As a member of the Whig party, he was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1828 and then was elected Governor of New Jersey annually from 1837 to 1843. His tenure as governor was marked by the "Broad Seal War" controversy. Following a disputed election for Congressional Representatives in New Jersey, Pennington certified the election of five Whig candidates while five Democrats were certified by the Democratic Secretary of State. After a lengthy dispute, the Democrats were eventually seated.[1]
In March 1861, he penned his name on the Corwin Amendment, a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution shielding state "domestic institutions" (a euphemism for slavery) from future constitutional amendments and from abolition or interference by Congress. Submitted to the states for ratification shortly before the outbreak of the American Civil War, it was not ratified by the requisite number of states.[4]
Death
After running unsuccessfully for reelection in 1860 to the 37th Congress, he returned to New Jersey, dying in Newark of an unintentional morphine overdose.[5] He was interred at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark.
^Johnston, Alexander (1899). Lalor, John J. (ed.). Broad Seal War. New York, New York: Maynard, Merrill, and Co. p. 309 – via Hathi Trust Digital Library. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
.png){kind=small}
