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Ind iano. Univ ersity 
The election of 1840 closed the period of personal politics 
in Indiana. When the voters came back to earth after the 
spree of speeches and cider they were confronted with a 
hard fact that the internal improvements system had failed 
and that the state was on the verge of bankruptcy. The bills 
for the reorganization of the government and finances were 
stubbornly opposed by the Democratic minority. Altho the 
plan was sound, the voters associated the internal improve- 
ments failure, bankruptcy, and high tariff with the Whig 
party, which had controlled the state governments since 1834. 
The Whigs were never again given complete control of the 
state. Whatever their program or arguments, the Democrats 
cried, ‘‘internal improvements”, and this bogey sufficed.®® 
The Whig party lost its spirit and became “a vast unorganized 
host, reposing on its arms, its commanders fallen or deserted”. 
Many active Whigs, “soured with disappointment”, retired 
from politics.®^ 
The Whigs of Illinois never again reached their peak 
strength of 1840. During the five years from 1840 to 1845 
Illinois politics were occupied mainly with local issues; in 
the south it was the state debt, in the north the canal, and in 
central and western parts the Mormon question. Each party 
was shifting the blame for the sad state of finances; neither 
would advocate repudiation, yet neither would propose ade- 
quate taxation to pay even the interest on the public debt.®^ 
In 1842 aided by the support of the Mormon vote, the Demo- 
crats elected Thomas Ford governor and secured a majority 
in the legislature, but were able to accomplish little. By the 
new apportionment, Illinois was entitled to 7 Congressmen, 
but in spite of the increase in population in the north and 
central part of the state, John J. Hardin in the seventh district 
was the only Whig elected. 
Michigan Whigs became engaged in factional fights after 
the victory of 1840, and split into radical and conservative 
Logan Esarey, Internal Improvements in Early Indiana, Indiana Historical Society 
Puhlications (Indianapolis, 1912), V, 2. Robert Dale Owen, “To Citizens of Posey 
County”, in Indiana Sentinel (Indianapolis), October 11, and in Western Sun, Novem- 
ber 13, 1841, sets forth the indictment of the Whig party. 
For discussion of the condition of the Whig' party in Indiana see Indianapolis 
Daily Journal, January 5 and 7, 1842. 
The Democrats were split into conservatives and radicals. Those in southern 
Illinois as well as on the military tract were g'enerally opposed to taxation of the 
people for paying the interest on the debt. Ford, History of Illinois, 805 ; Illinois State 
Register, December, 1843. 
