Treaty of Alliance (1778) - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Treaty of alliance) Military alliance between the revolutionary United States and France

Left: Original Franco-American treaty, signed February 6, 1778
Right: Text of the 1778 Franco-American treaty, in a 1782 publication.

The Treaty of Alliance (French: traité d'alliance (1778)), also known as the Franco-American Treaty, was a defensive alliance between the Kingdom of France and the United States formed amid the American Revolutionary War with Great Britain. It was signed by delegates of King Louis XVI and the Second Continental Congress in Paris on February 6, 1778, along with the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and a secret clause providing for the entry of other European allies; together these instruments are sometimes known as the Franco-American Alliance or the Treaties of Alliance. The agreements marked the official entry of the United States on the world stage, and formalized French recognition and support of U.S. independence that was to be decisive in America's victory.

The Treaty of Alliance was signed immediately after the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, in which France was the first nation to formally recognize the U.S. as a sovereign nation; this treaty had also established mutual commercial and navigation rights between the two nations, in direct defiance of the British Navigation Acts, which restricted American access to foreign markets. In contemplation that these commercial and diplomatic ties would result in hostilities between France and Britain, the Treaty of Alliance guaranteed French military support in just such an event. It also forbade either nation from making a separate peace with Britain, and was contemplated as a permanent defensive pact.

The successful negotiation of the Treaty of Alliance and its sister agreements is considered the "single most important diplomatic success of the colonists", since it helped secure vital aid in the war with Britain; the treaties were immediately followed by substantial material, military, and financial support to the American cause. Some historians consider the signing of the Treaty of Alliance as marking America's de jure recognition as an independent nation. Notwithstanding its significance, subsequent complications with the Treaty of Alliance led to its annulment by the turn of the 19th century, with the United States eschewing formal military alliances until the Second World War.

Background

When the thirteen British colonies in America declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776, their most obvious potential ally was France, a long-time enemy of Britain and a colonial rival who had lost much of their lands in the Americas after the French and Indian War. France's leadership had been alarmed by Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War which had shifted the European balance of power and had been planning for a war of revenge since the Treaty of Paris that had ended the conflict in 1763. The French foreign minister Choiseul had envisaged this taking place in alliance with Spain and involving a Franco-Spanish invasion of Britain. Choiseul had been ready go to war in 1770 during the Falklands Crisis, but Louis XV had been alarmed by the British naval mobilization and instead dismissed Choiseul and backed down.

As a result, Jefferson began drafting conditions for a possible commercial treaty between France and the future independent colonies of the United States, which declined the presence of French troops and any aspect of French authority in colonial affairs. On September 25 the Continental Congress ordered commissioners, led by Benjamin Franklin, to seek a treaty with France based upon Adams draft treaty that had later been formalized into a Model Treaty which sought the establishment of reciprocal trade relations with France but declined to mention any possible military assistance from the French government. Despite orders to seek no direct military assistance from France, the American commissioners were instructed to work to acquire most favored nation trading relations with France, along with additional military aid, and were encouraged to reassure any Spanish delegates that the United States had no desire to acquire Spanish lands in the Americas, in hopes that Spain would in turn enter a possible Franco-American alliance.

Despite an original openness to the alliance, after word of the Declaration of Independence and a British evacuation of Boston reached France, the French Foreign Minister, Comte de Vergennes, put off signing a formal alliance with the United States after receiving news of British victories over General George Washington in the New York and New Jersey campaign. With the help of the Committee of Secret Correspondence, established by the U.S. Continental Congress to promote the American cause in France, and his standing as a model of republican simplicity within French society, Benjamin Franklin was able to gain a secret loan and clandestine military assistance from the Foreign Minister but was forced to put off negotiations on a formal alliance while the French government negotiated a possible alliance with Spain.

With the defeat of Britain at the Battle of Saratoga and growing rumors of secret British peace offers to Franklin, France sought to seize an opportunity to take advantage of the rebellion and abandoned negotiations with the Dutch Republic to begin discussions with the United States on a formal alliance. With official approval to begin negotiations on a formal alliance given by King Louis XVI, the colonies turned down a British proposal for reconciliation in January 1778 and began negotiations that would result in the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and The Treaty of Alliance.

