The Adams Presidency

John Adams - overview from 1797 to 1801

• The presidency of John Adams, began on March 4, 1797, when John Adams was inaugurated as the second President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1801.
• Adams, served as vice president under George Washington.
• He was the only member of the Federalist Party to ever serve as president, his presidency ended after a single term following his defeat in the 1800 presidential election.
• He was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party.

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John Adams - overview from 1797 to 1801

• When Adams entered office, the ongoing war between France and Great Britain was causing great difficulties for American merchants on the high seas.
• This created intense conflict between the political factions nationwide.

John Adams - overview from 1797 to 1801

• Attempts to negotiate with the French led to the XYZ Affair, in which French officials demanded bribes before they would assent to the beginning of negotiations.
• The XYZ Affair outraged the American public, and the United States and France engaged in an undeclared naval conflict known as the Quasi-War, which continued through the rest of Adams’s presidency.

John Adams - overview from 1797 to 1801

• Adams presided over an expansion of the army and the navy, and the navy won several successes in the Quasi-War.

John Adams - history

• You may remember that John Adams was an attorney from Massachusetts.
• He had been the defense lawyer for the British soldiers charged with murder during the Boston Massacre.
• He had served as Vice President under Washington.
• Most historians agree was a political and legal genius, but a poor administrator.

John Adams - specifics

• Adams inherited the growing conflict between Jefferson and Hamilton. Jefferson’s followers were becoming known as Democratic – Republicans and Hamilton was a solid Federalist – as was Adams.

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John Adams - XYZ Affair

• The XYZ Affair was a political and diplomatic episode in 1797-1798, early in the presidency of John Adams.
• It involved a confrontation between the United States and France that led to the Quasi-War. The name comes from the substitution of the letters X, Y and Z for the names of French diplomats Jean Conrad Hottinguer (X), Pierre Bellamy (Y), and Lucien Hauteval (Z) in documents released by the Adams administration.

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John Adams - XYZ Affair

• An American diplomatic commission was sent to France in July 1797 to negotiate a solution to problems that were threatening to break out into war.
• The diplomats, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry, were approached through informal channels by agents of the French foreign minister, Talleyrand, who demanded bribes and a loan before formal negotiations could begin.

John Adams - XYZ Affair

• Although such demands were not uncommon in mainland European diplomacy of the time, the Americans were offended by them, and eventually left France without ever engaging in formal negotiations.
• Gerry, seeking to avoid all-out war, remained for several months after the other two commissioners left. His exchanges with Talleyrand laid groundwork for the eventual end to diplomatic and military hostilities.

John Adams - XYZ Affair

• When news of the requested bribes reached America, people were outraged, and the national feelings for France turned into hostility.
• What followed, The Quasi War, was a series of naval hostilities between France and the United States – primarily in the Caribbean.
• Both sides shared victories and losses.

John Adams - XYZ Affair

• By this time France was coming under the growing control of Napoleon and his interests in the Western Hemisphere were shrinking. His interests in Europe were growing.

John Adams - XYZ Affair

• Toward the end of his presidency, Adams secured a peace with France, when it was firmly under the control of Napoleon.

John Adams - The Alien and Sedition Acts

• The Alien and Sedition Acts were four laws passed by the Federalist-dominated 5th United States Congress and signed into law by President John Adams in 1798
• They made it harder for an immigrant to become a citizen.
• They allowed the president to imprison and deport non-citizens who were deemed dangerous, or who were from a hostile nation, and criminalized making false statements that were critical of the federal government

John Adams - The Alien and Sedition Acts

• The Alien and Sedition Acts were four laws passed by the Federalist-dominated 5th United States Congress and signed into law by President John Adams in 1798
• They made it harder for an immigrant to become a citizen.
• They allowed the president to imprison and deport non-citizens who were deemed dangerous, or who were from a hostile nation, and criminalized making false statements that were critical of the federal government

John Adams - The Alien and Sedition Acts

• The acts were denounced by Democratic-Republicans and ultimately helped them to victory in the 1800 election, when Thomas Jefferson defeated the incumbent, President Adams.
• The Sedition Act and the Alien Friends Act were allowed to expire in 1800 and 1801, respectively.

John Adams - The Alien and Sedition Acts

• The Alien Enemies Act, however, remains in effect.
• It was used by the government to identify and imprison dangerous enemy aliens from Germany, Japan, and Italy in World War II. This was separate from the Japanese internment camps used to remove people of Japanese descent from the West Coast.