Chapter 9: "A Wise and Frugal Government": The Democratic-Republicans in Power, 1801-1815





The following activities accompany the Legacy for a People and a Nation on "The Peaceful Transfer of Power" in Chapter 9. Refer to page 241 of Norton, A People and a Nation, Sixth Edition for the complete text of this Legacy. There are three parts to this web page: Questions to Consider, Investigation, and Further Exploration.




Questions to Consider
1. How do election campaigns in 1800 compare with elections today?

2. What issues provoked the strongest disputes among Americans in 1800? To what extent do these issue appear to have a regional basis? What might characterize the various regions?

3. How did the Enlightenment influence the young American Republic and perhaps encourage a peaceful transition of power?

4. Compare recent transfers of power in Mexico, Zaire/Congo, and South Africa to that which occurred following the U.S. election in 1800? When you compare these experiences, do you find a general pattern in a nation’s political development?


Investigation
As you approach these sources, think about the ways in which the U.S. election of 1800 was, and was not revolutionary? The Public Broadcasting System produced a series on American Presidents. In a short summary, you can read about Jefferson’s difficulties as the leader of the first opposition party and see how he responds to his attackers. Be sure to look carefully at a cartoon attacking Jefferson reproduced in The American President Series. Did Jefferson offer concessions or challenges to the opposition in his inaugural address? Read the speech hosted by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Does he assuage or anger the Federalists with this address?

After reviewing your sources debate whether Jefferson offered a change to American politics and society. Did the ideals of his party reshape an early American society?





Further Exploration
1. See what Alexis de Tocqueville had to say about the emergence of political parties in America.

2. The University of Virginia has many of Jefferson's papers available online. Read Jefferson's Quotations on Politics

3. In 1873 The Atlantic Monthly carried an article on the election of 1800 in which the author, James Parton, discussed the personal animosities of the 1800 election and compared them to those in his day. Although many of the author's arguments have since been proven incorrect, do you find the tone of the election strikingly similar or clearly foreign to your own political period?