1. THE NEW NATION AND
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Essential Questions:
How did events in Europe shape early U.S. foreign
•
policy?
• What was the Battle of Fallen Timbers?
• What was Jay’s Treaty?
• How did the Election of 1796 impact the young
nation?
• What was the X, Y, Z Affair?
• What were the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions?

2. Events in Europe
In July 1789 a mob stormed the

Bastille in France (the French prison)
Initially many Americans

supported the French in their
revolution
Founded on the same republican

ideals as the American revolution
Americans soon became divided

over whether to support the French
1793 events took a deadly turn

King Louis XVI was beheaded

This launched the Reign of Terror

The Jacobins declared war on

other monarchies, like Great
Britain

3. American Reactions to the
French
Americans were split along party

lines
 Democratic-Republicans
wanted to honor the 1778
treaty and support the French
 Federalists wanted to back the
British
In April 1793, President

Washington took a middle of the
line approach
 He issued a declaration of
neutrality
 Said U.S. would not support
any side
Jefferson later resigned from the

cabinet frustrated over the

4. Spain
Spain was worried that they

would be attacked by a joint
British-American force
Included almost every provision

the Americans desired:
Spain gave up land claims

east of the Mississippi (except
Florida)
Spain recognized the 31st

parallel as the southern
boundary of the U.S.
Spain agreed to open

Mississippi to traffic to U.S.
citizens
Spain agreed to allow

Americans to use the port of

5. Native Americans
Pioneers that moved west

assumed the 1783 Treaty of Paris
gave them free reign to settle the
area
 British still maintained forts in
Northwest Territory (in violation
of the treaty)
 Settlers meet resistance from
British as well as the native
inhabitants
Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794)

 Washington ordered federal
troops against Native
Americans in the region
 Miami Confederacy was
defeated at the Battle of Fallen
Timbers
 The battle ended Native
American resistance in Ohio

6. Jays Treaty
John Jay was in London at the

time of the Battle of Fallen
Timbers
Was negotiating a treaty with

Britain over territories west of the
Appalachian Mountains
When news of the Battle of

Fallen Timbers arrived in London
the British agreed to evacuate
the area
Treaty passed the Senate but

many were angry at its terms
Allowed British to continue

their fur trade in America’s

7. Washington’s Farewell
The divisions between

Federalists and
Democratic-Republicans
convinced Washington not
to run for a third term
In his farewell address he

urged Americans to “steer
clear of permanent
alliances” with other
nations
In 1797, Washington

retired to his home in
Mount Vernon

8. 1796 Election
The election of 1796 saw two different

parties contesting for same office
 Federalists nominated John Adams
 Democratic-Republicans nominated
Thomas Jefferson
Adams got 71 votes and Jefferson got

68
 The country found itself with a
Federalist president (Adams) and a
Democratic-Republican vice-
president (Jefferson)
Election underscored danger of

sectionalism
 Placing the interest of one region
over those of the nation as a whole
South voted for Jefferson, & the north for

Adams

9. Adams and Foreign Affairs
President Adams faced a new

crisis
A possible war with France

French viewed Jay’s Treaty as a

violation of the French-
American alliance
French refused to receive

American ambassadors
They began to seize American

ships bound for Britain
By this time the reign of terror

had ended
The French government

consisted a legislature, and a
five man executive branch called
the Directory
They had little patience with

America

10. X…Y…and Z
Planned to meet with French minister

Talleyrand
 Directory sent three low-level
officials
 Referred to as “X”, “Y”, and “Z”
 Demanded a $250,000 dollar bribe
as a payment for seeing
Talleyrand
News of this insult spread and so did

anti-French feelings
In 1798, Congress created a navy

department and authorized American
ships to seize French vessels
 Army of 50,000 troops was
created and George Washington
was brought out of retirement
 Undeclared naval war raged
between France and the United
States for the next two years

11. The Alien and Sedition Acts
Federalists pushed through Congress four

measures that became known as the Alien
and Sedition Acts
A fear of French spies swept the

nation
Meant to counter what they saw as a

growing threat against the government
Three measures of the Acts were:

Raised residence requirement for

American citizenship from 5 years to
14 years
Allowed the president to deport or jail

any alien considered undesirable
Set fines and jail terms for anyone

trying to hinder the operation of the
government or expressing “false”
statements against the government
Outraged Democratic-Republicans said

the laws violated the freedom of speech

12. Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions
Jefferson and Madison organized opposition to

the Acts by appealing to the states
Madison drew up Virginia resolutions and

Jefferson drew up the Kentucky resolutions
It had written into it the idea of nullification

States had right to nullify, any act of

Congress that they deemed
unconstitutional
Resolutions called on other states to do the

same
No states did and the controversy died out

Resolutions showed the balance of power

between the states and the federal
government remained a controversial issue

13. The Death of Washington
On December 14, 1799

Washington died after catching a
severe cold
He was buried according to his

wishes with a military funeral at
Mount Vernon
Ironically, Washington’s death

would bring about better relations
with the French
In hopes of luring Americans to

his side Napoleon ordered ten
days of mourning to be observed
in the French armies
Soon Napoleon would offer even

great concessions to the
Americans