The colonial Massachusetts native was raised by his uncle, a wealthy Boston merchant. When his uncle died, Hancock inherited his lucrative John Quincy Adams began his diplomatic career as the U. After serving in the Massachusetts State Senate and the U. Abigail Adams was one of only two women to have been both wife and mother to two U. He was a gifted orator and major figure in the American Revolution. His rousing speeches—which included a speech to the Virginia legislature in which he famously declared, Skirmishes between British troops and colonial He gave the local militia a key advantage during the Battles Adams defended British soldiers after the Boston Massacre.
Although Adams joined with the Sons of Liberty in objecting to what he believed was unfair taxation by the British government, the principled attorney believed in the primacy of the rule of law.
After the killing of Jay served as the key Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Early Years. Recommended for you. John Adams. John Adams: The Early Years. Abigail Adams. The antidote to these dangers was a strong executive. He spoke of this powerful executive as the "father and protector" of the nation and its ordinary citizens, for this person was the sole official with the independence to act in a disinterested manner.
In , he expanded on this theme in a series of essays for a Philadelphia newspaper that were ultimately known as "Discourses on Davila. Adams returned home from London in after a ten-year absence. He came back largely to secure an office in the new national government that had been created by the Constitution drafted by the Philadelphia Convention in and ratified the following summer. Knowing that George Washington would be the first President, Adams sought the vice presidency.
He was elected to that position in , receiving the second largest number of votes after Washington, who won the vote of every member of the electoral college. Adams was reelected vice president in Heated conflict broke out early among Washington's cabinet members over the shape the new nation would take, as well as over divisive foreign policy issues.
By late , formal political parties had come into being. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, supported a strong central government that favored industry, banking interests, merchants, and close ties with England.
Opposed to them were the Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson. Supported by landowners and much of the South, the Democratic-Republicans advocated limited powers for the federal government, personal liberty, and support for France.
Adams was a Federalist. Grant Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Garfield Chester A. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Help inform the discussion Support the Miller Center. University of Virginia Miller Center.
John Adams: Life Before the Presidency. Breadcrumb U. Legal and Publishing Career Adams launched his legal career in Boston in Federalists, led by President John Adams, sought a strong, orderly central government, and feared the chaos of the French Revolution.
Democratic-Republicans accused Federalists of instituting a tyranny similar to the one they had struggled against in the American Revolution.
Lauding the efforts of French revolutionaries, they believed that a minimal central government best served the people's interests. As hostilities loomed between France and the United States, the three anti-alien laws targeted French and pro-French immigrants whom Federalists thought brought dangerous political ideas to America; moreover, Federalists believed, those recent arrivals would likely support the Democratic-Republican Party.
Concerned citizens around the country petitioned President Adams to oppose the restrictive measures. Adams responded with a series of public addresses admonishing the people against factional divisions and foreign interference in American government. His administration vigorously enforced the legislation: under the Sedition Act, the most controversial of the four, several Democratic-Republican newspaper publishers were arrested, and ten were convicted for seditious libel before the acts expired in After the Democratic-Republicans took office in , Federalists found themselves the victims of their own policies when the new administration of President Thomas Jefferson prosecuted several Federalist editors in state courts.
More than tools of partisan politicking, however, the Alien and Sedition Acts brought to the fore the issues of free speech and the balance of power between the state and federal governments. It also forced Americans to grapple with the fact that instead of classical republican harmony or unitary support for presidential leadership, dissent would thereafter characterize American politics. Congress passes the Alien Act, granting President Adams the power to deport any alien he deemed potentially dangerous to the country's safety.
The act provides for the apprehension and deportation of male aliens who were subjects or citizens of a hostile country. All French treaties between the United States and France are declared null and void by vote in Congress, most notably the Treaty of Alliance.
Congress adopts the Sedition Act, the fourth and last of the Alien and Sedition acts. The Kentucky State Legislature adopts the Kentucky Resolutions, reserving states' right to override federal powers not enumerated in the U. Thomas Jefferson, angry at the Adams administration for the Alien and Sedition acts, authors the resolution. 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.
Congress passes and Adams signs into law the Federal Bankruptcy Act, providing merchants and traders protection from debtors.
A resolution is passed and eventually signed by President Adams calling for the establishment of a Library of Congress. Congress passes an act dividing the Northwest Territory 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 be known as the Indiana Territory while the eastern half will retain the name Northwest Territory.
The new city of Washington in the District of Columbia becomes the official capital of the United States, succeeding Philadelphia. It would not be until November that Congress convened in the new capital and Adams moved into the new Executive Mansion. On June 11, , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ceased to be the capital of the United States, as the new city of Washington in the District of Columbia became the country's official capital.
The federal government moved its offices to Washington, D. Capitol building. The act made Philadelphia the temporary capital for ten years and authorized the President to select a site for the nation's permanent capital along the Potomac River. As President, George Washington energetically promoted the development of his namesake city so it would be ready to receive the federal government in , according to the terms of the Residence Act.
L'Enfant's plans included great public squares, extensive parks and gardens, a system of avenues radiating from the city's center, and public buildings located majestically along the Potomac.
His dismissal from the project in , combined with a lack of funding for construction, rendered the city woefully underdeveloped when the federal government arrived in It was not until the twentieth century, in fact, that L'Enfant's designs for the city were gradually implemented. At the dawn of the nineteenth century, only one wing of the U. Capitol building was complete, and the federal city consisted of less than houses with a population of about 3, Roads were scarce, entertainment virtually nonexistent, and housing limited.
Fewer than federal personnel moved into the city. Congressmen frequently rented rooms in boarding houses two to a bed. In November, President John Adams moved into the still incomplete White House, of which only the box-like center had been built. Life in the White House seemed only a slight improvement over congressmen's circumstances.
John and Abigail Adams lacked an expense account to furnish the house and a staff to maintain it. Yet, they were expected to host social functions and official receptions. However, President Adams did not have to struggle under the burden for long.
Just a few months after moving into the White House, he turned it over to Thomas Jefferson, who defeated him in the election of Despite the initial hardships and inadequacies of the federal government's new home, a general optimism about the city prevailed.
Unlike the Adamses, who were from Massachusetts, Jefferson knew the Potomac region well and had long supported its location for the nation's capital. Jefferson's election renewed enthusiasm for the federal government and provided impetus for the further development of Washington, D. France agrees to lift its embargos on American ships, cancel all letters of marque, and respect neutral ships and property.
The United States agrees to return captured warships but not captured privateers. 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.
The fourth presidential election is held. Adams, the Federalist Party candidate, loses his bid for reelection. A tie in electoral votes between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr throws the election into the House of Representatives, with Jefferson emerging the winner. Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third President of the United States, becoming the first President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.
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