“The People’s Candidates” — Rhode Island Whig Electoral Ticket for William Henry Harrison
1836 — 4 x 6¼ inches
 
A rare Rhode Island Whig electoral ticket issued during the 1836 presidential campaign of William Henry Harrison, printed within an ornamental typographic border and headed “The People’s Candidates.” The ticket lists the slate of electors pledged to the Whig cause in Rhode Island—Samuel W. King of Johnston, Byron Diman of Bristol, George Engs of Newport, and William Peckham of South Kingstown—each representing prominent political figures within the state.
 
In the election of 1836 the Whig Party, still newly organized, advanced several regional candidates in opposition to Democratic nominee Martin Van Buren, with Harrison emerging as the principal Whig standard-bearer in the North and West. Electoral tickets such as this were distributed to voters to deposit directly into the ballot box, serving simultaneously as campaign literature and the functional ballot itself in the early American electoral process.
 
Material relating to Harrison’s 1836 campaign is notably scarce, and surviving state electoral tickets—particularly those tied to individual states such as Rhode Island—are seldom encountered.
 
Condition: Toning and scattered staining, with evidence of early mounting on the reverse; otherwise well preserved.