The 1828 United States presidential election in Alabama was part of the nationwide contest held in 1828 to elect the President and Vice President of the United States. Alabama, which had been admitted to the Union in 1819, participated for the second time in a presidential election. The state was allocated five electoral votes, reflecting its representation of two senators and three members of the House of Representatives.
Election date
Alabama’s voters cast their ballots on the same day as most other states, November 3, 1828 (the election period extended from early to mid‑November in 1828, with individual states setting specific dates).
Major party nominees
| Nominee | Party | Home state | Running mate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Jackson | Democratic Party (Jacksonian) | Tennessee | John C. Calhoun |
| John Quincy Adams | National Republican Party (Anti‑Jacksonian) | Massachusetts | Richard Rush |
Results in Alabama
| Candidate | Popular vote* | Percentage* | Electoral votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Jackson | — | — | 5 |
| John Quincy Adams | — | — | 0 |
*Exact popular‑vote totals for the 1828 Alabama election are recorded in historical sources, but the precise numbers are not uniformly presented in contemporary encyclopedic references. What is consistently documented is that Andrew Jackson won a decisive majority of the popular vote in the state, thereby securing all five of Alabama’s electoral votes.
Significance
- This election marked the first time Alabama’s electorate overwhelmingly supported the Democratic (Jacksonian) ticket, reflecting the growing popularity of Andrew Jackson’s appeal to frontier and agrarian voters.
- The victory contributed to Jackson’s overall electoral triumph, ending John Quincy Adams’s single‑term presidency and inaugurating the era often referred to as “Jacksonian Democracy.”
- Alabama’s five electoral votes represented a modest but symbolically important portion of the 261 electoral votes needed to win the presidency in 1828.
Contextual background
- The 1828 election was characterized by intense partisan rivalry, personal attacks, and a shift toward greater voter participation among white male property owners, especially in western states such as Alabama.
- Voter eligibility in Alabama at the time was limited to white male citizens meeting property or tax‑paying qualifications, which constrained the size of the electorate relative to the state’s total population.
References
- “United States presidential elections, 1789‑present,” Congressional Quarterly.
- “The American Presidency Project,” election data archives.
- State historical records of Alabama election returns (archived by the Alabama Department of Archives and History).
