George Washington had very definite ideas about many subjects. How the United States should conduct its Foreign Affairs was definitely one of those subjects. Being the first President of a young nation and one that was just trying to find its place in the world, Washington believed that it was in the best interest of his country to, “be able to stay disengaged from the labyrinth of European politics and war. . . It should be the policy of the United America to administer to their (Europe’s) wants without being engaged in their quarrels.”
Although his views were not always popular, which is putting it mildly, Washington, as in all things, was consistent throughout his administration; making his decisions based on what he felt was in the best interest of the nation. On several occasion, his refusal to take sides between England and France led to outcries from the American people, especially the “Republicans.” Many were quick to point out that we had a treaty with France. Washington, well aware of the treaty between the United States and France had gone over the provisions and concluded that as France was the aggressor in this conflict and as the Monarchy with which the United States had entered into this agreement no longer existed, the treaty was no longer binding. “Washington felt that entering into a war at that time would have been disastrous for the budding republic, barely on a solid footing itself.” Therefore, neutrality was in the best interest of the United States.
When France sent a minister, Edmond Charles Genet, to the United States to argue on their behalf, he was welcomed by the people with open arms. Genet landed in Charleston, and ignoring protocol, refused to visit the U.S. President first, instead, he began to enlist privateers from among American citizens. In addition, “In an effort to strengthen French support, the Pennsylvania Democratic Society was formed; it was to be the first of many clubs whose purpose was to incite pro-French, anti-administration feeling throughout the nation.” The situation with Genet came to a head when he outfitted a former British brigantine, (the Little Sarah) with an American crew and was making ready to sail it against British ships. President Washington called an emergency Cabinet meeting to decide how to handle the situation, but before they could act, the ship sailed. “The President immediately sent a stern message to France, demanding that they recall their minister." The American public by this time had become aware of Genet’s total disregard of America’s laws and sovereignty. At that point, public opinion shifted squarely back in the corner of George Washington.
France complied with Washington’s request, and sent a replacement for Genet to the United States. When he arrived in Philadelphia, he brought with him a letter requesting that George Washington have Genet arrested and returned to France where he would stand trial. Genet requested asylum from the American President, and Washington granted it, knowing that Genet would be beheaded if he was returned to France.
However, this victory did not resolve the conflicts in the new Republic over the hostilities between France and England. The people of the United States were still firmly behind France and they became even angrier with their President when he entered into the Jay Treaty with England. Washington felt that negotiating a Treaty with England was the best way to stop British attacks on American ships and the conscription of American sailors into the British Navy. Although Washington was not happy with the final Treaty, and acknowledged that England gained far more than did the United States, he knew the United States was not in a position to wage war. Therefore, even though the treaty did not address many key American concerns and did not ultimately stop the seizing of American ships, something which was left to future negotiations, it did seem to guarantee continued peace with England. The President signed the treaty in 1795.
As with past Executive decisions, Washington was castigated in the press but ultimately the furor died down and many of the detractors of the treaty had to eventually admit that it was the right course of action for the country, especially as it led to a much needed treaty with Spain; one that Spain was not willing to enter into until they became concerned about a friendly relationship between the United States and Britain. As a result, the disputes with Spain over the navigation of the Mississippi river, Florida’s boundaries and the issue of neutral rights were resolved.
In many of his writings, Washington expressed his views on Foreign Relations plainly, “My Policy in our foreign transactions has been to cultivate peace with all the world; to observe treaties with pure and absolute faith; to check every deviation from the line of impartiality; to explain what may have been misapprehended, and correct what may have been injurious to any nation; and having thus acquired the right , to lose no time in acquiring the ability to insist upon justice being done to ourselves.”
He also wrote, “I have always given it as my decided opinion that no nation had a right to intermeddle in the internal concerns of another; that everyone had a right to form and adopt whatever government they like best to live under themselves; and that if this country could, consistently with its engagements, maintain a strict neutrality and thereby preserve peace, it was bound to do so by motives of policy, interest, and every other consideration that ought to actuate a people situated and circumstanced as we are, already deeply in debt, and in a convalescent state from the struggle we have been engaged in ourselves.”
And in Washington’s farewell address he stated, “Observe good faith and justice towards all nations. . . .In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations and passionate attachments for others should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.”
It is thus clear, that Washington firmly believed that our engagements overseas should extend only to those actions which were in our National Interest. That we should in all cases, allow sovereign nations to decide their own method of government and that we should, as a sovereign nation, respect their choices. The wave of public opinion ebbs and flows constantly on the seas of political opinion, but Washington in this as in all things, remained true to his corps principles regardless of whether or not that wave was flowing with him or against him. Truly the mark of a great man!
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