What was the conflict between the United States and France?

An undeclared war between the United States and France, the Quasi-War was the result of disagreements over treaties and America's status as a neutral in the Wars of the French Revolution. Fought entirely at sea, the Quasi-War was largely a success for the fledgling US Navy as its vessels captured numerous French privateers and warships, while only losing one of its vessels. By late 1800, attitudes in France shifted and hostilities were concluded by the Treaty of Mortefontaine.

The Quasi-War was officially fought from July 7, 1798, until the signing of the Treaty of Mortefontaine on September 30, 1800. French privateers had been preying on American shipping for several years prior to the beginning of the conflict.

Principle among the causes of the Quasi-War was the signing of the Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain in 1794. Largely designed by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the treaty sought to resolve outstanding issues between the United States and Great Britain some of which had roots in the 1783 Treaty of Paris that had ended the American Revolution. Among the treaty's provisions was a call for British troops to depart from frontier forts in the Northwest Territory which had remained occupied when state courts in the United States interfered the repayment of debts to Great Britain. Additionally, the treaty called for the two nations to seek arbitration regarding arguments over other outstanding debts as well as the American-Canadian border. The Jay Treaty also provided the United States limited trading rights with British colonies in the Caribbean in exchange for restrictions on the American export of cotton.  

While largely a commercial agreement, the French viewed the treaty as a violation of the 1778 Treaty of Alliance with the American colonists. This feeling was enhanced by the perception that the United States was favoring Britain, despite having declared neutrality in the ongoing conflict between the two nations. Shortly after the Jay Treaty took effect, the French began seizing American ships trading with Britain and, in 1796, refused to accept the new US minister in Paris. Another contributing factor was the United States refusing to continue repaying debts accrued during the American Revolution. This action was defended with the argument that the loans had been taken from the French monarchy and not the new French First Republic. As Louis XVI had been deposed and then executed in 1793, the United States argued that the loans were effectively null and void.

Tensions heightened in April 1798, when President John Adams reported to Congress on the XYZ Affair. The previous year, in an attempt to prevent war, Adams sent a delegation consisting of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Elbridge Gerry, and John Marshall to Paris to negotiate peace between the two nations. Upon arriving in France, the delegation was told by three French agents, referred to in reports as X (Baron Jean-Conrad Hottinguer), Y (Pierre Bellamy), and Z (Lucien Hauteval), that in order to speak to Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, they would have to pay a large bribe, provide a loan for the French war effort, and Adams would have to apologize for anti-French statements. Though such demands were common in European diplomacy, the Americans found them offensive and refused to comply. Informal communications continued but failed to alter the situation as the Americans refused to pay with Pinckney exclaiming "No, no, not a sixpence!" Unable to further advance their cause, Pinckney and Marshall departed France in April 1798 while Gerry followed a short time later.

Announcement of the XYZ Affair unleashed a wave of anti-French sentiment across the country. Though Adams had hoped to contain the response, he was soon faced with loud calls from the Federalists for a declaration of war. Across the aisle, the Democratic-Republicans, led by Vice President Thomas Jefferson, who had generally favored closer relations with France, were left without an effective counter-argument. Though Adams resisted calls for war, he was authorized by Congress to expand the Navy as French privateers continued to capture American merchant ships. On July 7, 1798, Congress rescinded all treaties with France and the US Navy was ordered to seek out and destroy French warships and privateers operating against American commerce. Consisting of approximately thirty ships, the US Navy began patrols along the southern coast and throughout the Caribbean. Success came quickly, with USS Delaware (20 guns) capturing the privateer La Croyable (14) off New Jersey on July 7.

As over 300 American merchantmen had been captured by the French in the previous two years, the US Navy protected convoys and searched for the French. Over the next two years, American vessels posted an incredible record against enemy privateers and warships. During the conflict, USS Enterprise (12) captured eight privateers and liberated eleven American merchant ships, while USS Experiment (12) had similar success. On May 11, 1800, Commodore Silas Talbot, aboard USS Constitution (44), ordered his men to cut out a privateer from Puerto Plata. Led by Lt. Isaac Hull, the sailors took the ship and spiked the guns in the fort. That October, USS Boston (32) defeated and captured the corvette Berceau (22) off Guadeloupe. Unknown to the ships' commanders, the conflict had already ended. Due to this fact, Berceau was later returned to the French.

The two most noteworthy battles of the conflict involved the 38-gun frigate USS Constellation (38). Commanded by Thomas Truxtun, Constellation sighted the 36-gun French frigate L'Insurgente (40) on February 9, 1799. The French ship closed to board, but Truxtun used Constellation's superior speed to maneuver away, raking L'Insurgente with fire. After a brief fight, Captain M. Barreaut surrendered his ship to Truxtun. Almost a year later, on February 2, 1800, Constellation encountered the 52-gun frigate, La Vengeance. Fighting a five-hour battle at night, the French ship was pummeled but was able to escape in the darkness.

