Bronte Foley
Professor Dumas
American Foreign Policy
March 12, 2018
The XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was one of the earliest foreign policy crises in American history. As a new nation, the United States struggled to balance its own development and its obligations to France—a state which was integral in America’s victorious fight for independence. This kind of struggle between reciprocity and self-interest has remained prevalent in American foreign policy decisions even today. It is something we must consider—will we help those who have helped us, even if it goes against our own interests?
When Britain and France went to war in 1793, both pushed the US to pick sides. France, particularly, expected American support after it had backed the colonies in the Revolutionary War. George Washington—the ever neutral commander-in-chief—refused to officially ally with either country. This led to tension between the US and both countries. The French began authorizing the navy to attack and harass American merchant ships as they sailed to Europe. This interfered with trade, and thus the delicate economy of this burgeoning country (Irwin 2006, 6). At the end of the 18th century, about 15% of American production was exported, and the United States was about twice as trade-oriented as Europe (Lipsey 1994, 1). Washington, understanding that continued French sabotage of merchant ships could cause serious damage to trade relations, sent Charles Pinckney to begin diplomacy with the French Foreign Minister in 1796. However, once there, French officials refused to receive him. When John Adams was inaugurated in 1797, he sent Pinckney back to France with two other American officials—John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry (Britannica 2016). He, like Washington, hoped that this would prevent the situation from escalating to war between the countries.
When the delegation arrived in France, they met with French government agents Hottinguer, Bellamy, and Hauteval—later known Agents X, Y, and Z, respectively. These officials informed the Americans that they would have to bribe French Foreign Minister Talleyrand a sum of $250,000 and suggested they offer a $10 million loan to the French government, in order for negotiations to begin (Britannica 2016). Either unfamiliar with the mainland European custom of bribing officials as a precursor to diplomatic talks or perhaps desiring an American break from France, the American delegates were extremely offended and wrote home about the incident before diplomacy could commence (Office of the Historian, 1). However, it is worth noting that France had actually loaned money and war equipment to the US during the Revolutionary War, and that money and machinery had not been repaid (Britannica 2016). Therefore, the bribes requested by Agents X, Y, and Z could be interpreted as the French government simply attempting to reobtain lent funds. Though French Foreign Minister Talleyrand did eventually meet with the Americans in a formal capacity, he refused to end French attacks on American ships and the delegation—insulted and frustrated—returned to the United States (Office of the Historian, 1).
By the time the delegation returned to the US, Adams had begun building up the navy in anticipation of war (Britannica 2016). A political divide between the pro-French and the anti-French—which existed before the XYZ Affair occurred—strengthened (Office of the Historian, 1). The Anti-French congressmen pressured President Adams to reveal his motivations for building up the navy (Office of the Historian, 1). It was at this point that the XYZ Affair was revealed to the public. Americans were outraged by what they viewed as an affront to their honor as a country. Public opinion seemed to desire an American declaration of war against France. Congress began to prepare the country for war—without officially declaring war on France—and in doing so established the Department of the Navy. In the summer of 1798, Congress ordered the navy to attack French ships as they rested in American waters (Britannica 2016). This led to two years of naval conflicts between the US and France—without either side declaring war—until peace negotiations were held at the Convention of 1800 (Nix 2015, 1).
The Convention of 1800 produced the Treaty of Mortefontaine (Office of the Historian, 1). The main points contained in this treaty reestablished friendly relations between the US and France, required each side to return to the other the ships it had captured, and allowed for the free passage of goods across their respective waters. Most importantly, however, the Treaty of Mortefontaine indicated the end of the United States’ first ever formal alliance (Office of the Historian, 1).
The conflict between the United Stated and France ended just as quickly as it began. There are multiple reasons for this. First, war is costly. As a new country, the United States could not financially participate in conflict for an extended period of time. Second, the two countries could unite over their shared dislike for Britain. Britain extended support to the Americans which indicated to Adams the United States was going to be used in a kind of proxy war between the two countries (Office of the Historian, 1). This increased his willingness to put the conflict to rest before it could escalate to formal war. Third, Talleyrand realized he had made a mistake by trying to extort bribes from the Americans and wished to correct his error as soon as was possible (Office of the Historian, 1).
Though the result was of the XYZ Affair was ultimately a positive one, there were four key mistakes made by the US government. First, officials engaged almost perfectly in Jervis’s theory of misperception about one’s self. Adams and his delegation to France were very closed off to new information about XYZ Affair, and only one of them went into negotiations with a friendly attitude toward France. The members of the Adams administration also had an inherent anti-French bias. Many of the members of the cabinet were offended that France wanted the United States to get involved with its conflict with Britain. Thus, they went into negotiations with closed minds. Further, the United States delegation believed itself to be more cooperative than it actually was. One blunder on the part of the French Foreign Minister, and they were willing to end all diplomatic talks on the spot. Additionally, the United States did not consider that its development would not be nearly as important to the French as it was to them. Americans could see the benefits of remaining neutral, but the French felt, in some sense, hung out to dry.
Second, the United States made several misperceptions about France— “the other.” The Adams administration viewed the attempts at extortion as intentionally disrespectful, when they were, in fact, customary. Additionally, American officials did not see the loan suggestion as repayment, but rather as a bribe. This shows an assumption of malicious intent which was clearly misguided. Last, the United States assumed that its motivations for neutrality were understood, when they were never clearly communicated to either the French or the British.
Third, the system of checks and balances did not work as it was meant to. Adams exercised his power as the leader of American foreign policy by making decisions about naval development with getting full consent from Congress. Further, he was able to sway public opinion by publishing the transcripts from the XYZ Affair. The management of conflict between the United States and France saw a huge seizure of power on behalf of the president. Adams and his advisors made virtually all the decisions regarding the handling of the French situation.
Fourth, the Adams administration listened to the hawks instead of to the doves. We’ve learned that leaders have a tendency to take a more aggressive strategy when surrounded by hawkish advisors. In this case the only dove, or person pushing for diplomacy, was Elbridge Gerry. Elbridge Gerry was a French leaning diplomat who remained in France to negotiate even after the rest of his delegation returned to the United States. Had Adams listen Gerry and continued negotiation with the French, perhaps the Quasi-Wars could have been avoided entirely.
The XYZ Affair represents one of the first difficult foreign policy crises in early American history. Misperception, lack of checks, and hawkish attitudes ultimately dragged out the conflict for much longer than was necessary. However, the United States emerged from that period as a strong country, and managed to remain disentangled for the next fifty years or so.
Works Cited
1. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. 2016. “XYZ Affair.” Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/XYZ-Affair (March 6, 2018).
2. Irwin, Douglas A. 2006. “Historical Aspects of U.S. Trade Policy.” nber.org. http://www.nber.org/reporter/summer06/irwin.html. (March 6, 2018).
3. Lipsey, Robert E. 1994. “U.S. Foreign Trade and the Balance of Payments, 1800-1913.” nber.org. http://www.nber.org/papers/w4710 (March 6, 2018).
4. Nix, Elizabeth. 2015. “What was the XYZ Affair?” History.com. http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/what-was-the-xyz-affair (March 6, 2018).
5. “The XYZ Affair and the Quasi-War with France, 1798–1800.” Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/xyz (March 6, 2018).