The Twelfth Amendment was ratified, altering procedures for the election of the president and vice president. It required separate balloting in the Electoral College for each office to prevent complications like those that arose in the elections of 1796 and 1800.
The Federalist Party evolved from the core of Federalists, like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, who wrote and defended the US Constitution in 1787–1788. The new political party advocated a strong central government and supported a liberal construction of the Constitution. John Adams, elected in 1796, served as the only Federalist Party president, and the party held little power after 1801.
Aaron Burr (1756–1836) was an influential politican and the third vice president of the United States. Though he had a prominent career before his rivalry with Alexander Hamilton, Burr is best remembered for killing Hamilton in a duel in 1804. Burr was born in New Jersey and educated at Princeton (then the College of New Jersey). In 1775 he joined the Continental Army to fight in the Revolutionary War. After the war, Burr practiced law in New York City and in 1784 was elected to the state assembly. He continued his political career in the...
John Adams (1735–1826) served as a leader in the American Revolution and as the nation’s second president. Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, Adams attended Harvard College and began practicing law. In 1764, he married Abigail Smith, beginning a long and successful marriage and intellectual relationship. In the 1760s, Adams became a leader in the American resistance against parliamentary acts and British rule. From 1774 to 1777, Adams served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses and nominated George Washington as...
