Chapter 2: Internal Threats
“The Revolution has grown cold; all its principles are weakened; there remains only red caps worn by intriguers”
From: “A History of France” by Philippe Berger (Marseilles, 1992) [Translated to English]
The events of Thermidor led to the emergence of a wholly new stage of a revolution, which turned the whole event on its head and would gradually betray every one of its values. Although Sieyes, who would become known as one of the greatest leaders in French history for many remarkable achievements, was selected as Director in the latter portion of the regime, he was scarcely its leader.
This new regime was at first seen by many to be another Montagnard faction. These preconceptions were quickly erased. The Thermidorean regime, or the Directory, the two popular names which it is has been anachronistically termed, closed off the Jacobin Club and put its members in prison or sent them to the guillotine. In addition, the Jacobin committees were discontinued and replaced by new ones, of which there were many, which were as dictatorial as the ones they replaced but were more specialized and there were more of, breaking the revolutionary maxim of centralization.
However, this was nothing in comparison to sheer devastation of the economy under the Thermidoreans. The maximums were repealed because many of the new government felt argentism[14] would fix the economic issues going on within France and while it was believed there would be a brief rise in prices, they believed competition would force prices to equilibrium. Suffice to say, these liberal economics brutally failed. The sudden end of the war economy led to an economic descent[15]. Prices rose to unreasonable amounts and the assignat saw further hyperinflation, being worth less than three hundredths of their face value. This was so bad that merchants accepted any form of currency as long as it wasn’t cash. It seemed the economy was dead. In addition, peasants no longer brought in produce because they did not wish to be paid by either the bourgeoisie or the government in assignats. The government was unable to bring in the required rations into Paris and many departmental governments were forced to resort to limited regulations against the word of the Parisian government. As a result of the revival of French conservatism in addition to all of these economic failures, Paris once more fell to insurrection.
On the morning of April 1 1795 (or Germinal 12 of Year III in the Republican Calendar), Paris fell once more to radical insurrection. A mob burst into the Convention and forcing guards to let them through, and although spokesmen of this crowd were able to make their points, the National Guard came in and forced the mob to withdraw. But this was not the end of the insurrection. On May 20 (Prairial 1), the insurrection began once more. Revolutionaries were able to capture a public square in Paris, the Place du Carousel, and established control over it. However, the government were able to call in 20,000 men, forcing the revolutionaries to surrender and dooming the insurrection movement to failure.
With the brief period of instability seemingly over, the Thermidoreans could now work towards creating a new constitution. This new constitution was most like the Constitution before the Republican era, the Constitution of 1791. While many of the rights of the Revolution were confirmed, the rights granted by the (never implemented) Constitution of 1793 were revoked. The Constitution also established France as under a directorial form of governance and a Council of Five Hundred was created, with the Two Third Law, a law which required two thirds of the seats in the Council to come from the Convention. This constitution was generally accepted without fanfare, but a brief royalist insurrection in Paris emerged and was quelled by the obscure but notable general Napoleon Bonaparte.
However, Francois-Nobel Babeuf, a very radical revolutionary[16] more in line with the plebeian radicals[17] of the later nineteenth century who argued for plebeian rule of France, organized his “Conspiracy of the Equals”. This organization was attracted by Agrarian Law, a doctrine practiced in some agrarian communities of sharing goods in order to create economic equality within their community. By the time Robespierre fell, however, Babeuf turned this a complex plan of collective production and ownership. This remained the aim of the Conspiracy by the time of the Directory, when Babeuf organized a rebellion alongside sans-culottes. However, these sans-culottes were crippled following the events of Prairial and an untrue member[18] within their ranks betrayed them to a Director. When conspirators attempted to rally the soldiers of Grenelle to their cause, cavalry arrested them and put Babeuf to the guillotine, averting the coup.
