Sunday November 7 • 1 PM & 2:30 PM

Step back in time to the Presidential Elections of 1836 and join the Historic Village at Allaire Community Members as they cast their votes. Members of the public are invited to do their patriotic duty and join the residents of James P. Allaire's Howell Iron Works in deciding the fate of our young nation.

Our foundling country was in turmoil in 1836. Andrew Jackson had vetoed the charter for the Bank of the United States two years earlier and the country was on the verge of a great depression. Abolitionists were gaining a strong foothold in the National Political scene. Sarah Grimké, famed abolitionist and suffragette, began her career speaking on the advocacy of women's rights, garnering a large following. The Temperance Movement was gaining mass support in American cities and rural communities. Immigrants were pouring into the country and Americans were in fear of losing their employment to individuals who would work longer hours for lower wages and, with the Industrial Revolution in full force, workers rights became an important issue giving birth to the labor movement.

Democrat Martin Van Buren offered himself as the heir to Andrew Jackson, candidate of the people, promising a continuation of the Jacksonian policies. Many of the nation's voters who loved "Old Hickory" were quite content to vote for Van Buren. Van Buren also had the benefit of a well organized and disciplined Democratic Party which he himself had helped to build up over the previous decade. The oppositional Whig Party, however, was still in its infancy and lacked the maturity, ideology and organization of the Democrats. Without the unity to hold a national convention or even settle on a single candidate, the Whigs ran three regional contenders: Daniel Webster of Massachusetts in the East, Hugh White, the senator from Tennessee, in the South, and the party forerunner William Henry Harrison of Ohio in the West. Despite its shortcomings, however, the Whigs did offer stiff competition to the Democratic Van Buren. A party of the elite, the Whigs regarded Van Buren as little more that a party stooge warning his election would only continue the flawed policies of, what they deemed, the monarchical Jackson. 

Visitors to the Historic Village at Allaire can join the employees and residents of the Howell Works Community as they extol the virtues of their party and the vices of their opponents while stumping for votes. The Village Suffragettes will be out in full force lobbying for the right of the female vote while the Howell Works Temperance Society will be on hand to ensure a clean and temperate election. Come out and help the candidates constituents make the "correct" voting choice at the ballet box. Don't forget to get out and vote - often! But beware of electioneers, we wouldn't want our visitors to become victims of cooping...