Label
Banner, 1840
Captain John Barrett (1776-1856)
Grafton, VT
Cotton, wood, metal, paint
Gift of Mary X. Barrett, 1947.6.3
The election of 1840 was one of the most politically charged in American history. It pitted incumbent Martin Van Buren against challengers William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. Harrison and Tyler ran on a platform of reform and change for the new Whig Party against Van Buren's Democrats, hence the slogan on the topmost banner.
Harrison was a war hero who had won a victory at the Battle of Tippecoanoe, and was often called "Old Tippecanoe," hence the lower banner, which was carried by Captain John Barrett of Grafton when he attended a political rally on Stratton Mountain in 1840. For more about that rally, see the campaign pin on the right hand side of the case on the opposite side of this room. Grafton went on to serve as an elector for the state of Vermont and cast the state's electoral college votes for Harrison's win.