Chapter 8 Section 3
France and Britain were at war and Washington did NOT want to get involved in their war.
He issued a Neutrality Proclamation stating that the United States would stay NEUTRAL.
The United States wanted to trade with both countries.
France and Britain DID NOT react well to that decision.
Washington sent John Jay to Britain to try and stop the impressment of our ships by the British Navy.
Jay’s Treaty
Britain refused to stop impressing our sailors
Republicans CRITICIZED Jay’s Treaty because they felt that the United States was giving up more than they were getting!
THE TREATY WON APPROVAL IN THE SENATE BECAUSE CONTROL WAS IN THE HANDS OF THE FEDERALISTS.
REPUBLICANS AGAINST THE TREATY……. FEDERALISTS IN FAVOR OF IT.
Washington Retires
He warned the United States of two things:
Accomplishments as President
Chapter 8 Section 4
Problems with France
XYZ AFFAIR- An incident in which 3 French officials refused to conduct talks with American diplomats until they paid a bribe.
France was still seizing our merchant ships.
Napoleon becomes the new dictator of France, so Adams once again sent officials to negotiate with France, and this time the negotiations were successful.
Adams kept us out of the war but lost the support of his Federalist Party. (THE FEDERALISTS WERE PRO-BRITISH)
Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
***Laws passed by Federalists that aimed to increase their power in government***
A) Alien Act (aimed at immigrants)
* It lengthened the time it took for an immigrant (alien) to become a citizen from 5 to 14 years.
* It gave the President the power to deport or imprison dangerous aliens.
B) Sedition Act (aimed at Republicans)
Made it a crime to write or say anything insulting or false about the President, Congress, or the Government. This was punishable by a fine or possible jail.
States' Rights
*Republicans were against the Alien and Sedition Acts.
*The Sedition Act was a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech. Republicans worked through their state legislatures to have both acts overturned.
*Thomas Jefferson (Kentucky legislature) and James Madison (Virginia legislature) wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions stating that both acts were unconstitutional and that individual states had the right to declare laws unconstitutional.
They didn't get very much support from the other states, but the resolutions resulted in a conflict of ideas about states' rights. SHOULD STATES HAVE THE RIGHT TO NULLIFY A FEDERAL LAW IF IT IS BELIEVED TO BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL?
The question of states' rights lasted as a topic of controversy for many years to come before the Civil War.
The Alien and Sedition Acts were not in force for very long. The law that gave the president the power to deport or imprison dangerous aliens expired after two years. The waiting period for immigrants to become citizens was restored to 5 years in 1802. The Sedition Act expired in 1801.
