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Barnburners and Hunkers
The Barnburners and Hunkers were the names of two opposing factions of the New York Democratic Party in the 1840s and early 1850s. The main issue dividing the two factions was that of slavery, with the Barnburners being the anti-slavery faction. While this division occurred within the context of New York politics, it reflected the national divisions in the Democratic Party in the years preceding the American Civil War.
The term barnburner was derived from a folktale about a Dutch farmer who burned down his own barn in order to get rid of a rat infestation. In this case it was applied to men who were thought to be willing to destroy all banks and corporations in order to root out their abuses.
The origins of the Barnburners can be traced to the national crisis over the annexation of Texas in 1844, causing a schism between the northern and southern wings of the Democratic Party. Anti-annexation northern Democrats blamed pro-slavery supporters of John C. Calhoun for denying Martin Van Buren the presidential nomination and ushering in pro-Texas candidate James K. Polk. The South’s bid to introduce a slavery controversy into the political landscape engendered bitter resentments among Van Burenites who had long sought to contain sectional conflicts.
When Texas annexation provoked war with Mexico, disaffected Van Burenites sought to ban slavery in Mexican lands obtained by the Polk administration. These “Barnburner Democrats” based free soil ideology largely on the grounds that slave labor threatened to displace and degrade free white labor. Van Burenite “antislavery” was little concerned with the suffering of enslaved blacks, emphasizing instead the benefits to white small entrepreneurial farmers and independent artisans. Anti-slavery Barnburner radicals argued for a complete disengagement of the federal government from slave-holding interests.
"Gentlemen, they call us Barnburners. Thunder and lightning are barnburners sometimes; but they greatly purify the atmosphere, and that, gentlemen, is what we propose.”—Colonel Samuel Young, early leader of the Barnburners, embracing the Hunker’s derisive epithet.
At the 1848 presidential election, the Barnburners left the Democratic Party, refusing to support presidential nominee Lewis Cass. They joined with other anti-slavery groups, predominantly the abolitionist Liberty Party and some anti-slavery Conscience Whigs from New England and the Midwest, to form the Free Soil Party. Free-Soilers nominated former President Van Buren to run again for the presidency.
The party garnered 10% of the popular vote but failed to secure electoral college delegates in any contest. In the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York the party won over 25% of the popular vote. This limited showing may be attributed to the fact that all northern parties had free-soil planks in their platforms in 1848. Free-Soilers had nonetheless contributed to the defeat of the doughface Cass.
After the Compromise of 1850 temporarily neutralized the issue of slavery and undercut the party's no-compromise position on the expansion of slave soil, and most Barnburners who had joined the Free Soil Party returned to the Democratic Party.
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Barnburners and Hunkers
The Barnburners and Hunkers were the names of two opposing factions of the New York Democratic Party in the 1840s and early 1850s. The main issue dividing the two factions was that of slavery, with the Barnburners being the anti-slavery faction. While this division occurred within the context of New York politics, it reflected the national divisions in the Democratic Party in the years preceding the American Civil War.
The term barnburner was derived from a folktale about a Dutch farmer who burned down his own barn in order to get rid of a rat infestation. In this case it was applied to men who were thought to be willing to destroy all banks and corporations in order to root out their abuses.
The origins of the Barnburners can be traced to the national crisis over the annexation of Texas in 1844, causing a schism between the northern and southern wings of the Democratic Party. Anti-annexation northern Democrats blamed pro-slavery supporters of John C. Calhoun for denying Martin Van Buren the presidential nomination and ushering in pro-Texas candidate James K. Polk. The South’s bid to introduce a slavery controversy into the political landscape engendered bitter resentments among Van Burenites who had long sought to contain sectional conflicts.
When Texas annexation provoked war with Mexico, disaffected Van Burenites sought to ban slavery in Mexican lands obtained by the Polk administration. These “Barnburner Democrats” based free soil ideology largely on the grounds that slave labor threatened to displace and degrade free white labor. Van Burenite “antislavery” was little concerned with the suffering of enslaved blacks, emphasizing instead the benefits to white small entrepreneurial farmers and independent artisans. Anti-slavery Barnburner radicals argued for a complete disengagement of the federal government from slave-holding interests.
"Gentlemen, they call us Barnburners. Thunder and lightning are barnburners sometimes; but they greatly purify the atmosphere, and that, gentlemen, is what we propose.”—Colonel Samuel Young, early leader of the Barnburners, embracing the Hunker’s derisive epithet.
At the 1848 presidential election, the Barnburners left the Democratic Party, refusing to support presidential nominee Lewis Cass. They joined with other anti-slavery groups, predominantly the abolitionist Liberty Party and some anti-slavery Conscience Whigs from New England and the Midwest, to form the Free Soil Party. Free-Soilers nominated former President Van Buren to run again for the presidency.
The party garnered 10% of the popular vote but failed to secure electoral college delegates in any contest. In the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York the party won over 25% of the popular vote. This limited showing may be attributed to the fact that all northern parties had free-soil planks in their platforms in 1848. Free-Soilers had nonetheless contributed to the defeat of the doughface Cass.
After the Compromise of 1850 temporarily neutralized the issue of slavery and undercut the party's no-compromise position on the expansion of slave soil, and most Barnburners who had joined the Free Soil Party returned to the Democratic Party.