Additionally, because President Millard Fillmore would be seeking the 1852 presidential nomination at the Whig convention in June, a confrontational public demand to free Sayres and Drayton would almost require the President to deny a request for a pardon of the two men (which, Sumner believed, was their best chance of release) for fear of alienating Northern Democrats and other moderates. Sumner’s plan was to withhold the petition and work behind the scenes—vigorously and effectively, but quietly.
