Election of 1800 and Today

• President Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts into law

• These Acts were widely hated and seen as unconstitutional

• The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (Secretly written by Jefferson and Madison) attacked the Acts, calling for states to nullify them

• Jefferson and Adams, former friends, are now bitter political rivals

• Adams decides to run for re-election as the Federalist Party Candidate

• Jefferson, leading the Republican Party, runs against him

• SUMMARY of Adam's campaign: "Vote for me because I'm better than you"

• SUMMARY of Jefferson's campaign: "Vote for me, I am not John Adams"

• FLASHBACK: "The electoral college had each elector cast a vote for their 1^st choice and 2^nd choice"

• To ensure that their President and Vice President Candidates won, one elector from each party was supposed to not cast a 2^nd choice vote

Adams and Pinckney lost, but.......

The Republican elector forgot to not cast his 2^nd choice vote

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Now Jefferson and Burr are tied!

There were sixteen states, each with one vote; an absolute majority of nine was required for victory.

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Problem! The Federalists controlled Congress! (and there were no Federalists left in the race!)

• Alexander Hamilton breaks the tie by supporting Thomas Jefferson

• He would much rather have someone with wrong principles than someone devoid of any

• This would later cause a change in how we elect our President (12^th Amendment)

• Acknowledged that the election was very intense and caused much division, and so He called for unity of the American People

• " We are all Federalists, We are all Republicans"

• Announces his Jeffersonian Revolution, a switch to Small Government, shrinking the Government, and States Rights

• Eventually gets the 12th Amendment passed​ (separate votes for Pres. & VP)