Andrea Dunchus
During the election of 1796, Jefferson had a strong fan-base among a group of Americans that would later become the Democratic-Republican Party. At the time, however, the word “party” had a heavily negative connotation, especially because Washington had warned against them in his Farewell Address. Washington had been a figure almost above reproach during his presidency. His retirement would leave a widely felt gap among citizens and would thus set a high set of expectations for the next President. The people recognize Washington as a strong, consistent leader who knew how to handle conflict, evidenced by his experience as a general in the Revolutionary War, how he helped direct the organization of the United States while it separated from Europe, and the precedents he set, such as a strong handling of the Whiskey Rebellion, during his presidency. Washington had avoided ties with France and their revolution raged on, but Jefferson did not necessarily agree. His idealism admired the French spirit, and, like many Americans, linked it to Americans’ own revolution. Jefferson was outspoken on matters concerning the newly formed government, leaving many to recognize him as an appropriate leader, but also leaving many enemies who questioned his ability.
I wanted to start my anti-Jefferson campaign with something dramatic. Because of his popularity at the time when he ran, I wanted to emphasize his flaky tendencies. He tended to be an idealist, which his followers liked to overlook. I tried to capitalize from two times he had resigned his post during conflicts in order to make him out to be unreliable. From there I sought to highlight how unqualified he was by comparing him to Washington using Washington’s Farewell Address. Since the people at this time widely idolized Washington, I hoped to show how Jefferson contradicted Washington’s advice and highlight their differences.
I made the two quotes I used in the Farewell Address in red against a black background for emphasis, and I used the red/black combination to be threatening. First, I quoted a portion of the Address warning against party systems. I immediately followed this with a newspaper clipping that highlights Jefferson’s involvement in a party. I then followed that with Washington’s advice to remain neutral and avoid taking sides in foreign conflicts. I also followed this with another newspaper clipping referring to Jefferson’s support of Citizen Genet, who had been seen as an enemy of the U.S. after his visit. I also followed this quote from the Address with a drawing of a man holding up a head cut off—which I purposely zoomed in on with the Ken Burns effect—by a guillotine during the French Revolution to suggest that the French were behaving barbarically, and that Jefferson was supporting this.
The final quotations I used were meant to remind the audience once again that Jefferson was unreliable, that he could not be trusted to handle conflict nor was mentally capable to hold executive office. I concluded with an image of Jefferson that panned out from his eyes to give a sense to the audience that they were looking at him anew, and realized they may not necessarily know him well enough to support his candidacy.
I chose Beethoven’s Op. 31 Tempest Sonata, movement 3 because of its sort of mysterious sound. It’s very fast-paced in a way that makes you think you can’t keep up, and it drops its tone at unexpected points. It reminded me of the sense that I wanted to instill in my video of Jefferson’s unpredictable character, so I used it. I then matched the points where the volume unexpectedly changed to coincide with certain quotations, hoping to create a sense of foreboding.
I found my images on loc.gov except for the first picture of Jefferson, which I found here http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Jefferson_rev.jpg. The picture of the crowd around the guillotine was tagged under “French revolution guillotine”.
The music was a converted Youtube video of Wilheim Kampf playing Beethoven’s Op. 31 Tempest Sonata, movement 3, and the newspaper clippings all came from the database provided by Francis.
Articles used:
Headline: [Mr. Jungmann; Friend; Country; Exertions; Mr. Jefferson; President; United States]; Article Type: Letters
Paper: Weekly Advertiser, published as The Weekly Advertiser; Date: 10-29-1796; Issue: 26; Page: [2]; Location
http://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/10DF94091BB4D5A0/0F4223B7E8433C2F
Headline: Political. New-York. New-York, Oct. 8; Article Type: News/Opinion
Paper: Impartial Herald; Date: 10-25-1796; Volume: IV; Issue: 277; Page: [1];
http://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/10BCF5FE43E25E98/0F4223B7E8433C2F
Headline: [Paulding; President; Secretary; Mr. Jefferson]; Article Type: News/Opinion
Paper: Herald, published as The Herald; A Gazette for the Country; Date: 07-30-1796; Volume: III; Issue: 225; Page: [3];
http://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/10DF94091BB4D5A0/0F4223B7E8433C2F