 Term: 2nd President of the United States (1797–1801)
 Nickname: “Atlas of Independence”
 Political Party: Federalist
 Adams served as a delegate from Massachusetts to the
Continental Congress between 1774 and 1777, as a diplomat in Europe from 1778 to 1788, and as vice president during the Washington administration.

 In the election of 1796 Washington’s Vice
President, Adams, was the front runner for
President after Washington resigned in his farewell address. Washington retired and did not want to run as a third term president. He believed that
Adams would be a good candidate because of his history in the political field.
George Washington

 The federalist members of Congress nominated John
Adams and Thomas Pinckney as their choices for
President. The Democratic-Republicans of Congress nominated Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr as their choices. This was the first presidential election to elect a
President and a Vice President from opposing tickets.

 Adams had trouble in his own campaign. Rumors went around that Hamilton favored Pinckney. Many people believed that Hamilton wanted to have some
Federalist electors withhold their votes from Adams so that Pinckney would beat him. In the end, Adams won by a three-vote margin.
Thomas Pinckney Alexander Hamilton

 The Campaign issues of the election were the Jay
Treaty and the French Revolution. John Adams and his party supported the Jay Treaty. Thomas Jefferson and the Anti Federalists opposed the treaty because it favored the British over the French. This led to the
French Revolution. The Federalist did not want to support the French because they did not want another war with Britain
Vs.

 Federalists linked the Democratic-
Republicans to the violent revolutions in
France. The Democratic-Republicans accused the Federalists of favoring monarchism and aristocracy.
 The Democratic-Republicans announced that the Federalist wanted the Jay’s Treaty because it favored the British.

 The French ambassador embarrassed the
Democratic-Republicans by publicly backing them and attacking the Federalists right before the election.
 For the first time political parties held personal attacks at their opponents.

 The majority of the campaigning took place in the newspapers, broad sides and other methods of the day. The supporters of these men actually campaigned for their favorites.
Adams had won the election by only 3 votes and Thomas Jefferson, who finished second, automatically became vice-president.

 The election of 1796 had showed a flaw in the Electoral College System. The Electors voted on one ballot with two names on it.
The candidate who had the most votes won the election. The candidate who had the second most votes became the vice president.

 Adams laid the basics for foreign policy by drafting the
Model Treaty of 1776. Adams tried to keep the United
States neutral as long as possible as George
Washington mentioned in his Farewell Address. He was involved with the Treaty of Paris which ended the
War of Independence.

 Adams faced a difficult reelection campaign in 1800.
 The Federalist Party was split over Adams foreign policy. Many had opposed his decision to send envoys to Paris in 1799.
 They feared it would result in embarrassment for the
United States and others because they wanted to maintain the Quasi-War crisis for partisan ends.
 Adams lost to Jefferson in this election.

The newspaper articles talk about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson not being president anymore.
The second article talks about the passing of John
Adams when he was 92 years old.

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“A government of laws, and not of men.”
 John Adams wanted the government to be run by laws and not by men. He believed that the United States should be run by laws and not by men and their opinion.
“Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.”
 To be able to preserve liberty John Adams believed that you must have a knowledge of what is going on in the world.

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British flag of 1776. N.d. www.wm.edu. NIAHD Journals, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
<http://niahd.wm.edu/index.php?browse=entry&id=10133>.
Obituary of John Adams. N.d. www.earlyamerica.com. N.p., 1997-2011. Web. 20 Mar.
2011. <http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/obits/adamsj.html>.
Thomas Jefferson. N.d. www.moralheros.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2011.
<http://moralheroes.org/thomas-jefferson>.
John Adams. N.d. HBO Collection. www.history.org. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.history.org/visit/eventsandexhibits/specialevents/ johnadamshbo.cfm>.
"John Adams." Miller Center. University of Virginia Charlottesville, 2011. Web.
18 Mar. 2011. <http://millercenter.org/president/adams/essays/biography/
2>.
Alexander Hamilton. N.d. www.kctcs.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
<http://legacy.owensboro.kctcs.edu/mmaltby/his108/republican.htm>.
"Election of 1796." www.u-s-history.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h458.html>.
Presidential Signatures. N.d. Bingdat. www.presidentialsignatures.com. Web. 20
Mar. 2011. <http://www.presidentialsignatures.com/ john_adams_signature.htm>.

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Cahoon, Ben. French. N.d. www.worldstatesmen.org. N.p., 2000. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Haiti.htm>.
"18th Century History." www.history1700s.com. N.p., 2005. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.history1700s.com/articles/article1068.shtml>.
"John Adams Quotes." www.brainyquotes.com. Brainy Quote, 2001-2011. Web. 20 Mar.
2011. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_adams.html
Web link George Washington Picture. N.d. www.visitingdc.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar.
2011. <http://www.visitingdc.com/president/ george-washington-picture.htm>.