From Bullets to Ballots

The Election of 1800 and the First Peaceful Transfer of Political Power

by John Zvesper

Reprinted with permission of The Claremont Institute.

Preface by Ken Masugi

Introduction by John S. Waggoner

Chronology

Prologue

Chapter 1: First Principles

• The Significance of the Revolution of 1800
• The “Terrorism” of the 1790s
• The Character of Modern Party Government
• The Paradoxical and Two-Sided Nature of Modern Political Parties

Chapter 2: The Lessons of Constitution Making

• The Desirability of Government
• The Necessity of Executive Power
• Why Political Parties Were Not Respectable
• National Politics Without Partisanship
• The Importance of George Washington
• Electing the Executive

Chapter 3: Anxious Confidence

• The Anxieties of a New Republic
• The Confidence of Unchallenged Federalism, 1789-1791
• The Hamiltonian Financial and Industrial Project

Chapter 4: Doubts and Disunity

• Was the Downfall of the Federalists Inevitable?
• Political Disunity and the Absence of Principled Partisanship

Chapter 5: The Republicans Organize

• Hamilton’s Frustrating Winning Streak
• Principled Partisanship as a Temporary Last Resort

Chapter 6: The Republicans Persuade

• Economic Anti-Republicanism and Political Anti-Republicanism
• The Campaign and Elections of 1792
• The Problem of George Washington
• Hamilton’s Innocence and Guilt
• Economic Reality and Political Rhetoric

Chapter 7: Foreign Affairs Delay the Republican Victory

• The New Democracy and Old World Diplomacy
• Republican Party Strategy Adapts to the French Revolution
• The Partisan Effects of the Jay Treaty
• Jefferson, Adams, and the Partisan Presidency
• The Partisan Effects of War and Peace with France

Chapter 8: Suppression, Protest and the Revolution of 1800

• The Federalists’ Aggressive Domestic Initiatives of 1798
• The Republicans’ Response
• The Electoral Revolution

Chapter 9: Conclusion – The Revolution of 1800 and Party Government

• The Meaning of the Electoral Revolution
• The Success of Jefferson’s Strategy
• Ideology and Party Government
• Democratic Citizens and Statesmen

Appendix I: The Debt Assumption Issue

Appendix II: Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address

Glossary

Bibliography

Historical Documents