1. The First Political Parties

2. Parties in the United States  An organized group of people with similar political ideas.  The first political parties were not the Democrats and Republicans.

3. Opposing Parties  Even though most people liked Washington while he was president, some people did not.  Typically supporters of Jefferson  Jefferson’s supporters attacked Washington in hopes to weaken Hamilton  However, no parties existed yet (thought it was harmful to the nation)

4. Partisan  Partisan - someone who strongly favors one group over the other  Washington believed he was not a partisan  However he clearly sided with Hamilton most of the time

5. Federalist Party  Led by Hamilton  Believed in a strong federal government  Believed the Constitution gave government implied powers  implied powers - powers not listed in the Constitution but believed to belong to the federal government  Federalists believed they could make all laws “necessary and proper”  Wanted the nation to be a strong manufacturing nation.

6. Democratic-Republican Party  Often just called Republicans (not like the modern day Republicans)  Led by Jefferson and Madison  Believed in a strict reading of the Constitution  They believed that if the Constitution did not give the government a power, then the government did not have that particular power  Rejected idea of implied power  Wanted the nation to be an agrarian.

7. National Bank Debate  Arguments over the national bank made the existence of parties evident  Hamilton believed that since the Constitution gave the national gov’t the power to borrow money that then a bank should exist  Republicans disagreed with Hamilton

8. The Role of the People  Federalists and Republicans debated over the role of the citizens  Federalists = wanted a representative gov’t  Did not believe the people were smart enough to rule their own nation  Republicans = feared a strong national gov’t  Wanted ordinary people to be active in the gov’t

9. Washington’s Reaction  Washington was nervous about the nation dividing into parties  Tried to get Hamilton and Jefferson to solve their differences  Both Hamilton and Jefferson resigned their positions because they were so mad at each other

10. Election of 1796 - Choosing Candidates  Both parties held caucuses to decide who they would support for president.  Caucus = a meeting of a political party to determine their candidates for the election  Each party chose 2 candidates (total of 4) and electors would pick 2 for president  Candidate with most votes = President  Candidate with second most votes = Vice-President  Federalists = John Adams and Charles Pinckney  Republicans = Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr

11. Election of 1796 Adams - 71 - President Jefferson - 68 - VP Pinckney/Burr - 0

12. Issue with the electoral system  President Adams was a federalist  Vice-President Jefferson was an anti-federalist  How might this cause issues if the President and Vice- President are from different parties?

13. John Adams as President  Adams worked in government most of his life  Attended the Continental Congress  Helped with foreign relations  Served as Vice-President for Washington for 2 terms

14. The XYZ Affair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw0KcA59_8s

15. The XYZ Affair  French thought Jay’s Treaty was America’s way of supporting Britain in the conflict between France and Britain  France as a result attacked American ships trading with Britain  Adams sent diplomats to Paris to try to solve the problem  French would not meet with America unless we paid them a bribe  Adams urged Congress to prepare for war and was furious with the French diplomats he called “X,Y, and Z”!

16. Alien and Sedition Acts  Public was furious that the French demanded a bribe  Became suspicious of aliens - a.k.a. people who lived in the U.S. but were not citizens  Citizens wondered if French aliens would remain loyal to U.S. if they went to war with France  Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts  Sedition = Anti-government activities  Act allowed president to imprison or deport aliens

17. Issues  Republicans saw Alien and Sedition Acts as the Federalists taking too much power  Madison and Jefferson wrote protests against these acts

18. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798  These resolutions called the Alien and Sedition Acts unconstitutional  Said states would not enforce these laws  Kentucky Resolution - said states could nullify(cancel) laws that states thought were unconstitutional

19. Possible War With France  Federalists still wanted Adams to declare war  Adams instead sent a representative to seek peace with France  In 1800 the French signed a treaty to stop attacking U.S. ships  Hamilton and some other Federalists disagreed with Adams’ decision and split the party right before the election  Looks like the Republicans may have a good shot at winning the White House.