The Election of 1816
Two centuries ago this year, the United States had another election without an incumbent president. Although he was not yet constitutionally bound to do so, incumbent President James Madison decided to follow the precedent set by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and not seek a third term in office. It's not clear that Madison would had won in he had wanted to. In hindsight, much of the War of 1812 didn't turn out the way many thought it would when the rush to war began. While there were some victorious moments (the Battle of New Orleans and some naval victories), many Americans still recalled the burning of the White House, the surrender of General Hull's forces to a smaller British Army at Detroit and a number of raids by Indian tribes. Many saw these defeats as a reflection on Madison's leadership.
Despite this, the peace that was concluded in 1815 seemed to satisfy most Americans. Whatever mistakes the Democratic-Republicans had made, the Federalists had fallen out of favor even more due to their opposition to the war and the secessionist rumblings out of New England. In the winter of 1814-15, in a series of meetings known as the Hartford Convention of 1814-15, New England Federalists had proposed secession and brokering a separate peace with Great Britain. When the war ended with victory at the Battle of New Orleans, the Federalists' conduct during the war cast them in a poor light among their countrymen. In addition, Madison had succeeded in achieving some of the things that were favored by the Federalists, such as the creation of a national bank and protective tariffs. This gave the Federalists little to campaign on.
At that time, the parties selected their candidate by a vote among their caucuses. For the Democratic-Republicans, Secretary of State James Monroe was an early favorite for the nomination. He had the support of both former President Thomas Jefferson and incumbent President Madison. However, Monroe faced stiff competition from Secretary of War William H. Crawford of Georgia. He also faced opposition from those who felt that it was time to end what was called the "Virginia Dynasty" of Presidents. (Up to then, every President except for John Adams had come from Virginia.) This sentiment was especially strong in New York. But Monroe had a long record of service both at home (he had served as a congressman, senator and governor of Virginia as well as serving as secretary of state and of war) and abroad (he had been the Minister to France and Great Britain) and his wealth of experience made him the man to beat.
Crawford never formally declared himself a candidate, because he believed that he had little chance against Monroe. He was also worried that this would prevent him from gaining a spot in the cabinet if Monroe won. But his supporters promoted his candidacy. The opposition was significant. In March of 1816, Democratic-Republican congressmen in caucus nominated Monroe for President and New York Governor Daniel D. Tompkins for Vice President. Monroe defeated Crawford for the nomination by a vote of 65 to 54. Tompkins victory was more solid as he defeated his only opponent, Pennsylvania Governor Simon Snyder, by a vote of 85 to 30.
The Federalist caucus did not even conduct a formal nomination vote. New York Senator Rufus King ran as his party's candidate. King had been defeated twice before as the Federalist vice presidential candidate. Former Senator John Eager Howard of Maryland was the Federalist candidate for vice president.
The mood of the country was such that the result was never really in doubt. Monroe won the presidency by a greater margin than he had won his party's nomination. By this point, 10 of the 19 states selected their electors by popular vote. The other nine had their electors selected by the state legislature. Voting took place from Friday, November 1 to Wednesday, December 4, 1816.
On February 12, 1817, the House and Senate met in joint session to count the electoral votes for President and Vice President. The count proceeded without incident until it came time to count the votes of Indiana. At that point, Representative John W. Taylor of New York objected to the counting of Indiana's votes. His objection was that since Congress had acknowledged the statehood of Indiana in a joint resolution on December 11, 1816, and since the ballots of the Electoral College had been cast on December 4, 1816, then Indiana's electoral votes should not count because at the time of the balloting, Indiana was a territory, not a State of Indiana. Other representatives disagreed with Taylor, and argued that the joint resolution merely recognized that Indiana had already joined the Union by forming a state constitution and government on June 29, 1816. They pointed out that both the House and Senate had seated members from Indiana who had been elected prior to the joint resolution. Representative Samuel D. Ingham then moved that the question be postponed indefinitely. The motion passed almost unanimously, and the Senate was brought back in to count the electoral votes from Indiana.
The argument about Indiana did not alter the outcome. When the votes were counted, Monroe had won all but three of the nineteen states. King won only in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Delaware for a total of 34 electoral votes, compared to 183 for Monroe. Each of the three states that were won by King voted for a different person for Vice President.
Maryland has a history of being different, and it lived up to that reputation in the election of 1816. The state divided itself into electoral districts, with each district choosing one elector. Three of Maryland's eleven districts were won by Federalist electors. However, these electors did not vote for King. Instead they cast blank votes as a protest, thus resulting in Monroe winning the votes of all the Maryland state electors.
Rather than gloat over the hard times that his opponents had fallen on, Monroe largely ignored old party lines in making appointments to lower posts. This resulted in a reduction of political tensions leading to what has been dubbed the "Era of Good Feelings". He made two long national tours in 1817 to build national trust. Frequent stops on these tours allowed innumerable ceremonies of welcome and expressions of good will. Support for Federalist Party continued to decline during his administration.
