PARTY ABBREVIATIONS AND SECTIONAL LOYALTIES
Sorting out party labels at such a politically volatile time presents challenges. Political parties came and went in the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s, sometimes in the space of a few elections. Even so-called party systems rose and fell. Given this ever-shifting roster, this book identifies politicians by their political allegiance at precise moments in time, using the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (bioguide.congress.gov) and the Roster of Congressional Officeholders and Biographical Characteristics (ICPSR 7803) as a guide, with several reservations. Neither source is entirely consistent with party labels; both sometimes mistake the timing of a congressman’s shift from party to party. Any divergences from the Directory and the Roster within these pages are grounded on historical evidence. Party abbreviations can be found below.
Finding the right words for sectional loyalties poses fewer challenges, though the period’s aggressive national expansion complicates matters. People at the time often divided Westerners into two categories: “Southern-born Westerners” and “Northern-born Westerners”—a clear indication of the period’s pervasive sense of an ongoing battle between a free North and a slaveholding South. At various points, I’ve used these designations; at other points, I refer only to “Westerners”; at still other points, “Southern” or “Northern” encompasses the West. As with political parties, when pinning down sectional identities I’ve tried to be true to place, time, and circumstance, as well as to the phrasing of the people doing the talking.
A |
American Party |
AJ |
Anti-Jacksonian Party |
D |
Democratic Party |
FS |
Free Soil Party |
ID |
Independent Democratic Party |
J |
Jacksonian Party |
KN |
Know Nothing Party |
L |
Liberty Party |
N |
Nullifier |
NR |
National Republican (or Adams-Clay Republican) |
O |
Opposition Party |
R |
Republican Party |
SRD |
State’s Rights Democrat |
UU |
Unconditional Unionist |
W |
Whig Party |