1824 United States presidential election in Indiana

none June 2025 September 2023 1824 United States presidential election in Indiana United States 1822 presidential no 1820 United States presidential election in Indiana 1820 1828 United States presidential election in Indiana 1828 November 8, 1824 37.1%Madison 1986 330 160x160px Unsuccessful 1824.jpg Andrew Jackson Democratic-Republican Party 698DC5 Tennessee John C. Calhoun 5 7,444 46.9% Charles Bird King, Henry Clay, 1821, NGA 195003 (cropped).jpg Henry Clay Democratic-Republican Party Whig Party (United States) Kentucky Nathan Sanford 0 5,321 33.5% John quincy adams - thomas sully (Cropped).jpg John Quincy Adams Democratic-Republican Party 68C468 Massachusetts John C. Calhoun 0 3,093 19.5% 250px County results 250px Congressional district results 1 215px Jackson #B9D7FF 40–50% #86B6F2 50–60% #4389E3 60–70% #1666CB 70–80% Clay #FEF4B4 30–40% #FEE391 40–50% #FED463 50–60% #FE9929 60–70% #CC4C02 80–90% #8C2D04 90–100% Adams #F2B3BE 40–50% #E27F90 50–60% Unknown/No vote #828280 President James Monroe Democratic-Republican Party John Quincy Adams Democratic-Republican Party A presidential election was held in Indiana on November 8, 1824, as part of the 1824 United States presidential election. The junior U.S. senator from Tennessee Andrew Jackson defeated the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Henry Clay and the U.S. secretary of state John Quincy Adams. All three candidates represented the Democratic-Republican Party. No candidate won a majority of the electoral vote in the national election; Adams eventually became the 6th president of the United States after winning a contingent election conducted by the United States House of Representatives.Riker Thornbrough 1960 xvii–xviii This was the first election in which Indiana's electors were elected by voters statewide, rather than by appointment of the state legislature. Jackson was nominated by delegates to a convention held at Salem, Indiana, and drew support based on his military record, residence in a Western state, support for internal improvements, and fidelity to republican principles.Carmony 1998 476, 479, 481 Clay hoped to carry the state based on his advocacy for Western interests, but was harmed by closeness to political elites blamed for the lingering economic recession. Adams was popular with Quakers and others opponents of slavery, but perceived indifference to the need for regional economic development limited his appeal.Ratcliffe 2015 108–110 Jackson carried the state with a plurality based on his strength in Southern Indiana, while Clay won most of the sparsely-populated counties in Central Indiana. Adams ran a distant third in much of the state, but carried Randolph and Wayne counties, home to the Quaker stronghold of Richmond, Indiana.Carmony 1998 482 Background The Indiana General Assembly passed legislation in January 1824 to appoint the state's electors by a popular vote.Riker Thornbrough 1960 xvii Whether to elect all five electors on a statewide general ticket, or individually from single-member districts, was the subject of broad disagreement.Carmony 1998 476 Hoosier diarist Calvin Fletcher reported lively debate in Indianapolis on the merits of both methods versus appointment by the legislature.Thornbrough 1972 100 Clay's supporters in the General Assembly favored election by districts in the belief that their candidate could not win a statewide vote. The general ticket system was thought by some observers to encourage official corruption, by increasing the influence of those who promised to deliver the state's electoral votes in exchange for plum patronage jobs. Despite these objections, the General Assembly decided in favor of a general ticket.Carmony 1998 476 Candidates Jackson Jackson was first nominated by the Tennessee General Assembly and was not expected to attract significant support. His rapid rise in popularity took the political establishment by surprise. Jackson's military exploits in the War of 1812, the Creek War, and the Seminole Wars made him a household name and a possible presidential candidate as early as 1818. The candidate's humble origins, regional identity, commitment to republicanism, and support for nationalist economic policies appealed broadly to settlers seeking a Western alternative to Clay; his supporters presented the general as a principled democrat untainted by corrupt associations with Eastern politicians and foreign monarchs.Ratcliffe 2015 114 Carmony 1998 481 Jackson's opponents impeached his moral character, military record, and fitness for office. Anti-Jackson