Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815

Chapter 8

Victory of Republicans in 1800 seemed to many to be the conclusion of America’s revolutionary beginning and Jefferson personified the revolutionary character of America like no other statesmen at the time.

Jefferson was very confusing: his ideal American was the yeoman farmer though he was a Southern gentlemen who had a very fine taste; he abhorred public debts but was constantly in debt himself; he despised banks but few did more than him to usher in the era of liberal capitalistic financial markets in the U.S.; and so on.

In the election of 1800 Jefferson and Burr had tied with the most boats and bested Adams. With electors not differentiating between their choices for president and vice president the election was sent to the House to decide between Jefferson and Burr with each state delegation getting one vote.

Republicans won control of Congress in 1800 but were not yet sworn in and while Federalists had a majority of congressmen they only controlled six state delegations and whoever was to win the presidential election in the House would need to carry nine states.

Federalists tried to get Burr elected they were so fearful of Jefferson (surprisingly Hamilton supported Jefferson) but after multiple votes with no victor enough Federalist delegations abstained (knowing this would support Jefferson) leading to Jefferson’s election.

Jefferson sought to reduce the size of the federal government as he and Republicans held to the 18th century country-Whig opposition ideology.

Jefferson implemented republican simplicity surrounding the presidency: walking from his boardinghouse to his inauguration; selling horses, coaches, and silver harnesses President Adams had used; making himself available to visitors; not paying attention to things like rank when inviting guests to state dinners.

Cut the military budget, eliminated many federal positions that had been created under the Federalists, eliminated excise taxes that were created to support Hamilton’s fiscal system.

Jefferson had opposed the creation of a military academy in the 1790s but now supported it as a way to republicanize officers after the Federalist military programs had made the officer corps loyal Federalists.

Perhaps biggest battle for the Republicans was over the BUS as Republicans saw it as unconstitutional and corrupting.

Two camps of opposition to the BUS: Southern agrarian interests like Jefferson who hated the bank due to reasons of political philosophy and the interests of those who managed and invested in state banks.

Banks issued notes redeemable for specie but because notes weren’t typically redeemed by the holders banks could issue notes in excess of what they held in reserves as specie. However, the BUS consistently checked the extent to which state banks could do this by redeeming their notes.

The charter for the BUS was up for renewal in 1811 and though Jefferson’s Treasury Secretary, Gallatin, supported its renewal it was defeated by Congress.

Number of banks exploded after 1811 and these banks didn’t act just as sources of credit for the federal government like the BUS or as typical commercial banks extending short term credit to merchants but instead represented the diverse economic interests of society offering long-term credit,

These new banks were very democratic being located not just in urban centers; often lending to farmers and other middling sorts; many banks were required to have a certainn number of mechanics, farmers, etc. on their boards.

The expansion of state-chartered banks in the first decade of the 19th century and especially after 1811 allowed the economy to rapidly commercialize due to their issuing of notes; by 1815 200+ banks had deposits and note liabilities of roughly $90mm and only $17mm in specie to back it.

The Farmer’s Exchange Bank of Gloucester, Rhode Island in 1808 had issued over $600k in paper with only $86.45 in specie to back these notes.

Jefferson was most fervently committed to reducing the national debt seeing it as a potential cause for war, burdensome to future generations, and corrupting as it was used to create to clients and patronage networks.

By 1810, even after the Louisiana Purchase, Republicans had reduced the national debt to half of the $80mm it was when they took office in 1800.

One of the biggest developments of the Jeffersonian Era was the increased significance of popular voting and the increased number of contested elections.

In many places voter turnout went from 20% in the 1790s to 80% in the first decades of the 1800s.

The franchise was expanded in many states but also reduced in other respects.

Property qualifications often were reduced but Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and New Jersey placed limited voting to white males when previously there had been no racial restrictions in these states.

By the standards of the time America had the most popular/democratic electoral politics in the world.

Federalists feared most not the fact they lost power but rather the radical Jacobinism they thought the Republicans represented and the social and cultural transformations thus would bring about.

The popular reaction to Republican rule that Federalists had hoped for and the elites who, many had assumed, would feel obligated to stay involved in politics out of honor stayed home and encouraged others to do so as well.

Federalists realized that they had to evolve and, like the Republicans, act more like an actual political party.

Networks of caucuses and committees created.

Legislative programs were created along with societies to rival the Republican Tammany Societies.

Attempted to create rival newspapers, an area dominated by Republicans.

Another way American society was growing more democratic was evidenced by Republican opposition to the Federalist conception of free speech and the Sedition Act.

It wasn’t enough that juries determined libelous speech (an improvement over the common law interpretation of free speech) because libertarian-minded Republicans didn’t believe anyone or any body of individuals was able to determine what was true and what was not.

Unlike Federalists, Republicans didn’t believe truth was capable of being reached through rational thought.

The Federalists were a spent force in American politics and Jefferson won the 1804 election in a landslide; by 1820 they couldn’t even nominate a candidate for president.

While very unified immediately after the 1804 election by the 1808 presidential election saw three Republican candidates for president: Madison, Monroe, and George Clinton.

Following the 1808 election the Republicans began to fracture along sectional lines, individual personalities, and ideology.

Some moderate Republicans Evan began to sound like Federalists with one elected Republican referring to the “radicals” and “country bumpkins” who were opposing the “best and wisest men in the community”.

Unlike the Federalists, however, no Republican ever doubted democracy.

While the beginnings of a party system was forming many politicians considered that a distasteful term and a stable political party system wouldn’t fully develop until the Jacksonian era.