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John Adams

John Adams. 1796 - 1800. President Adams. Presidential election of 1796 Washington retired after two terms. Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican John Adams Federalist Adams won - did not have the full support of the presidential electors.

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John Adams

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  1. John Adams 1796 - 1800

  2. President Adams • Presidential election of 1796 • Washington retired after two terms. • Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican • John Adams Federalist • Adams won - did not have the full support of the presidential electors. • Because of sectionalism, the southern Federalists preferred his running mate, Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina. • Thomas Jefferson became VP - came in second with 68 votes to Adams’s 71 votes. • Jefferson became vice president.

  3. President Adams and the XYZ Affair XYZ Affair • France had attacked American merchant ships. • French agents (referred to as X, Y, and Z) demanded bribes of the American diplomats who went to France to negotiate an end to the ship seizure. • As a result, Congress: • Cut off trade with France • Canceled wartime treaties it had made with France • Authorized building warships • Allowed the U.S. navy to capture French vessels at sea • The XYZ Affair brought a general resentment of foreigners, which led to passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

  4. Alien Acts: three laws that allowed the president to order foreigners considered to be a threat to national security to be jailed or deported. • Targeted French and Irish refugees, most of whom supported the French • Increased the period of residency required for citizenship from 5 years to 14 • Required foreigners to register with the government • Allowed the president to jail or expel any foreigner thought to be “dangerous to the peace and safety” of the country

  5. The Sedition Act outlawed any opposition to government policies by actions or by “false, scandalous, or malicious writing.” • Targeted the Democratic-Republicans, who historically supported the French

  6. Nine Democratic-Republican newspaper editors and a member of Congress were convicted under the Sedition Act. • Jefferson and Madison drafted the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, where they argued that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. • They hoped states would nullify the laws. • Only Virginia and Kentucky passed the resolutions. • In the end, there was a deeper and more bitter political divide in Congress and the country.

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