What was different about the 1824 election?

Answer 1

At the election of 1824, there were four presidential candidates: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun. When the results was tallied, none of the four received an electoral majority because each carried different areas. Based on the Twelfth Amendment, three of the top candidates would be decided by the House of Representatives (Henry Clay was kicked off because he received the least vote). It was apparent that Jackson was going to win (and he did won the popular vote), but Henry Clay, using his influence as the Speaker of the House, convinced the majority of the House to vote for Adams. As a result, John Quincy Adams became the president, and as a favour to Clay, he appointed Clay as the Secretary of State. For this reason, the election of 1824 was seen as a "corrupt bargain." Also, this election finally ended the "Era of Good Feelings" because for once, there is not just one political party, which was an advantage because having only one political party gave a sense of political unity. In addition, it also ended the congressional caucus. Before 1824, Congressional Caucus was a system used to nominate only one candidate to represent each political party, but with many people voting for presidential candidates, there were several people representing the Republicans instead of only one, thus leading to the demise of the Congressional Caucus.