Following the controversial
Compromise of 1850,
Mississippi voters considered this election to be an extension of their approval or disapproval 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.
