30 Sept.: JA departs Quincy for Trenton, N.J., where U.S. government offices are operating, arriving on 10 October.

9 Oct.: AA departs Quincy for Philadelphia in the company of Samuel Allyne and Mary Smith Gray Otis, arriving on 8 Nov, after visiting AA2 and SSA in Eastchester, N.Y.

3 Nov.: Oliver Ellsworth and William R. Davie, the special envoys to France, depart Newport, R.I., for Paris, where they arrive on 2 March 1800 and are met by William Vans Murray, minister plenipotentiary to France.

8 Nov.: JA and AA travel from Trenton, N.J., to Philadelphia.

9 Nov.: Napoleon seizes control of France in the coup d’etat of 18 brumaire, establishing the Consulate and naming himself first consul.

2 Dec.: The 1st session of the 6th Congress convenes in Philadelphia; it sits until 14 May 1800.

14 Dec.: George Washington dies at Mount Vernon.

6 Jan.: JA proclaims a national day of mourning for 22 Feb. to commemorate George Washington.

9 Feb.: Mary Smith Austin, AA’s aunt, dies in Charlestown.

15 April – 2 May: TBA publishes six essays as “A Friend to His Country” in the Philadelphia Gazette.

28 April: JA nominates Joshua Johnson to be U.S. superintendent of stamps; Thomas Jefferson casts the tie-breaking vote to confirm Johnson’s appointment on 5 May.

April: William Cranch moves his family from Georgetown, D.C., to a house near the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

5–13 May: Secretary of War James McHenry resigns on 6 May; Secretary of State Timothy Pickering refuses to resign, and JA terminates his appointment on 12 May. On the same day JA nominates Samuel Dexter as secretary of war and John Marshall as secretary of state, and the Senate confirms the appointments on 13 May.

12–30 May: TBA travels a legal circuit through Pennsylvania.

19 May: AA departs Philadelphia for Quincy, arriving on 31 May after stopping at WSS’s military encampment at Scotch Plains, N.J., to visit AA2 and at New York City to visit CA and SSA. She brings Susanna Boylston Adams to Quincy.

23 May: JA pardons all participants in Fries’ Rebellion.

27 May – 14 June: JA visits Washington, D.C.

7–30 June: Alexander Hamilton tours New England, mobilizing Federalist support for Charles Cotesworth Pinckney in the presidential election.

14 June: JA departs Washington, D.C., for Quincy, arriving on 3 July after stops at Mount Vernon, Alexandria, Va., and Philadelphia.

14 June: A French Army led by Napoleon defeats the Austrian Army at the Battle of Marengo.

24 June: JA makes a recess appointment of WSS as surveyor and inspector of the port of New York; after a lengthy debate the Senate confirms the appointment on 23 Feb. 1801.

17 July – 25 Oct.: JQA and LCA tour Silesia, and JQA chronicles the tour in a series of letters to TBA that are published in the Port Folio.

30 Aug.: The slave revolt known as Gabriel’s Rebellion takes place in Richmond, Va.

1–6 Sept.: TBA publishes three essays as Mutius Scævola in the Philadelphia Gazette of the United States.

19 Sept.: Charles F. Foster, son of Elizabeth Smith and James Hiller Foster, dies.

1 Oct.: The Convention of 1800 between France and the United States is signed, ending the Quasi-War. The convention reaches Washington, D.C., on 11 Dec.; the Senate ratifies a modified version on 3 Feb. 1801; France agrees to the modifications on 31 July; and the convention is proclaimed by Thomas Jefferson on 21 December.

13 Oct.: JA departs Quincy for Washington, D.C., arriving on 1 Nov. and taking up residence in the President’s House.

16 Oct.: Oliver Ellsworth resigns as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

22 Oct.: James Jackson, the Adamses’ coachman, dies in Quincy.

24 Oct.: Letter from Alexander Hamilton, Concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq. President of the United States is published.

27 Oct.: AA departs Quincy for Washington, D.C., arriving on 16 Nov. after visiting CA in New York; TBA travels with AA from Philadelphia to Washington.

8 Nov.: Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott Jr. resigns; JA nominates Samuel Dexter as Wolcott’s successor on 24 Dec., and the Senate confirms the appointment on the 31st.

17 Nov.: The 2d session of the 6th Congress convenes in Washington, D.C.; it sits until 3 March 1801.

30 Nov.: CA dies in New York City; a funeral with military honors is held the following day.

3 Dec.: Electors meet in their respective states to cast ballots in the presidential election of 1800.

18 Dec.: JA nominates John Jay to be chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; he declines on 2 Jan. 1801.

25 Dec.: Charles Salmon Foster, second son of Elizabeth Smith and James Hiller Foster, is born.

3 Jan.: The first of JQA’s 28 letters from Silesia is printed in the inaugural issue of Joseph Dennie Jr.’s Port Folio; the series is published in weekly installments through the issue of 7 November.

8 Jan.: JA appoints William Cranch to the Washington, D.C., Board of Commissioners.

11 Jan.: Adams servants Betsy Howard and William Shipley are married in Washington, D.C.

20 Jan.: JA nominates John Marshall as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; the Senate confirms the appointment on 27 January.

3 Feb.: John Marshall executes JA’s order recalling JQA as minister plenipotentiary to Prussia.

11 Feb.: Thomas Jefferson reads the electoral votes in the Senate, declaring that he and Aaron Burr received 73 votes each and JA received 65 votes.

13 Feb.: AA departs Washington, D.C., for Quincy, arriving on 10 March.

13 Feb.: JA signs into law the Judiciary Act of 1801, reorganizing the judicial system of the United States and leading to JA’s judicial nominations that are later characterized as “midnight appointments.”

17 Feb.: On the 36th ballot the U.S. House of Representatives elects Thomas Jefferson president of the United States; Aaron Burr is elected vice president.

28 Feb.: JA nominates William Cranch to be assistant judge of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia; the Senate confirms the appointment on 3 March.