1. The Adams & Jefferson Years: 1797-1809

2. The Election of 1796: John Adams Wins!
John Adams defeats Thomas Jefferson to win the presidency.
Adams was a Federalist, Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican.
John Adams wins by only 3 electoral votes.
Because he got the 2nd highest number of electoral votes, Jefferson becomes Vice President

3. The XYZ Affair War existed between France and Great Britain
U.S. merchant ships were being seized by French warships and privateers
Adams sent a delegation to Paris to negotiate.
French ministers X, Y, and Z tried to bribe the delegation…angered Americans
Alexander Hamilton and some Federalists wanted to go to war
John Adams recognized US military was not strong enough for war
Federalist party divided

4. Congressional Elections of 1798
Federalists won the majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives
They hoped to enact laws that would weaken the Dem-Reps…such as:
Naturalization Act: increased the # of years from 5 to 14 for immigrants to qualify for US citizenship (most immigrants voted Dem-Rep)

5. The Alien & Sedition Acts
 Because of emotions stirred up by the French Revolution, Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 which were designed to weaken the opposition. (Dem-Reps)  The Alien Act made it more difficult to become a citizen and easier to arrest and deport any noncitizens thought to be a danger to national security.  The Sedition Act made it easier to arrest a person for criticizing the government.  Protests were made against these acts for challenging the freedom of speech and press.  James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions declared the acts dangerous to civil liberties and rights of the people and were unconstitutional.

6. Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
Dem-Rep leaders challenged the legislation of the Federal Congress by enacting nullifying laws of their own in state legislatures
KY and VA Resolutions both declared that the states had entered into a “compact” in forming the national government
Therefore, if any act by the federal government broke the compact, the states had the right to nullify the law

7. The Election of 1800
The candidates: Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, president John Adams
Adams loses, but there is a tie between Burr and Jefferson in the Electoral College.
The election then went into the House of Representatives who ultimately decided in favor of Thomas Jefferson, who becomes the third president.
This election is frequently called the Revolution of 1800 because it represented a peaceful transition of power between two different political parties (Federalists and Democratic-Republicans).
The election led to the passage of the 12th amendment in 1804 which required electors to vote for two people for president. Before this, the runner up became vice-president.

8. The Marshall Court:
Before leaving office, President Adams appointed John Marshall as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and he would be chief justice until 1835.
Supreme Court decisions under Marshall strengthened the power of the federal (national) government and the power of the judicial branch.
Important Decisions of the Marshall Court:
Marbury v. Madison: the power of judicial review – the power to rule on the constitutionality of a law.
McCulloch v. Maryland: strengthened national supremacy over state laws and upheld creation of national bank.
Gibbons v. Ogden: gave Congress power to regulate interstate commerce (trade between the states).