The Directory remained in power due to a series of military successes overseas, most notably by General Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy. However, the authoritarian nature of the Thermidorean regime would lead to the French public being attracted to counter-revolutionary ideology. This proved to be a shift that would nearly lead to the collapse of the Republic
When the Directory held elections in accord with its own constitution in 1797, it held elections for all of its seats including the third that were supposed to be directly appointed. The Directorial parties lost their seats in all but a dozen departments and royalists, funded by Britain, gained control over departmental assemblies, choosing royalist General Jean-Charles Pichegru as President of the Council. Laws that restricted the power of religion were repealed, enabling the Church to begin to regain its once lost power. In addition, the Directory lost much of its power to the Royalist-controlled Council. Knowing perfectly well that royalist control over a republic led to a potential coup the Council sought ways to remain in power. To that end, “Philosophical Institutes” were created in every department that had the purpose of keeping republicans away from the ballot box and attract “honest men” instead. Although the Royalists were tempted to enact an immediate restoration, knowing how fragile their political situation was, and wishing for some support amongst voters, they waited for the next election. For the time being, they revoked laws that restricted the rights of priests and émigrés.
The two Directors that were not swayed by the monarchists nor were neutral and opportunistic – Louis-Marie de Laveillerie and Jean-Francois Reubell – sought to find evidence to overthrow the royalist-controlled Council, but such evidence was not uncovered immediately[19]. As a result, royalists controlled the Council until late October (or early Brumaire, according to the Republican Calendar)[20], when one of General Moreau’s aides – who’s name has been forgotten – who was loyal to the Directory found evidence of traitorous correspondence between President Pichegru and émigré Prince de Conde[21], sufficient evidence to accuse the Council of sedition. This aide also found evidence that Moreau had attempted to cover this evidence up. Almost immediately, this aide shared this information with allies of the Director.
The effects of this document were immediate. Almost immediately, the Directory began to reshuffle government, appointing the pro-Directory general Lazare Hoche Minister of War and brought his troops into Paris ostensibly in order to amass troops against England. However, Hoche was unable to be appointed as minister due to his young age and his troops came within 60 kilometres of the capital, an act that broke constitutional law. As a result, Hoche was dismissed. The Royalists, overly cautious and indecisive due to the diverse nature of the group ranging from absolutists to constitutionalists, were unable to capitalise on this advantage.
On the night of November 8-9 (or 17-18 Brumaire), the Directory now had sufficient evidence to accuse the Council of sedition and troops, who were suddenly given leave, led by Hoche – who chose to lead the coup himself despite knowing that if the coup failed he would be dismissed as general and possibly killed[22] –came into the capital to support the Directory in their attempt to regain power with an army of 30,000 men[23]. The city gates were locked and the deputies were captured in a perfectly orchestrated and bloodless coup.
Many Royalists, such as Pichegru, were put to the guillotine, while others were sent to French Guinea, a place known as the “dry guillotine” because the death rate was high in the colony. Most notably, Moreau attempted to flee across the Rhine after hearing word of this coup and his fall from favour, but was captured by republicans within his ranks. Although many Directors wished to kill Moreau, Hoche, a general who the Directors were indebted to for obvious reasons, wanted him to be spared. Instead Moreau was exiled to the United States.
This “Second Directory” appointed two new Directors, but left the Council vacant and had now learned to rig elections to ensure its survival while still ostensibly remaining true to revolutionary ideals. It spread propaganda stating that a royalist coup had occurred – not a complete lie, but not a complete truth either. This made it appear as if Brumaire had not gone against French ideals of democracy, but occurred to protect it.
Although this Coup of 18 Brumaire[24] saved the Directory from collapse and also saved France from falling to counter-revolution, French democracy, once so preciously protected, was dead for the time being. As Sieyes stated a few years later in, “Fellow citizens! Shackles we once destroyed have been replaced. You know of it. We rose up, identified the traitors and already we are in chains”[25]. In addition, counter-revolutionaries had not given up. If anything, all of the times that they were crushed were leading to their increasing extremism. They still sought to overthrow the Republic.
