1. JOHN ADAMS IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING PRESIDENCY

2. JOHN ADAMS Born on October 30, 1735 Born in Quincy, Massachusetts Education at Harvard, 1755 Married to Abigail Smith in 1764 Occupation was a lawyer Term of office was 4 years Died July 4, 1826 Place of Death was Quincy, MA.

3. XYZ AFFAIR During the French Revolution, relations between the new French Republic and the United States became ever more strained. Three French agents, publicly referred to by Adams as X, Y, and Z, demanded major concessions from the United States as a condition for continuing bilateral diplomatic relations (an alliance). The concessions demanded by the French included 50,000 pounds sterling (a $10 million loan from the United States), a $250,000 personal bribe to French foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, and a formal apology for comments made by President of the United States John Adams, that offended the French.

4. XYZ AFFAIR X was Baron Jean-Conrad Hottinguer, Y was Pierre Bellamy, and Z was Lucien Hauteval. A three member American commission which consisted of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry was sent to France to meet with X, Y, and Z. Several weeks before to the meeting with X, Y, and Z, the American commission had met with French foreign minister Talleyrand to discuss French retaliation against the Jay Treaty. French privateers seized nearly 300 American ships bound for British ports in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean seas. Adams decided to send Pinckney as part of the commission. Relations had recently been worsened by Talleyrand's rejection of Pinckney as America's minister to France. The French continued to seize American ships, and the Federalist Party, incited by Alexander Hamilton, advocated going to war. Congress authorized the build-up of an army.

5. ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress in the aftermath of the French Revolution's reign of terror and during an undeclared naval war with Britain and France, later known as the Quasi-War. They were signed into law by President John Adams. Opposition to Federalists among Democratic-Republicans reached new heights at this time since the Democratic-Republicans had supported France. Some even seemed to want an event similar to the French Revolution to come to the United States to overthrow the Federalists. Democratic-Republicans denounced them as being both unconstitutional and designed to stifle criticism of the administration, and as infringing on the right of the states to act in these areas, though they did use them after the 1800 election against Federalists. They became a major political issue in the elections of 1798 and 1800. They were very controversial in their own day, as they remain to the present day. Opposition to them eventually resulted in the Civil War.

6. FACTS ABOUT JOHN ADAMS ■John Adams’ President No.: 2nd ■John Adams Served: 4th March 1797 to 4th March 1801 ■Age when he became president: 61 ■John Adams’ Party: Federalist ■John Adams was from: Massachussets ■John Adams Married: Abigail Adams (1744-1818), they married in 1764 ■Maiden Name of Abigail Adams: Abigail Smith ■John Adams’ Children: Abigail Amelia Adams (1765-1813), John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), Susanna Adams (1768-1770), Charles Adams (1770-1800), Thomas Boylston Adams (1772-1832) ■John Adams was born on: October 30 1735 ■John Adams was born at: Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts ■John Adams Died on: July 4, 1826 ■John Adams Died at: Quincy, Massachusetts ■John Adams Burial Site: First Unitarian Church, Quincy, Massachusetts ■John Adams’s Religion: Unitarian ■John Adams’ Education: Harvard University B.A. in 1755. ■John Adams’ Jobs Before President: Farmer, Teacher, Lawyer ■John Adams’ Political Career: represented Massachusetts in the Continental Congress, Ambassador to the Netherlands, France and Great Britain, Vice President ■John Adams’ Height: 5 feet, 7 inches ■Population at time John Adams was president: 5,308,483 ■John Adams’ Pets: Horse named Cleopatra ■John Adams’ Transportation: Horse and carriage ■John Adams’s Communication Methods: Letter ■ ■ Next