1. Aim: How did John Adams increase the power of the federal government during his presidency?
Do Now:
Analyze the Election of 1796 Chart and Electoral Map and answer the discussion questions
Homework:
Vocabulary Chart due on 11/16 quiz grade
Current events due 11/20 –Legislative Branch (Quiz)

2. What problem do you see with this system?

3. Answer questions #1 and #2 related to illustrations

4. XYZ Affair Role Playing
Task: Follow along as your classmates act out the play in class. There will be discussion questions to answer at the end of the performance!!!
Characters:
Choose 4 students to act out these parts in front of class. The dialogue is provided in student packet.
US Ambassadors to France
Marshall Respectable,
Pinckney well-mannered,
Gerry good-natured
French Agents X
Y Not-respectable,
Z poorly mannered
Other
Narrator

5. XYZ Affair Role Playing
1. What did the three American ambassadors want to talk to the French Minister, Mr. Talleyrand, about?
2. For how long does Mr. Pinckney say they were waiting?
They were sent to France to try to maintain peace between U.S.A. and France. France was seizing American merchant ships and Adams wanted this to stop.
That the three American Ambassadors have been waiting for months!!!!

6. XYZ Affair Role Playing
3. What exactly do X, Y, and Z want from the Americans? What will they do for the Americans in return?
4. What do you think the president should do? (War with France, nothing, stop American ships from trading with the British or French) Don't forget to say why-you think this is a good idea.
Answers will vary
A $250, 000 bribe to see the minister and a $10 Million loan to France

7. French Officials attempt to bribe the United States
XYZ Affair: It was intended to ease tensions with France, John Adams sends diplomats to France to negotiate peace.
French Officials attempt to bribe the United States
Led to increase resentment towards the French and led the Federalists to pass the Aliens and Sedition's Acts.
Show Talleyrand’s Letter (John Adams’s Mini Series): Youtube Talleyrands letter to Adams in John Adams Mini Series

8. How does Adam think he should respond to the letter?
Adams believes that we should prepare for war with France
What suspicions (worries) does Jefferson have of Adams?
Jefferson believes that Adams has always wanted to go to war with France and the letter is a way to instigate the war.
Describe the relationship between Adams and Jefferson based on the clip.
It is a hostile (unfriendly) relationship, they have very different opinions on how the government should be run
QUESTIONS

9. An Undeclared Naval War (1798-1800)
Although war was not officially declared a number of naval battles were fought between the French and the American vessels.
American vessels were able to show their strength despite their small size.
Napoleon did not want a full scale war with the US.
Talleyrand decided to negotiate a settlement wand receive the US minister
President Adams sent envoys (ministers/representatives to France to reach an agreement.

10. The Alien and Sedition Acts
Many Democratic-Republicans felt we should help France and criticized Adams in newspapers.
Angered by criticism in time of crisis, Adams blamed the Democratic-Republican newspapers and new immigrants. Many new immigrants were Democratic- Republicans.
Congress passed the Alien and Seditions Acts in 1798
The President can arrest One Act outlawed sedition, and deport disloyal aliens saying or writing anything
(immigrants) false or harmful about the
government.

11. Response to the Alien and Sedition Acts
Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison felt the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional and wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.
They believed in a theory called states rights. According to this theory states had the right to judge when the federal government had passed an unconstitutional law.

12. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Virginia and Kentucky passed a resolution to declare the Alien and Sedition Acts unconstitutional.
Written by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
They stated:
1. States created the national government
2. powers of the national government are limited by the US Constitution.
3. Each state has the right to judge for itself whether Congress has exceeded its constitutional powers.
4.A state need not obey an act that it considers unconstitutional.
This formed the principles of states rights. In the future the southern states would use this argument to defend slavery and oppose high tariffs.

13. (Give a specific example from today’s lesson)
Closing Question:
How did the federal government try and expand its powers under the presidency of John Adams?
(Give a specific example from today’s lesson)