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The Election of 1800
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Lauren Rosen
Game Theory and Democracy
Duke University
December 2013
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Lauren Rosen
Game Theory and Democracy
Paper 3
The Election of 1800
Summary
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The Election of 1800 will forever remain prominent in United States’ history because of
its monumental impact upon the nation, its government, and its citizens. Commonly
remembered as “The Bloodless Revolution” the Election of 1800 is cited by many as the first
ever peaceful power shift within a nation, devoid of any bloodshed. If not for this reason alone,
this election deserves to be paid special historical attention. The United States—up until this
point—was no more peaceful than any other eighteenth century westernized nation.
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Set to face-off in this election were two of United States’ history’s greatest minds and
political heavyweights in their own right: John Adams, the incumbent, and Thomas Jefferson.
Although both men worked in tandem towards the greater goal of building the United States in
the wake of intense bloodshed with Great Britain, they found tremendous differences and
opposing beliefs within their respective political value sets. Federalists like Adams championed
large government, centrally located with power over all state governments. DemocraticRepublicans, on the other hand, promoted a smaller and less powerful central government with
power to the states, as Jefferson preferred. Such ideological differences led to fundamental
disagreements between the two men, and ultimately led to an extremely close election to be
settled by the House of Representatives.
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With the stage set, the 1800 election brought about many questions. Would the
Federalist regime, arguably built by Washington and then maintained by Adams, continue its
period of dominance? Or would a new party rise to power? If so, could the Democratic
Republicans take the lead over the nation without disturbing the peace? It seemed unlikely—
never before had a party at odds against the party in power, taken power peacefully.
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The election itself highlighted a right of the electoral college which has since been
abolished—the use of two votes in the election. The Federalists tried to use this quality to their
advantage when changing their strategy by assigning one of their electors to use their second
vote for fellow Federalist John Jay instead of Charles Pinckney. The Democratic-Republicans
did not, however, thus resulting in a tie between Jefferson and Burr—both of whom received
more votes than Adams, Pinckney or Jay—to be settled by the House of Representatives. This
tie in the electoral college left both Jefferson and Burr with 73 votes—no majority emerged. In
the House, each state, and Congressman within each state, voted for its candidate of choice in
thirty-six respective ballots. On February 17, 1801, two representatives, both of whom refused
to vote for Jefferson, chose to abstain instead of vote for Burr, indirectly giving Jefferson more
votes. Here, after this thirty-sixth ballot where Jefferson was ultimately determined the winner,
creating the first win for the Democratic-Republicans, and consequentially the first major shift
of power, handled democratically.
Lauren Rosen
Game Theory and Democracy
Paper 3
!
!
The Election of 1800
The Election of 1800 will forever remain prominent in United States’ history
because of its monumental impact upon the nation, its government, and its citizens.
Commonly remembered as “The Bloodless Revolution” the Election of 1800 is cited by
many as the first ever complete power shift within a nation, completely devoid of
bloodshed. If not for this reason alone, this election deserves to be paid special
historical attention. The United States—up until this point—was no more peaceful than
any other eighteenth century westernized nation. The turn of the nineteenth century
was not so far removed from an era of intense conflict following the American
Revolution, which settled only a few decades before.
!
In the wake of 1776, George Washington was the man who emerged and shone,
leading a budding nation out of an era of darkness and into a period of building. This
building period was characterized by a ‘trial-and-error’ system per say, as the United
States drafted and re-drafted legislation to construct and maintain a true representative
democracy. The failed Articles of Confederation led to a successful Constitution and
Bill of Rights, each outlining a system which would grant equal rights and political
freedom to citizens. This democracy strove to represent the antithesis of the monarchy
which many of the legislators remembered resentfully as a symbol of the repression
and struggles found in their former English system.
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Washington stood as the figurehead, the wise and seasoned veteran and first
President of the United States. During his time as President, he saw the nation undergo
intense changes. His long and decorated career of strong leadership finally culminated
in 1796, when he stepped down from his position as President, leaving behind his
iconic Farewell Address. In this Address, President Washington prophesied the
formations of factions, or divisions, within American society, especially within the
political realm. He noted that such divisions are “Unfortunately… inseparable from our
nature.”1 He cited them as any nation’s “Worst enemy2” because nations like the
United States, built on a spirit of teamwork and camaraderie to overcome conflict,
could spiral back into a state of conflict extremely quickly if any major factions
developed. But like a disobedient child, the United States—starting with its leadership
—drew defined political divisions almost immediately after Washington’s retirement.
Led by former revolutionaries by the likes of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton,
two distinct political parties developed. These first parties, known as the Federalist and
Democratic-Republican Parties, were key factors in the first majorly contested election
in United States’ history.
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The winner of this first election (considered the first after Washington’s
effectively unanimous victory in 1788) was John Adams, Washington’s former Vice
President and decorated statesman. With a law career in the spotlight beginning after
the 1770 Boston Massacre, Adams became a key foreign and domestic diplomat
throughout the revolutionary process, both within the United States and abroad. As a
member of both Continental Congresses and signatory of the Declaration of
Independence, Adams, a bona fide founding father, was an essential mind in the
building of The United States. John Adams’ political views and national strategies
remain prominent facets of United States’ government today, over two hundred years
after the end of his career.
