The electoral system broke down in the election of 1800 because of the
a. rise of political parties.
b. 12th Amendment.
C. use of the national convention as a nominating device.
d. appearance of a presidential primary.
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is a. rise of political parties.
In the election of 1800, the United States witnessed a significant breakdown in the electoral system, largely due to the rise of political parties. Before this time, presidential electors were expected to cast two votes for different individuals, with the candidate receiving the most votes becoming president and the runner-up becoming vice president. This system worked well when elections were primarily conducted without party affiliations.
However, by the time of the 1800 election, political parties had emerged, specifically the Federalists, led by President John Adams, and the Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson. This led to problems in the electoral process because party members, especially those from the same party, would often vote for two candidates from their own party, as happened with the Democratic-Republican electors in 1800. Both Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, received the same number of electoral votes, leading to a tie.
This tie between Jefferson and Burr threw the decision to the House of Representatives, which was required to break the tie. After 36 ballots and significant political maneuvering, Jefferson was finally declared the winner. This electoral crisis revealed flaws in the original electoral system, particularly in how it failed to account for political parties, which were not foreseen by the framers of the Constitution.
As a result of this breakdown, the 12th Amendment was passed in 1804 to address the issue by requiring electors to cast separate votes for president and vice president. This amendment fixed the problem that had emerged due to the rise of political parties, ensuring that future elections would not experience the same confusion and potential gridlock.