The Jeffersonian Era

In 1800, Republican Thomas Jefferson ran against President John Adams, who was a Federalist. Although Jefferson won by eight electoral votes, his running mate, Aaron Burr, also received the same number of electoral votes, and the House of Representatives was called upon to break the tie. In the midst of the recasting all the ballots, Alexander Hamilton convinced some of the Federalists to cast blank votes because he believed Aaron Burr was unqualified to become president. This meant Aaron Burr didn't receive votes that he would have otherwise gotten and as a result, Jefferson won by two votes and became president, while Aaron Burr became vice-president. In order to avoid this kind of deadlock in the future, Congress passed the Twelfth Amendment, requiring electors to cast separate ballots for president and vice-president.

At the very beginning of Jefferson's presidency, a new law regarding the Supreme Court was established. At the very end of his presidency, John Adams had tried to appoint numerous federalists to the supreme court. However, William Marbury's commision was never delivered because Jefferson's secretary of state, James Madison, refused to deliver it. Marbury brought the case to the Supreme Court, claiming that Madison should be ordered to deliver his commission based on the Judiciary Act of 1789. The Supreme Court ruled against Marbury though, declaring that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional. This established the law of judicial review, giving the Supreme Court the right to declare a law passed by Congress unconstitutional.

When Jefferson became president, he began using his presidential power to modify the government based on his belief that people should have more control over the government, and that the government should be reduced and simplified (known as Jeffersonian republicanism). Jefferson lowered government expenses by first cutting back on the military, and eliminating internal taxes. In addition, Jefferson instigated the Louisiana Purchase by buying North American land from Napoleon, who offered to sell the land because he needed money. After this transaction in 1803, the United States doubled in size.

Written by: Derek O'Connor