1847 Liberty National Convention

September 2026 1847 1848 Liberty JP-Hale.jpg Leicester King.jpg Nominees (Hale and King) October 20–21, 1847 "Great Tent", erected at a corner of Eagle & Ellicott Streets Buffalo, New York Samuel Lewis John P. Hale New Hampshire Leicester King Ohio 1843 1852 2 J. Hale: 103G. Smith: 44S. Lewis: 4Others: 4 L. King: 72 (1st ballot), 82 (2nd bal.)O. Lovejoy: 76 (1st bal.), 67 (2nd bal.)F. LeMoyne: 4 (1st bal.), 5 (2nd bal,) I. Codding: 1 (1st bal,), 4 (2nd bal.)Others: 5 (1st bal.), 2 (2nd bal.) The 1847 Liberty National Convention was held October 20–21, 1847, in Buffalo, New York. It saw the Liberty Party nominate John P. Hale for president and Leicester King for vice president in the 1848 United States presidential election. The party later rescinded its ticket (with Hale and King withdrawing from the election), with the party instead backing the ticket nominated at the 1848 Free Soil National Convention. Logistics The Liberty Party held their national convention at Buffalo, New York October 20–21, 1847.Johnson, Reinhard O. (2009). The Liberty Party, 1840-1848: Antislavery Third-Party Politics in the United States. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University. pp. 77–81, 282. The convention was reported to have had sizable attendance.National Liberty Convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/1074291105 Newspapers.com subscription Cleveland Plain Dealer July 8, 2026 2 October 23, 1847 It took place inside of the so-called "Great Tent", which was erected for the convention at a corner of Eagle & Ellicott Streets.National Liberty Convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/313002082 Newspapers.com subscription Buffalo Courier July 8, 2026 2 October 22, 1847 Scheduling and site selection By letters to the chairman of the national party, nine members of the national committee voted on their preference of when and where the party's convention should be held. Seven were in favor of a convention in the American autumn of 1847 (late 1847), while two preferred a convention in the spring of 1848 (early 1848). For a location, four favored Buffalo (in the state of New York), three favored Cleveland (in the state of Ohio), one favored Pittsburgh (in the state Pennsylvania), while one other expressed no particular preference for location. Because a location needed majority support to be selected, the chair cast a deadlock-breaking vote in support of Buffalo as a location.National Liberty Convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/1058412208 Newspapers.com subscription The Cleveland Herald July 8, 2026 3 July 21, 1847 Rice L. L. Delegate selection States were allocated a specific number of delegates, to be selected at state and district conventions.National Liberty Convention; To The Members of the Liberty Party of the United States https://www.newspapers.com/image/1058412208 Newspapers.com subscription The Cleveland Herald July 8, 2026 3 July 21, 1847 Among the state conventions called to select delegates were: Connecticut on September 15 in MeridenConnecticut State Liberty Convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/1038451420 Newspapers.com The National Era subscription July 8, 2026 3 October 7, 1847 Indiana: September 8 in SalemIndiana Liberty Convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/1038451420 Newspapers.com The National Era subscription July 8, 2026 3 October 7, 1847 Massachusetts on September 8 in Worcester New Hampshire on September 30 at the Town Hall ConcordConventions https://www.newspapers.com/image/1038451175/ Newspapers.com subscription The National Era July 8, 2026 3 September 9, 1847 New York on September 29 in SyracuseLiberty State Convention In New York https://www.newspapers.com/image/1038451420 Newspapers.com The National Era subscription July 8, 2026 3 October 7, 1847 Ohio separate county conventions, including one in September in Logan County Pennsylvania on September 29 and 30 in New Castle Rhode Island on October 6 at Mechanics Hall in Providence Convention officers Appointed as officers of the convention were: President of convention: Samuel Lewis of Ohio Secretaries: Sanley Matthews, Austin Willey, and others Nominations A major deliberation at the convention, was whether the party should proceed with nominating a