The Presidential Election of 1800 threw the United States into an uproar. It was a rematch between John Adams (Federalist) and Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican). Adams became President in 1796, beating Jefferson by just a few electoral college votes.

These two candidates opposed each other from two different political parties with very different ideas about how the nation should develop. The deep divisions between these two parties kept emotions high throughout the Presidential Election of 1800.

THE NATION TURNS ON THE FEDERALISTS

Adams had been elected in 1796 and was seeking reelection. Jefferson got second place in the Election of 1796 had served as Vice President under Adams, but the two men do not agree on how to govern the new nation.

Members of both parties accused their opponents of disloyalty. Each party thought the other wanted to undermine democracy. The new nation seemed to be tearing itself apart.

By the eve of the Presidential Election of 1800, Adams had become an unpopular president. Many people felt that the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by the Federalist Party unfairly restricted free speech.

In addition, members of Adams own Federalists party were upset with him because he raised taxes to fund the military during the Quasi War.

Voters who had supported Adams in 1796 turned against him. Jefferson and the Democratic Republicans were expected to win the election by a large majority.

When the Electoral College met to officially vote for President, however, something startling happened... the two Democratic-Republican candidates, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, tied!

At the time, the rules of the Electoral College stated that each elector would vote for two candidates for President, with the top two becoming President and Vice President.

The Democratic Republicans had hoped to get Jefferson to the top spot and Burr in second place, but the plan backfired and they tied instead.

BREAKING THE TIE

Now, the House of Representatives would have to vote to break the tie. They met on February 9, 1801, to pick the President. Each of the 16 states had one vote. They voted 35 times, each time the score was 8-8, it looked like they would never break the tie.

Finally, Alexander Hamilton (Federalist) was determined to get a winner between Jefferson (Democratic Republican) and Burr (Democratic Republican). He convinced several states to change their votes to Jefferson. Hamilton thought Jefferson would do a better job as President than Burr. Jefferson ended up winning the election on the 36th vote, becoming the third President of the United States.

THE 12th AMENDMENT

The Election of 1800 exposed a serious problem. Government officials realized it was problematic to have the person with the second most votes in the Electoral College become Vice President.

In 1804, Congress passed the 12th Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment requires electors to vote for a President and Vice President separately. Now someone running for Vice President could not accidentally be elected President.

Going forward, a Presidential candidate could pick his VP candidate, so that they would come from the same political party.

THE MOST FAMOUS DUEL IN AMERICAN HISTORY

Aaron Burr was furious with Alexander Hamilton for choosing Jefferson over him in the Election of 1800. This led to a feud that lasted for several years between the two men.

Finally it culminated in the two men going to New Jersey to settle their differences with a duel. They went to New Jersey because at the time, in 1804, duels were legal in that state.

When the two men met in New Jersey, it appeared that they both realized that the duel was a silly idea. Hamilton didn't want to kill Burr (Burr was the Vice President of the US), his plan was to shoot into the air instead of shooting at Burr. But Burr was still very mad at Hamilton. When the two men squared off, Hamilton shot into the air... but Burr shot right at Hamilton, killing him!

Burr had killed Hamilton in the duel. People all over the nation were upset with Burr for taking the duel seriously and not symbolic. Since Burr hadn't broken the law, there wasn't much that anyone could do to him. Despite the fact that he never went to jail, Burrs political career and reputation never recovered. Jefferson chose someone else to be his Vice President in 1804, and Burr eventually moved to Europe in shame.

"We are all (Democratic) Republicans, we are all Federalists," Jefferson declared. He knew that people would have to work together from both political parties for the nation to grow strong.