Washington Foreign Affairs Essay

795 Words4 Pages
Although foreign affairs did not have such a great affect as domestic affairs did, they still greatly contributed to shaping American politics. During Washington’s administration, one of the most pressing problems was establishing positive relations with the British and French, both of which were on shaky ground with the US following the revolutionary war. As shown by his Farewell Address in 1796, Washington put great emphasis on staying neutral in global conflicts and maintaining no political ties or alliances with other countries. This policy of impartiality, however, was put at risk when the French and English went to war during the French Revolution in the 1790’s. Due to the Franco-American Treaty of 1778, signed by France and America…show more content…
One such example is the fact that the British commanders of the Royal Navy were seizing American merchant ships and forcing the crew of these ships into the army. Although many Americans, namely the Jefferson Democratic-Republicans, shouted for action on the American side, commonly suggesting a war or an embargo, Washington remained firm in his stance on neutrality (American Pageant 192). Thus, the act of the British in impressing American sailors painted a vivid illustration of the lack of independence and unity in the country at the time since the US was split between neutrality, by wish of the Federalists, or an embargo or war, by wish of the Jefferson Democratic-Republicans (Wood 643). Another major foreign affair that, again, further split the country between the JDR’s and Federalists was the formation of the Jay Treaty. Hoping to avoid war with Britain, Washington send John Jay to England to reach a compromise and work out the two countries differences. This plan, however, was doomed from the start as Alexander Hamilton warned the British of the American’s plans during the conference, causing Jay to be easily out-negotiated (American Pageant 194). Although the British agreed to evacuate posts in America (a worrisome privilege that they had maintained after the revolution), to repay some of the damage done to merchant ships, and to open up a little
Show More
Related

  • Charles Krauthammer

    1887 Words  | 8 Pages

    In Things That Matter, Charles Krauthammer compiles a collection of written works spanning the course of his career. Each essay addresses some of Krauthammer’s core principles, from politics and history to religion and personal life. In a more recent essay titled “Decline is a Choice” (2009), Krauthammer discusses the decline of the United States as an influential nation and the results of such a decline. He claims that the nation’s loss of hegemony in the world is voluntary and can be linked to

    Read More

  • Elias Boudinot's Dispossession

    1322 Words  | 6 Pages

    century into dispossession. From the 1700-1938, the public arena of the debate of assimilation helped get information out into the public eye. Whether the debates were formed through non-Native Americans or Native, the final outcomes were put into essays, letters, pamphlets, speeches, drawings, and other

    Read More

  • The Quasi War: The Vietnam War

    2301 Words  | 10 Pages

    War. “The Quasi War dwarfed all else in the administration of John Adams.” (De Conde, 1966) There are a number of reasons why this particular conflict occurred. The purpose of this essay is to accurately delineate some of the main causes leading up to the war, as well as illustrate some of its outcomes. Moreover, this essay will attempt to explain the particular importance of this somewhat “forgotten conflict” (De Conde, 1966) in American history. In order to fully comprehend the causes

    Read More

  • Indian Education In India

    10165 Words  | 41 Pages

    CHAPTER - I INTRODUCTION “History has come to a stage when the moral man, the complete man, is more and more giving way, almost without knowing it, to make room for the commercial man, the man of limited purpose. This process aided by the wonderful progress in science, is assuming gigantic proportion and power causing the upset of man’s moral balance, obscuring his human side under the shadow of soul-less organization.”- Rabindranath Tagore, Nationalism, 1917. Aristotle felt that the purpose of

    Read More

More about Washington Foreign Affairs Essay

Open Document