During John Adams's presidency, there was a major war called the Quasi War. This war officially started on July 7, 1798. The war was fought overseas by the United States and France. However, the war ended on September 30, 1800 due to the Treaty of Mortefontaine.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/USSConstellationVsInsurgente.jpg
Because the Quasi War occurred, the Jay Treaty was signed by the United States and Great Britain in 1794. The French however, disagreed with the Jay Treaty and believed that it contradicted the Treaty of Alliance with the American colonists. The United States had created peace with both nations, but the French thought that the United States was favoring Britain.
John Adams attempted to prevent a war by trying to call peace with the two nations of Britain and France. The United States cancelled all treaties with the French and sent the US Navy to attack the French warships. Throughout the entire war, the United States only lost one warship to their enemy. Around the late 1800's, the French government had finally allowed the US to new negotiations.
There seems to have been a great mix up involving who was and who was not allied with eh US. the Neutrality Proclamation (Washington) and embargo act of 1807 (jefferson) seemed to have been less messy.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though for every war there's a treaty, yet they don't solve anything.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Adams was unsure how to go in to this war, and just ended up going into a big mess.
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