Foreign Policy and Politics1789-1800

Harlan High SchoolAP United States History

James GreeneMarch 2011

Major FP issues confronting the United States in the 1790s

• Protecting America’s frontiers

• Promoting overseas trade

• Determining its role in European conflicts

Protecting frontiers:Indian Policies

Indian Trade and Intercourse Act of 1790• Indian nations treated as independent within

U.S. but subject to U.S. sovereignty• Federal government in charge of relations

– no trading without permit; – land cessions by treaty with Federal government

only

Five Civilized Tribes: CreeksTreaty of New York, 1790

• Defined territory; land cession

• Whites excluded from Creek lands

• Offenses against Indians subject to Federal law

• Land cession• Assist Creeks in becoming farmers• Secret provisions

Northwest Indian War 1785-1795

• Northwest Confederation• Little Turtle and Blue Jacket• Contested Ohio and Indiana• “Miami campaigns”• Harmar’s Defeat, 1790• St. Clair’s Defeat, 1791• British push for Indian buffer

state

Little TurtleArthur St. Clair

Northwest Indian War, 1794-95

• Anthony Wayne• Battle of Fallen Timbers,

1794• Treaty of Greenville, 1795

– Redefined boundaries– Opened most of Ohio to

legal settlement– Little Turtle became U.S.

supporter

The French Revolution

• Affection for France as ally• Extension of American

ideals of republicanism to Europe

• Bill of Rights/Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen

The French Revolution

• Excesses of the Terror• Execution of Louis XVI

and his wife• De-Christianization of

France • European conflict

resulting from French attempts to defend and export revolution

Citizen Genêt, 1793• Misinterpreted welcome• Authorizing privateers• Recruiting volunteers to attack Florida

& Louisiana• Demanding early payment of U.S. debt

to France• Official reaction: demanded recall• Popular reaction: Democratic Societies

“self-started” pressure groups

Emerging Parties

Madison and JeffersonRepublicans

• Pro-French• Support in our Revolution• Republican ideals• Shift trade to France

Hamilton

Federalists• Pro-British• Trade relations• Britain as source of

stability

Washington: Neutrality

1793 Proclamation1794 Neutrality Act

• Neutrals could trade with belligerents

• Contraband=military supplies

• Free ships make free goods

• No recruiting on American soil

• No privateering out of American ports

“He had no desire to hazard the interests of his country in an attempt to ensure the survival of any foreign nation.”

—John Ferling

Dealing with British

• Orders in Council: corn, wheat, flour banned• Seizure of ships• Impressment of sailors• Occupation of posts along Great Lakes and

attempts to expand presence• Americans shut out of West Indies and other

British colonial ports

Jay’s Treaty, 1794

• Withdrawal from posts by 1796• Opened East Indian ports• Opened West Indian ports to small

ships• Commissions to settle boundary

disputes & claims• Pay for seizures

Outcry and AcceptanceOUTCRY

• Idea of treaty with Britain

• Failure to “win” on– Neutral rights– Slave compensation– Impressment

House attempt to block execution leads to first Presidential claim of executive privilege

ACCEPTANCE• Peace on frontier• Value of trade with

British

Treaty of San Lorenzo (Pinckney’s Treaty)

• Spanish fears• Free navigation of

Mississippi• Right of deposit at

New Orleans• 31st parallel as

border of FloridaThomas Pinckney

North African Pirates

• Morocco, Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers

• Expectation of tribute

• Naval Act of 1794• Authorized six

frigates• Treaty with Algiers

Farewell Address, 1796Domestic Concerns

• The Union “the palladium of your political safety and prosperity”

• Americans first before local interests; interdependence among sections

• Dangers of partisanship• “Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of

popular government”• Value of institutions of learning• Pay off debts and don’t burden posterity with

them

Farewell AddressForeign Affairs

• “Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.”

• Extend trade but avoid preferential treatment• “Steer clear of permanent alliances”

Political PartiesKey issue: Who should exercise power?

REPUBLICANS

•Will of the people

•Power to the states

•Strict constructionists

•Conspiracy to undo the Revolution

FEDERALISTS

•Government by elite

•Power to the Federal government

•Loose constructionists

•Fear of the mobocracy

John Adams

• Foreign policy experience• View of President as

guardian of the people• Viewed self as nonpartisan• Political mistakes

Quasi-War with France• French interference with

American shipping• XYZ Affair 1797-98• “Millions for defense but not

one cent for tribute.” Robert Goodloe Harper

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney:

“The answer is no! No, not a sixpence!”

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

•War fever •Provisional army•Department of the Navy

Quasi-War

• 1795 French seized 300 ships

• 1797 French attacked ships offshore

• 1798-99 U.S. Navy reclaimed coastal waters and convoyed West Indian tradeConstellation v. Insurgente, 1799

Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798

• President could deport dangerous aliens• Changed length of time it took to become a

naturalized citizen• Illegal to combine to impede operation of Federal

law or to “procure” riots and other unlawful assemblies

• Crime to “write, print, utter, or publish” “false, scandalous, or malicious” things about President, Congress, or U.S. govt. or stir up sedition

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, 1798

• Jefferson/political move• Compact theory of union• Nullification• Got Madison to write set for Virginia • Madison’s concerns• 10 states rejected and 4 did not act• Would be remembered and resurrected on

later occasions

Convention of 1800• Napoleon• Louisiana scheme• Restored diplomatic

relations• Ended 1778 alliance

• Recognized U.S. as a player

• Freed U.S. to be able to pursue a truly independent foreign policy

• Restored peace with France

Napoleon Bonaparte

Election of 1800

• Federalist split• Election in the House• 36 ballots• 12th Amendment

Federalists: Adams and C.C. Pinckney

Republicans: Jefferson and Aaron Burr