During the presidency of john adams, both france and britain

supported american indians.
impressed us sailors.
demanded bribes to create peace.
seized us ships.

When they were at war again we were trading with both of them. They both attacked our ships because they didnt want to have the other profiting off us. So France started attacking ships enroute to britian and Britain started attacking ships enroute to france. This practically destroyed americans trade. The war between them had americans split. Some wanted to support france while others wanted to support britain. But the president George Washington decided something else. He decided that he would rather stay neutral in the war. This angered france who had expected our help since we had become a nation mainly thanks to them. They had expected our support. This triggered the XYZ event which led to the french representative demanding big bribes to keep the the peace. That how the old famous saying Not a sixthpence was born

Seized us ships becaused France was expecting help in the was with england but declined