Key Events for John Adams

1797

March 4                                   John Adams inaugurated is inaugurated the 2nd President of the United States in Philadelphia.  Thomas Jefferson will serve as Vice President.

May 15                                    Adams calls the first special session of Congress to debate the mounting crisis in French-American relations.  Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, the American envoy in France, had left France after being insulted by the French foreign minister. 

May 19                                    Adams appoints a three man commission, composed of Charles C. Pinckney, Elbridge Gerry, and John Marshall to negotiate a settlement with France. 

June 24                                    President Adams authorized by Congress to raise a militia of 80,000 men for defensive purposes in case of war with France.

October 18                              The thee man American peace commission is coolly received and then asked to pay a bribe in order to speak with French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice Talleyrand.  Widely known as the XYZ affair. 

1798

January 8                                 The Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States declared in full force by President Adams.  It stipulated that federal courts shall not have the jurisdiction over litigation between individuals from one state against individuals from another state.

April 3           

President Adams exposes the XYZ affair, sending Congress the peace commissioner’s dispatches of the earlier attempt to bribe and intimidate U.S. officials seeking to speak with French diplomat, Charles Maurice Talleyrand.  The reaction was one of outrage and intimidation. 

April 7                                     Act of Congress establishes the new government for the new Mississippi Territory. The Spanish had ceded the territory to the United States during the Treaty of San Lorenzo in 1795.  President Adams appoints native Winthrop Sergeant as Governor and selects the town of Natchez to serve as its first capital. 

May 3                                      Adams appoints Benjamin Stoddert to serve as the first Secretary of the Navy for the newly formed Department of the Navy.  Congress had established the department by Congressional four days prior in preparation for a war with France. 

May 28                                    Adams empowered by Congress to enlist 10,000 men for service in case of a declaration of war or invasion of the country’s domain.  Adams also authorized to instruct commanders of ships-of –war to seize armed French vessels praying upon or attacking American merchantmen about the coast.

June 18                                    The first of four acts known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts was adopted. The Alien and Sedition acts were aimed at curbing dissent against the administration and preventing internal subversion.  The first act required a residence period of 14 years and a declaration of intention for 5 years. 

June 25                                    The Alien Act passed by Congress, granting the President Adams the power to deport any alien he deemed potentially dangerous to the country’s safety.

July 6                                      the third of the Alien and Sedition acts, the Alien Enemies Act, was passed by Congress.  The act provided for the apprehension and deportation of male aliens who were subjects of citizens of a hostile country. 

July 7                                      Adams appoints George Washington to serve as the commander-in-chief of the United States army.  All French treaties between the United States and France are declared null and void by vote in Congress, most notably the 1778 treaty of alliance. 

July 14                                    The Sedition Act, the fourth and last act of the Alien and Sedition acts was passed. The act subjects any American citizen to a fine and/or imprisonment for obstructing the implementation of federal law, or for publishing malicious or false writings against Congress, the president, or the government. 

Sept 12                                    Philadelphia newspaper editor Benjamin Franklin Bache, grandson of Benjamin Franklin, arrested under Sedition Act for “libeling” President Adams.

Nov 16                                    Kentucky State Legislature adopts the Kentucky Resolutions, reserving states’ right to override federal powers not referred to by the U.S. Constitution.  Thomas Jefferson, angry at the Adams administration for the Alien and Sedition acts, authored the resolution. 

1799

Feb 9                                       The United States Navy scores its first clear-cut victory with France when the United States frigate “Constellation” captures the French ship of “L’Insurgente” near the island of St. Kitts. 

Mar 30                                    President Adams selects Van Murray, Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth, and North Carolina Governor Davie to serve as US envoys to France upon assurance from the French that they will be received with respect due to the nation.

July 11                                    US diplomats conclude a Treaty of Amity between the United States and Prussia in Berlin. 

October 26                              Thomas Cooper, a resident of Northumberland Pennsylvania, is tried and convicted of libel against President Adams and his administration under the newly adopted Sedition Act. 
1800

Jan 10                                      Treaty with the Tunis negotiated in 1797 and finally passed by Congress. 

Feb 1                                       The United States frigate “Constellation” defeats the French ship “La Vengeance on the high seas. 

April 4                                     Congress passes and Adams signs into law the Federal Bankruptcy Act, providing merchants and traders protection from debtors.  

April 24                                   A resolution is passed and eventually signed by President Adams calling for the establishment of a Library of Congress.  

May 7                                      Congress passes an act dividing the Northwest Territory divided into two parts, with the border between them running north from the junction of the Ohio and Kentucky Rivers.  The western part of the territory will now be known as the Indiana Territory while the eastern half will retain the name Northwest Territory.

June                                         The new city of Washington in the District of Columbia becomes the official US capital, succeeding Philadelphia.  Congress would convene for the first time and Adams would move into the Executive Mansion sometime during November.   

Sept 30                                    The “quasi”-naval war with France effectively ends with the signing of the Treaty of Mortfontaine in Paris.  France agrees to lift its embargos on American ships, cancel all letters of marque, and respect neutral ships and property.  The United States agree to return captured warships but not captured privateers. 

Oct 1                                       Spain cedes the Louisiana territory to France with the signing of the secret Treaty of San Idlefonso.  Leaders express alarm because the French could be a potentially dangerous enemy in the region.

Nov 11                                    The fourth presidential election is held.  Adams loses his bid for reelection as the Federalist party candidate.  There being a tie in electoral votes between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson wins the election in the House of Representatives.

1801

March 4                                   Thomas Jefferson inaugurated the third president of the United States, becoming the first president to be inaugurated in Washington D.C.  John Adams’s term as President officially ends.