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The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with the presidential election of 1840, including political cartoons, broadsides, newspaper articles, and sheet music. This guide compiles links to digital materials related to the presidential election of 1840 that are available throughout the Library of Congress Web site. In addition, it provides links to external Web sites focusing on the 1840 election and a selected bibliography.
1840 Presidential Election Results [1]
Political Party |
Presidential Nominee |
VP Nominee |
Electoral College |
Popular Vote |
Whig |
William Henry Harrison |
John Tyler
|
234 |
1,275,390 |
Democratic |
Martin Van Buren |
Richard M. Johnson |
60 |
1,128,854 |
Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography
The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana
Alfred Whital Stern (1881-1960) of Chicago presented his outstanding collection of Lincolniana to the Library of Congress in 1953. This online release presents more than 1,300 items with more than 4,000 images and a date range of 1824-1931.
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
This collection consists of published congressional records of the United States of America from 1774 to 1875.
Map Collections
The focus of Map Collections is Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress. These images were created from maps and atlases selected from the collections of the Geography and Map Division.
Martin Van Buren Papers, 1787 to 1910
The Martin Van Buren Papers contains more than 6,000. The bulk of the material dates from the 1820s, when Van Buren (1782-1862) was a U.S. senator from New York, through his service as secretary of state and vice president in the Andrew Jackson administrations (1829-1837), to his own presidency (1837-1841) and through the decade thereafter when he made unsuccessful bids to return to the presidency with the Democratic and Free Soil parties.
- The Pennsylvanian Extra. Election returns in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, and Maine, November 6, 1840.
- Martin Van Buren to Andrew Jackson, November 10, 1840, "The apprehensions expressed in my last have been fully realized...Having pursued a course in which my confidence has daily increased, and which has left me nothing to regret, it is, I hope, unnecessary to say to you, who know me well, that the result causes me no personal regrets. Of this my enemies shall have abundant evidence."
Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1820-1860
Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1820-1860 consists of over 15,000 pieces of sheet music registered for copyright during the years 1820 to 1860. Included in this collection are sheet music related to the 1840 presidential election, including over thirty pieces about William Henry Harrison's campaign.
Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
The Printed Ephemera collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. While the broadside format represents the bulk of the collection, there are a significant number of leaflets and some pamphlets.
- Atlas ----- Extra !! Sunday, November 8, 1840. Glorious news!!! Whig triumph.
- Courier Extra. Sunday, Nov. 8, 11 1-2 o'clock. The elections. Great and glorious news. New York. Nov. 8 [1840].
- Daily Gazette Extra. Boston, Thursday morning. Nov. 5, 1840.
- The eagle of liberty strangling the serpent of corruption. True American ticket. For president. Wm. Henry Harrison. For vice president Francis Granger...
- Election returns. Georgia journal extra. Milledgeville, October 16, 1840.
- Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison's cabin at North Bend. [n. p. c. 1840.]
- Harrisonians attend! The Tippecanoe boys of the City of Alton, are requested to meet in the Old Court room...
- Harrisonian rally! Keep the ball rolling.
- Harrison! and reform!! To the Log cabin boys...
- Morning Post extra. Boston, Wednesday Nov. 4, 1840. The elections. [Boston, 1840].
- Order of procession of the Harrison convention at Carlinville, July 25th, 1840. [Carlinville? Ill.].
- Our country's hope. Harrison & reform. 4th may 1840. Published by J. S. Horton, corner Baltimore and South St. Baltimore, Md.
- Proceedings of the Whig state convention, at Worcester, Mass., June 17, 1840.
- Public meeting A general meeting of the friends of Harrison & reform in the City of Alton will be held at the Old Court room...
- Sir: On behalf of the Republican committee of seventy-six, appointed by the citizens of the District of Columbia friendly to the election of General William Henry Harrison to the Presidency of the United States...
- A sketch of the life and public services of General William Henry Harrison, candidate of the people for president of the Unit d States, to which is annexed an appendix. Washington City. Printed by Jacob Gideon, jr. 1840.
- To the voters of Jersey County [Campaign broadside ticket for Jersey county] Jerseyville [Ill.] July 24, 1840.
