The Jeffersonian Revolution of 1800

The Electoral College and the Election of 1800

Thomas Jefferson: Frontman of the Jeffersonian Republican movement.
James Madison: Major intellectual and political inspiration behind the Jeffersonian Republican movement.
Jeffersonian Republicans vs. Hamiltonian Federalists: Represented rival visions for the early American Republic.

Inconsistent Thinking: Jefferson's writings reveal inconsistencies and contradictions in his personal and political views.
Manufacturing: Warned against the dangers of manufacturing but experimented with it on his plantation, Monticello.
Government Spending: Warned against profligate government but lived a lavish and profligate personal life.
Public Debt: Warned against governments leaving behind public debts but burdened his heirs with insurmountable debt.
Racial Mixing: Warned about racial mixing but maintained a secret, mixed-race family with his mixed-race half-sister-in-law.
Democracy: Presented himself as a champion of democracy and the common man but was dismissive of the judgment of the masses.
Influence of France: While in France, Jefferson's dislike for aristocracy, superstition, urbanism, industry, and traditions intensified; he meddled in favor of the early revolutionaries.

Agrarian Worldview: A rural or agrarian worldview was central to their ideology.
Yeoman Republic: They mythologized a Yeoman Republic of smallholders.
Hostility to Industry: They were hostile to industry and manufacturing.
Suspicion of Banking: They harbored a suspicion of banking and those involved in business or trade.
Distrust of Britain: There was a deep suspicion of Britain.
Fraternal Embrace of France: They expressed a fraternal embrace of Revolutionary France.

Candidates:
- Democratic Republican: Thomas Jefferson
- Federalist: John Adams
Electoral Votes: The total number of electoral votes was 138.
- Jefferson: 73 (52.9%)
- Adams: 65 (47.1%)
House Vote: The total number of House votes was 16.
- Jefferson: 10 (62.5%)
- Adams: 4 (25.0%)
3/5ths Clause:
- Voters in Jefferson’s states possessed more electoral votes per voter because of slavery and the 3/5ths Clause.
- Jefferson won 12 extra electoral votes because of the 3/5th clause.
- Had the clause not existed, Adams likely would have prevailed 63-61.
Aaron Burr's Role: The machinations of Aaron Burr secured all 12 New York electoral votes for Jefferson, plus 4 electoral votes from irregular Georgia.

Regime Change: Marked a regime change in 1800.
Electoral College Fiasco: Involved an electoral college fiasco and a tie vote.
Peaceful Transfer of Power: The first peaceful transfer of power occurred.

3/5ths Rule: Endowed slave owners and slave states with enhanced powers, up to 20% more power in the electoral college.

Active Party Leader: Jefferson was the first president who was an active party leader.
Democratic-Republicans: The Democratic-Republicans provided Jefferson with a vital support network that Adams never fully enjoyed with the Federalists.

Jefferson and his Democratic majorities (28-6), (116-26)
Jackson and his Democratic majorities (26-22), (143-63)
Lincoln and his Republican majorities (32-10), (108-75)
FDR and his Democratic majorities (76-16), (334-88)
LBJ and his Democratic majorities (68-32), (295-140)

Jefferson's published views on race and slavery were an illogical mash-up of rationalizations and pseudo-science.

By 1796, only 6 of the 16 states held popular elections for delegates to the Electoral College. By 1800, only 5 of the 16 states did!

In May, Burr & his Sons of Tammany carried the New York state legislature for the Jeffersonians, thus guaranteeing that its 12 electoral votes would go for the Republicans in the fall.
Jeffersonians feared that Burr might manipulate the electors in New York if he was denied the vice-presidential slot.

Irregularities & controversies involving electoral college votes have been detected by historians in 7 of the 16 states, accounting for 82 electoral votes: VA, PA, NY, MY, NC, SC, and GEORGIA!
Two electoral votes for Jefferson were decided in districted popular voting by only 9 votes (Maryland’s 4th district) and 14 votes (Northampton District of North Carolina).
Adams clearly ran ahead of his Federalist Party, while the “popular” Jefferson ran significantly behind his Republican Party!

Adams was not quite as flawed & unpopular as the ex post facto neo-Jeffersonian narratives would have us believe.
The power of incumbency: Adams had Washington’s de facto blessing as his successor in 1796. Jefferson, quite obviously, had neither Washington’s nor Adam’s blessings.

Attacks on Adams (monarchist) were perhaps less disquieting than those on Jefferson (revolutionist) in a largely rural, conservative country, particularly in light of what had recently occurred in Revolutionary France.
Adams was relentlessly assaulted by attacks from fellow Federalist Hamilton and his minions, as well as the opposition Republican Jefferson and his supporters.

The Federalist Party left an enduring legacy to the nation.
Many former Federalists emerged as major political, social, and culture figures in the decades ahead, such as J.Q. Adams, Daniel Webster, John Marshall, Horace Mann, and Dewitt Clinton.

Called for an increase in political rights for white males.
This was not universalism but Herrenvolk Democracy: A nominally democratic form of government where a dominant racial or ethnic group has full political rights & dominates the state, while all other groups are excluded.

Jefferson’s 1800 election raised questions about how democracy is defined, determined, and adjudicated.

The fading of Revolutionary radicalism Federalist Party’s demise.
This caused women’s place in politics to decline during the age of Jeffersonian Democracy.