| United States Presidential Election, 1800 |
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The United States presidential election of 1800, sometimes referred to as the "Revolution of 1800", is often considered a Realigning Election . Thomas Jefferson and his running-mate Aaron Burr defeated incumbent President John Adams , ushering in a generation of (Democratic-)Republican rule and the eventual demise of the Federalist Party . It is therefore considered to be the pivotal election of the First Party System . However, one of the flaws in the original Constitution then came to the forefront. Members of the Electoral College could only vote for President; the Vice President was the runner-up in the election. The Republican plan to have one elector vote for Jefferson and not Burr was bungled, resulting in a tie electoral vote between Jefferson and Burr. The election was then put into the hands of the outgoing Federalist House Of Representatives for a week of deadlock before Jefferson was finally declared the winner. Jefferson's eventual victory ended America's most acrimonious presidential campaign to date. As a result of the problems arising from the election, and to a lesser extent from the Election Of 1796 , the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1804 , providing that electors make a distinct choice between their selections for President and Vice President. GENERAL ELECTION Campaign This election was a rematch of the 1796 Election . Adams was attacked by both the opposition, who felt that his policy was too favorable toward Britain and too hostile toward France and hated his Alien And Sedition Acts , and his own Federalist Party, who considered him too moderate. Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton schemed to elect Vice Presidential candidate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney instead and embarrassed Adams when a letter of his attacking Adams was leaked. This was another acrimonious campaign, with Federalists declaring that the Republicans were radicals who would murder their opponents, burn churches and destroy the country, while the Republicans accused Adams of planning to declare himself king and make a dynastic marriage with Britain. Jefferson's platform Political parties in the 1790s did not issue official platforms, but Jefferson issued a major statement in January 1799 that was widely reprinted and circulated. It became the political creed for which he was best known in his lifetime. from Jefferson, Philadelphia, January 26 , 1799 to Elbridge Gerry ( transcript ) Voting Since each state was allowed to choose its own election day, the election stretched from April to October. In April Burr succeeded in reversing the Federalist majority and getting a Republican majority in New York 's state legislature. With the Federalists and Republicans tied 65–65 in the Electoral College, the last state to vote, South Carolina chose eight 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 recipient of a majority of votes was elected President, while the Vice Presidency went to the recipient of the second greatest number of votes. Electors, intending to cast their votes for a Jefferson-Burr ticket, each cast their two votes for Jefferson and Burr, giving each of them 73 votes—a tie. A contingent election would be held in the House of Representatives. 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". Had the ballots from Georgia been disallowed, it would have brought even more chaos to the election. Because Georgia's envelope had contained a valid certificate of ascertainment, it was known that Georgia had appointed four electors. Since the Constitution mandated that a contingent election be immediately held, and since Jefferson and Burr would not have received a majority of the electoral vote, the House would have held a contingent election among the top five electoral vote-getters. In such a case, the lame-duck Federalist House could have chosen to elect Pinckney, Adams, or even Jay. Moreover, if the House had chosen to elect one of the Federalist candidates, the lame-duck Federalist Senate would then have chosen between Jefferson and Burr for the vice presidency. In the event, however, 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. None of the Federalist congressmen from Georgia objected, so the defective certificate became a historical curiosity rather than the precipitant of a constitutional crisis. 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 ). Source (Electoral Vote): (a) ''Popular vote figures are suspect because (1) only 6 of the 16 states chose electors by any form of popular vote, (2) pre-Twelfth Amendment electoral vote rules obscure the intentions of the voters, and (3) those states that did choose electors by popular vote often restricted the vote via property requirements.'' Breakdown by ticket CONTINGENT ELECTION The members of the House of Representatives balloted as states to determine which of Jefferson and Burr would become President. An Absolute Majority of the states was required for victory. 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, their partisan nemesis. Over the course of the six days, the House cast a total of 35 ballots, with Thomas Jefferson receiving the votes of 8 state delegations each time—one short of the necessary majority of nine. During the confusion, Alexander Hamilton said he supported Jefferson because he was "by far not so dangerous a man" as Burr. Finally, a group of Federalists led by James A. Bayard, Sr. reasoned that a peaceful transfer of power would require the majority to choose Jefferson, and on February 17 , 1801 —just 15 days before inauguration—Thomas Jefferson was elected President on the 36th ballot. Ten state delegations voted for Jefferson and 4 voted for Burr, while two state delegations abstained from voting at all. 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.'' (b) ''Even though Georgia had two representatives apportioned, one seat was vacant due to the death of James Jones .'' (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.'' ELECTORAL COLLEGE SELECTION
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