The First
Political Parties
Match the term to its description
1. implied powers
2. caucus
3. French agents
4. sedition
5. nullification
a. meeting at which a
national party selects
candidates
b. activities aimed at
weakening a
government
c. idea linked to states’
rights
d. helped justify a national
bank
e. X, Y, and Z
6. Conflicts between Jefferson and Hamilton
during President Washington’s first
administration led directly to the
a. end of the Era of Good Feelings
b. decision to replace the Articles of
Confederation
c. addition of the elastic clause to the
Constitution
d. start of the first political parties
7. The Federalists and the DemocraticRepublicans disagreed on
A. slavery.
B. whether ordinary people could be trusted
in government.
C. indentured servitude.
D. whether the American people should be
taxed.
8. Democratic-Republican policies
appealed to
A. people in the Northeast.
B. plantation owners.
C. small farmers.
D. women.
9. What military branch was created as
a result of the XYZ Affair?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Army
Navy
Marines
Air Force
10. The Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions displayed the idea of
___________ in their challenge to
nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Republicanism
Individual Rights
Federalism
State’s Rights
Opposing Views
• As political issues arose in the new
country, Americans began taking sides,
becoming partisan—favoring one side of
an issue.
• By the mid-1790s, two political parties had
taken shape: Federalists and DemocraticRepublicans. Federalists stood for strong
U.S. government and policies favoring
businesses.
• Opposition to the
Federalists began when
Philip Freneau began
publishing a newspaper.
• Opponents to Hamilton
came together and called
their party DemocraticRepublicans.
• They favored limited
central government and
policies favoring farmers
and urban workers
• Hamilton and the
Federalists believed
the federal government
had implied powers,
powers that were
suggested but not
directly stated in the
Constitution.
• Jefferson and Madison
disagreed with
Hamilton.
• Federalists supported
representative government;
Republicans believed that liberty
was safe only if ordinary citizens
participated in government.
• Washington tried to ease tensions
between the two groups, but Jefferson and
Hamilton ended up resigning their posts.
X
X
• Candidates
sought office for
the first time as
members of a
political party in
1796.
• To prepare for
the election,
Federalists and
Republicans
held caucuses,
or meetings.
• John Adams
represented the
Federalists in the
election, and
Thomas Jefferson
represented the
Republicans.
• Adams won the
election, and
Jefferson became
vice president.
Exit Question 1
• How did Jefferson become vice president
when Adams’s running mate was Charles
Pinckney?
President John Adams
• John Adams had
much experience
in government.
• Abigail Adams, his
wife, had actively
supported the
American cause.
• The French resented Jay’s Treaty
as an attempt to help Britain.
• They began to seize American
ships that carried cargo to Britain.
• Adams sent a delegation to France to
settle the dispute, but French foreign
minister Charles de Talleyrand would not
meet with the Americans.
• Instead, three French agents were sent
who asked for a bribe and a loan from the
Americans to France.
• The Americans refused, and Adams told
Congress to prepare for war.
• This incident became known as the XYZ
affair.
• In response, Congress established the
Navy Department in April 1798 and
increased the size of the American army.
• Although war was not officially declared,
French and U.S. naval ships clashed
several times between 1798 and 1800.
• Many Americans felt France was an
enemy. Republicans, who had been
friendly with France in the past, did not
condemn the French.
• Subsequently, some Republicans were
voted out of office.
• Americans became more suspicious of
aliens—immigrants who were not citizens
but were living in the United States—
because many aliens were anti-British.
• The Federalists
passed the Alien
and Sedition Acts to
protect the nation’s
security.
• Sedition refers to
activities aimed at
weakening
established
government.
• Many Federalists believed that the Alien
and Sedition Acts would weaken the
Republican Party.
• Instead, the laws hurt the Federalists
more.
• An even larger number of immigrants gave
their support to the Republicans.
• Newspaper editors jailed for sedition were
hailed as heroes in the cause of freedom
of the press.
• The Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions of 1798 and
1799 claimed that the Alien
and Sedition Acts could not
be put into action because
they were unconstitutional.
• The Kentucky Resolutions
also suggested that the
states could nullify, or
legally overturn, federal laws
considered unconstitutional.
• The Virginia and
Kentucky
Resolutions
affirmed the
principle of states’
rights—limiting
federal government
to those powers
clearly assigned by
the Constitution.
• In 1800 the French agreed to a treaty with
the United States and stopped attacks on
American ships.
Exit Question 2
How did the Alien and Sedition Acts
negatively affect the Federalists?