- In the last paper a few of the inscriptions on the flags of the Log Cabin were given.
William Henry Harrison Papers
The William Henry Harrison Papers contain approximately 1,000 items dating from 1734 to 1939, with the bulk dated from 1812 to 1841.
Chronicling America
This site allows you to search and view millions of historic American newspaper pages from 1836-1922. Search this collection to find newspaper articles about the presidential election of 1840.
A selection of articles on the 1840 presidential election includes:
- "Voice of the Whig Press," Vermont Watchman and State Journal. (Montpelier, Vermont), December 23, 1839.
- "Proceedings of the National Convention,"Burlington Free Press. (Burlington, Vermont), December 27, 1839.
- "Tippecanoe Club," Boon's Lick Times. (Fayette, Missouri), May 2, 1840.
- "The Union Redeemed," Jeffersonian Republican. (Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania), November 20, 1840.
Pictorial Americana: Selected Images from the Collections of the Library of Congress
Pictorial Americana, a Library of Congress publication, contains a chapter listing selected images related to the 1840 presidential election.
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)
Search PPOC using the following subject headings to find additional prints, political cartoons, and other digital images related to the presidential election of 1840.
December 5
Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the United States and a founder of the Democratic Party, was born on December 5, 1782, in New York. Van Buren's inability to alleviate the depression, along with his opposition to the annexation of Texas on grounds it would divide the nation over the expansion of slavery, led to his drubbing by Whig candidate William Henry Harrison in 1840.
The American Presidency Project: Election of 1840 
The American Presidency Project Web site presents election results from the 1840 presidential election. This site also contains the Democratic Party Platform of 1840.
Getting the Message Out! National Political Campaign Materials, 1840-1860
The Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project Web site provides histories of the presidential campaigns from 1840-1860, as well as primary source material, such as campaign biographies and campaign songbooks. Recordings of some of the songs are also available.
The Campaign of 1840: William Henry Harrison and Tyler, Too
The EDSITEment Web site, a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, contains three lesson plans on the presidential election of 1840.
Primary Sources
Address of J.C. Alford. Washington, D.C.: 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Address of the Whig Convention for the Nomination of Electors. Richmond, Va., 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
A Brief Account of the Life and Political Opinions of Martin Van Buren. n. p., 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Facts for the People. The Various Charges against General W. H. Harrison Briefly Stated and Refuted, and Some of the Objections to the Present Administration Enumerated. Jonesborough, Tenn.: Brownlow and Garland, 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
The Presidential Question. n. p., 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Proceedings of the Democratic Whig National Convention, which Assembled at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the Fourth of December, 1839, for the Purpose of Nominating Candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States. Harrisburg: Printed by R. S. Elliott & Co., 1839. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Proceedings of the National Democratic Convention, held in ... Baltimore, on the 5th of May, 1840. Embracing Resolutions, Expressive of the Sentiments of the Democratic Party of the Union: and an Address, in Support of the Principles and Measures of the Present National Administration. Baltimore: Printed at the Office of Blair & Rives, 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Dana, Edmund P. A Voice from Bunker-Hill, and the Fathers of the Revolutionary War, in Favor of the Hero of North-Bend, Being a Few Candid Remarks and Observations on the Approaching Presidential Election, and Subjects Connected therewith. Agreeably to the Request of Whig and Democratic Friends. Bunker-Hill, 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Greene, Charles Gordon, and Benjamin Franklin Hallett. The Identity of the Old Hartford Convention Federalists with the Modern Whig, Harrison Party. Boston, 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Rives, William C. Letter from the Hon. William C. Rives, of Virginia. Washington, D.C.: s.n., 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Wilmot, Robert. A New Work, in Favor of the Whig Cause, and the Election of General Harrison to the Presidential Chair. Cincinnati: J. B. & R. P. Donogh, 1840. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Secondary Sources
Collins, Gail. William Henry Harrison. New York: Times Books, 2012. [Catalog Record]
Gunderson, Robert Gray. The Log-Cabin Campaign. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1957. [Catalog Record]
Notes
1. Presidential Elections, 1789-2008. (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010), 129, 219.
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