Last week, we covered the arrival of Citizen Genêt, France’s new Ambassador to the US. His mission was to weaken the enemy coalition against France by forcing them to divert resources to a war in America.
Washington’s Conundrum
The Washington Administration was trying to avoid being dragged into a new war. But it felt powerless as Genêt seemed to have popular support in rousing volunteers in the cause of liberty. Although Genêt had only arrived in April, 1793, he already had privateers using American ports by May and bringing British prizes into American ports.
 |
| Yellow Fever Strikes Philadelphia, 1793 |
President Washington was not sure how to stop this. In June, he denounced the French for bringing prize ships into US ports. Genêt simply ignored this and continued converting new privateers in US ports. When Jefferson tried to get Genêt to tone down his efforts, Genêt accused Jefferson of failing to support the cause of republicanism over monarchy.
Washington left town in late June, returning to Mount Vernon after receiving news of the death of one of the key people who oversaw his plantations. He left his cabinet and Pennsylvania officials to deal with the crisis.
In July, the attorney general prosecuted two Americans in Philadelphia who had served aboard a French privateer that had been commissioned in Charleston. Since there was no law against serving on a French privateer, Randolph simply charged them with disturbing the peace. Genêt hired a defense attorney for the men and a jury acquitted them.
The fighting came to a head over a converted privateer named La Petite Démocrate, which had been outfitted in Philadelphia and was prepared to sail. Hamilton proposed arming the fort on Mud Island, in the Delaware River, and blowing the ship out of the water if it attempted to leave. Jefferson rejected this idea, believing it would start a war with France. Letting it go, though, would likely mean war with Britain.
Washington returned in mid-July. When he met with the cabinet, even Jefferson admitted that Genêt was out of control and a danger to the United States. Before any action could be taken La Petite Démocrate left port on July 14 and began attacking British merchant vessels. Hamilton demanded that Washington ask France to recall Genêt. Jefferson confessed to others that he feared the US would end up going to war with France in order to avoid war with Britain.
All communications between the administration and Genêt were met with haughty dismissals. Genêt made it clear that he did not care what the administration thought. The people of America supported the cause of liberty and he would continue with his actions. The Administration could either get on board or be left behind.
Washington delayed any action, asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter. Chief Justice John Jay sent back a reply that said the Court could not do anything because they all left town in August, for reasons I’ll get to in a moment.
A few weeks later, Washington finally agreed to request Genêt’s recall, although he went with Jefferson’s polite recall request, rather than Hamilton’s more belligerent wording. Jefferson sent the recall request on August 23, knowing that it would take months to reach France and to receive a response. Hamilton began publishing a series of anonymous articles objecting to Genêt’s actions and accusing him of trying to involve the US into a war it did not want.
Yellow Fever
In August a new problem arose that pushed aside the growing diplomatic dispute. On August 5, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a prominent physician and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, received a call from Dr. Hugh Hodge to come to his home. Hodge's young daughter was jaundiced, suffering from a high fever, and vomiting blood. She died that day. Over the next two weeks, Rush saw many more patients with the same symptoms, several of whom also died. By August 23, Elizabeth Drinker noted that she was aware of 70 people who had become sick or already died. By that time there were around twenty deaths per day in Philadelphia.
Philadelphians began getting sick in overwhelming numbers, which seemed to grow exponentially.. Victims would get a fever and headache. Eventually, they would begin vomiting blood, while their eyes became jaundiced and their skin took on a yellowish tint. Yellow fever had struck the city.
Over the next two months, around 11,000 people would contract the disease, half of them would die. The deaths constituted about 10% of the city’s population. Everyone knew that the disease was spreading like crazy, but no one understood the cause. Some believed it was unsanitary conditions in the City. Dr. Rush believed it was a tropical disease brought by a ship from the West Indies. No one knew its origin, but everyone could see that hundreds of people, maybe thousands, were dying from it.
The general result was panic. On August 29 the mayor convened all the leading physicians, who came up with nothing. They mostly suggested keeping the streets clear and that anyone who could should simply leave Philadelphia. Nearly half the city’s population fled over the next few weeks, including the federal government.
Congress was not in session anyway during the summer, but the Supreme Court was. The justices fled town in early August just as the epidemic began.
