1798-April-08: President John Adams revealed the “X.Y.Z.

1798-April-08: President John Adams revealed the “X.Y.Z. Affair” to Congress, exposing the attempts of French agents to solicit bribes from American envoys. This revelation unified much of the American public against France and silenced many pro-French Republican voices in the government. Between May and July, Congress passed a series of legislative acts that formally ruptured the 1778 alliance and suspended commerce. One specific act declared that the treaties between France and the United States were no longer legally binding on America. These developments transformed the maritime friction in the Caribbean into an undeclared but definitive “Quasi-War” between the states.