In the interest of national salvation, Wash ington in a proclamation of 22 April 1793 de clared a policy of neutrality for which American government struggled for 20 years to secure proper respect. Genet, who arrived at i Charleston in June 1793 to use American terri tory as a base of operations to recover Louisi ana territory which France had ceded to Spain in 1762, impertinently claimed privileges even beyond those granted by treaty. In defiance of Washington's proclamation of neutrality, he pro ceeded to fit out French privateers in American ports with a demand that they should be per mitted to return with captures free of duty and to sell them. The American government ob jected, demanded the return of British prizes seized in American waters and maintained that American courts instead of French consular courts should determine whether captures had been made in American waters. In August 1793, it requested the recall of the offensive Genet. Meantime, in May 1793, the French National Convention threatened American commerce by directing the capture of vessels carrying pro visions and merchandise belonging to the enemy or bound for the enemy's port. Later it placed an embargo on American vessels at Bordeaux and captured American ships and goods. At the same time, in opposition to rules asserted by England, it opened to neutral vessels a lucra tive trade with the French West Indies which had been closed to foreign vessels before the beginning of the war with England.
Meantime, Gouverneur Morris had been un acceptable to the Revolutionary party, and on request of the French executive council was re called in May 1794 by President Washington. His successor, James Monroe, was promptly ap pointed to protest against illegal seizures and violations of treaties by France, to remove French suspicions concerning the Jay mission and seek French aid in obtaining from Spain the free navigation of the Mississippi. To him, al though he was cordially received, the French Directory complained that the American gov ernment was violating both the treaty of 1778, and the consular convention of 1788 and was discriminating against France by a clause of the Jay treaty relating to contraband. After his re call, and the recall of Adet from Philadelphia (leaving no French Minister in the United States until 1800), the Directory refused to rec ognize or receive an American Minister until the American government should make repara tion for its acts and proceeded to issue new de crees (of 4 Jan. 1795, 2 July 1796 and 2 March 1797 and 18 Jan. 1798) prefigur ing the later Berlin and Milan decrees and aiming at the destruction of Ameri can commerce. C. C. Pinckney, who had been appointed to succeed Monroe, was compelled to retire to Amsterdam and in the fall of 1797 re turned to Paris with John Marshall and El bridge Gerry, whom President Adams had ap pointed to join him in the French mission.
These commissioners were unable to open direct negotiations with Talleyrand, who resorted to preliminary clandestine communication through secret agents demanding a national loan and in dividual bribes. Later (18 March 1798) Talley rand was disposed to treat with Gerry alone who, although he remained after the departure of his colleagues, declined to accept the invita tion to enter into formal negotiations.
The return of Marshall and Gerry with the news of their treatment caused Congress to sus pend commercial intercourse with France and her dependencies, to make preparations for war (28 May and 22 June) and to declare (7 July) the abrogation of treaties with France, result ing in actual hostilities at sea in several in stances, but George Logan of Philadelphia who, with no passport except letters of introduction from Jefferson and Governor McKean, under took a self-constituted mission to Paris and re turned with verbal assurances that France was ready to treat on a proper basis.
Later assurances made to William Vans Murray, American Minister at The Hague, that France desired to treat through a suitable envoy, resulted in the appointment by President Adams (without consultation of his Cabinet) of a new temporary commission — Murray, Judge Oliver Ellsworth (of Connecticut) and Gov. W. R. Davie (of North Carolina), with instructions to assume that previous treaties of France had been revoked by Congress, to demand spoliation indemnity for damages inflicted on American commerce before 7 July 1798 (the date of the abrogation of the treaties by Congress), and to make a treaty (for not more than 12 years) free from the previous provisions as to guar anty, alliance and consular judicial jurisdiction, and establishing a claims commission. Then followed a series of tedious negotiations with the First Consul, who insisted that previous treaties were still in force and offered the alter native of acknowledgment of abrogation of treaties and no indemnity or continuance of treaties with claim for indemnity. The American commission finally abandoned instructions by sacrificing the French spoliation claims but se cured a temporary convention (of 30 Sept. 1800) which (after amendment by the Senate and Napoleon) released the United States from the treaty obligations of 1778 and France from re sponsibility for all damages.
This peaceful adjustment of serious difficul ties delivered the United States from the perils of war, and three years later made possible the peaceful acquisition of Louisiana from France by the negotiations of Livingston and Monroe an achievement which constituting a new his torical tie of friendship between the two nations concerned, opened the road for westward ex pansion and prevented a long struggle of the United States for supremacy in the Southwest against a strong rival nationality which threat ened to erect a barrier to American destiny.