AP US History The XYZ Affair The XYZ affair was a major political incident that almost led to a war between the United States and France. President Adams sent three ambassadors who were confronted by informal diplomats of the French Foreign Minister who demanded a bribe and a loan. When the word of the event became public the American people were angry. They demanded war with France but both Adams and the French minister ceased from declaring an official war, but a Quasi War did take place for two years. Since the 1789 French Revolution, relations between the French Republic and the United States have been tense.
The best example of Jefferson adopting Federalist ideas is the Louisiana Purchase. From the beginning Jefferson only wanted New Orleans and as much land east if the Florida as possible. However instead he was offered the New Orleans and a huge portion of land to the west, which almost doubled the size of the United States. However there was nothing in the constitution, which allowed the president to purchase of additional land. Jefferson knew that American farmers needed more land, and he had to go against his belief of a strict constitution.
While the sale of the territory by Spain back to France in 1800 went largely unnoticed, fear of an eventual French invasion spread nationwide when, in 1801, Napoleon sent a military force to secure New Orleans. Southerners feared that Napoleon would free all the slaves in Louisiana, which could trigger slave uprisings elsewhere. [8] Though Jefferson urged moderation, Federalists sought to use this against Jefferson and called for hostilities against France. Undercutting them, Jefferson took up the banner and threatened an alliance with Britain, although relations were uneasy in that direction. [8] In 1801 Jefferson supported France in its plan to take back Saint-Domingue, then under control of Toussaint Louverture after a slave rebellion.
Harry Truman is an important figure in relation to Vietnam as it was him who made the decision to oppose communism throughout the world. In relation to US support for France, the Truman administration concluded that the French were invaluable allies against Communism in both Indochina and Europe, and therefore deserving of American assistance. However, many articulate Vietnamese were unhappy with French rule, which resulted in a small Vietnamese nationalist group in espouse of Communism grown up in exile under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. Consequently, Truman offered $10 million to support the French military effort, and established a US Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) in Saigon. This assistance then increased, as by the end of the year, the US had given France $100 million, along with aircraft, patrol boats, napalm bombs and ground combat machinery.
The Dreyfus Affair that begun in 1894 and continued through till 1906 ultimately resulted in the separation of church and state in France. The accusation that Alfred Dreyfus committed treason by selling military secrets to Germany caused a divide within the French community by pitting the Dreyfusards against the anti-Dreyfusards. It was essentially a campaign against the Jewish community in France and how they were disloyal to France and her people. It was eventually found that the evidence that Dreyfus was convicted on was false and was a ploy by the army to bolster its support for court-martialling Dreyfus. It was this point that caused much of the contention and caused his wife to continue her crusade to have her husband freed from life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
Neglecting the fact that there is no clause in the Constitution permitting him to purchase land, Jefferson used Napoleon’s European conquest to help him get rid of New World worries. Napoleon compares this decision to saying to your grown child, “I did this for your good. I pretend to no right to bind you, you may disavow me, and I must get out of the scrape as I can. I thought it my duty to risk myself for you” (Document C). The Embargo Act of 1807 is perhaps the most contradictory decision Jefferson has made in his presidency.
Treasury gave $500 billion to keep financial markets from being rocked by bad judgment of bankers and politicians. Aroused the suspicion of pro-lifers by appointing as secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Louis Sullivan who had been a pro-choice defender; refused to support UN programs that funded compulsory abortion abroad and praised the Supreme Court decision Webster v. Reproductive Health Services of Missouri, weakened the Roe v. Wade decision; but wouldn’t sign the bills limiting federal funding for abortion service. Bush sought to mend fences in the African-American community by appointing General Colin Powell to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
France had a burning desire for revenge on the British after their loss at the French Indian war back in 1754. and America wanted France to help them in the war. But France didn't want to step in because they were afraid that their participation would result in another expensive war with the British. So France said “ we will help only if you show us that you have a real chance of winning this war.” the victory at Saratoga convinced France to step in and donate a ton of supplies and men. This helped to even the playing field against the
There would no longer be a stable balance of Southeast Asia. Therefore, Dean Rusk stated that it would not be wise to neglect their interests in Indochina. NSC document 68 it was concluded that global equilibrium was at stake in Indochina (North Vietnam) and those communist gains took place by areas controlled by Kremlin. Truman decided to handle the situation the opposite of Realpolitik and sent more troops to France to assist them in their communist war in Indochina (Vietminh) and the Seventh Fleet was moved to protect Taiwan. In order for the world to be free, the Truman Administration suggested that Indochina no longer be communist.
The President surprised the diplomatic arena with his early dismissal of one of the State Department's most experienced, Henry White, the Ambassador to France. The only suspected reason for this decision was that White was thought to have somehow slighted the President and his wife 25 years earlier on their honeymoon in Europe. Taft was oblivious to the serious damage which this decision caused his political reputation. [64] (The following year White accepted Taft's appointment to head a delegation to the Pan-American Conference in Buenos Aires.) The President made it a top priority to reorganize the State Department, saying, "It is organized on the basis of the needs of the government in 1800 instead of 1900.