Missouri gubernatorial election, 1856

[Incipimus iterum]

Vote!

[Goldwater]

Well, I know I'm not supporting the traitor or the nativist, so Benton it is.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Well, I know I'm not supporting the traitor or the nativist, so Benton it is.

[sparkey]

My family were Benton Democrats, including a state legislator who supported Benton on every ballot in the crazy 40-ballot US Senate election in 1851. (The Whig ended up winning that one because the pro-slavery Anti-Benton Democrats hated Benton so much.) I'd similarly be happy supporting Benton.

[sparkey]

What was so important about Benton in Missouri? I've heard the name before. Was he a moderate of some type?

He was a legendary senator, serving 5 terms, and was an incredible orator and very influential. He was a very partisan Democrat, so not very moderate really, but he came out against slavery in 1849, which split the Democratic Party in Missouri into 2: Northern-aligned anti-slavery Democrats (the pro-Benton faction) and Southern-aligned pro-slavery Democrats (the anti-Benton faction).

[Frodo]

What was so important about Benton in Missouri? I've heard the name before. Was he a moderate of some type?

He was a legendary senator, serving 5 terms, and was an incredible orator and very influential. He was a very partisan Democrat, so not very moderate really, but he came out against slavery in 1849, which split the Democratic Party in Missouri into 2: Northern-aligned anti-slavery Democrats (the pro-Benton faction) and Southern-aligned pro-slavery Democrats (the anti-Benton faction).

Weren't most of the slaves (and therefore slave-owners) in the northern section of Missouri, though?

  

[Goldwater]

What was so important about Benton in Missouri? I've heard the name before. Was he a moderate of some type?

He was a legendary senator, serving 5 terms, and was an incredible orator and very influential. He was a very partisan Democrat, so not very moderate really, but he came out against slavery in 1849, which split the Democratic Party in Missouri into 2: Northern-aligned anti-slavery Democrats (the pro-Benton faction) and Southern-aligned pro-slavery Democrats (the anti-Benton faction).

Weren't most of the slaves (and therefore slave-owners) in the northern section of Missouri, though?

  

I think by "Northern-aligned", he's referring to being politically aligned with the northern half of the country, not the northern half of Missouri.

[sparkey]

I think by "Northern-aligned", he's referring to being politically aligned with the northern half of the country, not the northern half of Missouri.

Yep. My ancestor represented one of the green counties.

[sparkey]

I think by "Northern-aligned", he's referring to being politically aligned with the northern half of the country, not the northern half of Missouri.

Yep. My ancestor represented one of the green counties.

Did any of your family participate in the Civil War?

Yes, my family fought on both sides, but mostly for the Union. In the case of this particular ancestor, he served briefly as a private for the Union (he was very old). He had a son, also my ancestor, who became a captain for the Union, and served as a Radical Republican in the Missouri state legislature after the war.