Barnburners,
A name given to radical or progressive politicians in the
United States, and opposed to
Hunkers (q. v.). It was given to the anti-slavery section of the Democratic party, especially in New York, which separated from the rest of the Democratic National Convention in 1846.
They were opposed to certain corporations, and they desired to do away with
all corporations.
They received their name from the story of the man whose house was infested with rats, and who burned it to the ground to get rid of the vermin.
At about that time anti-rent outrages were committed, such as burning barns, etc. The radical Democrats sympathized with the Anti-Renters, and the Hunkers called them “barnburners.”
See
Anti-rent party;
free-soil party.