Jefferson.

Many Americans agreed with Thomas Jefferson that his election to the presidency in 1800 marked a revolution as profound as the Revolution of 1776. Jefferson's inauguration meant not only a return to republican principles but also an affirmation of American character. Some sought to celebrate Jefferson's election by presenting the president with evidence of American greatness. From Philadelphia two butchers sent Jefferson a veal shank, the largest ever produced by a calf. Though the veal had spoiled by the time it reached Washington, D.C., in October 1801, Jefferson admired its beauty and size, which he saw as further evidence to refute the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon's theory that animals in the New World were smaller than those of Europe. Elder Leland. In Massachusetts, Baptist leader John Leland inspired his congregation to celebrate Jefferson's election in a similar way. Leland had been born...