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CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYAmerica’s destiny as that of a vastagrarian republic. The politics oftheir conflicting positions becameincreasingly vehement.ADAMS AND JEFFERSONWashington retired in 1797, firmlydeclining to serve for more thaneight years as the nation’s head.Thomas Jefferson of Virginia (Republican)and John Adams (Federalist)vied to succeed him. Adamswon a narrow election victory. Fromthe beginning, however, he was atthe head of a party and an administrationdivided between his backersand those of his rival, Hamilton.Adams faced serious internationaldifficulties. France, angered byJay’s treaty with Britain, adopted itsdefinition of contraband and beganto seize American ships headed forBritain. By 1797 France had snatched300 American ships and brokenoff diplomatic relations with theUnited States. When Adams sentthree commissioners to Paris tonegotiate, agents of Foreign MinisterCharles Maurice de Talleyrand(whom Adams labeled X, Y, andZ in his report to Congress) informedthe Americans that negotiationscould only begin if the UnitedStates loaned France $12 millionand bribed officials of the Frenchgovernment. American hostility toFrance rose to an excited pitch. Theso-called XYZ Affair led to the enlistmentof troops and the strengtheningof the fledgling U.S. Navy.In 1799, after a series of sea battleswith the French, war seemedinevitable. In this crisis, Adamsrejected the guidance of Hamilton,who wanted war, and reopened negotiationswith France. Napoleon,who had just come to power, receivedthem cordially. The dangerof conflict subsided with the negotiationof the Convention of 1800,which formally released the UnitedStates from its 1778 defense alliancewith France. However, reflectingAmerican weakness, France refusedto pay $20 million in compensationfor American ships taken by theFrench Navy.Hostility to France had led Congressto pass the Alien and SeditionActs, which had severe repercussionsfor American civil liberties. TheNaturalization Act, which changedthe requirement for citizenshipfrom five to 14 years, was targetedat Irish and French immigrantssuspected of supporting the Republicans.The Alien Act, operative fortwo years only, gave the presidentthe power to expel or imprisonaliens in time of war. The SeditionAct proscribed writing, speaking,or publishing anything of “a false,scandalous, and malicious” natureagainst the president or Congress.The few convictions won under itcreated martyrs to the cause of civilliberties and aroused support for theRepublicans.The acts met with resistance. Jeffersonand Madison sponsored thepassage of the Kentucky and VirginiaResolutions by the legislaturesof these two states in November andDecember 1798. Extreme declarationof states’ rights, the resolutionsasserted that states could “interpose”their views on federal actionsand “nullify” them. The doctrineof nullification would be used laterfor the Southern states’ resistance toprotective tariffs, and, more ominously,slavery.By 1800 the American peoplewere ready for a change. UnderWashington and Adams, the Federalistshad established a strong government,but sometimes failing tohonor the principle that the Americangovernment must be responsiveto the will of the people, they hadfollowed policies that alienated largegroups. For example, in 1798 theyhad enacted a tax on houses, land,and slaves, affecting every propertyowner in the country.Jefferson had steadily gatheredbehind him a great mass of smallfarmers, shopkeepers, and otherworkers. He won a close victory ina contested election. Jefferson enjoyedextraordinary favor because ofhis appeal to American idealism. Inhis inaugural address, the first suchspeech in the new capital of Washington,D.C., he promised “a wiseand frugal government” that wouldpreserve order among the inhabitantsbut leave people “otherwise freeto regulate their own pursuits of industry,and improvement.”Jefferson’s mere presence in theWhite House encouraged democraticprocedures. He preachedand practiced democratic simplicity,eschewing much of the pompand ceremony of the presidency. Inline with Republican ideology, hesharply cut military expenditures.Believing America to be a havenfor the oppressed, he secured a liberalnaturalization law. By the endof his second term, his far-sightedsecretary of the treasury, AlbertGallatin, had reduced the nationaldebt to less than $560 million.Widely popular, Jefferson won reelectionas president easily.LOUISIANA AND BRITAINOne of Jefferson’s acts doubled thearea of the country. At the end of theSeven Years’ War, France had cededits territory west of the MississippiRiver to Spain. Access to the portof New Orleans near its mouth wasvital for the shipment of Americanproducts from the Ohio and Mississippiriver valleys. Shortly after Jeffersonbecame president, Napoleonforced a weak Spanish governmentto cede this great tract, the LouisianaTerritory, back to France. The movefilled Americans with apprehensionand indignation. French plans fora huge colonial empire just west ofthe United States seriously threatenedthe future development of theUnited States. Jefferson asserted thatif France took possession of Louisiana,“from that moment we mustmarry ourselves to the British fleetand nation.”Napoleon, however, lost interestafter the French were expelled fromHaiti by a slave revolt. Knowing thatanother war with Great Britain was8283