Lesson Idea: The Election of 1824

In the period during and following James Monroe's presidency, the United States was in an "era of good feelings". Several notable figures emerged during this era: John Quincy Adams, the son of President John Adams and Monroe's Secretary of State, Andrew Jackson, general and veteran of the War of 1812, William Crawford, Monroe's Secretary of War/Treasury, and Henry Clay, a senator from Kentucky who was the Speaker of the House. In 1824, these 4 faced off in one of the closest presidential elections of all time; it was so close that the House of Representatives had to decide a winner (influenced by Clay, they chose Adams). So for today's Lesson Plan, we'll be re-enacting that famous election, with your students as the candidates! They'll be able to practice a mock election and learn more about the emerging United States in the early 19th century (which is, of course, something everyone wants to understand).

First, choose four of your students to be Adams, Jackson, Crawford, or Clay (gender doesn't matter in this project!). Next, either have them choose a group or you divide the class into groups of 5 or 6, including the candidates. Tell the candidates that they must assign a select amount of people as their Press and as their Advisers. The Press will ask the candidates questions during an interview and the Advisers can help out a candidate if they're getting stuck (for instance, if they don't know their policy on foreign affairs). The 2nd job of the Press is to give their own candidates easy questions in the interview ("Do you believe in America?") and give opposing candidates challenging questions ("It says here that you once attacked a city when the enemy wasn't stationed there. How can we be sure you're not a war monger?").

Have the students then go and research their candidates. They should know stances on certain issues, beliefs, spouses, anything that may come up in a Press question. The Advisers should also take extra notes to be prepared to help their candidate in a sticky situation. The most important rule is that the students CAN NOT use any information about a candidate or what they have done after 1824! If any candidate references a future event, accuse them of being a "time traveler" and "banish" them (disqualify them). If the only way to make sure your students don't use future knowledge, make the project graded on accuracy; a good student never wants a bad grade!

Finally, let Adams, Jackson, Crawford, and Clay start their interviews. They'll give a minute-long introductory speech, field questions, and then give a closing statement, moving on to the next candidate. After all the candidates have gone, have the class choose the best 2 out of the 4 (as Congress did). Let's say your class chose Adams and Crawford; because Clay is now out, he/she will throw their support behind Adams and become and Adviser (this would not be reciprocated if Adams was out; this is because Clay convinced Congress to elect Adams instead of Jackson). Have Adams and Crawford then field more questions, and then have the class choose the President. Despite Clay's efforts, Crawford wins the election (like he was originally supposed to)!

While this project is focused on a very specific event in American history, that's why I love it; it helps students understand that every era usually had their own crises or scandals, and that history isn't just the things they hear about the most on TV. I mean, which of your students could say, before doing this project, that they knew there was a scandal behind the Election of 1824? Hopefully, they'll have learned something, and hopefully they'll have fun!

-Pharaoh Noh-Tyep