The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson
By Subject
CONSTITUTION / UNITED STATES / ELECTION OF 1800
I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of February the 20th,
and to thank you for your congratulations on the event of the
election. Had it terminated in the elevation of Mr. Burr, every
republican would, I am sure, have acquiesced in a moment; because,
however it might have been variant from the intentions of the voters,
yet it would have been agreeable to the Constitution. No man would
more cheerfully have submitted than myself, because I am sure the
administration would have been republican, and the chair of the Senate
permitting me to be at home eight months in the year, would, on that
account, have been much more consonant to my real satisfaction. But in
the event of an usurpation, I was decidedly with those who were
determined not to permit it. Because that precedent once set, would be
artificially reproduced, and end soon in a dictator. Virginia was
bristling up I believe.
to Thomas M'Kean, 9 March 1801
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