


1844 New York state election
The 1844 New York state elections was held on November 5, 1844, to elect the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and four Canal Commissioners, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and eight members of the New York State Senate.


1844 New York state election, History
The Act of May 6, 1844, which re-organized the Canal Department, required the Canal Commissioners to be elected by general ballot.


1844 New York state election, Results
67 Democrats, 45 Whigs and 16 American Republicans were elected to the Assembly session of 1845. 6 Democrats, 1 Whig and 1 American Republican were elected to the Senate. Thus the Senate of the 68th New York State Legislature consisted of 27 Democrats, 4 Whigs and 1 American Republican.


1844 Norwegian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Norway in 1844. As political parties were not officially established until 1884, all those elected were independents. The number of seats in the Storting was increased from 100 to 102. Voter turnout was 49.4%, although only 5.3% of the country's population was eligible to vote.


1844 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election
The 1844 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election occurred on October 9, 1844. Incumbent Democratic  governor David R. Porter was not a candidate for re-election. Democratic candidate Francis R. Shunk defeated Whig candidate Joseph Markle to become Governor of Pennsylvania.


1844 Philadelphia mayoral election
The Philadelphia mayoral election of 1844 saw the election of Peter McCall.


1844 Philadelphia mayoral election, Electoral system
Beginning in 1839, the city operated under a mixed electoral system. Citizens voted for mayor in a general election. If a candidate receive a majority of the vote, they would be elected mayor. However, if no candidate received a majority, the City Council would select a mayor from the top-two finishers.


1844 Republic of Texas presidential election
The Republic of Texas presidential election of 1844 was the fourth and last presidential election. It was held on September 2, 1844. The contest was held between Anson Jones and Edward Burleson, the vice president of the Republic of Texas. Jones defeated Burleson by a margin of 1,376 votes to become the fourth and final President of Texas.


1844 Republic of Texas presidential election
On February 26, 1845, five months after the election, the Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States and was admitted as the 28th state on December 29 of that year.


1844 Salta earthquake
The 1844 Salta earthquake took place in the Province of Salta, in the Republic of Argentina, on 18 October at 23:00 UTC. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.5 Ms. The earthquake had an estimated hypocentral depth of 30 km.


1844 Salta earthquake, Damage and casualties
The Province of Salta is an area of high seismic activity. The last major earthquake to have affected the area prior to the October 1844 event was in 1692. The destructive force of the 1844 Salta earthquake was measured at VII on the Mercalli intensity scale. It impacted several villages in the Province of Salta as well as the capital city. It caused damage and several families were affected but there was no reported loss of life. The earthquake caused damage not only in Salta, but also in Jujuy, Tucumán and Santiago del Estero. Several aftershocks were felt after the initial tremor. Cracks opened in the ground creating new channels through which water flowed even up to 26 October. The final aftershock was felt on the 27th.


1844 Salta earthquake, Aftermath
On feeling the tremors the villagers rushed to the main square and then towards the Cathedral where they removed the statues of Christ and the Virgen del Milagro to the plaza. There they prostrated before the images and prayed.


1844 Salta earthquake, Aftermath
Although the Fiesta del Milagro has its origins in the 1692 Salta earthquake, in which the images of Christ and the Virgen del Milagro were said to have saved the city from the earthquakes, it was not until 1845, a year the following the 1844 earthquake, that ecclesiastical authorities along with the Government of the Province, signed the so-called Pact of Allegiance (Pacta de Fidelidad). In this pact the village agreed to officiate the acts of the Fiesta de Milagro (Feast of the Miracle), with novena and processions every September 15. The primitive "Fiestas del Milagro" in Salta were filled with celebration and excess. But it is from 1935, after the severe restrictions imposed by the Archbishop Tavella, that these "excesses" were banned and the feast took on the character of penance and atonement.


1844 Susilva
1844 Susilva, provisional designation 1972 UB, is a stony Eoan asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 October 1972, by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland, and later named after a schoolfriend of the discoverer.


1844 Susilva, Classification and orbit
Susilva is a member of the Eos family, a collisional group of more than 4,000 asteroids, which are well known for mostly being of silicaceous composition. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.9–3.2 AU once every 5 years and 3 months (1,912 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic. First identified as 1943 EU at Turku Observatory, Susilva's first used observation was taken at Uccle Observatory in 1953, extending the body's observation arc by 19 years prior to its official discovery observation.


1844 Susilva, Physical characteristics
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures between 19.0 and 26.8 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.118 to 0.236. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.14, taken from 221 Eos, the family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 22.4 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.0. Susilva's rotation period has not yet been measured.


1844 Susilva, Naming
The discoverer named a pair of asteroids after two of his former schoolmates, Susi and Helen, both from the small village of Wald, Zürich in Switzerland. This one was dedicated to Susi Petit–Pierre, while the subsequently numbered asteroid, 1845 Helewalda, was given to Helen Gachnang. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 April 1977 (M.P.C. 4156).


