Back in Episode 363, we covered the beginning of the French Revolution, which began in 1789. Over the next few years, the United States, and most of Europe, watched with interest as France became more and more radical.
France Goes to War
The so-called reign of terror had not yet begun in France, although thousands had already died in street violence and executions. In 1792, even Lafayette had been declared an enemy of France. He tried to flee to America but was taken prisoner by the Austrians.
 |
| Citizen Genet |
The French revolutionary government's execution of their sovereign was the final straw for Britain, which recalled its diplomats. French leaders had announced their intention to spread the revolution to all of Europe. France invaded Belgium, which at that time had been part of Austria. Both Austria and Prussia had gone to war with France in early 1792. The British Navy blockaded French ports. On February 1, France declared war on both Britain and the Netherlands. A few weeks later, France also went to war with Spain.
The French Republic was at war with most of the rest of Europe. Meanwhile the US simply watched events unfold. The 1778 treaty that the US signed with France obligated either party to help the other in time of war. But everyone knew that really meant France was helping the US. President Washington maintained a neutral stance, but as the European war was building, there would be increased pressure for the US to assist its ally. There was some debate in America as to whether the treaty even applied any more. After all, the treaty had been made with King Louis, the guy the current government had just killed. But the real debate was over whether to support this revolution against monarchy, just as the US had done, or whether to stay out of European wars altogether.
Democratic-Republicans, led by Jefferson, who had been the ambassador to France when the Revolution began, saw France’s fight with Europe as an effort to spread liberty, opposed by the old-world forces of monarchy. The Federalists, led by men such as Hamilton, saw the French Revolution bringing anarchy and violence that the US needed to avoid.
Even before France went to war with most of Europe, there were Americans who were willing to get involved. George Rogers Clark was corresponding with French officials in the fall of 1792, discussing plans to cooperate in an effort to seize the Mississippi Valley from Spain. French officials saw this as a way to recover their Louisiana Territory. Clark and his fellow frontiersmen saw it as an opportunity to open up the Mississippi River for trade. French leaders also made plans to raise American volunteers to help them recover Quebec from the British and the Floridas from Spain. Even if none of these efforts succeeded, they would at least force France’s enemies to send resources to America that could not be used in the European war against France.
American Relations
The American Minister in France was no fan of the Revolution. Gouverneur Morris had gone to France in 1789 as a private citizen. He mostly spent his time trying to make commercial deals that would make him rich by helping wealthy Europeans buy land in America.
In 1790, President Washington asked him, as long as he was there, if he could go to Britain to try to push the government on its compliance with the peace treaty that ended the war. Specifically, Americans wanted to be paid for the slaves and other property that the British Army took with them at the end of the war. They also wanted Britain to abandon its outposts in the Northwest Territory, outposts that were being used to stir up Indians against western settlements. Morris found British officials completely uninterested in doing anything and eventually returned to France. He bounced back and forth between Britain and France until 1792, when Washington asked him to serve as Ambassador to France. At the time, the revolution had been going on for several years. The king was essentially a prisoner, but still the titular leader of the country. The Girondins were running the government. They believed in a republic. They were more radical than folks like Lafayette, who supported a constitutional monarchy, but were relatively moderate compared to other factions in the convention.
After the king’s execution at the beginning of 1793, the Girondins were replaced by the more radical Jacobins. This was when most of Europe went to war with France. Despite all that, Morris presented his credentials to the new government, indicating that the United States would recognize the French Republic. This was not Morris’ idea. Washington, urged by Jefferson and overruling Hamilton’s objections, had sent orders that Morris must present his credentials to the new French government.
Morris complied, but personally, he was increasingly horrified by the radicalism of the French Revolution. Many American supporters of the revolution called him a monarchist. Jefferson, who still supported the revolution, grew increasingly frustrated with Morris’ reports, which evinced an increasing hostility toward the revolution. Despite this division, Morris remained as Ambassador. The US didn’t seem interested in replacing him with anyone else.
Morris had gotten the job originally because America had not had an Ambassador to France since Thomas Jefferson had left in 1789. That's when he returned to America and received appointment as Secretary of State. The French Ambassador to the US had also been recalled in 1789 since he was a holdover from King Louis’ ministry.
France sent a new ambassador to the US in 1791. Jean Baptiste, chevalier de Ternant, was considered a moderate choice. Ternant had served as a volunteer officer in the Continental Army and was already well acquainted with many of the American leaders. But he was also an appointment of a much more moderate French Government. In 1793, France recalled Ternant.
America was still unsure how to react to all of this. Jefferson still believed it was critical to the world that the French Revolution succeed, but even he realized that the United States did not have the resources to enter a European War with its old ally. On April 19, 1793, cabinet members discussed the issue. Hamilton insisted that the United States remain neutral and that Americans not take any action that would interfere with the war between France and Britain. Jefferson agreed with a formally neutral stance, but still thought there were things they could do to benefit France. Just as a "neutral" France had given a wink and a not to American activities in France, even before France went to war with Britain.