President Washington initially tried to maintain calm by remaining at his home. On September 5, Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza both became ill. Several days later, at Martha’s urging, Washington finally packed up and took his family back to Mount Vernon.
Secretary of War Henry Knox initially stepped in to deal with any matters of government. Vice President Adams was already at home in Quincy, Massachusetts, where he spent most of the year anyway.
Jefferson, who had initially seemed unconcerned and accused Hamilton of being a hypochondriac when he first complained of symptoms, also remained at his post at the State Department, until he realized his entire department was gone, except for a single clerk. Everyone else had gotten sick or fled the city. Jefferson also packed up and returned to Monticello.
Hamilton also left the city while sick. He travelled to New York City, where officials tried to put him under quarantine. Instead, he left for Albany, where his father-in-law lived. There locals treated him like a leper, trying to keep their distance and fearing that he and his wife might spread the disease through the city. They were eventually permitted to stay in the Schuyler mansion, but that everyone in the mansion was then under lockdown and not permitted to go out in public. Rumors that Hamilton had died spread through New England, causing panics in the financial markets until the rumors were proven false.
Meanwhile things only got worse in Philadelphia. By mid-September deaths had risen to over one hundred per day. Doctors were prescribing anything from cold baths, to mercurial purges, to blood letting. Others suggested that smoking or taking vinegar might ward off the disease, but nothing seemed to work. Cartmen waited in front of city hall, waiting for pickups of bodies. The city banned the tolling of bells for the dead since it became too common an occurrence. Families isolated themselves. If a family member got sick they were often tossed out into the street to avoid infecting the rest of the family.
Nearly 20,000 people fled the city, heading out to the country or to other towns. Several New York mobs prevented refugees from Philadelphia from entering the city. Dr. Rush remained in Philadelphia, treating more than 100 patients per day. Unfortunately, his treatments, which included excessive bleeding, probably did more harm than help.
Rush also turned to the black community, believing that they were immune from the disease. Black volunteers stepped up to help nurse patients and help with other duties. Rush taught several black men to bleed patents. Of course, black people were not immune and hundreds of them got sick and died.
The post office ceased to function, ships’ cargoes rotted at the pier with no one to unload them. Schools and newspapers closed. The city essentially shut down.
Genêt’s Army of Liberation
With everyone focused on the epidemic, side issues like a potential war with Europe tended to fall to the side. Citizen Genêt, however, tried to remain on mission. The French Ambassador fled Philadelphia in August, when the outbreak first began. He arrived in New York on August 7, prepared to raise an army. Crowds greeted him with chants of “Genêt to power” and “Down with Washington."
Not all of the cheers were coming from New Yorkers. A French fleet that included about 5000 soldiers and sailors had arrived in New York for repairs and resupply. Once ready, Genêt planned to break this naval fleet into three squadrons. One would attack the British at Halifax. A second squadron would coordinate the invasion of Spanish St. Augustine, and the third would head for Spanish New Orleans. These French fleets would coordinate with the American volunteer armies that Genêt had already begun to raise.
One of the ships that had put in for repair was l’Embuscade, the ship that had brought Genêt to America back in April. At the end of July, a British frigate, the Boston, had sailed down to New York, disguised as a French ship of war. The Boston used its false French identity to capture another French ship, then sent one of the captured officers to New York to inform l‘Embuscade that it wanted to do battle. The French frigate sailed out to attack. On July 31, the two ships fought a protracted battle. After several hours, l’Embuscade seemed to get the better of the fight, knocking out several of the Boston’s masts. Late in the day a French cannonball took out both the British captain and the head of the marines onboard. By evening the surviving British officers withdrew. The l’Embuscade pursued but could not catch them. The Boston returned to Halifax, while l’Embuscade returned to New York.
The whole battle took place about 15 miles off the coast of Sandy Hook New Jersey. Hundreds of Americans flocked to the shore to watch the battle. After Genêt arrived the following week, New Yorkers seemed excited at the prospect of war with Britain.
When Genêt arrived in New York, he seemed at the height of his popularity, while the American government was unable to coordinate anything due to the fight of officials escaping the Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia. Genêt seemed to think Americans were ready to follow him into war, and dump the Washington Administration.
