for the adoption of the Constitution, the ablest of whom was
James Madison, often called "the Father of the Constitution."

The Jeffersonians, thus representing largely the debtor and
farmer class, led by men of conspicuous abilities, proceeded to
batter down the prestige of the Federalists. They declared
themselves opposed to large expenditures of public funds, to
eager exploitation of government ventures, to the Bank, and to
the Navy, which they termed "the great beast with the great
belly." The Federalists included the commercial and creditor
class and that fine element in American life composed of leading
families with whom domination was an instinct, all led,
fortunately, by a few idealists of rare intellectual attainments.
And, with the political stupidity often characteristic of their
class, they stumbled from blunder to blunder. In 1800 Thomas
Jefferson, who adroitly coined the mistakes of his opponents into
political currency for himself, was elected President. He had
received no more electoral votes than Aaron Burr, that mysterious
character in our early politics, but the election was decided by
the House of Representatives, where, after seven days' balloting,
several Federalists, choosing what to them was the lesser of two
evils, cast the deciding votes for Jefferson. When the
Jeffersonians came to power, they no longer opposed federal
pretensions; they now, by one of those strange veerings often
found in American politics, began to give a liberal
interpretation to the Constitution, while the Federalists with
equal inconsistency became strict constructionists. Even
Jefferson was ready to sacrifice his theory of strict
construction in order to acquire the province of Louisiana.