Page 199 - American Stories, A History of the United States

The Peril of Neutrality
7.1 Britain treated the United States arrogantly. The young republic could not even compel its

old adversary to comply with the Treaty of 1783, in which the British had agreed to vacate
military posts in the Northwest Territory. In 1794, approximately 1000 British soldiers still
7.2 occupied American land, an obstruction that Governor George Clinton of New York claimed
had excluded U.S. citizens “from a very valuable trade to which their situation would natu-
rally have invited them.” Moreover, even though 75 percent of American imports came from
7.3 Britain, that country refused to grant the United States full commercial reciprocity. Among
other provocations, it barred American shipping from the lucrative West Indian trade.
France presented a different challenge. In May 1789, Louis XVI, desperate for
7.4 revenue, authorized a meeting of a representative assembly known as the Estates General.
By so doing, the king unleashed revolutionary forces that eventually toppled the mon-
archy and cost him his life (January 1793). The men who seized power—and they came
7.5 and went rapidly—were militant republicans, ideologues eager to liberate all Europe
french revolution A social and from feudal institutions. In the early years of the French Revolution, France drew on
political revolution in France the American experience. Thomas Paine and the Marquis de Lafayette enjoyed great
(1789–1799). popularity. But the French could not stop the revolutionary violence. Constitutional
reform turned into bloody purges. One radical group, the Jacobins, guillotined thou-
sands of its opponents and suspected monarchists during the so-called Reign of Terror
(October 1793–July 1794). These horrific events left Americans confused. While those
who shared Jefferson’s views cheered the spread of republicanism, others who sided
with Hamilton condemned French expansionism and political excess.
In the face of growing international tension, neutrality seemed the most prudent
course for the United States. But that policy was easier for a weak country to proclaim than
defend. In February 1793, France declared war on Britain—what the leaders of revolution-
ary France called the “war of all peoples against all kings.” These powerful European rivals
immediately challenged the official American position on shipping: “free ships make free

exeCUTIon of loUIS xVI The execution of the king by French revolutionaries deepened the growing
political division in America. Although they deplored the excesses of the Reign of Terror, Jeffersonian Republicans
continued to support the French people. Federalists feared that the violence and lawlessness would spread to the
United States.
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