Presidential Election of 1792: Rhode Island Electors Ballot Submission Letter for the state's first presidential election. F...

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Rhode Island participates in its first presidential election

Presidential Election of 1792: Rhode Island Electors Ballot Submission Letter for the state's first presidential election. Four integral pages, written on pages one, two, and four, 9" x 14.5", County of Bristol, Providence Plantations and State of Rhode Island, December 5, 1792. The letter, addressed to the "Honourable John Adams Esquire - President of the Senate of the United States - Philadelphia", refers to the results of the vote by the electors in the presidential election. The results are not included; however, incumbent George Washington received all four of Rhode Island's electoral votes.

The presidential election of 1792 was the first in which all of the original thirteen states chose presidential electors. In the previous election of 1789, three of the original states did not participate in the election: Rhode Island and North Carolina were unable to participate because they had not yet ratified the U.S. Constitution, and New York did not participate because it failed to choose electors on time.

According to the U.S. Constitution, each state is given the same numbers of electors as it has members of the House and Senate. The date for elector voting has changed since 1792, but in that year, the date was the beginning of December. Before the Twelfth Amendment (1804), each elector cast two votes. When the votes were counted, the individual with the most votes became the president; the individual with the second most votes became the vice president. This document, important for electoral college history, displays some paper loss at the folds and chipping at the edges, else fine.