Bellwork

1
Bellwork

• In the last lesson, we discussed the formation of
  political parties. Why did they form? Do you
  think that the formation of parties helped or
  hurt the U.S.?

2
American History

• Section 8, Unit 3
• Evolving Politics

3
Objectives

• Identify how the election of 1796 and 1800 led to
  the 12th Amendment
• Discuss and evaluate the issue regarding
  political parties
• Describe the immediate effect of the XYZ Affair
• Describe how the ruling of John Marshall in
  Marbury v. Madison helped define judicial power
  in the U.S.

4
Video

• Before we continue, we are going to watch a video
  about the evolution of politics in early America.
• Where US Politics Came From John Green

5
The Election of 1796

• President Washingtons decision not to seek
  reelection in 1796 set in motion the first real
  competition for the presidency.
• In that election, Federalists John Adams and
  Thomas Pinckney faced the Republicans Thomas
  Jefferson and Aaron Burr.

6
Hamiltons Plan

• Hamilton, envious of Adams, attempted to keep his
  rival from winning by persuading a few southern
  Federalists to vote only for Pinckney.
• However, Hamiltons plot backfired when northern
  Federalists discovered his plan and responded by
  not voting for Pinckney, their original choice.

7
Who becomes President?

• According to the Constitution at the time, anyone
  who gets the most electoral votes (number of
  senators plus representatives) is President and
  the runner up becomes Vice-President.
• At this time in history, few states actually had
  federal elections in their state and instead the
  legislatures themselves voted for the President.

8
2nd President and Vice-President
John Adams a federalist became the President
and Thomas Jefferson, his opponent and
Republican, became Vice-President.
9
Challenges

• President Adams faced the same challenges as
  Washington.
• He had to maintain Americas status as an
  independent nation while also protecting its
  access to world markets.
• He also wanted to improve relations with France
  who viewed Jays Treaty and the U.S. policy on
  neutrality as evidence of pro-British leanings.

What did Jays Treaty do?
Removed the British from their forts and allowed
the U.S. to pay back debts.
10
Negotiations with France

• In 1797, Adams sent three diplomats to Paris to
  negotiate a treaty with France.
• However, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, Frances
  foreign minister, did not agree to direct
  negotiations and instead sent three agents on his
  demand to negotiate.

11
XYZ Affair

• Before talks began, Talleyrand said the U.S.
  would have to
• Apologize publicly for anti-French remarks that
  Adams had made
• Grant France a multi-million dollar loan
• Pay Talleyrand a bribe of 240,000
• Bribes were common in the 1700s, but the size of
  the bribe shocked Americans

How do you think Americans reacted to this issue?
12
XYZ Affair

• American diplomats refused to pay the bribe that
  France requested.
• Adams followed by publishing the demands
  substituting X, Y, and Z for the names of
  Talleyrand's agents.
• Americans responded furiously, rallying around
  the slogan, Millions for defense, but not one
  cent for tribute.
• This issue became known as the XYZ Affair.

13
XYZ Affair

• Adams and Congress responded to the XYZ affair by
  preparing for war, such as building warships,
  creating a Navy, and strengthening the army.
• Congress also used taxes to pay for the military
  buildup.
• Although the U.S. did not declare war, U.S.
  warships began capturing French ships.

14
Effect on the political parties

• The XYZ affair also had an effect on the
  political parties.
• Question If the Republican party was pro-French,
  what would happen to their support?

The Federalists saw the XYZ affair as the perfect
opportunity to cement a economic and political
alliance with Britain. They also thought the
affair was perfect to discredit the Republicans,
who supported the French.
15
War Avoided

• While many wanted to take military action, Adams
  did not want to go to war.
• He discounted the likelihood of a French attack
  and sought peace with France.
• In 1799, he sent another peace mission to France.
  
• The timing was perfect. France just experienced a
  massive political upheaval.

16
Napoleon

• Shortly before the delegation arrived in Paris,
  Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte had overthrown the
  revolutionary government and made himself
  dictator of France.
• He recognized that Frances actions had pushed
  America to support Britain.

17
Agreements

• Napoleon made an agreement with the U.S. The
  terms required
• France abandoned the alliance treaty of 1778
  (which required American support to France).
• U.S. would drop claims against France for seized
  ships and cargo.
• With that, both France and the U.S. were in an
  uneasy relationship, but the U.S. successfully
  kept its neutrality policy concerning European
  affairs.

18
Domestic Disputes

• The crisis with France increased the bad blood
  between the Federalists and Republicans .
• The Federalists viewed the Republicans as
  pro-French traitors, and the Republicans argued
  that the Federalists used the crisis to retain
  power.

