VARIOUS PROPERTIES
[JEFFERSON, ELECTION OF 1800]. BOUDINOT, Elias (1740-1821), President, Continental Congress. Autograph letter signed ("Elias Boudinot") to Jonathan Dayton, Philadelphia, 5 January 1801. 2 full pages, folio, paper reinforcement of edges affecting flourish of signature, damage to bottom with minor loss.
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[JEFFERSON, ELECTION OF 1800]. BOUDINOT, Elias (1740-1821), President, Continental Congress. Autograph letter signed ("Elias Boudinot") to Jonathan Dayton, Philadelphia, 5 January 1801. 2 full pages, folio, paper reinforcement of edges affecting flourish of signature, damage to bottom with minor loss.
THE DISPUTED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1800: "I DO MOST SINCERELY HOPE THE FEDERALISTS WILL ACT UPON PRINCIPLE..."
A significant letter which candidly discusses the critical electoral college tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr in the Election of 1800. Elias Boudinot, former President of the Continental Congress and now Director of the U.S. Mint, writes to United States Senator Jonathan Dayton, first addressing a debt: "I beg you will settle the other half years interest. Agreeably to the entries in my book it is certainly due." The debt involved Aaron Burr: "Mr. Burr actually sent me the money, but from a misapprehension of the sum due, I returned it to him ... Mr. Burr's bank Account must determine the matter, as I am sure he will not wish to do any thing of this kind but what is right."
The Election of 1800 was disputed due to an electoral tie between the two Republican candidates. The clear presidential choice for the party Thomas Jefferson while Burr was intended to be Vice President. Under the system originally designed within the Constitution, candidates did not run as a ticket for the executive office. Simply, the man who won the most electoral votes would be president while the man with the next largest tally entered the vice-presidency. The system did not account for party differences, however, and to guarantee Republican control of both offices, Thomas Jefferson effectively assured that he and Burr would be at the top. When the electoral votes resulted in a tie, however, and the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, Burr sought to exploit the situation and obtain the presidency for himself. The House would not vote to confirm Jefferson until early February. Here, Boudinot discusses this critical test of the American political system and its importance: "I am extremely apprehensive of the Consequences of the equality of Votes for a President. I do most sincerely hope the Federalists will act upon principle and observe a dignified and disinterested conduct on this important occasion ... An attempt to set up a President pro tem of the Senate to execute the Office of President would be attended with very dangerous Effects, at least such as would not justify the Experiment. It would rouse the People to revenge themselves, and in a short time would return Mr. Jefferson again with an increased Majority. An Interregnum would be destructive to the United States. The only alternative then is, to make a candid of judicious Choice between the two Candidates, and let the people try the principle they have chosen to adopt."
Boudinot also writes about the recent treaty with France, commenting that the Merchants desire its acceptance because of the benefit to trade, but their concern was domestic: "They appear to dread the effects of being again afloat. There certainly is at present an immense capital in America, totally unproductive, waiting for some certainty in the political situation to tempt them to launch again on the Ocean."
THE DISPUTED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1800: "I DO MOST SINCERELY HOPE THE FEDERALISTS WILL ACT UPON PRINCIPLE..."
A significant letter which candidly discusses the critical electoral college tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr in the Election of 1800. Elias Boudinot, former President of the Continental Congress and now Director of the U.S. Mint, writes to United States Senator Jonathan Dayton, first addressing a debt: "I beg you will settle the other half years interest. Agreeably to the entries in my book it is certainly due." The debt involved Aaron Burr: "Mr. Burr actually sent me the money, but from a misapprehension of the sum due, I returned it to him ... Mr. Burr's bank Account must determine the matter, as I am sure he will not wish to do any thing of this kind but what is right."
The Election of 1800 was disputed due to an electoral tie between the two Republican candidates. The clear presidential choice for the party Thomas Jefferson while Burr was intended to be Vice President. Under the system originally designed within the Constitution, candidates did not run as a ticket for the executive office. Simply, the man who won the most electoral votes would be president while the man with the next largest tally entered the vice-presidency. The system did not account for party differences, however, and to guarantee Republican control of both offices, Thomas Jefferson effectively assured that he and Burr would be at the top. When the electoral votes resulted in a tie, however, and the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, Burr sought to exploit the situation and obtain the presidency for himself. The House would not vote to confirm Jefferson until early February. Here, Boudinot discusses this critical test of the American political system and its importance: "I am extremely apprehensive of the Consequences of the equality of Votes for a President. I do most sincerely hope the Federalists will act upon principle and observe a dignified and disinterested conduct on this important occasion ... An attempt to set up a President pro tem of the Senate to execute the Office of President would be attended with very dangerous Effects, at least such as would not justify the Experiment. It would rouse the People to revenge themselves, and in a short time would return Mr. Jefferson again with an increased Majority. An Interregnum would be destructive to the United States. The only alternative then is, to make a candid of judicious Choice between the two Candidates, and let the people try the principle they have chosen to adopt."
Boudinot also writes about the recent treaty with France, commenting that the Merchants desire its acceptance because of the benefit to trade, but their concern was domestic: "They appear to dread the effects of being again afloat. There certainly is at present an immense capital in America, totally unproductive, waiting for some certainty in the political situation to tempt them to launch again on the Ocean."