American election campaigns in the 19th century

Let's imagine we are living in a big village and we want to pick someone to lead us. In the 19th century in America, people used to do something similar but on a much larger scale!

First, people decided who wanted to run for the "big boss" position (also called the presidency). Sometimes people volunteered themselves, and other times, their parties picked them. Once the candidates were chosen, they needed to tell everyone about themselves and why they would make good leaders. They did this by giving speeches.

But how could they give speeches to everyone in such a big village? Through newspaper stories that journalists wrote after attending campaign events, and not everyone could read. So candidates would also organize rallies where they would talk to large crowds of people. And they would travel around the country by train to meet people and tell them why they were the best choice to lead the country.

But the rallies weren't just speeches, they were exciting events too! People would often decorate their homes, shops, and streets with banners, flags, and ribbons. There would be parades with music, and lots of food and drinks to share. Candidates even wore special hats and pins with their logos on them, so people could easily recognize them.

Sometimes, these campaigns got very heated, and people would say mean things to each other. But ultimately, the people of the village would use all of the information that they could gather to make their best choice for who they wanted to lead them. In America, people would cast their votes on the big day, and the person with the most votes became the President. And that's how American election campaigns worked in the 19th century!