John Adams
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Political Party – Federalist
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March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801
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Second president of the United States of America
Occupational and Educational Background
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Vice Presidents- Thomas Jefferson (1797-1801)
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Secretary of State-Timothy Pickering (1797-1800) • John Marshall (1800-1801)
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Secretary of War-James McHenry (1797-1800) • Samuel Dexter (1800–1801)
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Postmaster General-Joseph Habersham (1797–1801)
Secretary of the Treasury-Oliver Wolcott Jr. (1797–1800) • Samuel Dexter (1801–1801)
Attorney General-Charles Lee (1797–1801)
Secretary of the Navy-Benjamin Stoddert (1798–1801)
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No new states admitted under his presidency
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams
Elections
• Presidential Election 1796- Major opponent Thomas Jefferson
• Electoral vote 71 Adams -Federalist , 68 Jefferson- Democratic-Republican
• Popular vote 35,726 Adams 31,115 Jefferson
• Adams won because he had the greatest number of electoral votes and so
did his running mate
http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Washington-Johnson/John-Adams-Election-of1796.html
John Adams Becomes President
• March 4, 1797 John Adams becomes the second president of the United States by a
fairly slim margin
• Along with Washington he would go on to help establish the role of president
• Influenced policies by providing his views as a federalist
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnadams
XYZ Affair(1798)
• When the French Revolution broke out the U.S. was unwilling and
unable to help the French and this didn’t mix too well with them
because they had aided us in our Revolution and were expecting a
hand in theirs.
• 1798 France demanded major concessions from the United States
in exchange for continual peace discussions
• As a result it began the undeclared naval war between the United
States and France known as the Quasi War
• In addition to the undeclared naval war it angered the American
people when word of it came back to the states, and the nation as
a whole looked foolish
• http://www.earlyamerica.com/
Navy Department is Created(1798)
• On May 3rd, 1798 Congress authorized the
creation of a Naval Department
• Four large frigates, which had been originally
authorized by Congress in 1794, were rushed
to completion
• This gave way to a more threatening armed
forces
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http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/j3/john_adams-i.htm
Undeclared Naval War with France
Worsens(1798 to 1800)
• The U.S. Navy operated with a battle fleet of about 25 vessels
• Royal and United States Navy did not cooperate on a
operational level although they were both fighting the French
• As a result of the battles between the Americans and French
there was great hostility between them
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http://www.veteranmuseum.org/navalwar.html
Alien and Sedition Acts and the
Naturalization Act (1798)
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Four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress Signed by John Adams
Result of tensions between Federalists and Democratic Republicans. These acts consisted of four measures
designed to limit immigration and free speech and as a result the American public felt as though their
rights were violated.
These acts were passed in order to more or less hush critics of the Federalist party. Since most of the
federalist party consisted of wealthy landowners a majority of the people affected by these acts were
Democratic Republican and thus the other parties viewpoint was silenced
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This would lead to further disputes between parties and ultimately the civil war. Since Kentucky and
Virginia didn’t support these acts it gave birth to the idea of nullification and established more power in
the state’s hands which was very anti-federalist
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http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/sedition/
Kentucky and Virginia
Resolutions(1798)
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These were direct responses to the Alien and Sedition Acts, and in opposition to
the Alien and Sedition Acts, they supported the states rights to nullify a federal law
that was deemed unconstitutional
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In this case it was the Alien and Sedition Acts that were nullified by the states,
however this would go on to be directly related to the Civil War. They are
fundamentally related because like in this case the states looked to nullify federal
law and when it didn’t work they seceded from the U.S. and formed a confederacy.
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http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0827416.html
Eli Whitney’s Technique of
Interchangeable Parts
This was crucial for future industrialization. In summary interchangeable parts
were for all intents and purposes a way to efficiently fix or manufacture
machines so that parts were not machine specific.
