HISTORY!!

PRESIDENT ADAMS

In a warm day in Philadelphia on March 4, 1797, John Adams, wearing a plain gray broadcloth suit, was sworn in as the secondpresident of the United States. In a tight race Adams had defeated his former friend turned political rival Thomas Jefferson by the slim margin of three electoral votes, 71 to 68.

Adams was no stranger to presidential politics. He had spent eight years as George Washington's vice president, but he had found the office frustrating and with few defined powers. While his relationship with Washington was cordial, the president rarely consulted Adams on policy or legal matters. Adams's prime duty was to preside over the Senate, where he cast 29 tie-breaking votes. It is a record that still stands today. Adams complained to his wife, Abigail, that, "My Country has in its Wisdom contrived for me, the most insignificant Office that ever the Invention of Man contrived or his Imagination conceived."

The presidency, would prove equally frustrating, but for different reasons. At that time, candidates forpresident and vice president did not run on a ticket together. The winner of the second-most votes became vice president. Adams's vice president was his rival, Jefferson. The two men had very different opinions about how the government should work. Adams believed in a strong national government and a strong executive branch. Jefferson, on the other hand, feared too much power in one person's hands. Adams also initially retained Washington's Cabinet. This proved to be a mistake, as loyalties within his own Federalist party were split between himself and Alexander Hamilton, the official head of the party.

Adams did not assume office at an easy time for the country. The French and the British were at war, and each side wanted the support of the United States. The Federalist party favored the British while Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans supported the French. The Jay Treaty of 1794 had resolved some of the issues left between the United States and Britain from the Revolutionary War, but it also angered the French. They saw it as an alliance between the United States and Britain, and they began attacking American merchant ships.

Adams wanted to avoid another war. He sent three commissioners to France in 1797 to negotiate with the French foreign minister, Talleyrand, and the ruling group known as the Directory. However, the Directory and Talleyrand refused to negotiate with the American envoys unless they were paid a bribe and a large loan was arranged for France. Adams refused to pay the bribe, and he reported the situation to Congress. Copies of the correspondence from France were printed, with the Frenchmen responsible for it only referred to as "X, Y, and Z." When the incident became public, there was a surge in anti-French feeling.

The XYZ Affair, as it would be called, escalated into the Quasi-War of 1798-1800. Neither side formally declared war, but since France would not negotiate without a bribe, and Adams would not pay it, French and American ships fought in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States. Congress reactivated the U.S. Navy and appropriated money to build new warships, andAdams authorized building up an army.

Adams also signed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 to control alien citizens who were loyal to enemy governments. Although these four acts were intended to protect the United States and limit attacks on its government during wartime, they would later be considered unconstitutional. The Naturalization Act required foreign-born citizens to wait 14 years before they could become U.S. citizens. The Alien Friends Act allowed the president to deport any foreigner whom he felt was a danger to the United States. The Alien Enemies Act allowed the president to take into custody and deport any resident aliens whose home country was at war with the United States. Lastly, the Sedition Act made it illegal to publish any "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" against the government or its officials. All of the acts expired in 1801, except for the Alien Enemies Act, which is still in effect today.

The Sedition Act was the most controversial. Anyone who criticized the federal government could be fined up to $5,000 or spend two to five years in prison. A number of newspaper editors (including Benjamin Franklin Bache, the grandson of Benjamin Franklin) and one congressman were prosecuted under the Sedition Act. Jefferson and his Democratic-Republicans denounced it and called it a violation of free speech as established in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. This led to a bitter election battle between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans in 1800.

Adams, however, did succeed in averting an all-out war with France. By 1800, American ships were making the ocean shipping lanes safe again, and Napoleon Bonaparte of France was willing to negotiate for peace. Adams sent three delegates to the Convention of 1800 with France, which officially ended both the 1778 Treaty of Alliance between France and the United States and hostilities between the two countries.

Adams not only normalized the relationship between the two countries, but he also relied on diplomacy at a time when the United States was still young and not yet prepared to engage in a full-scale military conflict. His own party opposed signing a treaty with France, but Adams considered its guarantee of peace as one of the most important services he provided during his term as president.

In 1800, Adams and Jefferson again ran against each other. This time, Jefferson won, receiving 73 electoral votes to Adams's 65. As his term drew to a close, Adams's last act was to appoint a series of federal judges, known as "Midnight Judges" because they were appointed just days before his term expired. Jefferson eventually unseated most of these judges, but Chief Justice John Marshall remained. During his 34 years on the bench, Marshall became a force in defining and establishing the constitutional powers of the judicial branch.

Disappointed over his defeat in the election, Adams retired to his home in Quincy, Massachusetts, without attending Jefferson's inauguration. At 65, and after devoting 35 years in service to his country, he had earned a quiet retirement.

FAST FACT

ABIGAIL WAS UNABLE TO ATTEND JOHN'S INAUGURATION BECAUSE SHE WAS CARING FOR HIS DYING MOTHER.

A BLESSING

Just before the presidential election on November 1, 1800, Adams moved from the temporary capital in Philadelphia to the new Federal City, Washington, D.C. He was the first to reside in the still-unfinished White House, then called the President's House. He wrote to Abigail, who shortly joined him, "I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof."

Work cited

Lusted, Marcia Amidon. "President ADAMS." Cobblestone 30.9 (2009): 26-29. History Reference Center. Web. 21 Sept. 2015.