USA HISTORY

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MAKING OF A NEW NATION 1776 1800

PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS FROM ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS TO XYZ AFFAIR

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
When Adams became President, the war between the French and British was causing great difficulties for the US on the high seas and intense partisanship [taking of sides] among contending factions within the Nation. His administration focused on France, where the Directory, the ruling group, had refused to receive the American envoy and had suspended commercial relations.Adams sent three commissioners to France, but in the spring of 1798 word arrived that the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand and the Directory had refused to negotiate with them unless they would first pay bribe. Adams reported the insult to Congress, and the Senate printed the correspondence, in which the Frenchmen were referred to only as “X, Y, and Z.” ____ President Adams did not call for a declaration of war, but hostilities began at sea. At first, American shipping was almost defenseless against French privateers, but by 1800 armed merchantmen and US warships were clearing the sea-lanes.-WhiteHouse.govBased on information in the excerpt, what can be inferred about the effect the war between France and England had on the United States.
A
The disagreements between political parties on issues relating to the war led to the inability of Congress to function.
B
The attacks on American shipping vessels led to a build up of an American naval force.
C
The refusal to pay the bribe resulted ina suspension in French trade that deeply altered the American economy.
D
The unwillingness of the French to negotiate brought about a long period of distrust of the French Directory.
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -The Problem with France He agreed to the Jay Treaty with Britain in 1795, which France perceived as a proclamation of hostility. It began to attack American ships that were trading with Britain. Adams, like Washington before him, knew the new nation could not withstand another war.

Detailed explanation-2: -His stubborn independence left him politically isolated and alone. Even his own cabinet opposed his policies much of the time. He valued no one’s opinion half as much as his own-except for that of his wife, Abigail.

Detailed explanation-3: -Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the Army and Navy in the undeclared naval war (called the “Quasi-War") with France. During his term, he became the first president to reside in the executive mansion now known as the White House.

Detailed explanation-4: -John Adams’s presidency was marked by conflicts between the two newly-formed political parties: the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. The conflicts between the two political parties centered on foreign policy and the balance of power between the federal government and the states’ governments.

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