Presidential Biographies | John Adams Administration - Foreign Issues

Foreign Issues

Foreign conflict dominated John Adams's presidency. The conflict derived from the United States's continuing need to fortify its independence by developing commercial strength. This required access to New England fisheries, profitable trade in the Caribbean, and access to major waterways and ports both on the U.S. continent (i.e., the Mississippi River and New Orleans, Louisiana) and in Europe. Cultivating these avenues of commerce inevitably led to conflict with Great Britain, France, and Spain.

When the United States declared its independence from Great Britain in...