The Antebellum Era (1781-1860):

The New Nation of the USA Part 2

2. Antebellum America

b. Identify and evaluate the major events and issues that promoted sectional conflicts and strained national cohesiveness in the antebellum period.

f. Compare and contrast the economic, social, and cultural differences of the North and South during the antebellum period.

France and Britain Continue to Have Hostility

-After the French Revolution, France and Britain went to war.

-Democratic Republicans supported the French. Federalists supported the British.

-Washington declared the USA neutral in the matter.

America Gains More Land

-In 1794, Jay’s Treaty involved Chief Justice John Jay. He got Britain to relinquish western lands bordering the USA.

-Britain was allowed to stay in various areas for fur trading and kept control of the Caribbean.

-In 1795, a diplomat named Thomas Pinckney got Spain to sign a treaty called Pinckney’s Treaty. Spain gave up all land claims east of the Mississippi, except Florida.

In Pinckney’s Treaty, Spain gave up areas East of the

Mississippi. For a time, this region was called the

Mississippi Territory. Other states would form in these

areas later. Spain did not give up Florida in this treaty.

America After George Washington

-Washington set a precedent and did not run for a third term. In the presidential elections, the winner became president and the runner up Vice-President.

-In the election of 1796, Federalists nominated the vice-president John Adams. The Democratic-Republicans nominated Thomas Jefferson.

-After the election, John Adams, supported by the Northerners, was elected president. Thomas Jefferson, supported by Southerners, was elected vice-president.

John Adams:

Federalist Thomas Jefferson:

Democratic-Republicans

Even in the early Antebellum Era, the North and South had different cultures, values, and economies. These differences were causing political tension between the two regions. In the election of 1796, many in the North supported Adams and many in the South supported Jefferson.

The X,Y,Z Affair

-France was angry that the USA signed Jay’s Treaty with Britain and started seizing ships that belonged to the United States.

-Chief Justice John Marshal met with French agents referred to as “X, Y, & Z” . The men tried to get the USA to bribe them to stop seizing ships. They asked for $250,000.00.

-This was the X,Y,Z Affair and angered America. In 1798, Congress made a navy department and started ceasing French ships. Eventually, the situation died down through diplomacy.

A British cartoon mocking the “X,Y,Z” Affair. The French are depicted as taking

money from America, depicted as a woman, and stealing it as a bribe.

The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 & 1799

-The Federalists feared foreigners who supported the Democratic Republicans, so they took steps to limit the power of immigrants.

-The USA was a nation of those who descended from immigrants. Despite this, momentum was gaining to restrict future immigrants.

-For instance, in Congress, they raised the citizenship requirement to 14 years residency in the USA.

Limiting Immigration

-They also gave the President power to deport or jail any foreigner considered “undesirable” to the USA.

-The new laws also allowed people to be arrested for, “…false, scandalous, and malicious statements.”

-Many felt these laws were unfair and treated immigrants in unnecessary, negative ways.

States Resist the Alien and Sedition Acts

-Kentucky and Virginia did not feel they had to follow these rules because they believed them to be unconstitutional.

-With the creation of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, the states refused to follow the new laws. This process of refusal is called nullification.

-This created a debate concerning how the states must cooperate with the Federal Government.

THE

END

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