Right of Free Elections

▪ Primary Source

      

      The year 1796 saw the first contested presidential election in our country's history, for Washington had had little opposition in 1792, and none in 1789. The pride with which American voters participated in the choice of their chief executive (indirectly during this period, of course) and of other government officials is reflected in the following song, which probably dates from the election of 1796 and was widely sung in the succeeding years. The tune was that of "Yankee Doodle," a fact that emphasizes the closeness, in the minds of the early citizens of the Republic, of patriotism and the suffrage.

      THE RIGHT OF FREE ELECTIONS

      

      While some on rights, and some on wrongs,

      Prefer their own reflections,

      The people's right demands our songs—

      The right of free elections.

      

      For government and order's sake,

      And law's important sections,

      We should support, and pleasure take

      In frequent free elections.

      

      Our agricultural interest, marts,

      And mercantile connections,

      With manufactures, science, arts,

      Must thrive by free elections.

      

      To thwart the schemes of factious bands,

      Who for us plan subjections,

      The cause of liberty demands

      Our votes at all elections.

      

      Should enemies beset us round,

      Of foreign, fierce complexions;

      Undaunted we will stand our ground,

      Upheld by free elections.

      

      We'll never from our duty swerve,

      Let who will make objections;

      But while we live, unchanged preserve

      The freedom of elections.

Source: Songs, Odes, and Other Poems, on National Subjects, compiled by Wm. McCarty, 1842, pp. 176-177.

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