Both Jefferson and Hamilton represented their parties and regions in these matters. New England and New York had profitable trade with Britain. Siding with France would cost them dearly as trade would end, and the British navy would capture their merchant vessels. As a result, most northern representatives, which tended to band together under Hamilton’s Federalists, wanted to keep out of this war entirely and keep trading with Britain. Southern states tended to support the idea of a free French Republic and were willing to provide support to their old ally. These Democratic-Republicans would not be harmed as much by the loss of British trade and were more amenable to the alliance with France.
In April, Washington agreed with Hamilton that the US needed to issue a proclamation of neutrality. Jefferson objected for several reasons, not the least of which was that Congress should make this decision. But Congress was not in session and the country needed an announced policy now.
Citizen Genêt
Around the same time that Washington issued his proclamation of neutrality in April of 1793, a new Ambassador from France landed in America. Edmund Charles Genêt arrived in Charleston, South Carolina.
Genêt was only thirty years old. Although he had received his appointment under the Girondin government, he was a radical republican. His father had worked as an interpreter in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under King Louis. While that was the official position, the elder Genêt spent a great deal of time collecting intelligence for agents of the king, including Vergennes. This made him a valuable official with access to the highest positions of power.
As a young man, Genêt, a commoner, was able to mix with nobility and had visited the royal court at Versailles. His sister had become lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie Antoinette.
When his father died in 1781, eighteen year old Edmund took over his position in the ministry. He was not as impressive as his father had been in collecting intelligence. After he managed to miss the secret treaty that the Americans worked out with Britain in 1782 to end the war, he got pushed aside.
Thanks to his connections at court, particularly his sister who had the ear of the Queen, he obtained a new position at Court of Catherine the Great in Russia, where he regularly butted heads with the monarchist French Ambassador. His radical views got him thrown out of Russia. He returned to Paris as a hero of the revolution. His foreign policy experience combined with his revolutionary fervor allowed him a choice of diplomatic posts. He chose America.
Genêt’s instructions included establishing a new commercial treaty with America to provide much needed supplies. He was also supposed to try to secure advance repayment of America’s war debt to France. Also, France wanted the US to comply with the 1778 treaty of amity and commerce, which gave France the right to fit out privateers in American ports and bring captured prizes into port for condemnation and sale.
These should not have been controversial. After all, France had granted the Americans the same privileges in French ports during the Revolutionary War, and openly after France had gone to war with Britain.
Genêt also received secret orders. Officials hoped that he could enlist an army of both American citizens and Native Americans to build up an army that would launch invasions into British Canada as well as Spanish Louisiana and Florida. If the US government failed to go along with these plans, he was authorized to foment revolution in America, topple the Washington administration, and install a French puppet state. Genêt brought with him 250 blank letters of marque, with plans to unleash a privateers army from US ports against British shipping.
These secret instructions made clear that French officials had no respect for Americans. Part of the instructions read “Americans are like children. They are especially childish in politics, indeed very much like spoiled children—always rather difficult to manage. . . . The man who succeeds in managing them will be able to exercise that mastery for a long time.” They were aware that President Washington would not go along with the French plans They did, however, believe that most of Congress would get on board with invasions of Canada, Louisiana, and Florida
Arrival in America
Genêt’s decision to land in Charleston was intentional. He knew that the United States was divided, but that support for France was strongest in the south. After his landing on April 8, he remained there for at least ten days, mingling with Charleston society and encouraging American support for French liberty. As Ambassador, he should have landed in Philadelphia first and presented his credentials. But Genêt believed he needed to get the support of the people before the government would support him. Charleston was the largest city in the south, where support for the French Revolution was the strongest.
The Revolutionary leaders in France had banned the use of titles. Even Monsieur was considered counter-revolutionary. Everyone greeted one another as “citizen.” Genêt carried that tradition to America, and asked to be called simply “Citizen Genêt.”
In Charleston, Genêt commissioned four American ships to act as privateers. These ships had American crews, but would sail forth and attack British shipping. If they brought back prizes, they were to ignore American officials and apply to the French Consul in Charleston for disposal of the prizes. Genêt also began trying to recruit American volunteers in Charleston to arrange for a military invasion of East Florida.
Having set things in motion, Genêt began to travel north. When he did leave Charleston, he did not take a ship, as would have been the normal mode of travel. Instead, he purchased horses and coaches, and rode overland, stopping at every town and village along the way to drum up support for France. He was celebrated along the way. South Carolina Governor William Moultrie, who supported Genêt’s mission, personally escorted Genêt as far as Camden. When Genêt entered any town, he would have his agents precede him. They would ring church bells and fire cannons to bring crowds out into the streets. They would provide barrels of free rum to keep the locals happy. By the time Genêt arrived, there would be cheering crowds to greet him. These receptions convinced Genêt that the people were on his side.
