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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Envoys to France. (search)
sum of money, in the form of a loan, by the purchase of Dutch bonds wrung from that nation by the French, and a bribe to the amount of $240,000 for the private use of the five members of the Directory. The proposition came semi-officially from Talleyrand, one of the most unscrupulous politicians of the age. It was accompanied by a covert threat that if the proposition was not complied with the envoys might be ordered to leave France in twenty-four hours, and the coasts of the United States be rts of the United States be ravaged by French cruisers from San Domino. They peremptorily refused, and Pinckney uttered, in substance, the noble words, Millions for defence, but not one cent for tribute! The envoys asked for their passports. They were given to the two Federalists under circumstances that amounted to their virtual expulsion, but Gerry, the Democrat, was induced to remain. He, too, was soon treated with contempt by Talleyrand and his associates, and he returned home in disgust.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), France, early relations with. (search)
ll disputes between the two governments. Oliver Ellsworth and William R. Davie were chosen to join Murray. The latter did not proceed to Europe until assurances were received from France of their courteous reception. These were received from Talleyrand (November, 1799), and the two envoys sailed for France. The some month the Directory, which had become unpopular, was overthrown, and the government of France remodelled, with Napoleon Bonaparte as first consul, or supreme ruler, of the nation. The envoys were cordially received by Talleyrand, in the name of the first consul, and all difficulties between the two nations were speedily adjusted. A convention was signed at Paris (Sept. 30, 1800) by the three envoys and three French commissioners which was satisfactory to both parties. The convention also made a decision contrary to the doctrine avowed and practised by the English government, that free ships make free goods. This affirmed the doctrine of Frederick the Great, enunci
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), United States of America. (search)
s, insurance policies, certificates, etc., by act of......July 6, 1797 A duty on salt levied......July 8, 1797 Senate expels William Blount, of Tennessee......July 9, 1797 First session adjourns......July 10, 1797 President appoints John Marshall, of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, with C. C. Pinckney, as commissioners to treat with France; they meet at Paris......Oct. 4, 1797 [Commissioners asked to bribe members of French Directory, but indignantly refuse. Talleyrand, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, implicated. Mr. Marshall and Mr. Pinckney ordered out of France. C. C. Pinckney declared that the United States had millions for defence, but not one cent for tribute. ] Second session assembles at Philadelphia, Pa.......Nov. 13, 1797 First personal encounter in Congress between Matthew Lyon, of Vermont, and Roger Griswold, of Connecticut; the House fails to censure or punish......Feb. 12-15, 1798 Mississippi Territory organized......Apri
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Volney, Constantin Francois Chasseboeuf Boisgirais, Comte de 1757-1820 (search)
Volney, Constantin Francois Chasseboeuf Boisgirais, Comte de 1757-1820 Author; born in Craon, France, Feb. 3, 1757. When war with France seemed to be inevitable, in 1798, suspicions of the designs of Frenchmen in the country were keenly awakened. Talleyrand, who had resided awhile in the United States, was suspected of having acted as a spy for the French government, and other exiled Frenchmen were suspected of being on the same errand. It was known that Frenchmen were busy in Kentucky and in Georgia fomenting discontents, and it was strongly suspected that M. de Volney, who had explored the Western country, ostensibly with only scientific views, was acting in the capacity of a spy for the French government, with a view to finally annexing the country west of the Alleghany Mountains to Louisiana, which France was about to obtain by a secret treaty with Spain. These suspicions led to the enactment of the alien and Sedition laws (q. v.). The passage of the alien law alarmed Voln
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), X Y Z letters, (search)
sent back as one of the three envoys. Congress at once ordered an increase in the army and navy. Before the new ships were ready hostilities had actually begun. Commodore Truxton, in the United States frigate Constellation, captured a French frigate, the Insurgente, in West Indian waters, Feb. 9, 1799, and fought the French frigate Vengeance, which, however, escaped during the night. Over 300 American merchant vessels were authorized as privateers. The result was that France yielded. Talleyrand, the very minister who had dictated the insults, and whose secretary had demanded the bribe of 1,200,000 francs, now disavowed any connection with the French agents, X, Y, Z, and by order of Napoleon, who had assumed the charge of French affairs, pledged his government to receive any minister the United States might send. Without consulting his cabinet, Adams took the responsibility of again sending ambassadors. These men were well received, and orders were at once issued to French cruis