The 1860 Constitutional Union National Convention met on May 9, 1860 in

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, Maryland. It was the only national convention ever held by the Constitutional Union Party, which was organized largely by former Whig Party members from the Southern United States who opposed secession. The convention nominated former Senator John Bell of Tennessee for president and former Secretary of State Edward Everett of Massachusetts for vice president. Bell won the presidential nomination on the second ballot of the convention, defeating Everett, Governor

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

of Texas, Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, former Governor William Alexander Graham of North Carolina, Associate Justice John McLean of Ohio, and several other candidates. In the 1860 presidential election, Bell and Everett finished third in the electoral vote and fourth in the popular vote.

Background

After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, the Whigs collapsed due to divisions over slavery. Many Northern Whigs shifted to the new

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, while many Southern Whigs joined the American Party, or "

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

s."Joseph Parks, ''John Bell of Tennessee'' (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1950). By 1859, the Know Nothing movement had collapsed, but some former Southern Whigs who refused to join their long-time rivals in the Democratic Party had organized themselves into the " Opposition Party." Several of this party's supporters, among them ''Knoxville Whig'' editor William Brownlow, former vice presidential candidate Andrew Jackson Donelson, and California attorney Balie Peyton sought to launch a third-party presidential ticket. In May 1860, disgruntled ex-Whigs and disenchanted moderates from across the country convened in Baltimore, where they formed the Constitutional Union Party. The party's platform was very broad and made no mention of slavery. While there were several candidates for the party's presidential nomination, the two frontrunners were Bell and Sam Houston.

Candidates

Constitutional Union candidates: File:John-bell-brady-handy-cropped restored.jpg, File:SHouston 2.jpg, File:John Jordan Crittenden - Brady 1855.jpg, File:Edward Everett.jpg, File:William Alexander Graham - Brady-Handy.jpg, File:WilliamCRives.png, Bell led the initial round of balloting with 68 votes to Houston's 59, with more than a dozen other candidates splitting the remainder. Houston's military endeavors had brought him national renown, but he reminded the convention's Clay Whigs of their old foe Andrew Jackson. On May 10, Bell received 138 votes to Houston's 69, and was declared the candidate. The vice presidential nomination went to Edward Everett of Massachusetts, who had served as president of Harvard University and as Secretary of State in the Fillmore administration.

Balloting

Presidential

Vice Presidential

Everett was nominated by acclaimation.

References

{{Authority control 1860 United States presidential election Political conventions in Baltimore 1860 in Maryland 1860 conferences Constitutional Union Convention