Download Chapter 7, Section 4

Chapter 7, Section 4
John Adams’s Presidency
The Election of 1796
• New Era in United States Politics
– More than one candidate ran for president
• Political Parties
– Groups that help elect people and shape policies
– Began to form during George Washington’s presidency
– In his farewell address, George Washington strongly
advised against political parties, fearing that rivalries
would weaken the federal government
The Election of 1796
• Two Political Parties
dominated the 1796
Election
– Federalist Party
• Founded by Alexander
Hamilton
• Supported a strong central
government
• Favored industry and trade
– John Adams was not
popular in the South or the
West, but hoped for the
support of the people after
so many years of loyal
public service
• DemocraticRepublican Party
– Founded by Thomas
Jefferson and James
Madison
– Supported states’
rights and limited
federal government
– Favored farming/
agriculture
A New President
• John Adams would have to work
hard to win the people’s trust
– George Washington was adored by
the people
• At first glance, ill suited for the
presidency
– Even though he had been a leading
Patriot during the American
Revolution, a lacked Washington’s
dignity
– Perceived as cold, distant, and vain
• Even those who opposed him
respected him
– Hard-working, honest, and intelligent
The United States and France
• John Adams wanted to improve foreign
relations with France
– Sent United States diplomats overseas
– Upon arrival, diplomats were ignored by
Foreign Minister Talleyrand and instead
visited by 3 French secret agents
• Agents said that a treaty would only be discussed
in exchange for a $250,000 bribe and a loan of $12
million
• The United States diplomats refused the demands
The United States and France
• In March of 1798, President John Adams
told Congress that the peace-seeking
mission had failed
– Informed Congress of the French terms,
substituting the letters X,Y, and Z for the
names of the French Secret Agents
– Federalists in Congress called for war with
France
• XYZ Affair
– Americans were outraged at such disrespect
Preparations for War
• President John Adams asked Congress to
expand the navy to a fleet of more than 30 ship
and called for the United States to keep a
peacetime army
– Congress approved both measures
• President Adams did not want to go to war with
France
– Worried about cost
– Did not ask Congress for a declaration of war
– Tried to reopen peace talks with France
Peace Efforts
• President John Adams’s decision not to declare
war stunned Federalists
– John Adams stood his ground on the issue despite
intense pressure from his own party
• American and French ships engaged in fighting
in the Caribbean
• John Adams sent a representative to France and
eventually, a treaty was signed
– President Adams then forced two members of his
cabinet to resign for trying to block his peace efforts
The Alien and Sedition Acts
• Democratic-Republicans continued to
sympathize with France
• Alien and Sedition Acts
– Passed by Federalist controlled Congress
– 4 laws said to protect the United States but really
intended to crush opposition to war
– Sedition Act
• Controversial law which forbade anyone from publishing or
voice criticism of the federal government
• Violated freedom of speech and freedom of press
The Alien and Sedition Acts
• Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
– Viewed acts as misuse of government power
– Wrote resolutions passed by the Kentucky
state legislature in 1798 and Virginia in 1799
(Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions)
• Argued that the Alien and Sedition Acts were
unconstitutional
• Congress did not repeal the acts, but allowed them
to expire within a few years
• The Resolutions supported the idea that states
could challenge the federal government
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
• Longtime political rivals
• Abigail Adams death helped the two men to
reconcile
• Close and personal correspondence for the
remainder of their lives
• Both died on July 4, 1826
– Both architects of the document (the Declaration of
Independence) that gave birth to this new Nation
dead, 50 years to the day from the birth of the country
they founded.
– John Adams’s last words were “Thomas Jefferson
survives”
• Thomas Jefferson had died only a few hours earlier