Topic 4.2: The Rise of Political Parties and the Era of Jefferson

the election of 1800

• during Adam’s presidency, the Federalists rapidly lost popularity as people disliked the Alien and Sedition Acts + the new taxes imposed to pay for a possible war against France

• provided the first election with a clear choice between political parties, between the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party

• Jefferson won this election after the House of Representatives voted to choose the winner

Revolution of 1800

• the change from Federalist to Democratic-Republican control (from Adams to Jefferson)

Jefferson’s Presidency

• maintained the national bank and debt-repayment plan of Hamilton to win trust of Federalist opponents

• carried neutrality policies of Washington and Adams

• reduced the size of the military, eliminated a number of federal jobs, repealed the excise taxes (on whiskey), and lowered the national debt

• appointed only Democratic-Republicans to his cabinet

Louisiana Purchase

• the acquisition by purchase of vast western lands known as the Louisiana Territory

U.S. interest in the Mississippi River

• depended on for their economic existence transporting goods on rivers that flowed westward into the Mississippi and as far as New Orleans

• in 1802 Spanish officials, still in charge of New Orleans, closed the port to Americans

right of deposit

• granted in the Pinckney Treaty of 1795, allowing American farmers tax-free use of the port

negotiations

• Jefferson sent ministers to France with instructions to offer up to $10 million for both New Orleans and a strip of land extending from that port eastward to Florida

• was very successful for American ministers as Napoleon’s ministers, seeking funds for a war against Britain, offered to sell New Orleans and the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 mil

strict interpretation

• Jefferson was committed to this and rejected Hamilton’s argument that certain powers are implied — became an issue for the Louisiana Purchase as no clause stated that a president could purchase foreign land

consequences of the Louisiana Purchase

• doubled the size of the U.S., removed a European presence from the nation’s borders, and extended the western frontier to lands beyond the Mississippi

• strengthened Jefferson’s hopes that the country’s future would be based on an agrarian society

Lewis and Clark Expedition

• when Lewis and Clark set out from St. Louis in 1804, crossed the Rockies, reached the Oregon coast on the Pacific Ocean

• resulted in greater geographic and scientific knowledge of the region, stronger claims to the Oregon Territory, better relations with American Indians, and more accurate maps and land routes

Aaron Burr

• secretly formed a political pact with some radical New England Federalists, planning to win the governorship of New York in 1804, unite that state with New England states, then lead the group to secede from the U.S. — never worked b/c most federalists opposed Burr and followed Hamilton

• challenged Hamilton to a duel and fatally shot him

John Marshall

• a Federalist official who continued to have major influence, his decisions consistently favored the central government and the rights of property against the advocates of states’ rights

• a great adversary of Jefferson

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

• decided by John Marshall, establishing the principle of judicial review

• Marshall ruled that Marbury had a right to his commission according to the Judiciary Act, but Marshall also stated that the act had given the Court greater power than the Constitution allowed, so the law was unconstitutional and Marbury would not receive his commission

• the Supreme Court could now overrule actions of the other two branches of the federal government

Fletcher v. Peck (1810)

• a case involving land fraud in Georgia, Marshall concluded that a state could not pass legislation invalidating a contract

• first time the Supreme Court declared a state law unconstitutional

Martin v. Hunter’s Lease (1816)

• the Supreme Court established that it had jurisdiction over state courts in cases involving constitutional rights

Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

• involved a law of New Hampshire that changed Dartmouth College from a privately chartered college into a public institution

• Marshall struck down the state law as unconstitutional arguing a contract for a private corporation could not be altered by the state

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

• Maryland attempted to tax the second bank of the U.S.

• Marshall ruled that a state could not tax a federal institution & also settled the long debate over the constitutionality of the national bank

  • stated that the Constitution gave the federal government the implied power to create one

Cohens v. Virginia (1821)

• a pair of brothers were convicted in Virginia of illegally selling tickets for a lottery authorized by Congress for Washington, D.C.

• Marshall and the Court upheld the conviction, they established the principle that the Supreme Court could review a state court’s decision involving any of the powers of the federal government

Gibbons v. Ogden (1821)

• Marshall ruled that the New York monopoly was unconstitutional, and established the federal government’s broad control of interstate commerce