4 March: JA departs Washington, D.C., before the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson as the third president of the United States, arriving in Quincy on 18 March. He reunites there with AA, who arrived on 10 March.

14 March: Henry Addington succeeds William Pitt as prime minister of Great Britain.

16 March: Thomas Jefferson vacates the sedition conviction of James Thomson Callender.

23 March: Paul I of Russia is assassinated. He is succeeded by his son Alexander.

26 March: A committee of the Mass. General Court visits Quincy and presents JA with a retirement address.

12 April: GWA, first child of JQA and LCA, is born in Berlin. He is baptized on 4 May.

26 April: JQA receives a 3 Feb. letter recalling him as U.S. minister to Prussia. He takes leave of King Frederick William III and Queen Louise Auguste Wilhelmine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on 5 May.

16 May: JQA’s secretary, Thomas Welsh Jr., departs Berlin, arriving in Boston on 8 September.

May: TBA moves to 113 Walnut Street in Philadelphia.

6–13 June: JQA’s “Letters from an American, Resident Abroad” are published in the Port Folio.

19 June – 15 Sept.: JQA’s gazette of “European Events” is published in the New-England Palladium.

8 July: JQA, LCA, and GWA depart Hamburg on the ship America, reuniting with TBA at Philadelphia on 4 September. On 12 472 Sept. LCA and GWA travel to Washington, D.C., arriving by the 16th; JQA departs for Quincy, visiting AA2 in New York before reuniting with his parents at Peacefield on 21 September.

26 Sept.: Mary Cranch, fourth child of William and Anna Greenleaf Cranch, is born.

29 Sept.: Norton Quincy, AA’s uncle, dies. AA inherits a portion of his estate, and JA purchases his Quincy property from other heirs.

1 Oct.: JQA purchases 39 Hanover Street in Boston.

14 Oct.: JQA departs Quincy for Washington, D.C., arriving on 21 October. JQA, LCA, and GWA leave the capital on 3 Nov., arriving in Quincy on the 25th.

27 Oct.: JQA, LCA, GWA, and Catherine Nuth Johnson visit Martha Washington at Mount Vernon.

26 Dec.: JQA leases a law office at 10 State Street in Boston.

4 March: JQA is appointed a Massachusetts bankruptcy commissioner. He serves until replaced by Thomas Jefferson on 7 July.

8 March: Congress repeals the Judiciary Act of 1801. The Judiciary Act of 1802 is passed in its place on 29 April.

24 March: Adams servants Elizabeth Epps and Tilly Whitcomb marry in Boston.

5 April: JQA is elected to the Mass. state senate. He is sworn in on 26 May.

17 April: Joshua Johnson, LCA’s father, dies at Frederick, Md.

22 May: Martha Washington dies at Mount Vernon.

28 May: JQA addresses the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society.

6 Oct.: John Thaxter Sr., AA’s uncle, dies.

30 Oct.: Residents of Quincy and surrounding towns present JA with a birthday address at Peacefield.

30 Oct.: JQA publishes an anonymous poem in the Port Folio referring to Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings that is widely republished.

1 Nov.: JQA is defeated as a candidate for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

27 Nov. – 25 Dec.: TBA’s “Examiner” series attacking Thomas Paine is published in the Port Folio.

27 Nov. – 26 Feb. 1803: JA’s review of Jean François de La Harpe’s 473 Lycée; ou, Cours de littérature ancienne et moderne appears in the Port Folio.

22 Dec.: JQA delivers a Forefathers’ Day oration in Plymouth.

8 Feb.: JQA is elected to the U.S. Senate.

24 Feb.: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Marbury v. Madison.

1 April: JQA learns of the failure of the London firm of Bird, Savage, & Bird, placing in jeopardy $13,000 of his and $18,000 of JA’s assets.

30 April: U.S. envoys in Paris agree to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States. The Senate ratifies the purchase on 20 Oct., and the territory is transferred to the United States on 20 December.

June: AA is injured in a fall. She resumes her correspondence in October.

4 July: JA2, second child of JQA and LCA, is born in Boston. He is baptized on 17 July.

8 Aug.: JQA purchases fourteen of JA’s Quincy properties, including the John Adams and John Quincy Adams Birthplaces.

1 Oct.: JQA, LCA, GWA, and JA2 depart Quincy for Washington, D.C., arriving on 20 October.

2 Oct.: Samuel Adams dies in Boston.

21 Oct.: JQA takes his seat in the Senate. The 1st session of the 8th Congress is convened on 17 Oct. and adjourns on 27 March 1804.

3 Nov.: JQA breaks with Federalists and votes to fund the Louisiana Purchase.

5 Dec.: John Quincy Cranch, son of William and Anna Greenleaf Cranch, is born, living only one month.

8 Dec.: Congress passes the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, reforming the presidential election process. Thirteen states vote to ratify, and it is adopted on 25 Sept. 1804.

11 Dec.: TBA relocates to Peacefield after residing in Philadelphia since April 1799.

1 Feb.: Congress passes an act regulating slavery in the Louisiana Territory. JQA votes in opposition.

7 Feb.: JQA is sworn in as a counselor of the U.S. Supreme Court.

6 March: TBA is admitted to the Massachusetts bar. He is subsequently appointed a Norfolk County justice of the peace.

2 April: JQA departs Washington, D.C., for Quincy, arriving on 14 April. LCA and their children remain in the capital.

14 May: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark depart St. Louis to begin an 8,000-mile expedition to the Pacific coast and back.

18 May: The French Senate proclaims the French Empire and names Napoleon emperor.

20 May – 25 Oct.: AA reopens correspondence with Thomas Jefferson after the death of Mary Jefferson Eppes, and they exchange seven letters.

11 July: Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in a duel at Weehawken, N.J.

23 Aug.: Adams servants Richard Dexter and Rebeckah Tirrell marry at Peacefield.

16 Oct.: JQA departs Quincy for Washington, D.C., reuniting with LCA and their children on 29 October.