John Adams

On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress passed the Lee Resolution, asserting the colonies were free and independent states.

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia.

On July 8, 1776, at noon, the Declaration was read publicly at three designated locations: Trenton, Easton, and Philadelphia.

The Second Continental Congress appointed a five-member committee on June 11, 1776, to draft a declaration of independence.

In November 1777 Adams learned he was named commissioner to France, joining Franklin and Arthur Lee in Paris.

In the meantime, Adams thwarted an attempt by neutral European powers to mediate the war without consulting the United States.

Adams pursued loans and recognition in the Dutch Republic, presenting credentials at The Hague in April 1781 and returning in January 1782.

Adams collaborated with Franklin, Jay, Jefferson, and Laurens in negotiations; the treaty was signed September 3, 1783, recognizing independence.

Adams presented his credentials as ambassador to the Dutch government at The Hague on April 19, 1781, after five months without meeting a Dutch official; no assistance was promised.

In January 1782 Adams returned to The Hague demanding answers from the States General; in April 1782 the Dutch Republic became the second European country to diplomatically recognize the Continental Congress.

On June 11, 1782, aided by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Adams negotiated a loan of five million guilders for the American government.

In October 1782 a treaty of amity and commerce was concluded between the Dutch Republic and the United States, following the April recognition.

Adams later went to The Hague to take formal leave of his ambassadorship and secure refinancing from the Dutch, enabling the United States to meet obligations on earlier loans.

American and British representatives drafted a provisional treaty on November 30, 1782, after months of negotiation in Paris.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, at the Hôtel d'York in Paris by Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley.

The Congress of the Confederation ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784; Britain ratified on April 9, 1784, with exchange in Paris on May 12, 1784.

Following the Yorktown defeat and the fall of North's government, peace negotiations began in Paris in April 1782.

In September 1782, Vergennes proposed a solution to the deadlocked US-British negotiations, which the United States rejected.

On November 30, 1782, American and British representatives signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, acknowledging US independence.

Congress endorsed the preliminary settlement on April 15, 1783, and ratified the Treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784, in Annapolis.

The definitive Treaty of Paris was signed at the Hôtel d'York in Paris on September 3, 1783, by Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley.

Negotiations began in Paris in April 1782 after North's government fell following Yorktown, continuing through the summer.

The treaty was drafted on November 30, 1782, with Shelburne seeking to separate the United States from France.

Great Britain signed separate agreements with France and Spain; the last two Peace of Paris treaties were signed at the Palace of Versailles in 1783.

On September 3, 1783, Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley signed the treaty at the Hôtel d'York in Paris, ending the war.

The Dutch treaty was not finalized until 1784, when captured East Indies possessions were returned for trading privileges; a hoped-for commercial treaty with Britain failed to materialize.

The Congress of the Confederation ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784; Britain ratified on April 9, and copies were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784.

John Adams was appointed as the first American ambassador to Great Britain in 1785, following earlier diplomatic collaborations.

Thomas Jefferson's service as Minister to France began in 1785 and continued to 1789, following his 1784 appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary.

The outgoing Congress set the schedule for choosing electors and casting votes.

Two states held popular votes for presidential electors alongside congressional elections in December 1788.

States completed the choice of presidential electors by the January 7, 1789 deadline.

Elections for the first House of Representatives were held alongside the presidential election process.

A legislative deadlock left New York unable to appoint its eight electors by the deadline.

Electors assembled on February 4, 1789 to cast their votes for president and vice president.

Washington won unanimous election and Adams became the first vice president.

Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, 57 days after the First Congress convened.

The election spanned December 15, 1788 to January 7, 1789, the first national presidential election and the only one spanning two calendar years without a contingent election.

A deadlock persisted through January 7, 1789, the final day for choosing electors, so New York failed to appoint its eight constitutionally allocated electors.

Electors assembled on the scheduled day and every one of the 69 present voted for Washington, producing a unanimous election.

John Adams received 34 electoral votes, one short of a majority; under pre-Twelfth Amendment rules the runner-up became vice president without needing a majority.

Langdon, as president pro tempore, counted the electoral college votes in the first presidential election, dated by the passages to April 1789.

On April 6, 1789, the Senate achieved its first quorum and chose John Langdon of New Hampshire as its first president pro tempore.

The bicameral 1st United States Congress first met at Federal Hall in New York City on March 4, 1789, starting federal operations under the 1787 Constitution.

The House reached quorum on April 1, 1789, the Senate on April 6; in joint session Congress certified Washington's unanimous election and Adams as Vice President.

John Adams was inaugurated as the nation's first vice president on April 21, 1789, and George Washington as first president at Federal Hall on April 30, 1789.

Between June and September 1789 the Congress enacted the Oaths Act, Tariff of 1789, Departments of State, War, and Treasury, Customs Service, and the Judiciary Act.

On September 2, 1789, Congress decided that power to remove executive officers was vested in the President of the United States.

On September 25, 1789, Congress approved twelve proposed constitutional articles guaranteeing individual rights and limiting federal power, sending them to the states.

By mid-1789 Adams found the vice presidency inactive and mechanical, calling it the most insignificant office ever contrived.

Adams' term began March 4, 1789, but he only started serving as vice president on April 21 after arriving late in New York.

Early in his term Adams engaged the Senate in a lengthy debate over official titles for the president and executive officers.

Genêt was openly hostile toward Washington's neutrality policy, and his actions endangered the neutrality declared on April 22, 1793.

The Electoral College unanimously re-elected Washington president on February 13, 1793, with Adams returned as vice president.

