Westward extension, 1841-1850, by George Pierce Garrison.

I28

WESTWARD EXTENSION

lI844

The next convention was that of the Whigs,
which met in Baltimore, May i, I844. As the time
for it drew near the prospects for that party seemed
really better than for the Democrats. Van Buren's
letter on Texas had destroyed his availability, and
there was none else on whom the "Locos," as his
followers were called,1 could unite with enthusiasm.
Among the Whigs, on the other hand, the leadership of Clay was undisputed. His nomination was
certain, and it was evident that he was the strongest
candidate his party could select. But he could not
see his way clearly amid the confusion, and the
party had no safer intuitions than its leader.
When the convention met, Clay was nominated
for president unanimously and without a contest;
and only four ballots were required to nominate
Theodore Frelinghuysen of New Jersey for vicepresident. The platform was worthy of the leading
candidate. It consisted of four resolutions, three
of which were devoted to commendation of the
nominees. The other, which stood second in the
series, was a very brief and general statement of
Whig principles, which carefully avoided the most
dangerous issues. Nothing was said of a national
bank, which the Whigs had supported so determinedly at the outset of the Tyler administration,
and, above all, nothing of Texas.2
I Lalor, Cyclopcedia, II., 781.
2 A report of the proceedings is in Niles' Register, LXVI.,
146-148.