I chose to cover the Quasi-War and why it wasn’t an actual war because I wanted to know why our government blatantly disregarded, then nullified, a treaty with a powerful nation. In the end, however, we did manage to stay out of war while remaining friends with France.
I first found the three treaties that are relevant to my topic. I found The Treaty of Alliance with France which basically said we were military allies, The “Jay Treaty”, as it was referred to, which said Britain and the United States were trading buddies, and I found The Convention of 1800 which put an end to the Quasi-War by stating that the United States and France were best trading buddies. From there, I found what impact the “Jay Treaty” had as the other two were fairly straight forward. Theories of War and Peace: An International Security Reader showed me that the Jay Treaty was the primary reason that French privateers came to American coasts. America’s navy was very weak and “The Perception of Naval Protection: The Southern Galleys, 1798-1800” made me realize they were weaker than I imagined. The John Adams Presidency War Crisis Leadership in the Early Republic showed me how Adams did his very best to prevent war from happening. Furthermore, I found that each side was reluctant to go to war, but willing if it was necessary. The Americans were pretty much split on party lines with the Republicans wanting peace and the Federalists wanting war. Later on, when I was building my draft, I needed some sources on modern effects of it, so with some quick googling, not going into too much depth, I found the sources I needed on the modern era.
During a conflict between France and Britain in the 1790s, France tried to enlist our help as we were their allies. America decided to remain neutral, fought off the French when they came, and eventually made peace with them. The decisions made precedences of neutrality in conflicts that aren’t ours, and always seeking peace while in a conflict that we still use today. The Quasi-War shaped our foreign policy as it was the first major foreign policy topic after the Revolutionary War. It started when we refused to help France even though we had signed an alliance with them, plus the fact that we became trading partners with Britain. American neutrality was declared, and set a precedence for America to generally stay out of European affairs as President Washington had said. France did not see America as a neutral state. They saw us not helping them out even though they had helped us out during the Revolutionary War. They came to our shores and plundered our goods. Americans were pissed, and the navy was reinstated to protect the merchant ships from the French privateers. Most Americans didn’t want war however, and peace was ultimately found, but too late to save Adams’ political career from ending as Jefferson got elected president.
I first found the three treaties that are relevant to my topic. I found The Treaty of Alliance with France which basically said we were military allies, The “Jay Treaty”, as it was referred to, which said Britain and the United States were trading buddies, and I found The Convention of 1800 which put an end to the Quasi-War by stating that the United States and France were best trading buddies. From there, I found what impact the “Jay Treaty” had as the other two were fairly straight forward. Theories of War and Peace: An International Security Reader showed me that the Jay Treaty was the primary reason that French privateers came to American coasts. America’s navy was very weak and “The Perception of Naval Protection: The Southern Galleys, 1798-1800” made me realize they were weaker than I imagined. The John Adams Presidency War Crisis Leadership in the Early Republic showed me how Adams did his very best to prevent war from happening. Furthermore, I found that each side was reluctant to go to war, but willing if it was necessary. The Americans were pretty much split on party lines with the Republicans wanting peace and the Federalists wanting war. Later on, when I was building my draft, I needed some sources on modern effects of it, so with some quick googling, not going into too much depth, I found the sources I needed on the modern era.
During a conflict between France and Britain in the 1790s, France tried to enlist our help as we were their allies. America decided to remain neutral, fought off the French when they came, and eventually made peace with them. The decisions made precedences of neutrality in conflicts that aren’t ours, and always seeking peace while in a conflict that we still use today. The Quasi-War shaped our foreign policy as it was the first major foreign policy topic after the Revolutionary War. It started when we refused to help France even though we had signed an alliance with them, plus the fact that we became trading partners with Britain. American neutrality was declared, and set a precedence for America to generally stay out of European affairs as President Washington had said. France did not see America as a neutral state. They saw us not helping them out even though they had helped us out during the Revolutionary War. They came to our shores and plundered our goods. Americans were pissed, and the navy was reinstated to protect the merchant ships from the French privateers. Most Americans didn’t want war however, and peace was ultimately found, but too late to save Adams’ political career from ending as Jefferson got elected president.