1851 Mississippi gubernatorial election

Following the controversial Compromise of 1850, Mississippi voters considered this election to be an extension of their approval or dissaproval of the compromise. Unionist Democratic Party nominee Henry S. Foote defended the compromise, while Southern Rights Party nominee Jefferson Davis campaigned vigorously against the compromise, suggesting that it put the South at a political disadvantage. [2] The election was held during a time of increasing sectional tension in the South and therefor Jefferson voiced his concern over the usurpation of southern constitutional rights by Washington. [3] Eventhough he only started his campaign 6 weeks before election day, Davis was favourited to win the election.[4] However, on election day, 4 November 1851, Foote won by a margin of 999 votes and would go on to become the 19th Governor of Mississippi.[5] Meanwhile, Davis turned down an offer from outgoing Governor James Whitfield to be reappointed to his seat in the US senate.[6] Davis would go on to infamously serve as the President of the Confederacy during the civil war from 1862 to 1865.