Causes Of The XYZ Affair

The XYZ Affair was a diplomatic incident in 1789 that involved the newly formed United States and France.1 During the time of the XYZ Affair, the United States had elected its second president, John Adams. Before Adams became president, he was a major supporter in the idea of an independent nation. He was also a driving force in the American Revolution, and a supporter of American independence. For instance, he would spend hours writing about unfair taxation acts that included the Townshend and Stamp Acts to Britain, who at the time had control over the colonists.2 In addition to this, Adams was elected to represent his home state, Massachusetts, in both the first and second Continental Congress. His incredibly successful political background …show more content…
The cause for this was, again, the conflict with the XYZ Affair, which made the Americans want to declare official war on France.15 In addition to this, it was the first time that Americans neutrality was attacked. The Quasi war was a two year, undeclared war with France that was mainly fought in the Caribbean Sea and some parts of the Atlantic Ocean.16 The Quasi War helped establish the American Department of Navy, which increased the speed of production in making the ships. During this undeclared war, the United States navy captured 80 French naval vessels, however they lose 100 of their own ships in the …show more content…
At the time, the Federalists were in charge of Congress, and Adams was still president. Other political parties such as the Democratic-Republicans refused to enforce laws in some of the states, and Adams feared that a revolution was going to occur. This lead to the Federalist controlling Congress to pass the Alien and Seditions Acts, which were signed into law by President Adams.18 The idea of the Alien and Sedition Acts were caused by the Federalist party. They felt that French were sympathizing immigrants to revolt and cause anarchy in the American nation, so they established the Alien and Sedition Acts in hopes to prevent it. The Alien and Sedition Acts were a group of four laws passed by Congress. The Naturalization act extends the amount of time the person or immigrant had to reside in the states to become a legal American citizen from five to 14 years. The Alien Act, which authorized the president to deport or give jail time to any resident alien, considered dangerous or harmful to the United States. For example, French rebels spread ideas of revolution in the community and state.19 Also, the Alien Enemies act authorized deportation of resident aliens if their home countries were at war with the United States. For example, if England and the United States are at war, the president has authorization to send Britain born citizens back to England. Finally, there's the