A Brief History
On December 1, 1824, it was determined that the vote for the presidential election of 1824 did not have a winner! Andrew Jackson of Tennessee had the most popular votes (151,271) and had won the most electoral votes (99), but a candidate needed to win 131 of the 261 available electoral votes in order to be elected president.
Digging Deeper
The main competition for Jackson, a war hero as well as former governor and senator, known as a man of the people (or a backwoods ruffian, depending on point of view) was a Northern elite, John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, who received only 113,122 popular votes. Several other men also ran in the election, with two of them, Henry Clay and William Crawford snagging 78 of the precious electoral votes.
If the situation was not goofy enough (as this sort of electoral fiasco had not happened in the previous 9 presidential elections), Adams and Jackson were from the same party (that is, Democratic-Republican) and had the same running mate (John C. Calhoun)! Jackson had carried 12 states to Adams 7, and the also-rans garnered 5 states between them.
By law, specifically the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, the election was sent to the US House of Representatives which finally gave a long awaited election result on February 9, 1825. This election ended the so called “era of good feelings” in which the previous 6 presidential elections were won by the single major party in the country, the Democratic-Republican Party. The House had elected John Quincy Adams, despite Jackson’s superior performance at the polls (as the popular election was not even close!). Needless to say, Jackson and his supporters cried “foul” and attributed the vote of the House of representatives to corrupt politics.
Jackson and his friends broke off from the parent party and eventually changed the name to just the Democratic Party. Jackson won the 1828 and 1832 presidential elections outright and thus got his vindication. A colorful character indeed, Jackson had killed a man in a duel and was not averse to physically pounding another man that had attacked or insulted him. We put his likeness on our $20 bill which we use today, and in previous years Jackson has also graced the $5, $10, and $10,000 bills, and oddly enough also the Confederate $1000 bill.
Adams was a 1 term president that lost in his reelection bid to Jackson, but nonetheless had a stellar career in law and politics, also serving as Secretary of State, US Senator, US Representative, and Minister to several different European countries. Adams was a Harvard graduate, even back then a prestigious alma mater. He is also famous for his successful representation to the US Supreme Court of the escaped slaves that had taken over the slave ship, Amistad (in the famous case, US vs. The Amistad, 1841, a case immortalized as a major motion picture). Not surprisingly, Adams was an abolitionist.
Question for students (and subscribers): Which of these two men would you vote for? Please tell us why in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Ratcliffe, Donald. The One-Party Presidential Contest: Adams, Jackson, and 1824’s Five-Horse Race (American Presidential Elections). University Press of Kansas, 2015.
Spielberg, Steven, dir. Amistad. Dreamworks Video, 1999. DVD.
The featured image in this article is a map obtained from an edition of the National Atlas of the United States. Like almost all works of the U.S. federal government, works from the National Atlas are in the public domain in the United States.
You can also watch a video version of this article on YouTube.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="12334 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=12334">19 Comments
This strange incident could have been the end of this new nation, but luckily they handled it very well, even if the winner was a surprise to a lot of voters.
N.W.
It is weird that even with the most popular vote and the most electoral votes, he lost the election. It is weird how politics work sometimes, especially in this situation.
This was a very odd election. Thankfully, the situation was
handled well. It is hard to decide which of the two I would’ve voted for since
both were great politicians.
It’s crazy that the House had elected John Quincy Adams, despite Jackson’s win of the popular and electoral votes! It’s definitely strange!
I read the Amistad when i was in high school and loved it! It is such a powerful story and shows that people should stand up for themselves!
This doesn’t seem fair at all. He won the popular vote yet they can just come back at him and be like, “NOPE!”
This was interesting because I feel like because he won the popular vote that that should have mattered a lot more than it did. I’ve never really liked politics though
It’s hard to say who I would vote for but if I were there during this time period after Jackson became such a hero of war, I probably would’ve swayed his way.
Also I find it incredible that you could win the popular vote and lose the election. Good ole politics.
I have no idea who I would have voted for knowing that each one had good qualities and both have gone on to be national figures.
I find it very interesting that both Jackson and Adams both had the same running mate. I would not know who to vote for because they were both solid presidents
a very shady thing that happened in the past for the election the fact that they elected john Quincy Adams instead
I think I would have voted for Adams, mainly because I like how he was portrayed in the movie clip of Amistad.
I find it strange that even though he won the electoral and the popular vote, he still lost the election.
I don’t think it is fair that even though he won the populate vote, Jackson did not win the election. It is obvious enough that most Americans wanted him as president, so that should have made the decision of the House easy.
I would have to imagine many Americans being confused by this surprising outcome. However, knowing all that I do about each Candidate, I believe I would have probably voted John Adams. I share more similar social values to Adams eventhough Jackson was a successful war hero.
I’m sure many Americans at the time were confused and upset
that a presidential candidate could win both the electoral and popular votes
but lose the presidential election.
The whole election just sounds like a mess haha Glad that many adjustments have been made in the Presidential election. Very funny that they had the same running mate as well.
Presidential elections have apparently always been dramatic and eventful. I’m not sure who I would have voted for back then…Jackson or Adams. I do respect someone that sticks up for himself, but Adams was also apparently worthy of respect for his work in the Supreme Court with his abolitionist work.