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The Presidency of John Adams. The Election of 1796. The election of 1796 began a new era in U.S. politics. This was the first election where political parties played a role. Parties helped elect officials and shape government policies.
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The Election of 1796 • The election of 1796 began a new era in U.S. politics. • This was the first election where political parties played a role. • Parties helped elect officials and shape government policies.
The Federalist Party wanted to make the federal government stronger and to promote industry and trade. • Alexander Hamilton was a founder of this party; however, he did not run for president in 1796. • The candidates for president were John Adams and Thomas Pinckney.
The Democratic-Republican party was started by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. • They often shortened their name to Republicans (not related to the Republicans of today). • Republicans wanted to limit the power of the federal government. • They chose Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr as their candidates.
The parties attacked each other during the election. • Republicans said that the federalists were the British party and that Adams was a “royalist.” • The Federalists said that Jefferson was too greatly influenced by the French. They also questioned his political skills.
Adams narrowly defeated Jefferson. At this time, whoever came in second place became the vice president, so Jefferson was now VP. • Now, Adams and Jefferson would have to work out their differences in order to run the country.
John Adams as President • John Adams did not appear well suited for the presidency. He had been a leading patriot during the Revolution, and had served as VP and a foreign diplomat, but he was seen as cold and distant. People did respect Adams for his hard work, honesty and intelligence.
One of Adams’s first goals was to improve relations between the U.S. and France. • The French had been using privateers to attack American ships. • In response, Adams sent Elbridge Gerry, John Marshall, and Charles Pinckney to Paris to have peace talks with the French foreign minister, Charles Tallyrand. • Once in Paris, Tallyrand would not talk to the diplomats. Instead, three French agents paid a secret visit and demanded $250,000 and a loan of $12 million in order for a peace treaty to be worked out.
The Americans were stunned by the French demands and refused to pay them. • President Adams told Congress that the peace seeking mission had failed. He described the French demands and called the French agents X, Y and Z. • The Federalists in Congress wanted to declare war on France, but Adams asked Congress to expand the navy and wanted to keep a peacetime army of several thousand troops. Congress approved both measures.
Adams did not ask Congress to declare war because he believed that many people in the U.S. and France were against war. He was also worried about the cost of war. • Adams’s position on war shocked many Federalists. Many Federalists tried to weaken the power of the presidency, but Adams refused to change his position. • Finally, a peace treaty was worked out, but Adams forced two members of his cabinet to resign.
The Alien and Sedition Acts • Federalists in Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in the summer of 1798. • The Alien Act allowed for the president to have foreign residents removed from the country. They could be removed if the president believed they were involved “in any treasonable or secret plots against the government.”
The Sedition Act stated that U.S. citizens could not join any plots against the government’s policies. They act also made it illegal to “write, print, utter or publish” any false or hostile words against the government. • These laws were primarily used against Republican newspapers . In some cases, editors were arrested.
Jefferson and Madison responded to the Alien and Sedition Acts with the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. • They stated that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. • They claimed that the federal government did not have the power to pass such laws and that the acts interfered with the state government. • Jefferson and Madison said that a state could ignore any laws they found to be unconstitutional. • The resolutions had an important impact on the idea of states’ rights. It supported the idea that a state could challenge the federal government.
