And, with the political stupidity often characteristic of their
class, they stumbled from blunder to blunder. In 1800 Thomas
Jefferson, who adroitly coined the mistakes of his opponents into
political currency for himself, was elected President. He had
received no more electoral votes than Aaron Burr, that mysterious
character in our early politics, but the election was decided by
the House of Representatives, where, after seven days' balloting,
several Federalists, choosing what to them was the lesser of two
evils, cast the deciding votes for Jefferson. When the
Jeffersonians came to power, they no longer opposed federal
pretensions; they now, by one of those strange veerings often
found in American politics, began to give a liberal
interpretation to the Constitution, while the Federalists with
equal inconsistency became strict constructionists. Even
Jefferson was ready to sacrifice his theory of strict
construction in order to acquire the province of Louisiana.
The Jeffersonians now made several concessions to the
manufacturers, and with their support linked to that of the
agriculturists Jeffersonian democracy flourished without any
potent opposition. The second war with England lent it a doubtful
luster but the years immediately following the war restored
public confidence. Trade flourished on the sea. The frontier was
rapidly pushed to the Mississippi and beyond into the vast empire
which Jefferson had purchased. When everyone is busy, no one
cares for political issues, especially those based upon
philosophical differences.
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