The strategy was so successful that when Monroe ran for reelection in 1820, he ran unopposed, the only president other than Washington to do so. It was only a single elector from New Hampshire who cast a vote for John Quincy Adams, that prevented Monroe was obtaining a unanimous vote in the Electoral College in 1820.
Despite this, the peace that was concluded in 1815 seemed to satisfy most Americans. Whatever mistakes the Democratic-Republicans had made, the Federalists had fallen out of favor even more due to their opposition to the war and the secessionist rumblings out of New England. In the winter of 1814-15, in a series of meetings known as the Hartford Convention of 1814-15, New England Federalists had proposed secession and brokering a separate peace with Great Britain. When the war ended with victory at the Battle of New Orleans, the Federalists' conduct during the war cast them in a poor light among their countrymen. In addition, Madison had succeeded in achieving some of the things that were favored by the Federalists, such as the creation of a national bank and protective tariffs. This gave the Federalists little to campaign on.
At that time, the parties selected their candidate by a vote among their caucuses. For the Democratic-Republicans, Secretary of State James Monroe was an early favorite for the nomination. He had the support of both former President Thomas Jefferson and incumbent President Madison. However, Monroe faced stiff competition from Secretary of War William H. Crawford of Georgia. He also faced opposition from those who felt that it was time to end what was called the "Virginia Dynasty" of Presidents. (Up to then, every President except for John Adams had come from Virginia.) This sentiment was especially strong in New York. But Monroe had a long record of service both at home (he had served as a congressman, senator and governor of Virginia as well as serving as secretary of state and of war) and abroad (he had been the Minister to France and Great Britain) and his wealth of experience made him the man to beat.
Crawford never formally declared himself a candidate, because he believed that he had little chance against Monroe. He was also worried that this would prevent him from gaining a spot in the cabinet if Monroe won. But his supporters promoted his candidacy. The opposition was significant. In March of 1816, Democratic-Republican congressmen in caucus nominated Monroe for President and New York Governor Daniel D. Tompkins for Vice President. Monroe defeated Crawford for the nomination by a vote of 65 to 54. Tompkins victory was more solid as he defeated his only opponent, Pennsylvania Governor Simon Snyder, by a vote of 85 to 30.
The Federalist caucus did not even conduct a formal nomination vote. New York Senator Rufus King ran as his party's candidate. King had been defeated twice before as the Federalist vice presidential candidate. Former Senator John Eager Howard of Maryland was the Federalist candidate for vice president.
The mood of the country was such that the result was never really in doubt. Monroe won the presidency by a greater margin than he had won his party's nomination. By this point, 10 of the 19 states selected their electors by popular vote. The other nine had their electors selected by the state legislature. Voting took place from Friday, November 1 to Wednesday, December 4, 1816.
On February 12, 1817, the House and Senate met in joint session to count the electoral votes for President and Vice President. The count proceeded without incident until it came time to count the votes of Indiana. At that point, Representative John W. Taylor of New York objected to the counting of Indiana's votes. His objection was that since Congress had acknowledged the statehood of Indiana in a joint resolution on December 11, 1816, and since the ballots of the Electoral College had been cast on December 4, 1816, then Indiana's electoral votes should not count because at the time of the balloting, Indiana was a territory, not a State of Indiana. Other representatives disagreed with Taylor, and argued that the joint resolution merely recognized that Indiana had already joined the Union by forming a state constitution and government on June 29, 1816. They pointed out that both the House and Senate had seated members from Indiana who had been elected prior to the joint resolution. Representative Samuel D. Ingham then moved that the question be postponed indefinitely. The motion passed almost unanimously, and the Senate was brought back in to count the electoral votes from Indiana.
The argument about Indiana did not alter the outcome. When the votes were counted, Monroe had won all but three of the nineteen states. King won only in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Delaware for a total of 34 electoral votes, compared to 183 for Monroe. Each of the three states that were won by King voted for a different person for Vice President.
Maryland has a history of being different, and it lived up to that reputation in the election of 1816. The state divided itself into electoral districts, with each district choosing one elector. Three of Maryland's eleven districts were won by Federalist electors. However, these electors did not vote for King. Instead they cast blank votes as a protest, thus resulting in Monroe winning the votes of all the Maryland state electors.
Rather than gloat over the hard times that his opponents had fallen on, Monroe largely ignored old party lines in making appointments to lower posts. This resulted in a reduction of political tensions leading to what has been dubbed the "Era of Good Feelings". He made two long national tours in 1817 to build national trust. Frequent stops on these tours allowed innumerable ceremonies of welcome and expressions of good will. Support for Federalist Party continued to decline during his administration.
The strategy was so successful that when Monroe ran for reelection in 1820, he ran unopposed, the only president other than Washington to do so. It was only a single elector from New Hampshire who cast a vote for John Quincy Adams, that prevented Monroe was obtaining a unanimous vote in the Electoral College in 1820.