Observations on the Dispute between the United States and France, Addressed to His Constituents, In May, 1797.
London: Philanthropic Reform, 1798. Third Edition [stated]. Presumed first printing thus. Removed from bound volume. viii, [1], 6-108, [1] pages. Footnotes. Bottom corner of pages 85/6 torn away but text appears complete on page 86 and the loss of a letter or two on page 85, but the meaning can be discerned. Rare U.K. printing. Entire item appears complete, despite pagination discrepancy at the beginning. Spine worn and torn, from removal from a larger volume. Robert Goodloe Harper (January 1765 – January 14, 1825), a Federalist, was a member of the United States Senate from Maryland, serving from January 1816 until his resignation in December of the same year. He also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1790–1795), the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina (1795–1801), and in the Maryland State Senate. He is best remembered for the phrase, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute" in connection with the XYZ Affair. At the age of fifteen, Harper joined a volunteer corps of Cavalry and served in the American Revolutionary Army. He made a surveying tour through Kentucky and Tennessee in 1783, and graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1785. He studied law in Charleston and was admitted to the bar in 1786. From 1790 to 1795, Harper was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, at which time he was elected from South Carolina to the Third Congress to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Rep. Gillon. He was reelected to the Fourth, Fifth, & Sixth Congresses serving from February 9, 1795 to March 1801. He was the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means in the Fifth & Sixth Congresses. Howes H209. Sabin 30433. JCB II 3065. The Quasi-War was an undeclared naval war fought from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States. The ability of Congress to authorize military action without a formal declaration of war was later confirmed by the Supreme Court and formed the basis of many similar actions since, including American participation in the Vietnam War and 1990 Gulf War. In 1793, Congress suspended repayments of French loans incurred during the American Revolutionary War. The dispute escalated further due to different interpretations of the 1778 treaties of Alliance and Commerce between the two countries. France, then engaged in the 1792–1797 War of the First Coalition, which included Great Britain, viewed the 1794 Jay Treaty between the United States and Britain as incompatible with those treaties, and retaliated by seizing American ships trading with Britain. Diplomatic negotiations failed to resolve these differences, and in October 1796 French privateers began attacking all merchant ships in American waters. The dissolution of Federal military forces following independence left the US unable to mount an effective response and by October 1797, over 316 American ships had been captured. In March 1798, Congress re-established the United States Navy and in July authorized the use of military force against France. In addition to a number of individual ship actions, by 1799 American losses had been significantly reduced through informal cooperation with the Royal Navy, whereby merchant ships from both nations were allowed to join each other's convoys. Diplomatic negotiations between the US and France continued; the establishment of the French Consulate in November 1799 led to the Convention of 1800, which ended the war. Condition: Fair.
Keywords: Quasi-War with France, Naval Operations, United States Navy, International Relations, French Revolution, Piracy, Freedom of the Sea, Ship Capture, Ship Seizure, Military Operations
[Book #83362]
Price: $175.00