Papers of John Adams

This volume of the Papers of John Adams explores the period from March 1798 to June 1799, showing how President John Adams strained to repair Franco-American relations. The XYZ Affair sank his initial plans for peace, compelling Adams to recalibrate his policy. Anxious to counter French privateering, he spearheaded legislation to expand the army, grow the navy, and arm merchant ships. Members of Adams’s cabinet also tried to flex executive power, garnering mixed results. Timothy Pickering clashed with the president when he angled to run enforcement of the Alien and Sedition Acts. James McHenry and Benjamin Stoddert struggled to secure arms, recruits, and support for the military. Oliver Wolcott Jr. kept treasury dealings stable despite a yellow fever epidemic and the fragility of American trade. Adams remained in Quincy as the diplomatic crisis grew, tending to his ailing wife, Abigail, and leading from afar. He closely monitored implementation of the controversial Jay Treaty, relying on Charles Lee’s reports on the politicking of the claims commissions. The Adams administration imposed a national direct tax to pay for the military buildup, drawing dissent from Americans buffeted by economic chaos. As French attacks on US commerce soared and the Jay Treaty’s pro-British trade regulations took root, hundreds of patriotic addresses lauding Adams swept in from town meetings, local militias, state legislatures, college students, religious groups, and philanthropic societies. The president replied with gratitude, seizing the chance to reach beyond the Federalist stronghold of New England. Volume 23 charts Adams’s efforts to connect with citizens as public hope for peace with France steadily dissolved.