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The Proclamation of Neutrality was a formal announcement issued by U.S. President George Washington on April 22, 1793, that declared the nation neutral in the conflict between revolutionary France and Great Britain. It threatened legal proceedings against any American providing assistance to any country at war.
After Britain and France went to war in 1792, George Washington declared neutrality, with unanimous support of his cabinet, after deciding that the treaty with France of 1778 did not apply. [3] Washington's Farewell Address of 1796 explicitly announced the policy of American non-interventionism:
After Washington issued his 1793 Proclamation of Neutrality he became concerned that Spain, which later that year joined Britain in war against France, might work in concert with Britain to incite insurrection in the Yazoo against the U.S., using the opening of trade on the Mississippi as an enticement. [146]
The Washington administration's policy of neutrality was widely supported, but the Jeffersonians strongly favored France and deeply distrusted the British, who they saw as enemies of Republicanism. In addition, they sought to annex Spanish territory in the South and West.
Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality, issued on April 22, 1793, prohibiting citizens to "take part in any hostilities in the seas on behalf of or against any of the belligerent powers" [2] had effectively disregarded the 1778 Treaty of Alliance between the United States and France, sparking criticism from Jeffersonian Republicans on the grounds that it violated the separation of powers. [3]
In April, George Washington issued a proclamation announcing the neutrality of the United States in the conflict among the belligerent nations of Europe. [67] America remained neutral until 1812, did business with both sides, and was harassed by both sides.
Because of his actions, President George Washington asked the French government to recall him. The Montagnards, having risen to power at the same time, replaced Genêt and issued a warrant for his arrest. Fearing for his life, Genêt asked for asylum in America, which was granted by Washington. Genêt stayed in the United States until his death.
Although the Washington Administration had declared that the treaty remained valid, President Washington's formal Proclamation of Neutrality, and the subsequent Neutrality Act of 1794, effectively invalidated the military provisions of the treaty and touched off a period of increasingly deteriorated relations between the two nations.