Election of 1800

The Presidency of John Adams was embroiled in controversy after the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. The laws significantly polarized the two political parties of the United States at the time, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. So much so that the presidential Election of 1800 had to be decided by the House of Representatives. What caused the issues of the Election of 1800? What happened during the Convention of 1800? And why was the Election of 1800 significant?

Election of 1800: Summary

To understand the election of 1800 and the climate around the event, you have to look at the end of John Adams’ Presidency. Adams dealt with a growing crisis with France that resulted in a quasi-war between the French and a growing and vocal opposition to his policies by Republicans in Congress. Adams's administration also helped pass the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. These acts targeted immigrants, especially French immigrants, and any seditious actions toward the government.

• The Naturalization Act: Lengthened the residency period required for citizenship from five to fourteen years and ordered all resident aliens to register with the federal government.
• The Alien Enemies Act: Provided for the detention of enemy aliens in times of war.
• The Alien Friends Act: Only to be in effect for two years, gave the president almost unlimited authority to deport any alien they deemed dangerous to national security.
• The Sedition Act: sought to control both citizens and aliens. It outlawed conspiracies to prevent the enforcement of federal laws and set the maximum punishment for such offenses at five years in prison and a fine. The act also tried to control speech. Writing, printing, or uttering false, scandalous, and malicious statements against the government of the United States, with the intent to defame or to bring contempt or disrepute, became a crime punishable by as much as two years in prison and a fine.

Constitutional Crisis

What followed was a constitutional crisis. Republicans charged that the Sedition Act violated the First Amendment clauses of free speech and press. With the uncertainty of the role of the Supreme Court in the early years of the new American republic and that most of the Justices were Federalists, Republicans pushed state legislatures to pass laws invalidating the Alien and Sedition Acts. The resolutions set forth a state’s rights interpretation of the Constitution, asserting that states had a right to evaluate the legitimacy of national laws.

Election of 1800: Candidates

The conflict over the Sedition Act set the stage for the presidential election of 1800. Thomas Jefferson, once opposed to political parties, now saw them as a valuable way to combat the oppression of the federal government.

Fig. 1 - A portrait of the less well-known candidate, Charles Pinckney

With opposition to the French conflict growing and Jefferson preparing his bid to be the Republican nominee, Adams began a diplomatic means to end the conflict to repair the Federalist platform for the campaign.

Adams’ decision to seek a diplomatic end to the French conflict divided the Federalist party. In contrast, the Republican party was united behind Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson Election of 1800

After the popular vote was tallied and each state designated its electoral votes, an issue began to arise. Though the Jefferson-Burr ticket won the election, the lack of Republican foresight almost cost them the election.

Fig. 2 - The electoral map of the Election of 1800

The problem was caused by the system of voting in the electoral college, which the Federalists adapted to better than the Republicans. The Federalists arranged in advance for one of their electors to fail to vote for Charles Pinckney, their vice-presidential candidate. John Adams thus received 65 votes to Pinckney’s 64. The Republicans failed to make this distinction on the ballot; this Jefferson and Burr both received 73 electoral votes. Though the Republicans beat the Federalists because neither Jefferson nor Burr had a plurality of votes, the Constitution stated that the election had to be decided in the House of Representatives.

The Convention of 1800

This provision in the Constitution created a problem for the Republicans. Each group of state representatives would vote as a unit. But the House was dominated by Federalist representatives who did not want Jefferson as president. Federalists in the House blocked Jefferson’s nomination for thirty-five voting rounds.

Fig. 3 - A portrait of James Bayard of Delaware, who cast the deciding vote in the House to elect Jefferson as President

Eventually, Federalist Alexander Hamilton convinced key Federalist votes that Jefferson was the lesser of two evils compared to Aaron Burr. Representative James Bayard of Delaware broke the deadlock, and the House of Representatives elected Jefferson as the third President of the United States.

Election of 1800: Significance

Thomas Jefferson felt that the election of 1800 was a revolution. The election of 1800 was the first time there was a change in administration and government of competing perspectives, values, and views on the federal government's role. It was a bloodless transfer of power that showed that governments elected by the people could be changed orderly, even during partisan conflict. Defying predictions of European’s “American Experiment” had survived a quarter-century of economic and political issues.