Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800
    Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800
    Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800
    Audiobook11 hours

    Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800

    Written by John Ferling

    Narrated by Jack Garrett

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    It was a contest of titans: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two heroes of the Revolutionary era, once intimate friends, now icy antagonists locked in a fierce battle for the future of the United States. The election of 1800 was a thunderous clash of a campaign that climaxed in a deadlock in the Electoral College and led to a crisis in which the young republic teetered on the edge of collapse. Adams vs. Jefferson is a gripping account of a true turning point in American history, a dramatic struggle between two parties with profoundly different visions of how the nation should be governed.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJan 14, 2008
    ISBN9781436101660
    Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800
    Author

    John Ferling

    John Ferling is professor emeritus of history at the University of West Georgia. He is the author of many books on the American Revolution, including The Ascent of George Washington; Almost a Miracle; A Leap in the Dark; Whirlwind, a finalist for the 2015 Kirkus Book Prize; and, most recently, Apostles of Revolution: Jefferson, Paine, Monroe, and the Struggle Against the Old Order in America and Europe. He and his wife, Carol, live near Atlanta. JOHN FERLING, Professor of History at West Georgia College, is writing a biography of John Adams. He is the author of The Loyalist Mind (1977), A Wilderness of Miseries: War and Warriors in Early America (1981), and The First of Men: A Life of George Washington (1988).

    More audiobooks from John Ferling

    Related to Adams vs. Jefferson

    Related audiobooks

    History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Tragedy of Edmund Morris

      May 28, 2019

      The Tragedy of Edmund Morris
      5 min read

    • Article

      Sherman In The Balance

      Dec 15, 2020

      Sherman In The Balance
      9 min read

    • Article

      'Heirs Of The Founders' Profiles The 'Second Generation' Of Great American Leaders

      Nov 13, 2018

      In his latest historical spellbinder, bestselling author and scholar H.W. Brands profiles Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Calhoun, as well as the decades leading up to the Civil War.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Truman Visits Chartwell

      May 3, 2021

      Truman Visits Chartwell
      9 min read

    • Article

      Explosive Election

      Nov 17, 2020

      Explosive Election
      12 min read

    • Article

      'Friends Divided' Explores the Remarkable, Stormy Friendship of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams

      Nov 5, 2017

      Revolutionary-era historian Gordon S. Wood, in his latest book on the period, makes clear just how fragile the American experiment had become once George Washington retired to Mount Vernon.

      6 min read

    • Article

      THE MEN WHO MADE America

      Feb 28, 2020

      THE MEN WHO MADE America
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Constitutional Crisis

      Jan 21, 2021

      A Constitutional Crisis
      5 min read

    • Article

      Our Historical Ambivalence About Immigrants Is a Great American Paradox

      Feb 4, 2017

      PASSIONS WERE HIGH, AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE United States was eager to act. In 1798, John Adams, amid talk of war with France, signed the Alien and Sedition Acts to, in his view, protect the national interest against internal dissent and outside agi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Presidents And The West

      Jun 9, 2020

      Presidents And The West
      8 min read

    • Article

      A Klansman’s Horrific Reign

      Aug 15, 2023

      A Klansman’s Horrific Reign
      12 min read

    • Article

      One More Time

      Nov 14, 2023

      One More Time
      4 min read

    • Article

      Life of Service

      Oct 1, 2022

      Even for a person of John Quincy Adams’s remarkable credentials, the practice of law was challenging. As a new lawyer in Boston, he found it difficult to earn a living from the profession. But his practice took off after a few years. By then, his exp

      4 min read

    • Article

      Unimpeachably Yours

      May 21, 2019

      Unimpeachably Yours
      4 min read

    • Article

      Monroe on Tour!

      Sep 1, 2023

      Monroe on Tour!
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Adams vs. Jefferson

