In his “First Inaugural Address” Thomas Jefferson lays out his ideas on foreign policy, including the policy of neutrality, which saved the budding United States of America from total annihilation. Europe was fairly consistently in a state of war. From the Medieval Period, where nobles busied themselves cutting each other to pieces, to the 17th century where massive sovereign monarchies held explosive competitions against each other, Europe has never failed to deliver bloody, expensive, and destructive wars. During the time of Jefferson’s presidency Europe had become plagued by another set of wars. These wars came from the actions of the French military genius and dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte. These wars were immensely expensive and signified…show more content… These problems fell, as they did on any major power, on the budding United States of America. These problems threatened America as powers from both sides asked for their aid and support. To further complicate matters there were distributions of important aspects to the American government as a result of America’s continued dependence on European nations, and the security issue of America sharing many of its borders with these warring European powers. An example of an aspect that America depended on that was European was trade with England. The extremely agricultural nation of America required a source of high quality manufactured goods, a requirement that the English happily resumed after the Revolutionary War. However large and lucrative the market of United States of America was to the English, an American alliance with an English enemy would illicit repercussions on this American-English trade. This situation would leave America with an influx of farm goods and a decrease in high quality manufactured goods. The manufacturing industry in America at this time would not be able to support American desire sufficiently. The English were fighting the French so an alliance with France would cripple the English trade. This was an added complication. In addition, France shared borders with America.
