1. 1© 2005 Sherri Heathcock 8-2 A New Nation 1789-1800 Early Challenges

2. 2© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Problems With Europe Just after Washington was inaugurated in 1789, the French Revolution began. At first, most Americans supported it. The French revolution seemed to have many of the same ideals of the American Revolution.

3. 3© 2005 Sherri Heathcock By 1793 the French Revolution had turned bloody. They had executed the king and queen and thousands of French citizens. The violence of the French Revolution offended many Americans and public opinion started to divide. Britain and France went to war in 1793.

4. 4© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Thomas Jefferson, the Anti-Federalists, and Southerners supported France. While Alexander Hamilton, the Federalists, and businessmen in the North who traded with the British, supported Britain. Washington said the United States should remain neutral.

5. 5© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Washington Proclaims Neutrality France tried to get the U.S. to side with them in the war. President Washington issued a Proclamation of Neutrality prohibiting American citizens from fighting in the war and banned French and British warships from American ports.

6. 6© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Proclamation of Neutrality

7. 7© 2005 Sherri Heathcock In April 1793 France sent Edmond Genêt to the United States to recruit American volunteers to attack British ships. He also tried to convince citizens to overthrow the government and openly insulted President Washington.

8. 8© 2005 Sherri Heathcock By the time Thomas Jefferson kicked Genêt out of the country, he had signed up several hundred Americans to serve on French ships.

9. 9© 2005 Sherri Heathcock These ships seized British vessels and stole their cargoes. The British retaliated. They stopped American merchant ships and forced their crews to join the British navy. This practice, known as impressment, infuriated the Americans.

10. 10© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Struggle Over the West The new government also had problems with the Indians living west of the Appalachian Mountains. They said the United States did not have authority over them.

11. 11© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Washington was worried that European countries would use the Indians to keep Americans from settling in the region. So, he signed treaties with the tribes. American settlers ignored the treaties and continued to move onto lands promised to the Indians.

12. 12© 2005 Sherri Heathcock When fighting broke out between Indians and settlers in the Northwest Territory, Washington sent an army to restore order. 600 American soldiers were killed.

13. 13© 2005 Sherri Heathcock In 1794 the British encouraged the Indians to destroy American settlements west of the Appalachians and to demand that all settlers north of the Ohio River leave. Washington responded by sending another army.

14. 14© 2005 Sherri Heathcock The Battle of Fallen Timbers ended the Indians hopes of keeping their land. The Treaty of Greenville was signed giving up their claim to most the land in present-day Ohio.

15. 15© 2005 Sherri Heathcock British attacks on American ships and sailors, along with the problems in the West, pushed the nation closer to war with Great Britain.

16. 16© 2005 Sherri Heathcock A Controversial Treaty In an attempt to avoid war with Britain, President Washington sent John Jay, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, to negotiate a treaty.

17. 17© 2005 Sherri Heathcock In Jay’s Treaty, Britain agreed to leave American soil, pay damages for ships they had seized, and allow some American ships to trade with British colonies in the Caribbean. Most Americans did not support the Treaty because it did not address the issue of impressment or British interference with American trade.

18. 18© 2005 Sherri Heathcock After Jay's Treaty was signed, Spanish leaders worried that the U.S. and Britain might team up against the Spanish Empire in North America.

19. 19© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Thomas Pinckney went to Spain to try to settle things there. Pinckney's Treaty gave the Americans free navigation of the Mississippi River and the right to trade at New Orleans.

20. 20© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Washington's Farewell In September 1796, Washington set another precedent. He announced he would not seek a third term.

21. 21© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Washington was troubled over divisions that had developed in American politics. He felt that the growth of political parties was dangerous to the new nation. In Washington's "Farewell Address" he told Americans avoid political parties and permanent alliances with foreign countries.

22. 22© 2005 Sherri Heathcock Washington’s Farewell

23. 23© 2005 Sherri Heathcock His parting words influenced foreign policy for more than 100 years and is still read in the Senate every year on his birthday.