ch. The
             French reacted by seizing American ships causing the threat of war to loom
             large in American minds. President Adams sent three commissioners to France
             to work out a solution and to modify the Franco-American alliance of 1778,
             but the Paris government asked for bribes and a loan from the United States
             before negotiations could even begin. The American commissioners refused
             to pay the bribes and they were denied an audience with accredited
             authorities and even treated with contempt. Two of the commissioners
             returned to the United States with E
             ...