Foreign Affairs in the Early American Period

Washington--Adams

Washington Faces Multiple Woes

Native Americans French Revolution (split in cabinet)

Native American Troubles

Population doubled between 1770 and 1790

Need more space Washington sends

troops to subdue tribes in Ohio.

Attempt I: Josiah Harmar

Josiah Harmar

Stunning defeat at the hands of hief Little turtle

1/8 of force was killed. Eventually court

martialed for his failure

Round 2: Arthur St. Clair

Little Turtle this time in manages to stage a surprise attack that kills 55% of St. Clair’s army.

“The savages seemed not to fear anything”

“The ground was covered with the dead”

Mad Anthony Wayne

Washington sees the need to double troop presence in Ohio.

Appoints M.A. Wayne as commander

Results are encouraging for Washington.

Battle of Fallen Timbers

Wayne wins a huge victory

British assistance?

Treaty of Fort Greenville

Terms: 25K in calico shirts, alcohol, axes, knives, and blankets…for Ohio.

“This liqour among us is to be more feared than the gun or the Tomahawk.”

Problem II: Across the Atlantic

Beheading of Louis XVI led to a change of attitude for everything French. Including our alliance with them.

Jefferson/Hamilton? Neutrality Proclamation

of 1793 “secret societies”

English Response

Seizure of vessels in Atlantic. Impressment of crew Confiscation of cargo Washington dispatches John Jay

Jay’s mission

Secure safety of ships and men

Return lost property and $$$ to Southerners

Get the British out of Ohio

Hamilton’s role?

John Jay’s Treaty

Jay accomplishes nothing…

Results….

Jay’s Treaty

No agreement to stop seizing ships

No agreement to leave the Ohio Valley (agreed to extend window by 18 months)

US had to repay British debts

Ummm…

“Damn John Jay, Damn any man who won’t damn John Jay, Damn any man who won’t stay up all night damning John Jay.” Popular song of the day

“I imagine I could find my way home (NY) by following the fires of burning effigies” Jay

Election of 1796

Federalist ticket for 1796

Republican strategy

A key opportunity: they feared that the country after the success of Washington who most considered a Federalist…would lead to a monarchy of sorts for the Federalists.

So they nominated their most popular Candidate available to them and that was Thomas Jefferson.

The First Modern Election: Electoral Attacks! Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Benjamin

Bache, a Republican, insisted that Washington had "debauched" and corrupted the nation.

Another prominent Republican, William Duane, thought Washington's final address to the nation was "fraught with incalculable evils,"

Federalist Attacks

Federalist description of the Jeffersonians proclaimed that they were "cut-throats who walk in rags and sleep amidst filth and vermin,"

In their attacks of Secretary Jefferson, they commonly referred to him as atheistic, anarchistic, and cowardly, claiming he who would rather plunge into bloody French chaos then push forward with a strong central government

Results: a political catastrophe! Order of finish: Adams-71 Jefferson-68 Followed by Pinckney, and Aaron Burr A political calamity…the Constitution called

for candidates 1, 2 to finish Pres. And then VP.

However, the Constitution did not account for the partisan nature of the new system.

So we have a federalist president, and republican VP.

XYZ AFFAIR

Continuation of problems with France Outraged by Jay’s treaty French began siezing US vessels Negotiation team sent to avoid war Bribery and deception Issue now becomes…do we go to war or

not Adams was able to secure peace without

having to go to war but is was still a hated act?

Adams and Washington…problem:

Both refused to accept themselves as “political beings”…viewed themselves above Partisan politics.

This is not possible. Adams was our first president to be

criticized…and he got it bad from the Republicans.

Adams takes it to the extreme! Alien and Sedition Acts

Alien and Sedition Acts

• Under the threat of war with France, Congress in 1798 passed four laws in an effort to strengthen the Federal government. Known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts, the legislation sponsored by the Federalists was also intended to quell any political opposition from the Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson.

• A series of Four Acts

Four Acts:

• The first of the laws was the Naturalization Act, passed by Congress on June 18. This act required that aliens be residents for 14 years instead of 5 years before they became eligible for U.S. citizenship.

• Congress then passed the Alien Act on June 25, authorizing the President to deport aliens "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" during peacetime.

• The third law, the Alien Enemies Act, was enacted by Congress on July 6. This act allowed the wartime arrest, imprisonment and deportation of any alien subject to an enemy power.

• The last of the laws, the Sedition Act, passed on July 14 declared that any treasonable activity, including the publication of "any false, scandalous and malicious writing," was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. By virtue of this legislation twenty-five men, most of them editors of Republican newspapers, were arrested and their newspapers forced to shut down.

The effected!

• One of the men arrested was Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, editor of the Philadelphia Democrat-Republican Aurora. Charged with libeling President Adams, Bache's arrest erupted in a public outcry against all of the Alien and Sedition Acts

• The arrest of Franklin-Bache caused a public outrage that threatened the legitimacy of our Constitution and the presidency of Adams

Impacts of the Alien and Sedition Acts: Set the US on a very dangerous

political course! Threatened the future of American

Party Politics and it’s greatest gift: DISCOURSE

Further enhanced the bubbling sectional conflict that has been brewing since pre revolutionary days…why? Let’s look at this again:

The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions:

Led by our two main Democratic Republican forefathers: Madison and Jefferson.

A movement in southern legislatures that denounced the acts as unconstitutional and their role as parties to the constitution gave them the power to nullify…exercise their rights of social contract!

James Madison

Further impact

The acts encouraged other states to follow their lead and declare the acts of congress null and void however fortunately none did so…with the weakness of our court system at this time this could have torn apart the country.

A second harbinger to events of the civil war…why?

Election of 1800:

A very modern election for 1800! Adams: “those who

own the country ought to govern it!”

Elitist, violator of civil rights.

An ally of Britain

Jefferson a defender of liberty

A heretic in the eyes of federalists

An unpopular ally of France

Results and Worry?

Worry: The sectional

partisan election was so hotly contested the fear was that it could serve to tear the country apart!

Result: Jefferson-73 Adams-65 Only problem-Burr the

VP candidate for Jefferson also got 73 votes!

Federalist congress has to break tie between Republicans!

An unlikely result

Jefferson: saved by the unlikely contribution of his hated adversary: Alexander Hamilton! Why: he hated Burr more!