Adams and Jefferson had disagreed on almost every major policy issue during Washington’s administration. Not surprisingly, the new president rarely took advice from his vice president, who continued to lead the opposition. At the same time, Adams retained most of Washington’s appointees, who repeatedly sought advice from Hamilton, which further undercut Adams’s authority. Worse still, the new president had poor political instincts and faced numerous challenges.

At first, foreign disputes enhanced the authority of the Adams administration. The Federalists remained pro-British, and French seizures of U.S. ships threatened to provoke war. In 1798 Adams tried to negotiate compensation for the losses suffered by merchants. When an American delegation arrived in Paris, however, three French agents demanded a bribe to initiate talks.

The Democratic-Republicans in Congress believed that Adams was exaggerating the issue to undermine U.S.-French relations. Adams then made public secret correspondence from the French agents, whose names were listed only as X, Y, and Z. Americans, including Democratic-Republicans, expressed outrage at this French insult to U.S. integrity, which became known as the XYZ affair. Congress quickly approved an embargo act that prohibited trade with France and permitted privateering against French ships. In May 1798, Congress allocated funds to build up the navy and defend the American coastline against attack. For the next two years, the United States fought an undeclared war with France.

Despite widespread support for his handling of the XYZ affair, Adams feared dissent from opponents at home and abroad. Consequently, the Federalist majority in Congress passed a series of security acts in 1798. The Alien Act allowed the president to order the imprisonment or deportation of noncitizens and was directed primarily at Irish and Scottish dissenters who criticized the government’s pro-British policies. Congress also approved the Naturalization Act, which raised the residency requirement for citizenship from five to fourteen years. Finally, Federalists pushed through the Sedition Act, which outlawed “false, scandalous, or malicious statements against President or Congress” and penalized those who incited hatred of the government.

The First Amendment stated that Congress “shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” However, as a Federalist newspaper explained, in the current situation, “All who are against us are at war.” No opposition to Federalist policies would be tolerated. Over the next several months, nearly two dozen Democratic-Republican editors and legislators were arrested for sedition, and some were fined and imprisoned.

Democratic-Republicans were, understandably, infuriated by the Alien and Sedition Acts. They considered the attack on immigrants an attempt to limit the votes of farmers, artisans, and frontiersmen, who formed the core of their supporters. The Sedition Act also challenged the party since it was Republican critics who faced arrest. Jefferson and Madison encouraged states to pass resolutions that would counter this violation of the Bill of Rights. Accepting resolutions drafted by Jefferson and Madison, legislators in Virginia and Kentucky declared the Alien and Sedition Acts “void and of no force.” Virginia went even further, claiming that states had a right to nullify any powers exercised by the federal government that were not explicitly granted to it.

Although the Alien and Sedition Acts curbed dissent in the short run, they reinforced popular concerns about the power wielded by the Federalists. Combined with the ongoing war with France, continuing disputes over taxes, and relentless partisan attacks and denunciations in the press, these acts set the stage for the presidential election of 1800.