Editing Samuel J. Tilden (section)

==Early political career==
In 1843, Tilden was appointed as New York City's corporation counsel, a reward for his campaign work for Governor [[William C. Bouck]].<ref>Morris (2003), p. 89</ref> Tilden handled hundreds of cases on behalf of the city, but was forced out of office in 1844 after New York City elected a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] mayor.<ref name="Morris 2003, p. 90">Morris (2003), p. 90</ref> He served as a delegate to the [[1844 Democratic National Convention]], which rejected Van Buren and nominated [[James K. Polk]] for president.<ref name="Morris 2003, p. 90"/> At the urging of Governor [[Silas Wright]], Tilden won election to the [[New York State Assembly]].<ref>Morris (2003), p. 91</ref> He became a key ally to Wright and helped end the [[Anti-Rent War]] by passing a compromise land bill that defused tensions between tenant farmers and their landlords.<ref>Morris (2003), pp. 91–92</ref> After serving as a delegate to the 1846 [[New York State Constitutional Convention]], Tilden left public office to focus on his legal practice, where he gained a national reputation as a "financial physician" for struggling railroads.<ref>Morris (2003), pp. 89–93</ref> Tilden's successful legal practice, combined with shrewd investments, made him rich.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kessner |first=Thomas |date=2003 |title=Capital City: New York City and the Men Behind America's Rise to Economic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PefKIplMWrUC&pg=PA185 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=185 |isbn=978-0-7432-5753-4 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> His success at money management and investing caused many of his friends, relatives, and political allies, including Van Buren, to allow Tilden to manage their finances.<ref>Severn (1968), p. 64</ref>

Tilden was a leader of the "[[Barnburners and Hunkers|Barnburner]]s", an anti-[[slavery in the United States|slavery]] faction of the New York Democratic Party that arose during the debate over the [[Wilmot Proviso]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gruber |first=Robert Henry |date=1981 |title=Salmon P. Chase and the Politics of Reform |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PC8aAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Finally+late+in+July+%2C+Samuel+Tilden+%2C+a+Barnburner+leader%22 |location=College Park, MD |publisher=University of Maryland |page=141 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Van Buren |first=A. D. P. |date=1890 |title=Michigan In Our National Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZxQzAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA249 |magazine=Reports of Officers and Papers Read at the Annual Meeting of 1890 |location=Lansing, MI |publisher=Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society |pages=249–250 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Like other Barnburners, Tilden sought to prevent the spread of slavery into the [[Mexican Cession|land acquired from Mexico]] in the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]].<ref name="Ogg">{{cite book |last1=Ogg |first1=Frederic Austin |last2=Ray |first2= Perley Orman |date=1923 |title=Introduction to American Government: The National Government |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MohCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA528 |location=New York, NY |publisher=The Century Co. |pages=527–528 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He helped organize the 1848 [[Free Soil Party|Free Soil]] Convention, which nominated Van Buren for president.<ref name="Ogg"/> Van Buren's candidacy in the [[1848 United States presidential election|1848 presidential election]] drew votes from Democratic nominee [[Lewis Cass]] in New York, which played a role in the victory of Whig nominee [[Zachary Taylor]].<ref name="Ogg"/> Unlike many other anti-slavery Democrats, Tilden did not join the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] in the 1850s, but he did not have close relations with Democratic presidents [[Franklin Pierce]] and [[James Buchanan]].<ref>Morris (2003), pp. 94–95</ref> In [[New York state election, 1855|1855]], Tilden was the unsuccessful [[New York State Attorney General|state attorney general]] candidate of the "Soft" faction of Barnburners, which favored compromise and reconciliation with the Democratic Party.<ref>Robinson (2001), p. 85</ref> In [[New York state election, 1859|1859]], after he lost an election to serve as New York City's corporation counsel, Tilden announced that he was "out of politics."<ref>Morris (2003), p. 95</ref>

In [[1860 United States presidential election|the 1860 presidential election]], Tilden strongly opposed the candidacy of Republican presidential nominee [[Abraham Lincoln]].<ref name="Kleber">{{cite magazine |last=Kleber |first=Louis |date=November 11, 1970 |title=The Presidential Election of 1876 |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/presidential-election-1876 |magazine=History Today |location=London, England |publisher=History Today Ltd.}}</ref> He warned that the election of Lincoln could lead to the secession of the South and a subsequent civil war.<ref>Morris (2003), pp. 95–96</ref> Tilden initially opposed using force to prevent secession, but he supported [[Union (American Civil War)|the Union]] after the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]].<ref name="Kleber"/> Tilden served as the manager of [[Horatio Seymour]]'s successful 1862 campaign for governor, and played a key role in securing the presidential nomination for [[George B. McClellan]] at the [[1864 Democratic National Convention]].<ref>Morris (2003), pp. 96–97</ref>

In 1867, Tilden received the [[honorary degree]] of [[Legum Doctor|LL.D.]] from [[New York University]].<ref>{{cite book |last=General Alumni Society, New York University |date=1906 |title=General Alumni Catalogue |url=https://archive.org/details/generalalumnica01univgoog |location=New York, NY |publisher=New York University |page=170}}</ref> He was also chosen as a delegate to that year's [[New York Constitution#Constitutional Convention of 1867–1868|state constitutional convention]].<ref>{{cite news |date=June 4, 1867 |title=The Constitutional Convention to Assemble To-Day |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99414106/convention/ |work=[[New York Herald]] |location=New York, NY |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |page=7}}</ref>