NM+Revolution+of+1800

The Election of 1800 is often referred to as the Revolution of 1800 and it rightfully so is called this. With the election of Thomas Jefferson, a revolution in the way government is run and the protection of the individual citizen’s rights was ensured. Previously, the first two Presidents of the United States had been George Washington and John Adams, both of which were members of the Federalists political party. With the election of Thomas Jefferson, political power was transferred from one political party to another for the first time in the history of the United States, when it was transferred from the Federalists to the Democratic-Republicans. In this sense, the Election of 1800 was a revolution because it was a revolution in how the government is run that would stay in control for long time, even enduring a Civil War. The revolution in the way the government is run is that before when the Federalists were in power the voice of the people was not being listened to, causing the Federalist government to follow policies that the people did not support. Jefferson came into office and promised to basically run a government that was the exact opposite of the previous Federalist government. Thomas Jefferson believed in having a smaller government, which gave the individual state governments more power which was something that the Federalist government never did. Jefferson believed in allowing the individual states and citizens to work on their own for improvement and growth in their economic situations. Thomas Jefferson on a smaller scale revolutionized the customs of the presidency. The almost monarchial traditions of the Federalists regime which included bowing to the president and sitting at the head of the table were replaced by handshakes and sitting at round tables. Also, to help eliminate feelings of superiority by members of the government, Thomas Jefferson ordered the people working for him to act as servants of the people and not like they are a superior class. This was different from the Federalist mindset was that the members of government were superior to the rest of the citizens which is similar to the government of Britain where the government officials were a whole step above everyone else. The Revolution of 1800 also affected the rights of the individual citizen by protecting those more which was something the Federalist regime before Jefferson failed to do. Thomas Jefferson did this by no longer being so involved in the lives of the people as a Federal government, so instead he made the Federal government smaller and having less power in the lives of the people. He allowed citizens more of the freedoms that the Constitution and Bill of Rights guaranteed them by not interfering with the lives of the people as much. The Revolution of 1800 was in fact of revolution based on the radical changes Thomas Jefferson made when he entered office. He drastically changed the policies and customs of the government as well as protected the rights of the individual citizen. These changes had a significant effect on the rest of American history.