Reconstructing and Evaluating the 1796 U.S. Presidential Election.

The article focuses on reconstructing and evaluating the 1796 U.S. presidential election by analyzing how different apportionment methods affected the allocation of electoral votes. It explains that the Jefferson Method was used in 1796 to apportion electoral votes based on the 1790 Census, accounting for the Three-Fifths Compromise and state populations, including Maine as part of Massachusetts. The study compares this method with the Hamilton, Webster, Huntington–Hill, and Adams Methods, demonstrating that John Adams would have won the election regardless of the apportionment approach used, though the margin of victory varied. This reconstruction serves as a quantitative literacy project to help students understand historical election data, apportionment formulas, and the mathematical foundations of the Electoral College system.