Creating the United States
{
object_type: 'Exhibit Item',embed_type: 'image',embed_detail: 'http://www.myloc.gov/_assets/Exhibitions/creatingtheus/BillofRights/Electionof1800/Assets/us0097_enlarge_125.Jpeg',embed_alt: 'Electoral College Becomes Target of Manipulation',thumbnail: {url: 'http://www.myloc.gov/_assets/Exhibitions/creatingtheus/BillofRights/Electionof1800/Assets/us0097_enlarge_125.Jpeg',alt: 'Electoral College Becomes Target of Manipulation',height: '66',width: '125'}
}
Electoral College Becomes Target of Manipulation
Leaders of the Federalist and Jeffersonian Republican parties knew that the key to the presidential election of 1800 was controlling the manner of selecting the electors. In this letter to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson outlines plans for manipulating the selection of presidential electors in the key states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.