1800 United States presidential election

The **1800 United States presidential election** was the fourth election in the history of the United States. It occurred from October 31 to December 3, 1800. This election was between the Democratic-Republican nominee, Vice President Thomas Jefferson of Virginia and the Federalist nominee, President John Adams of Massachusetts. Both Jefferson and his running mate, senator Aaron Burr of New York, had tied for first when they both won 73 electoral votes, thus sending it to the House of Representatives for a contingent election between Jefferson and Burr. Adams would come in third place as he had won 65 electoral votes.

As per Article 2, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution, since none of the four nominees won the minimum 131 electoral votes needed to become President, the House would come together and vote among the top two candidates on who would replace incumbent President John Adams.

The House of Representatives would meet nearly two weeks before the inauguration on February 17, 1801, to elect which of the two leading candidates, Jefferson or Burr, would be elected as the 3rd President. At the time of the contigegent election, there were 16 states, thus the minimum number of states needed to be elected as President was 9. Jefferson won the vote on the 36th ballot, winning 10 of the 16 states and being elected as the 3rd President, while Aaron Burr was elected as the 3rd Vice President as he won 4 of the 16 states. Two states (Delaware and South Carolina) chose to not support either Jefferson or Burr.

This election would begin the 25+ year era of control on the White House and the presidency, which would span from Mar. 1801 with the swearing in of Jefferson to his first term as President until the inauguration of Andrew Jackson as the 7th President in 1829. This was also the first presidential election in U.S. history to be a rematch as well as the first election where an incumbent president lost re-election, leading to the first time ine modern history where a national government changed hands peaceably following a free election.

This was also the last election to take place prior to the establishment of the 12th Amendment in June 1804

## Background

Before the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the second place winner was the vice president. Because of this, Thomas Jefferson became John Adams' vice president even though they hated each other. This caused it to be an awkward time as the enemies had to work together. When the 1800 election rolled around, everyone was divided and furious. Adams had passed many unpopular laws like the Alien and Sedition Acts. John Adams was also called out for being too friendly with Britain, and his supporters responded by calling Jefferson supporters "Radical Atheists". This was the last election in America before the twelfth amendment was passed. There were technically two other people running, but they were more like vice presidential candidates. If electors supported one candidate, they were told to put their other vote to that candidate's unofficial vice president nominee, expecting that if they won, the other person would be in second place. John Adams' unofficial vice president candidate was Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Jefferson's was Aaron Burr.

### Democratic-Republican Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#228B22; width:200px;"|Thomas Jefferson|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#228B22; width:200px;"|Aaron Burr|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**180**</big><big>**0 Democratic-Republican Party Ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#90EE90; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#90EE90; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|2nd Vice President of the United States <small>(1797-1801)</small>|U.S. Senator from New York <small>(1791-1797)</small>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#FF7F50; width:200px;"|John Adams|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#FF7F50; width:200px;"||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1800 Federalist Party Ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFDAB9; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFDAB9; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|2nd President of the United States <small>(1797-1801)|6th U.S. Minister to France <small>(1796–1797)</small>|||

## Results

Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr both got 73 electoral votes. However, since they got the same, the Senate had to vote on which one would become president and which one would be vice president. Jefferson ended up being president. However, it was hard because the Senate was still controlled by people who didn't like Jefferson and Burr. Adams got 65 electoral votes. His vice president candidate, Pinckney, got 64, with the one other vote going to John Jay. If Adams was reelected, he wouldn't have had to deal with the Senate vote.

## Infobox (election)

- **child**: yes
- **election name**: 1801 contingent U.S. presidential election
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **election date**: February 17, 1801 (36th ballot)
- **votes for election**: 16 state delegations of the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives
- **needed votes**: 9 state
- **image1**:
- **candidate1**: **Thomas Jefferson**
- **party1**: Democratic-Republican Party
- **states carried1**: **10**
- **percentage1**: **62.5%**
- **image2**:
- **candidate2**: **Aaron Burr**
- **party2**: Democratic-Republican Party
- **states carried2**: 4
- **percentage2**: 25.0%
- **map image**: USAContingent1801.svg
- **map caption**: 1801 Contingent Election Results. <span style="color:green;">Green</span> denotes states voting for Jefferson and <span style="color:#0055d4ff;">blue</span> denotes states voting for Burr. States in <span style="color:#808080ff;">grey</span> cast blank ballots.


## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 1800 United States presidential election
- **country**: United States
- **flag year**: 1795
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **previous election**: 1796 United States presidential election
- **previous year**: 1796
- **next election**: 1804 United States presidential election
- **next year**: 1804
- **votes for election**: 138 members of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College
- **needed votes**: 70 electoral
- **turnout**: 32.3%  12.2 percentage point, pp
- **election date**: October 31 – December 3, 1800
- **image1**: File:Official Presidential portrait of Thomas Jefferson (by Rembrandt Peale, 1800) (3x4 cropped).jpg
- **image size**: 200x200px
- **nominee1**: **Thomas Jefferson**
- **party1**: Democratic-Republican Party
- **running mate1**: **Aaron Burr**
- **home state1**: Virginia
- **electoral vote1**: **73**
- **states carried1**: **9**
- **popular vote1**: **45,511**
- **percentage1**: **60.6%**
- **image2**: File:Gilbert Stuart, John Adams, c. 1800-1815, NGA (3x4 cropped).jpg
- **nominee2**: John Adams
- **color2**: EA9978
- **party2**: Federalist Party
- **running mate2**: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
- **home state2**: Massachusetts
- **electoral vote2**: 65
- **states carried2**: 7
- **popular vote2**: 29,621
- **percentage2**: 39.4%
- **map size**: 350px
- **map caption**: Presidential election results map. <span style="color:green;">Green</span> denotes states won by Jefferson/Burr and <span style="color:#EA9978;">Salmon</span> denotes states won by Adams/Pinckney. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.
- **title**: President
- **before election**: John Adams
- **before party**: Federalist Party
- **after election**: Thomas Jefferson
- **after party**: Democratic-Republican Party
- **map image**: File:ElectoralCollege1800.svg
- **image2 size**: x200px