Impact
• Gave way to the armory system
• Gave way to a more efficient way to battle
• More efficient society as a whole that is why technology is where it is
today
• Of course made it easier to manufacture and fix machines.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interchangeable_parts
Convention of 1800 with France
A treaty signed by the French and the U.S. designed to put the incidents of
the x,y,z affair behind them, and of course peaceful relations
Effects
Ended the Quasi-War
France returned American ships captured during war
U.S. compensated citizens for damages caused by war
Franco- American alliance was no more
Both nations were given the status of most-favored-nation
Trade was reestablished between the two countries
Long Term
This was a good ending to the mess made by the X,Y,Z Affair and the Quasi War, and reestablished connections
between the U.S. and the French. This is also proof that peaceful negotiations were possible to countries
previously at war and on bad terms.
http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/htallant/courses/his325/conv1800.htm
Election of 1800
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Candidates: John Adams( Federalist)
Thomas Jefferson (Democratic Republican)
Electoral Votes: Thomas Jefferson 73, John Adams 71
Popular Votes: Not Recorded
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Federalists were at a disadvantage this time round because leadership was split
between John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. In addition to that the Federalists
passed the Alien and Sedition acts which impeded the everyday citizen’s right of free
speech and press. In major opposition to this the citizens of the U.S. elected Thomas
Jefferson.
This election is linked to the creation of the 12th amendment of the constitution. Also
Jefferson and Aaron Burr received equal number of votes because of a screw up in
voting. As a result of this the results of the election were put into the hands of the
house of Representatives whom ultimately chose Jefferson.
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http://www.ushistory.org/us/20a.asp
Judiciary Act(1801)
• 1801- Goal was to assign lifetime posts for Federalists
judges, and this of course was in John Adams best
interest because this mean it also supported Federalist
policies
• This of course was unconstitutional and Jefferson was
about to take his spot as President.
• This was later replaced with other policies on the basis
of it being unconstitutional, and because of this poor
decision on Adam’s part people became more and
more supportive of Jefferson and the Democratic
Republican party
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http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/landmark_03_txt.html
John Marshall
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Chief Justice (1801 to 1835)
He represented constitutional law in cases such as
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Marbury v. Madison- In Marbury v. Madison the ruling made was that the supreme court had the power of judicial review.
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Cohens v. Virginia- In Cohens V. Virginia the ruling made was that the supreme court had the jurisdiction to review state
criminal proceedings.
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McCulloch v. Maryland-In this case it was determined that congress had the right to establish a federal bank on the basis of
among others the elastic clause. Also this determined that Maryland had no right to tax the federal bank so declared the tax
void.
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Gibbons v. Ogden- The ruling of this case concluded that congress had the right to regulate all aspects of commerce, this
caused an override of state law.
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These cases are important because they are set the bar for future chief justices and were landmark cases in the infancy of
our country. Marshall himself as a symbol is equally important because he presented constitutional law in each case.
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http://www.nndb.com/people/979/000049832/
Criticism(Quotes)
• “He is vain, irritable, and a bad calculator of the force and probable effect
of the motives which govern men. This is all the ill which can possibly be
said of him.” Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison (30 January
1787)
• “The President's title, as proposed by the Senate, was the most
superlatively ridiculous thing I ever heard of. It is a proof the more of the
justice of the character given by Dr. Franklin of my friend. Always an
honest man, often a great one, but sometimes absolutely mad.” Thomas
Jefferson on the proposed presidential title of "His Highness the President
of the United States and protector of their liberties" advocated by VicePresident Adams in the Senate; in a letter to James Madison (29 July 1789)
• http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Adams
Praise (Quotes)
• “ He is so amiable that I pronounce you will love him, if ever you become
acquainted with him. He would be, as he was, a great man in Congress.”
Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison (30 January 1787)
• “What for me makes people like Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin
Roosevelt and John Adams and George Washington and Dwight
Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan such extraordinary leaders is that
they had integrity through and through”. Massachusetts governor
Mitt Romney, in the September 2005 The Atlantic article "The 'Holy
Cow!' Candidate“
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http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Adams
Assessment
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Positives
Built up the U.S. Navy- which would go on to protect the U.S.
Ended war with France through diplomacy, 1799-1800-this was good because it was a peaceful
reconciliation
Appointed John Marshall to Supreme Court, 1801-a man who was highly influential
Fought the Quasi War with France, 1798-1800- showed other nations that we were a legit nation
with an actual navy to fear
Negatives
X,Y,Z Affair – An insulting moment for the U.S. a result of not helping the French
Judiciary Act – unconstitutionally proportioned the judges of the country in favor of Federalist
ideals
Alien and Sedition Acts- unconstitutional set of laws that violated the individual rights freedom of
speech
Verdict
Its tough to call the effect of his presidency. While John Adams did contribute several positive things to
his presidency such as the establishment of the Navy he also contributed negatively. Such a negative
impact includes the Alien and Sedition Acts. If I had to call it I would say he had a mostly positive impact
on our country. What’s not debatable, however is that no matter what he did he did it with conviction.
Isaac Ramey
•10/10/11 Period 2