‹ 1796  1804 ›
United States presidential election, 1800
1800
Nominee		Thomas Jefferson	John Adams
Party		Democratic-Republican	Federalist
Home state		Virginia	Massachusetts
Running mate		Aaron Burr	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Jay
Electoral vote		73	65
States carried		8	7
Popular vote		41,330	25,952
Percentage		61. The United States presidential election of 1796 was the first contested American presidential election and the first one to elect a President and Vice-President from opposing tickets The United States presidential election of 1804 pitted incumbent Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson against Federalist Charles Cotesworth Year -of the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar until Friday, but 12 days ahead since Saturday. Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence John Adams (October 30 1735 July 4 1826 was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. The Federalist Party (or Federal Party) was an American political party in the period 1792 to 1816 with remnants lasting into the 1820s The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. This article discusses Aaron Burr (1756-1836 the US politician Charles Cotesworth (CC Pinckney ( February 25, 1746 August 16, 1825) was an early American Statesman and a constitutional delegate John Jay (December 12 1745 – May 17 1829 was an American Politician, Statesman, revolutionary, Diplomat, a Supreme Court 4%	38. 6%
Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Jefferson, Red denotes states won by Adams. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
Incumbent President John Adams Federalist President-Elect Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican

In the United States Presidential election of 1800, sometimes referred to as the “Revolution of 1800”, Vice President Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams. John Adams (October 30 1735 July 4 1826 was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. The Federalist Party (or Federal Party) was an American political party in the period 1792 to 1816 with remnants lasting into the 1820s Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence John Adams (October 30 1735 July 4 1826 was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. The election was a realigning election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican Party rule and the eventual demise of the Federalist Party. Realigning election or political realignment are terms from Political science and Political history describing a dramatic change in the Political The Federalist Party (or Federal Party) was an American political party in the period 1792 to 1816 with remnants lasting into the 1820s

The election exposed one of the flaws in the original Constitution. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. Members of the Electoral College could only vote for President; each elector could vote for two candidates, and the Vice President was the person who received the second largest number of votes during the election. An electoral college is a set of many electors who are empowered to elect a candidate to a particular Office. The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death The Democratic-Republicans had planned for one of the electors to abstain from casting his second vote for Aaron Burr, leading to Jefferson receiving one vote more than Burr. This article discusses Aaron Burr (1756-1836 the US politician The plan, however, was bungled, resulting in a tied electoral vote between Jefferson and Burr. The election was then put into the hands of the outgoing House of Representatives controlled by the Federalist Party. The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. Most Federalists voted for Burr in order to block Jefferson from the Presidency, and the result was a week of deadlock. Federalist Alexander Hamilton, who detested both but preferred Jefferson to Burr, intervened on Jefferson's behalf, which allowed Jefferson to ascend to the Presidency. Hamilton's actions were one cause of his duel with Burr,^[1] which resulted in Hamilton's death in 1804.

The Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, was added to the United States Constitution. The Twelfth Amendment ( Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are The Twelfth Amendment stipulates that electors make a distinct choice between their selections for President and Vice President.

Jefferson's 22. 8 point victory margin is the largest ever victory margin for a challenger to an incumbent President.

General election

The Candidates

• John Adams, President of the United States from Massachusetts
• Aaron Burr, former U. John Adams (October 30 1735 July 4 1826 was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. This article discusses Aaron Burr (1756-1836 the US politician S. senator from New York
• John Jay, Governor of New York
• Thomas Jefferson, Vice President of the United States from Virginia
• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, former U. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous John Jay (December 12 1745 – May 17 1829 was an American Politician, Statesman, revolutionary, Diplomat, a Supreme Court The Governor of New York is the head of the Executive branch of New York 's government and the Commander-in-chief of the state's military Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state Charles Cotesworth (CC Pinckney ( February 25, 1746 August 16, 1825) was an early American Statesman and a constitutional delegate S. Minister to France from South Carolina

President John Adams of Massachusetts	Former Senator Aaron Burr of New York	Governor John Jay of New York	Vice President Thomas Jefferson of Virginia
Former United States Minister to France Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina

Campaign

The 1800 election was a rematch of the 1796 election. South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by John Adams (October 30 1735 July 4 1826 was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives This article discusses Aaron Burr (1756-1836 the US politician New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The Governor of New York is the head of the Executive branch of New York 's government and the Commander-in-chief of the state's military John Jay (December 12 1745 – May 17 1829 was an American Politician, Statesman, revolutionary, Diplomat, a Supreme Court New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state The United States has sent Ambassadors to France since the American Revolution. Charles Cotesworth (CC Pinckney ( February 25, 1746 August 16, 1825) was an early American Statesman and a constitutional delegate South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America. The United States presidential election of 1796 was the first contested American presidential election and the first one to elect a President and Vice-President from opposing tickets The campaign was bitter and characterized by slander and personal attacks on both sides. Federalists spread rumors that the Democratic-Republicans were radicals who would murder their opponents, burn churches, and destroy the country (based on the Democratic-Republican preference for France over Britain. At the time, the rather violent French revolution was in full swing). In 1782, George Washington (who had no political party) had complained "that you could as soon scrub the blackamoor white, as to change the principles of a profest [sic] Democrat; and that he will leave nothing unattempted to overturn the Government of this Country. ”^[2] Meanwhile, the Democratic-Republicans accused Federalists of destroying republican values with the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were later ruled unconstitutional; they also accused Federalists of favoring Britain in order to promote aristocratic, anti-republican values. The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the United States Congress —who were waging an undeclared naval war with France ^[3]

