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Looking back on the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson described it as being "as real a revolution in the principles of our government as that of 1776 was in its form; not effected indeed by the sword, as that, but by the rational and peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage of the people." Jefferson saw his election as reversing an earlier trend away from republicanism. The departure from true republican principles, as he judged it, had begun …

…at diplomatic dinners. Despite earlier expressions of concern about executive power, Jefferson exerted strong presidential leadership, and with the enactment of an embargo in 1807 the federal government became more intrusive than Jeffersonian principles envisioned. But the embargo was repealed before Jefferson left office, and when he retired from political life, he left a legacy of faith in the people and a widening popular participation that continued to shape the development of American democracy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**