n November 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte took over control of the French government with the support of wealthy French merchants who owned lucrative plantations in the Caribbean. Bonaparte was anxious to conclude the Quasi-War, which sapped France’s naval resources and harmed his supporters’ economic interests. The determination of President Adams to stand by his principles, certainly one of his greatest traits, and not expand the conflict with France benefitted the country. But it cost Adams politically as the President lost the support of his own party. By the time the news of the treaty reached America, it was too late to help him in the election of 1800, which he lost to Thomas Jefferson.

The Quasi-War was an undeclared naval war between France and the United States, fought primarily in the Caribbean and the southern coast of America, between 1798 and 1800. The war resulted from several disagreements with France but was mostly due to French privateers seizing American merchant ships. On April 30, 1798, Congress created the Department of the Navy and appropriated funds to finish six frigates that had been authorized by the Naval Act of 1794. Three were near completion and soon put to sea, and three more followed in the next two years. On July 7, Congress authorized this new United States Navy to begin seizing French ships, marking the “official” start of the Quasi-War.

America’s first armed conflict following the American Revolution was a mostly forgotten fight with France called the Quasi-War and was the culmination of a series of disagreements with our former ally. In 1793, to avoid getting drawn into the latest war between Great Britain and France, President George Washington issued his Proclamation of Neutrality. This declaration angered the French because they considered Washington’s refusal to help them as a violation of the 1778 Treaty of Alliance.

In 1798, calls for war with France were rising and there was concern about a possible French invasion. The existing US Army comprised about 3,000 men, not nearly adequate to defend our borders. Congress reluctantly agreed to create a 10,000 soldier “provisional” force and President John Adams nominated George Washington to lead it. Despite being unprepared at the outset of the Quasi-War, the United States quickly responded and acquitted itself well.

The Quasi-War was an undeclared war between France and the United States, fought in the Caribbean and along the southern coast of America, between 1798 and 1800. President John Adams, wanting to maintain our neutrality, refused to declare war but recognized the need to rebuild our navy, which had been disbanded after the American Revolution.

America’s first armed conflict after the American Revolution was a mostly forgotten fight with France called the Quasi-War and was the culmination of a series of disagreements with our former ally.