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 DemocraticRepublicans 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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