John Adams

John Adams2nd President of the United

XYZ Affair

What was the XYZ Affair?

- during the French Revolution against Britain, the US declared neutrality between the two sides because we did not want to get involved in another war

- the French became very angry with the US and started attacking US ships that were sailing to America

- Americans wanted to declare war on France but John Adams was convinced that he could negotiate with the french

- John Adams sent three diplomats to France to try to settle the disputes between the two countries without going to war

- when the americans arrived in France they met with three other diplomats from France, the three french diplomats said that they would stop attacking US ships if the US paid France $250,000

- in fear of going to war with France, Adams proposed that the nation should have a peacetime army

Why do we call it the XYZ Affair?

- the only real reason that we refer to it as the XYZ Affair is because XYZ stands for the three french diplomats that met with the americans

Other interesting facts about the XYZ Affair

- many of the members in his cabinet disagreed with him in trying to negotiate with France

- France thought that the US was cheating them because they helped us during our revolution but we refused to help them during theirs

- XYZ Affair took place from 1797-1798- dispute was eventually settled with the

Treaty of Mortefontaine

Alien and Sedition Acts- the Alien and Sedition Acts

basically stated that someone could be imprisoned or fined for saying something bad about the US government

- they also stated that in order to vote in the US, you had to be a citizen for at least 5 years

- many people opposed these laws because they were “unconstitutional”

- the fact that someone could be imprisoned for stating their mind went against the 1st ammendment

- Adams was greatly criticized by fellow politicians such as Thomas Jefferson

- Virginia and Kentucky proposed to Congress that the Alien and Sedition Acts be repealed but the request was denied

- they remained in effect until Congress did not want to renew the law in around 1800

Political PartiesFederalists

Believed in a strong central government

Democratic RepublicansBelieved that the states that should have most of the power in the government

Other interesting facts about John AdamsJohn Adams was a federalistHe was the first president to live in the white houseHis son became the 6th president

He was very unliked by the peopleHe was a lawyer and a politician before he was presidentHe was a little bit of a hot head