John Adams' presidency was marked by political divisions and tensions with France. The emergence of political parties led to Adams, a Federalist, defeating Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, in the 1796 election. Attempts to negotiate with France were met with demands for bribes, heightening tensions. In response, the Federalist-led Congress passed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts to crack down on opposition, challenging civil liberties. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison opposed these laws as unconstitutional, affirming states' rights to challenge federal power.

1. JOHN
ADAMS’
PRESIDENCY

2. 1. Political parties – groups who help elect government officials and influence
policies
2. Diplomat – an official representing their country in a country overseas
3. Bribe – to give money to persuade someone to do something
4. Alien – an immigrant living in a country where they are not a citizen
5. Sedition – acts that aim to weaken the government
6. Unconstitutional – not in agreement with the Constitution
7. States’ rights – rights independent of the federal government reserved for
the states

3. • By the election of 1796, the American people had formed and divided into
political parties
• The prominent parties of the time were the Federalist Party, who wanted a
strong central government and supported industry and trade, and the
Democratic-Republican Party, who wanted to limit the federal government’s
power
• The Federalist candidates were John Adams and Thomas Pinckney
• The Dem-Rep candidates were Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr

4. • John Adams won the election,
and Thomas Jefferson became
his Vice President
• Adams had been a leading
Patriot during the War for
Independence, had served as a
foreign minister and was Vice
President under George
Washington
• Though not well-liked, he was
well-respected

5. • Adams needed to improve the
relationship between the U.S. and
France, who had started to seize U.S.
ships.
• Adams sent diplomats to Paris to
negotiate a treaty which would
protect U.S. shipping
• In France, these diplomats were met
with three agents who told them that
French foreign minister Charles de
Talleyrand would only discuss a
treaty in exchange for a bribe of over
$250,000.

6. • The U.S. diplomats refused.
• Because Adams referred to the French agents as “X, Y, and Z”, France’s
demand for a bribe became known as the XYZ Affair

8. • The Federalists in Congress
called for war with France
• Thinking that a war was
inevitable, Adams asked
Congress to expand the navy,
and keep a standing peacetime
army
• Still hoping to maintain peace,
Adams tried to reopen talks with
France
• Eventually, the U.S. and France
signed a treaty

9. • In 1798 Congress passed four laws
known as the Alien and Sedition
Acts
• These laws aimed at protecting
the gov’t from treasonous ideas
and people
• The Federalist-dominated
Congress wanted the Acts to
crush opposition to war

10. • The most controversial was the Sedition Act, which made it a crime to
speak, write, or publish criticism of the government
• This challenged freedom of speech and freedom of the press
• Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Dem-Rep Party saw these
Acts as a misuse of gov’t power

11. • Jefferson and Madison passed
resolutions called the Kentucky
and Virginia Resolutions, which
argued that the Alien and Sedition
Acts were unconstitutional.
• They wanted Congress to repeal
the Acts; instead, Congress
allowed them to expire in 1801
• The Kentucky and Virginia
Resolutions affirmed the principle
of states’ rights, and supported
the idea that the states could
challenge the federal government