Terms and provisions

United States Continental Congress
This article is part of a series on the
Independence Hall in Philadelphia
Predecessors
Albany Congress Stamp Act Congress
First Continental Congress
Declaration and Resolves Continental Association Petition to the King
Second Continental Congress
United Colonies Olive Branch Petition Committee of Secret Correspondence Necessity of Taking Up Arms Lee Resolution Declaration of Independence Model Treaty Franco-American Treaty Articles of Confederation Perpetual Union Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture
Congress of the Confederation
Bank of North America Land Ordinance of 1784 / of 1785 Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Members
List of delegates Presidents of the Continental Congress Secretary of Foreign Affairs Superintendent of Finance Secretary at War Board of War Marine Committee Secretary of the Continental Congress
Related
Journals of the Continental Congress Carpenters' Hall Independence Hall Henry Fite House Nassau Hall Maryland State House French Arms Tavern Federal Hall
United States portal
v t e

The Treaty of Alliance was in effect an insurance policy for France, which guaranteed the support of the United States if Britain broke the peace that it had with the French "either by direct hostilities, or by (hindering) her commerce and navigation," as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The treaty noted the terms and conditions of the military alliance, established requirements for the signing of future peace treaties to end hostilities with the British, and provided for other nations, namely Spain, to join as allies.

Articles 1–4: Terms of the alliance

The first articles of the treaty establish a general alliance between the two nations. Articles 1-3 stipulate that in the case that war broke out between France and Britain during the continuing hostilities of the American Revolutionary War, a military alliance would be formed between France and the United States, which would combine each respective military force and efforts for the direct purpose of maintaining the "liberty, Sovereignty, and independence absolute and unlimited of the said united States, as well in Matters of Gouvernment as of commerce." Article 4 further stipulates that the alliance would continue for "any particular enterprise" indefinitely into the future.

Articles 5–9: Terms and conditions of peace treaties with England

This portion of the treaty pre-emptively divides any lands obtained from Great Britain by successful military campaigns or concessions made by Britain in peace treaties to end hostilities with the signing nations. The United States was effectively guaranteed control of any land that it could gain possession of in North America, besides the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which France had retained possession of after the Seven Years' War, and Bermuda since King Louis XVI of France renounced "for ever the possession of the Islands of Bermudas as well as of any part of the continent of North America which before the treaty of Paris in 1763, or in virtue of that Treaty, were acknowledged to belong to the Crown of Great Britain, or to the United States heretofore called British Colonies, or which are at this Time or have lately been under the Power of The King and Crown of Great Britain." In return, the King was guaranteed "any of the Islands situated in the Gulph of Mexico, or near that Gulph" of which France could gain possession. Additional clauses insured that neither France nor the United States would seek to make any additional claims of compensation for their services during the conflict and that neither side would cease fighting or sign a peace treaty with Britain without the consent of the other nation and insurances that the independence of the United States would be recognized by Britain.

Article 10: Open invitation to other nations

Article 10 of the treaty, although largely directed to Spain, invited any other nations "who may have received injuries from England" to negotiate terms and conditions for joining the alliance.

Article 11: Pledge to honor land claims

Article 11 pledged to honor the lands claims of both nations forever into the future, with the United States guaranteeing full support of France's current land claims and any lands it acquired during the war against all other nations and France, in turn, pledged support for the American land claims and guaranteed to help preserve the country's "liberty, Sovereignty, and Independence absolute, and unlimited, as well in Matters of Government as commerce."

Article 12–13: Effective dates of the treaty, ratification, and signing delegates

Article 12 establishes the agreement as a conditional treaty that would take effect only upon a declaration of war between France and Britain, and it made the land, and diplomatic guarantees laid out in the treaty dependent upon the completion of the American Revolutionary War and a peace treaty that formally establishes each nation's land possessions.

Signing and aftermath

On February 6, 1778, Benjamin Franklin and the two other commissioners, Arthur Lee and Silas Deane, signed the treaty on behalf of the United States, and Conrad Alexandre Gérard signed on behalf of France.

On March 13, 1778, France informed Britain of its signing of the treaties and subsequent recognition of the United States as an independent nation; four days later, Britain declared war on France, thereby bringing the French into the American Revolutionary War. Their entry led to a significant escalation, as what would otherwise have been a "lopsided colonial rebellion" became a much larger and more complex geopolitical conflict with one of the world's premier superpowers.

