Prior to the election of 1796 two major political parties emerged within Congress, the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. The Federalists supported the administration led by George Washington. This (1)support for Washington came mainly through economic policies instituted by Alexander Hamilton. Many New England merchants enjoyed the benefits of Hamilton’s free market, because it allowed their businesses to flourish without government interference. Federalists also maintained that in order to provide democracy the government must have a strong central core to fend off the anarchical tendencies of common people. The Federalists had a very strict definition of liberty, in their view submitting to the authority of the government was liberty, and common people did not have the competence to understand politics let alone speak out in protest against the government. The Democratic Republican Party led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison generally believed in free democracy where the people are involved with their government. The liberal politics of the party appealed to southern farmers and plantation owners alike. The Democratic Republican Party was attractive to many immigrants as well who believed in liberty for all citizens no matter what their societal rank. With the authority of the First Amendment the Democratic Republican Party published their meetings to encourage others with similar beliefs to support the party during elections. Madison and Jefferson also promoted the expansion of farm land within the United States to insure the stability of the republic through the adoption of new states. This idea would weaken the central government to broaden the authority the states would hold over the Federal Government.
The Federalist Party won the election but it was a divided ticket. John Adams would receive the presidency but instead of Thomas Pinckney winning the vice presidency the office would go to Thomas Jefferson. Adams goal through his presidency was to keep the United States out of the wars in Europe and maintain a Federalist stronghold within the government. Our second President was known to react bitterly about criticism. Adams shows this to the public in his inauguration address (3), (2)
“In the midst of these pleasing ideas we should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections.”
Adams warned the public not to get involved with political parties with opposing ideas of the current administration. He argued that other parties might be more sympathetic to other European nations and which in turn could influence voting within the U.S. Adams was very patriotic, though his method of leadership required strict adherence to his command. The first order of business for Adams was to secure peace. Adams sent ambassadors to France with the intention to discuss the Treaty of 1778 (4). The French were in the middle of a war, they demanded money before any talks could take place. The American ambassadors wrote to Adams explaining the situation. Adams outraged that France would snub him published the letter. This became known as the XYZ Affair (5), the letters XY& Z represent the names of the French Diplomats the American Ambassadors were meeting. Publishing the letter was politically strategic by doing this Adams turned the mood of the country against France and marred Democratic Republicans who were sympathetic toward the French Revolution. Without approval from Congress, Adams involved the United States in a Quazi War with France. This naval war with France was waged to cease the harassment against American ships. To silence opposition and protect the boarder President Adams signed into law a series of four acts known as the Alien Sedition Acts.
The Alien Sedition Acts
The first three acts signed by Adams aimed to control the European influence within the boarder. France was still in control of land west of the United States and small groups of immigrants were arriving from Europe. Adams signed the Naturalization Act , June 18, 1798 (6); this was the first act used to protect the Federalists from losing power within government. The Naturalization Act impaired the suffrage of possible future Democratic Republicans by extending the amount of time an immigrant had to wait to receive citizenship from five to fourteen years.
The next act to be put into law was the Alien Act on June 25, 1798 (7); this law gave authorization to the President to tell aliens to depart or face imprisonment. The Alien Act worked in conjunction with the Alien Enemies Act signed July 6, 1798 (8). This act allows the President to remove aliens of countries the United States wars against. Both of these acts were designed to eliminate the threat from within and empower the Executive Branch. The President with this authority had the power to remove anyone he felt was an enemy to the United States.
These three acts on the surface did not directly affect the liberties of citizens however they did reinforce the idea that European immigrants would taint American government with a European political agenda. The threat of an agenda was used to create a desire for protection against the possibility of the republic failing due to the efforts of agents manipulating the public to vote a certain way. The alter importance of this is political power, immigration to the United States at this time was slow, but in the northern states immigration posed a problem to the Federalist Party. Already fracturing as the election results of 1796 have shown, they would be in jeopardy to lose the populous vote toward the House of Representatives if immigrants that favored Democratic Republican politics had been given citizenship. The extension of citizenship for immigrants waiting for their liberties denied them the right to vote for the election of 1798, doing this ensured President Adams of keeping a majority of Federalists within Congress.
