HIST 1483 1st Edition Lecture 15Outline of Last LectureI. Beginnings of the ConstitutionII. Washington’s PresidencyIII. Adams’ PresidencyIV. Clicker QuestionsOutline of Current LectureI. The XYZ AffairII. Alien and Sedition ActsIII. Jeffersonian RevolutionIV. MadisonV. Clicker QuestionsCurrent LectureI. The XYZ AffairA. Because of this affair, Americans chose sides in the ongoing war between Napoleon and the enemies of Napoleon headed by BritainB. Conflict spilled into the U.S.1. Federalist supporters spent millions on defense but nothing on tributei. Would not pay bribes to Franceii. This display of rallying around the president against a foreign bully boosted his popularityII. Alien and Sedition ActsA. Pushed by the Federalists and congress to stifle republican oppositionB. Alien Act1. If someone wasn’t a citizen of the U.S. they could be deportedC. Sedition Act1. Made it a criminal offense to talk poorly about the government2. Basically outlawed political criticism under the guise of national security3. Very enforced4. The courts were completely in the control of the party that opposed the ActsD. Gave rise to organized opposition1. By Madison and JeffersonThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.i. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions said the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional (this wasn’t the source of controversy)ii. Also said that the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures decided that this federal law was unconstitutional and therefore null and void iii. These became basic documents in American constitutional history because they formed the backbone of the southern political argument in the sectional debate leading up to the Civil Wara. Namely that because states were older than the constitution, both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were compacts between statesb. Since the states essentially created the federal government, the federal government was basically the agent of the states and the states had the final say over the limits of federal powerc. In this doctrine, the doctrine of nullification, the seeds of secession and civil war can be seenE. Still passed because Jefferson became president and everyone forgot about the ActsIII. Jeffersonian RevolutionA. New era that occurs with Jefferson’s election in 1800 as the 3rd president of the U.S.B. On the eve of the election, the federalists were fatally divided1. Adams lost the support of many of the high Federalists by negotiating peace settlement with many of his outstanding agreements with the French2. That coupled with Republican enthusiasm for Adams’ opponent cost him the electionC. Jefferson got 73 electoral votes while Adams got 651. Aaron Burr also got 73 electoral votes and he was running for vice president (VP) because the constitution didn’t specify which votes were for the president and which were for the vice presidencyi. Burr tried to win the election himself2. Since neither candidate had a majority, the House decided (which was controlled by the Federalists)i. Still, even though Jefferson was Hamilton’s rival, they chose him over opportunistBurr3. Jefferson dropped Burr as his running matei. Hamilton shot and killed by Burr in a duel which he was challenged to by Burr after Hamilton called him a liarD. New president took office and the revolution of 1800 began1. Jefferson tried to return the government to the principles of Republicanism and reverse what he considered to be usurpations of Federalist poweri. Especially those that centralized power in the federal governmenta. Ones that raised taxes and created permanent national debt and suppressed civil liberties (especially through the Alien and Sedition Acts)b. All taxes repealed including Whiskey tax and taxes on slaves and houses, but federal tariff remained(1) Tax inspector firedii. Government spending cutiii. Government expenses cuta. Debt reduced to $50 millioniv. Army was reduced to 3,000 soldiers and 172 officersv. Emphasis on informality (best seats were given to those who got there first, dirt roads, even greeting guests in slippers)vi. Initially he renounced political patronagea. Promised only to replace those federalists who needed to be replaced with republicans(1) Only criteria for office holding should be honesty, ability, and loyaltyvii. Alien and Sedition Acts allowed to expirea. Only had to wait 5 year for citizenship instead of the previous 14b. Those who were convicted and fined were pardoned2. One thing they didn’t do was attack the bank of the U.S.i. Jefferson had fought against it (said it was unconstitutional) but the Secretary of the Treasury saw it as useful so he kept itE. Jefferson got into a struggle with the judiciary (mostly the federalists who were still in congress) very early in his presidency1. The federalists intended to use their branch to frustrate anything Jefferson and his party wanted to doi. This ended up establishing the Judiciary Act of 1801a. Created 16 new federal judgeships, 200 marshals, attorneys, messengers which were filled with Federalistsb. Extended the jurisdiction of federal courts and required a reduction the number of supreme court justices when city justices resigned or retired(1) So Jefferson couldn’t even appoint new Supreme Court Justices (2) Republicans argued that since Congress could create federal courts, it could also eliminate them(i) A new bill was introduced to repeal the Judiciary Act and it passed (barely)(3) Fight broke out about whether these appointees (those appointed before Jefferson took office) should be allowed to take their seats (i) Jefferson refused to deliver the commissions(a) One of them, William Marbury, sued Madison claiming he had the right to assume his new appointed position based on the Judiciary Act of 1789(b) Marbury vs. Madison established the principle of Judicial Review(c) Congress, court, and executive went against one each other and theChief Justice, Marshall, had to decide- Marshall ruled that the court didn’t possess the authority to order Madison to granted Marbury his commission because theapplicable section of the Judiciary Act was unconstitutional- First time the supreme court has decided the federal law was unconstitutional- Up to this point, the Supreme Court had never assumed the authority to make the decision on constitutionality- The Supreme Court reserved to itself the power to decide