How did Jefferson attempt to undo the Federalist innovations of earlier administrations?
Thomas Jefferson, by John Trumbull
This portrait of Jefferson was made in the late 1780s, when he was a young widower and lived in Paris as a diplomat with his daughters and slave Sally Hemings. In 1802, a scandal erupted when a journalist charged that Jefferson had fathered several children by Hemings. DNA evidence and historical evidence of Jefferson’s whereabouts during the start of Hemings’s pregnancies make a powerful case that he did father at least some of the children. Monticello/Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, Inc.
THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL
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election of the new century was an all-out partisan battle. A panicky Federalist newspaper in Connecticut predicted that a victory by Thomas Jefferson would produce a bloody civil war and usher in an immoral reign of “murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest.” Apocalyptic fears gripped parts of the South, where a frightful slave uprising seemed a possible consequence of Jefferson’s victory. But nothing nearly so dramatic occurred. Jefferson later called his election the “revolution of 1800,” referring to his repudiation of Federalist practices and his cutbacks in military spending and taxes. While he cherished a republican simplicity in governance, he inevitably encountered events that required decisive and sometimes expensive government action, including military action overseas to protect American shipping.CHRONOLOGY
1800
- – Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tie in electoral college.
- – Gabriel’s rebellion is reported.
1801
- – House of Representatives elects Jefferson president.
- – Barbary War with Tripoli begins.
1803
- – Marbury v. Madison.
1805
- – United States defeats Tripoli.