Page 210 - American Stories, A History of the United States

TAbLE 7.2 THE ELEcTiON OF 1800
7.1
candidate Party Electoral Vote
Jefferson Republican 73
burr Republican 73 7.2
J. Adams Federalist 65
c. Pinckney Federalist 64
7.3

The logjam finally broke when leading Federalists decided that Jefferson, whatever
his faults, would make a more responsible president than would the shifty Burr. Even 7.4
Hamilton labeled Burr “the most dangerous man of the community.” On the thirty-sixth
ballot, Representative James A. Bayard of Delaware announced he no longer supported
Burr. This decision, coupled with Burr’s inaction, gave Jefferson the presidency, ten 7.5
states to four.
The Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, saved the American people from
repeating this potentially dangerous turn of events. Henceforth, the electoral college
cast separate ballots for president and vice president.
During the final days of his presidency, Adams appointed as many Federalists as
possible to the federal bench. Jefferson protested the hasty manner in which these “mid-
night judges” were selected. One of them, John Marshall, became chief justice of the
United States, a post he held with distinction for 34 years. But behind the last-minute
flurry of activity lay bitterness and disappointment. Adams never forgave Hamilton.
The Federalist Party was left splintered and dispirited. On the morning of Jefferson’s
inauguration, Adams slipped away from the capital—now located in Washington,
D.C.—unnoticed and unappreciated.
In the address that Adams missed, Jefferson attempted to quiet partisan fears. “We
are all republicans; we are all federalists,” the new president declared. By this statement,
he did not mean to suggest that party differences were no longer important. Jefferson
reminded his audience that whatever the politicians might say, the people shared a
deep commitment to a federal union based on republican ideals set forth during the
American Revolution. Indeed, the president interpreted the election of 1800 as revolu-
tionary, the fulfillment of the principles of 1776.
Recent battles, of course, colored Jefferson’s judgment. The contests of the 1790s Quick Check
had been hard fought, the outcome often in doubt. Jefferson looked back at this period What did Jefferson mean when he
as a confrontation between the “advocates of republican and those of kingly govern- claimed in his first inaugural address
ment.” He believed that only his own party’s vigilance had saved the country from that “We are all Republicans; we are
Federalist “liberticide.” all federalists”?

conclusion: Danger of Political Extremism
From a broader historical perspective, the election of 1800 seems noteworthy for what
did not occur. There were no riots, no attempted coup, no secession from the Union,
only the peaceful transfer of government from the leaders of one political party to those
of the opposition.
Americans had weathered the Alien and Sedition Acts, the meddling by predatory
foreign powers in domestic affairs, the shrill partisan rhetoric of hack journalists, and
now, at the start of a new century, they were impressed with their own achievement.
As one woman who attended Jefferson’s inauguration noted, “The changes of admin-
istration which in every government and in every age have most generally been epochs
of confusion, villainy and bloodshed, in this our happy country take place without
any species of distraction, or disorder.” But as she understood—indeed, as modern
Americans must constantly relearn—extremism in the name of partisan political truth
can easily unravel the delicate fabric of representative democracy and leave the republic
at the mercy of those who would manipulate the public for private benefit.

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