1844 United States elections
The 1844 United States elections elected the members of the 29th United States Congress, and took place during the Second Party System in the midst of the debate over whether to annex Texas. Texas and Iowa joined the union during the 29th Congress. Democrats retained control of the House and took back control of the Presidency and the Senate, re-establishing the dominant position the party had lost in the 1840 election.


1844 United States elections
In the Presidential election, Democratic former Speaker of the House James K. Polk defeated Whig former Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky. Though Polk won the popular vote by a little over one percent, he won by a comfortable margin in the electoral college. James G. Birney of the nascent Liberty Party took two percent of the popular vote, and may have swung the election by taking votes from Clay in New York. The little-known Polk defeated several rivals to win his party's nomination, emerging as the first dark horse nominee in U.S. presidential history. Incumbent President John Tyler, who had been expelled from the Whig party early in his presidency, was briefly the candidate of the newly formed Democratic-Republican Party, but dropped out of the race after Polk announced his support for ratification of Tyler's Texas annexation treaty.


1844 United States elections
In the House, Whigs picked up a small number of seats, but Democrats retained a commanding majority.


1844 United States elections
In the Senate, Democrats picked up several seats, re-taking the majority.


1844 United States presidential election
The 1844 United States presidential election was the 15th quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, November 1 to Wednesday, December 4, 1844. Democrat James K. Polk defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest turning on the controversial issues of slavery and the annexation of the Republic of Texas.


1844 United States presidential election
President John Tyler's pursuit of Texas annexation threatened the unity of both major parties. Annexation would geographically expand American slavery. It also risked war with Mexico while the United States engaged in sensitive possession and boundary negotiations with the United Kingdom, which controlled Canada, over Oregon. Texas annexation thus posed both domestic and foreign policy risks. Both major parties had wings in the North and the South, but the possibility of the expansion of slavery threatened a sectional split in each party. Expelled by the Whig Party after vetoing key Whig legislation and lacking a firm political base, Tyler hoped to use the annexation of Texas to win re-election as an independent or at least to have decisive, pro-Texas influence over the election.


1844 United States presidential election
The early leader for the Democratic nomination was former President Martin Van Buren, but his rejection of Texas annexation damaged his candidacy. Opposition from former President Andrew Jackson and most Southern delegations, plus a nomination rule change likely specifically aimed to block him, prevented Van Buren from winning the necessary two-thirds vote of delegates to the 1844 Democratic National Convention. The convention instead chose James K. Polk, former Governor of Tennessee and U. S. House Speaker, who emerged as the first dark horse nominee. Polk ran on a platform embracing popular commitment to expansion, often referred to as Manifest Destiny.


1844 United States presidential election
Tyler dropped out of the race and endorsed Polk. The Whigs nominated Henry Clay, a famous, long-time party leader who was the early favorite but who conspicuously waffled on Texas annexation. Though a Southerner from Kentucky and a slave owner, Clay chose to focus on the risks of annexation while claiming not to oppose it personally. His awkward, repeated attempts to adjust and finesse his position on Texas confused and alienated voters, contrasting negatively with Polk's consistent clarity.


1844 United States presidential election
Polk successfully linked the dispute with the United Kingdom over Oregon with the Texas issue. The Democratic nominee thus united anti-slavery Northern expansionists, who demanded Oregon, with pro-slavery Southern expansionists who demanded Texas. In the national popular vote, Polk beat Clay by fewer than 40,000 votes, a margin of 1.4%. James G. Birney of the anti-slavery Liberty Party won 2.3% of the vote. As President, Polk completed American annexation of Texas, which was the proximate cause of the Mexican–American War.


1844 United States presidential election, Background, Gag rule and Texas annexation controversies
Whigs and Democrats embarked upon their campaigns during the climax of the congressional gag rule controversies in 1844, which prompted Southern congressmen to suppress northern petitions to end the slave trade in the District of Columbia. Anti -annexation petitions to Congress sent from northern anti-slavery forces, including state legislatures, were similarly suppressed. Intra-party sectional compromises and maneuvering on slavery politics during these divisive debates placed significant strain on the northern and southern wings that comprised each political organization. The question as to whether the institution of slavery and its aristocratic principles of social authority were compatible with democratic republicanism was becoming "a permanent issue in national politics".


1844 United States presidential election, Background, Gag rule and Texas annexation controversies
In 1836, a portion of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas declared its independence to form the Republic of Texas. Texans, mostly American immigrants from the Deep South, many of whom owned slaves, sought to bring their republic into the Union as a state. At first, the subject of annexing Texas to the United States was shunned by both major American political parties. Although they recognized Texas sovereignty, Presidents Andrew Jackson (1829–1837) and Martin Van Buren (1837–1841) declined to pursue annexation. The prospect of bringing another slave state into the Union was fraught with problems. Both major parties – the Democrats and Whigs – viewed Texas statehood as something "not worth a foreign war [with Mexico]" or the "sectional combat" that annexation would provoke in the United States.


