The XYZ Affair
When France broke diplomatic ties with the United States in 1796, incoming President
Adams organized a delegation to negotiate with the French government. Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry arrived in Paris in October 1797 with instructions
to normalize diplomatic relations and ensure French privateers would no longer harass American
shipping.
The American delegation encountered open hostility, and the French minister of foreign
relations, Tallyrand, refused to meet with them. On various occasions four agents, later called
W, X, Y, and Z by President Adams, contacted the Americans. They demanded an apology for
insulting remarks by Adams, loans to the French government, and some $25,000 in bribes for
French officials in return for talks with Tallyrand. Further, they implied war would result if the
demands were not met. Federalists Pinckney and Marshall refused to negotiate under such
circumstances. Gerry, who sympathized with the French, urged patience. He remained in Paris
until the fall of 1798, although Marshall and Pinckney left in the early months of the year.
When Adams received news of the failed mission in March 1798 he called for restraint.
Initially giving Congress only a partial account of events, he favored continued attempts to
negotiate, but also urged Congress to strengthen the country’s defenses. Many, such as Secretary
of State Timothy Pickering, called for an immediate declaration of war, and war fever grew
steadily over 1797 and 1798. Federalists denounced opposition to strong government action as
unpatriotic, and labeled Gerry treasonous for remaining in France. After Adams turned over to
Congress all of the delegation’s correspondence on the failed negotiations, Republicans,
traditionally supporters of France, found themselves on shaky ground. Unsuccessfully trying to
separate patriotism from support for a particular administration, they were seen as public
enemies.
The issues with France remained unresolved. Congress activated the tiny, new navy in
1798, and fought an undeclared naval war with France for two years. Of longer-term
significance, Federalists used the anti-Republican fervor to try to solidify their leadership. The
Alien and Sedition Acts, passed in 1798 by the Federalist Congress, essentially outlawed French
immigrants and criticism of the government. This step backward in Republican’s attempts to
establish the idea of loyal opposition caused opposition leaders to turn to state governments as
bulwarks against unrestrained federal power.
Sources/Further Reading:
Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick. The Age of Federalism, 549-579. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1993.
James Roger Sharp. American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis, pp. 171176. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.