Nor did Jefferson dismantle the Federalist system wholesale. Furthermore, his purchase of the Louisiana Territory from the French in showed his willingness to deploy two lingering traits of the Federalists: bold, decisive presidential leadership and a reluctance to let constitutional scruples stand in the way of unquestioned national interest.
Once in office, in fact, Jefferson seemed to think that it had been enough that he and his followers had replaced the Federalists. The greatest danger to the country came not from the Federalist system or the institutions they created, it seemed, but rather from the men who had been running the government.
Now that right-thinking Republicans held the reins of power instead of corrupt Federalists, Jefferson believed no dramatic changes were needed and the country could be eased toward change.
The more genuinely transformative revolution in American politics came in the next generation, with Andrew Jackson and the Second Party System. Use Handout A: Point-Counterpoint Graphic Organizer to answer historical reasoning questions about this point-counterpoint. Thomas Jefferson to John C. Breckinridge, August 12, , in Thomas Jefferson: Writings, ed. Jefferson, Thomas. First Inaugural Address Ferling, John. Adams v. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of New York: Oxford University Press, Onuf, eds.
Larson, Edward J. Because each Republican elector had cast one ballot for Jefferson and one for Burr, the two men received exactly the same number of electoral votes. Under the Constitution, the election was now thrown into the Federalist-controlled House of Representatives.
Instead of emphatically declaring that he would not accept the presidency, Burr declined to say anything. So, the Federalists faced a choice. Pitting two clearly opposing parties against each other for the first time, the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans fought in what some historians have called the dirtiest campaign in US politics. Thomas Jefferson, first inaugural address, excerpts. Grade CCR complexity band. Based on lexile measurements this lesson could also be classified in upper levels of the 9th—10th complexity band.
For more information on text complexity see these resources from achievethecore. In the Text Analysis section, Tier 2 vocabulary words are defined in pop-ups, and Tier 3 words are explained in brackets.
Click here for standards and skills for this lesson. Students will examine how Jefferson sought to bridge the divide created by the bitter campaign and lay the groundwork for a new direction for the presidency. A transfer of political ideology within the presidency had never before been done, and many believed it impossible to accomplish.
Jefferson edited this speech at least twice before his inauguration, and this document is the final version that was published in newspapers and broadsides. In excerpts one and two he seeks to reassure the opposing party as well as suggest that the differences among them may not be as contentious as previously thought.
While a change of political party in the White House is today a matter of routine, this lesson focuses upon the upheaval associated with that first redirection of political ideology, allowing students to contextualize the importance of a peaceful transition of presidential power. The development of political parties is not treated in detail in this lesson but is mentioned in the background note. Original spellings are retained. This lesson is divided into two parts, both accessible below, and includes close reading questions, student interactives, and an optional followup assignment.
By the late s, two clearly different political parties had developed in the United States. The Federalists envisioned an America grounded in the principles of commercial development, including an economic system based on the British model and a strong national government that could control the various states and their powerful ambitions.
John Adams and Alexander Hamilton represented these ideas. In opposition stood the Democratic Republicans, who promoted an agrarian economy supported by manufactures, economic ties with several foreign countries, and strong state governments that would balance not only the federal government but each other. Thomas Jefferson came to represent the ideas of the Democratic Republicans. Hamilton saw Jefferson as a dangerous radical whose policies would bring about the secession of New England and the dissolution of the US; Jefferson saw Hamilton as a man whose strategies would make the US a satellite country of Britain and negate the hard-won victory of the American Revolution.
Each man saw in the views of his opponent the downfall of America. Jefferson was seen by his opponents as trying to topple the federal government.
Partisan newspapers for both sides took up the cause with sharply critical and even slanderous articles about the opposition. Picnics, barbeques, and parades advertised the benefits of party ideals and the dangers of those opposed.
In multiple state and local elections throughout the s the Federalists and Democratic Republicans pitted themselves against each other with varying results, and by the end of the decade each side saw the other as a clear threat to the future of the US. The presidential election was different from those that had come before. In addition, several states there were 16 states by had switched their presidential voting systems to ones of overall popular vote rather than voting by district, and in some cases this made a significant difference in the awarding of electoral votes.
Through the Electoral College system the Founders had intended for state legislators to choose electors and therefore the president, but marked the first significant influence of popular vote totals in the presidential election. The presidential election of saw for the first time clearly identified political opponents.
The electoral ballots submitted by the states to Congress were, by law, not to be opened until February 11, , but their contents leaked to the press. Although the public supported Jefferson to be president, Burr and Jefferson tied in the Electoral College vote. How could this happen? In , prior to the passage of the 12th amendment, each state elector cast two votes without specifying which was for president and which for vice president, and the votes were then tallied.
Whoever received the most votes was declared president with the vice presidency going to the second highest candidate. Why did the Founders put this process into effect in the Constitution? They wanted the presidency to be a contest between individuals, not political factions or parties.
If two candidates received a majority of votes but were tied, the decision was referred to the House of Representatives. Once in the House of Representatives, each state had one vote, and the candidate with the most votes was declared president.
Jefferson, as vice president and Speaker of the House, announced the totals of the first vote on February 11, Seventy-three for Mr. Jefferson and seventy-three for Mr. Hamilton, however, had lost credibility in his own party. In October , against the advice of friends and colleagues, he had printed a vicious page screed against Adams.
The congressmen all responded to Hamilton, expressing their determination to back Burr. In frontier Washington, politics consumed them. There was little else to do. On that account, principally, I see some danger in the fate of the [presidential] election which I had not before contemplated. In Washington, however, they rarely met except in partisan combat. With less than two weeks until the critical House vote for president, trust had broken down completely between the parties.
Each side attributed only the worst motives to the other. By the middle of February, lawmakers were in no mood to compromise, or even to act rationally.
Knowing that Federalists would still dominate this body until the states chose their new senators, Republicans feared that the rump Senate would promptly elect a Federalist president pro tempore to assume the reins of government. Perhaps in response to Republican threats of disunion, on February 9, the House adopted procedural rules that effectively precluded it from passing legislation to designate an interim president.
Both sides went into the House vote on February 11 with high hopes. The Federalists expected all the Republicans to vote for Jefferson on the first ballot, but believed that some would eventually split off if the balloting continued. Burr had friends in Congress, particularly among Republicans in the closely divided New York and New Jersey delegations. To win, Burr needed only one or two Republican votes in any three of these four delegations. Rumors swirled of bribes and job offers—but these promises, if made, apparently came from zealous Federalists rather than from Burr himself.
In contrast, Jefferson needed only one more Federalist vote from Maryland, Vermont or Delaware to prevail. Republicans believed that he would win on the first ballot. The entire House and Senate crowded into the ornate Senate chambers at noon to observe the Electoral College vote count. Performing one of his few constitutionally mandated duties as vice president, Jefferson read aloud the 16 state ballots and announced the final totals. On the first ballot, Jefferson carried the eight Republican states; Burr took the six Federalist ones; Maryland and Vermont split evenly along party lines and therefore abstained.
Members cast 20 more ballots on that first day and through the night, voting typically at one-hour intervals until 8 a. Nothing changed. They voted again at noon on Thursday, but again reached the same result.
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