Dbq Alien And Sedition Acts

In the early 19th century the two dominant political parties, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists, had many opposing beliefs. With respect to the federal constitution, the Jeffersonian Republicans were viewed as strict constructionists who were opposed to the broad and lenient constructionism of the Federalists. The Jeffersonian Republicans were supported by commoners and the middle class. In general, they favored limiting the power of the national government, they believed that farming should serve as the backbone of the economy based on agriculture, and they supported the cause of the French Revolution. Contrary to such beliefs were those of the Federalists who were supported by the wealthy and aristocrats. Federalists, who

There were some people who didn't agree with everything that the Federalist Party believed. This new party was known as the Democratic Republicans. This party was made up of farmers, small businessmen, and laborers. The Democratic Republicans weren't backed by as much money, and were considerably poorer than the Federalists. The south and west parts of the United States were most influenced by the Democratic Republicans because that is were the majority of the farming population was

As the young colonies of America broke away from their mother country and began to grow and develop into an effective democratic nation, many changes occurred. As the democracy began to grow, two main political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists.      Each party had different views on how the government should be run. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict construction of the Constitution. The Federalists opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. Throughout the years, the political parties have grown, developed, and even dispersed into

As his presidency continued Jefferson began drifting further away from the original ideals of the Republican Party. His decisions no longer reflected a strict interpretation of the Constitution, but resembled the loose construction of the Constitution employed by the Federalists. When he made the decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory in 1803, effectively doubling the territory of the USA, he loosely interpreted the Constitution like that of a federalist by working around the Constitution. No where did the Constitution state that the president had the power to make such a purchase, but by using the “necessary and proper” clause as a loop pole he made the purchase. He went against his party doctrine of strict interpretation in order to expand American domain and to protect the US from the threat of a resurgent France. Another show of Republican movement away from being strict constructionist was when Jefferson passed The Embargo Act of 1807, which banned all foreign exports. Supported by Document C, the Embargo Act was extremely unpopular with the American public. No where in the listing of the presidential powers did it state that a law such as the Embargo Act could be passed. When Jefferson passed this Act,

Hamilton created a financial system and national bank that solved the countries debt problem. The Anti-Federalists held the opposite views. They were a diverse coalition of people who opposed ratification of the Constitution. The party mostly consisted of farmers who lived in the south. They objected the new powerful central government, the loss of prestige for the states, and saw the Constitution as a potential danger to personal liberties. They believed that the greatest threat to the future of the United States lay in the government's potential to become corrupt and seize more and more power until its monarch rule completely dominated the people. Jefferson believed that the Federalists’ acted as monocrats (Doc 5). The Anti-Federalists strongly supported state rights, but were opposed to a national bank because they didn’t want a strong central government (Doc 2). Local control was crucial to Antifederalists’ concept of democracy. The differences in political parties and philosophies led to the opposing opinions on government issues. Disagreements between Hamilton’s and Jefferson’s viewpoints involving a national bank, constitution interpretations, and social differences led to the rise of political parties.

Federalists wanted a strong Federal government, however the Democratic Republicans opposed it. The original members of the Democratic Republicans said that, “People would only be safe if ordinary people were in government.” They believed that the people would know what's right and they would make a lot of good decisions. The Federalists however wanted the government to be powerful. Hamilton wrote, “The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right.” He is right because our founding fathers agreed that if the people were angels there would be no need for a government , guess what we are not angels so we will make mistakes. To help make the people make better decisions Hamilton believed they needed a government above them. The Democratic Republicans also wanted the states to have more power and not the Government, as you can imagine there were more disagreements.

Signed into law by President John Adams in 1798, the Alien and Sedition Acts consisted of four laws passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress as America prepared for war with France. These acts increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to fourteen years, authorized the president to imprison or deport aliens considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" and restricted speech critical of the government. These laws were designed to silence and weaken the Democratic-Republican Party. Negative reaction to the Alien and Sedition Acts helped contribute to the Democratic-Republican victory in the 1800 elections. Congress repealed the Naturalization Act in 1802, while the other acts were allowed to expire.

Originally, a supporter of George Washington, James Madison soon found himself at odds with Washington due to financial issues. He and Thomas Jefferson campaigned against the creation of a central federal bank, claiming it was unconstitutional, yet despite all efforts, the measure was passed by 1791. Around this time, they abandoned the Federalist party and created their political entity, the Democratic-Republican party.

