Naval Documents Related To The Quasi-War Between The United States And France: Naval Operations From February 1797 To December 1801 (7 volume set)

Claude A. Swanson

United States Government Printing Office, 1935

7 volume set. Bound in publisher's cloth. Gilt lettering on spines. Hardcover. Good bindings and covers. Shelf wear. Bumped corners. Light soiling to some edges. Generally clean with an occasional stamp or owner's name. 

"After winning independence, the United States' first international conflict was with its revolutionary ally, France. Like many conflicts in the early years of the United States, this conflict centered around American neutral trading rights, and was a by-product of the ongoing wars between Great Britain and France, and the French Revolution. Commonly referred to as the Quasi-War with France, this conflict was a limited naval war against French privateers who were seizing U.S. shipping in the Caribbean. The Quasi-War is significant as the first seaborne conflict for the newly established U.S. Navy. It was the first action by the United States to protect its shipping abroad and the first effort to exert control over the Caribbean Sea. War was never formally declared, and French naval warships directly clashed with American ships in only a few instances. It was solely intended as a war against privateers and was almost entirely waged in the Caribbean. The Quasi-War evolved in the wake of the French Revolution, which altered the relationship between the United States and the French government. The Treaties of Alliance and Commerce with France, the first international agreements signed by the United States in 1778, were specifically intended to foster trade between the two countries. But the French monarchy that forged the alliance was overthrown in the French Revolution. Over the next 10 years, France swung dramatically from a traditional monarchy to a republic that seemed prepared to overthrow every other monarchy in Europe as well. In the process, war reignited between France and Great Britain, and the former was joined by a loose coalition of European nations that saw revolutionary France as a threat. Overall, the decision to send the new United States Navy to the Caribbean was successful. With only about 16 ships, the untested U.S. Navy captured 86 French privateers between 1799 and 1800. The Americans were assisted by the presence of the British Royal Navy in the region. While the British did not capture as many privateers as the Americans, they posed a threat to French naval forces and guarded convoys of British ships in and out of the region. Despite its successes, however, the U.S. Navy did suffer from failures of organization and management during the Quasi-War. With no infrastructure in place for supplying the new ships, deployments were often delayed for lack of men and materials. Captains frequently struggled to negotiate the complex laws regarding which ships could be legally seized and from where. As a result, the courts returned some captured ships to their owners. The Quasi-War officially ended with the Convention of 1800, also known as the Treaty of Mortefontaine, negotiated between France and the United States in September 1800. The agreement ended the Treaties of Alliance and Commerce and re-asserted the United States' right to free trade. In March 1801, the USS Herald was dispatched to the Caribbean to distribute orders to the American Navy ships to cease hostilities against the French privateers and return to the United States." - USS Constitution Museum <br> Contents: [v.1] From Feb. 1797 to Oct. 1798; [v.2] From Nov. 1798 to Mar. 1799; [v.3] From Apr. 1799 to July 1799; [v.4] From Aug. 1799 to Dec. 1799; [v.5] From Jan. 1800 to May 1800; [v.6] From June 1800 to Nov. 1800; [v.7] From Dec. 1800 to Dec. 1801. 

This is an oversized or heavy book, which requires additional postage for international delivery outside the US.