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Indiana University 
Two sets of local resolutions will show the attitude of the 
whole country toward the situation. At the Hillsborough 
(N.H.) district convention it was resolved, 
That MARTIN VAN BUREN, by his late Messages has nobly ad- 
vanced and sustained the true Democratic doctrines, and has fulfilled his 
promise to tread in the footsteps of his predecessor . . . that by his 
unflinching courage . . . and his stern fidelity to the interests of the 
people, he has earned a new title to their confidence and affections and 
will receive their hearty support.^® 
At the Democratic state convention held at Herkimer 
(N.Y.) it was resolved. 
That MARTIN VAN BUREN has fully responded to the expecta- 
tions of his political friends, in the ability with which he has adminis- 
tered the affairs of the general government, the firmness with which he 
has met the embarrassing circumstances in which the country has been 
placed, and the devotion with which he has invariably advocated and up- 
held the principles of the republican party.®* 
The Globe on November 6, 1838, spoke of the next move for 
the presidency with Martin Van Buren and an Independent 
Treasury as the Democratic issue as opposed to the Whig 
issue of the Bank.^® The delegates were chosen in meetings 
which were harmonious, but devoid of enthusiasm. 
Twenty-one states were represented at the Baltimore con- 
vention. Illinois, South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia, and 
Connecticut were not represented. The Whigs had antic- 
ipated the Democratic nomination by a day and had held a 
most enthusiastic celebration which the Democrats called an 
“animal show”. The Baltimore convention was orderly, and 
no strife was allowed to enter. Van Buren was nominated 
for president and a platform was adopted. Each plank was 
read and voted on separately.^® The planks were as follows: 
1. Resolved, That the Federal Government is one of limited powers 
. . . and the grants of power ought to be strictly construed . . . and 
that it is dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. 
2. Resolved, That the Constitution does not confer upon the General 
Government the power to commence and carry on a general system of 
internal improvements. 
3. Resolved, That the Constitution does not confer authority . . . 
to assume the debts of the several states. 
4. Resolved, That . . . every citizen and every section has a right 
to demand an ample protection of persons and property from domestic 
violence or foreign aggression. 
33 New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette, January 22, 1838. 
3'i Niles’ Register, LV, 70. 
35 The Globe, November 6, 1838. 
33 For the entire proceedings of the Dernocratiq convention see ibid-. May 7, 1840, 
