What if it turns out that one of our presidents managed to get into office by deception? By the election of 1824 many recent changes and events had occurred in our country. They included the Twelfth Amendment, the Hartford Convention, the War of 1812, and the Era of Good Feelings. The most important things to prove that this election was corrupt are the context, the individual candidates, the results of the election, which John Quincy Adams did not win, and the campaign, during which there was much tarnishing and reputational smearing . The 1824 election created the first example of corruption in U.S. presidential elections. Before the election of 1824, there was the era of good feelings, the War of 1812, the Hartford Convention, and the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment. At the Hartford Convention, politicians talked about many things, including opposition to the War of 1812, which was still ongoing. The Twelfth Amendment changed the way voters voted. Instead of casting two votes for one person, where the winner became president and the runner-up became vice president, voters would now cast one vote for president and one for vice president. The Era of Good Feelings gets its name from when there was only one political party, the Democratic-Republicans, and therefore most people agreed on many things. (constitutioncenter.org) (britannica.com) There were four candidates in the election of 1824. Their names were William Henry Crawford, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson. They were all from the Democratic-Republican party. William H. Crawford suffered a paralytic stroke in 1823, which put him out of action. Henry Clay was formerly the Speaker of the House of Representatives. He…half-wrote…nominated Adams as the new president. When Adams was inaugurated, he chose Henry Clay as his Secretary of State. In Adams' diary, it was recorded that Clay met Adams for dinner. Adams said they had discussed collaborative opportunities between Clay and Adams. This was obviously a corrupt act on both sides. While some historians say that's just how politics works, no one has ever said that politics, then or now, wasn't corrupt. This was corruption. (ushistory.org) (Adderson) From the stated evidence, it was obviously corruption. People in America are trained to believe that the president or presidential candidates can't get away with this kind of thing. This should have been illegal. The 1824 election was the first example of corruption in US presidential elections. Congress should change the law so this can never happen again.