1848
Zachary Taylor and the 1848 map
War hero Zachary Taylor won for the Whigs despite having no political record, while the slavery question fractured both major parties. The Free Soil Party, running former president Martin Van Buren on an anti-slavery-expansion platform, won 10% of the popular vote and no electoral votes but drew enough support from Democrats in New York to help Taylor win that state. Taylor died of illness in July 1850, leaving Millard Fillmore to handle the Compromise of 1850.
Slavery in territories gained from Mexico; Wilmot Proviso
Taylor won without taking any position on slavery; Free Soil Party foreshadowed Republican Party
States · 30 reporting
Embed
Drop this map on your site · coming soon
Free iframe with attribution. White-label option in the works.
Get notified →Classroom
All 300 packets, free
60 cycles · K-2 through AP · open download.
Browse packets →Poster
Wall-worthy print · coming soon
Every-election grid and single-state series in the works.
Get notified →Read further
Curated picksAmerican Lion
Jon Meacham
Pulitzer-winning Jackson biography.
Buy on Amazon →A Country of Vast Designs
Robert W. Merry
James K. Polk and the manifest-destiny presidency.
Buy on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, The American Vote earns from qualifying purchases. Links are tagged for tracking. Recommendations are editorial.
Free, ad-light, no paywall
Built by one person. Tips fund the next 60 elections of editorial.