With the First Stage of the European Revolutionary War over and with France undemocratic but with stability unprecedented since prior to the Revolution and with peace successfully achieved, the nation, and indeed all of Europe, now had some breathing room.
From: “America: The Post-Revolutionary Years” by Elizabeth Wyndham (New York, 1996)
The United States fell into tumult almost immediately after the Revolution. According to the Articles of Confederation that weakly linked the colonies as a confederation of closely bonded nations, the federal government was unable to tax at all and was thus unable to pay off the tremendous debt it owed to France following its help in the Revolution. As a result of this, American money fell into a period of inflation and by 1780 it was worth one percent of its face value. Inflation got so bad that Shea’s Rebellion, a rebellion caused by this inflation, occurred before being crushed by George Washington. As a result of this perceived instability, the states sent delegates to Philadelphia to revise the Articles in 1783. Of course, the fifty-five delegates had no intention to merely revise the Articles. It sought to replace it with what would prove to be one of the most important documents in human history.
These delegates, who chose as their president of the “Constitutional Convention” George Washington, sought to create an entirely new constitution that bound together the colonies in not a confederation, but a federation. In secret discussions that remarkably remained secret despite conflicts between many of the delegates and widely differing points of view. Almost immediately, factions within the Convention began to emerge. There were those who sought to create a legislature according to the New Jersey Plan that gave every state equal representation in a unicameral Congress and there were those who sought to create a legislature according to the Virginia Plan that gave every state representation by population in one directly elected house of a bicameral Congress, while the other house would have been elected by this house. Eventually, the two sides compromised and one house, known as the House of Representatives, was created in which there was representation by population and was directly elected by the people for two years, and the other house, known as the Senate, had its members chosen by state legislatures and each state legislature chose two representatives to represent it for six years. Of course the election system of the Senate was eventually reformed, but that is another matter. Together, these two houses were to be known as Congress. This compromise, although it was not perfect, was able to stop much of the infighting and rivalries in the Convention.
Another notable aspect of the Constitution was the “Electoral College”. In older presidential elections, voters did not actually vote for the President. Instead, in an almost medieval process, voters voted for electors pledged to vote for a certain candidate and those electors were able to elect any candidate they wished to elect. This system existed in order to avoid “mob rule” and the electors, being from higher classes, were supposedly more “educated” than the masses and thus could make a decision more rational than the people.
While the Constitution was being ratified, two factions soon developed. The first faction was the Federalists, who were in favour of the Constitution, and the Anti-Federalists, who were against the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, each of whom were staunch Federalists, wrote a series of essays that are today known as the Federalist Papers that, when read together, make a strong argument for a federal government. These arguments helped sway New York (New York being a swing state) into passing the Constitution and affected its ratification by other states.
George Washington was elected in 1788-89 and 1792 in two uncontested elections. Despite his Federalist-leaning tendencies, he was a bipartisan (or perhaps at this point bi-factional) figure. His presidency saw the creation of many aspects of modern American government, such as the cabinet, that we take for granted. He also saw the avoidance of a war with Britain in the form of the signing of the Jay Treaty, a treaty that, while not establishing an alliance, improved trade substantially and ending the period of bad relations between the two. His presidency also saw the heightening of the divide between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, to the point that the two factions had become political parties.
In what was the first contested election in the US, John Adams of the Federalist Party was elected by an extremely small margin against Thomas Jefferson of the Republican Party (which many Anti-Federalists joined) in 1796 with a campaign promise of closer relations with Britain and a harder line, but not necessarily war, against France.
Adams continued the argentine economic policy of the Washington administration. He also expanded the central government, which is something one would expect from a “Federalist Party”. His early administration was centred on arguments with party leader Alexander Hamilton and his allies, who Adams argued with as much as he argued with the Republicans.
However, in 1797, France and the US had a crisis over debt that could have led to war. France believed that debt acquired by the US to France during the American Revolution had to be paid off, while the US believed that this debt was owed to the monarchical government, not the republican one. The reason behind the two views is quite obvious, but the US was especially hampered by large amounts of debt acquired during its revolution.
