Limits of Power.

The defeat of John Adams and the Federalist Congress in 1800 gave Thomas Jefferson and his Republican Party control of the mechanics of the national government. As they were leaving office, the Federalists had contrived to keep Jefferson checked by the judiciary. The Judiciary Act of 1801 decreased the size of the Supreme Court from six to five members and created several lower court positions. Adams filled these positions and famously appointed a new chief justice, John Marshall, two months before leaving office. Because federal judges had lifetime tenures, the courts would be in Federalist hands for some time.

Jefferson Responds.

Gouverneur Morris, the New York Federalist, wrote that in the "heavy gale of adverse wind" represented by Jefferson the outgoing Federalists could hardly be "blamed for casting many anchors to hold their ship...