John Adams' presidency 8.37

Analyze the excerpt from Washington’s farewell address on

your note sheet.

Answer the following two questions:

How does Washington feel about political parties and factions?

(underline and label in the text)

How does Washington feel about alliances with foreign countries?

(underline and label in the text)

BELL RINGER

Essent ia l Quest ion : What problems faced the nat ion dur ing the Adams’ pres idency?

Tennessee Standard : 8 .37

TROUBLED TIMES FOR

JOHN ADAMS

This was the first election dominated by political parties

The President (Adams) and Vice President (Thomas Jefferson) were of two different political parties

Adams was a Federalist, Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican

ADAMS IS ELECTED

France was unhappy about Jay’s Treaty

France began seizing American ships

Americans were upset that the French were interfering with trade and politics

To avoid war, Adams sent a three person peace commission to Paris- John Marshall, Charles C. Pinckney, and Elbridge Gerry

PROBLEMS W/ FRANCE

Meetings with the French did not go

as planned

French fore ign minister, Charles

Tal leyrand, sent three agents to

meet wi th Americans

These three agents demanded a

br ibe of $250,000 and a loan of

$10,000,000 to be paid to

Tal leyrand in order to negot iate

Americans were enraged and

refused the br ibes

This was cal led the “XYZ Af fa i r” -

the agents were known only as X , Y,

and Z .

Americans were enraged even more

Congress bui l t up the strength of

the army and navy and American

ships waged an undeclared war on

France.

XYZ AFFAIR

Why was France upset with America?

How did France respond?

How did Adams’ try to make peace with France?

How did France respond to America’s attempts at making

peace?

CHECKPOINT

Adams was seriously

considering asking Congress

to declare war on France

Adams blamed France and

Americans who supported

France (Jef ferson and the

Democratic-Republicans)

Adams decided to wait on

asking Congress to declare

war

Eventually, France’s new

leader, Napoleon Bonaparte

decided that he did not want

America as an enemy

America and France signed a

peace treaty at the

Convention of 1800

WINNING THE PEACE

Federalists did not like the idea that Adams had signed a peace treaty with France

Alexander Hamilton himself wanted to lead the army against the French

This divided the Federalists and lost Adams the support of his own political party

LOSING FEDERALIST SUPPORT

Why were Federalists upset with Adams?

CHECKPOINT

Federalist-controlled Congress began passing controversial laws

These laws were aimed at stopping the growth of the Democratic-Republican party

Three of these acts were aimed at protecting the country from aliens (foreigners living in the U.S.)

ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS

Naturalization Act - increased the amount of time to become a U.S. citizen from 5 to 14 years.

Alien Act- Gave the president the power to deport any foreigner

Alien Enemies Act - Allowed the government to arrest and deport all al iens who were citizens of enemy nations

Sedition Act - Made it a crime to speak or write crit ically about the President, members of Congress, the federal government, or federal laws

ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS

Under the Sedition Act, 25 Democratic-Republican newspaper editors and others were arrested and 10 were convicted

No aliens were ever deported

This brought a quick and angry response from Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans

ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS

Which law allowed the deportation of any foreigner?

Which law criminalized criticism of the government?

CHECKPOINT

Madison (who had switched parties) and Jefferson saw this as an attack on the First Amendment

To combat this, they wrote two statements: The Virginia Resolution and the Kentucky Resolution

MADISON AND JEFFERSON RESPOND

Claimed that the Alien and Sedition Acts violated the Constitution

People in each state had the right to nullify, or cancel, a federal law within that state

It was up to the state to determine whether or not to obey these laws (states’ r ights theory)

Federalists believed that only the Supreme Court could declare a law unconstitutional

No other state passed resolutions

Brought the issue of states’ rights to the forefront

KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS

What issue was brought to the forefront because of the

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions?

CHECKPOINT

The Sedition Act made Adams and the Federalists look tyrannical

Adams’ stance on making peace with France caused a split in the Federalist Party

Democratic-Republicans were gaining power

FEDERALISTS LOSE POWER