The Election of 1800: An Exhaustive Study Guide on the Crisis and the Tie and the Fall of the Federalists

Historical Background:
- The election of 1800 is characterized as an "almost crisis," though not quite a full-blown crisis.
- It served as a rematch of the election of 1796.
- In 1796, John Adams defeated Thomas Jefferson. However, due to the functioning of the Electoral College at that time, Jefferson became the vice president.
- This led to four years of an "uncomfortable" administration featuring a president and vice president who were political rivals.
- The primary goal for the founders in 1800 was to avoid repeating this scenario by accounting for political parties.

Party Coordination:
- The Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans (Republicans) each chose running mates to ensure the president and vice president came from the same party.
- The objective was to have electors vote for two people from the same party, with one elector planned to "throw away" a vote so the preferred presidential candidate would have one more vote than the vice presidential candidate.
The Voting Body:
- In December 1800, the electoral college consisted of $138$ members.
- The Democratic electors voted for Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
- The Federalist electors voted for John Adams and Charles Pinckney.

Candidate Pairings:
- Democratic-Republicans: Thomas Jefferson (Presidential) and Aaron Burr (Vice Presidential).
- Federalists: John Adams (Presidential) and Charles Pinckney (Vice Presidential).
Specific Electoral Vote Allocations (Examples from the Tally):
- New York: $12$ votes for Burr and Jefferson.
- Pennsylvania: All $8$ Democratic-Republican electors voted for Jefferson and Burr.
- Maryland: $5$ votes for the Democratic-Republicans.
- Virginia: $21$ votes for the Democratic-Republicans.
- Kentucky: $4$ votes for the Democratic-Republicans.
Federalist Strategic Execution:
- The Federalists executed their plan correctly in Rhode Island.
- One elector from Rhode Island voted for John Jay instead of Pinckney.
- Result: John Adams received $65$ votes and Charles Pinckney received $64$ votes, clearly defining the president and vice president.
Republican Strategic Failure:
- The Democratic-Republicans failed to have an elector throw away a vote.
- Every Republican elector cast votes for both Jefferson and Burr.
- This resulted in a tie in the Electoral College between Jefferson and Burr.

Procedure for Ties:
- According to the Constitution, if no candidate receives a majority or if there is a tie, the election is decided by the House of Representatives.
The Voting Structure in the House:
- The election in the House is conducted by state delegations.
- In 1800, there were $16$ states in the country.
- Each state delegation receives exactly $1$ vote for president.
- To win the presidency, a candidate needs a majority of the state delegations ( $9$ out of $16$ ).
The Federalist Dilemma:
- The House of Representatives was controlled by the Federalists.
- Although the voters and electors intended Jefferson to be president, the Federalists in the House had the power to give the presidency to any candidate they chose.

Federalist Support for Aaron Burr:
- Many Federalists preferred Burr over Jefferson because of their intense dislike for Jefferson.
- Theodore Sedgwick, a prominent Federalist, articulated the reasons for supporting Burr as being of a "negative nature."
- Sedgwick stated that Burr was:
  - Not a democrat.
  - Not an enthusiastic theorist.
  - Not under the direction of "Virginia Jacobins."
  - Not a "declared infidel."
- Sedgwick acknowledged Burr was selfish and "transforming unfettered self interest into virtue," but preferred him simply because he was not Jefferson.
Democratic-Republican Response:
- Albert Galatian, a Democratic Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, noted that Republicans in the House were united behind Jefferson.
- This unity led to a state of gridlock because the Republicans did not control the House.

Albert Galatian’s Warnings:
- Galatian expressed deep concerns regarding Federalist plans:
  - Would they elect Burr regardless of the public's intent?
  - Would they call for entirely new elections?
  - Would they force a stalemate and hand power to one of their own?
- He raised the possibility of civil war or resistance, asking: "Shall we submit? And if we do not submit, in what manner shall we act ourselves?"
The Ballot Stalemate:
- The House engaged in a long series of votes to break the tie.
- The process lasted for $36$ ballots.

The Turning Point:
- On the $36$ th ballot, the states of Vermont and Maryland, which had been unable to decide, finally shifted.
- Federalist holdouts in these state delegations chose to abstain rather than continue blocking.
- This allowed the state delegations of Maryland and Vermont to tip in favor of Jefferson, giving him the presidency.
Post-Election Bitterness:
- The resolution did not end partisan rhetoric. No Federalist legislator actually supported Jefferson in the final tally; they simply stopped opposing him through abstention.
- John Adams did not attend Jefferson's inauguration; he famously "slunk out" of the capital in secret the night or morning of the event.
- Jefferson and Adams reportedly did not speak again until very late in their lives when they resumed correspondence via letters.
The "Peaceful Transfer of Power":
- Despite the bitterness and the potential for insurgency or the creation of a separate country, the nation achieved a peaceful transfer of power.
- This followed the precedent of 1796 when Republicans accepted their loss.

The End of Federalist Dominance:
- The Federalists never won another national election after 1800.
- By the end of the War of $1812$ (approximately $1815$ ), the Federalist Party had essentially disappeared.
Reasons for the Party’s Collapse:
- Political Overreach: The Alien and Sedition Acts angered the public and bolstered Republican claims that the Federalists used centralized government to trample rights.
- Military Expansion: The creation of a "huge army" scared many citizens; one of Jefferson's first acts was to reduce its size.
- Democratic Trends: The early $19$ th century saw a shift toward universal white male suffrage and the lifting of property qualifications.
- Ideological Mismatch: The Federalists remained committed to a government of the elite, while the country was trending toward a more democratic political and cultural system.
Historical Irony: The party that played a primary role in creating the Constitution and managing the first two presidential administrations effectively ceased to exist by $1815$ .