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But despite his impressive credentials, Adams’ Presidency was relatively
unsuccessful. Plagued by conflict with France and unpopular legislative decisions like
the Alien and Sedition Acts, Adams faced an uphill battle throughout his four-year
term. Thomas Jefferson, a political heavyweight in his own right, had his own following
and political views, both of which were set in opposition to those of President Adams.
This made for an unwieldy relationship between Adams and Jefferson—the Vice
President during Adams’ term.
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Thomas Jefferson’s credentials prove to be equally impressive in comparison to
Adams. Both men were influential members of the Revolution, and key leaders in the
following years. However, these two men represented the two distinct Parties of the era
—the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Federalists like Adams championed
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1
George Washington, "Washington's Farewell Address to the People of the United States" (address, September 19, 1796), U.S. Government Printing Office, accessed April 17, 2012, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CDOC-106sdoc21/pdf/ GPO-CDOC-106sdoc21.pdf.
2
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Ibid.
large government, centrally located with power over all state governments.
Democratic-Republicans, on the other hand, promoted a smaller and less powerful
central government with power to the states, as Jefferson preferred. Such ideological
differences led to fundamental disagreements in the Adams-Jefferson administration,
and moreover set the stage for the Election of 1800, when men who were supposed to
work together in leading the nation would face-off, head-to-head, for the country’s
highest executive office.
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With the stage set, the 1800 election brought about many questions. Would the
Federalist regime, arguably built by Washington and then maintained by Adams,
continue its period of dominance? Or would a new party rise to power? If so, could the
Democratic Republicans take the lead over the nation without disturbing the peace? It
seemed unlikely—never before had a party, ideologically separate and at odds against
the party in power, taken power peacefully, without physical conflict.
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It is worth noting that 1800 was not Adams’ and Jefferson’s first political duel.
Not only had they always disagreed on a fundamental political level, but 1800 was also
the second consecutive Presidential election featuring Adams and Jefferson as the two
main candidates— the 1796 election sealing Jefferson’s fate to remain behind Adams’
shadow for four years as Vice President.
In this election, it would not necessarily be the runner-up taking the Vice
Presidential office as it had been in 1796. Jefferson had Aaron Burr as a running mate—
a fellow Democratic-Republican and staunch opponent of the Federalists. Charles C.
Pinckney served as Adams’ running mate, a Federalist and member of a big political
family, as the Pinckneys appear countless times throughout American history as
influential figures. Both Burr and Pinckney appeared as candidates for the Presidency in
1800 before becoming the inevitable theoretical Vice Presidents for Jefferson and
Adams, as at this point in history, all candidates in competition for these two highest
offices began as candidates for the Presidency.
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Throughout the campaign and election cycle, negative attacks were made by
both parties, as if directly disobeying Washington’s advice. Such attacks resembled
those implemented by modern Presidential candidates—albeit today’s attacks much
more widespread and personal. The Federalists condemned and criticized the
Democratic-Republicans for their support of the French Revolution, which they viewed
as intense radicalism with no place in the nation’s leadership. To counter, the
Democratic-Republicans found fault with facets of Adams’ Presidency, drawing
attention to blunders such as the XYZ Affair, or calling focus to arguably
unconstitutional legislation such as the Alien and Sedition Acts. Such attacks widened
the rift between the two parties. It is clear that a two-party system does indeed lead to
conflict, and can be considered a negative quality of American government in that
each of these incidents—from the involvement in the French Revolution, to the XYZ
Affair, to the Alien and Sedition Acts—were incidents originally confronted and handled
as a nation, but then later used as ammunition by either party when trying to defeat the
opponent.
!
The election itself highlighted a right of the electoral college which has since
been abolished—the use of two votes in the election. The Federalists tried to use this
quality to their advantage when changing their strategy by assigning one of their
electors to use their second vote for fellow Federalist John Jay instead of Charles
Pinckney. The Democratic-Republicans did not, however, thus resulting in a tie between
Jefferson and Burr—both of whom received more votes than Adams, Pinckney or Jay—
to be settled by the House of Representatives. This tie in the electoral college left both
Jefferson and Burr with 73 votes—no majority emerged. In the House, each state, and
Congressman within each state, voted for its candidate of choice in thirty-six respective
ballots. On February 17, 1801, two representatives, both of whom refused to vote for
Jefferson, chose to abstain instead of vote for Burr, indirectly giving Jefferson more
votes. Here, after this thirty-sixth ballot where Jefferson was ultimately determined the
winner, creating the first win for the Democratic-Republicans, and consequentially the
first major shift of power, handled democratically.
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The Election of 1800 was extremely pivotal to the development of the United
States as a nation. It established the nation as ever-changing yet stable, politically fickle
yet powerful. This is an image which the nation has maintained—though in some eras
better than others—throughout its history, and surely will for years to come as it
continues to grow and evolve.
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Works Consulted
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"Aaron Burr." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
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Ferling, John. "Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and the Election of 1800." Smithsonian
Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
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Freeman, Joanne. "The Presidential Election of 1800: A Story of Crisis, Controversy,
and Change." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 26
Nov. 2013.
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"John Adams." The White House. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
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"Thomas Jefferson." The White House. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
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"United States Presidential Election, 1800." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Nov.
2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.