Introduction Nearly a thousand people gathered in the nation’s new capital city Washington DC on March 4 1801 to witness the inauguration of the third president of the United States The crowd packed into the Senate Chamber of the unfinished Capitol Building The room was so full not another creature could enter according to writer Margaret Bayard Smith who attended the event Seated on the podium was the president-elect Thomas Jefferson On either side of him sat the Supreme Court chief justice John Marshall and the vice president elect Aaron Burr Jefferson arrived in Washington DC on horseback though he walked to the site of his inauguration 6
Jefferson had walked with friends through the mild spring air to the Capitol from his nearby boardinghouse Isaac Jefferson an enslaved African American man Jefferson owned described the future president as a tall straight-bodied man as ever you see right square-shouldered Nary a man in this town walked so straight But apart from his commanding presence Jefferson would not have stood out from the crowd on his inauguration day He wore a simple suit in contrast to the ceremonial dress of the two previous presidents on their inauguration days Both George Washington and John Adams had worn stylish suits with a sword at the hip They had arrived in elegant horse-drawn carriages while Jefferson had come on foot The Capitol grew quiet as Jefferson rose from his seat to speak Despite the silence audience members seated behind the first few rows had to strain to hear Jefferson’s timid voice so faint it was almost a whisper He had printed the speech however so those in attendance could choose to read along Jefferson was a far better writer than orator and on this day his lackluster delivery was at odds with the magnitude of his words Luckily Americans could read his words later when a Washington DC newspaper the National Intelligencer reprinted a president’s inaugural address for the first time Just as the country’s capital city was still under construction so was its national government The American Revolutionary War 1775 1783 had established a democracy in a world where most rulers inherited or seized their power Americans were still debating how their democracy should work Adams and the Federalist Party favored a central government that wielded great power Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party envisioned a limited national government with individuals and state governments holding most of the power 7
The presidential contest between Adams and Jefferson had been so intense and angry that it had threatened the peaceful transfer of power When Adams lost the election some Americans including Virginia governor and ardent Democratic-Republican James Monroe feared the Federalists might seize control illegally In his speech the new president aimed to calm these fears and to remind Americans that they shared basic principles of government no matter which political party they supported Their fierce arguments Jefferson said were the sign of a people whose constitution protected their right to think speak and write freely The people had chosen a new president under the rule of law We are all republicans We are all federalists Jefferson said Let us then fellow-citizens unite with one heart and one mind Jefferson stressed in his speech the ideal he had written into the Declaration of Independence twenty-five years earlier in 1776 that all men are created equal The US Constitution he said would ensure that tolerance and reason prevailed and that people who held a minority point of view would not be silenced or stripped of rights All will bear in mind this sacred principle he stated that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail that will to be rightful must be reasonable that the minority possess their equal rights which equal law must protect and to violate would be oppression Thomas Jefferson’s words reflected his vision of a democratic society A good government the new president said shall restrain men from injuring one another shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned 8
Isaac Jefferson also known as Isaac Granger was one of Jefferson’s slaves and a skilled tinsmith and blacksmith In his life however Jefferson’s actions did not always match his ideals The man who championed self-rule enslaved hundreds of African Americans As president Jefferson would also sometimes follow what he considered the most practical course of action even when it conflicted with his beliefs Jefferson’s ideals and contradictions would color his presidency and his legacy and transform the United States itself 9
