Election of 1800

Students will use the data in this 1800 Electoral College tally to identify and explain some of the major issues revealed by one of the most important elections in US history. This activity may be used during a lesson about the Early Republic, the Constitutional Amendment process, and/or the development of political parties in either a history or civics course. For grades 5-8. Approximate time needed is 25 minutes.

Use this activity as a class, in small groups, in pairs, or individually. Ask students to read the introduction and instructions and begin the activity. Their attention will be drawn to the information pins that will prime them to answer the questions in the “When You’re Done” section.

Model document analysis. Direct student’s attention to one of the “i” buttons (e.g. how are states organized geographically) to show how they will click and read the questions. Point out the “+ Add Text” button that students will use to annotate the document with their answers.

As students work, provide some contextual information from the original wording of the US Constitution:

• Article I, Section 2:
  Representatives…shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons…[and] three fifths of all other Persons.Article 2, Section 1:
  Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.
• Article 2, Section 1:
  …The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President…after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President…

Discuss students’ answers to the “i” button questions as a class. The following background information may be helpful to explain to students once they have completed the activity

By the election of 1800, the nation’s first two parties were beginning to take shape. The Presidential race was hotly contested between the Federalist President, John Adams, and the Democratic-Republican candidate, Thomas Jefferson. Because the Constitution did not distinguish between President and Vice-President in the votes cast by each state’s electors in the Electoral College, both Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr received 73 votes.

According to Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, if two candidates each received a majority of the electoral votes but are tied, the House of Representatives would determine which one would be President. Therefore, the decision rested with the lame duck, Federalist-controlled House of Representatives.

Thirty-five ballots were cast over five days but neither candidate received a majority. Many Federalists saw Jefferson as their principal foe, whose election was to be avoided at all costs. But Alexander Hamilton, a well-respected Federalist party leader, hated Burr and advised Federalists in Congress that Jefferson was the safer choice. Finally, on February 17, 1801, on the thirty-sixth ballot, the House elected Thomas Jefferson to be President.  Due to the fact that this election was the first peaceful transfer of power between political parties in US history, it has been called the “Revolution of 1800.”

The tie vote between Jefferson and Burr in the 1801 Electoral College pointed out problems with the electoral system. The framers of the Constitution had not anticipated such a tie nor had they considered the possibility of the election of a President or Vice President from opposing factions – which had been the case in the 1796 election. In 1804, the passage of the 12th Amendment corrected these problems by providing for separate Electoral College votes for President and Vice President.

When students have clicked “When You’re Done” in the activity, ask them to respond to the follow-up questions. Then engage them in a class discussion that could include:

1. What role did the 3/5s compromise play in deciding the winners of the election of 1800?
2. What constitutional issue did the election of 1800s results help reveal?  How was that issue fixed?
3. The election of 1800 has been called by some the “Revolution of 1800?”  Do you feel that title is appropriate? Why or why not?

This activity was adapted from “Election of 1800” in the New York City Department of Education’s Passport to Social Studies, Grade 7, Unit 3, Lesson 16 (pg. 166-173).