As contemplated by the Treaty of Alliance, Spain allied with France against Britain through the Treaty of Aranjuez on April 12, 1779. The Franco-Spanish siege on Gibraltar, though ultimately unsuccessful, served to sap British manpower and war material from North America. The Dutch Republic joined the conflict the following year, when Britain declared war after seizing a Dutch merchant ship alleged to be carrying contraband to France. Although the Dutch did not formally ally with the United States, their role as co-belligerents with France further occupied British forces, particularly in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. The Dutch Republic also became the second nation to officially recognize U.S. independence, in 1782, and concluded its own commercial and navigation treaty with America.

After the signing of the treaty, an influx of French arms, ammunition, and uniforms proved vital for the Continental Army, while their military actions in the West Indies and elsewhere forced Britain to redeploy troops and naval units away from the North American colonies to secure their holdings. French involvement in the war would prove to be exceedingly important during the Siege of Yorktown, when 10,800 French regulars and 29 French warships, under the command of the Comte de Rochambeau and Comte de Grasse respectively, joined forces with General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette to obtain the surrender of Lord Cornwallis's Southern army, and effectively bringing an end to the fighting on the North American mainland for the remainder of the war. Despite British efforts to negotiate separate treaties with their opponents, Spain, France, and the United States held together during their negotiations with Britain, and concluded hostilities by signing the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

Deteriorating relations

Almost immediately after the signing of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, Americans began to question whether the lack of an end date for the military alliance had essentially created a perpetual alliance between the United States and France. Those Americans who disliked the proposition of being eternally tied to France—most notably the Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and his supporters in the Federalist Party—seized on the French Revolution as a chance to officially nullify the treaty. Despite a consensus of European monarchs who considered the treaty nullified by the execution of Louis XVI during the French Revolution, President George Washington sided with his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and declared that the treaty was still in effect, notwithstanding the regime change in France.

Although the Washington Administration had declared that the treaty remained valid, President Washington's formal Proclamation of Neutrality, and the subsequent Neutrality Act of 1794, effectively invalidated the military provisions of the treaty and touched off a period of increasingly deteriorated relations between the two nations. The efforts of the new French Minister Edmond-Charles Genêt to raise militias and privateers to attack Spanish lands and British warships, during the Citizen Genet Affair and despite Washington's pledge of neutrality, turned public opinion against the French and led to the resignation of Thomas Jefferson, a longtime supporter of the French cause, as Secretary of State. In turn, the signing of Treaty of London of 1794, or Jay's Treaty, convinced many in France that the Americans were treacherous, having surrendered to British demands and abandoned their French allies, despite the assistance they had provided the United States in their own fight for independence during the American Revolutionary War.

The alliance was further attacked in President Washington's Farewell Address, in which he declared that the United States was not obligated to honor the military provisions of the treaty, and furthermore warned Americans of the dangers of the same kind of permanent alliances that the United States was currently engaged in with France, as a result of the Treaty of Alliance. The growing public sentiment against the treaty peaked during the presidency of John Adams, when revolutionary France refused to receive American envoys, and normalize relations, during the XYZ Affair; this resulted in the treaty being annulled by Congress on July 7, 1798. French seizures of American naval vessels during the French Revolutionary Wars led to the Quasi-War and further tensions between the erstwhile allies; the Treaty of Mortefontaine of 1800, which brought an end to the conflict, also formally abrogated the Treaty of Alliance.

Notes

Morocco was the first country to de facto recognize American independence through a 1777 decree by Sultan Mohammad III to provide safe harbor to U.S. commercial vessels. However, relations were not formalized by treaty until 1786.

References

Preamble to Treaty of Alliance. "particularly in case Great Britain in Resentment of that connection and of the good correspondence which is the object of the , should break the Peace with France, either by direct hostilities, or by hindering her commerce and navigation, in a manner contrary to the Rights of Nations, and the Peace subsisting between the two Crowns."
"Franco-American Alliance | French-United States history [1778]". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
"Treaties of Alliance". National Museum of American History. May 24, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
"What country was the first to recognize the United States? – FAQs – Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
Preamble of the Treaty of Alliance
"Milestones: 1776–1783 – Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
"Today in History – February 6". Library of Congress. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
David M. Golove and Daniel J. Hulsebosch, A Civilized Nation: The Early American Constitution, The Law Of Nations, And The Pursuit Of International Recognition, New York Law Review, October 2010, 85 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 932, 953.
Simms, Brendan. Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire. London, 2007. pp. 502–31
Longmate, Norman. Island Fortress: The Defense of Great Britain, 1604–1945. Pimlico, 1991. pp. 183–85
^ French Alliance, French Assistance, and European diplomacy during the American Revolution, 1778–1782 US Dept of State via archive.org
^ Model Treaty (1776), US Dept of State, via archive.org
^ "Perspective On The French-American Alliance". Xenophongroup.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
^ "Avalon Project: Treaty of Alliance Between The United States and France; February 6, 1778". Avalon.law.yale.edu. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
Miller, David Hunter. "Treaties and other international acts of the United States of America /edited by Hunter Miller". avalon.law.yale.edu. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
McGee, Suzanne. "5 Ways the French Helped Win the American Revolution". HISTORY. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
Edler, F. (2001) . The Dutch Republic and The American Revolution. Honolulu, Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific. pp. 163–166. ISBN 0-89875-269-8.
^ "French-American Relations in the Age of Revolutions: From Hope to Disappointment (1776–1800)". Xenophongroup.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
"The United States Statutes at Large". Memory.loc.gov. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
The XYZ Affair and the Quasi-War with France, 1798–1800 SS Dept of State, via archive.org
"A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875". Memory.loc.gov. Retrieved January 27, 2012.