Genêt issued $100,000 worth of drafts to begin construction of several French naval vessels in New York. The federalists in New York attacked Genêt for his disrespect of President Washington. Chief Justice Jay, who had left Philadelphia for his home in New York, along with Senator Rufus King, published an article based on information from Hamilton revealing Genêt’s confrontational attitude and his refusal to respect presidential authority. Genêt denied the public charges and even tried to bring a libel suit against Jay and King.
Across the country, Americans were divided. I mentioned Hamilton was publishing editorials against Genêt. James Monroe began a similar series of articles in favor of supporting France. The Federalists tended to characterize the issue as a French official bullying our President. The Democratic Republicans appealed to the need to support liberty and the Republic of France against the forces of monarchy. But even many Democratic Republicans seemed ready to overthrow President Washington to further the cause of liberty.
Genêt’s Fall
As the summer came to an end, so did Genêt’s plans for war in America. His main obstacle had not been political. Genêt had found great support among the Democratic-Republicans of New York. Governor George Clinton embraced Genêt and supported his efforts. Genêt even began dating the Governor’s daughter Cornelia Clinton.
What really seemed to slow up Genêt’s progress was the yellow fever epidemic. Although the disease remained largely confined to Philadelphia, some cases began to turn up in New York. Many New Yorkers fled the city. The same happened in most large cities across the country. People feared that Philadelphia was only the beginning and got out of town where they could be safe. This made it impossible to recruit the armies in time to have any sort of fighting season before winter.
Work stopped on Genêt’s shipbuilding and the drafts that he had provided proved worthless after Hamilton’s Department of Treasury refused to release to him the American debt payments to France. The French soldiers and sailors who had arrived with the fleet from the West Indies and were now in New York learned that they would soon be sent back south rather than home to France. The sailors mutinied. When Genêt ordered soldiers to disarm the sailors, the soldiers marched to the ships, joined with the sailors, and the whole group marched back to Genêt’s house, which they burned to the ground.
The Federalist argument that Genêt was challenging President Washington and meant to bring down the federal government caught hold with most Americans, as popular opinion turned against Genêt.
By October, Washington, still at Mount Vernon, was looking for ways to get his government back to work. In September, he had laid the cornerstone for the new US Capital in DC. But it would still be years before the new capital was ready to house the government.
Congress did not plan to meet until December, but Washington wanted to call a special session. He asked others if they thought he could call a session somewhere other than in Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson, who stopped by Mount Vernon on his way back to Pennsylvania, said he did not think that calling Congress into session somewhere other than the capital would be constitutional. Remember, one of the complaints in the Declaration of Independence was that the Governor was moving the legislature to other places that the legislators found inconvenient. Washington also reached out for Hamilton’s opinion. Hamilton, who had recovered from the yellow fever, responded that the president could request that Congress meet elsewhere, but could not order it.
Washington decided he would return to Pennsylvania, asking his cabinet members to join him in Germantown, only a few miles from Philadelphia, but not suffering from the deadly disease. On October 28, he left Mount Vernon. He caught up with Jefferson, who had only made it as far as Baltimore. The men travel together to Germantown, where they arrived on November 1.
The small town could barely house the Cabinet, let alone Congress. After a few weeks in Germantown though, it became clear that the epidemic in Philadelphia was over. While contemporaries never figured out the cause, we know today that yellow fever is spread by mosquitos. When the first frost hit the region, the mosquitos died and the new infections ceased. It took a few weeks for everyone to be certain, but by December, Washington returned to Philadelphia, and Congress met at the time and place that it had originally planned back in March.
Washington gave his 5th State of the Union Address, where he defended his position on neutrality, but also called for building up a stronger military. Several Republican Senators tried to restore relations between Washington and Genêt. Genêt, however, refused. Jefferson had informed him in September that they had requested his recall. Genêt figured it would be up to his replacement to mend relations. He was still in a huff, believing that members of Washington’s administration had unfairly attacked his honor. In his address to Congress, Washington only reinforced this belief by telling Congress that Genêt had shown “nothing of the friendly spirit of the nation which sent him.” Washington also turned over to Congress all the correspondence and other documents he had regarding Genêt.
