Part 2

As early as 1793 it was generally accepted by the public that Washington would not be a candidate for re-election, and that Jefferson and Adams would be the logical competitors for the succession. Jefferson had cleared his decks for the battle by resigning his office as Secretary of State early in 1794. He was not in harmony with the severe Federal policy of Washington, and was very positively hostile to the policy of the administration in failing to support the French Revolution. Jefferson led the Democratic forces of the country; Washington, and Adams as his logical successor, led the Federal forces, and between them there was an irreconcilable dispute as to the form of government the new Republic should assume. Washington, Adams, Hamilton, and their associates did not believe in the capacity of the people for self-government. They favored the strongest possible government, with checks and balances which could effectually restrain what they regarded as positive and dangerous ebullitions of public sentiment. They would have made Senators for life and given only the semblance of government to the people. Jefferson, on the other hand, took the broad ground that the people were sovereign and should rule. He logically supported the French Revolution against the Bourbon Kings, and cherished the strongest prejudices against England. As Secretary of State he could not well have remained in the Washington Cabinet the last two years of the administration, but he doubtless resigned to be entirely free to make his great battle for the Presidency in 1796.

Neither Jefferson nor Adams was nominated for the Presidency in 1796 by any Legislature or mass-meeting of which there is any record as far as I have been able to ascertain. Adams was the choice of Washington, and the logical successor to Washington as the Federal candidate for President, and Jefferson stood head and shoulders over all the Republicans of that day. The title of Republican was adopted by the friends of Jefferson, and the Democratic party was founded in 1796 by Jefferson under the name of Republican, established as the majority party of the nation four years later, and it fought and won the Democratic battles under that name until 1824, when the Jackson party changed the title to Democracy.

If the overshadowing individuality of Washington could have been eliminated from the contest of 1796, Jefferson would have defeated Adams by a decided majority, but Washington was earnestly enlisted in the support of Adams, and all the power of the administration was wielded in favor of the Federal candidate. While Washington was not charged with violent partisanship in his appointments, it is none the less true that when the issue came between Adams and Jefferson, every Federal official of the country felt bound to support, with all the power he possessed, the candidate preferred by Washington. Had Grover Cleveland lived in that day, he would have had ample opportunity to denounce the “pernicious activity” of office-holders with as much reason as he denounced them a century later in his support of civil service reform.

Not only were the Federal officials aggressively enlisted in favor of Adams, but the personal influence of Washington, that was greater than that ever wielded by any other official or citizen of the Republic down to the present time, was a serious obstacle to Jefferson’s success. The people loved Jefferson as the author of the Declaration of Independence, and a large majority of them sympathized with his liberal ideas of popular government, but the name of Washington was sacred to a large majority, and his wishes were paramount in deciding their political action. Such were the conditions under which Jefferson entered the contest against Adams in 1796.

In this contest, for the first time, there were two candidates distinctly declared as competitors for the Presidency, and other candidates as distinctly declared as competitors for Vice-President, although all had to be voted for as candidates for President in the Electoral College. At that time Aaron Burr was in the zenith of his power. He was one of the most astute politicians of that day, inordinately ambitious, unscrupulous in his methods, and he was generally accepted by the friends of Jefferson as the candidate for Vice-President.

New York was a Federal State, but it was hoped that by the masterly ability of Burr the electoral vote of New York might be won for Jefferson, although while there was entire unanimity among the Republicans in support of Jefferson, there was not equal unanimity in the support of Burr. He failed to carry New York for Jefferson, but succeeded in carrying it for Jefferson and himself in 1800, and his victory was won so early in the contest by the election of a Republican Legislature in that State in May, 1800, that he practically decided the battle against Adams.

The Presidential contest between Jefferson and Adams developed into the most defamatory campaign ever known in the history of American politics, unless the second campaign of 1800 between the same leaders may be accepted as equalling it. In no modern national campaign have candidates and parties been so maliciously defamed as were candidates and parties when Jefferson and Adams fought for power in the contest of the Fathers of the Republic. Jefferson was denounced as an unscrupulous demagogue, and Adams was denounced as a kingly despot without sympathy with the people, and opposed to every principle of popular government.

There were few newspapers, but it was the age of the pamphleteer, and the political pamphlets of those days, if compared with the political asperities of the present age, would make the partisan vituperation of the evening of the nineteenth century appear as tame and feeble. Nor were political leaders of that day any less unscrupulous than are the political leaders of the present. The struggles of mean ambition were as common then as now, and political leaders jostled each other in the most vituperative assaults to give victory to their cause.

