Negro President

Thomas Jefferson won the election of 1800, although John Adams actually received more votes. The makeup of the electoral college was the deciding factor. Historian Garry Wills looks at how Jefferson benefited from the fact that slave-holding states had representation based on the three-fifths rule, and it was those states which tipped the tally in Jefferson`s favor. Wills examines whether the Jefferson administration`s policies favored the slave-holding states, and he uncovers a neglected, or lesser known, aspect of American history: the opposition to Jefferson represented by Timothy Pickering and his followers. The title NEGRO PRESIDENT is drawn from Jefferson`s contemporaries, who used the phrase to refer to what they saw as Jefferson`s obligation to the Southern states. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.