Genet and the French Revolution in America

In the middle of the French Revolution, the Girondi Executive Council sent Charles-Edmond Genet to the United States as the new "Minister Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the United States". Described as a young,handsome, and romantic representation of the French Revolution, his job and duty was to popularize the French Revolution among the American peoples. Moreover, he was to create dissent among the people towards the Proclamation of Neutrality which stated the U.S.'s neutrality in the war France and had been pushed by the President George Washington and the Federalist Party. He looked to Thomas Jefferson and the Republican Party for support and initially he had much success in turning popular opinion towards the French Revolution and their war, specifically against Britain. However, Genet made the mistake of being too unbending in his desires of the American government and overstepped his role by having the conceitness to directly appeal to the President on behalf of the American people. His two major flaws here are firstly, that he explicitly slighted the hero of the American Revolution and President of the USA, George Washington and secondly, that in the minds of the American people, as a foreigner he had no right to so boldly deign to speak for them. Jefferson, being a supporter of the French Revolution, managed to oust Genet but did all that he could to keep the momentum that Genet had helped created and it worked. The American people continued to support the French Revolution but no longer had to worry about the French Revolution interfering with America.

Cruise O'Brien, Conor. The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson And The French Revolution. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996.