The contest ended in November, when the elections were held in the various States. Tennessee had been admitted to the Union on the 1st of June, 1796, making sixteen States to participate in the choice of a President. Of these, six States held some form of popular elections, while ten chose their electors by the Legislature. The popular vote cast at these elections had no material significance. There was but one ticket voted for in nearly or quite all of the six States which assumed to choose electors by popular vote, as the New England States were solid for Adams, and the Southern States, where elections were held, were strong in the support of Jefferson. The result was the election of Adams in the Electoral College by a vote of 71 to 68 for Jefferson, who thereby became Vice-President. The following is the vote in detail, as cast in the Electoral College, the electors voting only for President:

══════════════╤══════╤══════════╤═════════╤══════╤══════╤══════════╤════════╤═════╤════════╤═══════════╤═════════╤══════╤══════════ │ John │ Thomas │ Thomas │Aaron │Samuel│ Oliver │ George │John │ James │ George │ Samuel │ John │Charles C. STATES. │Adams,│Jefferson,│Pinckney,│Burr, │Adams,│Ellsworth,│Clinton,│ Jay,│Iredell,│Washington,│Johnston,│Henry,│Pinckney, │ Mass.│ Va. │ S. C. │ N. Y.│Mass. │ Conn. │ N. Y. │N. Y.│ N. C. │ Va. │ N. C. │ Md. │ S. C. ──────────────┼──────┼──────────┼─────────┼──────┼──────┼──────────┼────────┼─────┼────────┼───────────┼─────────┼──────┼────────── New Hampshire │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Vermont │ 4 │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Massachusetts │ 16 │ ―― │ 13 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― Rhode Island │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Connecticut │ 9 │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New York │ 12 │ ―― │ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Jersey │ 7 │ ―― │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Pennsylvania │ 1 │ 14 │ 2 │ 13 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Delaware │ 3 │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Maryland │ 7 │ 4 │ 4 │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― Virginia │ 1 │ 20 │ 1 │ 1 │ 15 │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― North Carolina│ 1 │ 11 │ 1 │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 3 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 South Carolina│ ―― │ 8 │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Georgia │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kentucky │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Tennessee │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ├──────┼──────────┼─────────┼──────┼──────┼──────────┼────────┼─────┼────────┼───────────┼─────────┼──────┼────────── Total │ 71 │ 68 │ 59 │ 30 │ 15 │ 11 │ 7 │ 5 │ 3 │ 2 │ 2 │ 2 │ 1 ══════════════╧══════╧══════════╧═════════╧══════╧══════╧══════════╧════════╧═════╧════════╧═══════════╧═════════╧══════╧══════════

It will be seen by the foregoing table that Pennsylvania,[2] Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina cast divided electoral votes for the Presidency between Jefferson and Adams. In Pennsylvania, Adams received 1 electoral vote to 14 for Jefferson. In Maryland, Adams received 7 to 4 for Jefferson. In Virginia, Jefferson’s own State, Adams received 1 to 20 for Jefferson, and in North Carolina the vote was 1 for Adams to 11 for Jefferson. In all of these States the electors were chosen by popular vote, and they were doubtless selected with reference to their character and intelligence without pledges as to how they should cast their ballots in the electoral colleges. One of the Virginia electors exercised his admitted right to vote against Jefferson, who had the largest popular following in the State. It was this independent action of a few electors in 1796 that made both parties draw their lines severely in the selection of the candidates for electors, and from that time until the present all electoral tickets have been made up of men who were accepted as solemnly pledged to vote for their party candidates in the Electoral College.

[2] The popular vote, as imperfectly preserved at Harrisburg, gives Adams 11,552 and Jefferson 8373, but as 14 of the 15 electors voted for Jefferson the vote of record is incomplete and misleading.

THE JEFFERSON-ADAMS-BURR CONTEST

1800–1

The Presidential contest of 1800 was as revolutionary in its aim and in its accomplishment as was the Republican revolution of 1860. The Federalists had practically undisputed control of the Government for twelve years, under Washington and John Adams, and the power of the Federal party, with the overwhelming individuality of Washington in its favor, accomplished the election of Adams over Jefferson in 1796. When the battle of 1800 opened, Washington was dead, and Hamilton, one of the ablest of the Washington political lieutenants, was not in hearty sympathy with Adams.

