ARTIST: Joshua Sheldon
PUBLISHER: Thayer & Co's Lithography, Boston.
MEDIUM: Two-color lithograph,
DATE: 1844.
EDITION SIZE: Image size 12 5/16 x 21 1/8" (31.2 x 53.7 cm).
DESCRIPTION: This scene, after a painting by the landscape artist, Joshua Sheldon, Jr., depicts a rally just prior to the 1844 Presidential election. <br><br> The Whig Party was formally organized in 1834 to oppose “King Andrew” Jackson who had broken the National Republican Party with his election in 1828 and again in 1832. The Whigs took the position that Congress should have more power than the President and favored both protectionism and a national banking system. In 1836 they ran three candidates for President, Daniel Webster, Hugh L. White, and William Henry Harrison. This was an attempt to throw the election into the House of Representatives, but it was unsuccessful as Andrew Jackson’s Vice President, Martin Van Buren, was elected the eighth President. In 1840 the Whigs rallied behind William Henry Harrison who became the ninth President. In 1844 they nominated the popular Henry Clay, but Democrat James K. Polk won the election. The Whig Party dissolved over the slavery issue in 1854. Although that same year, the Republican Party emerged from its ashes. <br><br> Whig Henry Clay (1777-1852) was a skilled politician and orator. He was elected in 1811 to the House of Representatives for the state of Kentucky and served there through 1825, including three non-consecutive terms as Speaker of the House. He later served as Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams and as a Senator from Kentucky. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1824, 1832, and 1844.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
CONDITION: Good condition, narrow margins.
REFERENCE:
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