1852 Democratic National Convention
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1852 presidential election |
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Nominees
Pierce and King |
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| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | June 1–5, 1852 |
| City | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Venue | Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts [above Centre ("Marsh") Market] |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire |
| Vice Presidential nominee | William R. King of Alabama |
The 1852 Democratic National Convention nominated the dark horse candidate Franklin Pierce for President on the 49th ballot, passing over better known candidates Lewis Cass of Michigan (the previous nominee in 1848), James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. It was held at the Maryland Institute in the eastern downtown business district of Baltimore, Maryland, just two weeks before the opposing Whig Party met in the same hall for their nominating convention.
This convention was notable for the hostility between several groups within the party, divided over the "Compromise of 1850". The convention was called to order by Democratic National Committee chairman Benjamin F. Hallett. Romulus M. Saunders served as the temporary convention chairman and John W. Davis served as the permanent convention president.
The Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, then an academic institution founded 1825-1826 with a variety of curriculums including mechanical arts along with visual art and design, was located on the second floor of their recently constructed 1851 landmark structure with two clock towers at each end of the long structure set atop arched, stone and brick piers which covered the ancient "Centre Market", founded in the 1760s as the original main marketplace of old Baltimore Town. Located at Market Place (formerly Harrison Street) and South Frederick Street between East Baltimore Street on the north and Water Street (old colonial shoreline) to the south. It was also known as "Marsh Market" because of the old colonial marsh of Thomas Harrison then located along the western bank of the Jones Falls stream which flowed through downtown Baltimore to the Harbor), and east of "The Basin" (today's "Inner Harbor re-developed entertainment, commercial and hotel area) along the northern shore of the Patapsco River's Northwest Branch. 16th President Abraham Lincoln spoke at the Institute a decade later with his "Liberty Address" or "Baltimore Address" during the Sanitary Fair to raise money to benefit orphans and widows of Union Army soldiers and sailors, held by the United States Sanitary Commission in April 1864. Old Maryland Institute and the Centre Market buildings perished in the Great Baltimore Fire of February 1904. The Institute's buildings were rebuilt with three new parallel structures here for the marketplace and the second floors for the M.I.'s mechanical arts along with another "Main Building" at Mount Royal Avenue in northwestern city in 1906. They were razed in the 1980s for an entranceway into the new Baltimore "Metro" subway system, and one building (the old "Fish Market") was renovated as the "Port Discovery" children's museum, part of the new "Power Plant Live!" entertainment complex of the 1990s.
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