Amend12C7

=__ 12C7 __= =__//**The Twelfth Amendment**//__= __**Lina and Caroline**__

Research focus questions: 1. What issues prompted the creation of your amendment? 2. What impact did your amendment have on society at that time?

1. The election in 1800 was nearly disastrous. The elections were not as organized. Also, there was not a set procedure which we greatly needed but did not have before the 12th amendment. C.D

2. The 12th amendment made society feel more at ease that the government was taking measures to protect the election process. There were two elections before it was ratified in which there were problems. Rather than having confusions in elections, after the 12th amendment was created, it made society more organized by having an amendment that prevented complications in the voting process. (LS) http://www.wtoc.com/story/12841387/the-12th-amendment

Definition in seventh grade language: **The electoral college votes for the president and vice president, and they are the vote who ultimately decides who gets elected by ballot. (LS) and C.D** http://www.government-and-constitution.org/amendments/12th-amendment.htm

Question 1: How did this effect modern presidential elections? http://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xii C.D
 * Before the 12th amendment there were two people who were president/ vice president. Now there is one person who is president and one person who is vice president. Also, the voters used to only put in one vote but now they put in two votes thanks to the 12th amendment.**

Question 2: Did more or less people vote after this amendment was created? http://archive.fairvote.org/?page=981
 * Less people voted in elections due to thinking that their individual vote did not count. The electoral college would look at the people's decision, and see if it's logical. Therefore, it was really the electoral college's vote that made the big decision, representing the U.S. They gave a certain number of votes to each state. The amount of electoral votes each state gets varies based on their number of senators and represenators in congress.This is why people feel that the electoral college takes away one's individual rights, and less people were voting, because people felt their vote was pointless. However, it did count, it just had to be administered by the states whereby the state electors make the choice of president or vice president. (LS)**

Question 3: What was the electoral college? http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html
 * The electoral is a process not a place, that the founding fathers discovered. This was a compromise between the election of the president by congress and the votes of qualified citizens. The electoral college represented the U.S by casting qualified votes. C.D**

Question 4: Why was this amendment important? http://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xii
 * This amendment was important because it gave order to voting. This system was far more sensible for electing leaders. Also, instead of casting two votes for president, it became much easier, and gave better representation to the people of the states. Before the 12th amendment, every candidate ran by his/herself no matter which party they belonged to.Each elector picks both one president and one vice president, ensuring that a president will be grouped with a vice president of the same political party. This law was put into effect, as it impacted the U.S government.(LS)**

Question 5: What ideas influenced this amendment? http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/government/12thamendment.htm
 * It is said that Thomas Jefferson's ideas led to this amendment. The idea was to put in two votes** **instead of one. One vote would be for President and one for Vice President. This idea was meant to limit confusion during the elections. C.D**

Question 6: When was the amendment ratified? http://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xii
 * The 12th amendment was first proposed by congress in 1803, and was officially ratified on June 15, 1804.(LS)**

Question 7: How often does this amendment come into play? https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxii
 * This amendment comes into play for every Presidential election or every four years. This amendment is used by all U.S. Citizens eligible for voting. This amendment has proven to be successful from the time it was passed. C.D**

Question 8: What did this amendment change? http://presidentelect.org/art_before12.html
 * It changed the old system where the electors would cast two votes for president. The winner would be the president, and the second place person, would be the vice president, no matter which party they represented. This happened in the election of 1796, when Andrew Jackson was the winner, and Thomas Jefferson was the second place winner, even though he was part of a different party, he ended up as vice president under Jackson. The other major problem it fixed was the elimination of a tie, which happened in the election of 1800. (LS)**

Question 9: Did this damage the benefits of voting? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9KWHzQo7i0
 * Yes and no. Yes because many times the people ultimately get the candidate that the majority voted for. No because there have been a couple of times in U.S. presidential election history that the voters were not able to elect the candidate they preferred. Sometimes there have been benefits and sometimes there has been damage. C.D**

Question 10: Was this amendment successful?

=
http://kids.laws.com/12th-amendment
 * This amendment was successful because the US still uses it today, and it has been working for over 200 years. In addition, it solved many problems. It made the voting system more fair, and easier. Each person receives one ballot, voting for one president, and vice president through the state elector of their party. (LS)**======

C.D (L.S) Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9KWHzQo7i0 (L.S)
 * Fun facts:**
 * The presidential election in 1800 turned onto a complete mess in the electoral college. C.D
 * The two parties there were back in the 1800s were federalist, and democratic-republican (L.S)
 * Aaron Burr was rumored to be working to steal the presidency from under Thomas Jefferson's nose. C.D
 * The 12th amendment changed the problem of having a tie in an election.Instead there were two separate votes for president and vice-president. (L.S)
 * Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were political rivals. C.D
 * The 12th amendment weakened Federalists(L.S)