1800.029: Address to Voters for Electors of President and Vice President.
Published: 1800
Full Title: An Address, to the voters for electors of president and vice president of the United States, in the state of Virginia.
Author: Federalist Party of Virginia. General Committee.
Place Issued: Richmond
Issuing Press: Uncertain
Description: 1 sheet [1 pg.]; 34 cm. x 21 cm. (broadside).
Notes
Signed at the end: "Richmond, 26th May, 1800. By order of the committee entrusted with the ticket of the minority, William Austin, secretary." This circular letter attempted to build support for a ticket of electors pledged to the re-election of President John Adams, noting that: "The minority of the late Assembly, after an unavailing struggle for the ancient usages of elections, and for your established rights, were constrained at last to yield to the measure of a general ticket." This committee was formed following failed attempts to overturn the General Ticket Law of January 1800 in the state's courts; that act altered the process for designating presidential electors from a district-by-district election to a state-wide vote for a slate of electors – the so-called ticket – pledged to a specific candidate; this change effectively negated Federalist political power by marginalizing the few congressional districts that they then dominated. Swem mistakenly attributed this imprint to the Republican party, as the text contains "The American Republican Ticket," an overt attempt by Virginia Federalists to define themselves as the true party of "republican" principles. Sheet lacks printer credit; while clearly a Richmond imprint, determining the press issuing it is impracticable; it was most likely one of the two Federalist presses then operating there, but the typography herein does not yield any clues as to whether the printer of this title was newcomer William A. Rind or stalwart Augustine Davis.