Early US
Relations with
European
Governments
The French Revolution
• Most Americans
sympathized at first
• Federalists turned
against French
revolutionaries when
they became too violent
• Democratic-Republicans
still supported the fight
for liberty
War between Britain and France
• Americans traded with
both countries, so a
problem
• US bound by Treaty of
1778 to help defend
France’s Caribbean
colonies, but honoring
this could lead to war
with England
Proclamation of Neutrality
• April, 1793
• George Washington
believed the young and
weak US could not
afford to get involved
• Chose not to honor
Treaty of 1778
• Declared US to be
“friendly and impartial”
to both countries
Problems with Britain
• Britain began
intercepting any ships
trying to enter French
ports
• Hundreds of US ships
and their cargoes were
seized by the British
• Angered US merchants
Jay’s Treaty (1795)
• Washington sent John Jay to
negotiate with the British
• US agreed that Britain had
right to seize goods bound
for France; Britain agreed to
grant US “most favored
nation” status and to allow
US free trade with British
colonies in the Caribbean to
boost trade
• Dem-Reps angered by
treaty
XYZ Affair (1797)
• France retaliated by
beginning to seize US ships
bound for England
• Pres. Adams sent three
diplomats to negotiate with
French
• US delegation was asked by
three French agents (X, Y,
and Z) to pay bribes and
promise loans from the US
government in order to
meet with French officials;
they refused and returned
home
“Millions for defense, but not
one cent for tribute!”
The Quasi-War (1798)
• Angry Americans began
to call for war with
France
• June 1798, Congress
suspended trade with
France and ordered the
navy to capture French
ships
• State of undeclared war
began to exist
Convention of 1800
• France asked to reopen
negotiations
• US agreed to give up all
claims against France
for damages to US
shipping
• France agreed to
release US from terms
of the Treaty of 1778
• Quasi-War ended
Louisiana Purchase
• Spain returned
Louisiana to France in
1800
• 1803: Napoleon agreed
to sell territory to US –
he needed the money,
had trouble in Haiti, and
wanted to prevent US
alliance with Britain
Another war between
Britain
and
France
• Britain declared all ships
headed for Europe
needed British licenses
and would be subject to
search
• France declared that
ships obeying British
orders would have their
goods confiscated by
the French government
Impressment
• Britain began stopping
US ships to look for
British “deserters”
• Often forced crews
from US ships to man
British naval vessels
• Infuriated American
citizens
USS Chesapeake incident
• 1807: British ship HMS
Leopard tried to stop
the US warship USS
Chesapeake
• US ship refused and was
fired upon, killing 3 US
sailors; Chesapeake
surrendered and British
impressed 4 crewmen
• Angry Americans called
for war
Embargo Act of 1807
• Jefferson wanted to avoid
war
• Halted all trade between
US and Europe
• Hurt US more than Britain
or France
• US shipping companies
failed; farmers, who sold
most of their crops to
Europe, were ruined
• Act repealed in 1809
James Madison
• 4th US President (18091817)
• Democratic-Republican
• Had been Jefferson’s
Secretary of State
• Driving force behind the
Federalist Papers, The
US Constitution, and
The Bill of Rights!
Madison tries economic warfare
• Like presidents before
him, Madison wanted to
avoid war
• Madison wanted to ban
trade with BOTH Britain
and France, but Congress
instead accepted an offer
to renew trade with
France
• This hurt British
merchants
The War Hawks
• Members of Congress
such as John C. Calhoun
(SC), and Henry Clay
(KY) began to call for
war with Britain over
the damage British
policies were causing to
the US economy and
over British support of
Native American raids
War of 1812
• June 1812, US declared war
on Britain
• Southern and western
farmers had been hurt by
British trade restrictions
• Britain had been supporting
Native Americans who were
attacking American settlers
• Many Americans wanted to
seize Canada and push
Britain out of North America
• British policy of
impressment angered many
Invasion of Canada
• US forces attempted to
invade British Canada
from three different
points, but each attack
failed disastrously
• US and British fought to
a stalemate in the Great
Lakes regions
British attack Washington
D.C. and Baltimore
• August 1814: British
troops landed in
Washington DC,
capturing and burning
the city – but not
capturing President
Madison
• British troops were
turned back when they
attacked Baltimore
The Star-Spangled Banner
• During British failed
attack on Ft. McHenry
in Baltimore Harbor, US
lawyer Francis Scott Key
composed “The StarSpangled Banner” –
originally just a poem, it
is now our national
anthem.
Treaty of Ghent
• December 24, 1814
• US and British agreed to
end the war, since
neither side seemed to
be in a position to win
quickly
• Agreed to return to prewar boundaries, but
little else was resolved
Battle of New Orleans
• January 1815
• News of the war’s end was
too slow in traveling!
• US Gen. Andrew Jackson
defeated a much larger
force of British troops who
were trying to seize New
Orleans
• Jackson used cotton bales
to create defensive
positions
• After the battle, Jackson
became a national hero
The Hartford Convention
• New England Federalists
had opposed the war with
Britain since the beginning
• December 1814: held a
meeting in Hartford, CT
• Some suggested that New
England should leave the
Union, others called for
amending the Constitution
• After news that the war was
over, Federalist opposition
appeared unpatriotic and
destroyed the party
Consequences of War of 1812
• US gained respect in
Europe for holding its
own
• Generated a new spirit
of US nationalism and
patriotism
• Destroyed the
Federalist Party
Relations with Spain
• Spain controlled Mexico
(which included Texas at
the time), Florida, and
(prior to 1800) New
Orleans and the
Louisiana Territory
• Spain worried about the
US forming alliances
with its enemies
Pinckney’s Treaty
(Treaty of San Lorenzo)
• 1795: Spain joined
France in its war against
Britain
• Spain felt threatened by
possible alliance of US
and Britain through
Jay’s Treaty, so offered
to allow US free
navigation of the
Mississippi River to
avoid war
Andrew Jackson in Florida
• Spanish Florida was a big
problem for US’ southern
states – it harbored
runaway slaves and was a
base for attacks by
Seminole Indians into US
territory
• 1818: Gen. Jackson was
ordered into Florida to
stop Seminoles; Jackson
decided to just go ahead
and take out the Spanish
too!
Adams-Onis Treaty
• Spain was infuriated by
Jackson’s actions
• US put blame on Spain
for not being able to
control the Seminoles
• Spain finally agreed to
surrender Florida to the
US in return for the US
agreeing to a formal
border between the US
and Spanish Texas