Item #649 A Brief Outline of the Rise, Progress, and Failure of the Revolutionary Scheme of the Nineteen Van Buren Electors of the Senate of Maryland, in the Months of September, October, and November, 1836. Maryland.

A Brief Outline of the Rise, Progress, and Failure of the Revolutionary Scheme of the Nineteen Van Buren Electors of the Senate of Maryland, in the Months of September, October, and November, 1836

Baltimore: Sands & Neilson, 1837. First edition. Original wraps. Octavo. 90 pages. Very good with some loss to top fore corner of rear cover.

Scarce pamphlet on the Maryland Constitutional crisis of 1836. The Maryland Senate was chosen by an electoral college at this time, and the crisis arose when the state's 19 Democrat electors, angry that they were in the minority despite Democratic senate candidates having won a statewide plurality, refused to convene with the 21 Whig electors. This left the Senate Electoral College 3 members short of a quorum, which in turn threatened to leave Maryland without a Senate, and therefore effectively without a functioning government. Based on their statewide plurality, the Democrats expected public support for this maneuver. They were wrong, and instead received intense criticism and pressure from their constituents. Eventually their resolve began to crumble and enough Democrat electors attended the Senate Electoral College that a quorum was achieved and an entirely Whig senate was elected.

Item #649

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