Corruption in the election of 1824

What if it was discovered that one of our presidents cheated his way into office? In the Election of 1824, there had been many recent changes and events in our country. They included the Twelfth Amendment, the Hartford Convention, the War of 1812, and the Era of Good Feelings. The most important things in proving that this election was corrupt are the background, the individual candidates, the results of the election, which John Quincy Adams did not win, and the campaigning, during which there was much tarnishing of reputations, and mudslinging. The Election of 1824 created the first example of corruption in the United States Presidential Election.

Before the Election of 1824, there was the Era of Good Feelings, the War of 1812, the Hartford Convention, and the adoption of Twelfth Amendment. At the Hartford Convention, politicans talked about many things, including opposition to the still ongoing War of 1812. The Twelfth Amendment changed the way electors voted. Instead of putting in two votes for one person, where the winner became president, and the runner up became the vice president, the electors would now would put in one vote for president, and one for vice-president. The Era of Good Feelings was named for when there was only one political party, the Democratic-Republicans, and so most people agreed on most things. (constitutioncenter.org) (britannica.com)

There were four candidates in the Election of 1824. Their names were William Henry Crawford, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson. They were all from the Democratic-Republican party. William H. Crawford suffered a paralytic stroke in 1823, which put him out of the running. Henry Clay was formerly the Speaker of the House of Representatives. He w...

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...ted for Adams as the new president. When Adams was inaugurated, he chose Henry Clay as his Secretary of State. In Adams diary, it was recorded that Clay met Adams for dinner. Adams said that they had discussed the opportunities of Clay and Adams cooperating. This was obviously a corrupt act on both parts. While some historians say that this is just how politics works, nobody ever said politics then or now wasn’t corrupt. This was corruption. (ushistory.org) (Adderson)

From the evidence stated, this was obviously corruption. People in America are raised to believe that the president or presidential candidates could not get away with this sort of thing. This should have been be illegal. The Election of 1824 was the first example of corruption in the United States Presidential Election. Congress should change the law so that this cannot happen ever again.