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Proclamation of Neutrality
The Neutrality Proclamation of 1793 was authorized by George Washington on April 22, 1793 and stated that the US would take no part in a war between two or more other powers, specifically France and Great Britain. The Neutrality Proclamation of 1793 also threatened legal proceedings against any American citizen giving assistance to any country at war. -
XYZ Affair
A political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 1798, early in the administration of John Adams, involving a confrontation between the United States and Republican France that led to an undeclared war called the Quasi-War. -
Convention of 1800
Convention of 1800 tacitly detached the United States from its alliance with France at the price of American claims for damages resulting from French actions against U.S. commerce since the beginnings of the French revolutionary wars. The convention ended a naval war between the two countries that had developed from France's resentment over John Jay's Treaty with England. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. -
Embargo Act
The Embargo Act of 1807 was a law passed by the United States Congress and signed by President Thomas Jefferson on December 22, 1807. It prohibited American ships from trading in all foreign ports. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict, lasting from June 18, 1812 to February 18, 1815, fought by the United States of America against Great Britain, its North American colonies, and its North American Indian allies. The United States declared war for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by the British war with France, the impressment of as many as 10,000 American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, etc. -
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent was signed by British and American representatives at Ghent, Belgium, ending the War of 1812. By terms of the treaty, all conquered territory was to be returned, and commissions were planned to settle the boundary of the United States and Canada. News of the treaty took almost two months to cross the Atlantic, and British forces were not informed of the end of hostilities in time to end their drive against the mouth of the Mississippi River. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was articulated in President James Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823. The European powers, according to Monroe, were obligated to respect the Western Hemisphere as the United States' sphere of interest.
