The Quasi War: The Treaty Of Mortefontaine

The Quasi War was an undeclared naval war between United States and France fought during July, 1798 until September, 1800, however France had started seizing American merchant ships long before that. There were many reasons to why the war started, but it was mainly resulting from disagreements with the Jay Treaty, previous unpaid debt during the French Revolutionary War, and violations from the past 1783 Treaty of Paris. The naval battles were mostly fought in the Caribbean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. The conflict was eventually ended through the Treaty of Mortefontaine which was written by John Adams, at the time the Treaty was called the Convention of 1800. The Treaty of Mortefontaine, which ended the Quasi War between the …show more content…
only had limited trade with British Colonies in the Caribbean. The Jay Treaty resolved problems that the British and Americans had lingered on after the Revolutionary War, it also promoted trade between the British and the United States. The French saw the signing of the Jay Treaty as an direct violation of their Treaty of Alliance in 1778 and got angered at the United States. The French also saw the signing of the Jay Treaty as a symbol of favoritism to Britain and they did not want the United States to side with the British in the war, France at the time was at war with the Second Coalition, after the signing of the Jay Treaty, France started to seize American merchant ships that were trading with Britain and started selling them as trophies or prizes. The Treaty of Mortefontaine forced France to return most of the merchant ships back to their rightful owners and also allowing ports to open to French and American traders and merchants in order to help regulate trade. The boost in economy in turn healed the political rifts between the two countries. The two nations also agreed to give each other their equivalent of the “most favored nation” trade status, as stated in Articles VI, X, and XI, in the Treaty of …show more content…
The XYZ Affair was a bribe consisting of three French agents (nicknamed X, Y, and Z) telling three American delegates arriving in France that they had to pay $250,000 in order to see Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand to negotiate, the French agents also said that they had to provide a loan for the French war and topping it off with an apology for anti-French sentiments. The United States refused to comply with their demands and got extremely offended by their behaviour. This resulted in even more anger at France and caused a fresh wave of anti-French propaganda in the United States. The Treaty of Mortefontaine also reset trading limits and past trading ties, so it helped the Americans accept the French again. The treaty stated in Article I that, “There shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal peace, and a true and sincere friendship between the French republic and the United States of