Jefferson returned home from France to join Washington’s Cabinet as Secretary of State. It soon became apparent that an ideological gulf separated him from his colleagues. There had been political factions before but now for the first time the two divergent attitudes toward government became so clear-cut that two political parties were the inevitable outcome. Jefferson assumed the leadership of the party of revolt against the Federalist domination that had developed during Washington’s administration and continued under that of John Adams. The issue reached a climax with the victory of the Jeffersonian Republicans in the presidential election of 1800 and Jefferson’s elevation to the presidency. Defeat threw the Federalists into a panic. Already the civilized world was shaken to its depths by the events in France where the original respectable movement to suppress tyranny and substitute for it democratic institutions had degenerated into a reign of terror, culminating in the execution of the king and queen. And now the government of the United States, insecure at best, was about to be placed in the hands of a man who approved the French Revolution and in other ways had revealed his indifference to established institutions. As the Federalists saw it, in a few weeks the House of Representatives would be “Jacobin” while in a few years the Senate too would be in the hands of the radicals. From the Federalist point of view one hope remained. Thus far not a single Republican tainted the national judiciary. In his message to the expiring Congress on December 3, 1800, President Adams urged its expansion. The message, incidentally, though bearing the signature of the President had been written by Secretary of State Marshall. The Federalist Congress, following the advice of the President, passed the bill which increased the number of district judges and created an entirely new system of circuit courts with three judges to each circuit. The Republicans, perhaps because they thought the Federalists would not have time to make use of the measure before leaving office, put up only a mild opposition. They reckoned without the fierce determination of the rival party to seize this last opportunity to curb the Republican President and Congress.