New Jersey's First Congressional Election, 1789

HE functioning of the electoral machinery available to the American people at various periods in their history for the expression of their will is a field of study that has received less attention than it merits. Even those who style themselves historians have been prone to make much of issues, alignments, and personalities and to neglect the intricate processes that form the working core of democracy. Republican government is distinguished by its reliance on techniques for permitting eligible voters to choose those who will be the authentic representatives of the majority in the public councils. Upon the adequacy of those techniques, therefore, rests the efficiency of this form of government. When the existing electoral machinery is immaturely developed or readily corrupted by fraudulent manipulation, the popular will is frustrated, negatived, or, at best, inaccurately recorded. Moreover, the machinery itself is a factor in determining what issues will be emphasized, what kinds of alignments will develop, and what types of personalities will dominate. An illuminating case history of electoral practices in the earliest days of the Federal Republic is found in the first congressional election in New Jersey. Although devoid of broad significance in the usual sense, this contest abundantly illustrates not only the elementary character of election machinery at the time but also the readiness with which such machinery could be used by scheming men. Adding to the interest in the New Jersey case is the fact that it presented the First Congress with a complicated election dispute, the solution of which was to occasion the new House of Representatives no little difficulty. The background of the election can be sketched briefly. The basic political cleavage in the state was along sectional lines, with East Jersey opposed to West Jersey. The result of historical, geographic, social, *Mr. McCormick is a member of the Department of History at Rutgers University. The research for this paper was made possible by a grant from the Rutgers University Research Council

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