Election of 1800

The election of 1800 was a fight between federalists and democratic- republicans (Jeffersonians) for presidency. The constitution doesn't differentiate between candidates; however it sets rules and regulations that each candidate must abide by. Under the Constitution, each presidential elector cast two votes and regardless of political affiliation the man who received the most votes became president and the runner up vice president. Any candidate could win either was thrown into the House, where each state had one vote to be decided by a majority of the delegation.

In 1800, there was a tied election in which both candidates were entitled to claim the presidency and the backup procedure of deciding the lection in the House had almost failed. This defect was resolved by the twelfth amendment in 1804, which provided separate balloting for president and vice president. The election campaign of 1800 was a partial replay of the campaign of 1796, with the Jeffersonians opposing Federalist policies. The attacks of the Jeffersonians were somewhat muted by the Alien and Sedition Act.

Adams faced substantial opposition within his own party. Hamilton opposed Adams reelection and schemed to have Pickney, Adams vice Presidential candidate receive more electoral votes and thus become President. The election was settled when the New York legislature became dominated by supporters of Jefferson, thus providing him with 12 key electoral votes. The defeat to the Federalist however, did not end the Election of 1800. The Democratic-Republicans made the mistake of assigning the same number of electoral votes to both Jefferson as Burr. Thus no one had the majority of votes, and the election was turned over to the House of Representatives. The House deliberated from February 11th to February 17th and voted 36 times. The Federalist had decided to support Burr, whom many felt was a lesser evil then the "dangerous" Jefferson. They would have won since they were the majority of the outgoing House. However, the constitution called for the election of President by the House to be on a state by state basis, and the Federalist could not carry enough states. On the 36th ballot Jefferson was selected, but the country had come very close to having Aaron Burr as President.

This particular election was significant because for several years the nation had been divided based solely upon ones political status. Federalists and democratic- Republicans