adams vs. jefferson ALSO BY JOHN FERLING A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution John Adams: A Life Struggle for a Continent: The Wars of Early America The First of Men: A Life of George Washington A Wilderness of Miseries: War and Warriors in Early America The Loyalist Mind: Joseph Galloway and the American Revolution PIVOTAL MOMENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY Series Editors David Hackett Fischer James M. McPherson Books in this series examine large historical problems through the lens of one particular event. Each volume gives attention to the experience of ordinary people, to deep historical processes, and to structural change in society. At the same time, these works examine the fundamental role of contingency in history and the importance of choices made by indi- vidual actors. In this way, the series seeks to combine new approaches in historical scholar- ship with the age-old idea of history as a narrative art. James T. Patterson Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy Maury Klein Rainbow’s End: The Crash of 1929 James McPherson Crossroads of Freedom: The Battle of Antietam Glenn C. Altschuler All Shook Up: How Rock ’n’ Roll Changed America David Hackett Fischer Washington’s Crossing This page intentionally left blank ADAMS vs. JEFFERSON The Tumultuous Election of 1800 j o h n f e r l i n g 2004 Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Copyright © 2004 by John Ferling Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ferling, John E. Adams vs. Jefferson : the tumultuous election of 1800 / by John Ferling. p. cm. — (Pivotal moments in American history) ISBN 0-19-516771-6 1. Presidents—United States—Election—1800. 2. Jefferson, Thomas, 1743–1826. 3. Adams, John, 1735–1826. 4. United States—Politics and government—1797–1801. I. Title: Adams versus Jefferson. II. Title. III. Series. E330.F47 2004 324.973'044—dc22 2004007851 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To the faculty and staff of the Irvine S. Ingram Library for years of assistance with countless projects This page intentionally left blank Contents Editors’ Note xi List of Illustrations and Maps xiii Preface xvii 1 Election Eve, 1800 1 2 “An Affection That Can Never Die”: Adams and Jefferson 18 3 “Dark and Menacing Evils”: Creating the New National System, 1786–1792 36 4 “War on Our Own Citizens”: Partisanship, 1793–1796 57 5 “Quite at My Leisure”: Jefferson and Adams on the Eve of the Battle in 1796 69 6 “A Narrow Squeak”: The First Contested Presidential Election, 1796 83 7 “To Recover Self-Government”: The Partisan Inferno, 1797–1798 99 x con t e nt s 8 “Our Bonaparte”: Summer 1798 to Autumn 1799 113 9 “We Beat You by Superior Management”: Winter and Spring, 1800 126 10 “The Boisterous Sea of Liberty”: The Campaign of 1800 135 11 “The Intention of Our Fellow Citizens”: The Election of 1800 162 12 “Give Them the Horrors”: The House Decides the Election 175 13 “The Creed of Our Political Faith”: Jefferson’s Inauguration 197 14 Epilogue: “The Revolution of 1800” 207 Abbreviations 217 Notes 221 Index 251