    4.5/5

    14 ratings9 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I greatly enjoyed "Adams vs. Jefferson" for the author's accessible, engaging, and erudite style, its nuanced portrayals of the main actors and the motives and personal experiences that made them tick, and the book's overall careful attention to explicating a key period in the development of America's nascent federal government. I hadn't known much at all about John Adams or his background; and, as for Jefferson, the fiery author of the Declaration, I was fascinated by the accounts of his apparent ambiguity about remaining in the public spotlight, his avoidance of public speaking, and his discomfort with being disagreeable with others. As contemporary Americans, we are lucky to reap the contributions to our nation of the Revolutionary Generation's noble instincts and passions, however imperfect they were; and it is very worthwhile to spend time learning something about this period through Ferling's articulate and careful scholarship.
    • 4/5
      This was great to focus on the one election and the many personalities at this pivotal turning point in American history. Ferling managed to get at the personalities and motivations of those running for office, including some of the lesser well known characters.
    • 5/5
      This is a great account of an historic election and critical moment in the American experiment. Why? Well, as Ferling points out, this was the first time in history, anywhere, that power transferred bloodlessly and calmly from one party to another which had opposing views. It was without precedence and worked. And these were not just two happy political parties, glad to be rid of George III, and led by co-authors of the Declaration of Independence that saw eye to eye. No. They were bitter political rivals. Over a good part of the 215 page text, Ferling builds up to the election with a summary of the history between 1786 to 1800, and he does this very effectively, keeping it concise and painting portraits of the people involved, beyond Jefferson and Adams to the others of the time. The mudslinging, backroom politics, and vicious behavior make you realize that politics has always been ugly, it’s not a function of today’s Washington, and it will make you pause when handling a $10 bill, with Alexander’s Hamilton’s mug on it.On the other hand, despite all of that negativity, there was passion in the views because both sides ‘had a point’, and the stakes in forming a new country were high. Ironically in those days the Federalists were the conservative party and the Republicans were the liberals. The Federalists were in general pro-monarchy, elitist, supporters of established church, and used the Sedition Act to destroy the concept of a free press … all leaning back to the biggest of big government, monarchy. They were the party of the rich, and favored maintaining the status quo. They were pro-English. This was the party of Washington, Adams, and Hamilton. Republicans by contrast wanted a much smaller government, as today’s republicans do, but were quite liberal for their day in wanting all citizens to be treated equally, separation of church and state, and freedom of the press. They wanted to create the world anew. Blurring class distinctions was viewed as favorable. They were pro-French, and notably pro-French Revolution, which the Federalists were aghast over. This was the party of Jefferson, Madison, and Paine. Jefferson and Paine are personal heroes of mine.Aside from this clash, the mechanics of the election were fascinating. In these early elections each party put forth two presidential candidates, then each electoral college member voted for two of them, with the rule that one of those votes couldn’t be for a candidate from the state they represented. The one with the most votes was president, and the runner-up was vice-president; this was how following the election of 1796, Adams was president and Jefferson was vice-president, despite having very different political views.The election of 1800 was extraordinarily close – Jefferson tied with Aaron Burr with 73 votes, Adams had 65, and Pinckney had 64, all within easy reach if things had swung slightly differently (e.g. if slaves had not counted as 3/5 of a person, Adams would have won). The election was then decided in the House of Representatives after protracted and vitriolic debate. Adams left town, simply, at dawn, without shaking Jefferson’s hand. Jefferson, eschewing pomp, walked to the Inauguration. Ferling includes an epilogue that captures their reconciliation which started with Adams reaching out to Jefferson, some of their personal difficulties such as Jefferson’s debt, and then their simultaneous demise on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration.A fascinating tale, and well told. History books can sometimes suffer from being dry or verbose, and this was neither.Quotes:“Jefferson and Adams harbored different dreams for the American Revolution. Whereas Adams envisioned the people, through government, fostering a greater good, Jefferson wished to ensure that individuals would be liberated from governments. He sought the least possible government – ‘energetic government is … always oppressive,’ he remarked – and was ever more distrustful of government the further removed it was from local control.”Adams’ view, and no matter what your politics are, you can see eerie overtones of this in today’s America, to its detriment:“Finally, as was true of most Federalists, Adams was alarmed by signs that the United States was democratizing. Before political parties existed in the 1790s, Adams had published warnings of how partisan electioneering – what he called the ‘Cankerworm’ that had brought down every previous republic – would corrupt the American political system. When caught between powerful rival interests, democratic politicians inevitably would be driven to deceit, he had predicted. Virtue and integrity would vanish. Revenge and malice would prevail. Voters would be duped and the press misled, pushing the system toward an unsavory end: a democratic tyranny in which the majority plundered the minority. For Adams, the notion that government could realize the will of the people was disingenuous. Society was divided into so many competing interests that a single popular will seldom existed. … Instead, Adams favored system in which the brightest and most virtuous men could be drawn into public life but then be insulated from the necessity to pander to the popular thirst. If somehow the independence of good men could be preserved so that they could govern prudently and judiciously, the result would be good government for the greatest number.”Jefferson’s view:“Jefferson was appalled by the powerlessness of most inhabitants in Europe. … in Jefferson’s mind monarchical rule symbolized all that was wrong with the venality, exploitation, and despair that he encountered throughout Europe. But he understood too that widespread misery also sprang from a privileged aristocracy that crushed the peasant’s opportunity for self-betterment, and from the church, the vehicle used by kings and noblemen to bind the citizenry in the shackles of ignorance, superstition, and subservience.”“He told a European observer who sought to understand politics in the United States that two American political parties existed: ‘One which fears the people the most, the other the government.’”“The earth belongs to the living and no generation should be bound by the decisions of its predecessors, Jefferson told Adams. Stability is crucial and is reinforced by obedience to old laws and charters so that uniformity ‘becomes a national Habit,’ Adams responded.”Lastly this one, which the Federalists pounced on and used as ‘evidence’ that Jefferson was an atheist: “It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
