Milford Museum to highlight Delaware’s role in 1800 Presidential Election

A Delaware congressman played a pivotal role in the 1800 presidential election, which was the first peaceful transfer of power between adversarial administrations.

And a Milford Museum event Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. hosted by the Milford Public Library seeks to inform First Staters about this feat in history.

Delaware Congressman James A. Bayard had the decisive vote in the House of Representatives that determined the outcome of the election, with Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson defeating Federalist John Adams by an electoral vote of 73 to 65.

Under the Constitution, if two people tied for the electoral vote for president, the election is decided by the House of Representatives.

“The 1800 Presidential Election: John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson,” will be presented by Lew Miller, a former educator and district administrator with almost five decades of experience, finishing his career in Caesar Rodney School District, who will offer insights into how early American politicians shaped the nation’s future. 

Some of the elements of that election still resonate today.

“Comparing it to today, where we’re used to primaries and conventions and presidents going around and soliciting votes, none of that happened in the 1790s,” Miller said. 

The campaign was fought through newspapers, he said, which were extremely partisan in those days. 

“If you think Fox News or MSNBC is partisan today, these papers were way over the line in the 1790s,” he said.

The election involved issues like states’ rights, national defense and the role of religion in politics.

The event is free and open to the public.