Foreign Policy
Foreign policy- strategies for dealing with other
nations
Objectives
• Explain how territorial expansion brought
Americans into conflict with the British and
with Native Americans.
• Describe American relations with Britain,
France, and Spain.
• Analyze how the political parties’ debates
over foreign policy further divided them.
Terms and People
•
Little Turtle – Native American war chief who defeated forces sent to stop his
attacks on settlers in the 1790s
•
Battle of Fallen Timbers – 1794 victory over Native Americans by General
Anthony Wayne, led to the Treaty of Greenville and American control over
Ohio
•
French Revolution – 1789 republican uprising in France against the monarchy
that led to public executions and war with Britain
Terms and People (continued)
•
John Jay – Chief Justice who negotiated a 1794 treaty with Britain that
removed British soldiers from American lands, but maintained restrictions on
American shipping
•
XYZ Affair – incident in which French officials demanded bribes to stop
French seizures of American shipping
•
Alien and Sedition Acts – 1798 Federalist laws to restrict public criticism and
deport immigrants, most of whom supported Democratic Republicans
Terms and People (continued)
•
Virginia and Kentucky resolutions – hinted that states had the power to nullify
federal laws like the Alien and Sedition Acts, which some Democratic
Republicans thought were unconstitutional
•
Aaron Burr – In 1800, tied Jefferson in the electoral college but became Vice
President after Hamilton urged Federalist congressmen to back Jefferson; later
killed Hamilton in a duel
How did foreign policy challenges affect political
debate and shape American government?
The nation had to make peace with Native Americans, control its borders,
and establish itself internationally. Renewed war between Britain and
France threatened neutrality.
Americans debated the right response to the European war and to the
French Revolution.
Map 10-1 p191
The new nation faced challenges
on its Northwestern frontier
The British continued to man forts along
the Great Lakes and supplied Indian
tribes with guns.
In 1790 and 1791, Chief Little Turtle
defeated American forces as the Miami
Indians fought American expansion in
the Ohio Valley.
• 1790-1791 Chief Little Turtle and the Miami
Confederacy (which had been armed by the
British) defeat U.S. forces in one of the worst
U.S. defeats in the history of the frontier
• 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers
– Miamis defeated
• Treaty of Greenville (1795)- the Miami Indians
surrendered their claims to much of the Old
Northwest.
In 1794, General
Anthony Wayne
defeated Native
Americans in the
Battle of Fallen
Timbers.
The resulting
Treaty of Greenville
gave the United
States control of
Ohio.
p192
The French Revolution
• 1789
• 1792 France declared itself a Republic
• 1793 King Louis XVI beheaded and Reign of
Terror begins
• The French Revolution’s spread throughout
Europe and beyond helped fuel Americans’
debate not only about the nature of the
United States’ domestic order but also about
its proper role in the world.
p188
p187
• French Revolution was initially supported by
many Americans, especially Jefferson and the
Democratic-Republicans
• When a world war erupted as a result,
however, Americans became less supportive
In 1789, Americans were divided by
the French Revolution.
Federalists worried about the anarchy and public
executions. Hamilton feared Democratic Republicans
might want to do the same in America.
Jefferson decried the violence but publicly admired
the French Revolution’s principles.
Neutrality Proclamation
• 1793
• Officially declared America’s neutrality in the
battle between England and France
• Marked the beginning of America’s isolationist
tradition
Tensions w/ Britain
• British goods flooded the American market
while American exports were blocked by
British trade restrictions and tariffs
• Britain maintained forts in North America that
they had agreed to leave under the Treaty of
Paris
• Britain impressed American sailors and seized
naval and military supplies from American
ships
Americans worried about the British and French war
as most of America’s imports and tariff revenue
came from British goods.
President
Washington
issued a
proclamation
of neutrality
in 1793.
But Britain
ignored him
and began
seizing
American
trading ships
at sea.
Americans
were
outraged but
powerless to
respond.
• The resulting Jay Treaty was
narrowly approved by the Senate.
Federalists praised it, but
Democratic Republicans attacked it.
Washington sent
John Jay to London
in 1794 to negotiate.
• Maintained peace with Britain
• Britain agreed to give up forts on
American soil, but Americans had to
repay pre-Revolutionary War debts
still owed to Britain.
• Restrictions remained on American
shipping, which angered many
Americans.
A more popular
treaty was
negotiated with
Spain in 1795.
• The Pinckney Treaty
allowed Americans to use
the Mississippi River and
the port of New Orleans.
• With access to the
Mississippi, removal of
the British, and defeat of
the Native Americans,
settlers poured into the
west.
• 400,000 Americans lived
beyond the Appalachians
by the 1800s.
President Washington chose to retire in 1796.
He felt that voluntary retirement after two terms would set an important
precedent for the peaceful transfer of the office.
In his farewell address, Washington advised
successors to temper political strife in favor of
national unity.
In foreign affairs, he suggested Americans avoid
“entangling alliances” with European powers.
Washington’s Farewell Address
• 1796
• Printed in the newspapers
• Warned against permanent alliances
(Washington favored temporary alliances for
extraordinary emergencies)
Washington helped the young
nation survive early tests.
As first President, Washington:
•
Established the government
•
Opened western land for settlers
•
Kept the nation out of war
•
Developed foreign trade
•
Put the nation on solid financial footing.
John Adams was elected President
in 1796.
He narrowly defeated
Thomas Jefferson who
became his vice president.
The vote was largely along
regional lines with the
North favoring Adams, the
South favoring Jefferson.
John Adams
Early in his presidency, Adams faced a crisis with France.
Like Britain, France began seizing American ships. Adams sent
envoys to negotiate.
French officials identified only as X, Y, and Z demanded bribes for
the right to negotiate.
Americans were angered and insulted by this XYZ Affair and
sentiment against France grew.
The XYZ Affair
In 1798 Congress
passed the Alien
and Sedition
Acts making it a
crime to criticize
the government.
Immigrants, most of whom
tended to favor Democratic
Republicans, could be
deported.
The Federalists claimed the
acts were necessary to
stop unhealthy criticism
that was undermining trust
in the government.
Democratic Republicans
charged the acts violated
the Constitution and were
aimed to silence the
opposition.
In 1798 and 1799, Jefferson and Madison attacked the Sedition Act as
unconstitutional in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions.
They suggested that states can “nullify” or
reject unconstitutional laws.
Shortly before the 1800 election, President
Adams sought peace with France.
This angered other Federalists, including
Alexander Hamilton who then worked
against Adams’ bid for re-election.
Despite a tie in the electoral college,
Thomas Jefferson won the presidency.
The election of 1800
changed the balance of
power and ended the
Federalist era in
government.
The election of 1800
marked an important
precedent as the first
peaceful transfer of
power from one
political party to
another.
Democratic Party platform
• http://www.democrats.org/democraticnational-platform
Republican Party platform
• https://www.gop.com/platform/
• North Atlantic Treaty, 1949
The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the
purposes and principles of the Charter of the
United Nations and their desire to live in peace with
all peoples and all governments. They are
determined to safeguard the freedom, common
heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded
on the principles of democracy, individual liberty
and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability
and well-being in the North Atlantic area. They are
resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence
and for the preservation of peace and security. They
therefore agree to this North Atlantic Treaty: