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John Adams Dbq

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Many people know about the United States first president, George Washington, but do they know about the second president, John Adams. John Adams was not a very liked president because Washington set the bar for the presidency pretty high. Adams was not a liked president for many reasons like the trouble with french, including setting off the XYZ affair, signing Jay’s Treaty, and sending the war fever through the United States, and one of the other reasons why Adams was not liked was the Alien and Sedition acts which violated the state's rights.
The United States was having trouble with France because of the XYZ Affair, Jay’s Treaty, and a lot of people having war fever in the United states. The XYZ Affair was the because the french were hoping …show more content…

The Alien act increased the duration from five to fourteen years in the United States to be a citizen. The act also gave the president power to deport or imprison people. This helped the Federalist because immigrants often tended to side with the Democratic-Republican which was farmers and the poor. There was also the Sedition act which made it a crime to write or say anything insulting or false about the President, Congress, or government. During 1798 and 1799 ten people were convicted under this act they were Republican editors and printers, which helped the Federalists. Also, there was an activity designed to overthrow the government. There was also that the Sedition act limited the citizen's freedom of speech. One of the other things wrong with the Alien and Sedition Acts were the states rights. After the Alien and Sedition acts were passed there were Virginia and Kentucky resolutions made saying that the acts were unconstitutional. The Virginia resolution was written by James Madison and the Kentucky resolution was written by Thomas Jefferson. The resolutions did not have any immediate impact but the law that gave the President the power to deport or imprison people expired after two years and then the Sedition act expired in 1801. The long-term impact was that the states could nullify if a federal law does not fit the

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