John Adams had a miserable presidency. I honestly feel bad for him. He was an excellent public servant leading up to, and during, the Revolutionary War, but sadly his legacy is tarnished with his time as president. His personality was not well suited to be an executive (he was short-tempered, easily offended and too smart for his own good) and he was constantly being compared to Washington. Following in Washington's footsteps led to constant, and unfair, criticism that he was not able to handle.
Two things define Adams' presidency: The XYZ Affair and the Alien/Sedition Acts. Of those two, the most damaging incident was the Alien/Sedition Acts. Rather than explain them to you, I want you to explore these two websites: Website A and Website B. On Website A, be sure to click the link for the "Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions" at the end of the reading because you need to read that as well.
For the comment section, give your thoughts on the following questions: Was Adams justified in passing these acts? Did these acts violate the Bill of Rights? If they did, should he have been impeached? Should the government ever be allowed to "overstep their boundaries" in the name of "public protection"?
John Adams should not have passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. They violated the Bill of Rights. He should have known that not everyone would like him and that some would say bad things about him; he needed to get over that. Making a law like that makes him like a king. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions tried to fix this. “The states had the duty to nullify within their borders those laws that were unconstitutional.” They said that the states were allowed to cancel the laws that went against the constitution. The acts were not repealed right away, but without the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, they probably would not have been repealed for a while longer.
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ReplyDeleteI think John Adams overstepped his boundaries with the alien and sedition acts because that violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. I do kind of feel bad for the guy, but he should have known better than to pass something which was unconstitutional. I don’t think he should have been present in the 1st place because he could not take criticism they could not live up to the people’s expectations like they had with George Washington. I do not think that he should have been impeached because while he made some bad decisions Pres. he was overall an okay guy.
ReplyDeleteI do think that he crossed the lone when it came to the alien and sedition acts. I think that maybe because he had a bad ego and because he had a miserable presidency that he kind of took it out on other people. I kind of feel bad that he had such a horrible presidency, but I do not think that is a good reason to be mean and cruel to so many people. Like I mentioned his ego was not the best, and so he could not take criticism or correction from other people. And so I think that because of that, he should not have been president.(110)
ReplyDeleteI do feel a little sorry for him because he had a very hard presidency, but that does not mean you can just go off and put people in prison for their opinion being different form what you say. Adams did have very high standards to live up to coming into office just after the first president of the brand new United States George Washington. The people did not like him because he did some things much different than Washington did. He passed the Alien and Sedition Acts which let him throw someone in prison for saying something he didn't like,(which by the way is ridiculous)because of his self esteem issues.(112)
ReplyDeleteOk well we all know that Adams was a terrible president and he did alot of things wrong. But I'm sure there were plenty of things he did right too! I mean there's got to be! But anyways, the laws that he passed did violate the Bill of Rights. He wasn't giving the people 'freedom of the press' or 'freedom of speech.' I don't think Adams meant to be a dictator but the fact that he would throw someone in jail if they said something bad about him did sound like something a dictator would do. I don't think he needed to be impeached because he didn't ruin America or anything. We've had plenty of bad presidents. The government should not have been able to do that because it was violating the laws that they put into place! (137)
ReplyDeleteJohn Adams was garbage, but at the same time, he was compared to George Washington! That is not fair because Washington was too good. Adams was definitely not justified in passing those laws though. It obviously went against the Constitution. People’s freedom of speech was infringed! If they said something bad they could be put in jail. I do not think Adams should have been impeached though. If some of the bills were never passed then this would not even be an issue. Since they were passed, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions had to be created. These spoke out against the Alien and Sedition Acts. I would hope the government wouldn't ever need to “overstep their boundaries”. (118)
ReplyDeleteJohn Adams may have or may not have been the best president but all i have to say is that he remained neutral. if Adams didn't remain neutral what would the new country of America be like today?.... think about it. Adams may have made these acts but maybe he was just not trying to protect himself,, i dont think he was a dictator but i do think the alien and sedition acts did violate the Bill of Rights. Also, needing to be impeached, ehh no. i think it was fine. he didnt ruin the US did he? maybe we all need mistakes to make things right, correct? (108)
ReplyDeleteJohn Adams was just stupid to pass this act. He violated the bill of rights, which makes everyone so mad. He wasn't giving freedom and not obeying the 1st admandement. I however do not think Adams should have been impeached, I mean he was stupid but not that stupid! America is everyone's land not just the "white" people. The only good thing John Adams did was keep us neutral. The alien act never was passed which was awesome because the act was crazy. (103)
ReplyDeleteI feel that John Adams over-reacted from France’s behavior toward the U.S. Whether he was justified in signing these acts into law is a complicated question since signing bills sent to him by Congress was one of his duties as president. It sounds as if he was more afraid of the other political party, the Democratic-Republicans, which were made up of non-English ethnic core groups. The Alien and Sedition Acts did violate the Bill of Rights. Free speech should always be protected. I do not think impeaching Adams would have been the right thing to do since this all originated in the Federalist-controlled Congress. The Constitution defines what the government is allowed to do. It should never be allowed to attempt to limit the individual rights defined in the Constitution using “public protection” as a reason.
ReplyDeleteThe only act I had major problems with was the Sedition Act. It absolutely went against everything the first amendment stood for. The Alien Act was also problematic. The foreigners should not be expelled without reason. Now, the Naturalization and Alien Enemies Acts were completely different stories. First, the Naturalization Act allowed foreigners to gain citizenship, even with the longer wait time. The Alien Enemies Act kept dangerous foreigners in check, and seemed helpful. It was said to have not been enforced for whatever reason. Yes, Adams went WAY over his boundaries with the Sedition Act (probably due to his wounded ego), but his ideas for the Alien Enemies, if taken down a notch, may have been helpful to this country. Was he quick to send in the law? Yes. Was he right in doing so? I’m afraid not. But was he a complete idiot? Not in the slightest.
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ReplyDeleteI do not think Adams was justified in his opinion. These acts clearly violated the constitution. Yes, I do feel bad for him, but he should have known better. He obviously knew that people had other opinions, but just because someone's view is not the same as yours doesn't mean you have to condemn them for it. I think he should have been impeached because he violated the Constitution. But, I think because everyone was trying to compare him to Washington, that didn't help his confidence at all, and it made him a little bit more stern. But, he did help us remain neutral. I'm on the fence about him. (111)
ReplyDeleteAlso, Adams didn't seem to like foreigners. I mean, wouldn't you want people coming to your country? It's great that people wanted to come to America. I mean, everyone was hearing all about it! I wish that they didn't let the Alien acts. (now 155)
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