The Federalists held both branches of Congress, and a tidal wave of partisan bitterness and personal defamation ran riot, both in Congress and throughout the country. Our foreign complications with France had become very serious, and Congress approved what was then regarded as very extensive preparations for a war that was bitterly opposed by the Republican minority, the followers of Jefferson. So violent were the political discussions of the country that Adams, acting in accord with the Federal theory of a strong suppressive government, demanded and secured the passage of what are known as the Alien and Sedition laws, which now rank among the most odious legislative acts in the history of the Republic.

While the Alien and Sedition laws were apparently aimed at those who were open enemies of the country in war, they were, in fact, intended to suppress criticism of the administration and to impose the severest penalties for open hostility to its policy. The first session of the Congress of 1797–98 lasted eight months, and even in the fierce passions of civil war the Congressional debates did not equal the asperities of the Congressional debates of a century ago. The first Alien law lengthened the period for naturalization to fourteen years, and all emigrants were required to be registered and the certificate of registration to be the only proof of residence. All alien enemies were forbidden the right of citizenship under any circumstances.

[Illustration: JOHN ADAMS]

Another of the series gave the President the power in case of war to seize or expel all resident aliens of the nation at war with us, and yet another gave the President power to deport any alien whom he might think dangerous to the country, and if after being ordered away he remained in the country, he was subject to imprisonment for three years and forbidden citizenship. In addition to these provisions, aliens so imprisoned could be removed from the country by the President’s order. Such were the general provisions of the Alien law. The Sedition bill, that was part of the same policy, declared that any who hindered officers in the discharge of their duties or opposed any of the laws of the country were guilty of high crime and misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. Those who were guilty of writing or publishing any false and malicious writings against Congress or the President, or aided therein, were made punishable by a fine of $2000 and imprisonment for two years.

These measures were in harmony with the Federal theory of government. The Federal leaders did not believe the people capable of self-government, and Adams felt justified in imposing the severest penalties upon all who severely criticised or violently opposed the administration. Washington was yet alive and in full mental and physical vigor when these laws were passed, and it is reasonable to assume that he approved of them, as he could have defeated them if he had opposed their enactment. Hamilton vainly protested against the Alien and Sedition laws as a fatal political blunder, but Federalism had never suffered defeat, and President Adams never doubted his re-election until the vote was declared against him.

The contest of 1800 had its lines so well defined from the outset that candidates for President and Vice-President were as clearly indicated, although without any formal declaration, as national tickets would be indicated by a national convention of modern times. There is no record of the Congressional caucus in 1800, but it seems to be an accepted tradition that the Federals, who had a majority of the House, first called a secret caucus to confer about the management of the campaign. They did not formally name candidates, but by general consent Adams was accepted as the candidate for President and Charles C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, for Vice-President. Apparently well-authenticated reports tell of a Republican Congressional caucus held during the same year, but there is no preserved record of it. If such a caucus was held, candidates were not nominated nor was any declaration of principles made. The chief object of the Republican caucus seems to have been to harmonize the friends of Jefferson on Burr as the accepted candidate for Vice-President, but no preference was expressed in any formal way. When the Federalists held their first caucus the Republicans denounced it as a “Jacobinical conclave,” and so severe were the criticisms of the Philadelphia _Aurora_, the leading Jefferson organ, that its editor was at one time arraigned before the bar of the Senate.

The contest of 1800 opened early in the year, the reported Congressional caucuses having been held in February or March, and from that time until the election the political discussions were acrimonious to a degree that would surprise the present generation. Jefferson had cordially united his friends in the support of Burr, and it was Burr’s magnificent leadership that carried the electoral vote of New York by winning the Legislature of that State as early as May. New York had voted for Adams in 1796, and the loss to Adams of one of the leading States of the Union and its transfer to Jefferson made the battle next to hopeless for Adams, but he and his friends fought it out to the bitter end.

No new States had been admitted during the Adams administration, and the same sixteen States which had elected Adams over Jefferson were then to pass a second judgment upon the great leaders of the two opposing political theories of that day. In Pennsylvania the Federalists controlled the Senate chiefly by hold-over Senators, as the popular sentiment of the State was strongly for Jefferson. In the three previous elections for President the Pennsylvania Legislature had passed special acts authorizing a popular vote for President, but in 1800, the Federals having control of the Senate, refused to pass a bill for an election whereby the choice of electors was thrown into the Legislature, and it required joint action of the Federal Senate and the largely Republican House to provide for a choice of electors even by the Legislature. The Federal Senators refused to go into joint convention except upon conditions which would divide the electoral vote, and the Republicans of the House were compelled to choose between disfranchising the State, as New York had been disfranchised in 1789, or to concede a large minority of the electors to Adams.