Hoffman, Ronald; Albert, Peter J., eds. Diplomacy and Revolution : the Franco–American Alliance of 1778 (Charlottesville: Univ. Press of Virginia, 1981); ISBN 978-0-8139-0864-9.
Ross, Maurice. Louis XVI, Forgotten Founding Father, with a survey of the Franco–American Alliance of the Revolutionary period (New York: Vantage Press, 1976); ISBN 978-0-533-02333-2.
Corwin, Edward Samuel. French Policy and the American Alliance of 1778 (New York: B. Franklin, 1970).

American Revolutionary War

Origins of the American Revolution

Philosophy	American Enlightenment John Locke Colonial history Liberalism Republicanism Freedom of religion Rights of Englishmen No taxation without representation Common Sense Spirit of '76 "All men are created equal" "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" "Consent of the governed" Expansionism Settler colonialism
Royalists	Pitt–Newcastle ministry Bute ministry Grenville ministry First Rockingham ministry Chatham ministry Grafton ministry North ministry Second Rockingham ministry Shelburne ministry Fox–North coalition Loyalists Black Loyalist
Related British Acts of Parliament	Navigation Iron Molasses Royal Proclamation of 1763 Sugar Currency Quartering Stamp up i.p.o Declaratory Townshend Tea Quebec Intolerable Conciliatory Resolution Restraining Proclamation of Rebellion Prohibitory
Colonials	Loyal Nine Stamp Act Congress Declaration of Rights and Grievances Virginia Association Daughters of Liberty Sons of Liberty Patriots Black Patriots Committees of correspondence Committees of safety Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania Massachusetts Circular Letter Suffolk Resolves First Continental Congress Continental Association Minutemen Provincial Congress Second Continental Congress United Colonies Olive Branch Petition Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms Committee of Secret Correspondence Halifax Resolves Lee Resolution Declaration of Independence Model Treaty Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union Confederation Congress
Events	French and Indian War Treaty of Paris (1763) Boston Massacre British credit crisis of 1772–1773 Gaspee affair Hutchinson letters affair Boston Tea Party Philadelphia Tea Party Powder Alarm

Combatants
Campaigns
Theaters
Battles
Events
Colonies

Combatants

United Colonies/Thirteen Colonies	Continental Congress Army Navy Marines
Kingdom of Great Britain	Parliament British Army Royal Navy European allies of King George III
Colonial allies	France Franco-American Treaty Army Navy Hortalez et Cie German supporters of Congress

Campaigns and
theaters

Major battles

Other events

Related conflicts

Involvement (by
colony or location)

Rebel colonies	Connecticut Delaware Georgia Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Virginia
Loyal colonies	East Florida Nova Scotia Quebec West Florida

Leaders

British

Military	Arbuthnot Brant Burgoyne Campbell Carleton Clinton Cornwallis Fraser Gage Graves Richard Howe William Howe Knyphausen Rodney
Civilian	King George III Amherst Barrington Germain North Rockingham Sandwich Shelburne

Colonial

Military	Washington Alexander Allen Arnold Barry Claghorn Clark Duportail Gates Greene Hamilton Hopkins Jones de Kalb Knox Lafayette Charles Lee Lincoln Mercer Montgomery Nicholson Putnam Rodney St. Clair Schuyler von Steuben Sullivan Ward Wayne
Civilian	John Adams Samuel Adams Carroll Dickinson Franklin Hancock Hanson Henry Huntington Jay Jefferson Laurens Richard Henry Lee McKean Morris Revere Rush Witherspoon

