Election of 1800: Its Effects and Significance

The Presidential Election of 1800 in the United States held much significance. The most famous line from Thomas Jeffersons’ first inaugural address, “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists,” is often taken out of context. In the next sentence, Jefferson stated, “If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments to the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.” In other words, we can get along, but if the Federalists would like to secede and create a monarchy, go ahead. Though we may not agree with you, we won’t stop you.

Election of 1800: Significance

Jefferson outlined his plans for the government later in the address. He desired “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against ant republican tendencies. . . . ” Jefferson’s belief in abiding by the letter of the Constitution,  strictly limiting Federal power, and jealously guarding states’ rights would have made him an opponent of Teddy Roosevelt’s “Square Deal,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” Harry Truman’s “Fair Deal,” John F. Kennedy’s “New Frontier,” Lyndon Baines Johnson’s “Great Society,” George W. Bush’s “Com-passionate Conservatism,” and Barack Obama’s unprecedentedly massive expansion of federal spending and debt. Jefferson would also have warned against joining NATO or any other military alliance.