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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by divided opinion,

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a math teacher's worst nightmare.

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All right, are you... you done reading?

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[ mumbles ] All right, First Inaugural Address.

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Okay, and the question:

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Why did Jefferson focus his inaugural address

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on divided opinion?

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And here are your potential answers.

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[ mumbles ]

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Okay, well here we go. When Thomas Jefferson took office

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in 1801, the political climate was a little bit

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warmer than usual. Let's see which answer

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describes why Jefferson used his address to cool things down a bit.

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Like why can't we all just get along?

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Did Jefferson focus his inaugural address on divided opinion because

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A - opinion was split over war with Great Britain?

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Well, we're a little bit early for the War of 1812,

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but as things deteriorated between the U.S. and Britain,

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the public was fully in support of declaring war

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against their former colonial overlords.

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So, uh, it's not A. Cross it out.

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Did Jefferson emphasize divided opinion in his address

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because B - he was determined to follow Washington's legacy?

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Well, actually, Washington's fears of a two-party system

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came frightfully true in the election of 1800,

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And while Jefferson may have been worried about

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the success of his political agenda, his focus on divided opinion

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was more to clear the air after the heated political contest.

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Like we all really do have to get along.

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[ sings ] Why can't we be friends, why can't we be --

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[ normal voice ] Yeah, it was like that.

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So that's a solid vote against B and D.

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Which means Jefferson focused his inaugural address

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on divided opinion because C - America's first

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political parties were newly formed.

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By now, we're used to the mudslinging of America's two-party system,

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but the election of 1800 was the first time political parties

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reared their ugly heads in the U.S. So C is the right answer.

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During the election the Federalists and Democratic Republicans

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made up all kinds of rumors about each other, proving that

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gossip can destroy even the best of

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political friendships. [ sings ] Why can't we be friends.

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[ normal voice ] Sorry, we're gonna stop now. Really.

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Made it to the finals of Bulgarian Idol.

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Colonial overlords.

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