What was historical about the election of 1800

The deadlock in the House revealed a constitutional defect. It also pushed partisan rivalry to an extreme, inspiring a host of creative and far-reaching electoral ploys. As a sense of crisis built, there was even talk of disunion and civil war, and indeed, two states began to organize their militias to seize the government if Jefferson did not prevail.

Oddly enough, this pivotal election has received relatively little scholarly attention. Much of it is recent, possibly inspired by the presidential election of One recent study— Adams vs. Onuf, offers an excellent survey of different historical approaches to the election, such as the study of constitutional realities, political culture, or the influence of slavery. Older studies that discuss the election include Noble E.

Cunningham Jr. Why so little scholarship? In part, because of our tendency to view the election of as a victory for our modern two-party system—the first such victory in American national politics. This is not to say that the calm transferal of power from one regime to another is not noteworthy. It was certainly a powerful endorsement of our Constitution. But envisioning the election as the birth of our modern political system masks the many ways in which it was distinctly not modern.

In fact, in , there was no modern party system. The Republicans and Federalists were not parties as we now understand them. An institutionalized two-party system would not be accepted for decades to come. Similarly, participants operated according to ideas and assumptions very different from our own. In short, the election of transpired in a world with its own culture and contingencies. To recapture the contingency of this historical moment, we have to look through the eyes of our historical subjects and understand them in the context of their own world.

In , the American Constitution had been in effect for only eleven years. The national government was still a work-in-progress, a political experiment with no model of comparison in the modern world. A republic was supposedly superior to its Old World predecessors, but this assumption had yet to be tested. Political parties were not an accepted part of this picture: instead they were viewed as illicit groups of self-interested men intent on winning power and position in the next election.

The stability and long-term practicability of a republic was likewise a question, every political crisis raising fears of disunion and civil war. This tense, tenuous political environment produced anxiety, bitterness, and high emotion for good reason.

In , when western Pennsylvania farmers refused to pay a national whiskey tax, President George Washington called an armed force of 15, soldiers to the field. Even the Constitution itself was uncertain—a work-in-progress with serious design flaws. The election ultimately centered on one of these flaws—a fundamental constitutional defect in the presidential and vice presidential voting process. The Louisiana Purchase and its exploration. Practice: Jefferson's election and presidency.

Practice: The War of The presidency of John Quincy Adams. Politics and regional interests. The Market Revolution - textile mills and the cotton gin.

The Market Revolution - communication and transportation. Conflict between the two parties heightened with the passage by Federalists of the Alien and Sedition Acts in , which sought to curtail speech against the Federalist government. After the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, Adams and the Federalists grew increasingly unpopular. The election of Thomas Jefferson in marked a success for the Democratic-Republican party and the decline of the Federalist party.

The political fate of the Federalist party was then sealed by the seemingly treasonable behavior of leading Federalists during the War of After the war, for a brief period, partisan differences seemed to disappear. The disintegration of the Federalist party seemed to leave only the Democratic-Republican party standing. However, after Monroe left office, new partisan differences flared up, instituting the Second Party System.

Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Securing the Republic: — Search for:. The Election of The Election of and the Federalist Legacy The presidential election of represented the first peaceful transfer of power between political parties in U. Learning Objectives Describe the presidential election of Adams faced reelection in the midst of crisis abroad, unpopularity at home, and a divided Federalist Party; in the end, he was narrowly defeated by Jefferson in what became known as the Revolution of Though this was the first peaceful transfer of power between political parties in U.

Due to an unforeseen flaw in the Constitution of , the election was conceded to the House of Representatives, where Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, competed for the office. The twelve years of Federalism left a long-lasting and important legacy: Through the assumption of state debts, the enactment of protective tariffs, and its position on neutrality, the Federalist government had proved its strength.

Key Terms Transfer of Power : The action of switching control of the government between rival political parties. Revolution of : The U. Learning Objectives Differentiate between factional splits and political parties in the early republic.

Key Takeaways Key Points While most of the founding fathers of the United States viewed the very idea of political parties as contrary to the principles of the American Revolution, the early republic experienced the firm establishment of the two-party system in the United States.

By the first Washington administration, two political tendencies had solidified into two rival political parties: Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.

Federalists favored a powerful central government and an economy based on commerce and manufacturing; Democratic-Republicans, on the other hand, favored a less-powerful central government and an economy that was built around farming and the trades. As a consequence, the Elections of and were bitterly contested, with the beginnings of modern political campaign machinery evident in every state in the Union.