The Election of 1804
1) Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1800 coincided with large
Democratic-Republican gains in both the House and
Senate. The Party gained a commanding majority after the
1802 midterm elections, outnumbering the Federalists by 2
to 1. Alexander Hamilton’s untimely death in July, 1804
only hastened the demise of his own party. Only pockets
of Federalism persisted in the commercial centers of New
England.
The Election of 1804
2) Historians rank Jefferson’s first term as one of the most
successful in Presidential history. Jefferson had doubled
the size of the nation with the vast Louisiana territory,
maintained peace in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars,
retired a substantial portion of the national debt by cutting
government spending, and eliminated many taxes inherited
from John Adams.
The Election of 1804
4) During the election Democratic-Republican journalist
James Callender turned his energies against the President
and published an account of how Jefferson had previously
financed Callender’s scandalous editorials against
President Adams. When Jefferson denied the claim,
Callender published letters from Jefferson that proved his
involvement. Callender turned on Jefferson when the
President denied his request to serve as the Postmaster
General of Richmond, Virginia.
The Election of 1804
5) Democratic-Republicans
responded by spreading
rumors that Callender had
abandoned his wife when she
was dying of venereal
disease. Callender responded
by writing in the Federalist
newspaper the Richmond
Recorder that Jefferson
“keeps and for many years has
kept, as his concubine, one of
his slaves. Her name is Sally."
The Election of 1804
6) Sally Hemmings was a slave at Jefferson’s Monticello
plantation and she had several biracial, light-skinned
children that looked strikingly similar to their white master.
Jefferson had inherited most of his slaves when his fatherin-law, John Wayles died in 1773. It is widely believed that
Sally Hemmings was his daughter, making her an
illegitimate half-sister to Jefferson’s wife, Martha Wayles
Skelton.
The Election of 1804
8) Many Jefferson biographers and
historians reject the notion as conjecture.
A 1998 DNA study proved that there was a
genetic link between the Hemmings and
Jefferson lines, however, Thomas
Jefferson could not conclusively be
identified as the father because he did not
have a male heir. Historical records reveal
that Jefferson was present at Monticello
nine months before each of the Hemmings
children were born. After a series of
further studies, the Thomas Jefferson
Foundation that operates Monticello
released a statement in 2000 that said, “it is
very unlikely that any Jefferson other than
Thomas Jefferson was the father of [Hemings'
six] children.”
Jefferson-Hemmings Descendents at Monticello in 1999
The Aaron Burr Conspiracy
VP – 1800-04
1) Thomas
VP – 1804-08
Jefferson lost all trust in Vice President
Aaron Burr after the election crisis of 1800.
Jefferson removed Burr from the DemocraticRepublican ticket during the election of 1804 and
replaced him with George Clinton.
The Burr Conspiracy
2) Burr’s political isolation
led him to switch parties
and he ran for the
governorship of New
York as a Federalist.
Burr was sponsored by a
group of extremist
Federalists that were
plotting the future
secession of the New
England states. Burr
made no promises to
lead New York into
secession, but he never
exposed the treasonous
conspiracy either.
The Burr Conspiracy
3) Alexander Hamilton was alarmed
by the radical faction of his own
party and he wrote to his wayward
allies, “Tell them from ME, at MY
request, for God’s sake, to cease
these conversations and
threatenings about a separation of
the Union. It must hang together as
long as it can be made to.”
Hamilton distrusted Burr and
considered him to be the most
dangerous politician in the
country. They had a long-standing
feud that sprouted from their
intense rivalry as New York
politicians.
The Aaron Burr Conspiracy
4) Supposedly Hamilton referred to Burr as “despicable” at a
dinner party and his statement was published in the Albany
Register newspaper. Hamilton refused to apologize and
Burr challenged him to a duel. Just before dawn on July
11th , 1804, the two men were separately rowed across the
Hudson River to meet above the cliffs of Weehawken, New
Jersey.
The Aaron Burr Conspiracy
5) The two men walked
twenty paces, turned and
faced one another in
silence. Hamilton
supposedly raised his
pistol and fired into the
air, a few seconds
passed, and Burr took
aim and shot Hamilton in
the lower abdomen above
the right hip. The bullet
ricocheted off his false rib
and lodged in his spine.
Hamilton died the
following day and murder
indictments were issued
for the Vice President of
the United States.
The Aaron Burr Conspiracy
6) Bur was involved in a secessionist plot by extremist Federalists
and killing Alexander Hamilton while he was still the sitting Vice
President, Burr also contacted the British Minister
(ambassador) to the United States and informed him of his
plans to lead a military expedition into the Louisiana Purchase
with plans to detach some portion of the Southwestern United
States. He accepted $1500 dollars for his plot and requested
that the British also provide him with ships.
The Aaron Burr Conspiracy
9) Burr was acquitted and he
fled to Europe to live in exile
until 1812. There are rumors
that he even tried to seek
audiences with the British
monarchy and Napoleon in
the hopes of sparking a war
on the United States. He
eventually returned to
America and lived under the
alias “Aaron Edwards” in
order to escape his creditors
and his scandalous past.
The Embargo Act (1808)
1) Jefferson’s second term was a considerable
disappointment compared to his first four years
as President. The same European war that had
plagued Washington and Adams now re-emerged
under Jefferson.
The Embargo Act (1808)
2) After Napoleon secured the purchase of
Louisiana, he resumed his bloody war to
conquer Europe. This conflict would continue
for eleven more years and would continuously
threaten American neutrality.
The Embargo Act (1808)
3) In 1805, the British were able to destroy the
French fleets off the coast of Spain in the Battle of
Trafalgar, giving their Navy total control of the
high seas. In the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon
defeated the combined armies of Russia and
Austria and took total control of mainland Europe.
The Embargo Act (1808)
4) Merchant vessels were being seized and thousands of
American sailors were “impressed” into the ranks of the
British Navy against their will.
The Embargo Act (1808)
6) Instead of war, Jefferson
issued the Embargo Act
of 1808 in order to cut off
all American trade to
Europe. Believing that
Europe was dependant
on American foodstuffs
and raw materials, the
Embargo would force
Britain and France to
respect American
neutrality.
The Embargo Act (1808)
7) The Embargo actually had
a crippling economic
impact on American
shipping long before it
was felt overseas.
Federalist New England in
particular suffered under
the constraints of the
Embargo. Many shippers
turned to illicit trade and
smuggling in order to
bypass the hated law.
The Embargo Act
8) Rampant smuggling led
the White House and
Congress to increase
enforcement by raising
fines and issuing harsher
penalties, policies that a
younger Jefferson would
have condemned as
tyrannical acts of an
intrusive federal
government. Congress
eventually responded by
repealing the Embargo Act
in 1809, three days before
Jefferson’s retirement.
The Embargo Act (1808)
9) The day before James Madison’s inauguration as
the 4th President of the United States, Jefferson
wrote, “Never did a prisoner, released from his
chains, feel such a relief as I shall on shaking off the
shackles of power.”
Exit Ticket – With a partner
• What was the Embargo Act of 1808? (Ex.
What countries were involved, what were
the results)
• Why would a younger Jefferson been
disgusted with how his government dealt
with the Embargo Act of 1808?