editors compared the general to historical military dictators and warned that his election would undermine civil control of the military. Jackson's explosive temper, predilection for violence and dueling, and disregard for the rule of law were said to disqualify him from the presidency.Carmony 1998 480–81 Lists of electors pledged to Jackson appeared as early as June. Confusion resulting from the lack of a central organization caused multiple competing Jackson tickets to circulate during the summer. To resolve this dilemma, Jackson's supporters held a state convention at Salem, Indiana, on September 16. With delegates from 13 of the state's 51 counties in attendance, the convention nominated a list of five electors and appointed a three-person state central committee. Local committees of correspondence were established in every county and township to conduct the campaign. The system developed by the Jacksonians for the 1824 campaign proved influential and became the model for future political campaigns in Indiana.Carmony 1998 478–79 Clay Clay was nominated by the Missouri, Kentucky, and Ohio state legislatures and hoped to emerged as the consensus choice of the Western states for president.Ratcliffe 2015 102 A veteran legislator and influential U.S. House speaker, Clay was the favorite candidate of many prominent Indiana politicians, including the governor of Indiana William Hendricks.Carmony 1998 476 The support of the political establishment was transformed from an asset to a liability following the Panic of 1819, however. Popular anger was directed at the Second Bank of the United States, with which Clay was personally associated, and economic legislation seen to unfairly benefit special interest groups. Clay's public image as the preferred candidate of local and national elites harmed his standing with voters eager to punish elected leaders they blamed for the economic downturn.Ratcliffe 2015 110 Supporters praised Clay's advocacy for Western interests, republican simplicity, and experience in domestic and international affairs.Carmony 1998 480 Clay believed that his sponsorship of nationalist economic policies would outweigh other concerns with voters in the Old Northwest.Ratcliffe 2015 109 Clay first hoped for a nomination by the Indiana General Assembly, but anti-caucus feeling in the state led his supporters to forgo this course. A list of electors pledged to Clay was printed by several newspapers and endorsed by the friendly Indianapolis Gazette. Supposedly the product of a grassroots movement for Clay in the state, the list was likely composed by a small group of Clay's legislative allies in Indianapolis.Carmony 1998 477–78 Adams Adams was nominated by the Democratic-Republicans in the Massachusetts General Court and received a majority of newspaper endorsements in Indiana.Ratcliffe 2015 68 Howard 1967 206 A list of electors pledged to him was announced by his allies in April and distributed through the press.Carmony 1998 478 The candidate's personal integrity, high moral character, sobriety, and abstention from dueling were all in his favor, and for a time he was seen as the leading rival to Clay for Indiana's electoral votes. Adams's religious convictions were an issue, with supporters affirming his reverence for the Bible and Christian teachings. Quakers and other opponents of slavery supported Adams as the only Northerner and non-slaveholder still in the race on Election Day.Ratcliffe 2015 112 Howard 1967 193–94 His opponents attacked Adams's past ties to the Federalist Party, his alleged elitism, and his votes against territorial acquisition and federal aid for regional economic development while a member of the Senate.Carmony 1998 480 Others Calvin Fletcher recorded that in addition to Adams, Clay, and Jackson, William H. Crawford, John C. Calhoun, and DeWitt Clinton were discussed as potential presidential candidates during the fall of 1823.Thornbrough 1972 99 Crawford's candidacy was irreparably damaged when he received the endorsement of the Democratic-Republican congressional nominating caucus in February 1824. The caucus nomination tarred Crawford as the candidate of the unpopular Eastern political establishment; before summer he had effectively dropped out of the race in Indiana, having failed to attract significant support.Carmony 1998 477 Clinton's failure to win legislative approval for a bill to elect New York's electors by popular vote effectively ended his candidacy in February. Around this time, Calhoun also withdrew from the race in order to seek the vice presidency on both the Adams and Jackson tickets.Ratcliffe 