Question

The election of 1824 ended in a deadlock (i.e., no candidate received a majority of votes in the Electoral College), as directed by the _____ amendment, the House of Representatives had to choose among the top three candidates.
A) Ninth
B) Tenth
C) Eleventh
D) Twelfth
E) Thirteenth

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is D. The election of 1824 ended in a deadlock (i.e., no candidate received a majority of votes in the Electoral College), as directed by the Twelfth amendment, the House of Representatives had to choose among the top three candidates.

Explanation:

The presidential elections of 1824 were held from October 26 to December 2, 1824. The election was conducted between four members of the Democratic-Republican Party. None of them received an absolute majority in the electoral vote, so the presidential election was transferred to the House of Representatives under the provision of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution. On February 9, 1825, John Quincy Adams was elected President by the House of Representatives. He became the first president to have lost in electoral college.

After the election, the group led by Andrew Jackson, who lost the election but won both the popular and the electoral vote, evolved into the Democratic Party, while the Adams faction formed the National Republican Party and later the Whig Party.