[This 2nd part will begin with looking at the state of affairs right after US independence before moving on to why the Franco-American Alliance broke apart]
Back in France
The cost of fighting with the Americans was extremely costly and brought France to the edge of bankruptcy. On top of that, two decades of poor harvest, rising prices, and drought had brewed unrest among peasants and the urban poor. By 1786, it was clear that there was no choice but to push forward financial and fiscal reform as royal coffers could no longer be sustained.
Fast forward to May 1789, a meeting was scheduled for the 3 estates of France to discuss new financial reform packages. Yet in the end, despite attempts at reform, the rise of the Third Estate nonetheless generated waves of revolutionary fervour and hysteria quickly swept the countryside; and finally, in late August the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen -- a statement of democratic principles grounded on Enlightenment thinking and thinkers like Rousseau.
Meanwhile in Washington
America was caught between 2 major powers -- Britain and France. Being a weak country at the time with a still-fragile system and no military forces, the country could not afford to go into any major war. There were also policy divisions between the 2 main parties with the Federalists being pro-British and the Democratic-Republican Party pro-French.
Yet when Louis XVI was decapitated in 1793, it probed the US to declare neutrality as they singly believed the treaty back in 1778 died.
The Trigger
The governing Federalist leaders in America greatly feared a war with Britain, and as mentioned, with them being naturally pro-British, negotiations were undertaken in which produced the Jay Treaty 1794.
This successfully mitigated some antagonism between America and Britain, accompanied with the benefit of allowing America to build a commercially prosperous and sound economy.
[Some points in the treaty include: British evacuation of the Northwest Territory by 1st June 1796; end discrimination against American commerce; British compensation for depreciation against US shipping; grant US trading privileges in parts of Britain. Etc.]
This wiped out all French trust and faith in the US and sparked the so-called “Quasi-War” / ”The Undeclared War” between the 2 countries from 1798-1800. Efforts of reconciliation finally gave results in 1800 with the Treaty of Mortefontaine (Convention of 1800) which also formally ended the Franco-American Alliance 1778.
Somewhat ironic, France in a way pushed the US back into British arms. The post-revolution France adopted harsh policies with a tough stance towards America, and in return, American realigned itself with Britain, alongside the Quasi-War marking a critical development for future US foreign policy.
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