Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

There are fears that the first contested presidential election in 1796, following Washington’s retirement, will tear the country apart, as real political distinctions between Federalists and Republicans come to the fore. The spirit of ’76 continues, and a chief qualifier for becoming president is having played a dominant role in the Revolution.

By the spring of 1796, the choice is between Vice President John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. On the face of it, they are very different. Adams is a short, stout, and candid New Englander, while Jefferson is a tall, willowy, elusive Virginian. Adams had made “American independence his life project” (164). He had been Washington’s vice president, a frustrating role that afforded him little power and influence and had come under suspicion that he wished to reinstate a sort of monarchy when he published a series of essays, titled “Discourses on Davila,” in which he argued that all stable governments required a “monarchical principle”—in other words, a single figure to embody the will of the nation (168). 

The essays are the reason for a serious rift between Jefferson and Adams, who had worked together to draft the Declaration of Independence and been close enough to seem “soulmates” (163). Also, Adams considers that Jefferson’s early support for the French Revolution makes him “‘a dangerous dreamer’” (170). Ellis concludes that “[c]hoosing between them seemed like choosing between the head and the heart of the American Revolution” (164). 

Whatever Adams’ and Jefferson’s presidential ambitions are, given the country’s strong anti-monarchical sentiment, they have to be seen to be nominated for the role. Adams is encouraged in his presidential ambitions by his wife, Abigail, his closest collaborator, and James Madison supports Jefferson’s presidential campaign. Both Adams and Jefferson feel awkward about being pitted against a former friend, but they are equally assured that their own vision for the country’s future is superior. 

When the results come in, Adams beats Jefferson with “a razor-thin victory” of seventy-one electoral votes to sixty-eight (178). Jefferson predicts that “whereas Washington had been able to levitate above the partisan factions, ‘the next president of the United States will only be the president of a party’” (182). Adams, on the other hand, hopes that he and Jefferson might join forces and share power, with Jefferson as his vice president. While Jefferson originally likes the idea, for him “ideology was trumping intimacy” as he seeks to gain leadership of the Republican party, which is oppositional to Adams, and pursue his idea of the Revolution to the fullest (183). 

During Adams’ term, there is ideological warfare between Republicans and Federalists, who each accuse the other of betraying the ideals of the revolution. Ellis considers that “the leadership of the revolutionary generation lacked a vocabulary adequate to describe the politics they were inventing” (186) and the government is too new and “ill-formed” to cope with the foreign policy challenges it faces (187). 

Adams makes the mistake of signing into law the Alien and Sedition Acts, statutes designed to deport or disenfranchise foreign residents. Irish and German immigrants, who have previously supported Adams, shift their loyalties over to Jefferson and Madison, who are setting themselves up as the Republican opposition. Jefferson and Madison are biding their time, waiting for Adams and the Federalist agenda to fail. Meanwhile, they organize their efforts. 

Jefferson runs against Adams in the 1800 election and wins. Although outside New York, Adams wins more electoral votes than he had in 1796, Jefferson wins all twelve of New York’s electoral votes. With Jefferson’s ascension, the “‘people’ replaced the ‘public’ as the sovereign source of political wisdom. No leader could credibly claim to be above the fray” (204).