Avoid War essays

Avoid War essays In the years 1793-1810 war with England and France was avoided. America was at a time where they had to choose their friends from their enemies. By doing so they tried to avoid war. The reason was because they had an enormous debt to pay. The war between France and America was avoided because of the Franco-American Accord of 1800 and the war between America and England was avoided because treaties were signed such as Jays treaty and acts were passed such as the Alien Enemies Act. Tension was breaking out between France and America because of Jays Treaty. This caused problems because France thought America was siding with Great Britain. In Jay's Treaty with Great Britain (1795) it was agreed that enemy property on neutral ships should be confiscated and that neutral property on enemy ships was allowed. The French saw Jay's Treaty as a violation of the treaty of 1778, a betrayal by the United States that France had helped to free and saw the United States as now allied with Britain. The French passed new laws affecting American trade. This is how tension grew more with France, however decreased with Britain. Adams sent three commissioners to Paris to avoid a war. The French foreign minister demanded a large bribe to initiate talks and an American loan of $12 million. This was known as the XYZ Affair. This diplomatic incident in 1789 caused Congress to upgrade the navy, which was weak since the Revolutionary War. Forty new ships were built from funds. In 1798, an undeclared naval war between the United States and France erupted. This was known as the Quasi-War. What put a stop to all this nonsense between these friendly nations was the Franco-American Accord of 1800. This was a settlement reached with France that brought an alliance. The United States had to surrender all claims against the French for damages done to American shipping during the Quasi-War. This brought a closer relationship with France and ended all t...