American Neutrality, The XYZ Affair,
and the Aftermath
July 14th, 1789, a mob stormed the Bastille and thus began the French Revolution. Word of
these events quickly spread to America, and the U.S. government knew that they would
become involved… but how?
Most people supported the revolution since
it mirrored the American struggle.
Politically, the U.S. also had an alliance with
France through the Treaty of 1778.
As time passed, Americans took sides for or
against supporting the revolution in France.
The Reign of Terror that began with the rise
of the Jacobins made choosing a side more
complex.
This topic became split along party lines with
the Democratic-Republicans backing the
French and the Federalists backing Britain.
The French expected U.S. support due to their alliance, but
Washington faced the issue of having faction within his cabinet.
He chose the middle ground… neutrality.
The U.S. would support neither side in the European conflict since
the new nation could not risk such a war.
In this same month, the French had sent a diplomat named Edmond Genet to win
American support. What did Genet do that caused Washington to order Franc e to recall
him?
Genet acted as a recruiter rather then a diplomat. He attempted
to recruit citizens to fight in the Revolution, instead of showing his
credentials to the administration and discussing possible aid.
These issues with France ultimately led to Jefferson’s resignation
from the cabinet in 1793 due to his issues with Hamilton and
Federalists calling him a radical since he supported France.
The U.S. also wanted to secure land claims
west of the Appalachians and gain shipping
rights on the Mississippi River, and to do so
they had to deal with Spain.
At the same time, Spain owned the Louisiana
Territory and Florida, which made them still
very powerful in North America.
Negotiations stalled due to issues in Europe.
Spain had signed a treaty with France to secure
peace, yet they feared the U.S. would attack
them with Britain.
This fear drove Spain to meeting with Thomas
Pinckney, the U.S. minister to Britain, in Oct.27th
1795. A treaty was drafted that conceded all that
the U.S. wanted. All land east of the Mississippi,
rights to ship on the river, and boundaries.
When pioneers began moving west after the issues with Spain had been resolved, they
treated the land as if they had a rightful claim to it. They forgot that it had native
inhabitants, but the natives did not go down easy.
British troops remained in the Northwest territories, and many encouraged the
natives there to continue their resistance.
Many settlers were
attacked by natives
in the Ohio River
Valley. This tribal
group was known
as the Miami
Confederacy, and
was led by Chief
Little Turtle.
Little Turtle led his
tribe to several
victories against the
federal army until
Washington changed
his leadership of the
army and they
delivered a crushing
blow at the Battle of
Fallen Timbers
The victory at Fallen Timbers ended Native
American resistance in Ohio and led to the
Miami Confederacy signing the Treaty of
Greenville which gave them $20,000 in
goods and an annual payment of $10,000.
This was not nearly enough money for the
amount of land.
At the same time, the U.S. needed to deal
with the British presence in Ohio. John
Jay, the chief justice, was in London to
negotiate a treaty with Britain.
When news of the victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers
reached London, the British quickly decided to evacuate
forts. Although the treaty passed Senate, many were
angered by the terms that included allowing British to
continue their fur trade on the American side of the U.S.Canadian border.
By 1797, the issues over Jay’s Treaty and the
growing rift between the Federalists and
Democratic-Republicans led Washington to
retire to Mount Vernon.
The election of 1796 led to some major issues when John
Adams, the Federalist candidate, and Thomas Jefferson,
the Democratic-Republican candidate, became President
& Vice-President due to issues within the Constitution.
The Constitution did not account for political factions and
therefore it stated that the runner-up of a presidential
election would be the vice-president.
This election also showed the early dangers of
sectionalism- placing the interests of a region over
those of a nation- seeing as the North voted for Adams
and the South voted for Jefferson.
The first crisis Adams faced as the new president was the
looming war with France.
France viewed the treaty between the U.S. and Britain a
violation of their treaty with the U.S. They began seizing U.S.
ships bound for Britain and refused to accept an American
Ambassador.
Adams sent a three-man delegation consisting of
Charles Pinckney, Elbridge Gerry, and John Marshall to
meet with the French foreign minister Talleyrand.
The French Directory instead sent 3 low-level officials,
later called “X,Y and Z,” to meet the delegates. They
demanded a $250,000 bribe to see Talleyrand.
This event became known as the X,Y,Z Affair, and led to a wave
of anti-French sentiments throughout the U.S.
The Congress created a navy department in
1798 and authorized American ships to seize
French vessels. This led to a naval war raging
for the next 2yrs. between France and the U.S.
Congress pushed a four measure act through in
1798 to counter the “threat” against the
government. This became known as the Alien
and Sedition Acts.
The Alien Acts: raised residence requirements
from 5 to 14yrs for citizenship and allowed the
president to deport or jail any alien considered
undesirable.
The Sedition Act: set fines and jail terms to
anyone trying to undermine the government.
This led to several Democratic-Republicans
being jailed as well as outrage.
Anti-French feelings led to many
Federalists becoming paranoid that
French agents were everywhere,
especially since foreign-born
immigrants were active in the
Democratic-Republican party.
James Madison and Thomas Jefferson saw the Alien and Sedition Acts as a serious misuse of
power by the federal government.
They organized opposition to the acts by appealing to the states. They wrote resolutions to
Kentucky and Virginia in which the principles of nullification were asserted. This implied that
states had the right to consider void any act they deemed unconstitutional.
Virginia & Kentucky also
claimed the right to
declare null and void
federal laws going
beyond powers granted
by the Constitution to
the federal government.
These resolutions showed
the balance between
federal and state powers
was still controversial.
On December 14th, 1799, George Washington died after catching a severe cold. The
nation mourned his loss, especially since he was still active and instrumental in helping
the new government, even while in retirement at Mount Vernon.
Napoleon, hoping to earn American
support, ordered for 10 days of
mourning to be observed in the
French armies for Washington.
This French support would be even
greater in the coming years when
Napoleon would offer us one of the
largest pieces of land in North
America… the Louisiana Purchase.