Thomas Jefferson

In the United States Presidential election of 1800, sometimes referred to as the "Revolution of 1800," Vice-President Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams. The election was a realigning election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican Party rule and the eventual demise of... the Federalist Party in the First Party System. It was a long, bitter re-match of the 1796 election between the pro-French and pro-decentralization Republicans under Jefferson and Aaron Burr, against incumbent Adams and Charles Pinckney's pro-British and pro-centralization Federalists. The chief political issues included opposition to the tax imposed by Congress to pay for the mobilization of the new army and the navy in the Quasi-War against France in 1798, and the Alien and Sedition Acts, by which Federalists were trying to stifle dissent, especially by Republican newspaper editors. While the Republicans were well organized at the state and local levels, the Federalists were disorganized, and suffered a bitter split between their two major leaders, President Adams and Alexander Hamilton.
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The United States presidential election of 1804 pitted incumbent Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson against Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Jefferson easily defeated Pinckney in the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to... the United States Constitution. Under the rules of the Twelfth Amendment, presidential electors were required to specify in their votes their choice for president and vice-president; previously, electors voted only for president, with the person who came in second becoming the vice-president. George Clinton was elected vice-president and went on to serve under both Jefferson and his successor, James Madison. Jefferson's 45.6 percentage point victory margin remains the highest victory margin in a presidential election in which there were multiple major party candidates. Although the 1800 election was a close one, Jefferson steadily gained popularity during his term. American trade boomed due to the temporary suspension of hostilities during the French Revolutionary Wars in Europe, and the Louisiana Purchase was heralded as a great achievement.
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The Persian Gulf Campaign, in 1809, was an operation by a British Royal Navy to force Arab pirates to cease their raids on British ships in the... Persian Gulf, particularly on the Persian and Arabian coasts of the Straits of Hormuz. The operation's success was limited as the Royal Navy forces, already heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars, were unable to permanently suppress pirate activity in the region. The expedition did achieve its short term goals by destroying three pirate bases and over 80 pirate vessels, including the largest pirate ship in the region, the converted merchant ship Minerva. Although operations continued into 1810, the British were unable to destroy every pirate vessel and by 1811 the pirate attacks had resumed, although at a lower intensity than previously. The operation was a joint campaign by the Royal Navy and the fleet of the Honourable East India Company , with soldiers drawn from the garrison of Bombay.
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The Second Siege of Saragossa was the French capture of the Spanish city of Zaragoza during the Peninsular War. It is particularly noted for its... brutality. Following the withdraw of the French to the line of the Ebro after the first siege, the Saragossans did not refurbish the city’s defenses until after news of the Spanish defeat at the Battle of Tudela. However due to the French operations elsewhere, the Spanish were given three weeks in which to prepare the defenses. On 20 December 1808 the French army under Marshal Moncey took the heights of the Monte de Torrero, south of the city. Moncey’s calls for surrender were quickly rejected and the siege of the city proper began. Fighting was confined to the outlying defenses for the next month as the French slowly pushed closer to the walls with their entrenchments, and soon several breaches were made in the walls. Palafox quickly began preparing inner defenses to resist the inevitable assault. On 27 January 1809 the French assailed the breaches and forced their way into the city.
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The Battle of Palo Hincado was the first major battle of the Spanish Reconquista of the colony of Santo Domingo, now the Dominican Republic. It was... fought in the colony, on November 7, 1808, at Palo Hincado savanna, near El Seibo. A force of some 2,000 Dominican and Puerto Rican troops, led by General Juan Sánchez Ramírez, defeated a force of 600 troops of the French Army led by General Jean-Louis Ferrand .
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The Battle of Koljonvirta was fought between Swedish and Russian troops on October 27, 1808. After the main Swedish army had been defeated at the... Battle of Oravais the army under Johan August Sandels in Savonia had to retreat in order not to be outflanked by the Russians. Sandels found a good defensive position north of Iisalmi and decided to resist the Russian advance there. Between September 29 and October 27 a cease-fire was in effect. Sandels was heavily outnumbered but had a good defensive position between two lakes connected by the Koljonvirta river and he had prepared his position well during the cease-fire. On October 27 the cease-fire was to end at 1 PM, but Russians started their attack a little earlier, perhaps because of the time difference between Sweden and Russia. Sandels pulled back the forces on the south side of the river and the Russians attacked over the partially demolished bridge. The Swedish counter-attacked and literally pushed the Russian troops into the river. The Russians pulled up fresh troops on the south side of the river, but they didn't try to attack again. The battle was the last Swedish victory on Finnish soil.
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