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Franklin Pierce was a part of the democratic party.

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William R. D. King was the Vice President to Franklin Pierce.

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Winfield Scott lost to Franklin Pierce in the 1852 Presidential Election. Scott ran with the Whig political party, while Pierce ran under the democrats. John Parker Hale ran with the Free Soil party but had a much fewer amount of votes.

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United States presidential election of 1852, American presidential election held on Nov. 2, 1852, in which Democrat Franklin Pierce defeated Whig Winfield Scott.

American presidential election, 1852 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The Whig Party's last hurrah

The election of 1852 was contested in the aftermath of the Compromise of 1850, a series of measures passed by the U.S. Congress in an effort to settle outstanding slavery issues and to avert the threat of dissolution of the Union. The campaign itself would be marked by divisions within the political parties over the issue of slavery and would be the last presidential election in which the Whigs participated.

Both parties held conventions in June in Baltimore, Md. After a deadlock developed among Democratic supporters of the leading presidential contenders- Lewis Cass, Stephen A. Douglas, William L. Marcy, and James Buchanan-a coalition of New England and Southern delegates proposed the relatively unknown Franklin Pierce, who was nominated on the 49th ballot. Sen. William R. King was chosen as the Democrats' vice presidential candidate. King, a Buchanan backer, was offered the nomination in an effort to placate Buchanan's supporters. The Whig Party faced similar difficulty in reaching the required majority for a nomination but on the 53rd ballot settled on Winfield Scott, the foremost American military figure between the Revolution and the Civil War, over Pres. Millard Fillmore and prominent Massachusetts politician Daniel Webster. Both parties' platforms endorsed and promised to adhere to the Compromise of 1850, with the Democrats more unified in their support and additionally stressing their traditional beliefs in limited government. The campaigns followed the path that had been set out in previous elections, utilizing handbills, parades, and rallies-as well as direct attacks on the opposition. Both candidates were accused of being abolitionist and anti-Catholic.

The election was marked by low voter turnout-the lowest of any between 1840 and 1860. The North and the South had become so polarized over the slavery issue that the Whigs were no longer able to make a broad national appeal on the basis of "unalterable attachment to the Constitution and the Union." Despite-and perhaps in part owing to-the Whigs' best efforts to endear Scott to Catholic and immigrant voters, he won only 42 electoral votes to Pierce's 254, as many Southern Whigs flocked to the banner of the states' rights-oriented Democratic Party. At the time of his election, Pierce, age 47, was the youngest man to be elected to the U.S. presidency. His vice president, King, was too ill with tuberculosis to attend the inauguration in March 1853. Taking the oath of office in Cuba, where he had gone in search of a cure, King became the only American vice president to be sworn in on foreign soil. He returned to Alabama a few weeks later, determined to assume his responsibilities, but he died the day after he reached his plantation.

Collection of David J. and Janice L. Frent

For the results of the previous election, see United States presidential election of 1848. For the results of the subsequent election, see United States presidential election of 1856.

Results of the 1852 election

The results of the 1852 U.S. presidential election are provided in the table.

Alison Eldridge, Digital Content Manager.

Franklin Pierce: Early life and career

...of the Democratic Party in 1852. After a deadlock developed among supporters of the leading presidential contenders-Lewis Cass, Stephen A. Douglas, and James Buchanan-a coalition of New England and Southern delegates proposed "Young Hickory" (a reference to Andrew Jackson, who had been known as "Old Hickory"), and Pierce was nominated...

Millard Fillmore: Presidency

In 1852 Fillmore was one of three presidential candidates of a divided Whig Party in its last national election, which it lost. He ran again in 1856 as the candidate of the Know-Nothing party (also known as the American Party), finishing third behind Democrat James Buchanan...

Democratic Party, in the United States, one of the two major political parties, the other being the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has changed significantly during its more than two centuries of existence. During the 19th century the party supported or tolerated slavery, and it...

United States presidential election of 1852

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united states presidential election of 1852

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United States presidential election of 1852 | United States government

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United States presidential election of 1852, American presidential election held on Nov. 2, 1852, in which Democrat Franklin Pierce defeated Whig Winfield Scott. The election of 1852 was contested in the aftermath of the Compromise of 1850, a series of measures passed by the U.S. Congress in an

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This administration put off the slavery question again by signing the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.This not only disrupted the Compromise of 1850, but it also repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Controversy over this act would be one of many factors contributing to the Civil War.

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Issues prominent with his election were slavery and the finality of the Compromise of 1850.

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

Discover how Franklin Pierce's Kansas-Nebraska Act fueled the slavery debate and led to Bleeding Kansas

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. See all videos for this article

Franklin Pierce, byname Young Hickory, (born November 23, 1804, Hillsboro, New Hampshire, U.S.-died October 8, 1869, Concord, New Hampshire), 14th president of the United States (1853-57). He failed to deal effectively with the corroding sectional controversy over slavery in the decade preceding the American Civil War (1861-65).

