The Jefferson Era 1800 to 1816

A New Party in Power Section One

Election of 1800 The new Republicans nominated Thomas Jefferson/Aaron Burr to run against President John Adams/Charles Pinckney. The two parties wrote letters criticizing each other, but did not actively campaign. The Republicans portrayed the Federalists as wealthy monarchs who only wanted a few to rule.

Early Campaigning

In the election, Jefferson and Aaron Burr each received 73 votes In the election, Jefferson and Aaron Burr each received 73 votes. The election went to the House and took 35 ballots before a president was elected. Jefferson defeated Burr by a narrow margin and Burr became the Vice President.

Jefferson vs. Burr Hamilton urged one Federalist not to vote for Burr costing Burr the presidency. This leads to animosity between Burr and Hamilton

President Thomas Jefferson

The 12th Amendment Due to the election of 1800, the 12th Amendment was passed. This amendment placed the President and Vice President on the same ballot to prevent another showdown between a presidential and vice-presidential candidate.

Laissez-faire Jefferson’s idea for the nation was called laissez-faire, which means “stay out of the people’s business.”

Jefferson & the Common Man Jefferson believed in the working class farmers of America. He believed they would fight hard to protect what they worked for. He also favored westward expansion.

Jefferson & the U.S. Government Jefferson also believed in a smaller U.S. government and moved to reduce the size of the military. He wanted to shrink the Army by one-third and the Navy by one-fourth.

Alien & Sedition Acts Jefferson ended the Alien and Sedition Acts and pushed for more Republican ideas.

U.S. Government Jefferson believed that the U.S. government should collect customs duties, deliver the mail, and complete a census.

Court System One big fight between Republicans and Federalists was over the court system.

Judiciary Act of 1801 The Judiciary Act of 1801 set up regional U.S. courts with 16 judges and many other judicial officials. Adams appointed hundreds of judges before he left office to keep Jefferson from changing the courts.

Chief Justice John Marshall Adams also appointed John Marshall, his Secretary of State, as the new Chief Justice. Marshall worked on these “midnight judges” to get them passed.

James Madison (Secretary of State) Once President, Jefferson ordered his Secretary of State, James Madison, to stop delivering the appointments for the judges. William Marbury was one of those waiting for his appointment as judge. When it didn’t come, he sued Madison to get his appointment.

Marbury vs. Madison In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court said the Constitution is the Supreme law of the land above all other things (established judicial review). Chief Justice Marshall noted that the Constitution did not give the Court jurisdiction to decide Marbury’s case.

Jefferson Pleased? Chief Justice Marshall extended the power of the Supreme Court in his ruling and made the Judicial Branch equally as powerful as the other two branches of government.