Foreign Entanglement In George Washington's Farewell Address

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In George Washington's farewell address, one of his warnings was foreign entanglements. Foreign entanglements is having alliances with foreign nations. This warning was created because of the French Revolution in 1789. In 1793, Jacobins had seized power in France and began a reign of terror. After Britain and France went to war, United States was put in a difficult position due to the Treaty of 1778, which was between France and the United States and stated that the United States was required to help France defend its West Indies Possessions. Washington feared that some irresponsible action might plunge the nation into war. On April 22, 1793, Washington issued a Proclamation of Neutrality, proclaiming that the United States will be “ friendly and impartial” towards both powers and that any citizen guilty of illegally assisting either France or Britain could be persecuted. However, there was a tremendous …show more content…
This was warning debuted when Edmund Genet, the 1st foreign minister, was sent to the United States by France Republics in 1793. Genet did not formally present his credentials to Washington in Philadelphia, but instead embarked in a 28 day journey of the United States and had began to recruit Americans to support the French against Great Britain. This was a violation of the Neutrality Proclamation. Genet garnered massive support from the citizens that when Genet finally heard of the Neutrality Proclamation, he believed that the President did not represent the people of this nation. After the meeting, Genet left feeling infuriated that he began a personal attack to Washington with the French supporters that he had in the United States. Threats were said to Washington were very real. However, Washington remained calm and kept his position and eventually, Genet had went to far and had threaten to appeal to the people over heads of