Adams was attacked by both the opposition Democratic-Republicans and by "High Federalists" in his own Federalist Party who were aligned with Hamilton. The Democratic-Republicans felt that Adams' foreign policy was too favorable toward Britain, feared that the new army called up for the Quasi-War would oppress the people, opposed Adams' new taxes, and attacked his Alien and Sedition Acts as violations of states' rights and the Constitution. The Quasi-War was an Undeclared war fought entirely at sea between the United States and France from 1798 to 1800 States' rights refers to the idea in US politics and constitutional law, that U A constitution is a system for government often Codified as a written document that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity A faction of “High Federalists” considered Adams too moderate; it would seem natural that Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton, in his third sabotage attempt towards Adams^[4], schemed to elect Vice Presidential candidate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to the Presidency. Charles Cotesworth (CC Pinckney ( February 25, 1746 August 16, 1825) was an early American Statesman and a constitutional delegate One of Hamilton's letters, providing a scathing criticism of Adams and spanning fifty-four pages^[5], became public when it came into the hands of a Republican, embarrassing Adams and damaging Hamilton's efforts on behalf of Pinckney^[6], not to mention speeding up Hamilton's own political decline. ^[7]

Selection method changes

Partisans on both sides sought any advantage they could find. In several states, this included changing the method of selection to ensure the desired result. In Georgia, Democratic-Republican legislators replaced the popular vote with selection by the state legislature. Federalist legislators did the same in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. (This may have had some unintended consequences in Massachusetts, where the delegation to the federal House of Representatives was changed from 12–2 Federalist to 8–6 Federalist by irate voters. Unintended consequences are outcomes that are not (or not limited to what the actor intended in a particular situation ) Pennsylvania also switched to legislative choice, but this resulted in an almost evenly split set of electors. Virginia switched from electoral districts to winner-take-all, a move that probably switched one or two votes from the Federalist column to the Democratic-Republican column.

Voting

Each state could choose its own election day, voting lasted from April to October. In April, Burr succeeded in reversing the Federalist majority and getting a Democratic-Republican majority in New York's state legislature. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous With the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans tied 65–65 in the Electoral College, the last state to vote, South Carolina, chose eight Democratic-Republicans, giving the election to Jefferson and Burr.

Under the United States Constitution, each Presidential elector cast two votes, without distinction as to which was for President or Vice President. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. The recipient of a majority of votes was elected President, while the Vice Presidency went to the recipient of the second greatest number of votes. The Federalists therefore had one of their electors vote for John Jay rather than for Vice Presidential candidate Pinckney. The Democratic-Republicans had a similar plan to have one of their electors cast a vote for another candidate instead of Burr, but, by a misadventure, failed to execute it. As a result, the Democratic-Republican electors each cast their two votes for Jefferson and Burr, giving each of them 73 votes. A contingent election had to be held in the outgoing, Federalist dominated, House of Representatives (the old House elected in 1798). The term " federalist " describes several political beliefs around the world ^[8]

Disputes

Defective certificates

When the electoral ballots were opened and counted on February 11, 1801, it turned out that the certificate of election from Georgia was defective; while it was clear that the electors had cast their votes for Jefferson and Burr, the certificate did not take the Constitutionally mandated form of a "List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each. Events 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. Year 1801 ( MDCCCI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Tuesday " Jefferson, who was counting the votes in his role as President of the Senate, immediately counted the votes from Georgia as votes for Jefferson and Burr. No objections were raised. The total number of votes for Jefferson and Burr was 73, a majority.

Results

Jefferson and Burr tied for first place, so the election was thrown into the House of Representatives.

Source (Popular Vote):U.S. President National Vote. Our Campaigns. (February 10, 2006). Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 30, 2005). Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

^(a) Votes for Federalist electors have been assigned to John Adams and votes for Republican electors have been assigned to Thomas Jefferson.
^(b) Only 6 of the 16 states chose electors by any form of popular vote.
^(c) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.

Breakdown by ticket

Contingent election

Aaron Burr tied Jefferson in the Electoral College vote

The members of the House of Representatives balloted as states to determine whether Jefferson or Burr would become President. There were sixteen states, and an absolute majority—in this case, nine—was required for victory. An absolute majority or majority of the entire membership (in American English, a Supermajority Voting requirement is a Voting basis

While it was common knowledge that Jefferson was the candidate for President and Burr for Vice President, the lame-duck House was controlled by the Federalists, who were loath to vote for Jefferson (with one exception, Alexander Hamilton^[9]), their partisan nemesis; Jefferson was the key opponent of Federalists since 1789. Seizing a chance to elect Burr as opposed to Jefferson, most Federalists voted for Burr, giving Burr six of the eight states controlled by Federalists. The seven states controlled by Democratic-Republicans all voted for Jefferson, and Georgia's lone living Federalist representative also voted for Jefferson, giving Jefferson eight states. Vermont was evenly split, casting a blank ballot. The remaining state, Maryland, had five Federalist representatives to three Democratic-Republicans; one of its Federalist representatives voted for Jefferson, forcing the state delegation to cast a blank ballot.

