  The election of 1800 was a rematch of the 1796 election:  The Federalists ran President John Adams for a second term  The Democratic-Republicans ran Thomas Jefferson.  Intense animosity and bitter partisanship fueled the election of 1800.

  Taxes imposed on the people in order to build the Navy during the X,Y,Z affair, and the limits on free speech (Sedition Act) during the Adams administration, made the Federalists unpopular with voters in the United States  Jefferson won the election 1800.

  Thomas Jefferson called his election, the “ Revolution of 1800” because: 1.Political power had been peacefully shifted from one party to next through the democratic process for the first time in history. 2.He promised to reverse a lot of the policies of the Federalists and restore the ideals behind the American Revolution

  John Adams was bitter about his defeat.  During his last days in office, Congress (dominated by Federalists) passed a law called the Judiciary Act of 1801, which reorganized the Federal Court System and allowed John Adams to appoint many new Federalist justices.  The law was clearly an attempt by the Adams administration to firmly implant Federalist justices to oppose the policies of the Jefferson administration.  The new justices were called “midnight justices” because many of the justices were appointed by Adams at midnight the day before he relinquished the presidency.

  What Federalist policies did Thomas Jefferson change?  Reduced the size of the military  Repealed the excise tax on whiskey  Lowered the national debt  What Federalist policies did Thomas Jefferson keep in place?  the Bank of the United States  the repayment of state debt

  Through coercion, Napoleon Bonaparte, the military dictator of France had gained control of the Louisiana Territory from Spain.  Napoleon was in need to quick cash to finance his military campaigns in Europe, and was looking to sell the France’s North American land holdings

  Thomas Jefferson sent an American delegation to France with permission to spend $10,000,000 with the instruction to buy as much land around New Orleans as possible.  Jefferson didn’t think a land purchase from a foreign country was constitutional, but he justified the purchase because: 1.He felt Napoleon could pose a future threat to the western frontier of the United States if France retained the land 2.He wanted control of the mouth of the Mississippi River (New Orleans) to promote trade along the western frontier

  The final deal struck between Napoleon and the American delegation was for $15,000,000 (50% more than Jefferson had approved), but it included all of France’s North American land holdings.  The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States.  The explorers Merriweather Lewis and William Clark were commissioned by the Jefferson administration to explore and map the territory.

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John Marshall’s Impact on the U.S. Judiciary

  Angry over the Judiciary Act of 1801 and the appointment of the Midnight Judges, President Jefferson ordered his Secretary of State (James Madison) not to grant the commission of John Adams’ Federalist judicial appointments.  One of the midnight justices that had been denied his appointment (William Marbury) sued James Madison, and the case went to the Supreme Court for a final decision.

  The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that presided over the lawsuit was a Federalist Judge named John Marshall  Marshall’s ruling stated that under the Judiciary Act of 1789, William Marbury should receive his commission, BUT the Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the court system more power than the Constitution had intended, therefore the Act was “unconstitutional.”

  What does the ruling in Marbury v. Madison mean?  William Marbury did not receive his judgeship commission  More importantly, John Marshall’s ruling established the precedent of judicial review, which is the Supreme Court’s power to rule on the constitutionality of an act of congress.  The ruling in Marbury v. Madison made the Judicial Branch a true co-equal branch of the U.S. Government by giving them power to overturn laws created and enforced by the other two branches.

  John Marshall served as the Supreme Court Chief Justice for 34 years.  His rulings clearly reflected his strong Federalist viewpoint on American government.  Most of his rulings expanded the power of the Federal government over the states, protected American manufacturing, and upheld the sanctity of private property

  In 1804, Thomas Jefferson easily won re-election, but his 2 nd term faced numerous difficulties.

  The Federalist Conspiracy (1804)  Aaron Burr, a New York politician, was Thomas Jefferson’s Vice President during his first term.  Jefferson decided not to re-nominate Burr as VP for the 1804 election, and Burr became involved in a conspiracy to break up the union during Jefferson’s 2 nd term in office.  Aaron Burr, and a group of radical New England Federalists planned for New England to secede from the Union and form their own country.  The plot dissolved when Alexander Hamilton (also from NY and the leader of the Federalist Party) uncovered the conspiracy and told President Jefferson about Burr’s plan for secession.

  The Hamilton-Burr Dual  After Alexander Hamilton exposed the Federalist Conspiracy, Aaron Burr challenged Alexander Hamilton to a dual.  Aaron Burr (former VP) shot and killed Alexander Hamilton (the former Sec. of Treasury).  The Results of the Conspiracy  Alexander Hamilton, the last great leader of the Federalist Party, was dead  Burr was put on trial for treason, but acquitted by Chief Justice John Marshall for lack of evidence

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  The Tripolitan War ( )  A group of pirates from the Barbary states of North Africa began to seize American merchant ships in the Mediterranean.  Jefferson sent a small fleet of the U.S. Navy to the Mediterranean, where the Marines invaded Tripoli, and sporadic fighting occurred for 4 years.  The Result:  The U.S. Navy garnered some respect from European countries  An armistice was signed stopping the fighting and ship seizures

  The Napoleonic Wars  Napoleon Bonaparte (France) was attempting to conquer all of Europe, and Britain was the main force fighting to stop it.  Both Britain and France were seizing American ships in the Atlantic, but Britain was also kidnapping American sailors and forcing them to serve in the Royal Navy  Because of Britain’s impressment policy, most Americans rejected supporting Britain in their fight against Napoleon’s conquest.

  President Jefferson decided to heed the advice from George Washington’s farewell address and remain out of Europe’s war.  In an attempt to remain neutral, Jefferson convinced Congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807, which forbade any American ships from sailing to any foreign port to trade.

  What was Jefferson trying to achieve with the Embargo?  The intended outcome for the Embargo Act was to hurt the economies of Britain and France but cutting off American trade.  What actually happened?  The American economy went into a depression because of the Embargo Act, but had little effect on the European economies  The merchant shippers of New England relied on international trade for their livelihood, and fiercely opposed the Embargo Act.  Why didn’t the Embargo work?  President Jefferson had underestimated the importance of trade with Britain and France to the health of the American economy.  The European powers had long-established economies that didn’t need trade with the U.S. in order to thrive.

  In 1809, during the last days of Thomas Jefferson’s administration, he urged Congress to repeal the “Hated Embargo.”  Despite the anger over the Embargo of 1807, the people of the United States elected Thomas Jefferson’s Secretary of State, James Madison as the 4 th President.