United States elections, 1796

Partisan control of Congress and the presidency
Previous party
Incoming party
President Independent Federalist
House Democratic-Republican Federalist
Senate Federalist Federalist

The 1796 United States elections elected the members of the 5th United States Congress. The election took place during the beginning stages of the First Party System, as the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party clashed over the states' rights, the financial policies of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, and the recently-ratified Jay Treaty. The Federalists maintained control of the Senate, and won control of the House and the presidency.

In the first contested Presidential election and the first presidential election in which parties played a major role, Federalist Vice President John Adams narrowly defeated Democratic-Republican former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.[1] Adams won New England while Jefferson won the South, leaving the mid-Atlantic states to decide the election. As the election took place prior to the ratification of the 12th Amendment, Jefferson, who finished with the second most electoral votes, succeeded Adams as vice president. Federalist former Governor Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina finished with the third most electoral votes, while Democratic-Republican Senator Aaron Burr of New York finished in fourth place. This election marked the only time in American history that members of two different political parties were elected as president and vice president. Adams's election made him the first member of a political party to be elected president, as George Washington had refused to formally join the Federalist Party.

In the House, Federalists won moderate gains, taking majority control of the chamber.[2]

In the Senate, Federalists picked up one seat, maintaining a commanding majority in the chamber.[3]

See also

References

  1. "1796 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  2. "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  3. "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present". United States Senate. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.