Chapter 10.5 Election of 1800 With John Adams threatening American civil liberties with the Alien and Sedition Acts – It’s time for another election… – Who is the public going to pick this time?
Election of 1800 Federalists – John Adams 1 st sitting president who had to seriously campaign to keep his job – Charles Pinckney Picked because of success from XYZ Affair Democratic –Republican – Thomas Jefferson VP who really wants to be POTUS – Aaron Burr Popular politician within Democratic –Republican party
Election of 1800 Breakdown Thomas Jefferson - 73 electoral votes Aaron Burr - 73 electoral votes John Adams - 65 electoral votes Problem: – If there is a tie for 1 st, who wins? Who becomes VPOTUS? It goes to the House of Representatives to pick from the top 2 candidates!
In the case of a tie…House of Representatives picks the new POTUS In the H of Reps – Most of the majority political party is the Federalists: They refuse to vote for TJ – They pick Burr just because they hate Thomas Jefferson – The Democratic-Republican’s make up the rest They vote for Jefferson What happens? – It’s a tie vote 30 straight times… » Then, it gets weird….
Enter Alexander Hamilton Because he hated Aaron Burr so much… – He got the Federalists to not vote at all That way Jefferson could win! – Becomes 3 rd POTUS Aaron Burr is furious – He becomes VPOTUS – Because of this…. » Aaron Burr and Hamilton will be lifelong enemies… Until one shoots the other.
The U.S. Constitution gets a new amendment 12 th amendment – Added in 1803 Created 2 ballots for presidential elections: 1 for POTUS 1 for VPOTUS That way there can never be a tie again….we hope.
So what happens after the election of 1800… Thomas Jefferson is excited!!! – Gets to become next POTUS John Adams is very disappointed he took 3 rd. – Goes home to Massachusetts to retire. Was happy that the power of the POTUS passed freely to another political party – Showed that our government was strong enough to endure. Aaron Burr and Alex Hamilton? – It takes 4 years, but It’s time to duel it out…
According to historians… this is what happened. july /sarah-vowell july /sarah-vowell
The Duel at Dawn…July 11, 1804 Aaron Burr challenges Hamilton to the duel – They are to meet in New Jersey Rules of duel: – They will march off 10 paces – They will turn and present arms – On command, they will fire at each other If they both miss, you repeat…
The Death of Alexander Hamilton Hamilton shoots the tree next to Burr Burr shoots Hamilton in the chest – He dies the next day With his death and John Adams retirement – The Federalist party ends.
The Life of Alexander Hamilton…in poem. dia_2.html dia_2.html
That’s it…we’re done. Study for your test!!!