March 4, 1797 - March 4, 1801

John Adams

XYZ Affairs - John Adams sent three men to represent a US peace commission when the French broke diplomatic ties in 1796. Nothing was solved and the French tried to bribe the US $25,000 just to talk. After Adams received news of failure, he wanted to continue negotiations, but it failed and Congress made a tiny navy in 1798 to fight a undeclared naval war against French privateers.

Alien and Sedation Acts - These acts made it so the president could deport anyone who he deemed endangered the safety of the US and made it illegal to oppose the laws of the federal government and make criticism about them. The laws targeted the French and Pro-French immigrants. The Federalists supported them at first as many Democratic Republicans were French, but the laws back fired when Democratic Republicans came into power and Federalists were prosecuted when they criticized the government.

New Capital - On June 11, 1800, the capital of the nation was moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to e city of Washington in the District of Columbia. Philadelphia was only a temporary capital by the Residence Act. John Adams had lived in the unfinished Whitehouse until he turned over presidency to Thomas Jefferson.

Characteristic: Changing

The capital changed, there were many new acts passed (Alien and Sedation Acts), and the French stopped attacking the American Merchant ships.