The Election of 1800 was one of the most significant elections in American history. It marked the first transfer of power from one party to another in national government; this transfer of power was also accomplished in a peaceful and orderly manner which marked the maturity of the nation's first system of political parties (Cunningham, 101). The election was a party contest for control of the national government and for determining the direction and management of national policy. .
The election was different than any election that followed, because it pitted the president and the vice-president against one another, and it was conducted under the burden of a Sedition Act which could put men in jail for criticizing the president. Political life no longer accepted the existence of parties but was dominated by them (Weisberger, 228).
The two principal candidates who faced each other in seeking the Presidency in 1800 were the same men who had stood against each other in 1796, but their situations had changed a great deal in the four years since John Adams had won the office by a margin of three electoral votes over Thomas Jefferson. Adams was now weighed down by the errors of his Administration, giving Jefferson the advantage (Roseboom, 24). .
According to Cunningham, the election began with the states. In some states the electors were chosen by the state legislature; in others they were elected on a general ticket throughout the state; in still others they were elected in districts. This meant that the party which controlled the state legislature was in a position to enact the method of selection which guaranteed the greatest partisan advantage. Consequently, in January, 1800, the Republican-controlled legislature of Virginia passed an act providing for the election of presidential electors on a general ticket instead of by districts as in previous elections. By changing the election law, the Republicans of Virginia ensured the entire electoral vote of the Union's largest state for the Republican candidate.