presidential ticket. Some at the convention argued that the party should postpone its nomination until after the Democratic and Whig nominating conventions in 1848. However, a vote in favor of nominating at the 1847 convention prevailed. The faction of the Liberty Party led by Salmon P. Chase sought support from disaffected members of the two major parties. In the months preceding the convention, they began to promote John P. Hale as a candidate capable of uniting a broad coalition of Liberty men, Conscience Whigs, and Independent Democrats on the basis of opposition to slavery's extension. A contingent of Liberty leaders including Joshua Leavitt, Henry B. Stanton, and John Greenleaf Whittier met with Hale in Boston in July 1847 to encourage him to make a public declaration of his candidacy. Hale, however, was concerned that accepting the party's nomination would weaken his position in the Senate and asked for the convention to be delayed until the following spring. When the Chase faction failed to secure the delay of the convention, Hale wrote to Lewis Tappan requesting that his name not be placed in nomination at the Buffalo convention, but Tappan ignored this request.Sewell 1964 203–7 Acceptance of Hale's candidacy required a significant shift in the party's attitude and approach to politics. Hale had earned the high regard of many Liberty Party voters for his protests against the gag rule and his opposition to the annexation of Texas; however, he was not a member of the Liberty Party, had never belonged to any antislavery society, and stopped short of calling for the immediate abolition of slavery, instead adopting a policy of non-extension. Chase and his allies worked tirelessly throughout the summer in support of Hale's candidacy; their efforts were rewarded, as Hale was nominated overwhelmingly by the national convention, with 103 votes to 44 for Smith. Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Leicester King was nominated for vice president."Proceedings of the National Liberty Convention," Signal of Liberty (Ann Arbor, MI) November 20, 1847 The Liberty League had already nominated Gerrit Smith for president at its own convention, held in June at Macedon, New York.Liberty League Niles' National Register July 10, 1847 22 19 296 https://books.google.com/books?id=fJMbAQAAMAAJ A deputization representing the Liberty League was present at the Liberty Party's convention, aiming to secure Smith the party's nomination and see the party adopt a platform incorporating the resolutions adopted at their own Macedon convention. The convention ultimately nominated Hale, with Leicester King being nominated for vice president. Hale was a former Democrat, while King was a former Whig. Presidential ballot Vice presidential ballot1st1st2nd John P. Hale 103 Owen Lovejoy 76 67 Gerrit Smith 44 Leicester King 72 82 Samuel Lewis 4 Francis Julius LeMoyne 4 5 Samuel C. Fessenden 3 William L. Chaplin 1 0 William Goodell 1 Salmon P. Chase 1 0 William Jay 1 Ichabod Codding 1 4 Salmon P. Chase 1 Samuel C. Fessenden 1 0 John Jay 1 Gerrit Smith 1 0 Alvan Stewart 1 2 Aftermath Before the presidential election, the majority of the Liberty Party abandoned the ticket nominated at its own convention, and instead supported joining forces with the Free Soil Party and the ticket nominated at the Free Soil convention. The Liberty League forces split from the Liberty Party after their failure to influence the nomination and platform. A breakaway faction of the Liberty Party did not join forces with the Free Soil Party, and instead organized the National Liberty convention which nominated the same ticket as the Liberty League.Proceedings of the National Liberty Convention 1848 S.W. Green Utica, NY 4–5 https://books.google.com/books?id=eZU-AAAAYAAJ References Works cited Sewell Richard John P. Hale and the Liberty Party, 1847-1848 The New England Quarterly MIT Press 1964 37 2 200–23 10.2307/364011 364011 https://www.jstor.org/stable/364011 subscription Category:1847 conferences Liberty National Convention Category:1847 in New York (state) Category:19th century in Buffalo, New York Category:Organized events in Buffalo, New York Category:United States presidential nominating conventions in New York (state) Category:Abolitionist conventions in the United States Category:October 1847