The Election of 1800

Review Election of 1796 Quasi-War with France XYZ Affair Adams is Federalist candidate Jefferson is the Republican candidate Adams in office Quasi-War with France XYZ Affair War Between the Parties Alien and Sedition Acts Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

The Election of 1800 Candidates: John Adams for reelection on the Federalist ticket Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr on the Democratic-Republican ticket When the votes were counted Jefferson and Burr tied with 73 electoral votes each The Constitution calls for the House of Rep to choose the president At this time the House of Rep was controlled by the Federalists!

The House of Rep voted and tied 35 different times! No one knew what to do now because the Constitution did not confront this situation Hamilton convinced the House to elect Jefferson over Burr Jefferson let the Federalists know that if he were elected he would allow the Fed’s in govt. to keep their jobs and he would not dismantle Hamilton’s financial system In 1801 Jefferson became president by 1 vote

Jefferson in Office More like a common man Kept his promise, didn’t get rid of Fed legislation He tried to integrate Rep ideas into the policies As president he… Reduce federal govt. power, he b/g to pay off federal debt, cut govt. spending, and did away with the hated whiskey tax Jefferson and his Secretary of the Treasury kept Hamilton’s financial system

Before Adams’ term expired the Fed majority in Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801 which created 16 new federal judges and Adams appointed Fed to all 16 of these positions These appointees were nicknamed “midnight judges” b/c of their late appointment on Adams’ last day One of Jefferson’s first acts as president was to repeal the Judiciary Act of 1801 which abolished the midnight judges and their positions

Marbury vs. Madison Before Adams left office he also appointed a new chief to the Supreme Court John Marshall, a Fed judge and hated cousin to Jefferson Marshall is credited for making the Supreme Court as powerful as it is today through the Marbury vs. Madison case

The Issue William Marbury – Fed who had been appointed justice of the peace in Washington D.C. by Adams Adams had signed Marbury’s appointment but the documents were not delivered before Adams left office Madison (the new Sec. of State) was supposed to deliver the documents but Jefferson told Madison to hold them Hoping that Marbury would quit and allow Jefferson to appoint a Republican to the job

Take it to Court! Marbury asked the Supreme Court to issue a court order telling Madison to deliver the documents, he based his request on the Judiciary Act of 1789 Judiciary Act of 1789 – requests for federal court orders go directly to the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court decided the Court could not issue the order because this was not a type of case the Supreme Court had jurisdiction over This Court’s decision made that section of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional and invalid This decision strengthened the Supreme Court because it asserted the Court’s right of judicial review. Judicial Review – the power to decide whether laws passed by Congress were constitutional and the ability to strike down the laws that are not constitutional  checks and balances!