They Longed for the Presidency: James Birney

Published on January 17, 2005 By Gideon MacLeish In History

The second in my series on third party candidates who made a significant impact on presidential elections:

James Birney (1792-1857) was a reformed slaveholder turned abolitionist. Born in Danville, Kentucky in 1792, he was a lawyer and a member of the Kentucky legislature from 1816-1818. He helped to organize the Liberty Party, which placed slavery on the national political agenda, in 1840, and was its presidential candidate in 1840 and 1844. He received 7,000 popular votes in 1840, but increased that total to 62,000 in 1844.

The Liberty Party dissolved in 1848, and was unable to agree on a presidential candidate; however, its members formed with other factions, including the radical Democrat "Barn Burners" and the "Conscience" Whigs, in forming the Free Soil Party.

Comments

Manopeace

on Jan 17, 2005

Looks alot like the guy on the bottle of Jack Daniels....are Kentuckians related to Tennesseeans?

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