APUSH 4.2 The Rise of Political Parties and the Era of Jefferson

Federal Power vs State Power

  • Recall that states largely outweighed federal power under the Articles of Confederation
  • This was rectified with the constitution, where federal power trumped state power

Adams Presidency

  • XYZ Affair (1797-1798)
  • Quasi-war with France (1798-1800)
  • Growth of the Democratic-Republican Party
  • Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
    • Dem-Reps were strongly against this, they felt that it infringed upon free speech
    • Many of these representatives went to their home states and passed laws that nullified this act
    • An act from the Federalist party
  • Virginia Resolves (1799)
    • From the Dem-Reps
    • Driven by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

Impact on Election of 1800

  • Conflict over the Alien and Sedition acts contributes to division between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans
  • It would be a toss-up between Adams, pushing for strong federal power, and Jefferson, wanting more state power

Marbury v. Madison

Background

  • Election of 1800 occured
  • John Adams, in a last-ditch effort to make federalist power last, appoints supreme court judges in the middle of the night, before power turned over
    • These would come to be known as the midnight judges
  • Adams literally runs out of time and signs some of the appointments past midnight
    • One of these was the appointment of William Marbury as the Justice of Peace in D.C.
    • Since time ran out, the appointment was never delivered
  • At this time John Marshall is Secretary of State and Chief Justice

The Issue

  • Thomas Jefferson comes to power, instating James Madison as his Secretary of State, making the White House entirely Dem-Rep
  • The Chief Justice is still John Marshall and so the supreme court is mainly Federalist
  • William Marbury, being a Federalist, knows he won’t get help from the White House, but the Judicial Branch might help him get his job
  • Marbury sues James Madison
  • Marshall rules that Marbury deserves his position and that he deserves a remedy, but the big question is if that remedy should come from the court
    • Another question is if the constitution takes precedent over any other laws made
    • Marshall decides that when a law goes against the constitution, courts will decide on a case-by-case basis which ends up on top
    • They decide that the constitution is the highest power in this case and any laws in opposition to it are void
    • This is Judicial Review
  • This also voids what Thomas Jefferson did during the Alien and Sedition Acts, where the state of Virginia ruled a federal act unconstitutional

Effects

  • Intensifying debate over loose or strict construction of the constitution
  • Federal power is established in this ruling
  • Bitter political party division over…
    • Constitutional interpretation
    • Federal and state powers

Louisiana Purchase

  • Jefferson is President when the desperate Napoleon offers all French territory in North America for 15 million dollars
    • Although a large payment, especially for the new and debt-riddled US, this was an incredible bargain
  • However, Jefferson is supposed to be a struct interpreter of the constitution
    • Nowhere does it say that the legislative branch can initiate claims of territory
    • Nor does it say they can’t… For once, Jefferson uses the vague wording to his advantage
    • He goes through with the purchase and nearly doubles the size of the US
  • We didn’t know what was out there, so Lewis and Clark are sent to find the other coast and document what the rest of the continent is like
    • They’re gone for three years, and sometimes they’re suspected to be dead
    • They draw and write about tons of the plants and animals they see, bringing back seeds, leaves, hides, bones, and more
    • They also documented the people they encountered