2015 92, 168 These developments left Adams, Clay, and Jackson as the only remaining candidates in Indiana.Carmony 1998 477 Campaign issues American System Economic nationalism and the need for internal improvements were important issues in the campaign. Clay was strongly associated with the American System, a protectionist economic program that called for tariffs on foreign manufactures to boost domestic industry and raise revenue for the construction of roads and canals in the West.Carmony 1998 480 Adams's perceived weakness on the tariff and his reluctance to voice support for internal improvements damaged his standing with voters in the Old Northwest who prioritized the need for economic development. The candidate was viewed as personally sympathetic to nationalist policies, but unwilling to break with New England merchants who opposed federal spending to benefit the Western states.Ratcliffe 2015 108–9 Jackson's surrogates also sought to strengthen their candidate's regional appeal by associating him with popular calls for protection and internal improvements.Carmony 1998 481 While Clay believed his position on the tariff would deliver the state, the unpopularity of his support for the Second Bank of the United States following the Panic of 1819 created an opening for Jackson to position himself as a nationalist alternative to the Kentuckian.Ratcliffe 2015 111–12 Caucus system The congressional nominating caucus was increasingly the object of disapproval by 1824, as critics argued the practice of selecting candidates in a closed meeting of members of the United States Congress was undemocratic and potentially unconstitutional. Crawford's nomination by the Democratic-Republican congressional caucus in February disqualified him in the eyes of many Indiana voters, and he soon dropped out of the race in the state altogether. Sensitivity to the stigma attached to the caucus led Clay's supporters to forgo his nomination by the Indiana General Assembly. Tickets pledged to Adams and Clay were instead nominated informally through the press, while the Jackson electors were nominated by a state convention. Clay's backers attempted to make an issue of the fact that the Adams ticket originated with a meeting of friendly legislators; the Clay ticket, however, was similarly the product of a conference of Clay's allies in the legislature.Carmony 1998 477–78 Sectionalism Indiana's settler population came mostly from the Southern United States and the Mid-Atlantic region, while comparatively few Yankees settled in the state.Madison 1986 59 The importance of the Mississippi River to the frontier economy led residents of the Ohio River Valley to develop a Western regional identity in the first half of the nineteenth century.Bennett 2013 9–10, 1 Both Clay and Jackson appealed for votes on the basis of their residence in a Western state and promises to promote regional economic development through internal improvements.Carmony 1998 480–81 Politically, the Ohio marked the boundary between the slave states and free states;Bennett 2013 3 recent confrontations over the future of slavery in the United States led some Hoosiers to prioritize cultural ties to the North ahead of regional economic self-interest. Clinton had some support as a Northern candidate prior to his withdrawal from the race; the principal beneficiary of anti-Southern sentiment, however, was Adams. The contest between Adams and Clay in Indiana forced Hoosiers to choose between their Western and Northern identities.Ratcliffe 2015 109 Slavery Opposition to slavery played an important role in the early politics of Indiana. The Northwest Ordinance outlawed slavery in the territory north of the Ohio River from 1787, but extralegal slavery and legally-sanctioned involuntary servitude persisted into the 1820s.Finkelman 2015 64, 78 In the aftermath of the Missouri Compromise, many Indiana voters, particularly Quakers, demanded the election of an antislavery president after decades of government by Virginian enslavers. Antislavery feeling primarily benefited Adams as the only Northern candidate following Clinton's withdrawal.Ratcliffe 2015 107–9 Clay's status as a slaveholder and his role in securing the admission of Missouri as a slave state damaged his candidacy with voters for whom abolitionism was an issue of primary importance.Carmony 1998 480 Opinion polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize AndrewJacksonDemocratic-Republican HenryClayDemocratic-Republican John Q.AdamsDemocratic-Republican OthersVarious Western Sun & General AdvertiserPresidential https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=WSGA18240807.1.3 Western Sun and General Advertiser August 7, 1824 July 5, 1824 305Poll of a public meeting in Salem, Indiana. 