Definition
A doughface is a historical American political epithet used in the mid‑19th century to describe a Northern politician who was perceived as being overly pliable, yielding, or sympathetic to the interests of the Southern slave‑holding states. The term implies that the individual’s political positions could be “shaped” like dough, lacking firm conviction.
Etymology
The word combines dough, a soft, malleable substance, with face, a suffix historically employed in American slang to denote a type of person (e.g., “scofflaw,” “knuckle‑head”). The metaphor suggests a person whose opinions are easily molded by external influences.
Historical Usage
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The expression first gained prominence during the 1840s and 1850s, a period of intensifying sectional conflict over slavery and states’ rights.
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It was frequently employed by Southern politicians and journalists to criticize Northern members of Congress who voted for measures favoring Southern interests, such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 or the Compromise of 1850.
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Notable figures labeled as “doughfaces” included:
- John Quincy Adams – former president and later a Congressman from Massachusetts, criticized for supporting the Compromise of 1850.
- William O. Sturges – a New York legislator whose votes on tariff and slavery‑related legislation drew the epithet.
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The term appeared in contemporary newspapers (e.g., The Richmond Enquirer, The New York Daily Herald) and political pamphlets, often as a pejorative in partisan debate.
Cultural Impact
The label embodied the growing North–South divide, encapsulating Southern frustration with perceived Northern acquiescence to slaveholding demands. By the time of the American Civil War (1861–1865), the use of “doughface” had largely faded as political discourse shifted toward more direct confrontations over secession and emancipation.
Later References
- The phrase is recorded in 19th‑century dictionaries of American regionalism, such as The Dictionary of American Regional English (1991), where it is defined as “a Northern politician who is pliant and sympathetic to Southern slave interests.”
- Modern historical scholarship references “doughface” when analyzing sectional politics, for instance in Eric Foner’s Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men (1995) and William J. Freehling’s The Road to Disunion (1988).
See Also
- Sectionalism (United States)
- Compromise of 1850
- Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
References
- Foner, Eric. Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War. Oxford University Press, 1995.
- Freehling, William J. The Road to Disunion: Volume I: Secessionists and Unionists in the United States, 1840–1861. Oxford University Press, 1988.
- “Doughface.” Dictionary of American Regional English, vol. 2, 1991, pp. 1125‑1126.
- Contemporary newspaper archives, Richmond Enquirer (1849), New York Daily Herald (1850).