Genêt received some words of warning. He stopped at the plantation of Ralph Izard in South Carolina. Izard warned him that the Administration was not likely going to enter a war on behalf of France, and that it likely would not honor the terms of the 1778 treaty. Genêt also met with the Governor Henry Lee when he arrived in Virginia. The man known as Light Horse Harry from the Revolution, provided a great reception. Lee, a southern Federalist, made clear to Genêt that the US was determined to remain neutral. Genêt pushed back, arguing that the two countries were tied in a fight for liberty, and that if the forces of monarchy defeated France, they would come for the US next.
It took nearly a month for Genêt to reach the nation’s capital, as had been the case in smaller towns, the people of Philadelphia turned out as if they were greeting a conquering hero. In order to emphasize his republican credentials, Genêt exited his coach before arriving in Philadelphia, and caught a public coach into town. By doing this, he bypassed a reception committee that consisted of about five hundred carriages. When locals discovered his arrival he was once again celebrated with the ringing of church bells and the firing of cannons. Some estimates say that as many as 10,000 people turned out in the streets to cheer the new representative of France.
The crowd serenaded him at his hotel by singing La Marseillaise and other songs of the French Revolution. A welcome committee threw him a lavish dinner which included Governor Mifflin and one hundred other prominent citizens from the city. Notably though, neither President Washington nor any of his cabinet attended the banquet.
Genêt enjoyed the celebrations in town for two days before arranging a meeting with the president. The public celebrations had been enthusiastic. His meeting with the president was not. The meeting took place at the executive mansion. Members of the cabinet were also present. Jefferson had escorted Genêt to the office. Hamilton and Knox were already there. Historians have described the meeting as having an air of hostility and unmistakable iciness.
Washington received Genêt’s credentials, officially recognizing the French Republic as the sovereign government of France. Genêt could not help but notice the two large portraits of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette that hung in the president’s house. He took offense at the honored display of these enemies of the French Revolution. Washington offered no apology for honoring the king who made the American Revolution a success.
Washington assured Genêt that the 1778 treaty remained in force and would be honored, but that the US would not involve itself in offensive wars that France had started. Genêt requested that the US provide him payment of the outstanding debt of nearly $2.5 million that the US still owed France. He also requested the loan of canons from the US Department of War. Hamilton and Knox knew that he planned to use these resources for organized armies in America to invade Canada, Louisiana, and Florida. They absolutely refused to cooperate.
Starting a War
Genêt saw this not as neutrality but as the United States effectively working to further the British war against France. British ships regularly stopped American merchant vessels at sea and confiscated French goods, yet the US would not allow French ships to confiscate British goods.
Genêt realized the administration would not be any help. He opted to bypass the government and simply continue efforts on his own to bring the war against Britain and Spain to America.
He continued to outfit privateers, including one ship in Philadelphia, in direct defiance of the President. Ultimately, he would commission twelve privateers which would go on to capture eighty British ships. French consuls in US ports condemned and sold these prizes, raising money for Genêt.
The Ambassador used that money, and also drawing on credit against US debt to France, to begin raising his armies. He granted George Rogers Clark a commission as a major general in his Legion of Revolution. Clark was tasked with raising an army that would capture New Orleans and open the Mississippi River. This was something the western settlements had been demanding from the US government for years, and this opportunity to do so would attract many volunteers for an army.
Genêt also granted a commission to Elijah Clarke, who had served under Andrew Pickens in Georgia during the Revolutionary War. Clarke was tasked with invading East Florida. Genêt believed he could recruit an army of 5000 volunteers to take the Spanish colony. There were few Spanish forces in that region, only a few hundred at St. Augustine. Many of the other non-Indians in Florida at that time were settlers from Georgia. Genêt also made plans to recruit agents and arm volunteers in French-speaking Canada in order to provoke a revolution there against British rule.
It quickly became clear that Genêt was bent on bringing the European war to America. Conducting acts of war against British and Spanish territories in America would inevitably force those countries to declare war against the United States.
Genêt openly defied the Washington Administration, taking out newspaper ads to recruit volunteers for his privateers. He used the democratic societies around the country to spread pro-French propaganda and identify potential military recruits. He even hired defense attorneys for men who were being prosecuted for serving on his privateer ships.
When administration officials confronted Genêt about his actions, he simply refused to back down. Genêt believed that he had to rekindle the flame of liberty in America and that they would overcome their fears of Britain. Genêt also reported to officials in France that he thought Hamilton was acting as a British agent, but that he could probably be bought off.
Next week, the Washington Administration must end this push toward a new war, while also dealing with a deadly epidemic that strikes Philadelphia.
- - -
Next Episode 380 Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 (coming soon)
Previous Episode 378 Kentucky Joins the Union
 |
| 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
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
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
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
“Henry Lee to George Washington, 14 June 1793,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-13-02-0059
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.
Genêt, George Clinton Washington, Jefferson, and "Citizen" Genêt, 1793, New York: 1899.
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.
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
O'Brien, Coner C. The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution, 1785-1800, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1996.
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)
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.
