1788–89 United States presidential election

Election of George Washington April 2017 February 2020 February 2023related races 1788–89 United States elections 1788–89 United States presidential election United States 1777 presidential no 1792 United States presidential election 1792 69 members of the Electoral College 35 electoralelec 73 total electors were appointed, four of which did not vote (2 in Maryland and 2 in Virginia). According to the unamended constitution, a majority of the total number of appointed electors was required for election to the Presidency. 11.6%http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present United States Election Project CQ Press 1788 12 15 1789 1 7 x200px George Washington Painting (3x4 close cropped).jpg George Washington Independent Virginia 69 10 33,460 100.0% 350px Presidential election results map. Tan denotes states won by Washington, and black denotes states that did not appoint electors. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.New York had ratified the Constitution but its legislature failed to appoint presidential electors on time, while North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet ratified. Vermont governed itself as an unrecognized republic. President Office established George Washington Independent (United States) Presidential elections were held in the United States from December 15, 1788 to January 7, 1789, under the new Constitution ratified in 1788. George Washington was unanimously elected for the first of his two terms as president and John Adams became the first vice president. This was the only U.S. presidential election that spanned two calendar years without a contingent election and the first national presidential election in American history. Under the Articles of Confederation, which were ratified in 1781, the United States had no head of state. The executive function of government remained with the legislative similar to countries that use a parliamentary system. Federal power, strictly limited, was reserved to the Congress of the Confederation whose "President of the United States in Congress Assembled" was also chair of the Committee of the States which aimed to fulfill a function similar to that of the modern Cabinet. The Constitution created the offices of President and Vice President, fully separating these offices from Congress. The Constitution established an Electoral College, based on each state's congressional representation, in which each elector would cast two votes for two candidates, a procedure modified in 1804 by the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment. States had varying methods for choosing presidential electors.See "Alternative methods for choosing electors" under Electoral College. In five states, the state legislature chose electors. The other six chose electors through some form involving a popular vote, though in only two states did the choice depend directly on a statewide vote. Washington was distinguished as the former Commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After he agreed to come out of retirement, he was elected unanimously; Washington did not select a running mate as that concept was not yet developed. No formal political parties existed, though an informally organized consistent difference of opinion had already manifested between Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Thus, the contest for the vice-presidency was open. Thomas Jefferson predicted that a popular Northern leader such as Governor John Hancock of Massachusetts or John Adams, a former minister to Great Britain who had represented Massachusetts in Congress, would be elected vice president. Anti-Federalists leaders such as Patrick Henry, who did not run, and George Clinton, who had opposed ratification of the Constitution, also represented potential choices. All 69 electors present cast one vote for Washington, making his election unanimous. Adams won 34 electoral votes and the vice presidency. The remaining 35 electoral votes were split among 10 candidates, including John Jay, who finished third with nine electoral votes. Three states were ineligible to participate in the election: New York's legislature did not choose electors on time, and North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet ratified the constitution. Washington was inaugurated in New York City on April 30, 1789, 57 days after the First Congress convened. Candidates September 2024 Though no organized political parties yet existed, political opinion loosely divided between those who had more stridently and enthusiastically endorsed ratification of the Constitution, called Federalists, and Anti-Federalists who had only more reluctantly, skeptically, or conditionally supported, or who had outright opposed ratification. Both factions supported Washington for president. Limited, primitive political campaigning occurred in states and localities where swaying public opinion might have mattered. For example, in Maryland, a state with a statewide popular vote, unofficial parties campaigned locally, advertising. Federalist candidates Anti-Federalist candidates General election No nomination process existed at the time of planning, and thus, the framers of the Constitution presumed that