Early life and career

The son of a governor of New Hampshire, Benjamin Pierce, and the former Anna Kendrick, Franklin Pierce attended Bowdoin College in Maine, studied law in Northampton, Massachusetts, and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He married Jane Means Appleton, whose father was president of Bowdoin, in 1834.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (file no. LC-USZ62-59426)

Pierce entered political life in New Hampshire as a Democrat, serving in the state legislature (1829-33), the U.S. House of Representatives (1833-37), and the Senate (1837-42). Handsome, affable, charming, and possessed of a certain superficial brilliance, Pierce made many friends in Congress, but his career there was otherwise undistinguished. He was a devoted supporter of Pres. Andrew Jackson but was continually overshadowed by older and more prominent men on the national scene. Resigning from the Senate for personal reasons, he returned to Concord, where he resumed his law practice and also served as federal district attorney.

Except for a brief stint as an officer in the Mexican-American War (1846-48), Pierce remained out of the public eye until the nominating convention of the Democratic Party in 1852. After a deadlock developed among supporters of the leading presidential contenders- Lewis Cass, Stephen A. Douglas, and James Buchanan-a coalition of New England and Southern delegates proposed "Young Hickory" (a reference to Andrew Jackson, who had been known as "Old Hickory"), and Pierce was nominated on the 49th ballot.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (file no. LC-DIG-pga-04006)

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The ensuing presidential campaign was dominated by the controversy over slavery and the finality of the Compromise of 1850. Although both the Democrats and the Whigs declared themselves in favour of the compromise, the Democrats were more thoroughly united in their support. As a result, Pierce, who was almost unknown nationally, unexpectedly won the November election, defeating the Whig candidate Winfield Scott by 254 votes to 42 in the electoral college. Pierce's triumph was quickly marred by tragedy, however, when, a few weeks before his inauguration, he and his wife witnessed the death of their only surviving child, 11-year-old Bennie, in a railroad accident. Jane Pierce, who had always opposed her husband's candidacy, never fully recovered from the shock.

Presidency

At the time of his election, Pierce, age 47, was the youngest man to have been elected to the presidency. Representing the Eastern element of the Democratic Party, which was inclined for the sake of harmony and business prosperity to oppose antislavery agitation and generally to placate Southern opinion, Pierce tried to promote sectional unity by filling his cabinet with extremists from both sides of the slavery debate. He also attempted to sidestep the fierce sectional antagonisms of the domestic scene by ambitiously and aggressively promoting the extension of U.S. territorial and commercial interests abroad. In an effort to buy the island of Cuba from Spain, he ordered the U.S. minister to Spain, Pierre Soulé, to try to secure the influence of European financiers on the Spanish government. The resulting diplomatic statement, the Ostend Manifesto (October 1854), was interpreted by the American public as a call to wrest Cuba from Spain by force if necessary. The ensuing controversy forced the administration to disclaim responsibility for the document and to recall Soulé. In 1855 an American adventurer, William Walker, conducted a notorious expedition into Central America with the hope of establishing a proslavery government under the control of the United States. In Nicaragua he established himself as military dictator and then as president, and his dubious regime was recognized by the Pierce administration. A more lasting diplomatic achievement came from the expedition that Pres. Millard Fillmore had sent to Japan in 1853 under Commodore Matthew C. Perry. In 1854 Pierce received Perry's report that his expedition had been successful and that U.S. ships would have limited access to Japanese ports. The Pierce administration also reorganized the diplomatic and consular service and created the United States Court of Claims.

Among Pierce's domestic policies were preparations for a transcontinental railroad and the opening of the Northwest for settlement. In 1853, in order to create a southerly route to California, the U.S. minister to Mexico, James Gadsden, negotiated the purchase of almost 30,000 square miles of Mexican territory (the Gadsden Purchase), for $10 million. Mainly to stimulate migration to the Northwest and to facilitate the construction of a central route to the Pacific, Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. This measure, which opened two new territories for settlement, included repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 (by which slavery in the territories was prohibited north of latitude 36° 30′) and provided that the status of the territories as "free" or "slave" would be decided by popular sovereignty. The indignation aroused by the act and the resulting period of violent conflict in the Kansas Territory were the main causes of the rise of the Republican Party in the mid-1850s. Owing to his ineptness in handling the situation in Kansas, Pierce was denied renomination by the Democrats, and he remains the only president to be so repudiated by his party. After an extended tour of Europe he retired to Concord. Always a heavy drinker, Pierce descended further into apparent alcoholism, and he died in obscurity.

Cabinet of Pres. Franklin Pierce

The table provides a list of cabinet members in the administration of Pres. Franklin Pierce.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Adam Augustyn, Managing Editor, Reference Content.

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United States: Popular sovereignty

Franklin Pierce (served 1853-57), Douglas bullied, wheedled, and bluffed congressmen into passing his bill....

