President Washington demonstrated the ability of the federal
government to enforce its laws by calling out state militia to
suppress the Whiskey Rebellion, a revolt by farmers in western
Pennsylvania who objected to taxation on whiskey. An unofficial
war between the US and France, the Quasi War was sparked by the
XYZ Affair and the decision of the United States to terminate
its treaties with France. Consisting of a series of conflicts at
sea, the war ended with the signing of the Convention of 1800,
which allowed for the end of the previous alliance between the
US and France but asserted a “firm, inviolable, and universal
peace, and a true and sincere Friendship between” the two
countries. The Judiciary Act of 1801 increased the number of
federal courts, judgeships, clerks, and marshals. President
Adams, whose term of office was about to expire, quickly filled
the new positions with Federalists. A Philadelphia newspaper
published President Washington’s Farewell Address. A plea for
national unity against parti