1803

The goal of historians should be to eliminate any personal biases relying solely on facts to capture the most accurate portrayal of a time - to start with facts and allow a thesis to mature naturally not vice-versa. The passing of the twelfth amendment to the United States Constitution is one of those occurrences where scholars have failed to do their homework. I have yet to find a single source that quotes any one of the many congressmen engaged in drafting the twelfth amendment; the U.S. Code in 2010 referenced just one article pertaining to the twelfth amendment Thomas Jefferson Counts himself into the Presidency 2004. I found that the current understanding of twelfth amendment origins is in great disharmony with historical facts. This has left many without a clear understanding of the issue. This paper challenges the currently accepted view that Article II of the United States Constitution failed to account for a rise of competing national parties. I contend that the twelfth amendment passed Congress in order to prevent the rise of competing national parties. This paper answers the question: Which electoral method Article II or the twelfth amendment accounts for a rise of competing national parties? To bring the reader into a time where states are not yet united I use a hypothetical 2012 North-South American Union to put the issue in its proper perspective. I use as proofs electoral results and statements of belief from prominent statesmen like Washington Jefferson and Adams; constitutional drafters - Madison John Rutledge Charles Pinckney Robert Yates Edmond Randolph Oliver Ellsworth Morris and Peirce Butler; congressmen like Abraham Baldwin George Thatcher John Smilie John Randolph Robert Waln Robert Harper Harrison Gray Otis John Brown Henry Lee Michael Leib William Hill; and those who debated the twelfth amendment - James Hillhouse Uriah Tracy William Plumer Wilson C. Nicholas John Q. Adams John Taylor Peirce Butler (a Drafter abovementioned) Samuel White and Jonathon Dayton.