1844 United States presidential election, Background, Tyler–Texas treaty
The incumbent President John Tyler, formerly vice-president, had assumed the presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison in 1841. Tyler, a Whig in name only, emerged as a states' rights advocate committed to slavery expansion in defiance of his party's principles. After he vetoed the Whig domestic legislative agenda, he was expelled from his own party on September 13, 1841. Politically isolated, but unencumbered by party restraints, Tyler aligned himself with a small faction of Texas annexationists in a bid for election to a full term in 1844.


1844 United States presidential election, Background, Tyler–Texas treaty
Tyler became convinced that Great Britain was encouraging a Texas–Mexico rapprochement that might lead to slave emancipation in the Texas republic. Accordingly, he directed Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur of Virginia to initiate, then relentlessly pursue, secret annexation talks with Texas minister to the United States Isaac Van Zandt, beginning on October 16, 1843.


1844 United States presidential election, Background, Tyler–Texas treaty
Tyler submitted his Texas-US treaty for annexation to the US Senate, delivered April 22, 1844, where a two-thirds majority was required for ratification. The newly appointed Secretary of State John C. Calhoun of South Carolina (assuming his post March 29, 1844) included a document known as the Packenham Letter with the Tyler bill that was calculated to inject a sense of crisis in Southern Democrats of the Deep South. In it, he characterized slavery as a social blessing and the acquisition of Texas as an emergency measure necessary to safeguard the "peculiar institution" in the United States.


1844 United States presidential election, Background, Tyler–Texas treaty
In doing so, Tyler and Calhoun sought to unite the South in a crusade that would present the North with an ultimatum: support Texas annexation or lose the South. Anti -slavery Whigs considered Texas annexation particularly egregious, since Mexico had outlawed slavery in Coahuila y Tejas in 1829, before Texas independence had been declared.


1844 United States presidential election, Background, Tyler–Texas treaty
The 1844 presidential campaigns evolved within the context of this struggle over Texas annexation, which was tied to the question of slavery expansion and national security. All candidates in the 1844 presidential election had to declare a position on this explosive issue.


1844 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party convention and campaign
Martin Van Buren, President of the United States between 1837 and 1841, and chief architect of  Jacksonian democracy, was the presumptive Democratic presidential contender in the spring of 1844. With Secretary of State John C. Calhoun withdrawing his bid for the presidency in January 1844, the campaign was expected to focus on domestic issues. All this changed with the Tyler treaty. Van Buren regarded the Tyler annexation measure as an attempt to sabotage his bid for the White House by exacerbating the already strained North-South Democratic alliance regarding slavery expansion. Calhoun's Packenham Letter would serve to spur Democrats of the South to the task of forcing the Northern wing of the party to submit to Texas annexation, despite the high risk of "aggressively injecting slavery into their political campaign over Texas."


1844 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party convention and campaign
The annexation of Texas was the chief political issue of the day. Van Buren, initially the leading candidate, opposed immediate annexation because it might lead to a sectional crisis over the status of slavery in the West and lead to war with Mexico. This position cost Van Buren the support of southern and expansionist Democrats; as a result, he failed to win the nomination. The delegates likewise could not settle on Lewis Cass, the former Secretary of War, whose credentials also included past service as a U.S. minister to France.


1844 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party convention and campaign
On the eighth ballot, the historian George Bancroft, a delegate from Massachusetts, proposed former House Speaker James K. Polk as a compromise candidate. Polk argued that Texas and Oregon had always belonged to the United States by right. He called for "the immediate re-annexation of Texas" and for the "re-occupation" of the disputed Oregon territory.


1844 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party convention and campaign
On the next roll call, the convention unanimously accepted Polk, who became the first dark horse, or little-known, presidential candidate. The delegates selected Senator Silas Wright of New York for Vice President, but Wright, an admirer of Van Buren, declined the nomination to become the first person to decline a vice presidential nomination. The Democrats then nominated George M. Dallas, a Pennsylvania lawyer.


1844 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party convention and campaign, Martin Van Buren's Hammet letter
Van Buren realized that accommodating slavery expansionists in the South would open the Northern Democrats to charges of appeasement to the Slave power from the strongly anti-annexation Northern Whigs and some Democrats. He crafted an emphatically anti-Texas position that temporized with expansionist southern Democrats, laying out a highly conditional scenario that delayed Texas annexation indefinitely. In the Hammett Letter, published April 27, 1844 (penned April 20), he counseled his party to reject Texas under a Tyler administration.