The fourth act approved was the Sedition Act July 14, 1798 (9); this act stripped away liberties given to citizens of the United States. The right to assemble, freedom to print and say opposing views of the government was illegal and punishable by law. Eric Foner, author of Give Me Liberty! An American History writes, “Eighteen individuals, including several Republican newspaper editors, were charged under the Sedition Act.”(10) This act was used by the Federalists to silence antagonism against the current administration. The control of the Democratic Republican press would stop the anti-government sediment. This ploy was used to keep the populous in check and allow the government to rule unrestricted. The responses to the Alien Sedition Acts from the Democratic Republican Party were produced through the efforts of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson, author of The Kentucky Resolution November 10, 1798 (11)
“That alien friends are under the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of the State wherein they are: that no power over them has been delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the individual States, distinct from their power over citizens. And it being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," the act of the Congress of the United States, passed on the — day of July, 1798, intituled “An Act concerning aliens,” which assumes powers over alien friends, not delegated by the Constitution, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no force.”-Thomas Jefferson
James Madison wrote The Virginia Resolution December 24, 1798 (12)
“That the General Assembly doth particularly protest against the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution, in the two late cases of the "Alien and Sedition Acts" passed at the last session of Congress; the first of which exercises a power no where delegated to the federal government, and which by uniting legislative and judicial powers to those of executive, subverts the general principles of free government; as well as the particular organization, and positive provisions of the federal constitution; and the other of which acts, exercises in like manner, a power not delegated by the constitution, but on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto; a power, which more than any other, ought to produce universal alarm, because it is levelled against that right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed, the only effectual guardian of every other right.”-James Madison
The Kentucky Resolution of 1799 (13) Approved by the General Assembly of Kentucky December 3, 1799.
“That the several states who formed that instrument, being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of its infraction; and that a nullification, by those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under colour of that instrument, is the rightful remedy: That this commonwealth does upon the most deliberate reconsideration declare, that the said alien and sedition laws, are in their opinion, palpable violations of the said constitution; and however cheerfully it may be disposed to surrender its opinion to a majority of its sister states in matters of ordinary or doubtful policy; yet, in momentous regulations like the present, which so vitally wound the best rights of the citizen, it would consider a silent acquiescence as highly criminal: That although this commonwealth as a party to the federal compact; will bow to the laws of the Union, yet it does at the same time declare, that it will not now, nor ever hereafter, cease to oppose in a constitutional manner, every attempt from what quarter so ever offered, to violate that compact.”-Thomas Jefferson
These resolutions written by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were approved by Virginia and Kentucky to express the outrage over the abuse of authority exerted by the Federal Government. Both states respected the government but they would not tolerate abuse or negligence of their people’s liberties. The resolutions passed by Virginia and Kentucky strengthened the state’s power to nullify Federal acts which exceed the parameters of the Constitution. Although no other state adopted the resolutions it ignited the populous to embrace the Democratic Republican politics.
(14)
Nominees Thomas Jefferson John Adams
Party Democratic Republican Federalist
Home State Virginia Massachusetts
Running mate Aaron Burr Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Electoral Vote 73 65
States Carried 8 7
Popular Vote 41,330 25,952
Percentage 61.4% 38.6%
The “Revolution of 1800” not only was a peaceful transfer of power, it was the end of the Alien Sedition Acts. According to Wikipedia, “Jefferson's 22.8% victory margin in the popular vote is the largest ever victory margin for a challenger to an incumbent President.”(14) The people used their vote to abolish the Federalists from office. The Alien Sedition Acts designed to maintain a Federalist majority within the government failed. The Jefferson administration let the acts expire during his term in office. Jefferson also pardoned all that were arrested under the Sedition Act. The failure of these acts also signified the peoples need to be guardful of the government to maintain the security of their liberty.
The banner reads, “T. Jefferson President of the United States of America John Adams no More”
(15)Sources used :
1. Congressional Pugilists, American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1798-1.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:21:./temp/~pp_Csll::@@@mdb=fsaall,brum,detr,swann,look,gottscho,pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,yan,lomax,ils,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,iucpub,tgmi,lamb,hec,krb
2. John Adams portrait, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?pp/PPALL:@field(NUMBER+@1(cph+3a03262))
3. John Adams Inauguration Address 1797, The Junto Society Presidential Inaugural Speeches
http://www.juntosociety.com/inaugural/jadams.html
4. The Treaty of Alliance 1778, Avalon Project Yale Law
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fr1788-2.asp
5. XYZ Affair, Wikipedia, Last modified 14 Oct 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XYZ_Affair
6. Naturalization Act, Multieducator Inc
http://www.historycentral.com/documents/Naturalizationact.html
7. Alien Act, The Virginia Report 1799-1800, J.W. Randolph 1850
http://www.constitution.org/rf/alien_1798.htm
8. Alien Enemies Act, Laws of The United States, printed by Richard Folwell, 1798
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/sedition/a-text.html
9. Sedition Act of 1798, Virginia Report 1799-1800, J.W. Randolph 1850
http://www.constitution.org/rf/sedition_1798.htm
10. “Give Me Liberty! An American History”, Eric Foner -2nd Seagull ed.
11. The Kentucky Resolutions 1798, The Constitution Society
http://www.constitution.org/cons/kent1798.htm
12. The Virginia Resolution 1798, The Constitution Society
http://www.constitution.org/cons/virg1798.htm
13. The Kentucky Resolution 1799, The Constitution Society
http://www.constitution.org/cons/kent1799.htm
14. The Election of 1800, Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1800
15. Jefferson Banner, Smithsonian National Museum of American History
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object.cfm?key=35&objkey=48
