The Quasi War

Friday, November 6, 2007


Do Now: Go to Wikipedia

Look up Quasi War

Answer: What was the name of the treaty that ended this war? (look under Conclusion of hostilities)


When George Washington left office in 1796 the United States was in trouble.

First of all the French were angry with the United States for not only not backing them in their Revolution but also for the favorable trade conditions that Great Britain received from the Americans due to Jay’s Treaty.

To show their displeasure the French began to seize American ships at sea and in French ports. In an attempt to prevent war with France John Adams the new president sent an envoy to France in an effort to avert war.

When the American envoys arrived in France they were ordered to pay France 250,000 dollars and loan the French 10 million dollars for the opportunity to even speak to the French minister.

Refusing to accept these terms the Americans representatives returned to the USA where the American people hailed them as heros. Unable to even talk to the French the USA and France then entered into an undeclared naval war with the French.

Using this opportunity to move against their anti-Federalist opponents the Federalist enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts which made criticizing of government officials illegal. It also increased the time period required for a non-American to become an citizen. Both of these actions were designed to hurt supporters of the anti-Federalist and
Strengthened the Federalist.

In response to these actions the anti-Federalist responded with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions which stated that since there was no provision in the constitution which stated who determined the legality of a law that the states would be the entity that determined any laws legality.

What these two states were doing was a defiance of the Federal government.