JOHN ADAMS MOTIVES

PROBLEMS WITH FRANCE

• French ships looted over 300 U.S. Ships, and
• They were still at war with Britain so they didn't want the U.S to trade with them
• Many called for war, while Adams preferred to talk things out with the French.
• He sent 3 men, Pinckney, Gerry and Marshall to Paris and they
• They requested a meeting with the French minister.

PROBLEMS WITH FRANCE

• Three French agents referred to as XY and Z took them aside
• They said the talk would occur only if they paid $10,000,000
• And an extra bribe of $250,000
• They refused and the following events became known as the XYZ Affair
• Treaties with France were then cancelled by Congress and angry public

QUASI-WAR CRISIS

• The XYZ affair had caused the Quasi-War Crisis.
• To fix this disagreement with France,
• Adams sent a diplomatic commission to France.
• Napoleon signed it and the Quasi War ended.

PROBLEMS WITH THE PUBLIC

• Many people were democratic-republicans
• They were more on France's side and they began to
• publish a newspaper called 'Adams "The Blasted Tyrant of America"
• Federalist labeled them as "democrats, mobcrats and more"
• Adams then passed the "Alien and Sedition Acts"

PROBLEMS WITH THE PUBLIC

• This act was aimed towards immigrants that were not yet citizens
• The government could arrest disloyal aliens or
• Order them out of the country during wartime if they seemed dangerous
• It also increased the waiting period for becoming a U.S. citizen
• Many of these conditions overruled the 1st Amendment