The “Great Experiment in Democracy” is what the United States of America is often referred to as. From its beginning the United States has been a nation governed by and for the people, becoming the first nation to have the people tell the government what it can do, not vise-versa. What is considered to be among the greatest of feats is what former President Ronald Reagan believed was so special about the orderly transfer of constitutional authority being nothing less than a miracle in the eyes of the world. This is what defines the United States as an experiment. But the transfer of power was not always as smooth as Americans know it today. During the election of 1800, it was uncertain whether or not the republic would survive past the turn
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By 1801, the fear that the Federalists would not relinquish control without violence subsided and they peacefully handed over the government to the Democratic-Republicans. However peaceful, there remained heavy opinions between the two parties, so much so that John Adams did not attend Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration. But in handing the government over without a fight, the Federalists had made history. They had become the first faction to peacefully hand over control of a government to another faction with whom they fundamentally disagreed. This feat had not been seen in the modern world up until that point. The monarchies of Europe had not seen a peaceful transition of power outside of familial descent. France had seen an uprising against the king but had grown violent in the face of competing political factions. History had been littered with revolutions and coups among other sorts of violent transfers of power but none had ever been peaceful transitions. The election of 1800 had placed the United States squarely in the history books. Beyond that, however, it made itself the example of freedom to a world that, although not at that time, would come to adopt the ways of the United States and look to her for a symbol of liberty. This was why the election of 1800 separated the United States from history and from the
By 1801, the fear that the Federalists would not relinquish control without violence subsided and they peacefully handed over the government to the Democratic-Republicans. However peaceful, there remained heavy opinions between the two parties, so much so that John Adams did not attend Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration. But in handing the government over without a fight, the Federalists had made history. They had become the first faction to peacefully hand over control of a government to another faction with whom they fundamentally disagreed. This feat had not been seen in the modern world up until that point. The monarchies of Europe had not seen a peaceful transition of power outside of familial descent. France had seen an uprising against the king but had grown violent in the face of competing political factions. History had been littered with revolutions and coups among other sorts of violent transfers of power but none had ever been peaceful transitions. The election of 1800 had placed the United States squarely in the history books. Beyond that, however, it made itself the example of freedom to a world that, although not at that time, would come to adopt the ways of the United States and look to her for a symbol of liberty. This was why the election of 1800 separated the United States from history and from the