Miniature Log Cabin
notes: label: Description
content: William Henry Harrison’s 1840 campaign for president chose the log cabin as its symbol, partially in response to criticisms by opponents of Harrison as cabin-dwelling, isolated, and lazy. Harrison’s Whig party also used the cabin to appeal to an overwhelmingly rural nation and to push back against the negative image of his party as elite, urban “silk-stockings.” Instead, Harrison’s Whigs depicted Democratic challenger Martin Van Buren as the distant elite. The immensely successful campaign connected the Whig party to voters, especially in the Midwest and South, who had been skeptical of the movement previously. Marchers often wheeled life-sized log cabins in parades, and individuals collected miniature versions, like this object, in their homes and businesses.
topic: label: used
content: Political Campaigns
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Campaign Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
label: Exhibition
content: American Democracy
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2015.0200.081
label: catalog number
content: 2015.0200.081
label: accession number
content: 2015.0200
objectType: label: Object Name
content: log cabin
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 1/4 in x 5 in x 3 1/4 in; 10.795 cm x 12.7 cm x 8.255 cm