Washington would be elected unopposed. For example, Alexander Hamilton spoke for national opinion when in a letter to Washington attempting to persuade him to leave retirement on his farm in Mount Vernon to serve as the first president, he wrote that "...the point of light in which you stand at home and abroad will make an infinite difference in the respectability in which the government will begin its operations in the alternative of your being or not being the head of state."Villegas Christina G. 2018 Alexander Hamilton: Documents Decoded ABC-CLIO 978-1-4408-5763-8 174–175 https://books.google.com/books?id=pBnHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA174 Another uncertainty was the choice for the vice presidency, which contained no definite job description beyond being the president's designated successor and presiding over the Senate. The Constitution stipulated that the position would be awarded to the runner-up in the presidential election. Because Washington was from Virginia, then the largest state, many assumed that electors would choose a vice president from a northern state. In an August 1788 letter, U.S. Minister to France Thomas Jefferson wrote that he considered John Adams and John Hancock, both from Massachusetts, to be the top contenders. Jefferson suggested John Jay, John Rutledge, and Virginian James Madison as other possible candidates.Meacham 2012. Adams received 34 electoral votes, one short of a majority – because the Constitution did not require an outright majority in the Electoral College prior to ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to elect a runner-up as vice president, Adams was elected to that post. The outgoing Congress of the Confederation announced the procedure for the election on September 13, 1788, stipulating that all electors must be chosen on the first Wednesday in January (January 7, 1789), and that the electors must assemble to cast their votes for president and vice president on the first Wednesday in February (February 4).Maier Pauline Pauline Maier Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788 2010 Simon & Schuster New York, New York https://archive.org/details/ratificationpeop0000maie/page/429/mode/2up 978-0-684-86854-7, pp. 429-430. However, the states differed in their interpretations of this procedure and of the relevant portions of the new Constitution. New Hampshire and Massachusetts held a popular vote for their presidential electors alongside the elections for their representatives in the new Congress, on December 15 and December 18, respectively. In these two states, the legislatures ultimately chose the electors based on the voting results on the appointed day, January 7. In Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the electors were chosen directly by the popular vote on January 7. In Connecticut, Georgia, and South Carolina, the electors were appointed by the legislature alone on January 7, while in New Jersey the governor and council selected them on that day. The legislature in New York was unable to agree on a method for choosing the electors before January 7, and so the state could not appoint any electors.Stephens, Frank Fletcher. The transitional period, 1788-1789, in the government of the United States, University of Missouri Press, 1909, pp. 67-74. Voter turnout comprised a low single-digit percentage of the adult population. Though all states allowed some rudimentary form of popular vote, only six ratifying states allowed any form of popular vote specifically for presidential electors. In most states only white men, and in many only those who owned property, could vote. Free black men could vote in four Northern states, and women could vote in New Jersey until 1804. In some states, there was a nominal religious test for voting. For example, in Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Congregational Church was established, supported by taxes. Voting was hampered by poor communications and infrastructure and the labor demands imposed by farming. Two months passed after the election before the votes were counted and Washington was notified that he had been elected president. Washington spent eight days traveling from Virginia to New York for the inauguration.Accepting the Presidency https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/accepting-the-presidency/ 2023-02-18 George Washington's Mount Vernon en Congress took twenty-eight days to assemble.A Saturday Session in the First Congress US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1700s/A-Saturday-session-in-the-First-Congress/ 2023-02-18 history.house.gov en As the electors were selected, politics intruded, and the process was not free of rumors and intrigue. For example, Hamilton aimed to ensure that Adams did not inadvertently tie Washington in the electoral vote.Chernow, 272–273. Also, Federalists spread rumors that Anti-Federalists plotted to elect Richard Henry Lee or Patrick Henry president, with George Clinton as vice president. However, Clinton received only three electoral votes.https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_George_Clinton.htm VP George Clinton www.senate.gov 2016-04-15 Results Popular vote Popular vote(a), (b), (c) Count Percentage Federalist electors 26,299 