Remember???When we did the political cartoon activity

about Supreme Court Justice John Jay going to Britain to make a treaty (or agreement) for the U.S.??

Well!.... France (who was at war with Britain) took that as a U.S. attack to France. So France stopped U.S. ships from reaching Britain.

In 1794…John Adams, who was President at the time,

wanted to avoid a war with France and sent delegates to solve the conflict.

French foreign minister, Charles de Talleyrand, refused to meet!! But…. He sent 3 agents to demand a bribe and money from the U.S.

John Adams was furious!The U.S. replied “Not a sixpence!” Refused to

pay… and referred to the 3 French agents as X, Y and Z.

This became known as the XYZ Affair.

In Reaction…Navy Department was created.Built a larger army with George Washington

as general.Most Americans hated France… except the

Republican party were still okay with the French.

This made many Americans upset with the Republican Party

Alien and Sedition ActsWith a threat of the war, Americans were

more suspicious of aliens who were still loyal to FranceAliens: immigrants living in the country who

were not citizensSo, Federalists responded with laws called

the Alien and Sedition ActsSedition: activities aimed at weakening the

government

Aliens and Sedition Acts1. Naturalization Act: Must be residents in the

U.S. for 14 years instead of 5 to gain citizenship

2. Alien Act: President could imprison aliens or anyone considered dangerous out of the country

3. Sedition Act: was a crime to speak, write, or publish any “false, scandalous and malicious critisicims of the government”

But it didn’t last…

Federalists and Republicans argued over these laws. Adams never went to war with France and a lot of people were angry with him because of it.