Election of 1800
who were the candidates in the election of 1800?

what unusual thing happened during the election of 1800? how was the election decided?

why is this the last time in history that members of the same party will tie in presidential elections? (cite evidence)

going into office, what policies did jefferson want to put into place? (what did he want to accomplish? ) (cite evidence)

how did the changes that jefferson made when he became president reflect his views on government? (cite evidence)

what was the judiciary act of 1801? what was president john adams trying to accomplish (cite evidence)?

marbury v. madison- why is this so important/what did it do? (cite evidence)

summarize mcculloch v. maryland. why is this so important/what did it do? (cite evidence)

summarize gibbons v. ogden. why is this so important/what did it do? (cite evidence)

Nasty political mud-slinging. Campaign attacks and counterattacks. Personal insults. Outrageous newspaper invective. Dire predictions of warfare and national collapse. Innovative new forms of politicking capitalizing on a growing technology. As much as this seems to describe our present-day presidential contests, it actually describes an election more than two hundred years past.

The presidential election of 1800 was an angry, dirty, crisis-ridden contest that seemed to threaten the nation’s very survival. A bitter partisan battle between Federalist John Adams and Republican Thomas Jefferson, it produced a tie between Jefferson and his Republican running mate, Aaron Burr; a deadlock in the House where the tie had to be broken; an outburst of intrigue and suspicion as Federalists struggled to determine a course of action; Jefferson’s election; and Burr’s eventual downfall. The unfolding of this crisis tested the new nation’s durability. The deadlock in the House revealed a constitutional defect. It also pushed partisan rivalry to an extreme, inspiring a host of creative and far-reaching electoral ploys. As a sense of crisis built, there was even talk of disunion and civil war, and indeed, two states began to organize their militias to seize the government if Jefferson did not prevail.