78.60% Anti-Federalist electors 7,161 21.40% Total 33,460 100% Source: A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825. American Antiquarian Society. (a) Only six of the 11 states eligible to cast electoral votes chose electors by any form of popular vote. (b) Less than 1.8% of the population voted: the 1790 census would count a total population of 3.0 million with a free population of 2.4 million and 600,000 slaves in those states casting electoral votes. (c) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements. Electoral vote (a), (b), (c) (d), (e), (f) George Washington Independent Virginia 33,460 100% 69 John Adams Federalist Massachusetts — — 34 John Jay Federalist New York — — 9 Robert H. Harrison Federalist Maryland — — 6 John Rutledge Federalist South Carolina — — 6 John Hancock Federalist Massachusetts — — 4 George Clinton Anti-Federalist New York — — 3 Samuel Huntington Federalist Connecticut — — 2 John Milton Federalist Georgia — — 2 James Armstrong(g) Federalist Georgia(g) — — 1 Benjamin Lincoln Federalist Massachusetts — — 1 Edward Telfair FederalistJohnson Charles J. Edward Telfair https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/edward-telfair-1735-1807/ New Georgia Encyclopedia November 24, 2022 Georgia — — 1 33,460 69 35 Source: 1789 July 30, 2005 Source (popular vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825. American Antiquarian Society.https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&f%5Belection_type_sim%5D%5B%5D=General&f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&range%5Bdate_sim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1820&range%5Bdate_sim%5D%5Bend%5D=1820&q=1789&search_field=all_fields&commit=search A New Nation Votes (a) Only 6 of the 10 states casting electoral votes chose electors by any form of the popular vote. (b) Less than 1.8% of the population voted: the 1790 census would count a total population of 3.0 million with a free population of 2.4 million and 600,000 slaves in those states casting electoral votes. (c) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements. (d) As the New York legislature failed to appoint its allotted eight electors in time, there were no voting electors from New York. (e) Two electors from Maryland did not vote. (f) One elector from Virginia did not vote and another elector from Virginia was not chosen because an election district failed to submit returns. (g) The identity of this candidate comes from The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections (Gordon DenBoer (ed.), University of Wisconsin Press, 1984, p. 441). Several respected sources, including the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and the Political Graveyard, show this individual to be James Armstrong of Pennsylvania. However, primary sources, such as the Senate Journal, list only Armstrong's name, not his state. Skeptics observe that Armstrong received his single vote from a Georgia elector. They find this improbable because Armstrong of Pennsylvania was not nationally famous—his public service to that date consisted of being a medical officer during the American Revolution and, at most, a single year as a Pennsylvania judge. Popular vote 600px 410px Washington (total) Independent (US) 100 Federalists Federalists (United States) 79.7 Anti-Federalists Anti-Federalists 20.3 Electoral voteElectors voted for two candidates; percentages are calculated as a share of the total number of electors. 600px 410px Washington Other 100 Adams Federalists (United States) 49.3 Jay Federalists (United States) 13.0 Harrison Federalists (United States) 8.7 Rutledge Federalists (United States) 8.7 Hancock Federalists (United States) 5.8 Clinton Anti-Federalist 4.3 Huntington Federalists (United States) 3.0 Milton Federalists (United States) 3.0 Armstrong Federalists (United States) 1.4 Lincoln Federalists (United States) 1.4 Telfair Federalists (United States) 1.4 Results by state Popular vote Early presidential elections used a form of plurality block voting that preceded the widespread adoption of the general ticket. Under this system, voters elected each member of the Electoral College individually; electors nominated by the same political party often received differing numbers of votes as a consequence of voter rolloff, split-ticket voting, or electoral fusion.Petersen Svend A Statistical History of the American Presidential Elections 1963 Frederick Ungar Publishing Company New York 62-21786 vii–ix https://archive.org/details/statisticalhisto00pete In most cases, this table calculates the popular vote of each state based on the votes for the leading Federalist and Anti-Federalist electors in each constituent county or township. In states where the electors were chosen from single-member districts, all votes for Federalist and Anti-Federalist electors are counted. Most townships in New Hampshire are missing data for this election; the figure shown is the result for the leading Federalist elector statewide. Because published compilations of the election results are missing labels for many electors, the estimate presented here is incomplete. State E.V. Electoral Votes George WashingtonFederalist George WashingtonAnti-Federalist Margin Total Cit. Citation Votes % E.V. Electoral Votes Votes % E.V. Electoral Votes Votes % Connecticut 7 * Electors chosen by the legislature 7 * Electors chosen by the legislature — * Electors chosen by the legislature — Delaware 3 685 100 3 — — 685 100 685 A New Nation Votes https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Delaware&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range 2020-12-31 elections.lib.tufts.edu Georgia 5 * Electors chosen by the legislature 5 * Electors chosen by the legislature — * Electors chosen by the legislature — Maryland 8 5,937 70.08 8Two electors from Maryland did not vote. 2,535 29.92 — 3,402 40.16 8,472A New Nation Votes https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Maryland&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range 2020-12-31 elections.lib.tufts.edu Massachusetts 10 6,560 78.07 10 1,843 21.93 — 4,717 56.14 8,403A New Nation Votes https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Massachusetts&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range 2020-12-31 elections.lib.tufts.edu New Hampshire 5 1,759 92.92 5 134 7.07 — 1,625 85.85 1,893A New Nation Votes https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=New+Hampshire&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range 2020-12-31 elections.lib.tufts.edu New Jersey 6 * Electors chosen by the legislature 6 * Electors chosen by the legislature — * Electors chosen by the legislature — New York 8 * Electors chosen by the legislature —failed The New York State Legislature failed to appoint electors. * Electors chosen by the legislature —failed * Electors chosen by the legislature — Pennsylvania 10 6,718 88.05 10 912 11.95 — 5,806 76.10 7,630A New Nation Votes https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Pennsylvania&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range 2020-12-31 elections.lib.tufts.edu South Carolina 7 * Electors chosen by the legislature 7 * Electors chosen by the legislature — * Electors chosen by the legislature — Virginia 12 4,640 72.76 8One elector from Virginia did not vote. No elector was chosen from Virginia's 9th electoral district. 1,737 27.24 3One elector from Virginia did not vote. No elector was chosen from Virginia's 9th electoral district. 2,903 45.52 6,377A New Nation Votes https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Virginia&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range 2020-12-31 elections.lib.tufts.edu TOTAL 81 26,299 78.60 69 7,161 21.40 3 19,138 57.20 33,460 Electoral vote Sixty-nine electors voted out of a possible 91: Two electors from Maryland and two from Virginia did not vote, the New York State Legislature was deadlocked and the state's 8 electors were not appointed (see below), and North Carolina and Rhode Island with 7 and 3 electoral votes respectively had not yet ratified the Constitution. As per the terms of the unamended constitution, each elector was permitted two votes for president, with a majority of "the whole number of electors appointed" necessary to elect a president. Of the 69 participating electors, each cast one vote for Washington, who was elected president. Of the remaining candidates, only Adams, Jay, and Hancock received votes from more than one state; with 34 votes, Adams finished second behind only Washington, and by virtue of which fact was elected vice president. State E Electors EV Electoral Votes GW George Washington JAd John Adams JJ John Jay RH Robert H. Harrison JR John Rutledge JH John Hancock GC George Clinton (vice president) SH Samuel Huntington (statesman) JM John Milton (Georgia politician) JAr James Armstrong (Georgia politician) BL Benjamin Lincoln ET Edward Telfair Blank Connecticut 7 14 7 5 — — — — — 2 — — — — — Delaware 3 6 3 — 3 — — — — — — — — — — Georgia 5 10 5 — — — — — — — 2 1 1 1 — Maryland 8 16 6 — — 6 — — — — — — — — 4 Massachusetts 10 20 10 10 — — — — — — — — — — — New Hampshire 5 10 5 5 — — — — — — — — — — — New Jersey 6 12 6 1 5 — — — — — — — — — — New York 8 16 — — — — — — — — — — — — 16 Pennsylvania 10 20 10 8 — — — 2 — — — — — — — South Carolina 7 14 7 — — — 6 1 — — — — — — — Virginia 12 24 10 5 1 — — 1 3 — — — — — 4 TOTAL 81 162 69 34 9 6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 24 TO WIN 37 37 Source: The Electoral College Count for the Presidential Election of 1789 https://washingtonpapers.org/resources/articles/the-electoral-count-for-the-presidential-election-of-1789/ Washington Papers University of Virginia 28 October 2022 Failure of New York to appoint electors Control of the bicameral New York State Legislature was divided following ratification of the federal constitution, and lawmakers could not reach an agreement to appoint electors for the forthcoming presidential contest. Federalists, backed by the great landed families and the city commercial interests, were the largest faction in the Senate, the smaller of the two chambers for which roughly a quarter of the state's free white male population was eligible to vote; but in the House of Representatives, with its larger membership and electorate, Anti-Federalists representing the middling interests held the majority. The fight to ratify the United States Constitution was still fresh in the memories of the legislators, and the Anti-Federalists were resentful for having been forced