    • 5/5
      What a time as 1800 that set the course of the US
    • 2/5
      I read this to fulfill the requirements of a book report. Some of the letters were really interesting, and I learned a lot about Jefferson &co. However, unless you're a real history buff, I doubt it will hold your interest.
    • 4/5
      I've always been fascinated by Thomas Jefferson. After having recently watched the amazing John Adams HBO series on DVD, I really got interested in these two gentlemen. This was a great read. I think the ending turned out a bit dry, analyzing all of the stuff about votes and counts and backdoor deals and all. But the lead up of setting the stage just *why* the election of 1800, and especially its outcome, was so important is rich, layered, informative and fascinating.
    • 4/5
      he author showed great skill and knowledge in writing this book. It is just over 200 pages long and it is very informative. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson stand center stage. The author has written a separate biography of John Adams and his portrayal of Adams seems the most compelling of the two. I respect Thomas Jefferson but I do not really like some of the things he did. I think his dealings with James Callender, a journalist who wrote personal attacks on Hamilton and Jefferson's other political opponents for cash, were pretty slimy.The first half of the book is a concise narration of the political history of the U.S. from 1786 to 1800. The author shows excellent knowledge of the subject matter and the people involved. The writer used a good range of sources. He has his own point of view and he has the facts that support it. He recognized a strong significance in the split between North and South during the writing of the Constitution.As President Adams focused on foreign policy. The author writes about a disagreement between Adams and his cabinet that may have influenced the 1800 election. The cabinet delayed the sending of an envoy to France and the good news did not get back in time to influence the election. He also points out that were it not for the 3/5th's rule Adams would have won the election of 1800 outright.One result of the election was an amendment to the Constitution. The authors of the Constitution did not foresee a party system with a tie for the Presidency being possible. I enjoyed the real rough and tumble of political debate in that era. The author has a copy of a contemporary drawing that depicts a fight between two congressmen. One had a cane and the other was using fireplace tongs for a weapon. They were just as vicious in print. Hamilton was a prodigious writer who had a group of followers. His ambition made him increasingly unpopular. Even George Washington began referring to him as Caesar. He split with Adams and hurt Adams vote in New York. Like Jefferson Hamilton thought he was saving the country.Adams would only play the politician so far. His biggest mistake was signing the Sedition Act into law. It probably cost him the election. Adams had a tempestuous relationship with his son Charles. Charles became an alcoholic and Adams cut him off. He wouldn't visit him when Abigail told him Charles was dying.The election of Jefferson was a small revolution, or maybe not so small. He definitely saw himself as a cut above his opponents. Jefferson behaved as if he were saving the country from the autocrats. The Federalists did disappear and so did rule by the gentry. The author does discuss the Sally Hemmings question. He refers to the recent DNA evidence and other circumstantial evidence that indicates that Jefferson had a number of children with her. Jefferson had been married once and his wife died. He said he could never fall in love again. Sally Hemmings was the half-sister to Jefferson's wife. There is a group of African-American people named the Hemmings family who have been having family reunions for a long time. They claim a relationship with Thomas Jefferson.The author is a skilled story teller and this book is very accessible. I would think that the length, or lack of it, would make the book attractive to a non-historian. There are many events in a short book and the story moves well. IMO if it were fiction it would be a good book. There are twenty-five illustrations many of them portraits of the most significant participants. All round it is a good read that I can recommend to everyone.
    • 5/5
      - My 1st book regarding the revolutionary period…I found it outstanding and it remains one of favorite books…I found and read this book by luck- Author Ferling sheds tremendous light to include virtues and vices on Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams, Burr, and Madison in this book. Note – Hamilton comes across mostly in a negative manner in this book, however, Chernow in his book on Hamilton admits that this was not Hamilton’s finest hour- Federalists vs. Republicans…the House of Representatives dominated by members of the Federalist Party had to choose between Jefferson and Burr both despised members of the Republican Party- 1st Presidential election to be determined by Congress- Great book in support of one of the most critical/interesting political dramas to be played out in American history
    • 5/5
      The election of Thomas Jefferson marked a crucial point in the evolution of US history: For the first time, political power passed from one proto-party to the other. George Washington had stepped down twice (first as a general, then as a president), but his followers in the Federalist party continued to wield the power. No longer restrained by Washington's influence, the Federalists overshot and abused the power the people had vested in them until John Adams sacrficed his second term by turning against his own party for the greater good of the nation. The tide turned against the Federalists. Having lost the state of New York to the Republicans (thanks to the emerging party machine directed by Aaron Burr) ensured the election of Thomas Jefferson. The Federalists did not admit defeat after the 1800 election but used a shoddy formulation in the US constitution to play off Thomas Jefferson against his VP candidate Aaron Burr, deadlocking the presidential election until the single delegate from Delaware was bribed/convinced into abstaining. John Adams quietly retired (vilified by both parties), the Republicans becoming the dominant party until its break-up in 1824.John Ferling has written a pageturner bringing the founding fathers, their political system and the times to life. The book could have served a lesson to the arrogant "permanent" Republican majority of the Bush presidency (no relation to the 1800 Republicans both historically and in spirit). While the elder Bush, following in the footsteps of John Adams, sacrificed his second term by raising taxes (thus reducing the deficit and ushering in the Clinton boom), the younger Bush sacrificed the US constitution to the excesses and corruption of his party, a modern successor to the Federalists of 1800. It remains to be seen if the current Republican party will be punished by the American people into political irrelevance as the Federalist were after 1800. An important book that merited even wider readership.