1797-PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS

By: Caroline CaridiPeriod 5

John Adams

John Adams was an American politician. He was first noticed in the early stages of the

American Revolution. Adams played an important role in persuading

Congress to adopt the Declaration of Independence.

John Adams was also our second president of the United States. Before president, he was the vice president for two terms.

John Adams is referred to as one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States.

Early Life

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735.

He was the oldest out of three boys. At age sixteen, John Adams attended

Harvard College (1751). After graduating in 1755, Adams

taught school. Adams later decided that he wanted

to become a lawyer .

Family Life

Five days before John Adams’s 29th birthday, he married his third cousin, Abigail Smith.

John and Abigail had six children: Abigail Adams (1765-1813) John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) Susanna Adams (1768-1770) Charles Adams (1770-1800) Thomas Boylston Adams (1772-1832) Elizabeth Adams-who unfortunately was a

stillbirth (1777)

President John Adams

As president, John Adams followed George Washington’s lead in making the presidency an example of republican values.

He continued major programs of the George Washington Administration.

John Adams stressed civic virtues and thought that they were very important.

President Adams made no big proposals during his time in office.

The XYZ Affair

The XYZ Affair was a diplomatic episode that weakened our relations with France.

Three French agents referred to as X, Y, and Z demanded enormous amounts of money from the U. S. as a payback for continuing bilateral peace negotiations.

A while later, X, Y, and Z were revealed to be Jean Conrad Hottinguer, Pierre Bellamy, and Lucien Hauteval.

The XYZ Affair led to the Quasi War(1798-1800).

The Alien and Sedition Act The Alien and Sedition Acts were

passed to abolish Republican opposition.

The Alien and Sedition Acts were actually made up of four parts: The Naturalization Act The Alien Act The Alien Enemies Act The Sedition Act

The Alien and Sedition Acts cont.

The Naturalization Act changed the period of residence required before an immigrant could become an American citizen.

The Alien Act and The Alien Enemies Act allowed the president to deport any foreigner he thought to be dangerous to leave the country immediately.

The last act, The Sedition Act, made it a crime to publish “false, scandalous ,and malicious writing” against the government and its officials.

A Public Warning

Less than a month before John Adams’s death, he stated a ‘warning’ for his fellow citizens saying:

“My best wishes, in the joys, and festivities, and the solemn services of that day on which will be completed the fiftieth year from its birth, of the independence of the United States: a memorable epoch in the annals of the human race, destined in future history to form the brightest or the blackest page, according to the use or the abuse of those political institutions by which they shall, in time to come, be shaped by the human mind.”

Death

John Adams died in his home in Quincy, Massachusetts on July 4, 1826.

Adams died on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

He was the nation’s longest living President being 90 years and 247 days old until Ronald Reagan broke the record in 2001.