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OneMansView
, December 14, 2008
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The first election of rancor and hyperbole
Totally consistent with the author’s claim that the Presidential election of 1800 was the first national election involving clearly defined partisan elements, this book focuses on the intrigues and electioneering that occurred in several of the states in the selection of legislators and electors in 1800, the results of which were played out in the Electoral College on Dec 3. A complicating factor in the elections was the several ways in which electors could be selected – by legislators or by popular vote, either by district or statewide slates – not to mention, that each elector had two votes for president and none for vice-president. A primary purpose of the author is to capture the flavor and intensity of the various campaigns, which he does by quoting liberally from the writings – pamphlets, letters, newspaper articles, etc – of a wide range of sources, not just the principals.
In a brief introduction, the author demonstrates that the political process was on a collision course throughout the 1790s. One element of colonial society, led by Washington, Hamilton, and to some extent Adams, held that the best men of society should govern with little input from the general population. They did not regard themselves as a political party or faction, but merely as the rightful holders of government positions – an essentially aristocratic position. They desired a strong central government that favored commercial interests. Others, best represented by Jefferson and Madison, favored states’ rights, small national government, and liberty, including religious freedom, for all. It was a view more in keeping with the spirit and policies of 1776. These two distinct factions became known as the Federal(ist) Party and the Republican Party.
Beyond polices of a national bank, full funding of war debts, protective tariffs, and the like that favored economic elites, the European situation involving the establishment of a French republic and British-French hostilities created the largest divide in America with the Federalists being pro-British and the Republicans being pro-French. The Jay treaty with Britain, the rejection of US envoys by the French minister, and the Quasi-War with France, as well as the Alien and Sedition acts, all generated tremendous partisan opinion throughout the decade. Of course the Sedition Act was designed to quell the speech of the alleged illegitimate and unpatriotic opposition.
It is interesting that leading revolutionary figures who pulled together in casting off the rule of Britain could within a matter of a few years come to dramatically different positions regarding the definition of what America should be and what policies to pursue. The author suggests that as early as 1791, Jefferson and Adams had become political rivals as least partly due to Jefferson’s endorsement of Paine’s The Rights of Man where he characterized Adams’ thinking as being “political heresies.”
Also interesting is the split in the Federalist faction that was orchestrated by Alexander Hamilton. As the leader of the High Federalists, Hamilton saw Adams’ attempt at rapprochement with the French as being nearly treasonous. As a consequence, all during the election cycle of 1800, Hamilton schemed with other High Federalists to limit Adams’ election chances. His desperation knew no limits, as he published a lengthy pamphlet in which he attacked Adams personality and capacity to govern.
Recurrent themes in the campaign of 1800 voiced by the Federalists were the supposed ties of Republicans to the revolutionaries of France, or the Jacobins, and the ramifications of such. Jefferson came under scurrilous attack because of his alleged atheism, despite the fact that many of the leading figures of the day were Deists or Unitarians. Already known for his authorship of Virginia’s Statue of Religious Freedom in 1786, which disestablished state support for any particular religion and made religious tests for civil rights illegal, his known support for the French made it easy for the Federalists to claim that his election would issue in the same sort of excesses committed by the Jacobins, including the killing of clergy, the confiscation of property, and the like.
Because of the flawed process of selecting electors and electing the president, the 1800 election resulted in a tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr, a scoundrel and political operative from New York. After over thirty rounds of voting in the House of Representatives beginning on Feb 11, 1801, and great deal of intrigue, Jefferson was elected president with Burr becoming the vice-president on his way to a life of scheming and corruption.
The intense partisanship of 1800 and the rise of the Republican Party were almost inevitable as they reflected a serious fault line in American society. Though prevailing ideas cannot change overnight, the blatant elitism of the Federalists quickly faded from the American scene and with it much of the extreme partisanship for the next twenty-four years. Jefferson and the Republicans undoubtedly felt that the promise of the Revolution had been restored.
This book is best in capturing the rancor and the hyperbole of the times that culminated in the presidential election of 1800. The author focuses on the states that were most important to the outcome, namely, New York, PA, Virginia, Maryland, and S. Carolina. As the author points out, national issues were extremely important in those local elections. At times the local coverage becomes a bit tedious and repetitious. Other works probably capture the overall history of the times better.
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