John Adams

B

Adams and Hamilton

The rift between Adams and Hamilton slowly grew during this period of international crisis. Adams favored a strong stand against France, so that the French government would respect the United States. He was willing to fight, but he preferred to avert war. Hamilton would profit from a war because it would discredit his rival Thomas Jefferson, who had always been friendly toward France. Until the beginning of 1799, Adams seemed to be allowing Hamilton to have his way.

Gradually, however, Adams lost trust in his own Cabinet. Thus, he consulted no one before announcing a new policy toward France. On February 18, 1799, he named a new diplomatic representative, with full treaty powers, to France. His choice was William Vans Murray, then diplomatic representative to the Netherlands.

C

Negotiations With France

The Federalists were outraged, but the country welcomed Adams's move. Hamilton, taken by surprise, could not oppose it without seeming to want war. Adams's enemies in the Cabinet held up the departure of Murray and the two other members of his peace commission. Finally, in another independent and unexpected act, Adams issued final instructions and ordered the commission to sail without further delay.

Negotiations with France were long and complex, but they ended in an agreement. Adams had succeeded in preventing war. In so doing, however, he had won the hatred of Hamilton.

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D

Alien and Sedition Acts

In 1798 Adams signed into law the Alien and Sedition Acts, which seriously limited the right of free speech and dissent in the United States. Their purpose was to curb anti-administration criticisms by Jeffersonian newspaper editors and to ensure Federalist success at the polls. The laws were proposed by the Federalists in Congress. Although Adams signed the laws, he did not enforce them vigorously. Nevertheless he came to be associated with them in the public mind. They resulted in an outpouring of protest throughout the country that greatly aided the Jeffersonian Republicans.

E

Split with the Federalists

Two members of Adams's Cabinet whom he had come to distrust were Secretary of State Timothy Pickering and Secretary of War James McHenry, who were more loyal to Hamilton than they were to their president. Often, they ignored Adams's orders and acted on directives from Hamilton. In May 1800 Adams forced the resignation of McHenry and fired Pickering. The price of Adams's refusal to be dominated by Hamilton was a split in the Federalist ranks that contributed to his defeat in the election of 1800.

F

Election of 1800

The presidential nominations of 1800 were made in caucuses (party meetings) in Congress. The Federalists, because of the influence of New England members, named John Adams and diplomat Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina as their candidates. The Republicans, who had begun to call themselves Democratic-Republicans, nominated Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.

By this time, Hamilton completely opposed Adams and campaigned for Pinckney. Without the main Federalist support, Adams lost, but Jefferson and Burr tied with 73 electoral votes each. The tie-breaking vote was decided by the House of Representatives, which eventually elected Jefferson as president.

Adams was stunned. He felt repudiated by the country he had served so long and so ardently. The leaders of his own party had turned against him. On the day of Jefferson's inauguration, Adams left the executive mansion in Washington, D.C., alone. He was too hurt to observe the courtesy of attending his successor's inauguration.

One of Adams's last official acts was to fill a large number of lifetime judgeships with Federalist judges. These were the so-called “midnight judges,” whose appointments angered Jefferson's party because Adams named them after the election. Among them was Secretary of State John Marshall, whom Adams appointed Chief Justice of the United States. Marshall's 30-year tenure firmly established the prestige of the judicial branch of the government and strengthened the federal government much as Adams and the Federalist Party would have wished it to be strengthened.

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