Its candidate won every presidential election beginning in 1800. No elections had been very close. But those easy victories hid disagreements within the party.
Four Democratic-Republican candidates decided to run for president in 1824. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts and two others—Speaker of the House of Representatives Henry Clay of Kentucky and Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford of Georgia—were well-educated gentlemen. They had the backing of wealthy farmers, businessmen, and other upper-class people. Such support had been enough to win earlier elections.
Prior to 1824, the electorate had been made up of wealthy, property-owning white men. But in 1824, ordinary white American men began voting. Most of those voters supported the fourth Democratic-Republican candidate: General Andrew Jackson. Jackson was different from the other three men. Born in rural South Carolina to poor parents, he was self-educated. He promised to give less-privileged Americans a voice in government.
Jackson’s message was well received. In the general election, he won more popular votes than any other candidate. He also took first place in the Electoral College. But he did not win a majority of electoral votes. So, as stated in the 12th Amendment, the decision of whom to select as the next president moved to the U.S. House of Representatives. Only the top three vote-getters were eligible.
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Eye in the Sky
An interview with Joe Piotrowski
Airborne Animals
Humans have taken to the skies in balloons, gliders, and airplanes-but we're not alone among the clouds. Animals of all sorts have evolved to harness wind power.
TAKING OFF
The Wright brothers expected airplanes to “take off,” but even they might be amazed at the way the airline industry has become big business. In the past, it was expensive to send something by plane.
GROWTH OF AN INDUSTRY
After their historic flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright returned to Dayton, Ohio. They spent the next few years making adjustments and building additional versions of their powered aircraft in their bicycle shop.
WHY KITTY HAWK?
The Wright brothers searched carefully for the best place to test their gliders and flying machines. Their main concern was for good, steady winds. But they also hoped to find a remote location to allow them to perform tests away from the public eye.
Two Brothers From Ohio
Most people do not realize that the Wright brothers—Wilbur, born in 1867, and Orville, born in 1871—performed various scientific experiments before inventing their aircraft. For as long as anyone in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, could remember, the Wright boys had worked on mechanical projects.
A Helping Hand
May 6, 1896. A group of people who had gathered beside the Potomac River, just south of the U.S. capital, grew quiet. Then, it erupted in cheers as a small, unmanned aircraft took to the skies and flew for more than half a mile. The flight came seven years before the Wright brothers’ first manned, powered flight. The inventor of the aircraft was Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley.
THE IDEA MEN
People dreamed of flying thousands of years before the Wright brothers found success near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. These dreamers, such as Leonardo da Vinci, studied birds flying and imagined how humans might do the same—if only they had wings. Other men developed a more hands-on approach to the topic. Early inventors made wings of cloth, glue, and feathers and tied these creations to their arms in an attempt to imitate nature.
Da Vinci's 4 Designs
Have you ever wondered how a bird flies? Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) did. He thought that understanding how a bird flies would provide the key to human flight. So, what did da Vinci learn from birds?
Silken Wings
Seven hundred years before the Wright brothers began experimenting with human flight, the Chinese had already mastered its secrets—with kites.
