7th Grade Exam Study Guide



7th Grade A New Nation Notes

Part IV

The Presidency of John Adams

1. Troubles with France

• France was angry that the United States remained neutral in the war between France and Britain. The French also felt that Jay’s Treaty favored Britain.

• France snubbed an American diplomat and continued to seize American ships.

• In the XYZ Affair, French officials demanded a bribe from three American diplomats. Many Americans, especially Federalists, were outraged.

• American anger over the XYZ Affair led to an undeclared naval war. Adams increased the size of the Army and established a Department of the Navy.

• In 1800, France and the United States signed a treaty. France agreed to stop seizing American ships, and the United States avoided full - scale war with France.

• The treaty angered many Federalists, which weakened President Adams political power.

2. The Alien and Sedition Acts

• Two reasons Federalists opposed European immigration were that they feared immigrants would spread dangerous ideas (from the French Revolution) and they feared that immigrants would favor the Republican Party.

• The Alien Act increased the time it took for an alien to become a citizen from 5 to 14 years. It also allowed the president to jail or deport an alien he considered dangerous.

• The Sedition Act made it a crime to say or write anything insulting or false about the government. This was a limit on free speech.

3. States’ Rights

• The legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky passed resolutions stating that the Alien and Sedition acts were unconstitutional and that states had the right to declare federal laws unconstitutional.

• The long – term effect was to establish the principles of states’ rights and nullification, or the idea that states have the power to deprive a federal law of legal force.

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