It was finally agreed that each House should nominate 8 electors, and that the Houses should then meet jointly and each member should vote together for 15 of the 16 thus nominated. The result was that the Federalists forced the election of 7 Adams electors with 8 for Jefferson. The Federal Senators, 13 in number, who controlled the Senate against the 11 Republicans, were heralded by their party papers and leaders as grand heroes, because by the accident of power in one body of the Legislature not immediately chosen by the people they had wrested 7 electors from Jefferson, which would have been given to him either by a popular vote or by a joint vote of the Legislature.

Rhode Island at this election for the first time chose electors by popular vote, making 6 States which chose electors by the vote of the people and 10 which chose electors by the Legislature. As the electoral colleges could vote only for candidates for President, Jefferson and Burr received precisely the same vote, 73 in number, and Adams received 65, with 64 for Pinckney and 1 for John Jay. The following is the table of the vote as cast in the electoral colleges:

══════════════╤══════════╤══════╤══════╤═════════╤══════ │ Thomas │Aaron │ John │ C. C. │John STATES. │Jefferson,│ Burr,│Adams,│Pinckney,│ Jay, │ Va. │N. Y. │ Mass.│ S. C. │N. Y. ──────────────┼──────────┼──────┼──────┼─────────┼────── New Hampshire │ ―― │ ―― │ 6 │ 6 │ ―― Vermont │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 │ 4 │ ―― Massachusetts │ ―― │ ―― │ 16 │ 16 │ ―― Rhode Island │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 │ 3 │ 1 Connecticut │ ―― │ ―― │ 9 │ 9 │ ―― New York │ 12 │ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Jersey │ ―― │ ―― │ 7 │ 7 │ ―― Pennsylvania │ 8 │ 8 │ 7 │ 7 │ ―― Delaware │ ―― │ ―― │ 3 │ 3 │ ―― Maryland[3] │ 5 │ 5 │ 5 │ 5 │ ―― Virginia │ 21 │ 21 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― North Carolina│ 8 │ 8 │ 4 │ 4 │ ―― South Carolina│ 8 │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Georgia │ 4 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kentucky │ 4 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Tennessee │ 3 │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ├──────────┼──────┼──────┼─────────┼────── │ 73 │ 73 │ 65 │ 64 │ 1 ══════════════╧══════════╧══════╧══════╧═════════╧══════

[3] One Maryland elector did not attend.

It is impossible to give anything like an intelligent presentation of the popular vote between Jefferson and Adams. In most of the States which chose electors by popular vote there was practically no contest, as the New England States voted solidly for Adams, and the Southern States south of Maryland voted as solidly for Jefferson, with the exception of North Carolina, where an electoral ticket seems to have been chosen on the original theory that electors should exercise sound discretion in the choice of a President, and in the exercise of that discretion 4 of the North Carolina electors voted for Adams and 8 for Jefferson. Had Pennsylvania been permitted to give expression either to the popular will or to the decided Republican majority of the Legislature, 7 of the Pennsylvania votes would have been taken from Adams and added to Jefferson, which would have made him 80 electoral votes to 58 for Adams.

Jefferson had won his election, and there should have been no question about according it to him. Under the electoral system of that day, by which each elector voted for two candidates for President, Jefferson and Burr each received 73 votes for the Presidency, and upon the face of the returns were equally entitled to claim the highest honor of the Republic. True, Burr had not been discussed or seriously thought of as a candidate for President. He was accepted by the Republicans distinctly as the candidate for Vice-President, and the whole battle was fought out on the issue between Jefferson and Adams. Had Burr been honest and manly, he would have ended the struggle at once by declaring that the people had elected Jefferson to the Presidency, and that Burr could not consent to be presented to the country and the world as seeking to wear the stolen honors of the Government; but Burr developed his true character as soon as he discovered that his vote was equal to that given to Jefferson. While he did not make any open or visible effort to elect himself over Jefferson, he silently assented to the use of his name, and thus made the Presidency hang in uncertainty from the time of the election in November until the 17th of February, when the contest was finally decided in favor of Jefferson, and Burr stamped with infamy. That he wished to be elected over Jefferson cannot be reasonably doubted. If he had not permitted the use of his name without protest as a candidate against Jefferson, there would have been no discussion and no uncertainty, as the House would have chosen Jefferson on the 1st ballot.