Chapter 10, Section 1

 Democratic-Republican candidates: Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.  Federalist candidate: John Adams.  Each party believed the other was a threat to the Constitution and the American republic.

 Democratic-Republicans:  thought they were saving the nation from monarchy and oppression.  argued that the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by the Federalists violated the Bill of Rights.  Federalists:  believed the nation was about to be ruined by radicals.  Remembered the violence of the French Revolution, in which radicals executed thousands in the name of liberty.

 The Democratic-Republicans won the presidency.  Jefferson received 73 votes in the electoral college.  Adams received 65 votes.  However, there was a problem!  Aaron Burr, whom the Democratic-Republicans wanted as V.P., also received 73 electoral college votes.

 According to the Constitution, the House of Representatives had to chose between Jefferson and Burr.  The House of Representatives voted and tied numerous times.  From Feb. 11 to Feb. 17 th, the House voted 35 times without a winner.  Finally on the thirty-sixth ballot, Jefferson was elected president and Burr became vice president.

 Jefferson’s first order of business was to heal political wounds.  He urged political enemies to unite as Americans. “Let is, the, fellow-citizens, unite with one hearty and one mind…. Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle…. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.” -Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address

 Promoted a common way of life, a mindset to unify Americans.  Wanted the U.S. to remain a nation of small independent farmers.  Such a nation, would hold the strong morals and democratic ideas he associated with country living.  Wanted Americans to spread out amongst the available land to the west, to prevent cities from becoming overcrowded like in Europe.  The power of the central government should be limited.  People should be enabled to govern themselves.

 Jefferson wanted the government to:  1. have less power that it had under the Federalists.  2. reduce the number of federal employees.  3. reduce the size of the military.  4. bring an end to Federalist programs.  Congress now controlled by Democratic- Republicans:  1. brought an end to the Alien and Sedition Acts.  2. released prisoners convicted under said acts.  3. ended many taxes, such as the unpopular whiskey tax

 Although Jefferson ended many Federalist programs, he had little power over the courts.  Under the Judiciary Act of 1801, Adams had appointed as many Federalist judges as he could.  The new judges were known as the Midnight Judges because Adams was said to be signing their appointments at midnight prior to President Thomas Jefferson's inauguration.  Because judges were appointed for life, Jefferson could do little about the Federalists control of the courts.

 Under Chief Justice John Marshall, the Supreme Court upheld federal authority and strengthened federal courts.  In 1803, Marshall affirmed the principle of judicial review- the final authority of the Supreme Court on the meaning of the Constitution.  The Supreme Court can exercise the power of judicial review, in which they may overrule a law passed by Congress.  By upholding judicial review, Marshall helped create a lasting balance among the three branches of government.