First, when the political parties emerged in the 1790’s it was evident that their ideologies were vastly different. The Republican Party wanted a representative form of government that functioned “in the interest of the people.” This party, led by Thomas Jefferson, supported a limited central government, with individual states retaining a majority of the control. Jefferson’s vision was for a nation of farmers, and farmers do not need big government to survive. They feared a large central government would take away the rights of the people. On the other hand, the Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton, supported a strong central government that would pursue policies in support of economic growth, which in turn would provide the freedom the people wanted. Hamilton’s followers also supported a diverse economy.1 It is important to note here however, that both parties knew they would have to become national parties in order to win any elections and both parties had followers in the north and in the south. There was no sectional divide in the parties.

In the article The Fears of the Federalist by Linda K. Kerber and The Fears of the Jeffersonian Republic by Drew R. McCoy, both draws the ideals of the federalist and the Republicans distant conflict of opposing ideas in the political field. Kerber expresses, in her article, how federalist were carefully placed people with leadership from the top minds of wealthy society. As for McCoy shined the Republicans in his article as a bright blue collar society of united people that were more willing to change with more of rebellious mindset. Yet these groups seem to have ideas on different spectrums of the political layout. A vision of what America should become, both feared that the effects of each other's assembly would have on the public and influence for change in the future of the United States stability at home and foreign.

During the 1790 the country was split up over the rise of political parties. There were the federalists led by alexander hamilton and the democratic-republicans led by Alexander Hamilton and the democratic republicans led by tomas jefferson. The federalists and democratic-republicans have different views on many things, including the interpretation of the constitution, strong parts of the nation's economy and if the alien and sedition acts were important to have in our country.

The Alien Act allowed the president to remove anyone he thought to be dangerous or harmful to the country’s well being from the country. The Sedition Act banned all criticizing of the United States government in any way shape or form. Both acts violate the constitution in multiple ways. The Alien and Sedition Acts were created to filter and clean out the “bad” people from the young and growing country, and to keep the government clean. Innocent people were being removed from the country because he or she was thought to be dangerous. Only one side of the government was being seen. There was no contrast or comparison in our government of the people. When people started to realize that these acts were unconstitutional they began to rebel to protect themselves.

In 1798 the United States was involved in an undeclared war with France. “The United States again stood on the brink of war with a major European power, only this time instead of Great Britain the hostile nation was France.”(Hay 141) Later on the Federalist Party passed a series of four laws which were called the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Federalists saw foreigners as a deep threat to American security. There were a series of four acts that were adopted to alienate aliens. The first of these acts was the Naturalization Act which was passed by Congress on June 18. This act required that aliens be residents for 14 years instead of 5 years

Hamilton also proposed to pay off the foriegn debt and to issue new bonds to replace the old bonds. One of the most significant things Hamilton did was propose the idea of a national bank that would be funded by the federal government and private investors, and that would also issue money and handle all government funds. During the XYZ affair, the Federalists prefered to fight the French than to pay or negotiate, as the Republican position confirmed. The Federalists also agreed with and helped pass such laws as the Naturalization Act, the Alien Act, and the Sedition Act.

Another main issue concerning the parties and their different views was centered on domestic economic policies; the creation and sustainment of the National Bank. Federalists were in favor of the National Bank because they believed the nation would thrive off of business, commerce and industry. Although the Constitution did not state within itself the creation of a national banking system, Federalists often loosely interpreted the Constitution. Democratic-Republicans, on the other hand, were strongly opposed to the creation of the National Bank, fearing that it placed too much control in the hands of the federal government. Democratic-Republicans had a strict interpretation of the Constitution, meaning that if the Constitution did not explicitly authorize something to the federal government, then it was reserved to the states. Because of Federalist’s ideals that the nation would prosper off of industry, they gained much support from bankers, merchants, manufacturers, and the elite. Their support system was based in the North, due to the North’s growing industrial economy because of their bitter climate, ports, and abundance of natural resources. However, the Democratic-Republicans gained much of the South’s vote because of their support in farmers and planters. Their belief in state’s rights, individualism, neutrality and preference of an agricultural society as opposed to an industrial society won them support in the south. With their