Colonial allies

French	Louis XVI Beaumarchais d'Estaing de Grasse de Guichen Luzerne de Rochambeau Suffren Vergennes

Aftermath
Society of the Cincinnati Treaty of Paris (1783) Evacuation Day (1783) Ratification Day (1784) Constitutional Convention The Federalist Papers Constitution Bill of Rights Shays's Rebellion Jay Treaty

Related topics

Military	Prisoners The Turtle
Political	Founding Fathers Diplomacy Liberty Tree Yankee Doodle
Other topics	Timeline of the American Revolution African Americans in the Revolutionary War Dogs in the American Revolutionary War Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War Women in the American Revolution Financial costs of the war Continental currency banknotes Continental Currency dollar coin Libertas Americana Commemoration films television theater Independence Day Patriots' Day Pulaski Memorial Day Washington's Birthday Jefferson's Birthday Von Steuben Day Minor holidays Centennial Sesquicentennial Bicentennial Semiquincentennial Children of the American Revolution Daughters of the American Revolution Sons of the American Revolution Sons of the Revolution Charters of Freedom Rotunda Museum of the American Revolution

v t e Benjamin Franklin
President of Pennsylvania (1785–1788) Ambassador to France (1779–1785) Second Continental Congress (1775–1776)
Founding of the United States	Join, or Die. (1754 political cartoon) Albany Plan of Union Albany Congress Hutchinson letters affair Committee of Secret Correspondence Committee of Five "...to be self-evident" Declaration of Independence Model Treaty Franco-American alliance Treaty of Amity and Commerce Treaty of Alliance Staten Island Peace Conference 1776 Pennsylvania Constitution Libertas Americana Treaty of Paris, 1783 Delegate, 1787 Constitutional Convention Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly Postmaster General Founding Fathers
Inventions, other events	Franklin's electrostatic machine Bifocals Franklin stove Glass armonica Gulf Stream exploration, naming, and chart Lightning rod Kite experiment Pay it forward Associators 111th Infantry Regiment Junto club American Philosophical Society Library Company of Philadelphia Pennsylvania Hospital Academy and College of Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Contributionship Union Fire Company Early American currency Continental Currency dollar coin Fugio cent United States Postal Service Street lighting President, Pennsylvania Abolition Society Master, Les Neuf Sœurs Gravesite
Writings	The Papers of Benjamin Franklin Founders Online Silence Dogood letters (1722) A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain (1725) The Busy-Body columns (1729) The Pennsylvania Gazette (1729–1790) Early American publishers and printers Poor Richard's Almanack (1732–1758) The Drinker's Dictionary (1737) "Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress" (1745) "The Speech of Polly Baker" (1747) Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc. (1751) Experiments and Observations on Electricity (1751) Birch letters (1755) The Way to Wealth (1758) Pennsylvania Chronicle (1767) Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One (1773) Proposed alliance with the Iroquois (1775) A Letter to a Royal Academy (1781) Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America (1784) "The Morals of Chess" (1786) An Address to the Public (1789) A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks (1789) The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1771–1790, pub. 1791) Bagatelles and Satires (pub. 1845) Franklin as a journalist Franklin's phonetic alphabet
Legacy	Bibliography Franklin Court Benjamin Franklin House Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology Benjamin Franklin Parkway Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Franklin Institute awards medal Benjamin Franklin Medal Royal Society of Arts medal Depicted in The Apotheosis of Washington Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Treaty of Paris (1783 painting) Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky (1816 painting) Revolutionary War Door Boston statue Chicago statue Columbus, Ohio, statue University of Pennsylvania statue Portland, Oregon, statue San Francisco statue Stanford University statue Washington D.C. statue Jefferson Memorial pediment Refunding Certificate Franklin half dollar One-hundred-dollar bill Franklin silver dollar Washington–Franklin stamps other stamps Cities, counties, schools named for Franklin Benjamin Franklin College Franklin Field Mount Franklin State of Franklin Sons of Ben (Philadelphia Union) Ships named USS Franklin Ben Franklin effect
In popular culture	Ben and Me (1953 short) Ben Franklin in Paris (1964 musical play) 1776 (1969 musical 1972 film) Benjamin Franklin (miniseries) (1972) A More Perfect Union (1989 film) Liberty! (1997 documentary series) Liberty's Kids (2002 animated series) Benjamin Franklin (2002 documentary series) John Adams (2008 miniseries) Sons of Liberty (2015 miniseries) Benjamin Franklin (2022 documentary) Franklin (2024 miniseries)
Related	Age of Enlightenment American Enlightenment The New-England Courant The American Museum magazine American Revolution patriots Syng inkstand
Family	Deborah Read (wife) William Franklin (son) Francis Franklin (son) Sarah Franklin Bache (daughter) William Franklin (grandson) Benjamin F. Bache (grandson) Louis F. Bache (grandson) Richard Bache Jr. (grandson) Andrew Harwood (great-grandson) Alexander Bache (great-grandson) Josiah Franklin (father) James Franklin (brother) Jane Mecom (sister) Mary Morrell Folger (grandmother) Peter Folger (grandfather) Richard Bache (son-in-law) Ann Smith Franklin (sister-in-law)
Category

