With George Washington concerned that if he died while holding the Presidency it would appear that the U.S. President served for life, just like the British monarch, he stepped aside and his Vice President, John Adams, was elected in 1796. (Washington died in 1799, at the age of 67.) For the first time in our history, the candidates were affiliated with political parties: Adams, a Federalist, won 71 electoral votes, and Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, won 68 votes.
10. Washington spent his first term as President in New York City, and his second term was in Philadelphia. Adams was also inaugurated in Philadelphia, but construction of the new national capital in Washington D.C. was completed in 1800, completing the compromise that placated Southerners by locating the national capital in a Southern rural agrarian locale while the financial center of the nation remained in urban Philadelphia with the Bank of the U.S. A free African American surveyor, Benjamin Banneker, helped lay out the design for Washington D.C.
9. The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1798. It reversed the precedent of Chisholm v. Georgia by establishing that citizens of another state or of a foreign country cannot sue a U.S. state.
8. A slave named Gabriel organized a slave uprising in Virginia in 1800, but the plan was leaked, and he and many others were captured before carrying out their plan. About 35 slaves were executed, and as a result of this threatened rebellion, many states passed legislation restricting the movement of slaves.
7. The Treaty of Ildefonso was negotiated in 1800, with Spain giving up the Louisiana Territory to France in exchange for some land in Italy. With this deal, the United States had a new neighbor to the west.
6. The French were angered the U.S. was not making payments on its debts owed to France and chose to seize U.S. merchant ships as compensation. President Adams sent three envoys to Paris in 1797 to negotiate a resolution, but the French responded by sending three low-level intermediaries (who became known as X, Y, and Z) who demanded a huge bribe and other concessions before they would negotiate. The High Federalists in Congress wanted war and responded to this XYZ Affair with the slogan, “Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute!” Anti-French sentiment spiked, and Congress officially rescinded the 1778 Treaty of Paris in July 1798.
5. The United States and France engaged in a quasi-war from 1798-1800. Although there was never an officially declared war, there were naval battles that provided important experience for the new U.S. Navy. It was concluded by the agreement known as the Convention of 1800.
4. The Judiciary Act of 1801 created 16 new federal judgeships that were filled by Adams. This legislation was passed after Adams lost the 1800 election but before Jefferson took office, so these appointees to lifetime office were known as the “midnight judges.”
3. Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 in an effort to cement control and decrease criticisms of Adams. This legislation increased the naturalization period to 14 years, allowed the President to deport aliens, and forbade “scandalous and malicious writing” in newspapers.
2. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were written in 1798 by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson respectively. They opposed the Alien and Sedition Acts and argued the states had the right to nullify federal laws.
1. The 1800 presidential election was considered a “revolution” because for the first time, presidential power would transfer from one political party (the Federalists) to another (the Democratic-Republicans). The sitting Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, defeated the sitting President Adams.
Courtney Bailey, MAT 