The Federalist Era 1796-1798
Category: Other
Updated: 30 Oct 2017
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Created byMARY BOWEN
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The supporters of Thomas
Jefferson and Alexander
Hamilton were beginning
to form the nation's first
political parties, this sprouted
from the political attacks on
George Washington who
supposedly supported
Alexander Hamilton's ideas
for the nation's policies.Federalist John Adams became
the president and Republican
Thomas Jefferson became the
vice president. The 1796
election was critical to
American history, seeing as it
was its first test of opposing
factions running against each
other and it established a
precedent of non-violence.Adams catered to high
Federalists with the Alien and
Sedition Acts of 1798, outlawing
Jeffersonian newspapers and
thereby undermining the First
Amendment right to free speech
within a decade of the Bill of
Rights’ ratification.The XYZ Affair was
when John Adams
sent 3 diplomats to
France, whose names
were replaced with X,
Y, & Z. French officials
demanded a bribe to
initiate negotiations.
This resulted in an
anti-French sentiment
from the American
publicVirginia & Kentucky Resolutions
were written by Dem-Reps in
1798 and argued states had a
right to judge the constitutionality
of federal laws. It retaliated against
the A&S Acts using nullification,
declaring the Acts ineffective in VA
& KY.Washington’s Farewell Address,
a 32-page handwritten address
where Washington urged
Americans to avoid excessive
political party spirit and
geographical distinctions, and in
foreign affairs warned against
long-term alliances with other
nations, and was prepared with
Hamilton’s assistance, can be
read as a classic text of partisan
Federalism as well as a great
state paper.Periods
The Federalist Era 1796-1798
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