Federalists V. Republicans
19
Alien and Sedition Acts

• Charges between the two groups finally gave way
  to action.
• In 1798, the Federalist majority in Congress
  passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, a series of
  laws aimed not only at protecting the country,
  but also at weakening the Republicans.
• The Acts are broken into three primary acts (see
  next slide).

20
The Alien Friends Act and the Alien Enemies Act

• The Alien Friends Act and the Alien Enemies Act
  authorized the President to imprison or expel
  foreigners.
• Enforcement proved unnecessary, as the very
  threat of imprisonment drove many French citizens
  from the country and quieted the few who
  remained.

all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to
peace and safety of the United States.
21
The Sedition Act

• The Sedition Act targeted Americans.
• Sedition is the stirring up of discontent or
  rebellion against the government.
• Under the Act, anyone who wrote, said, or printed
  anything false, scandalous, and malicious about
  the government, Congress, or the President, could
  be fined or jailed.

22
The Sedition Act (cont.)

• The Act was aimed at Republicans, primarily, who
  criticized the Federalist government profusely.
• Throughout the country, other people were
  affected, including newspaper editors all
  Republican.

23
Question

• The Alien and Sedition Acts
• Remove foreigners if they seem dangerous (i.e.,
  if they criticize the government)
• Silenced American critics

What Amendment do these Acts conflict with? Who
declares Acts of Congress Unconstitutional?
For the most part, these Acts conflict with the
1st (and arguably 5th) Amendments. However, at
this time, the Constitution still does not say
who declares laws unconstitutional. Well read
this in just a moment.
24
Protests

• Many Americans saw the Acts as an attempt to curb
  the rights of individuals
• The Sedition Act interfered with the freedom of
  the press and speech, two rights guaranteed by
  the 1st Amendment.
• Furious Republicans voiced their protests through
  the Kentucky Resolutions (written by Thomas
  Jefferson) and the Virginia Resolutions (written
  by James Madison), and were passed in their
  respective legislatures.

25
The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

• The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions declared
  the Alien and Sedition Acts unconstitutional.
• In doing so, the resolutions raised a very
  important question who should decide whether a
  federal law violates the U.S. Constitution?
• The Supreme Court? The Constitution did not say.

26
States Powers

• The resolutions came down on the side of the
  states.
• The states argued that they created the federal
  government through a joint union, so therefore
  they can declare a law of the federal government
  unconstitutional and therefore void.
• The Federalists disagreed. They believed in a
  strong federal government, they argued the
  Supreme Court should decide matters of
  constitutionality.

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The Fate of the Resolutions

• Because Federalists controlled most state
  governments, the Kentucky and Virginia
  Resolutions failed to gain wide support.
• However, Jefferson and Madison had posed
  questions about the nature of the union that
  would trouble Americans for years to come.

28
Election of 1800

• In the election of 1800, the fortunes of the
  Federalist Party slipped. The election pitted
  Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr
  (Republicanspictured above) against John Adams
  and Charles Pinckney (Federalists).

29
Republican Gains

• Due to the Alien and Sedition Acts (among other
  issues), the Republicans swept into power and
  gained control of Congress.
• However, neither the Republicans nor Federalists
  had a formal ticket (i.e., voting for a President
  automatically gives a vote to the
  Vice-President), so, another electoral crisis
  arose.
• Jefferson and Burr both received the same number
  of electoral votes for President.

30
Splitting the Tie

• The Constitution states that if a tie occurs, the
  House of Representatives decides who is President
  .
• Under normal circumstances, the House would
  choose Jefferson, but some Federalists hated
  Jefferson and chose to vote for Burr instead.
• 35 attempts failed.
• The problem would have most likely continued if
  not for help from an unexpected source.

31
Hamiltons Role

• Hamilton preferred Jefferson over Burr, who he
  viewed as unprincipled.
• Hamilton persuaded several Federalists to vote
  for Jefferson.
• Due to this, Jefferson became the third President
  of the United States.

3rd President
32
12th Amendment

• To prevent future crises, Congress proposed the
  12th Amendment to the Constitution.
• It was ratified in 1804 and required electors to
  vote for the president and vice-presidential
  candidates on separate ballots.
• This would ensure that electors could vote for
  people along party lines and on the same ticket,
  to avoid conflicts.

33
Federalist Actions

• Knowing that the Federalist hold on the offices
  would end, Federalists feared that all their
  programs would be abandoned.
• Between Election Day (November) and Inauguration
  (March), the Federalist majority in Congress
  tightened its hold on the judicial branch to
  protect the nation from Jefferson.