Back in France, Gouverneur Morris had received the recall request in October and submitted it to the French Government. Jefferson’s request made clear that they still wanted good relations with France and that Genêt personally was responsible for the problems. Since Genêt had been a Girondin appointment, and the Jacobins were in power now, no one in the government felt any loyalty toward Genêt. By this time the Reign of Terror had begun in France, and any official out of favor had to fear for his life.
The Jacobin government sent a new Ambassador Jean Antoine Joseph Fauchet to Philadelphia. It also charged Genêt with being a counterrevolutionary traitor who was involved in a criminal plot to drive the US into an alliance with Britain. Fauchet arrived with a warrant for Genêt’s arrest. Some sources even indicate that he had a guillotine in the hold of his ship in order to carry out the sentence immediately.
When Fauchet arrived in Philadelphia in February, 1784, Genêt realized that he would not be long for this world if French officials got ahold of him. He turned to President Washington, requesting political asylum. Washington wanted Genêt removed from power, but he did not want to see him dead. His cabinet, even Hamilton, agreed with him. Washington granted the asylum and refused to turn over Genêt.
In return, Genêt left politics entirely. He married governor Clinton’s daughter later that year. The two bought a farm on Long Island and settled down to a private life together. Later, they would move to a home near Albany.
His replacement, Fauchet, revoked all the French military commissions that Genêt had granted, gave order to disarm all the privateers and halt all plans to invade Florida, Louisiana, and Canada. Fauchet’s goal was much more limited. He hoped the US would continue to be a supplier of food needed for the French war effort in Europe, and pressed for these to be paid by reducing US debt to France. Fauchet also gave a guarantee that France would respect US neutrality and would only purchase food in America. It would not attempt to incur British wrath by purchasing military supplies.
Next Week: a new invention changes the southern economy, and James Madison gets married.
- - -
Next Episode 383 The Cotton Gin and Madison's Marriage (coming soon)
Previous Episode 381 The Citizen Genêt Affair
 |
| Click here to donate |
 |
| Click here to see my Patreon Page |
An alternative to Patreon is SubscribeStar. For anyone who has problems with Patreon, you can get the same benefits by subscribing at SubscribeStar.
Signup for the AmRev Podcast Mail List
Further Reading
Websites
Epidemic in Philadelphia https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/fever-epidemic-philadelphia-1793
Reports on the yellow fever epidemic, 1793 https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/reports-yellow-fever-epidemic-1793
Boston v Embuscade – 31 July 1793: https://morethannelson.com/boston-v-embuscade-31-july-1793
The Citizen Genêt Affair, 1793–1794 https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/citizen-Genêt
Genêt Affair https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/Genêt-affair
“John Jay and the Genêt Affair [Editorial Note],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jay/01-05-02-0271
SHERIDAN, EUGENE R. “The Recall of Edmond Charles Genêt: A Study in Transatlantic Politics and Diplomacy.” Diplomatic History, vol. 18, no. 4, 1994, pp. 463–88. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24912307
Ammon, Harry. “The Genêt Mission and the Development of American Political Parties.” The Journal of American History, vol. 52, no. 4, 1966, pp. 725–41. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1894343
Ammon, Harry. “Agricola versus Aristides: James Monroe, John Marshall, and the Genêt Affair in Virginia.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 74, no. 3, 1966, pp. 312–20. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4247222
Foster, Kenneth R., et al. “The Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.” Scientific American, vol. 279, no. 2, 1998, pp. 88–93. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26070603
Henderson, Archibald. “Isaac Shelby and the Genet Mission.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. 6, no. 4, 1920, pp. 451–69. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1886469
Kornfeld, Eve. “CRISIS IN THE CAPITAL: THE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PHILADELPHIA’S GREAT YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, vol. 51, no. 3, 1984, pp. 189–205. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27772983
Stough, Mulford. “THE YELLOW FEVER IN PHILADELPHIA 1793.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 1939, pp. 6–13. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27766332
Tighe, Janet A. “Negotiating the Health of the Public: Yellow Fever in 1793 Philadelphia.” OAH Magazine of History, vol. 19, no. 5, 2005, pp. 30–35. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161977.