Nathaniel Hawthorne: First works

...old college friend and classmate Franklin Pierce, later to become president of the United States. At the Old Manse, Hawthorne continued to write stories, with the same result as before: literary success, monetary failure. His new short-story collection, Mosses from an Old Manse, appeared in 1846....

Jefferson Davis: Early life and career

Franklin Pierce made him secretary of war in 1853. Davis enlarged the army, strengthened coastal defenses, and directed three surveys for railroads to the Pacific. He was also a forceful advocate for what became the Gadsden Purchase....

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This article was most recently revised and updated by Franklin Pierce, byname Young Hickory, (born November 23, 1804, Hillsboro, New Hampshire, U.S.-died October 8, 1869, Concord, New Hampshire), 14th president of the United States (1853-57). He failed to deal effectively with the corroding sectional controversy over slavery in the decade preceding the American Civil War (1861-65).

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Franklin Pierce was President from March 4, 1853 to March 4, 1857.

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In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Court ruled that black people "are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States." This is an important case since it supported slavery and made life harder for african americans.

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Franklin Pierce used the Monroe Doctrine to force Great Britain out of Central America and threatened them with the military. He opened trade with many foreign powers like Canada and Japan as well.

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Franklin Pierce attended  Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He served in the New Hampshire state legislator, U.S. House of Representatives, and the Senate. He then practiced law and was a federal district attorney. Also for a short time he was an officer in the Mexican- American War.

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Franklin Pierce: Franklin Pierce, 14th U.S. president (1853-57), whose failure to deal effectively with the slavery conflict in the decade preceding the American Civil War shaped the perception of him as a lesser president. Learn more about Franklin's life and career.

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Notable inventions during Pierce's presidency include:
- the burglar alarm
- the calliope
- the breast pump
- toilet paper

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Franklin Pierce
Born: November 23, 1804
Died: October 8, 1869

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Franklin Pierce was born in New Hampshire. He also ran for President from the state of New Hampshire.

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December 30, 1853, Gadsden Purchase: The Gadsden Purchase, negotiated by James Gadsden, U.S. minister to Mexico, is signed. At the cost of $15 million, the United States acquires more than 29,600 square miles of new territory in southwest Arizona and New Mexico. The purchase establishes the final boundaries of the United States and, by providing a strip of land to the Pacific Ocean, will be used a route for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Fernando Wood wins the New York City mayoral race, becoming the first boss of Tammany Hall to fill the position. Under the leadership of Wood, Tammany Hall has become the dominant force in the life of New York City politics. Formed in 1786, the Tammany Society evolves to uphold Jeffersonian politics in the city. In the late 1840s, the political organization enjoys success over the local Know-Nothing and Whig parties through its affiliation with numerous immigrants. Its programs and services provide new Americans with food, employment, and protection. In return, the party's constituents overlook Tammany's fraudulent elections and other corrupt practices.
May 30, 1854, Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Kansas-Nebraska Act is signed into law after being introduced by President Pierce's rival, Senator Stephen Douglas (Democrat - IL). The bill reopens the question of slavery in the West by repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820, organizes the Kansas and Nebraska territories on the basis of “popular sovereignty,” and paves the way for the transcontinental railroad from Chicago to California. Although Pierce dislikes the proposal and worries that it will create national controversy, he succumbs to pressure from various senators who threaten to block appointments.
July 6, 1854, Republican Party founded

Coinciding with the further disintegration of the Whig Party, the Republican Party is founded in Jackson, Michigan. Its membership is composed of Whigs, Free-Soilers, and northern Democrats angry at the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, specifically, and concerned with the prospect of expanding slavery.
November 26, 1855, Wakarusa War

The Wakarusa War threatens Lawrence, Kansas. Fifteen hundred Border Ruffians attack the town, only to retreat after finding it defended by Free State forces. Lawrence -- originally named Wakarusa -- becomes the center of Free-State activities after being founded by the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society.
May 22, 1856, Sumner-Brooks Affair

The Sumner-Brooks Affair occurs, in which cane-wielding Representative Preston Brooks (D-SC) attacks abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA) on the Senate floor. The fight is provoked by conversation and derogatory remarks made two days earlier during the Senate debate on the admission of Kansas. Following the beating, Brooks is arrested and fined $500; he subsequently resigns (although he will be re-elected). Sumner suffers severe injuries, taking three years to recover from the beating.

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The most impactful conflict of Pierce's administration was "Bleeding Kansas". This went on for two years and consisted of guerilla warfare between pro and anti-slavery parties. This conflict was chosen because it helped lead up to the Civil War during Lincoln's presidency in 1861.

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Franklin Pierce purchased the Gadsden Purchase as a route for the Transcontinental railroad, though this purchase angered the north since it expanded the southern territory. He also opened trade with Japan and Canada, which pushed USA towards later acquiring Hawaii. He seemed eager to increase slave power despite saying in his inaugural address that he hoped the slavery question was over.