Compare And Contrast The Political Parties In The 1790s And The Federalists

The 1800 presidential election between Thomas Jefferson and incumbent John Adams led Americans to make a decision between a Democratic-Republican candidate and a Federalist candidate. When making this choice it is important to examine the events of the time period, ideals of the candidates, and the states of the political parties. In this election one of the most important events of this era was the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by John Adams. Both parties possessed differing beliefs, with Federalists favoring a strong central government and the Democratic-Republicans favoring power to the states. Additionally, events during the Adams’ presidency had led to division within the Federalist Party. As a result of events in the 1790s and the candidates’ beliefs, my support would have laid with Thomas Jefferson in the 1800

The Alien and Sedition Acts were threatening bills that would have left me in fear of the government’s power. These Acts targeted immigrants by making it difficult to become citizens and gain the ability to vote. It also impacted all Americans by allowing the president to imprison or banish anyone that he considered a threat to the country. Finally, the most significant part was the Sedition Act which forbade people from speaking out against the government (Hewitt and Lawson 213). As someone living through the revolution, these Acts would cause me to fear the government. The main reason the revolution was fought was to free the states from the British government, which was exercising too much control and power over the colonies. With these Acts, especially the Sedition which contradicts freedom of speech, the American government was taking too much power over the people, which could have led to an autocratic government. As a result of these actions taken by Adams, I would have voted for