Chapter Six, Section Three

Jefferson Alters the Nation’s Course (pgs. 197 – 201)

Jefferson Wins Presidential Election

  • Election of 1800
  • Democratic-Republican candidate: Jefferson
  • Federalist candidate: Adams (already president)
  • Lots of trash talk
  • “Adams was for the rich boys & would turn US into a BR monarchy if he could”
  • “Jefferson was a FR sympathizer & atheist who would probably end organized religion as we know it”

Electoral Deadlock

  • Jefferson beat Adams by 8 electoral votes
  • But Aaron Burr (Jefferson’s running mate) received some electoral votes as Jefferson
  • So it was up to the House of Reps to decide if Jefferson or Burr was going to be president
  • Days went by, but then Alexander Hamilton stepped in
  • Hamilton convinced Federalists not to vote for either, so that Jefferson would get majority and win
  • Result: Aaron Burr is VP
  • Hamilton didn’t support/agree with Jefferson, but he felt Jefferson was the better qualified man for the job
  • This tie between Jefferson & Burr forced a change in Constitution
  • 12th Amendment – electors have to cast separate ballots for president and vice president

Burr & Hamilton Duel

  • Burr needed to get his political career a shot in the arm after the election loss
  • Burr read some trash talk about how unqualified he was (written by Hamilton), so he decided to challenge Hamilton to a duel (in an effort to get some publicity)
  • Traditionally, duels would be initiated publicly, but then behind closed doors, a deal would be made, and peace would ensue)
  • Hamilton & Burr didn’t make up/settle
  • Threw dice to see who would fire first
  • Hamilton won, but decided to fire his gun into the air
  • Burr did not make same decision, and shot Hamilton in stomach
  • Hamilton died next day
  • Burr charged with murder, but fled
  • 1806 – Burr resurfaced and was charged with treason
  • Fled to Europe
  • Later returned to NY & lived there as a lawyer until his death

The Jefferson Presidency

  • Tried to balance out political feelings, by offering “peace” to the federalists
  • Jefferson also went through and replaced a lot of Federalist politicians with Democratic-Republican ones
  • The branches of government were more evenly balanced

Simplifying the Presidency

  • Jefferson felt the country needed to get away from the BR style hoopla
  • He walked to his own inauguration (no carriage)
  • Took off his powdered wig & wore work clothes in public
  • Tried to decentralize federal power
  • Cut expenses for government social functions
  • Reduced size of army
  • Froze size of navy
  • Cut taxes
  • Reduced influence of National Bank of United States
  • Jefferson also encouraged free trade – felt a lot of US goods were in short supply in Europe

Southern Dominance of Politics

  • Jefferson was 1st president to reside in new capital in WashingtonDC (between VA & MD)
  • Again, this location symbolized the importance of the South in American politics
  • Kind of a bigger deal because Jefferson was from Virginia
  • The southern capitol was not the only thing contributing to less of a “federalist” nation
  • Many federalists decided not to even run because they did not want to seek out common people in their political campaigns.
  • As our country expanded, people in new states tended to vote for Dem-Republicans, because they supported agriculture and farmers

John Marshall & the Supreme Court

  • Federalists still held dominant power in judicial branch
  • John Marshall – Chief Justice of Supreme Court
  • Served 30+ years
  • Strengthened power of both Supreme Court & federal government

Judiciary Act of 1801 – increased number of federal judges by 16

  • Adams did this because he wanted to appoint a bunch of federalist judges so that future decisions would be influenced by federalist notions
  • The newly appointed judges were known as “midnight judges” because Adams appointed them late on the last night of his presidency
  • This court-packing thing really ticked off Jefferson and others
  • Some of the authorization documents for these judges weren’t delivered before Adams left office, so Jefferson said the appointments weren’t legit.

Marbury v. Madison – 1803

  • Landmark Supreme Court case
  • William Marbury – midnight judge who never received official papers
  • James Madison – Sec. of State under Jefferson (It was Madison’s job to deliver the official papers)
  • According to Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress made it a law that the Supreme Court had to order all papers delivered
  • So Marbury sued to make sure act was carried out
  • Chief Justice Marshall decided that the act was unconstitutional because nowhere in Constitution did it state that it was Supreme Court’s job
  • So Marbury lost
  • This landmark decision by Marshall was such a big deal because it affirmed the principle of judicial review

Judicial Review – the ability of the Supreme Court to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional - provides for power of Congress to be checked by Supreme Court

The United States Expands West

  • Americans were increasingly moving out west
  • 1800 – population of OH: 45,000
  • 1810 – population of OH: 231,000
  • Most of the westward bound settlers traveled through the Cumberland Gap – a natural passage through the Appalachians near where KY, VA, & TN meet (Wilderness Road)

The Louisiana Purchase

  • 1800 – Napoleon was able to get Spain to return lands to FR
  • This made Americans nervous because if FR owned land right next to us, we might be forced to ally with BR
  • In response: Jefferson sent James Monroe and Robert Livingston to Paris to try & buy part so of the land from them
  • But by the time Livingston & Monroe got to Paris, Napoleon had already decided to sell the entire LouisianaTerritory to US
  • FR was broke
  • Napoleon has lost Haiti
  • The deal was made for $15 million, but Jefferson wasn’t sure it was constitutional to be able to just acquire new territory
  • Jefferson got a treaty together & the Senate approved
  • Known as the Louisiana Purchase
  • Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the US

Lewis & Clark

  • Jefferson wanted to find out about what this new piece of land had to offer
  • Put Meriwether Lewis in charge of Corps of Discovery expedition & William Clark was chosen to help Lewis.
  • Lewis & Clark were ordered to collect scientific information & samples of plants and animals, & to find out about the Native American tribes living there
  • Lewis & Clark were aided by Sacajawea – Native American woman who served as an interpreter and guide
  • The expedition took 2 years, 4 months