worthy. Several States, however, preferred their "favorite sons" to Adams.
The thirteen original States were entitled under the Constitution, which made a somewhat arbitrary apportionment until the first census should be taken, to sixty-five representatives, twenty-six senators, and ninety one electoral votes. By the failure of North Carolina and Rhode Island to promptly adopt the Constitution, and of New York to appoint electors, the number of electors was reduced to seventy-three. It was further diminished to sixty-nine by the absence on the day of voting of two electors each in Maryland and Virginia. Before the adoption of the twelfth amendment, the electors voted for two candidates; the person who received the most votes, if a majority of all the electors appointed, was elected President, and the person who stood second became Vice President. Washington received the full strength of the electoral colleges. The other sixty-nine votes were divided among various candidates as follows: John Adams, 34; John Hay, 9; John Rutledge, 6; Robert H. Harrison, 6; John Hancock, 4; George Clinton, 3; Samuel Huntington, 2; John Milton, 2; James Armstrong, 1; Edward Telfair, 1; and Benjamin Lincoln, 1.[1] The deflection from Adams of five votes in New Jersey, and of two each in Connecticut and Virginia has been attributed to the fears of the electors lest Washington should be defeated.
The first elections resulted in a distinct victory for the Federalists. Their success in the fight over the adoption of the Constitution, and the immediate subsidence of party spirit, which followed the close of that contest, gave them a
- ↑ Annals 1st Congress, 1789-1791, 17.
