From Founders to Politicians: Political Divisions at America’s Birth

The election of 1800 was the first hotly contested partisan election in American history. Still, peaceful transfers of power continued for the next two centuries. But how? Carol Berkin, author of A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism, and H.W. Brands, author of Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and the Brawling Birth of American Politics, join for an Election Day program to explore political partisanship and nationalism in early America. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.

Additional Resources

H.W. Brands, Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics

Carol Berkin, A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism

Genet Affair

National Constitution Center Founders' Library, The Alien and Sedition Acts

Virginia Resolutions

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