It was the first time in the history of the Government that a mere sectional candidate had been elected and this was done upon sectional issues alone. This result presented an alarming state of things and developed the fact that under a Republican form of Federal Government, with suffrage nearly universal, it was perfectly practicable for a minority to get possession of the government on sectional issues and perhaps control it permanently. There had been, before, presidents elected by a minority popular vote, but this was on National issues and the support of the successful candidate was confined to no particular section. Of the thirteen presidents elected, seven had been elected from Southern states, and all of them received majorities of the popular vote except Mr. Polk of Tennessee, and his principal opponent was Mr. Clay of Kentucky, a Southern man. Six had been selected from Northern states, and but one of them, Harrison of Ohio, but a native of Virginia, received a majority of the popular votes. Of the Southern presidents, Washington's electoral vote was unanimous. Jefferson received twenty Northern electoral votes at his first election, and all but nine of them at his second. Madison received a majority of Northern electoral votes at his first election and forty of them at his second. Monroe received a very large majority of Northern electoral votes at his first election and all but one at his last, that being the only vote cast against him. Jackson received 73 Northern and Northwestern electoral votes out of 147 cast, at his first election and a very large majority at his second election. Polk received 103 of the same vote to 58 cast for Mr. Clay and Taylor received a large majority of the same vote. Of the Northern presidents, John Adams received 12 electoral votes from the South. John Quincy Adams received six electoral votes from the slave states and was elected by the House of Representatives, receiving the votes of several slave states. Van Buren received 61 out of 126 votes cast by the slave states, 28 of the rest being cast for Harrison. Harrison received a large majority of Southern electoral votes, as did Pierce and Buchanan and in every election the majority of Northern electoral votes had been cast for the successful candidates, except at Jefferson's first election, Madison's second, Jackson's first and Buchanan's election and in this the majority of that vote had been cast for Fremont, the sectional Republican candidate. Two vice-presidents, Tyler from Virginia and Fillmore of New York, had succeeded to the presidency by the deaths of the incumbents and both of them had received majorities of the popular vote as well as of the Northern electoral vote.