Save+American+Ships

So reading about Britain and France and how they acted around America, to protect American ships Adams shouldn't side with any of them, and should just follow the isolationism policy that George Washington made before he left office.
 * What Should Adams do to protect American ships? (main question) **

These were the questions and answers that lead to the main question. **W****hy did Napoleon agree to end the France 1778 alliance with the United States?** Because the alliance with France had been essential to the U.S. during the Revolutionary War, but now that the war is over it had brought nothing but trouble since. Also some problems were caused when France and Britain went to war, the U.S. had no idea who to side with and it also caused trouble trading with both France and Britain.

The farther we read, we realized that there was no real evidence that France wanted them to go to war. It was a false assumption.
 * Why did France want England to go to war with The United States? **

We read about The XYZ affair that stated that Minister Talleyrand would not cooperate unless he had a tribute. A tribute was not something Adams wanted to give so instead Adams decided he would recruit 10,000 men and build 12 new ships.
 * Why not give Talleyrand a tribute? **

Adams would't give Talleyrand a tribute because he decided to go by George Washington's policy.
 * So if Adams wanted to save American ships, why wouldn't he give Minister Talleyrand a tribute? **