It was proud day for America when President George Washington first took office in 1789. Along with his presidency he introduced his policies of isolationism and neutrality. Isolationism made it so America would not be involved in foreign affairs. An example of his isolationism was when he decided to no longer aid France in their war against Britain in 1793.
When president John Adams took office, France was upset with the U.S abandoning them during their war with Britain. France became even angrier when the Jay Treaty was enacted. The Jay Treaty was a deal presented to Britain asking them to pull their troops from the Ohio Valley. France responded by attacking U.S merchant ships beginning in 1796.
President Adams sent 3 envoys to France to end the attacks. French foreign minister Talleyrand would not talk to the envoys so he sent 3 agents only known as "X,Y, and Z" to talk to them. The agents said, "There will be no talks of peace without a large amount of tribute." As then Envoys returned home, America was outraged. The president refused to pay tribute and instead ordered an army of 10,000 men and 12 new ships to start a war. Adams suddenly became popular with America because of the war fever that had infected every American. Even though his popularity had gone up he still wondered if war was appropriate for such a young nation.
In February of 1799, President Adams decided to discover a path to peace. He sent a peace mission to France. When it reached it's destination, Napoleon Bonaparte was the leader of the new French republic. The mission found Napoleon eager for Peace with both the U.S and Britain. Napoleon ordered to end ship seizures and set free American sailors. In addition Napoleon terminated the U.S's 1778 alliance with France. The alliance was no longer vital to America due to the fact the revolutionary war was over. The only thing in return Napoleon requested was for America to pay the sailors for their lost ships, because he would not. In Adam's eyes this was an excellent deal and a small price to pay for peace.
President Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801. Shortly after that, Britain's peace with France ended. The war caused both nations to seize American ships that were trading with their enemy. President Jefferson tried to follow Washington and Adam's policies of isolationism and Neutrality. This proved difficult when the British started impressing American sailors and forcing them to join their navy. They claimed that all the sailors they took were British deserters. In 1807,a British ship, the Leopard, came up to an American ship, the Chesapeake, to search for "deserters". But the captain of the Chesapeake refused so the Leopard opened fire. A new war began between America and Britain.
If all wasn't bad enough, Pirates from Barbary states including Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, raided American trade ships as they passed through the Mediterranean and held the crews of the ships for ransom. President Washington and President Adams both payed tribute to the Barbary states in exchange for safety for the sailors. Even during the XYZ affair when Americans were shouting "Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute!" the presidents were secretly sending money to the Barbary States. When Jefferson became president over $2 million dollars had been payed in tribute. But the ruler of Tripoli still demanded more. To show how serious he was he declared war against the U.S.
In 1802 a small fleet of American war ships were sent to the Mediterranean to protect American shipping. By 1804 the American warships started to open fire at the harbors of Tripoli. One of these fleet ships, the Philadelphia, crashed into a coral reef in the harbor. The crew was held for ransom and the ship was to be kept. But a Naval officer would not allow it. So a raiding party snuck in to the harbor and set the ship on fire. One year later, Tripoli signed a Peace Treaty with the U.S. The U.S would no longer have to pay tribute. But, they had to pay $60,000 for the crew of the Philadelphia to be set free. That was a bargain compared to the $3,000,000 that were demanded before. Even though they had a peace treaty pirates from the Barbary States continued to plunder ships. In 1815 Europe and America came together and destroyed all the pirate bases.
France and Britain continued to attack American ships between 1803 and 1807. Jefferson proposed an Embargo to make France's and Britain's lives miserable. Ships would no longer exit or enter in American ports unless headed for other American ports. Embargo had the opposite effect. It made 55,000 American sailors and traders lose their jobs. This made America angry. The way they expressed their anger was by stating in the media that "embargo" spelled backwards is "O Grab Me". This described the traped feeling that the American Sailors were feeling. Congress repealed the Embargo Act in 1809 and American ships were allowed to trade once again and they were still being attacked by Britain and France.
1809, and new President James Madison swears into office. He decided to talk to the French and the British to end all the attacks on the U.S's ships. His plan: "We will stop trading with your enemy if you stop sinking/taking our ships." Napoleon agreed to the deal. Secretly, he still sent ships to take down American Trade and Impress sailors. Madison felt that war was the only way to gain the respect of the nations and end the attacks. The idea of a war was popular among the west and the south but unpopular in the north. The north states would rather take risks when trading at sea instead of having a war that would definitely close all the trading ports.
On November 7, 1811, William Henry Harrison's troops awoke to Indian war cries in Prophetstown. At the end of the day both sides lost most of their troops. The Indian village was in ruins when the American troops searched the village they found British weapons, proof that the British were aiding the natives.
Now back to that war with Britain. Congress officially declared war on Britain on July 17, 1812. The U.S looked pretty sad with a mere 7,000 poorly trained men and a navy of 16 ships. The U.S wanted to be welcomed into Canada as liberators but were seen as intruders and driven out. In 1813, Tecumseh, the Indian Chief, was killed in a harsh battle in Canada. This destroyed the dreams of a powerful Indian nation. And made it easy for America to drive the Indians out of the Ohio Valley, making the lands west of the Appalachians safer for settlers.
Bye Washington D.C, Bye Baltimore! The British traveled to Washington D.C then attacked and burned the whole city down, including the president's house. They then moved onto Baltimore where the British bombed the fort on September 13, 1814. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer, viewed the bombings and wrote the country's national anthem, the "Star Spangled Banner". The Star Spangled Banner was originally a poem but was later put to music and it became our national anthem.
A new president, James Monroe, took oath in 1817 and returned the policy of isolationism to America. Attention was now focused on Mexico and South America. Mexico managed to free themselves from the rule of Spain, and gained independence. America was happy for the Nations that had recently become free. Congressmen Clay described the event as a "glorious spectacle of 18,000,000 people struggling to burst their chains and be free." Britain also supported their freedom. In 1823, Britain asked the U.S to join it in sending a message to these leaders saying to leave Latin America alone and to allow trade. They joined and developed the Monroe Doctrine. The statement said that North and South America are not to be considered a place for European powers to colonize. This was a proud example of a policy of isolationism.
Well, that's about it. The young America sure was involved in a lot of foreign affairs. We stood up for South America, fought Pirates, claimed territory, and struggled to save our ships from being attacked. And all of this was only spanning the time of 1789 - 1825. As we finish the summary of this summary, we are proud to say that our group has breathed in a wealth of knowledge, and we look forward to sharing this with the whole class. :)
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