Question

Question 3(Multiple Choice Worth 5 points) [06.05 MC] Use the following text from the Twelfth Amendment to answer the following question:

The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.

In what way was the Twelfth Amendment important in the election of 1824?

No presidential candidate had received the majority of Electoral College votes. Some states had illegally appointed their electors to the Electoral College. The House of Representatives had not yet been elected for that year. The Speaker of the House was also a presidential candidate at the time.

Answer 1

The correct answer is A) No presidential candidate had received the majority of Electoral College votes.

The presidential election of 1824 saw Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and Henry Clay face off in a competitive election. After the votes were counted, none of these men had enough electoral college votes to win the presidency. This is where the 12th amendment comes in, as it states in the text included that if this was the case then the decision would go to the House of Representatives.

Thanks to a secret deal between Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams, Adams would become president thanks to the vote that took place in the House of Representatives. This would become known as the Corrupt Bargain.