Contentious elections are nothing new in Florida | SUSAN PARKER
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
"He threatens to look unfavorably upon claims of anyone who he learns voted for his opponents in this election." Voters in St. Augustine were taking their grievance to the highest level — directly to President James Monroe in their petition of July 1823.
It was the first election for a national candidate in the newly American Florida Territory. Only white males could vote at this time. We can see that elections in Florida were contentious from the start. This contest was for territorial delegate, who represented Florida's interests in Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Joseph Hernandez, a St. Augustine native, had been appointed as the first delegate in 1822. Subsequent delegates were popularly elected. Territorial delegates could not vote on bills; they promoted the interests of their territories.
More from Susan Parker
The voter-petitioners were complaining about Alexander Hamilton Jr., one of the three candidates for territorial delegate in 1823. Hernandez was also running for the office as was Richard K. Call. Only Hernandez was a long-time Florida resident. Yes, this Hamilton Jr. was the son of THE Alexander Hamilton, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury with his portrait on the $10 bill and in recent years the namesake of the musical "Hamilton."
Hamilton had recently come to Florida after being appointed U.S. District Attorney for East Florida. Hamilton was also appointed a Land Commissioner to review claims of private property ownership held from Spanish times. Holdover residents had to submit their claim to the land commissioners. Thus Hamilton's bludgeon against voters was his power to negate or muddle the residents' claims to long-owned homes and farms.
Call won the election for delegate. Hamilton headed back to New York, demonstrating how little he cared about the territory he had campaigned to represent.
Twenty-two years later, after the Florida Territory became a state on March 3, 1845, Floridians could vote in their first election to choose members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives who could vote on bills.
Denouncing and insulting were still as much a part of Florida's first election as a state as the first election as a territory. By 1845, the Whig Party had entered Florida politics. The Democratic Party had been in Florida all along.
Few persons recall the existence of the Whig Party in the 1830s-1850s. Whigs had started pretty much as an anti-Andrew Jackson coalition and developed from that. In the South, according to the book "Firsthand America," Whiggery (as it was called) was popular among large planters of cotton, tobacco and sugar and among urban businesses. "Firsthand America" notes that the party was popular among Protestants and native born Americans concerned about the influx of immigrants, particularly Irish and German Catholics.
It was understood in the 1840s that a newspaper openly supported a particular political party, with not a thought of being unbiased. When the Florida Whig and the People's Advocate began publishing in Jacksonville, the St. Augustine newspaper, The Florida Herald & Southern Democrat, excoriated it as being filled with "Whig humbuggery." The FH&SD predicted that although they expressed love of the people, "when the Whigs' object is gained, they make no bones of trampling the people under foot."
In the 1840s Political debates were entertainment as well as electioneering. The St. Augustine newspaper delighted in reporting on a debate in Newnansville (near Alachua, Florida). The description of the event sounds almost like a blood sport. The rival candidates "met on the stump, where the speaking was continued for 10 hours. Maj. (B.A.) Putnam (Whig) was used up by Mr. (David) Levy (Democrat). Putnam was completely demolished by Mr. Levy and was forced to confess it."
The first statewide Election Day was May 26 and it took days for the results to be gathered and tabulated throughout the state. Remember that voting numbers had to be physically reported. There was no long-distance communication. In St. Johns County, Levy (Yulee) received 173 votes (60%) for Representative in Congress. Maj. Putnam received 117.
We today might find the 1845 election a bit confusing as not every county had the same candidates running for U.S. Senate and U.S. House. In the end, the newly elected General Assembly of Florida chose Levy not to be a representative but one of Florida's senators. David Westcott became the other senator, a person whose name did not appear on the St. Johns County ballot.
Florida's contentious election legacy began two centuries ago, but do we need to perpetuate the rancor?
Susan R. Parker holds a doctorate in colonial history.
This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Contentious elections are nothing new in Florida | SUSAN PARKER