by events to accept the constitution without amendments. Bills to govern the selection of electors were proposed in each house and rejected by the other, leading to an impasse. The deadlock still stood on January 7, 1789, the last day for electors to be chosen by the states, and New York thus failed to appoint the eight electors allocated to it by the constitution.The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790 Merrill Jensen, Gordon DenBoer 1976 University of Wisconsin Press 196–197Ratcliffe Donald The Right to Vote and the Rise of Democracy, 1787-1828 Journal of the Early Republic 2013 33 2 225–229 10.1353/jer.2013.0033 145135025 Maps 200 200 yes center File:ElectoralCollege1789.svg Electoral College results (first vote) File:ElectoralCollege1789 second vote.svg Electoral College results (second vote) File:1788–89 United States presidential election by county.svg Map of presidential election results by county, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given faction File:1788-89 United States presidential election by electoral district.svg Map of presidential election results by electoral district, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given faction. Data for several Virginian electoral districts could not be found Electoral college selection The Constitution, in Article II, Section 1, provided that the state legislatures should decide the manner in which their Electors were chosen. State legislatures chose different methods:The Electoral Count for the Presidential Election of 1789 The Papers of George Washington https://web.archive.org/web/20130914141726/http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/presidential/electoral.html September 14, 2013 http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/presidential/electoral.html May 4, 2005 electors appointed by state legislature ConnecticutGeorgiaNew JerseyNew York(a)South Carolina two electors appointed by state legislatureeach remaining elector chosen by state legislature from the two most popular candidates in each U.S. House district Massachusetts each elector chosen by voters statewide; however, if no candidate wins a majority, state legislature appoints electors from top ten candidates New Hampshire state divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district Virginia(b)Delaware electors chosen at large by voters MarylandPennsylvania state had not yet ratified the Constitution North CarolinaRhode Island (a) New York's legislature did not choose electors on time. (b) One electoral district failed to choose an elector. See also 1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections 1788–89 United States Senate elections History of the United States (1789–1815) Notes References Bibliography 30em Bowling, Kenneth R., and Donald R. Kennon. "A New Matrix for National Politics." Inventing Congress: Origins and Establishment of the First Federal Congress. Athens, O.: United States Capitol Historical Society by Ohio U, 1999. 110–37. Print. Chernow, Ron (2004). "Alexander Hamilton". London, UK: Penguin Books. 978-1101200858. Collier, Christopher. "Voting and American Democracy." The American People as Christian White Men of Property:Suffrage and Elections in Colonial and Early National America. N.p.: U of Connecticut, n.d, 1999. The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788–1790 DenBoer Gordon 1990 University of Wisconsin Press 978-0-299-06690-1 registration https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto0002unse_n1m7 Dinkin, Robert J. Voting in Revolutionary America: A Study of Elections in the Original Thirteen States, 1776–1789. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1982. Founding the American Presidency Ellis Richard J. 1999 Rowman & Littlefield 978-0-8476-9499-0 John Adams McCullough David David McCullough 1990 Simon & Schuster 978-1-4165-7588-7 Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power Meacham Jon Jon Meacham 2012 Random House 978-1-4000-6766-4 https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersona00meac Novotny, Patrick. The Parties in American Politics, 1789–2016. Paullin, Charles O. "The First Elections Under The Constitution." The Iowa Journal of History and Politics 2 (1904): 3-33. Web. February 20, 2017. Shade, William G., and Ballard C. Campbell. "The Election of 1788-89." American Presidential Campaigns and Elections. Ed. Craig R. Coenen. Vol. 1. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2003. 65–77. Print. External links Presidential Election of 1789: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825 https://web.archive.org/web/20220120203836/https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/ January 20, 2022 A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College The Green Papers http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/ElectoralCollege.html February 17, 2005 Election of 1789 in Counting the Votes https://web.archive.org/web/20160525194027/http://www.countingthevotes.com/1789/ May 25, 2016 Category:George Washington Category:John Adams Category:George Clinton Category:John Jay Category:John Hancock Category:1788–1789 United States presidential election Category:Presidency of George Washington Presidential election 1788 Category:Confederation period