The Alien

part of the Republicans. In June, 1798, Congress passed the Alien Act, which gave the president power to expel from the country all aliens whom he considered and Sedition dangerous to the peace and safety of the United Acts, 1798 States, or who he had reason to think were concerned in any treasonable machinations against the government.

Two weeks later the Sedition Act was passed, imposing a heavy fine and imprisonment on any one who should conspire to oppose any measure of the government, or who should write or publish any false, scandalous, or malicious writing against the government, either house of Congress, or the president of the United States, with intent to defame or bring them into disrepute. Under this act some ten editors were convicted, fined, and imprisoned.

The Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798

It was soon evident that the Federalists had gone too far, and Jefferson prepared a set of resolutions, protesting against the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were submitted to some of his friends in the Kentucky legislature and passed by that body November 16, 1798. After defining the Constitution as a compact between sovereign States and the powers of Congress as delegated and limited, the resolutions declared, "that whensover the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." In conclusion the resolutions appealed to the other States to unite with Kentucky in requesting the repeal of the objectionable acts at the next session of Congress.

Jefferson's resolutions were revised by Madison and introduced in the Virginia legislature by John Taylor. These resolutions, which were passed December 24, 1798, were more moderate than those of Kentucky, but they expounded with equal clearness the compact theory of government. The appeal of Virginia and Kentucky met with an unfavorable response from all the Northern States. While these

replies denied that an individual State could pass judgment on the extent of the powers granted to Congress and pointed to the Supreme Court as the constitutional arbiter of that question, none of them took exception to the view that the Constitution was a compact. As the Alien and Sedition Acts were to expire by limitation before the close of Adams's administration, no further action was taken by the Republicans. The Federalists had been successful in the congressional elections of 1798 and they fully expected to reëlect Adams in 1800, but their party was badly divided beThe presitween the Adams and Hamilton factions and dential camthere was a strong popular reaction against many paign of of their policies. Jefferson was again the candidate of the Republicans and Aaron Burr was selected for the vice-presidency. The latter had gained control of New York and during the campaign he caused serious embarrassment to the Federalists by securing and publishing a circular letter which Hamilton had written to his political friends. condemning Adams in strong terms.

1800

When the electors were chosen it was found that Jefferson and Burr each had 73 votes, Adams, 65, and C. C. Pinckney, the Federalist candidate for vice-president, 64. As there was no choice the House of Representatives, which had a Federalist majority, had to choose between Jefferson and Burr. Some of the Federalists now planned to play a trick on the Republicans by making Burr president and Jefferson vice-president, but Hamilton considered Burr, who was his rival both in New York politics and at the bar, a dangerous man and preferred Jefferson as the lesser of two evils. After thirty-six ballots Jefferson was finally chosen. As a result of this contest the Constitution was modified by the Twelfth Amendment, which provided that thereafter the electors should vote for president and vice-president on separate ballots. This amendment became effective September 25, 1804.

The election of Jefferson brought about a complete revolution in government and politics. It represented the The Repub- triumph of democracy over the efforts of the lican revolu- Federalists to keep the control of affairs in the hands of the wealthier classes. Republican simplicity was to take the place of the grave formality and old-world ceremony with which

tion of 1800

the Federalists had tried to hedge in the executive.

The newly laid out city of Washington, to which the capital had recently been moved, afforded an excellent setting for the studied simplicity of the first inauguration held there. A muddy road, skirted by a few straggling houses, the future Pennsylvania Avenue, connected the White House and the Capitol. According to contemporary accounts Jefferson walked from his boarding house to the Capitol, escorted by a company of militia from Charlottesville, took the oath of office, and delivered his carefully worded inaugural address.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

The new president was a man of marked individuality. With the enthusiasm of the idealist he combined in large measure the shrewdness of the practical politician. With few of the gifts of the public speaker, he was in private conversation convincing and persuasive, and no president ever held more complete sway over his associates or over Congress. His intellectual versatility was remarkable. Little that was worthy of note in science or invention, or in the field of religious, social, or political philosophy, escaped the range of his keen intellect. As a writer he had no equal in America,

and to the present day the writings of no other American statesman have been so widely quoted.

Reduction of

expenditures and of

the national

debt

Jefferson believed in an economical administration of the government and one of his first tasks was to cut off all unnecessary expenditures. His secretary of the treasury, Albert Gallatin, was one of the ablest financiers who ever held that office, and his administration was surprisingly successful. Under the Federalists the national debt had increased to about $80,000,000. By rigid economy, which fell most heavily on the army and navy, and with the aid of increased revenues, Gallatin managed to pay off large portions of the debt and to show each year a substantial surplus in the treasury. Notwithstanding the $15,000,000 of bonds issued for the payment of Louisiana, by the close of 1807 the debt had been reduced to $69,500,000.

The question of patronage is always a difficult problem for a new administration and espécially so when there is an entire change of party. Adams had not only The civil confined his appointments strictly to Federalists, service but he had spent the last hours of his administration in appointing Federalists to new offices created by Congress during the last days of its final session. A judiciary act was hurried through creating a number of new Federal courts and John Marshall, the secretary of state, and President Adams were engaged in making out and signing commissions for the new judges, attorneys, and marshals until a late hour of the night preceding Jefferson's inauguration.

Marshall did not have time to deliver the commissions and left them in his office to be forwarded by his successor, James Madison, but Jefferson took the responsibility of withholding the commissions for these "midnight appointments" in spite of the protests of the new judges that they had been confirmed by the Senate and could not be constitutionally deprived of their positions except by impeachment.

Jefferson did not remove Federalist officeholders except where charges of incompetence or partisanship were made, but when vacancies occurred he appointed Republicans to fill them, and announced that he would continue this policy until the public offices were more evenly divided between Federalists and Republicans.

Repeal of the Judiciary Act and im

peachment

Jefferson not only withheld the commissions from the newly appointed Federal judges, but he got Congress to repeal the act establishing the new courts. In this he was clearly right, for it was more than half a century before it was found necessary to The increase the number of Federal courts. of Pickering judiciary, filled with Federalists appointed for life, was nevertheless a thorn in Jefferson's side. It was the one branch of the government which had not been affected by the revolution of 1800. John Marshall, the leading Federalist of Virginia, had just been appointed Chief Justice by Adams, and on every debatable constitutional question his views were opposed to Jefferson's.

and Chase

The Republicans passed an act limiting the Supreme Court to one term annually, and a little later instituted impeachment proceedings against two judges. The first case was that of Judge Pickering of New Hampshire, who was tried before the Senate in March, 1804. He was found guilty of misconduct on the bench, due to either drunkenness or insanity, and was removed from office. A little later proceedings were instituted against Samuel Chase of Maryland, one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, who in a political harangue to the grand jury at Baltimore declared that the government was sinking into a mobocracy. John Randolph, who conducted the impeachment, managed the case badly and Chase was acquitted, but henceforth Federal judges conducted themselves with greater circumspection.