52% 8% 39% Western Sun & General AdvertiserAt an election [...] https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=WSGA18240807.1.3 Western Sun and General Advertiser August 7, 1824 August 2, 1824 200Poll of voters at the local elections in Franklin Township, Floyd County, Indiana. 75% 25% Western Sun & General AdvertiserPresidential https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=WSGA18240807.1.3 Western Sun and General Advertiser August 7, 1824 August 2, 1824 466Poll of voters at the local elections in Daviess County, Indiana. 64% 32% 3% Western Sun & General AdvertiserPresidential https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=WSGA18240807.1.3 Western Sun and General Advertiser October 23, 1824 2–3 weeks preceding August 6, 1824 212Poll of residents of Knox County, Indiana. 57% 34% 8% 0%William H. Crawford Western Sun & General AdvertiserAt the late regimental muster [...] https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=WSGA18241023.1.3 Western Sun and General Advertiser October 23, 1824 Before October 23, 1824 465Poll of militia soldiers in Dearborn County, Indiana. 66% 19% 15% General election Summary Indiana chose five electors in a statewide general election. Nineteenth-century presidential elections used a form of block voting that allowed voters to modify the electoral list nominated by a political party before submitting their ballots. Because voters elected each member of the Electoral College individually, electors nominated by the same party often received differing numbers of votes as a consequence of voter rolloff, split-ticket voting, or electoral fusion.Lampi n.d. Ratcliffe 2014 57 This table compares the votes for the most popular elector pledged to each ticket, to give an approximate sense of the statewide result. 1824 United States presidential election in IndianaRiker Thornbrough 1960 4–9 Democratic-Republican #698dc5 Andrew JacksonJohn C. Calhoun 7,444 46.94 Democratic-Republican Whig Party (United States) Henry ClayNathan Sanford 5,321 33.5 Democratic-Republican #68c468 John Quincy AdamsJohn C. Calhoun 3,093 19.50 15,858 100.00 Results + 1824 United States presidential election in IndianaRiker Thornbrough 1960 4–9 Lampi 2012 Ticket Candidate Votes Jackson Johnathan McCarty 7,444 Jackson John Carr 7,443 Jackson Elias McNamee 7,427 Jackson David RobbIncluding votes for "David Gibson" and "David Paten."Riker Thornbrough 1960 9n3–4 7,427 Jackson Samuel MilroyIncluding votes for "John Milroy."Riker Thornbrough 1960 9n2 7,426 Clay James Rariden 7,321 Clay William W. Wick 7,317 Clay Moses Tabbs 7,316 Clay Martson G. Clark 7,313 Clay Walter Wilson 7,311 Adams David H. Maxwell 3,093 Adams Christopher Harrison 3,092 Adams Jesse Lynch Holman 3,091 Adams Isaac Blackford 3,083 Adams James Scott 3,071 Total ≈15,858 Results by county This table compares the result for the most popular Jackson, Clay, and Adams electors in each county. The totals presented thus differ slightly from the statewide results summary, which compares the results for the most popular elector pledged to each ticket statewide. The margin is the difference between the first and second highest-voted tickets. + 1824 United States presidential election in Indiana by countyRiker Thornbrough 1960 4–9 County Andrew JacksonDemocratic-Republican Henry ClayDemocratic-Republican John Quincy AdamsDemocratic-Republican Margin Total Votes Percent Votes Percent Votes Percent Votes Percent Allen 11 15.94 44 63.76 14 20.29 30 43.48 69 Bartholomew 96 44.65 99 46.05 20 9.30 3 1.40 215 Clark 589 60.22 156 15.95 233 23.82 356 3.64 978 Crawford 34 27.87 45 36.88 43 35.24 2 1.64 122 Daviess 114 50.67 92 40.89 19 8.44 22 9.78 225 Dearborn 668 57.73 122 10.54 367 31.72 301 26.02 1,157 Decatur 55 38.19 72 50.00 17 11.80 17 11.80 144 Dubois 32 54.24 18 30.51 9 15.25 14 23.73 59 Fayette 355 49.03 277 38.26 92 12.71 78 10.77 724 Floyd 216 56.25 50 13.02 118 30.73 98 25.52 384 Franklin 471 50.43 244 26.12 219 23.44 27 2.89 934 Gibson 133 41.96 169 53.31 15 4.73 36 11.36 317 Greene 28 56.00 10 20.00 12 24.00 16 32.00 50 Hamilton 4 8.89 31 68.89 10 22.22 21 46.67 45 Harrison 185 41.48 129 28.92 132 29.60 53 11.88 446 Hendricks 6 16.22 30 81.08 1 2.70 24 6.49 37 Henry 42 26.25 96 60.00 22 13.75 54 33.75 160 Jackson 176 68.75 23 8.98 57 22.26 119 46.48 256 Jefferson 298 40.82 371 50.82 61 8.36 73 10.00 730 Jennings 131 43.96 76 25.50 91 30.54 40 13.42 298 Johnson 28 35.00 38 47.50 14 17.50 10 12.5 