v t e John Adams
2nd President of the United States (1797–1801) 1st Vice President of the United States (1789–1797) U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom (1785–1788) U.S. Minister to the Netherlands (1782–1788) Delegate to the Second Continental Congress (1775–1778) Delegate to the First Continental Congress (1774)
Founding of the United States	Braintree Instructions (1765) Boston Massacre defense Continental Association Petition to the King United Colonies Thoughts on Government (1776) Lee Resolution (seconded) Declaration of Independence May 15 preamble Committee of Five Model Treaty Treaty of Amity and Commerce Treaty of Alliance Board of War Chairman of the Marine Committee, 1775-1779 Continental Navy Staten Island Peace Conference Conference House Constitution of Massachusetts (1780) Treaty of Paris, 1783 Diplomacy
Elections	United States presidential election 1788–1789 1792 1796 1800
Presidency	Inauguration Quasi War with France XYZ Affair United States Department of the Navy Commerce Protection Act United States Marine Corps Convention of 1800 Mississippi Organic Act Alien and Sedition Acts Naturalization Act of 1798 Sick and Disabled Seamen Relief Act Marine Hospital Service Bankruptcy Act of 1800 Indiana Organic Act Slave Trade Act of 1800 District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 Navy Department Library Treaty of Tellico Treaty of Tripoli Midnight Judges Act Marbury v. Madison State of the Union Address (1797 1798 1799 1800) Presidential transition of Thomas Jefferson Cabinet Federal judiciary appointments
Other writings	Massachusetts Historical Society holdings Adams Papers Editorial Project A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America Letters of Mrs. Adams, the Wife of John Adams Founders Online Gray v. Pitts
Life and homes	Early life and education Adams National Historical Park John Adams Birthplace Family home and John Quincy Adams birthplace Peacefield Stone Library Massachusetts Hall, Harvard University Presidents House, Philadelphia Co-founder and second president, American Academy of Arts and Sciences United First Parish Church and gravesite
Legacy	Bibliography List of memorials Adams Memorial (proposed) John Adams Building John Adams Courthouse Jefferson Memorial pediment U.S. Postage stamps Treaty of Paris (1783 painting) USS Adams (1799) USS John Adams (1799) USS Adams (1874) USS President Adams (1941) USS John Adams (1963) Adams House at Harvard University Mount Adams (New Hampshire, Washington) Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Popular culture	Profiles in Courage (1964 series) American Primitive (1969 play) 1776 (1969 musical 1972 film) The Adams Chronicles (1976 miniseries) Liberty! (1997 documentary series) Liberty's Kids (2002 animated series) John Adams (2001 book 2008 miniseries) John and Abigail Adams (2006 documentary film) Sons of Liberty (2015 miniseries) Franklin (2024 miniseries)
Related	"Adams and Liberty" campaign song Adams' personal library American Enlightenment Congress Hall Federalist Party Federalist Era First Party System republicanism American Philosophical Society Gazette of the United States The American Museum American Revolution patriots Founding Fathers
Adams political family	Abigail Adams wife Quincy political family Abigail Adams Smith (daughter) John Quincy Adams son presidency Charles Adams (son) Thomas Boylston Adams (son) George Washington Adams (grandson) Charles Francis Adams Sr. (grandson) John Adams II (grandson) John Quincy Adams II (great-grandson) Henry Adams (great-grandson) Brooks Adams (great-grandson) John Adams Sr. (father) Susanna Boylston (mother) Samuel Adams (second cousin) Louisa Adams (daughter-in-law, first lady)
← George Washington Thomas Jefferson → Thomas Jefferson → Category

Categories: