John Adams represented the federalist side of American politics
in 1796, standing for a strong central government. Thomas
Jefferson championed a smaller, more decentralized idea of
governance by independent yeomen−citizens Aaron Burr might have
gained the vice presidency in 1796, but Thomas Jefferson assumed
the office. Thomas Pinckney might have gained the vice
presidency in 1796, but Thomas Jefferson assumed the office. The
Twelfth Amendment specified separate electoral ballots for
president and vice president to avoid a divided leadership. A
Great Deal of Noise, Whipping and Spurring America's First
Disputed Presidential Election by Jack Lynch Early America
produced documents and declarations that upset traditional
notions of statecraft—the Declaration of Independence, with its
insistence on human equality and inalienable rights; the
Constitution, with its scheme to govern a large nation on
republican principles; the Bill of Rights, with its explicit
limits on the government’s powers. In the eyes of contem