President Washington: A Reluctant Leader

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The foreign Policies developed through the first four presidencies it started with the neutrality proclamation and by the time Madison left office it ended with the war of 1812. When France and Britain were at war George Washington created the neutrality proclamation, because if America would have gotten involved it would have been suicide for our new nation. In “ President Washington: A Reluctant Leader” it states “ A few years after the French Revolution started, the french went to war with Great Britain. Americans took both sides, while some wanted to remain neutral.” President George Washington strained our alliance with France. Many believed we were not doing the right thing and we should help France because they helped us during the American revolution. It goes on to state “Washington warned against forming permanent ties with other countries and being drawn into wars.” Washington believed America should not …show more content…
It states in “ John Adams Presidency : XYZ Affair”, it says “By 1800, Adams had forged the Treaty of Mortefontaine with France to restore peace.” John Adams used diplomacy by talking it out with France, and creating the treaty of Mortefontaine. By creating the Treaty Of Mortefontaine we avoided war and were able to restore peace. It also states “A series of laws known collectively as the ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS were passed by the federalist Congress in 1798 and signed into law by President Adams.” Although we avoided war with France the Alien and Sedition acts created chaos and angered citizens. The Alien and Sedition acts were repealed by the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. Unlike Presidents John Adams and George Washington’s foreign policy's Thomas Jefferson used “ Laissez- Faire”. It states in the textbook “ Jefferson disagreed strongly with Hamilton’s views of the average citizen’s ability to make decisions for the country.” Thomas Jefferson believed that citizens would choose the right and do the right thing. The french term