Early 1800s US Foreign Policy | BRI’s Homework Help Series

0:00 welcome to homework help whether you’re studying for the AP u.s. History exam or any other exam that your teacher was inflicting upon you we’ve got you covered today we are discussing American foreign policy through America’s first few decades as a nation the United States won its independence in 1783 but was not respected as an independent sovereign nation for some time instead Americans were treated as a pawn in

0:21 their national politics by both the French and the English America’s first foreign issue the deal with was the French Revolution which began in 1789 many Americans including President Washington Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson supported the French revolutionaries as it echoed the run revolt against the British monarchy Washington and the Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton were

0:43 hesitant to get involved in the foreign conflict because they did not believe the new nation was strong enough to fight a war to make matters worse the French Revolution eventually sparked another war between France and England in 1793 President Washington issued a proclamation of neutrality to avoid becoming involved in the war on either side yet tensions with European powers continued to increase for example the

1:05 British continued to occupy forts in the American Northwest which they had pledged to abandon after the Revolution flood of American ports with British goods and banned American trade with the British Empire most importantly the British seized American merchant ships forcing them into military service for the British Navy this is known as impressment President Washington and in an attempt to avoid war this past

1:27 Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay to England to negotiate the treaty to resolve these issues in 1794 Jay secured an agreement and which Americans were allowed to trade with the British Empire and Britain promised to pay for the losses that came from seizing American ships while Jays truly avoided open war with the British England continued to seize American merchant ships in 1796

1:49 President Washington retired and offered his farewell address where he warned against forming permanent alliances with other nations now beginning in 1796 France reacted to Jay’s treaty by also seizing American merchant ships this has become known as the quasi war and which French ships seized hundreds of American merchant ships the new President John

2:09 Adams tried to stop these attacks by sending a group of officials to France to negotiate an end to French predatory practices against American shipping and what’s become known as the XYZ affair the French Foreign Minister refused to see the group of American delegates demanded a large bribe and asked for millions and loans the delegates refused and overnight Americans supported the

2:29 call of millions for defense but not one cent for tribute items lost the next presidential election to Thomas Jefferson and Jefferson was equally ineffective in preventing British or French violations of American sovereignty one of Jefferson’s biggest foreign policy moves was the Louisiana Purchase the United States doubled in size after paying fifteen million

2:50 dollars for the Louisiana territory President Jefferson also reversed the policy of his predecessors by ending tribute payments to Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean by building the US Navy and defeating them within the poliana wars raging between Britain and France Jefferson adopted Washington’s policy of neutrality when Britain and France began seizing American vessels Congress passed

3:11 an embargo which stopped all American trade with France and England unfortunately this embargo was a disaster for the American economy when James Madison became president Congress passed Megan’s bill number two promising to lift Jefferson’s embargo on whichever nation first pledged to respect American rights as a nation France immediately agreed and the United States opened

3:32 trade with France this led to the war of 1812 between the British in America most battles were fought on the sea and throughout the Great Lakes the British won many victories along the Canadian border and marched into Washington DC where they set fire to the US Capitol in Whitehouse if the Americans proved to be resilient and won great victories at Fort McHenry in Baltimore ended the

3:53 Battle of New Orleans eventually the war concluded in 1815 with the Treaty of Ghent and America’s victory in a span of two decades the United States grew from a weak nation that’s pushed around by European powers to a great economic and military power that could defend its interest in world affairs thanks for watching and check back next

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