Neutrality Proclamation of 1793 https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-source-collections/primary-source-collections/article/neutrality-proclamation-of-1793
“Edmond Charles Genêt to Alexander Hamilton, 19 July 1793,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-15-02-0089
Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)
A message of the President of the United States to Congress relative to France and Great Britain, Philadelphia: Childs and Swaine, 1793.
The Mangourit Correspondence in Respect to Genet's Projected Attack Upon the Floridas, 1793-94 [Google Books].
Bassett, John Spenser The Federalist System, 1789-1801, New York: Harper & Bros, 1906.
Cresson, Joshua Meditations written during the prevalence of the yellow fever, in the city of Philadelphia, in the year 1793, London: W. Phillips, 1803.
Devèze, Jean An enquiry into, and observations upon the causes and effects of the epidemic disease, which raged in Philadelphia from the month of August till towards the middle of December, 1793, Philadelphia: Parent, 1794.
Genêt, George Clinton Washington, Jefferson, and "Citizen" Genêt, 1793, New York: 1899.
Helmuth, Justus H. A Short Account of the Yellow Fever in Philadelphia, for the Reflecting Christian, Philadelphia: Jones, Hoff & Derrick, 1794.
Jenkins, Charles F. Jefferson's Germantown letters, together with other papers relating to his stay in Germantown during the month of November, 1793, Philadelphia: William Campbell, 1906.
Jones, Absalom A narrative of the proceedings of the black people, during the late awful calamity in Philadelphia, in the year 1793, Philadelphia: Woodward, 1794.
Michaux, André Journal of André Michaux, 1793-1796, Cleveland: A.H. Clark Co. 1904.
Minnigerode, Meade Jefferson Friend of France 1793: The Career of Edmond Charles Genêt 1763-1834, GP Putnam’s Sons, 1928.
Rush, Benjamin An account of the Bilious remitting yellow Fever ... of Philadelphia ... 1793, Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1794.
Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*
Ammon, Harry The Genet Mission, W.W. Norton & Co. 1973.
Chernow, Ron Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Press, 2004.
Chernow, Ron Washington, A Life, Penguin Press, 2010.
Chervinsky, Lindsay M. The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution, Belknap Press, 2020.
Dillon, Mark. C. The First Chief Justice: John Jay and the Struggle of a New Nation, State Univ. of New York Press, 2022.
Dugatkin, Lee A. The Botanist and Citizen Genêt: André Michaux’s 1793 Expedition to the Pacific and America’s First Diplomatic Crisis, Butler Books, 2025.
Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency. George Washington, Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
Ferling, John Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation Hardcover, Bloomsbury Press, 2013.
Heidler, David S. & Jeanne T. Washington's Circle: The Creation of the President, Random House, 2015.
Hunger, Harlow Giles Mr. President: George Washington and the Making of the Nation's Highest Office, De Capo Press, 2013.
Leibiger, Stuart Founding Friendship George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic, Univ. of Virginia Press, 1999.
McCullough, David John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 2001.
McDonald, Forrest, The Presidency of George Washington, Univ of Kansas Press, 1974.
Meacham, Jon Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, Random House, 2012.
Miller, John C. Alexander Hamilton and the Growth of the New Nation, Routledge, 2017.
Murphy, Jim An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, Clarion Books, 2003.
O'Brien, Coner C. The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution, 1785-1800, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1996.
Powell, J.H. Bring out your dead; the great plague of yellow fever in Philadelphia in 1793, Univ. of Pa. Press, 1949.
Sears, Louis M. George Washington and the French Revolution, Wayne State Univ. Press, 1960.
Spero, Patrick The Scientist Turned Spy: André Michaux, Thomas Jefferson, and the Conspiracy of 1793, Univ of Va Press, 2024.
Staloff, Darren Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding, Hill and Wang, 2005.
Unger, Harlow G. "Mr. President": George Washington and the Making of the Nation's Highest Office, Da Capo Press, 2013.
Vaughan, Harold C. The Citizen Genêt affair, 1793; a chapter in the formation of American foreign policy, New York: F. Watts, 1970 (borrow on Achive.org)
Watson, Robert P. America's First Plague: The Deadly 1793 Epidemic that Crippled a Young Nation, Rowman & Littlefield, 2023.
Winik, Jay The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800, Harper Collins, 2007.
* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