34
Judiciary Act of 1801

• The Judiciary Act of 1801 created a number of new
  circuit courts and federal judgeships.
• The Constitution allowed the President with the
  support of the Senate to appoint Judges to the
  posts.
• President Adams appointed Federalists to these
  new posts they were referred to as midnight
  judges.

35
John Marshall

• Adams appointed a new chief justice to the
  Supreme Court John Marshall of Virginia (who was
  appointed prior to the Judiciary Act).
• Marshall would serve as chief justice for 30
  years and make more than 500 opinions concerning
  constitutional law.
• Unbeknownst to Adams, Marshall would spark a
  major upheaval in the power of the Judiciary.

36
Prior to John Marshall

• Prior to John Marshall, the judicial branch was
  viewed as weak and useless, in comparison to the
  other two branches.
• At this time (early 1800s), the Judiciarys
  purpose was only to review laws and handle cases
  in federal jurisdiction (such as a state suing
  another state).

Marshall would completely change the power of the
Judicial Branch through a major court ruling in
Marbury v. Madison.
37
Marbury v. Madison

• Background For political reasons, Secretary of
  State James Madison refused to allow William
  Marbury to take the bench.
• Marbury sued and the case reached the Supreme
  Court under John Marshall.
• The court sided with Marbury and, according to
  the Judiciary Act of 1789 (which was made by the
  First Congress), the court had the power to force
  the President to act.

38
Marshalls Ruling

• John Marshall, leading the courts opinion,
  declared part of the Judiciary Act of 1789
  unconstitutional, saying that the court did not
  have the right to force the president to take
  action.
• He argued that the courts were not given that
  power according to the constitution.

Marshall just declared a law to be
unconstitutional. What effect is that going to
have?
39
Consequences

• When Marshall voided the act of Congress
• He gave the court the ability to decide
  constitutionality i.e., the court now has the
  power of Judicial Review.
• Marshall and the other Justices established a
  principle of law that gave the Supreme Court the
  power to be the final interpreter of the
  Constitution.

40
Jeffersons Criticism

• You seem to consider the judges as the ultimate
  arbiters of all constitutional questions a very
  dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would
  place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our
  judges are as honest as other men, and not more
  soThe Constitution has erected no such single
  tribunal, knowing that to whatever hands
  confided, with the corruptions of time and party,
  its members would become despots. It has more
  wisely made all the departments co-equal and
  co-sovereign within themselves.

• Thomas Jefferson hated John Marshall (they were
  cousins). Thomas Jefferson viewed Marshalls
  ruling as a affront to the Constitution. But why?
  Read the quote to the right.
• Why does Jefferson disagree with the ruling?

41
Marshalls Response

• "Certainly all those who have framed written
  constitutions contemplate them as forming the
  fundamental and paramount law of the nation, and
  consequently the theory of every such government
  must be, that an act of the legislature repugnant
  to the Constitution is void."

What is John Marshall saying in regards to
Judicial power?
42
John Marshalls Legacy

• Despite criticism, John Marshall set a precedent
  for the Judicial Branch among these are
• Affirmed Federal Supremacy in the law
• He affirmed that the Federal government can
  regulate interstate commerce
• He affirmed that the Bill of Rights only applies
  to Federal issues, not to the states at least
  for this period of time (ex a state has every
  right to take away freedom of speech)

43
A Changing Nation

• Despite political upheavals, foreign disputes,
  and domestic battles, the United States continued
  to move forward under the leadership of Thomas
  Jefferson.
• Soon, America would face a new battle westward
  expansion.

44
Review Objectives

• Identify how the election of 1796 and 1800 led to
  the 12th Amendment
• Discuss and evaluate the issue regarding
  political parties
• Describe the immediate effect of the XYZ Affair
• Describe how the ruling of John Marshall in
  Marbury v. Madison helped define judicial power
  in the U.S.

45
Questions

• If you have any questions, please ask now.

46
Next Lesson

• In the next lesson, we are going to discuss
  westward expansion under the Jefferson
  Presidency.

47
Review

• What did the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
  do? Did they work? What was the long term effect
  of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions?
• How did John Marshalls ruling in Marbury v.
  Madison influence judicial power?
• Why was the 12th Amendment written? What did the
  12th Amendment do?
• What were the provisions in the Alien and
  Sedition Acts? Who did the acts target?
• Why did Americans oppose the Alien and Sedition
  Acts?
• What effect did the Alien and Sedition Acts have
  on Federalist power?
• How did the XYZ Affair cause tensions between the
  U.S. and France? How did Napoleon help solve
  issues between the two nations?