United States presidential election, 1816
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The United States presidential election of 1816 came at the end of the two-term presidency of Democratic-Republican James Madison. With the opposition Federalist Party in collapse, Madison's Secretary of State, James Monroe, was seen by many as pre-ordained to succeed him into the presidency. Indeed, Monroe won the electoral college by the wide margin of 183 to 34.
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[edit] Background
The previous four years were dominated by the War of 1812. While it had not ended in victory, the peace was nonetheless satisfactory to the American people, and the Democratic-Republicans received the credit for its prosecution. The Federalists had been discredited by their opposition to the war and talk of secession by New England. Furthermore, President Madison had adopted such Federalist policies as a national bank and protective tariffs, which would give the Federalists few issues to campaign on.
[edit] Nominations
The Democratic-Republican caucus nominated Secretary of State James Monroe and New York Governor Daniel D. Tompkins. The Federalist caucus did not even bother to make a formal nomination, although many Federalists supported New York Senator Rufus King, who had been defeated twice before as the Federalist vice presidential candidate.
[edit] General election
[edit] Disputes
On February 12, 1817, the House and Senate met in joint session to count the electoral votes for President and Vice President. The count proceeded without incident until the roll came to the last state to be counted, Indiana. At that point, Representative John W. Taylor of New York objected to the counting of Indiana's votes. The Senate withdrew, and then the House deliberated upon Taylor's objection. To understand Taylor's objection, however, the reader will need some background:
Congress had passed an enabling act for the Territory of Indiana on April 19, 1816. It authorized the Territory to hold a constitutional convention for forming a state government and stated that the state, once formed, would be admitted to the United States. On December 11, 1816, Congress passed a joint resolution stating that Indiana had formed a state constitution on June 29, 1816, which had met the conditions of the enabling act and that Indiana was therefore admitted into the Union.
According to the Constitution, the casting of ballots by the Electoral College had to take place on a single day, and federal statute had set that day to be December 4, 1816. Taylor thus contended that the electoral votes had been cast by the Territory of Indiana, not the State of Indiana, and were thus void. Other representatives contradicted Taylor, asserting that the joint resolution merely recognized that Indiana had already joined the Union by the act of forming a state constitution and government. These representatives pointed out that both the House and Senate had seated members from Indiana who had been elected prior to the joint resolution, which would have been unconstitutional had Indiana not been a state at the time of their election.
Representative Samuel D. Ingham then moved that the question be postponed indefinitely. The House agreed almost unanimously, and the Senate was brought back in to count the electoral votes from Indiana.
[edit] References
- U.S. Congressional Documents
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- 30 Annals of Cong. 944–949 (1817)
- Act of April 19, 1816, ch. 57, 3 Stat. 289
- Resolution of December 11, 1816, res. 1, 3 Stat. 399
- Web
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- Official Name and Status History of the several States and U.S. Territories, an Explanation. The Green Papers (2001). Retrieved on December 18, 2005.
[edit] Results
The result of this election was foreordained the moment that the Democratic-Republican caucus nominated Monroe and Tompkins. When the votes were counted, Monroe had won all but three of the nineteen states.
Each of the three states that were won by King voted for a different person for Vice President. Massachusetts electors voted for former United States Senator (and future Governor) John E. Howard of Maryland. Delaware chose a different Marylander, sitting United States Senator Robert G. Harper. Connecticut split its vote between James Ross of Pennsylvania and Chief Justice John Marshall.
Maryland did not choose its electors as a slate; rather, it divided itself into electoral districts, with each district choosing one elector. Two of Maryland's eleven districts were won by Federalist electors. However, these electors did not vote for King or for a Federalist vice president, instead casting blank votes as a protest, and thus resulted in Monroe winning the votes through all the Maryland state electors.
| Presidential Candidate | Party | Home State | Popular Vote(a), (b) | Electoral Vote(c) | Running Mate | Running Mate's Home State |
Running Mate's Electoral Vote(c) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | |||||||
| James Monroe | Democratic-Republican | Virginia | 76,592 | 68.2% | 183 | Daniel D. Tompkins | New York | 183 |
| Rufus King | Federalist | New York | 34,740 | 30.9% | 34 | John Eager Howard | Maryland | 22 |
| James Ross | Pennsylvania | 5 | ||||||
| John Marshall | Virginia | 4 | ||||||
| Robert Goodloe Harper | Maryland | 3 | ||||||
| (unpledged electors) | (none) | (n/a) | 1,038 | 0.9% | 0 | (n/a) | (n/a) | 0 |
| Total | 112,370 | 100.0% | 217 | Total | 217 | |||
| Needed to win | 109 | Needed to win | 109 | |||||
Source (Popular Vote): U.S. President National Vote. Our Campaigns. (February 9, 2006).
Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 30, 2005).
(a) Only 10 of the 19 states chose electors by popular vote.
(b) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.
(c) One Elector from Delaware and three Electors from Maryland did not vote.
[edit] Electoral college selection
| Method of choosing Electors | State(s) |
|---|---|
| each Elector appointed by state legislature | Connecticut Delaware Georgia Indiana Louisiana Massachusetts New York South Carolina Vermont |
| each Elector chosen by voters statewide | New Hampshire New Jersey North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Virginia |
| state is divided into electoral districts, with one Elector chosen per district by the voters of that district | Kentucky Maryland Tennessee |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College. The Green Papers. Retrieved on March 20, 2005.
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