The Election of 1800
The Election of 1800 was a grueling duel between longtime friends Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The only time in history where a Vice President and President were opponents, each with different visions for the United States of America. The statement “politics were rarely as dirty as it was in the Election of 1800” refers to the mud-slinging, lies, and propaganda between the two opponents.
Adams and Jefferson had different ideas about what the United States of America should look like and more specifically how it should be governed. Adams views were that of an effective central government led by a powerful president that could forge a stable secure nation from a multitude of weak wrangling states. Whereas
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Another dirty tactic by Jefferson was that of a secret caucus where Republicans gathered and unanimously pledged to support Jefferson and Burr. To this day, there’s no public record of this meeting which took place on May eleventh . Interestingly the Republicans then turn the tables on the Federalist after they held their closed caucus by using again the Aurora newspaper to make a huge stink labeling it “a fractious meeting…unknown to the constitution or law”. The political campaigning in the 1800s looked much different than it does today. For example, the election of 2016 Trump attacked Clinton over BenGhazi and her emails and Clinton attacked Trump over his remarks about women. Instead, the candidates hired newspapers, other politicians and notable men to campaign for them. For Jefferson and the Republicans, the primary threat of government corruption lay in an all-powerful presidency immune from the checks and balances of congressional and state authority. Jefferson’s victory in the election of 1800 was the first time that one political party had relinquished presidential power to the opposing party. Ironically, the
The book Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 is a book describing what led up, and what happened during the 1800 election. Furling went as far as to mention the American revolution and talked all the way to the year 1800. Although he didn’t talk about the 1800 election until the last couple chapters, Ferling filled the readers minds with what was going on in America before the election. Ferling gives a short biography about all the candidates in the election of 1800, like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Charles Pinckney, and Aaron Burr.
The election of 1800 was the first election to be decided by the House of Representatives. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both had the same amount of electoral votes. At the end it was decided, Jefferson as president and Burr as vice president. Thomas Jefferson as president scaled back Federalist building plans for Washington and cut the government budget. He also reduced the size of the army by a third and cut back the navy to six ships.
This election was significant because the controversy between both running mates Jefferson and Aaron Burr was influenced by Alexander
During the years of 1801-1817 two separate parties had formed, the Jeffersonian Republicans (Democrats) and the Federalists, which feuded bitterly in the political world. During Jefferson’s presidency the Democratic party remained firm in their beliefs, but began to slightly conformed to the Federalists during Madison’s presidency; likewise, Federalists stubbornly held onto their views, but compromised to the stricter views of Democrats when Jefferson was in power. Jefferson became president in 1801 and began the reign of strictness of the Democratic party, forcing Federalists to conform to their stringent views. Jefferson had made attempts to unify with the Federalists stating: “We are all republicans” in order to strengthen the unity of the country
The the newspaper had a great effect on the candidates as well, as many of them expressed their true (and sometimes vicious) opinions of each candidate. The newspaper was receiving more power at this time therefore intriguing readers and influencing opinions. Also, some of the candidates went out to polls and addressed crowds, much like today’s rallies. This also may have influenced people to vote of a particular candidate. At the end of it all, Jefferson beats Burr, leading him to his depressing
The turmoil, upheaval, and controversy of the 2016 Trump election is a significant current event of the modern world, but this landslide election is not the first in America’s history to raise such conflicting opinions. The Revolution of 1800 was another shift in political history that impacted not only the candidates, but majority of the public. The defeat of John Adams to Vice President Thomas Jefferson led to the rise of the Democratic-Republican Party rule and the eventual demise of the Federalist Party. Often in politics, opposing views, scandals, and negative publicity plays a role in the election process, due to this, in both the 2016 election and 1800 election negative criticism from both parties was evident. The 1800 and 2016 elections
Jefferson’s Election, the “revolution of 1800” was not revolutionary in the sense of “a massive popular upheaval or an upending of the political system”. He did not beat Adams by a landslide or hugely impact society just by winning the election. When considering his election to be a revolution, he meant that America was finally going back to it’s old ways, back to the “original spirit of the Revolution. Jefferson did not agree with Hamilton, Adams or any Federalists views, he believed that they went against what the country stood for. The election of 1800 was justified because for once a president who represented “the common man” was in office.
In the upcoming US presidential election of 1800, John Adams, a member of the Federalist party, is running for reelection against Thomas Jefferson, a member of the Democratic-Republican party. John Adams favors a strong national power and limited state power. He believes that common people are incapable of governing themselves and is against too much individual freedom. The people who support him are high class citizens such as bankers, manufacturers, and merchants. On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson favors a weak national government and believes that the people are capable of ruling themselves.
This election was almost as confused and complex as the 1796 election Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both Republicans, tied in the Electoral vote because Republican electors failed to follow the prescription of ensuring that Jefferson would receive more votes (and the presidency) than Burr. Burr is accused of violating the agreement. This result threw the election to the House of Representatives for a final decision, an interesting situation given the fact that the House continued to be dominated by Federalists.
In 1824 the election resulted in the presidency of John Quincy Adams as a result of the 12th Amendment. After the Federalist party disintegrated, this election was run solely by Democratic-Republicans. “Adams appointed Henry Clay as Secretary of State which resulted in charges of corrupt bargain” (Martin). Rutherford B. Hayes became president in 1876 after winning one of the most “controversial presidential elections known to date” (Martin). The Compromise of 1877 gave electoral votes to Hayes, marking the first presidential election in “20 years in which a Democratic candidate won majority of popular vote” (Martin).
Jefferson v. Hamilton There are many conflicts in the early years of the American politics. There are two famous political parties during the early years of American Independence, and their ideologies were completely opposite. Thomas Jefferson was the third American President from 1801-1809. Alexander Hamilton was the founder of Federalist party and President Washington elected him as a first secretary of the treasurer.
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States, who served two terms from 1801-1809. Thomas Jefferson was in the Democratic-Republican party and was the first president to be a Democratic-Republican. The Election of 1800 was the first peaceful transfer of power in history from Federalists to Democratic-Republicans. This was a turning point as the Federalists were slowly fading away, and the Democratic-Republican were rising as Jefferson became president. Jefferson’s presidency was a mixture of exceptional decisions and disagreeable ones with his handling of domestic and foreign policies.
1. Discuss the ways that Jefferson's presidency betrayed his original vision for the new republic. In what ways did it fulfill that vision? Jefferson’s original vision was to minimize the federal power and reduce the importance of the national government in American life. However, he betrayed that in many ways after being the president.
In any election, many factors influence the outcome. The Philadelphia Congressional Election of 1794 was between Federalist Thomas Fitzsimmons and Democratic-Republican John Swanwick. The support from different socio-economic groups was split between the candidates, and multiple variables affected the voters’ opinions. The candidates’ backgrounds, views and opinions on different political issues, and the voters themselves all proved important factors in the election.
When comparing Sam Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, we can see that there are some similarities and differences between the men. Perhaps the most notable relation this group has, is that they were all formal presidents and had some type of power or ownership. The qualities of all four men are often seen as opposed to each other. One similarity for example, with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson was that they were prosperous Virginian plantation owners and held slaves. Jefferson and Adams were both well educated people and knew about the law.