Washington was sworn into office by Associate Justice William Cushing on March 4, 1793, in Congress Hall in Philadelphia.

News that revolutionary France had declared war on Great Britain in February 1793 did not reach America until the first half of April.

Edmond-Charles Genêt, the Girondins' minister to the United States, was dispatched to America in 1793, arriving by April 1793.

On April 22, 1793, Washington issued a formal announcement declaring the nation neutral in the conflict between France and Great Britain.

The Naval Act of 1794 authorized six original frigates, with Constitution the third constructed; a March 1796 peace accord with Algiers halted construction.

A launching ceremony on 20 September 1797 was attended by President John Adams and Massachusetts Governor Increase Sumner, but the launch did not succeed then.

After a month of rebuilding the ways, Constitution slipped into Boston Harbor on 21 October 1797, Captain James Sever breaking a bottle of Madeira wine on her bowsprit.

In June 1796, Democratic-Republican leaders met and agreed to support Thomas Jefferson for president and Aaron Burr for vice president.

Federalist John Adams defeated Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson 71–68 in the electoral college in the 1796 presidential election.

With Washington refusing a third term, the 1796 election became the first contested U.S. presidential election and the first in which parties competed for the presidency.

Congress counted the electoral results on February 8, 1797, with Adams reading the votes; he was sworn in as the second president on March 4, 1797.

Power passed from Washington's administration to Adams following the 1796 election, the first contested American presidential contest.

Hamilton convinced at least 7 of 69 electors to withhold votes from Adams, seeking an overwhelming victory for Washington's preferred outcome.

Adams took the presidential oath on March 4, 1797, becoming the nation's second president after the first contested election.

Joel Barlow authored the treaty, which was signed at Tripoli on November 4, 1796, under Ambassador David Humphreys' authority.

Article 11 of the ratified English translation declares the U.S. government not founded on the Christian religion, but the phrase does not exist in the Arabic original.

The treaty was signed at Algiers on January 3, 1797, for a third-party witness, and Humphreys approved it in Lisbon on February 10, 1797.

The Senate ratified the treaty unanimously and without debate on June 7, 1797; it took effect June 10, 1797, with President John Adams' signature.

Adams had occupied the High Street mansion in Philadelphia from March 1797 to May 1800 before moving to the new capital.

On Saturday, November 1, 1800, John Adams became the first president to take residence in the White House, arriving from Philadelphia.

Adams lived in the house only briefly before Thomas Jefferson moved into the 'pleasant country residence' in 1801.

President Adams forwarded Blount's conspiracy letter to the Senate, where it was presented on July 3, 1797, while Blount was out walking.

The Senate convened as a Court of Impeachment on December 17, 1798, and on January 11, 1799, voted 14 to 11 to dismiss the impeachment for lack of jurisdiction.

After French seizures of American shipping and Pinckney's rejection as minister, Adams convened Congress and formed a three-man commission to France.

In Paris in early October 1797, agents of Talleyrand demanded a loan and a £50,000 bribe; the commissioners curtly refused and negotiations never became formal.

Talleyrand exploited the commissioners' divisions, appearing only in November to castigate them; Marshall and Pinckney left France in April 1798, and Gerry returned home in October 1798.

Adams released documents substituting X, Y, and Z for the French agents' names; Congress rearmed, nullified the 1778 alliance, and the affair led to the undeclared Quasi-War.

Electors met in their respective states on December 3, 1800, casting ballots that produced a tie between Jefferson and Burr.

In February 1801 the House balloted as states to choose between Jefferson and Burr for president.

Electoral ballots were opened and counted on February 11, 1801, with Georgia's certificate differing from the others.

John Adams signed an act on April 24, 1800, appropriating $5,000 to purchase books and fit up a suitable apartment.

Books ordered from London formed a collection of 740 books and three maps, housed in the Capitol when Congress arrived in November 1800.

On January 26, 1802, Jefferson signed a bill creating the librarian of Congress appointment and a Joint Committee on the Library.

Adams occupied the High Street mansion in Philadelphia from March 1797 to May 1800, vacating it as the capital moved.

Adams made his first official visit to the nation's new seat of government in early June 1800, while the President's Mansion was still under construction.

On Saturday, November 1, 1800, Adams became the first president to occupy the White House, which was not yet completed.

The United States and France signed the Convention of 1800, also known as the Treaty of Mortefontaine, on September 30, 1800.

Arguments over Clause II and unaddressed shipping-loss compensation kept Congress from ratifying the convention until December 21, 1801.

Unlike 1796, both parties formally nominated tickets for the 1800 election.

Aaron Burr employed unorthodox public campaigning methods, credited by some historians with inventing modern electioneering.

Six of the sixteen participating states used some form of popular vote to choose electors.

The U.S. Senate confirmed John Marshall as Chief Justice on January 27, 1801, following his nomination by President Adams.

The 6th Congress enacted the Organic Act, placing the district under exclusive federal control and organizing it into two counties.

The City of Washington received a municipal government with a president-appointed mayor, distinct from the district's county organization.

On February 24, 1803, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 4-0 decision against Marbury, establishing judicial review.

Captain Mayhew Folger's ship Topaz rediscovered Pitcairn Islands in February 1808, finding John Adams as the sole surviving mutineer.

Thomas Jefferson died at Monticello on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

John Adams died at Peacefield in Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1826, unaware that Jefferson had already died.

Hood's Army of Tennessee conducted numerous frontal assaults against fortified Union positions under Schofield, failing to prevent an orderly withdrawal.

Brigadier General Jacob Cox prepared strong defensive positions around deteriorated entrenchments originally constructed in 1863.