The beautiful girls, God bless their souls,
Souls, souls, the country through
Will all, to a man, do all they can
For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in American History magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

‘Old Cabin Whiskey,’ sold in cabin-shaped bottles, became the drink of choice among Harrison activists. Its distiller, E.C. Booz of Philadelphia, added the term ‘booze’ to posterity. The songs, campaign paraphernalia, and cider went on display at rallies where, even Democrats were forced to concede, ‘acres of men’ showed up to support Harrison. The rallies were part entertainment, part patriotic celebration, and part pep rally. One placard advised the public that ‘the vocalist, Mr. J. Brown, recently arrived from a southern tour, will sing several celebrated, bang-up Tippecanoe songs!’

In ‘ole Kentuck’ the people say,
That Matty Van has had his day,
And that old Tip he is the man
To rout him out with all his clan.
Then haste and turn out, old men, young men,
Haste and turn out, new men, true men.
Vote for Harrison.

‘Some of the songs I shall never forget,’ a Democratic editor moaned; ‘they rang in my ears wherever I went, morning, noon and night . . . it was a ceaseless torrent of music.’

AS IF THE CAMPAIGN needed another novelty, Whig supporters started rolling huge paper or tin balls printed with campaign slogans from town to town as part of parades and rallies. The idea owed its inspiration to remarks made by Democratic Senator Thomas Hart Benton when the Senate officially expunged its censure of President Jackson in 1837. (The Senate had passed the censure resolution in 1834 after Jackson removed federal deposits from the Bank of the United States.) Although he had once shot Jackson in a gunfight, Benton fought stubbornly to remove the taint of censure from the president’s record. ‘Solitary and alone,’ Benton said, ‘I set this ball in motion.’ Now the Whigs rolled it back on Benton and Van Buren.

What has caused the great commotion, motion, motion,
Our country through?
It’s the ball a rolling on, on.
For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too. Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.
And with them we’ll beat little Van, Van, Van.
Van is a used up man.
And with them we’ll beat little Van.

‘Keep the ball rolling’ survived the campaign to become a common American expression.

While balls rolled and cider flowed, issues were largely forgotten. Van Buren made an effort to interject a reasoned discussion of the bank, the tariff, and internal improvements, but he was shouted down by the Whig press. ‘Wherever you find a bitter, blasphemous atheist,’ Horace Greeley thundered, ‘there you may be certain of one vote for Van Buren.’ Oversimplification was in order. ‘Take Harrison and good,’ the Political Tornado advised, ‘or reject him for Van Buren and evil.’ In September the Whigs received the first solid indication that their tactics were working, when Maine held early elections and chose a Whig governor and a Harrison and Tyler electoral slate.

And have you heard the news from Maine
and what old Maine can do?
She went hell bent for Governor Kent
and Tippecanoe and Tyler, too,
and Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.

The Democrats now realized they must respond in kind to the hard cider/log cabin campaign. Their songs attacked Harrison as ‘General Mum . . . whose fame is like his fav’rite drum; which when most empty makes most noise.’ Campaign sheets attacked Harrison as a’sham hero,’ an addict of profanity, and ‘Old Tip-ler.’ By spelling Harrison’s name backwards, the Democrats urged voters to say ‘No sirrah’ to the Whigs. More temperate voters sang,

Hush-a-bye, baby;
Daddy’s a Whig.
Before he comes home,
Hard cider he’ll swig;
Then he’ll be Tipsy and over he’ll fall;
Down will come Daddy,
Tip, Tyler, and all.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to