Dorr Rebellion Election Tickets
During the 19th century there were few standardized ballots in America. For many elections candidates or parties had to provide their own, pre-printed ballots. These “election tickets” were known by a variety of names, including “proxies” in Rhode Island. They were handed out to supporters (sometimes with a gold coin or a pint of beer) just before the election.
Russell DeSimone, co-author of an exhaustive survey of Rhode Island election tickets (online at URI’s Digital Commons), has generously agreed to allow RhodeIslandSuffrage.org to reprint several of these tickets that may be of interest to Dorr Rebellion scholars and teachers.
We’ll start with a real gem (and then post more tickets after the jump): a ticket handed out to supporters of the “People’s Constitution” before the extra-legal vote on the document that Dorr organized.
An election ticket in support of the "People's Constitution."
After the jump: more election tickets from the era of the Dorr Rebellion.
An 1841 prox for Samuel Ward King, the Whig governor elected under the Charter who became Dorr's nemesis.
Suffrage activists also tried, in contrast to Dorr, to change election laws by gaining power through more ordinary legal means. This is an April 1842 prox for the "Freemen's Republican Ticket." The candidates failed to win election, and Dorr's Rebellion began in full force the next month.
After the rebellion was put down, the issues brought to a head by Dorr were still extremely controversial. Opponents of expanded voting rights played upon the popular fear of unruliness and bloodshed by running as "Law and Order" candidates. They were successful for much of the 1840s.
