JOHN ADAMS
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Born on October 30, 1735
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Born in Quincy, Massachusetts
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Education at Harvard, 1755
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Married to Abigail Smith in 1764
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Occupation was a lawyer
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Term of office was 4 years
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Died July 4, 1826
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Place of Death was Quincy, MA.
POLITICAL PARTIES
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In 1800 Adams was defeated for re-election by Thomas Jefferson and
retired to Massachusetts. He later resumed his friendship with Jefferson. He and
his wife, Abigail Adams, founded an accomplished family line of politicians,
diplomats, and historians now referred to as the Adams political family. Adams
was the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. His
achievements have received greater recognition today, though his contributions
were not initially celebrated as much as those of other Founders.
XYZ AFFAIR
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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.
XYZ AFFAIR
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X was Baron Jean-Conrad Hottinguer, Y was Pierre Bellamy, and Z was Lucien
Hauteval.
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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.
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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.
ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS
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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.
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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.
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