Over the course of seven days from February 11 to February 17, the House cast a total of 35 ballots, with Jefferson receiving the votes of eight state delegations each time—one short of the necessary majority of nine. Events 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. Events 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt. 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de' Fiori During the confusion, Alexander Hamilton said he supported Jefferson because he was “by far not so dangerous a man” as Burr; in short, he would much rather have someone with wrong principles than someone devoid of any. ^[10] Hamilton embarked on a frenzied letter-writing campaign to get delegates to switch votes. ^[11] He narrowly succeeded, and on Tuesday, February 17, on the 36th ballot, Jefferson was elected. Events 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt. 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de' Fiori

Federalist James A. Bayard of Delaware and his allies in Maryland and Vermont all cast blank ballots. James Asheton Bayard ( July 28, 1767 &ndash August 6, 1815) was an American Lawyer and Politician from This resulted in the Maryland and Vermont votes changing from no selection to Jefferson, giving him the votes of 10 states and the presidency. Bayard, as the sole representative from Delaware, changed his vote from Burr to no selection. ^[12] The four present representatives from South Carolina also changed their 3-1 selection of Burr to four abstentions. The final count was Jefferson with ten votes to Burr's four.

Results

In the following table, results for the state delegation are expressed as (<votes for Jefferson>-<votes for Burr>-<abstentions>).

^(a) The votes of the individual representatives is typical and may have fluctuated from ballot to ballot, but the result for each individual state did not change. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule The Commonwealth of Kentucky ( is a state located in the East Central United States of America. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Delaware ( is a state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. New Hampshire ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States
^(b) Even though Georgia had two representatives apportioned, one seat was vacant due to the death of James Jones. James Jones (born in 1769 in Maryland - died January 12, 1801) was an American politician and lawyer from the state of Georgia.
^(c) Even though South Carolina had six representatives apportioned, Thomas Sumter was absent due to illness, and Abraham Nott departed for South Carolina between the first and final ballots. Thomas Sumter ( August 14, 1734 &ndash June 1, 1832) was a hero of the American Revolution and went on to become a longtime member Abraham Nott ( February 5, 1768 &ndash June 19, 1830) was a United States Representative from South Carolina.

Electoral college selection

See also

• First Party System
• History of the United States (1789-1849)
• United States House elections, 1800

Notes

References

• (1834–1856) Annals of the Congress of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Gales and Seaton, 10:1028–1033. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D  
• A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College. The Green Papers.

Bibliography

• (1999) in Doron Ben-Atar and Barbara B. Oberg, eds. : Federalists Reconsidered.  
• (2004) in Jeffrey L. Pasley, et al. , eds. : Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early American Republic.  
• Beard, Charles A. (1915). The Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy.  
• Bowling, Kenneth R. ; Donald R. Kennon (2005). Establishing Congress: The Removal to Washington, D. C. , and the Election of 1800.  
• Buel, Richard (1972). Securing the Revolution: Ideology in American Politics, 1789–1815.  
• Chambers, William Nisbet (1963). Political Parties in a New Nation: The American Experience, 1776–1809.  
• Chernow, Ron (2004). Alexander Hamilton.  
• Cunningham, Noble E. , Jr. (1965). The Making of the American Party System 1789 to 1809.  
• Dunn, Susan (2004). The Election Crisis of 1800 and the Triumph of Republicanism.  
• Elkins, Stanley; Eric McKitrick (1995). The Age of Federalism.  
• Ferling, John (2004). Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800.  
• Fischer, David Hackett (1965). The Revolution of American Conservatism: The Federalist Party in the Era of Jeffersonian Democracy.  
• Freeman, Joanne B. (1999). "The election of 1800: a study in the logic of political change". Yale Law Journal 108 (8): 1959-1994.  
• Goodman, Paul (1967). "The First American Party System", in William Nisbet Chambers and Walter Dean Burnham, eds. : The American Party Systems: Stages of Political Development, 56–89.  
• Hofstadter, Richard (1970). The Idea of a Party System.  
• Kennedy, Roger G. (2000). Burr, Hamilton, and Jefferson: A Study in Character. Oxford University Press.  
• McCullough, David (2001). John Adams.  
• Horn, James P. P. ; Jan Ellen Lewis, Peter S. Onuf (2002). The Revolution of 1800: Democracy, Race, and the New Republic.  
• Miller, John C. (1959). Alexander Hamilton: Portrait in Paradox.  
• Roberts, Cokie (2008). Ladies of Liberty.  
• Schachner, Nathan (1961). Aaron Burr: A Biography.  
• Sharp, James Roger (1993). American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis.  

External links

• Documentary Timeline Lesson plans from NEH
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825

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