DBWI: Jefferson wins the election of 1800

really easy question, what would the world look like if Aaron Burr hadn't pulled off his shocking victory in the House over Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1800?
 
There would be no heridtary Kings of America and Thomas Jefferson would not have been hung as a traitor.

while on the face of it that might seem to be true, I'm not 100% that'd be true, Jefferson was very much a revolutionary a big fan of French dictator Maximilien Robespierre, and if history shows us anything Republics tend to fall to monarchy almost always.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Well, probably no Louisiana Purchase for one. I've read up on every candidate in that election, and I can honestly say Jefferson was the least likely bloke to take Nappy up on his offer.

Whether or not we'd made our alliance with France (which could butterfly away our special relationship with them!:eek:) and gone to war with Britain in 1807 is pretty much up in the air, IMO. Jefferson shared Burr's pro-French (or perhaps just anti-British) sentiments, but he was also a staunch isolationist, so it really depends on whether ideology trumps practicality.

With no War of 1807, we probably wouldn't have conquered Canada, though we probably would have grabbed it later on. But with no war in '07, Britain may not have been so overextended as to have been forced to sue for peace with France (which I'm sure one of the limeys on the board will thunder about for a few posts. I wonder if they'll ever get over that "You bloody Yanks stabbed us in the back!" mentality they always take on when we discuss this era?).

On the plus side, no War of 1807 may mean that the Brits never humiliate us by burning down D.C. Oh well, we won in the end :) (though I know a lot of people who still say that us absorbing Lower Canada wasn't so much of a "win":p)

No Burr presidency might also mean that term precedent may have been different. I recall Jefferson writing in his memoirs (which were rather bitter in some places) that had he won in 1800 and gone on to win in 1804, he would have only stayed in for two terms like Washington. As we all know, Burr was POTUS until his death in 1836. One wonders what effects this would have had on Andrew Jackson and his political career. No "Jacksonian Revolution" from '36 to '45, perhaps? Or maybe there'd be one ealier on without a monolith (or, as some might say, dictator) like Burr dominating the political system for so long. Though it's not like Burr's family was immediatly defanged either, so...
 
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Wolfpaw

Banned
There would be no heridtary Kings of America and Thomas Jefferson would not have been hung as a traitor.
That's a bit much, don't you think? I mean, I know that Burr's family continued to hold massive amounts of political power after his death, but I would hardly call them "Kings." Aaron, yes, but not the rest of his brood. Though I must say that it's impressive that there's still a Senator from New York named Burr after all this time.

And with regards to Jefferson, well...personally, I found Burr's resurrection and "enhancement" of the Alien and Sedition Acts pretty noxious. While I do think Jefferson did write those anti-Burr tracts, him being convicted of treason for not paying his taxes during the war was completely ridiculous.

*Sigh* I guess when it comes to folks like Jefferson, they really would prefer death if they can't have their liberty.
 
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