80 Knox 171 35.26 280 57.73 34 7.01 109 22.47 485 Lawrence 228 76.00 44 14.67 28 9.33 184 61.33 300 Madison 6 9.38 54 84.38 4 6.25 48 75.00 64 Marion 99 30.18 213 64.94 16 4.88 114 34.76 328 Martin 44 39.28 30 26.78 38 33.93 6 5.36 112 Monroe 149 54.98 71 26.20 51 18.82 78 28.78 271 Montgomery 40 35.09 57 50.00 17 14.91 17 14.91 114 Morgan 71 43.29 83 50.61 10 6.07 12 7.32 164 Orange 213 50.84 145 34.61 61 14.56 68 16.23 419 Owen 34 27.64 77 62.60 12 9.76 43 34.96 123 Parke 45 27.61 111 68.10 7 4.29 66 40.49 163 Perry 5 19.23 12 46.15 9 34.62 3 11.54 26 Pike 62 44.93 73 52.90 3 2.17 9 6.52 138 Posey 173 41.79 228 55.07 13 3.14 55 13.28 414 Putnam 27 32.53 31 37.35 25 30.12 4 4.82 83 Randolph 62 43.97 7 4.96 72 51.06 10 7.09 141 Ripley 119 50.00 102 42.86 33 13.86 17 7.14 238 Rush 119 49.17 108 44.63 15 6.20 11 4.54 242 Scott 123 52.79 84 36.05 26 11.16 39 16.74 233 Shelby 144 56.03 104 40.47 9 3.50 40 15.56 257 Spencer 10 20.83 33 68.75 5 10.42 23 47.92 48 Sullivan 104 29.80 175 50.14 21 6.02 71 20.34 349 Switzerland 161 54.21 108 36.36 28 9.43 53 17.84 297 Union 254 53.59 135 28.48 85 17.93 119 25.10 474 Vanderburgh 32 26.45 56 46.28 33 27.27 23 19.01 121 Vermillion 2 2.35 79 92.94 4 4.71 75 88.24 85 Vigo 54 16.62 227 69.85 44 13.54 173 53.23 325 Warrick 54 49.09 45 40.91 11 10.00 9 8.18 110 Washington 669 67.17 55 5.52 272 27.31 397 39.86 996 Wayne 501 37.17 306 22.70 541 40.13 40 2.97 1,348 TOTAL 7,447 46.94 5,325 33.56 3,093 19.50 2,122 13.38 15,865 Results by congressional district The following table calculates the result in each of the state's three congressional districts based on the county returns as tabulated above.Riker Thornbrough 1960 4–9 District boundaries are from the Laws of Indiana for 1824.Indiana 1824 80–81 + 1824 United States presidential election in Indiana by congressional districtRiker Thornbrough 1960 4–9 District Jackson Clay Adams RepresentativeCarmony 1998 484–85 Indiana 1 1st 40.79% 48.47% 10.74% William PrinceDied prior to the election. (18th Congress) Jacob CallWon the special election for the unexpired term of William Prince, November 8, 1824. (18th Congress) Ratliff Boon (19th Congress) Indiana 2 2nd 51.51% 28.13% 20.36% Jonathan Jennings Indiana 3 3rd 47.41% 27.27% 25.32% John Test Maps See also United States presidential elections in Indiana Notes References Bibliography Primary sources Indiana The Revised Laws of Indiana [...] 1824 none Corydon https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000050074388&seq=1 Secondary sources Bennett Zachary Morgan 2013 One River, One Nation: The Ohio River in an American Borderland, 1800–1850 https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=miami1371480537&disposition=inline Master of Arts Oxford, OH Miami University Carmony Donald F. Indiana, 1816–1850: The Pioneer Era 1998 Indiana Historical Bureau Indianapolis https://archive.org/details/indiana18161850p0000carm Finkelman Paul Almost a Free State: The Indiana Constitution of 1816 and the Problem of Slavery Indiana Magazine of History 111 1 March 2015 64–95 https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5378/indimagahist.111.1.0064 Howard Thomas W. Indiana Newspapers and the Presidential Election of 1824 Indiana Magazine of History 63 3 September 1967 177–206 27789429 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27789429 Lampi Philip J. Electoral College https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056 A New Nation Votes American Antiquarian Society n.d. October 5, 2025 Lampi Philip J. Indiana 1824 Electoral College https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/dr26xz91v A New Nation Votes American Antiquarian Society October 5, 2025 January 11, 2012 Madison James H. The Indiana Way: A State History 1986 Indiana University Press Bloomington https://archive.org/details/indianawaystate00madi Ratcliffe Donald J. The One-Party Presidential Contest: Adams, Jackson, and 1824's Five-Horse Race 2015 University Press of Kansas Lawrence https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_One_Party_Presidential_Contest/MrquEAAAQBAJ Ratcliffe Donald J. Popular Preferences in the Presidential Election of 1824 Journal of the Early Republic Spring 2014 34 1 45–77 24486931 https://www.jstor.org/stable/24486931 Riker Dorothy Thornbrough Gayle Indiana Election Returns, 1816–1851 1960 Indiana Historical Bureau Indianapolis https://archive.org/details/indianaelectionr0000unse Thornbrough Gayle The Diary of Calvin Fletcher 1 1972 Indiana Historical Society Indianapolis https://archive.org/details/diaryofcalvinfle0001gayl Indiana 1824 Category:1824 Indiana elections