Part 24 (1/2)

[Sidenote: Contest over ratification of Jay's Treaty, 1795.]

215. Ratification of Jay's Treaty, 1795.--After a long discussion the Senate voted to ratify the treaty without these two clauses. In the House of Representatives there was a fierce debate. For although the House has nothing to do with ratifying treaties, it has a great deal to do with voting money. And money was needed to carry out this treaty. At last the House voted the necessary money. The British surrendered the posts on the Great Lakes, and the debts due to British subjects were paid. Many people were very angry with Jay and with Was.h.i.+ngton for making this treaty. Stuffed figures of Jay were hanged, and Was.h.i.+ngton was attacked in the papers as if he had been ”a common pickpocket”--to use his own words.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF UNITED STATES 1795]

[Sidenote: Treaty with Spain, 1795.]

[Sidenote: Right of deposit.]

216. The Spanish Treaty of 1795.--France and Great Britain were not the only countries with which there was trouble. The Spaniards held posts on the Mississippi, within the limits of the United States and refused to give them up. For a hundred miles the Mississippi flowed through Spanish territory. In those days, before steam railroads connected the Ohio valley with the Eastern seacoast, the farmers of Kentucky and Tennessee sent their goods by boat or raft down the Mississippi to New Orleans. At that city they were placed on sea-going vessels and carried to the markets of the world. The Spaniards refused to let this commerce be carried on. In 1795, however, they agreed to abandon the posts and to permit American goods to be deposited at New Orleans while awaiting s.h.i.+pment by sea-going vessels.

[Sidenote: Was.h.i.+ngton declines a third term.]

[Sidenote: His Farewell Address.]

217. Was.h.i.+ngton's Farewell Address.--In 1792 Was.h.i.+ngton had been reelected President. In 1796 there would be a new election, and Was.h.i.+ngton declined another nomination. He was disgusted with the tone of public life and detested party politics, and desired to pa.s.s the short remainder of his life in quiet at Mt. Vernon. He announced his intention to retire in a Farewell Address, which should be read and studied by every American. In it he declared the Union to be the main pillar of independence, prosperity, and liberty. Public credit must be carefully maintained, and the United States should have as little as possible to do with European affairs. In declining a third term as President, Was.h.i.+ngton set an example which has ever since been followed.

CHAPTER 21

THE LAST FEDERALIST ADMINISTRATION

[Sidenote: Hamilton's intrigues against Adams.]

[Sidenote: Adams elected, President, 1796.]

218. John Adams elected President, 1796.--In 1796 John Adams was the Federalist candidate for President. His rival was Thomas Jefferson, the founder and chief of the Republican party. Alexander Hamilton was the real leader of the Federalists, and he disliked Adams. Thomas Pinckney was the Federalist candidate for Vice-President. Hamilton suggested a plan which he thought would lead to the election of Pinckney as President instead of Adams. But Hamilton's scheme did not turn out very well. For by it Jefferson was elected Vice-President. Indeed, he came near being President, for he had only three less electoral votes than Adams.

[Sidenote: Relations with France, 1796-97. _McMaster, 210-212; Source-Book_, 191-194.]

[Sidenote: The French government declines to receive an American minister.]

219. More Trouble with France.--France was now (1796-97) governed by five chiefs of the Revolution, who called themselves ”the Directory.”

They were very angry when they heard of Jay's Treaty (p. 168), for they had hoped that the Americans would make war on the British. James Monroe was then American minister at Paris. Instead of doing all he could to smooth over this difficulty, he urged on the wrath of the Directory.

Was.h.i.+ngton recalled Monroe, and sent in his stead General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. The Directory promptly refused to receive Pinckney, and ordered him to leave France. News of this action of the Directory reached Philadelphia three days after Adams's inauguration.

[Sidenote: Adams's message, 1797.]

[Sidenote: A commission sent to France, 1797.]

[Sidenote: The X.Y.Z. Affair, 1797-98.]

220. The X.Y.Z. Affair, 1797-98.--Adams at once summoned Congress and addressed the members in stirring words. He denied that the Americans were a ”degraded people, humiliated under a colonial sense of fear ... and regardless of national honor, character, and interest.” It seemed best, however, to make one more effort to avoid war. Adams therefore sent John Marshall, a Virginia Federalist, and Elbridge Gerry, a Ma.s.sachusetts Republican, to France. They were to join Pinckney and together were to negotiate with the French Directory. When they reached Paris three men came to see them. These men said that America (1) must apologize for the President's vigorous words, (2) must lend money to France, and (3) must bribe the Directory and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. These outrageous suggestions were emphatically put aside. In sending the papers to Congress, the three men were called Mr. X., Mr.

Y., and Mr. Z., so the incident is always known as the ”X.Y.Z. Affair.”

[Sidenote: Excitement in America.]

221. Indignation in America.--Federalists and Republicans joined in indignation. ”Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute,” was the cry of the day. French flags were everywhere torn down. ”Hail Columbia”

was everywhere sung. Adams declared that he would not send another minister to France until he was a.s.sured that the representative of the United States would be received as ”the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent state.”