Amend12W4

=12W4= = Twelfth Amendment =

The Twelfth Amendment(Amendment XII) to the [|United States Constitution] provides the procedure for electing the [|President] and [|Vice President]. It replaced [|Article II, Section 1, Clause 3], which provided the original procedure by which the [|Electoral College] functioned. Problems with the original procedure arose in the elections of [|1796] and [|1800]. The Twelfth Amendment refined the process whereby a President and a Vice President are elected by the Electoral College. The amendment was proposed by the [|Congress] on December 9, 1803, and was ratified by the requisite three–fourths of [|state legislatures] on June 15, 1804. @http://americanhistory.about.com/od/usconstitution/a/12th-Amendment.htm []

The States That Voted Yes Were:

Then later
 * 1) [|North Carolina] — December 21, 1803
 * 2) [|Maryland] — December 24, 1803
 * 3) [|Kentucky] — December 27, 1803
 * 4) [|Ohio] — December 30, 1803
 * 5) [|Pennsylvania] — January 5, 1804
 * 6) [|Vermont] — January 30, 1804
 * 7) [|Virginia] — February 3, 1804
 * 8) [|New York] — February 10, 1804
 * 9) [|New Jersey] — February 22, 1804
 * 10) [|Rhode Island] — March 12, 1804
 * 11) [|South Carolina] — May 15, 1804
 * 12) [|Georgia] — May 19, 1804
 * 13) [|New Hampshire] — June 15, 1804


 * 1) [|Tennessee] — July 27, 1804
 * 2) [|Massachusetts] — 1961 (After rejection — February 3, 1804)

It was created because, Up until 1804, the candidate who received the most votes from the Electoral College was president, and the candidate who received the second-most votes was vice president. That's what happened in the 1796 election when John Adams became our nation's second president and Thomas Jefferson hi s vice president. But in 1800, this system created a deadlock among two candidates: Jefferson and Aaron Burr. To solve this, the equally deadlocked House of Representatives had to vote 35 times before Jefferson eked out a majority and became the third president. As a result, the 12th Amendment was proposed a few years later to make Electoral College ballots for president and vice president two separate elections. It was ratified within a year.

Questions frequently asked;

Q. Who won the first election after the amendment was passed? A. President Andrew Jackson with 99 electoral votes and vice president John C Calhoun received 182 electoral votes. In the election of 1804. [] Q. What states where not in favor of this amendment? A. The amendment was declined in May 10, 1804 by Connecticut, and also declined by Baltimore in January, 18 1804.

Q. Why was the twelfth amendment so helpful for picking a president and vice president? A. Separate ballots are use to pick president and vice president unlike before this amendment where they where picked under the same ballot this new way was a much more effective way of picking president.

Q. Why was the twelfth amendment made? A. This amendment was made because the presidential election of 1800 turned into a complete mess in the Electoral College, demonstrating serious weaknesses in our government. []

Q. Why was our government so weak before the 12 amendment. A. When Thomas Jefferson tied with Aaron burr the election was sent to the House of Representatives, which required 36 ballots to finally elect Jefferson president. []

Focus questions; Vincent 1. What impact did your amendment have on society at that time? The 12 amendment had many impacts on society at the time when it was first put into the constitution. The amendment did not change the composition of the electoral collage, but it did change the process of picking vice president and president. Before this law the president would be picked with the highest number of electoral votes and vice president would be picked with the second highest number of electoral votes. This new process would hold two separate elections one to pick president and vice president both winning with the highest amount of electoral votes in each. Before the twelfth amendment if no candidate received more than 50 votes it would be sent to the house of representatives and a senate would choose a vice president. This would be very unfair because the senate that is going to choose the vice president may want one to win very badly so he will pick him maybe making a wrong choice and leaving America mad at him. The twelfth amendment has helped very much in making very important decisions for our nation. [] []

John 2. What issues prompted creation of your amendment?

In the 1796 election John Adams was elected president and Thomas Jefferson was his Vice president, they didn't see eye to eye which caused many problems among the two and among the country. Also the election of 1800 was the cause of this amendments proposal, when Jefferson and Burr running for office entered a grid lock and the winner and the runner up became president and vice president. This caused a lot of disagreement between the two. Congress after realizing this proposed the amendment and it was ratified a year later.