John Adams’ Presidency

Election of 1796
v  Political parties played a large role in the 1796 election.
v  Under the constitution the person with the most vote became President and the person with the second highest votes became Vice President
v  Adams (a Federalist) became President and Jefferson (a Republican) became Vice President
v  With the President and Vice President from two different parties, political tensions were high

The XYZ Affair

v  In 1797, French ships started seizing American ships in the West Indies.
v  Adams tried to avoid war by sending diplomats to Paris
v  France’s foreign minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, did not want to deal with the American diplomats
v  Talleyrand send three secret agents to offer the Americans a deal. Talleyrand wanted $250,000 for himself, as well as a loan to France for $10 million.
v  The American diplomats told Adams about the secret agents. Adams referred to them as X,Y, and Z.
v  Many Americans demanded that Adams declare war on France for their shady behavior
v  Adams refused to go to war. Many criticized Adams for his actions and he lost the support of many Federalists
Alien and Sedition Acts (passed by the Federalist in Congress)
v  The Alien Act allowed the President to expel any foreigner thought to be dangerous to the country.
v  The Alien Act also made it harder for immigrants to become US citizens. They had to live in the United States for 14 years before they could become a citizen
v  The law was meant to keep new settlers, who often supported the Republicans, from voting
v  Sedition means stirring up rebellion against a government.
v  Under the Sedition Act, citizens could be fined or jailed if they criticized the government or its officials
v  The Sedition Acts was passed to try and stop American from criticizing President Adams handling of the XYZ Affair.
v  The Sedition Act made Republicans extremely angry
The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
v  Vice President Jefferson encouraged the states to nullify, or cancel, the Alien and Sedition Acts.
v  Kentucky and Virginia passed resolutions which gave them the power to nullify federal laws they thought were unconstitutional
v  But do the states have the right to decide if a law is unconstitutional?
v  The Alien and Sedition Acts were changed and dropped, so the resolutions were never tested.