1788–1817 - Early Republic

The XYZ Dispatches were a record of diplomatic exchanges between American commissioners and intermediaries on behalf of French Foreign Minister Talleyrand. They revealed French demands for an apology, a loan, and bribes from the United States. Americans responded with outrage, pushing the nation into the Quasi-War with France.

The Yazoo Land Scandal, perpetrated by investors and members of the Georgia legislature in 1795, is considered the largest land fraud committed during the Federalist Era and one of the most sensational events of the time. It also led to the landmark Supreme Court Case Fletcher v. Peck.