New Presidency

Washington steps down

• Washington only served two terms• His Farewell Address:– Don’t have political parties– Don’t make political ties with other countries– Stay out of debt

Election of 1796

• Republicans – Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr

• Federalists – Thomas Pinckney and John Adams

Who Won?

• John Adams was president• Thomas Jefferson was vice-president

XYZ Affair

• French were raiding American ships• Adams sent men to talk to the French foreign

minister to avoid war• After nine months of waiting to see him, they

said a bribe would help the Americans get to see him

• The French wanted $250,000 and $10 million loan

• Americans were outraged!• Adams told Congress about it, but used X, Y, Z

in place of the names of French who wanted the bribe.

• Americans got ready for war• Went to “Quasi War” with the French• The Convention of 1800 avoided all out war

with the French

Alien and Sedition Acts

• Four parts– 1. Naturalization Act – extended the time

required to gain American citizenship from 5 to 14 years

– 2. Alien Enemies Act and Alien Act – allowed the president to imprison or expel any “dangerous” foreigners

– 4. Sedition Act – any person who said, wrote or published anything false against the government could be fined and jailed

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

• Said that states had a right to nullify any federal law

Election of 1800

• Federalists – Adams and Pinckney• Republicans – Jefferson and Burr• Jefferson and Burr tied…who gets to be

president?• Jefferson wins

Supreme Court

• John Marshal was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court

• He worked to make the Supreme Court more powerful

• John Adams appointed 58 judges late the night before he left office

• They are called midnight judges