John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, the War of 1812 Flashcards
Citizen Genêt
Edmond Charles Genêt. A French diplomat who came to the U.S. 1793 to ask the American government to send money and troops to aid the revolutionaries in the French Revolution. President Washington asked France to recall Genêt after Genêt began recruiting men and arming ships in U.S. ports. However, Washington later relented and allowed Genêt U.S. citizenship upon learning that the new French government planned to arrest Genêt.
Neutrality Proclamation
Washington’s declaration that the U.S. would not take sides after the French Revolution touched off a war between France and a coalition consisting primarily of England, Austria and Prussia. Washington’s Proclamation was technically a violation of the Franco-American Treaty of 1778.
XYZ Affair, Talleyrand
1798 - A commission had been sent to France in 1797 to discuss the disputes that had arisen out of the U.S.’s refusal to honor the Franco-American Treaty of 1778. President Adams had also criticized the French Revolution, so France began to break off relations with the U.S. Adams sent delegates to meet with French foreign minister Talleyrand in the hopes of working things out. Talleyrand’s three agents told the American delegates that they could meet with Talleyrand only in exchange for a very large bribe. The Americans did not pay the bribe, and in 1798 Adams made the incident public, substituting the letters “X, Y and Z” for the names of the three French agents in his report to Congress.
Undeclared naval war with France
Late 1790s - Beginning in 1794, the French had began seizing American vessels in retaliation for Jay’s Treaty, so Congress responded by ordering the navy to attack any French ships on the American coast. The conflict became especially violent after the X,Y, Z Affair. A peace convention in 1800 with the newly installed dictator, Napoleon, ended the conflict.
Convention of 1800
A conference between the U.S. and France which ended the naval hostilities.
British seizure of American ships
France blocked English ports during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s; England responded by blocking French ports. The British seized neutral American merchant ships which tried to trade at French ports.
“Rule of 1756”
A British proclamation that said that neutral countries could not trade with both of two warring nations; they had to chose sides and only trade with one of the nations. This justified Britain’s seizure of neutral American ships during the war between Britain and France in the early 1800s.
Northwest posts
British fur-trading posts in the Northwest territory. Their presence in the U.S. led to continued British-American conflicts.
Jay’s Treaty
1794 - It was signed in the hopes of settling the growing conflicts between the U.S. and Britain. It dealt with the Northwest posts and trade on the Mississippi River. It was unpopular with most Americans because it did not punish Britain for the attacks on neutral American ships. It was particularly unpopular with France, because the U.S. also accepted the British restrictions on the rights of neutrals.
Washington’s Farewell Address
He warned against the dangers of political parties and foreign alliances.
Pickney’s Treaty
1795 - Treaty between the U.S. and Spain which gave the U.S. the right to transport goods on the Mississippi river and to store goods in the Spanish port of New Orleans.
Spanish intrigue in the Southwest
During the late 1700s/early 1800s Spain was exploring and settling the region which is now the Southwest U.S. The Spanish used the Indians of Florida and Georgia as spies and encouraged the tribes to raid U.S. settlements, which contributed to the outbreak of the War of 1812 . Zebulon Pike used his expedition to the West as an opportunity to spy on the Spanish and map out their land.
James Wilkinson (1759-1825)
Wilkinson had been an officer in the Continental Army, and later held several positions relating to the Army, such as secretary of the board of war and clothier general to the army. He was one of the Commissioners appointed to receive the Purchase Louisiana from the French, and served as Governor of Louisiana from 1805-1806. He informed Pres. Jefferson of Burr’s conspiracy to take over Louisiana, and was the primary witness against Burr at his treason trial, even though Wilkinson was himself implicated in the plot.
“Mad” Anthony Wayne, Battle of Fallen Timbers
Wayne had been one of the leading generals of the Continental Army, and had played a crucial role in the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown. In the early 1790’s, the British held trading posts in the Ohio Valley and encouraged the local Indian tribes to attack the Americans. Led by Wayne, the Americans defeated the Miami Indians in the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794 near what is today Toledo, Ohio. This paved the way for American settlement of the Ohio Valley.
Treaty of Greenville, 1795
Drawn up after the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The 12 local Indian tribes gave the Americans the Ohio Valley territory in exchange for a reservation and $10,000.
Barbary pirates
The name given to several renegade countries on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa who demanded tribute in exchange for refraining from attacking ships in the Mediterranean. From 1795-1801, the U.S. paid the Barbary states for protection against the pirates. Jefferson stopped paying the tribute, and the U.S. fought the Barbary Wars (1801-1805) against the countries of Tripoli and Algeria. The war was inconclusive and the U.S. went back to paying the tribute.
Rutgers v. Waddington, 1784
In 1783, the New York State Legislature passed the Trespass Act, which allowed land owners whose property had been occupied by the British during the Revolution to sue for damages. Rutgers sued in the Mayor’s Court over the seizure of her brewery, and the Mayor, James Duane, declared the Act void because it conflicted with a provision of the Treaty of Paris. It was the first time a U.S. court had declared a law unconstitutional, and was an important precedent for the later U.S. Supreme Court decision in Marbury v. Madison.
Trevett v. Weeden, 1786-1787
Occurred under the Articles of Confederation, when each state had a different type of currency. Acts passed by the Rhode Island Legislature imposed heavy fines on those who refused to accept the state’s depreciated currency at face value. Weeden was acquitted on the grounds that the acts were unconstitutional.
Bayard v. Singleton
1787 - First court decision in which a law was found unconstitutional based on a written constitution.
Supreme Court: Chisholm v. Georgia
The heirs of Alexander Chisholm (a citizen of South Carolina) sued the state of Georgia. The Supreme Court upheld the right of citizens of one state to sue another state, and decided against Georgia.
