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President Adams Provokes Criticism With the growing division between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans were brought into the lime light during the election of 1796. The Federalists nominated Vice-President John Adams for president and Thomas Pinckney for vice-president. The DemocraticRepublicans nominated Thomas Jefferson for president and Aaron Burr for vice-president. In this election, Adams received 71 electoral votes, while Jefferson received 68. Because the Constitution stated that the runner-up should become vicepresident, the country found itself with a Federalists president and a DemocraticRepublican as vice-president. What seemed sensible when the Constitution was written had become a problem because of the unexpected rise of political parties. The election also has an underlining theme of sectionalism – placing the interests of one region over those of the nation as a whole. Almost all the electors from the southern states voted for Jefferson, while all the electors from the northern states voted for Adams. Adam Tries To Avoid War Soon after taking office, President Adams faced his first crisis: a looming war with France. The French government regarded the Jay Treaty with Britain as a violation of the FrenchAmerican alliance. The Jay Treaty settled the disputed issues as to which nation would control territories west of the Appalachian Mts. The French refused to receive the new American ambassador and began to seize American ships bound for Britain. Adams sent a three-man delegation consisting of Charles Pinckney, future chief justice John Marshall; and Elbridge Gerry to Paris to negotiate a solution. This was known as the XYZ Affair, the French Government sent three low-level officials to meet with the American delegation instead of the French foreign minister Talleyrand. These officials demanded a $250,000 bribe as payment for seeing Talleyrand. This provoked a wave of AntiFrench feeling at home. The XYZ Affair caused Congress in 1798 to create a navy department and authorized American ships to seize French vessels. Congress authorized the creation of an army of 50,000 troops and brought George Washington out of retirement to be “Lieutenant General and Commander in Chief of the armies raised. While war was never officially declared, for the next two years an undeclared naval war raged between France and the United States. The Alien and Sedition Acts Anti-French feelings continued to the U.S., and many of the Federalists believed that French agents were everywhere in the United States, plotting to overthrow the government. Federalists and Adams countered what they saw as a growing threat against the government, the Federalists pushed through congress in 1798 four measures that became known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Alien Acts raised the residence requirements for American citizenship from five years to 14 years and allowed the president to deport or jail any alien considered a threat. The Sedition Acts set fines and jail terms for anyone trying to hinder the operations of the government or expressing “False, Scandalous, and Malicious statements” against the government. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions The Alien and Sedition Acts outraged the Democratic-Republicans who called the laws a violation of freedom of speech guaranteed by the 1st Amendment. Jefferson and Madison saw these acts as a serious misuse of the power on the part of the federal government. They organized opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts by appealing to the states. Madison drew up a set of resolutions that were adopted by the Virginia legislature, while Jefferson wrote resolutions that were approved in Kentucky. The Kentucky Resolution asserted the principle of Nullification – that states had the right to nullify, or consider void, and act of congress that they deemed unconstitutional. No other states adopted similar declarations so the issue died out. Nevertheless, the resolutions showed that the balance of power between the states and the federal government remained a controversial issue, which would continue to be debated in the election of 1800. The Death of Washington Washington remained active in the military all the way until his death on December 14th, 1799 after catching a severe cold. Ironically, Washington’s death improved relations with France. Napoleon ordered a ten day mourning to be observed in the French armies for the American leader. Napoleon would make greater concessions to the Americans in the future. Adams Provokes Criticism Study Guide 1. Adams did the elections of 1796 underscore the growing danger of sectionalism? 2. What was the XYZ affair? 3. What was the purpose of the Alien and Sedition Acts? 4. What was the theory of nullification?