John Adams’ Presidency John Adams
- 2nd President (1797-1801) Federalist
- Thomas Jefferson Vice- President Democratic-Republican
XYZ Affair (1797)
- French agents (X,Y,Z) asked for a bribe to discuss stopping attacks on American ships
- Congress cancelled treaties w/ France & seized French ships
- Congress began expanding army & navy
Alien & Sedition Acts (1798)- Increased waiting time to be U. S. citizen from 5 to 14 yrs
- arrest disloyal aliens & deport during wartime
- outlawed sedition (can’t say or write false or harmful things about gov’t)
- wanted to get rid of immigrants who usually sided w/ Democratic Republicans
Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions (1798)
- declared Alien & Sedition Acts unconstitutional
- states’ rights theory – states have the right to judge when the federal government had passed an unconstitutional law
- Acts repealed or expired (1800-1802)
Peace w/ France
- Convention of 1800 stopped naval attacks
- Avoided war w/ France
- Lost election of 1800 to Thomas Jefferson