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__John Adams__ October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826 Political Party: Federalist Term: March 4, 1797- March 4, 1801 Vice President: Thomas Jefferson American Identity: While John Adams was president, there was a war going on between France and Britain. France was against helping America because they viewed America as Britain’s helper or sidekick. The France actually took advantage of American ships that were trading with Britain. Despite the actions of the French, America still liked the French. They were allies during the Revolutionary War and America wanted to keep a strong relationship between the two. Adams wanted to identify America as a strong power just like France. He needed the two countries to stay allies so that America could one day be as strong if not stronger than France. Now, another development that shows the American identity would be the undeclared war between France and America. As this war was going on, America was becoming stronger. They were involved in new techniques to try to overpower the French. As the fighting continued, America gained naval strengths and was becoming stronger. This created a new identity for America. John Adams followed closely in the footsteps of George Washington. There was only one president prior to him and both men had similar views on how they would help a new country develop. With all that being said, John Adams deserves a C. He used what he saw Washington do, to create another presidency that would help America take a step in the right direction, but sadly, it seemed his goals were not met. He only achieved a limited amount of things while he was president. Before and after his presidency, Adams completed many more duties. This is why his rating dropped and left him with a mediocre rating. Specific goals of John Adams included bringing the entirety of nations together. Adams wanted a government that was accepted between all the states. He wanted to focus on creating a good and healthy education for everyone in the states. He wanted an equal opportunity for all the people of the states. Adams wanted to find a way to protect the Constitution from getting into the hands of other influences. He also said how he wanted relationships to be improved to make others like America more and have America like their enemies more. At the end of his Inaugural Address, Adams pointed out that the Christian religion goes along with all of his goals. He believed that if Americans were Christians, they would be able to fulfill the goals Adams had for America. All of these goals seemed reasonable. They were able to be done fully, but during Adams presidency, it seemed as though his goals were not met. He tried to bring peace between the European powers, but undeclared war broke out and took over Adams presidency. He had to focus on building ships to battle the French. Adams spent much time working through the Quasi-War. After long negotiations the Quasi-War ended. Still, the goals that Adams announced at the beginning of his presidency were not reached. He did not focus on education and uniting the nations together. It seemed like all he said he was going to do, did not come true. Congress supported Adams by giving him the right to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts. Before Adams was president, Congress had sent him to France to work on making an alliance there. It seemed that Adams was on good terms with Congress. They helped him by giving him money for the naval war that was happening between the French and America. The idea was to get more ships for uses against the French. Congress seemed to be supporting Adams and his ideas. When the X, Y, and Z, Affair was first introduced to Americans, they were not happy. Many became furious with the French and wanted to start a war against them. Adams took matters into his own hands. Knowing that the French had a strong army and was fighting most of Europe, he knew America would never stand a chance in a war between the two. Adams decided that he would have an undeclared war against the French known as the Quasi-War. This war was fought by American ships trying to sabotage French ships. Adams ideal thought was that the fighting would stop threats made by the French to America. As the undeclared war continued on, Adams needed to supply an army. To afford a strong army, Adams made taxes on property. Americans were furious. In the south of Pennsylvania, there was a rebellion for these taxes saying that it went against their liberties. Although the Americans were unhappy with Adams at this time, Adams found a way to turn it around. Towards the end of the war, he accomplished several naval victories and again was highly popular by the Americans. Something that started off bad, in the end came to make a positive impact on Adams presidency. A negative time during Adams presidency was while the undeclared war was going on with the French. Democratic-Republicans supported France through these times and truly wanted to overthrow the Federalists. Democratic-Republicans in some states were not even enforcing federal laws. They were ready to rebel. America seemed like it was about to fall apart, so the Federalists made the Alien and Sedition Act to stand as a security blanket. Hopefully, it would be used to help America prosper. Adams signed these acts to find that the Democratic-Republicans were not happy with these new laws. They saw them as unconstitutional. These documents created much controversy between Americans in the years to come. When Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Act, he was going to change the allowance of the French who either wanted to come to America or was already living in America. This gave the president the right to kick out a suspicious people or an unwanted people. It gave power to the president, but this was a power that the president had never had before. This law changed how America would forever view people coming into the country. Today, there are many illegal immigrants in America. The act that was created during Adams presidency can be seen as helpful today. Although now it is used in different context, a president still has the right to get rid of an illegal immigrant or a non-citizen. To think that the president can protect America today because of what John Adams did in the past shows how America has changed. It can easily be seen how America has used the past to create a better future for all people. After Adams presidency, the country was better off. The rating that is shown above was given because Adams did not really accomplish as much as Washington. In comparison, Adams was not nearly as good of a president as Washington which is why his grade went down. There were only a few things that Adams truly did that affected the country. Those two things were the X, Y, and Z Affair and the Alien and Sedition Act. Both were helpful to America, and America has changed because of both of them. It still did not seem like John Adams did enough during his presidency. Perhaps he could have left a better impression on America during the time while he was named the President.

Works Cited Ferber, Lori. “Presidential Term Dates.” __Presidential Memorabilia.__2009. Lori Ferber Collectables. 08 September 2011.  . Hromatko, Wesley. “John Adams.” __Unitarian Universalist Biography Dictionary.__ 1999-2011. Unitarian Universalist History and Heritage Society. 08 September 20011. . John Adams. __The Encyclopedia Britannica.__ 1983 ed. “John Adams.” __The White House.__ The White House. 08 September 2011. .