The Second American Revolution
The Second American Revolution: How Two Partisan Virginians Poisoned America’s Political System
In this discussion, I present a long overdue examination of the ten-year insurgency Thomas Jefferson and his political partner, James Madison, conducted against Alexander Hamilton and his plan to rebuild and vitalize America’s post-revolution economy.
The key to this insurgency, I say, was the political party James Madison created by growing his anti administration voting bloc in the House of Representatives. By the fall of 1796, all aspects of the election process were controlled by networks of partymen. This, combined with the power to shape opinion, gave them the power to control the young nation. Only the public influence of the retired “Father of the Nation” held them in check.
Thomas Jefferson developed a second key innovation after winning his “Revolution of 1800.” When he finally defeated his running mate, Aaron Burr, and became President, he merged his power as the leader of his party with his power as President of the United States and transformed the American government into a tool for his party to perpetuate its control of the government— and the rapidly expanding nation.