Or that they'd be upset like this...?
Posted on 10/01/2004 6:37:56 PM PDT by Valin
It was a contest of titans: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two heroes of the Revolutionary era, once intimate friends, now icy antagonists locked in a fierce battle for the future of the United States. The election of 1800 was a thunderous clash of a campaign that climaxed in a deadlock in the Electoral College and led to a crisis in which the young republic teetered on the edge of collapse.
Adams vs. Jefferson is a gripping account of a true turning point in American history, a dramatic struggle between two parties with profoundly different visions of how the nation should be governed. Adams led the Federalists, conservatives who favored a strong central government, and Jefferson led the Republicans, egalitarians who felt the Federalists had betrayed the Revolution of 1776 and were backsliding toward monarchy.
The campaign itself was a barroom brawl every bit as ruthless as any modern contest, with mud-slinging--Federalists called Jefferson "a howling atheist"--scare tactics, and backstabbing. The low point came when Alexander Hamilton printed a devastating attack on Adams, the head of his own party, in "fifty-four pages of unremitting vilification." The election ended in a stalemate in the Electoral College that dragged on for days and nights and through dozens of ballots. Tensions ran so high that the Republicans threatened civil war if the Federalists denied Jefferson the presidency. Finally a secret deal that changed a single vote gave Jefferson the White House. A devastated Adams left Washington before dawn on Inauguration Day, too embittered even to shake his rival's hand.
Jefferson's election, John Ferling concludes, consummated the American Revolution, assuring the democratization of the United States and its true separation from Britain. With magisterial command, Ferling brings to life both the outsize personalities and the hotly contested political questions at stake. He shows not just why this moment was a milestone in U.S. history, but how strongly the issues--and the passions--of 1800 resonate with our own time.
Like you, I know all about this and try to explain it here,to people who don't really know American history.
Hamilton's biography (recently out) details how personal and negative these campaigns were. My impression from the book was that the party of Jefferson (currently the Democrats) were the nastiest and most personal and I couldn't help thinking that this legacy plays out today.
to people who don't really know American history.
That would be somewhere around 80-85%.
I now when someones says they love history, ask really what have you read latly?....blank stare.
Personally I blame "history teachers". I've had some that could make anything you care to mention boring.
Unfortunately,history has always been taught badly by most teachers.
The greater legacy of the 1800 election is how it led to the ascendency of the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison.
Marbury was among the last-minute Adams' administration appointments that was not executed fully, and thus left on the incoming Sec. State's desk, Madison. Madison, of course, refused, and Marbury sued.
Marshall, who was Adams' Sec. State, who was the very one who was to have delivered Marbury's commission, and who was now Chief Justice -- appointed by Adams -- ruled that Madison was right not to deliver Marbury's appointment, but not because Madison had any right to deny Marbury, but because Marbury's case was built upon a law that was unconstitutional. It was an entirely counter-intuitive move and politically brilliant: Marshall conceded the battle to Madison and Jefferson, as regards the appointments, and stomped them silly in the war, having created the supremacy of judicial review.
Too bad our nation didn't stay in touch with the Constitution, imagine how upset they'd be if they
could see our country now!
Or that they'd be upset like this...?
Oh, boy! I'll be there with bells on! Thanks for the tip. Really great viewing.
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