1856
Reading the 1856 result in Tennessee
Tennessee backed Fillmore (American (Know-Nothing)) in the 1856 presidential election, casting 12 electoral votes for the ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — James Buchanan (Democratic) won the presidency, leaving Tennessee among the states he did not carry.
Fillmore's win closed out Tennessee's 5-election run of voting Whig. The region divided — Kentucky joined Tennessee for the American (Know-Nothing) ticket, while Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri did not. Across the 57 presidential elections Tennessee has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (24 times). The vote fell within the Antebellum Crisis — Slavery splits the parties.
In the national count, James Buchanan took 174 of the 296 electoral votes, against John C. Frémont's 114. James Buchanan led the national popular vote with 45.29% of the ballots cast.
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