Crisis and the Choice of a Commission

Shortly after taking office on March 4, 1797, Adams learned that Pinckney had been refused as U.S. minister amid the escalating crisis and that American merchant ships had been seized in the Caribbean. He called a special session of Congress for May. In late May 1797 he met his cabinet to choose a special commission; he proposed Marshall and Gerry join Pinckney, over cabinet objections to Gerry's weak Federalism. The commissioners' political divisions shaped their attitudes: Marshall and Pinckney distrusted the French, while Gerry remained flexible and unhurried.