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The Growth of Third-Party Voting: An Empirical Case Study of Vermont, 1840–55

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Adam Chamberlain
Adam Chamberlain*
Affiliation:
Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, USA
*
Adam Chamberlain, Department of Politics and Geography, Coastal Carolina University, P.O. Box 261954, Conway, SC 29528, USA. Email: achamber@coastal.edu
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Abstract

This article seeks to uncover reasons behind the relatively high levels of third-party voting found at the state level in the early- to mid-1800s. I argue that third parties needed to develop localized bases of support from which they could expand. By analyzing Liberty Party gubernatorial voting in Vermont during the 1840s, the article shows that the party developed support in particular towns, maintained this over election cycles, and spread the party message to neighboring towns after the creation of a formal party organization. I also find that towns with strong Liberty Party support in the early 1840s continued to be strong supporters of the Free Soil Party in the 1850s. I then present evidence that early bases of Liberty Party support tended to vote at much higher levels for the Republican Party in 1855, indicating that the geographic development of an abolitionist party in the early 1840s helped in the establishment of Republican success in Vermont. These findings highlight the importance of geographic context in the development of third-party voting in the early- to mid-1800s and its connection to the rise of the Republican Party.

Keywords

Minor partiesVermontparty developmentLiberty PartyFree Soil Party
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 343 - 361
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2012

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