Blogs using the British Newspaper Archive
USA Presidential Election of 1884 BNA blog#2
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As we approach the end of the 2012 U.S Presidential
Election, predictions say there will be a close contest between
Obama and Romney. There have been other narrow victories in the past.
There are thousands of newspaper
articles for each of the 19th century U.S. Presidential elections.
There was a close race in the presidential election of 1884, between Cleveland
(Democrat) and Blaine (Republican). Reuter’s Telegrams were often quoted, as in
Sheffield Daily Telegraph -
Saturday 04 October 1884 (p.5 col. 6): “Governor Cleveland visited Buffalo last
night, and, in spite of stormy weather and heavy rain, met with a great
ovation. He made a short speech. Reuter’s
Telegram.”
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000250/18841004/021/0005
Ohio was seen as a key
state to win, as the report stated, in the London Standard - Wednesday 15
October 1884 (p5. col.5) The statement that Blaine visited forty-eight counties
and seventy cities in Ohio, “… to beg for votes” is not a phrase that would
appear in newspaper reports today.
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/18841015/035/0005?_=1351196669369
Three days later, on the
18 October, the London Standard -
Saturday 18 October 1884 (p.5 col.8) reported on the importance of the Irish
voters in the New York State election: “…this in turn chiefly depending upon
the Irish element, for whose support both parties are, of course, bidding. An
an instance of this pandering to Irish sentiment, several journals to-day print
nearly a column in Gaelic characters.”
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/18841018/045/0005
The campaign was marked
by drama, when an assault on Governor Cleveland was reported by the London Standard - Tuesday 21 October
1884 (p.5. col. 5): Mr. Cleveland was struck several times, but was not
seriously hurt…” and a party political note was inserted next: “Desperate
measures are being resorted to by Mr. Blaine’s supporters to injure Mr.
Cleveland’s chances of election to the Presidency, and the latest has been the
sending of obscene pamphlets to ladies and others who have been working in his
cause.”
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/18841021/034/0005
In 1884, as today, the
candidates and their supporters tracked each other’s efforts closely, as is
very evident in the report in the Western
Daily Press - Saturday 25 October 1884 (p.7 col.4). “Mr. Blaine’s managers,
regarding his chances of succeeding in New York as critical, have beguna
special campaign in Indiana, New Jersey and Connecticut, in order to secure
these three states is possible.”
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000264/18841025/040/0007
Interest intensified as
the counting neared its completion. The Shields
Daily Gazette - Thursday 06 November 1884 (p.3 col.1) conveyed the
atmosphere at the American Exchange with members, “…gathering in little knots
to discuss the latest cablegrams.” And:
“There was betting on the contest, too, as there has been all along in America;
and on the whole, Cleveland had slightly the best of it.”
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000286/18841106/003/0003
On Friday 7 Nov 1884, at
least twelve reports in different regional and London papers were printed about
the Presidential Election with headings such as ‘The Presidential Election; The American Election, The American
Presidential Election’: Shields Daily Gazette; Gloucester Citizen, Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News, Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Dundee Courier, Glasgow Herald, Belfast News-Letter, Nottinghamshire Guardian, Western Daily Press, Derby Daily Telegraph, Western Gazette,
The Nottinghamshire Guardian - Friday 07 November 1884 (p.6 cols. 3-5)
excelled with a three column report, which gives state by state results that
were ‘certain’ and those that were ‘doubtful’, with the overall result still in
doubt, each party claiming success. There were also three portraits of
Cleveland, Blaine and Butler.
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000176/18841107/022/0006
What is lucidly conveyed
to us today about the 1884 U.S. Presidential Election, is the vibrancy, the
passion and the huge geographical scope of this election – all features which
prevail in October and November 2012, as the current election reaches its climax
very soon.
Ed King
October 2012
Further reading:
How close were
U.S. Presidential Elections? http://www.mit.edu/~mi22295/elections.html#ranking
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election
1884 presidential election.
http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1884
http://history1800s.about.com/od/presidentialcampaigns/a/electionof1884.htm
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