A Federal Army, Not a Federalist One: Regime Building in the Jeffersonian Era

Abstract

Th e presidency of Th omas Jeff erson is oft en seen as a moment in time when a new political order arose. Having defeated the Federalists, Jeff erson was largely able to mold the American state as he saw fi t. Stephen Skowronek has argued that Jeff erson should be seen as the fi rst reconstructive president, who at the head of a new regime had the maximum opportunity to reshape the surrounding political environment. Indeed, more than any other future regime leader, Jeff erson had the maximum latitude to act, with relatively few preexisting institutions in place that could constrain his actions. 1 Jeff erson and his partisans in Congress in fact used this occasion to change many national priorities: they ended the Sedition Act, blocked Federalistappointed judges from taking their seats, lowered taxes, and cut government expenditures.Yet this picture of an "order-shattering" regime coming to power raises a puzzle. 2 Th e theoretical expectation of a "battering ram" president able to bend the system to his wishes does not fully comport with Jeff erson's actions regarding the American military establishment. 3 Th e Federalists had built a national army, and then expanded it greatly during the crisis with France of the late 1790s. Th is force scared the Jeff ersonians and raised in their minds the specter of a British-style standing army that threatened the liberty of the people. Th ey oft en argued instead for a more powerful navy, believing in the old radical Whig ideology that saw naval power as suffi cient to protect the Th e authors would like to thank Samuel Hoff , Andrew Polsky, Bartholomew Sparrow, Samuel Watson, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.