ad already
entered the mouth of the river. But Lewis and Clark were the first white
men to reach it overland.

[Sidenote: Amendment as to the election of President.]

[Sidenote: The Twelfth Amendment, 1804.]

245. The Twelfth Amendment, 1804.--Four presidential elections had
now been held under the method provided by the Constitution. And that
method had not worked well (pp. 171, 176). It was now (1804) changed by
the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment which is still in force. The old
machinery of presidential electors was kept. But it was provided that
in the future each elector should vote for President and for
Vice-President on separate and distinct ballots. The voters had no more
part in the election under the new system than they had had under the
old system. The old method of apportioning electors among the states was
also kept. This gives to each state as many electors as it has Senators
and Representatives in Congress. No matter how small its territory, or
how small its population, a state has at least two Senators and one
Representative, and, therefore, three electors. The result is that each
voter in a small state has more influence in choosing the President than
each voter in a large state. Indeed, several Presidents have been
elected by minorities of the voters of the country as a whole.

[Sidenote: Jefferson reelected, 1804.]

[Sidenote: Strength of the Republicans.]

246. Reelection of Jefferson, 1804.--Jefferson's first
administration had been most successful. The Republicans had repealed
many unpopular laws. By the purchase of Louisiana the area of the United
States had been doubled and an end put to the dispute as to the
navigation of the Mississippi. The expenses of the national government
had been cut down, and a portion of the national debt had been paid. The
people were prosperous and happy. Under these circumstances Jefferson
was triumphantly reelected. He received one hundred and sixty-two
electoral votes to only fourteen for his Federalist rival.

[Illustration: STEPHEN DECATUR.]

CHAPTER 24

CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1812

[Sidenote: The African pirates. _Higginson_, 237-239; _Eggleston_,
228-229.]

[Sidenote: Tribute paying.]

[Sidenote: Jefferson ends this system.]

[Sidenote: _Hero Tales_, 103-113.]

247. The North Africa Pirates.--Stretching along the northern
shores of Africa from Egypt westward to the Atlantic were four states.
These states were named Tunis, Tripoli, Alg