During the entire conflict, the US Navy only lost one warship to enemy action. This was the captured privateer schooner La Croyable which had been purchased into the service and renamed USS Retaliation. Sailing with USS Montezuma (20) and USS Norfolk (18), Retaliation was ordered to patrol the West Indies. On November 20, 1798, while its consorts were away on a chase, Retaliation was overtaken by the French frigates L'Insurgente and Volontaire (40). Badly outgunned, the schooner's commander, Lieutenant William Bainbridge, had no choice but to surrender. After being captured, Bainbridge aided in Montezuma and Norfolk's escape by convincing the enemy that the two American ships were too powerful for the French frigates. The ship was recaptured the following June by USS Merrimack (28).

In late 1800, the independent operations of the US Navy and the British Royal Navy were able to force a reduction in the activities of French privateers and warships. This coupled with changing attitudes in the French revolutionary government, opened the door for renewed negotiations. This soon saw Adams dispatch William Vans Murray, Oliver Ellsworth, and William Richardson Davie to France with orders to commence talks. Signed on September 30, 1800, the resulting Treaty of Mortefontaine ended hostilities between the US and France, as well as terminated all previous agreements and established trade ties between the nations. During the course of the fighting, the new US Navy captured 85 French privateers, while losing approximately 2,000 merchant vessels.

The Napoleonic Wars continued the Wars of the French Revolution. Great Britain and France fought for European supremacy, and treated weaker powers heavy-handedly. The United States attempted to remain neutral during the Napoleonic period, but eventually became embroiled in the European conflicts, leading to the War of 1812 against Great Britain.

Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in 1799 after overthrowing the French revolutionary government. During this time, U.S. and French negotiators were concluding negotiations to end the Quasi-War with France. In 1802, Napoleon ended ten years of warfare with Great Britain under the Peace of Amiens. He used this opportunity to attempt to crush the Haitian Revolution, but the army he sent met with defeat. Napoleon had also re-obtained the North American province of Louisiana from Spain in 1800. However, the loss of Haiti made Louisiana strategically undesirable, and with war again on the horizon with Great Britain, Napoleon was willing to agree to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

As expected, Britain declared war on France in 1803, and would remain at war for over a decade. During this period of war, Napoleon and British leaders concentrated on European affairs, but the conflict spilled over into the Atlantic. From 1803 to 1806, the United States succeeded in remaining neutral, but suffered from impressment, British seizure of British-born naturalized U.S. citizens into the British navy. President Thomas Jefferson sent William Pinkney and James Monroe to negotiate a treaty that would halt the impressment of American sailors, but when the signed treaty came back without any British concessions on the impressment issue, Jefferson did not pass it on to the Senate for ratification.

In 1806, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree, which forbade trade with Britain, and the British Government responded the next year with Orders in Council, which instituted a blockade of French-controlled Europe, and authorized the British navy to seize ships violating the blockade. Napoleon responded with further trade restrictions in the Milan Decree of 1807.

U.S. relations with Great Britain became increasingly rocky during this period. On June 22, 1807, the H.M.S. Leopard bombarded and forcibly boarded the U.S.S. Chesapeake off Norfolk, Virginia in search of British navy deserters. President Jefferson responded with an embargo on all foreign trade in an effort to weaken the British economy. The embargo was extremely unpopular in New England, where the economy was heavily dependent on trade with Britain. Moreover, the British economy was not strongly affected by the embargo, which proved difficult to enforce. In early 1809, in one of his final acts as president, Jefferson replaced the embargo with the Non-Intercourse Act, which allowed trade with other nations except Britain and France. This act also proved virtually impossible to enforce.

Jefferson’s successor, President James Madison, confronted a dilemma—to continue with the ineffective Non-Intercourse Act was effectively to submit to British terms of trade since the British navy controlled the Atlantic. Madison was assisted by the passage in 1810 of Nathaniel Macon’s Bill No. 2, which offered Britain and France the option of ceasing their seizure of U.S. merchant ships in return for U.S. participation in their trade bloc. Napoleon was the first to offer concessions, which Madison publicly accepted at face value despite his private skepticism. In doing so, Madison pushed the United States closer to war with Britain.

During this period, Madison also had to address a problem created by Secretary of State, Robert Smith, who had personally stated to the British minister his pro-British sympathies. When Madison confronted Smith and offered him a graceful departure as U.S. Minister to Russia, Smith appeared to accept his offer, and then leaked cabinet papers as part of a smear campaign against President Madison. U.S. diplomat Joel Barlow published a reply and swung public opinion against Smith, who resigned on April 1, 1811.

Relations with Great Britain continued to deteriorate. A U.S. Navy ship mistook a much smaller British ship, the HMS Little Belt, for a British Navy ship that had impressed American sailors and fired upon it. Consequently, Thomas Foster, British Minister to the United States, stated that Britain would not offer any compensation for the 1807 Chesapeake incident. Foster also informed Madison that the British Government would not revoke the Orders in Council. By the spring of 1812, Madison had decided upon war with Great Britain—although he also considered declaring war on France as well. Congress passed a declaration of war on June 17, which Madison signed the next day. The war continued into 1815, although diplomats signed the Treaty of Ghent on December 23, 1814.

The Napoleonic Wars marked a period of U.S. weakness in the face of British power. However, in the postwar period, British policies began to soften, leading to the Rush-Bagot agreement and the Convention of 1818.