State Governor Elections (Gameplay Thread)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

The Whigs will stand candidates in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island. In New Hampshire, John Gilman will lead the Whig ticket as the candidate for governor.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Whig Campaign, 1791

While the gubernatorial elections belong to the province of the local Whig organizations in those states, the effect his personal attention may have on the outcome is not lost on Adams, who departs from the National Assembly in April for an extended sojourn through New England. In six weeks, he travels from Philadelphia to New York (where he dines with prominent citizens and leaders of the local Whig organization, praising the performance of the Whig candidate in the late by-election and outlining his position on the Currency, the Military, and trade with Europe), and thence to Connecticut, where he spends two weeks dining and hob-nobbing with citizens, merchants, tradesmen, and editors, representatives of the constituencies where the Whigs and the Government are most likely to find support. The argument he makes everywhere is simple and straight-forward: the Whigs support a stable currency, trade with Europe, and a moderate tariff to address the problem of the debt and bolster the local economy; they favor a careful balance of federal and state power, opposing both efforts to collect too much authority in the central government, and actions which would tend to disrupt the Union by giving the federal government too little authority. The Whigs, in short, are presented as the faction of balance and economic expansion. Adams also subtly makes the point that alone of the Government factions, the Whigs have sufficient support to successfully challenge the Hamiltonians in New England; a united front is essential to keep their states in the hands of the friends of the Government. The work of exposing the Hamiltonians for what they are—Tories in sheepskins, who design to overturn the republican system of government and place a Caesar on the throne of America—is left to the press and local Whig organizations.

Adams repeats this message in Rhode Island and Massachusetts (where a particular effort is made to secure the reelection of the incumbent Whig governors) before returning to Philadelphia at the beginning of June.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

The Whig Party will stand candidates for governor and legislature in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Whig Campaign, 1792

With the elections of 1792, the Whigs seek first and foremost to retain the governorships of the four states where they are the incumbent: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In this venture, nothing is left undone. Adams himself departs from Baltimore at the end of March to spend the better part of eight weeks traversing New England. Stopping briefly in Connecticut to meet with Whig leaders and encourage a strong effort by the party there, he continues on to Rhode Island, where the campaign begins in earnest. Traveling from Westerly to Warwick, Cranston, Providence, Pawtucket, and Woonsocket, Adams meets and dines with citizens, editors, tradesmen, merchants, and other prominent men to circulate his party's message and make the case for continued Whig leadership in the state. Recounting Whig sponsorship of the tariff, their support for a strong central currency, and his personal role in negotiating commercial agreements with Denmark and Portugal, Adams presents the Whigs as friends both of limited government and financial stability. While remarking on the many evils of the Bank, Adams expresses hope that some compromise may be reached to strengthen the national credit while respecting the rights of the states and avoiding the corrupting influence of speculators. He emphasizes again the necessity for balance between the states and the federal power: discretely admonishing those who would place centralization ahead of the rights of states, he reminds his audience of the evil that may befall a country when one party or interest becomes dominant over the others. Only the Whigs may prevent the government from either collapsing into anarchy (as the most extreme anti-federalists would produce) or transforming itself as a despotism. Rumors that the Whigs have been 'taken over' by the Radicals Adams dismisses as the jealous sniping of weaker factions who, unable to win themselves, wish to ruin the Whig fortunes along theirs. Contrary to the narrative put forward in the press, Adams was the first and strongest voice in favor of upholding the Constitution against the mutiny of the Pennsylvania militia, arguing in the Cabinet that a firm response was necessary to maintain the honor of the government and restore peace to the western counties. The result of the Pennsylvania by-election show unfortunately that the more extreme elements in that state have not forgiven Adams for his opposition to the mutiny, while the moderate Radicals have renounced violence and lawlessness in their entrance into the Whig camp. To friendly audiences, he emphasizes the necessity for unity against the Federalists. The opposition's victory in Pennsylvania was made possible by divisions between Whig and Republican elements that resulted in the Whigs winning only two seats, and the Republicans none at all. The Whigs are the only viable republican party in New England; a vote for other factions is, effectively, a vote for the Federalists.

Adams continues his journey north through Massachusetts, where he makes a particular effort to reconcile local Republicans with his party, and then Vermont and New Hampshire. At each stop, he repeats the message he brought to Rhode Island: the Whigs are the champions of balanced government, the rule of law, and the interests of the New England states. Word that Mr. Hamilton in his campaign for the governorship of New York has called his state the 'rival' of Boston is invoked to favorable effect. Returning to Baltimore at the end of May, Adams pauses briefly in New York and Trenton to rally the Whig organizations there and encourage a strong showing in the elections.

The heavy work of the campaign is done by the local party organizations, who spare no effort to secure the election of their slate. The strongest efforts are made in Rhode Island and Vermont, where a Federalist victory is considered most possible, but Massachusetts and New Hampshire are not neglected. Bonfires, public assemblies, demonstrations, and an active presence in the press are all used to rally the Whigs and persuade Republicans to cross the aisle for the sake of unity against the Hamiltonians. A Federalist pamphlet published in Hamilton's name, announcing his intent to 'turn New York into a major trading center to rival Boston, hence why he pledged the creation of a statwide network of roads and an expansion of the dockyards' is read frequently as an admission that the Federalist program is intended to place the interests of the large, populous states and the monied interests ahead of the small states and the honest laborer.

The Federalists are attacked relentlessly as tools of the financial interests—bankers, speculators, and financiers—and the people are continually reminded of the example of Pennsylvania, as evidence of the necessity of total unity among the republican interest to prevent a Hamiltonian victory. The defeat of the Bank is cheered as a victory for the people against the monied interest—for its adoption would have placed the financial policy of the United States at the disposal of unelected Directors beholden to the monied interests, who are themselves beholden to the British merchant class. Instead, the country must adopt an independent treasury system to ensure financial stability without infringing on the rights of the states or the liberty of the people. The Whigs stand for liberty, balance, financial independence, and the sovereignty of the people; the Federalists stand for nothing beyond personal enrichment, and survive solely on public good will for General Hamilton. While the Federalists may now opportunistically declare themselves the friends of New England, it is the Whigs who now defend the interests of the New English states against the attacks of the New York speculators who seek to rob them of their commerce.