The Votes and Speeches of Martin Van Buren on Suffrage and Voting Qualifications

What it is

This is a printed pamphlet from 1840 containing certified copies of Martin Van Buren's votes and speeches from the New York Constitutional Convention of 1821, on the right of suffrage, the voting qualifications of coloured persons, and the election of justices of the peace. It was compiled in response to a request from a voter and printed in Albany.

Why it matters

Issued during the 1840 presidential campaign as Whig campaign literature, this document used Van Buren's own recorded words and votes to inform or influence voters nearly twenty years after the convention. It offers primary evidence of his actual positions on suffrage questions, including the voting rights of Black New Yorkers, rather than later summaries.

Look closer

• Why would a political campaign want to publish someone's exact votes from almost twenty years earlier?
• What does the request-and-reply format included in the pamphlet tell you about how official records were verified?
• What questions about voting rights were being debated, and who was affected by them?