Year 1800 witnessed a historically election that was fought between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams for the President of the United States. The results of the election would act as one of the most important pages in the book of history that would shape the country’s future for generations to come. The election took a big turn when John Adams came in third, and there was a tie between the two Republican candidates, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The audio of Thomas Jefferson describes the race as an “arising deadlock between Burr and Jefferson.” (Ace, 1:55). The audio demonstrates how the media could only see this election as the race between Adams and Jefferson.
In order to vote for the President and Vice-President …show more content…
According to their Constitution, each elector had two votes and majority of the vote was for both their party’s nominees. According to Alexander from the Legend of America, “The Federalist wanted to avoid a tie, so party arranged for an elector to use it’s one vote for John Jay.” (Alexander) They were forced to vote for someone who wasn’t in the race, in order to avoid another tie. In February of 1801, the majority voter of 16 states would be required for victory. Many of the Federalists were unwilling to vote for Jefferson, giving Burr six of the 16 states. However, the seven states controlled by the Republicans gave their vote to Jefferson. This process according to the audio “went on for seven.” (Ace, 15:30) After James Bayard of Delaware voted for Jefferson, the vote count was: Jefferson 10 and Burr 4. However, after the flaws were exposed, the constitution was corrected. After the last two elections, the twelfth amendment was passed, which made each elector cast a vote for the President and the Vice-President. In 1796 elections, Jefferson, a Republican, served as Vice-President and Adams, a Federalist, served as the President. Also in 1800 elections, resulted in a tie and the confusion for the Presidency. This helped to establish clarity in the election process going