Most Americans were pro-France because of the substantial help that it gave during the American Revolution. Despite this, this debt issue was very major and to that end the US sent a diplomatic mission to France to negotiate this debt and sign a treaty similar to the Jay Treaty, a trade treaty between Britain and the US that averted war between the two nations and led to an expansion of trade
The cabinet met to choose who should join American ambassador to France Charles Pinckney on the mission. Adams chose John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry to accompany Pinckney to the mission, but the cabinet suggested Francis Dana to join Pinckney because Gerry was less of a Federalist than Dana, but Dana refused to join the mission, and Gerry was ultimately chosen.
Although several ministerial changes occurred in the wake of the Coup of 18 Brumaire, the Minister of Foreign Affairs remained Charles-Francois Delacroix[26] because the Coup was so recent that such ministerial changes were not complete. Delacroix was concerned of closer ties between the US and Britain and the xenophobic nature of post-Brumaire France made it likely that a war, or a worsening of relations between the two nations, would occur.
Immediately after arriving in Paris in early October, the diplomats sought a meeting with Delacroix. In a meeting, Delacroix sought for an explanation for one of Adams’ speeches which seemed to be anti-French[27]. The diplomats decided not to speak of the issue.
These meeting went fairly well[28]. Although Delacroix was extremely suspicious of Americans, as were most other Directors and government officials, he was willing to give them a fair chance. However, neither side budged from their initial opinions, with the exception of Elbridge Gerry, who as aforementioned was a very moderate Federalist.
By mid-October, both sides began to negotiate. Gerry, already very much for some sort of negotiation, was able to convince his fellow diplomats to actively negotiate with Delacroix, while the minister’s envoys were able to convince him to do likewise.
With both sides willing to negotiate, the next meetings went far better by the end of November. Delacroix invited Gerry to negotiations without the more radical and Federalist diplomats and although Gerry knew perfectly well the reasoning behind this, he accepted these invitations, negotiating with Delacroix in order to moderate his opinions and quicken the process.
With the influence of Gerry, the two sides began to reach an agreement. The two sides signed a treaty known as the Pinckney Treaty[29]. This treaty established that there would be an “inviolable peace” between the two nations; all prior agreements were null and void (a manifestation of the anti-Americanism of the Directory and the anti-French nature of the Federalists), ending the only military alliance the US had; and that French fishing rights in Newfoundland and the Gulf of Mexico were assured[30].
This treaty represented a successful avoidance of war. Although it did not give France and the US the same trade agreement that the Jay Treaty offered to Britain and the US, the biases of both sides made such a conciliatory agreement possible. When these diplomats came home, although President Adams, along with most of the Republican Party, was disappointed that an agreement similar to the one signed between Britain and the US was not created, he was nevertheless happy that a war was avoided.
Not everyone shared this opinion. Hamilton, along with much of the Federalist Party, were angered by how a war that would have led to a drastic increase in support of the Federalists; indeed, the entire Republican Party could have been accused of sedition[31]. This could have led to a huge expansion of the Federalist Party, but this killed any hopes for such a thing to occur. This began a split within the party that threatened its very existence.
Ultimately, the American public saw this treaty as a success. It released the US from its only military alliance, fulfilling Washington’s Farewell Address that spoke against any such alliance, while at the same time avoiding war with France, a nation many Americans felt indebted to. Indeed, by the end of 1797, even within the Republican Party, Adams was a popular president.
[14] Capitalism
[15] Recession
[16] Indeed, IOTL, Babeuf was so radical he is seen by many as being the first socialist and he became known as a communist hero in the USSR.
[17] Socialist
[18] What we would call a mole or double agent.
[19] IOTL, Napoleon supplied this evidence, but this is after his death.
[20] IOTL, the Coup of 18 Fructidor, the name of a similar coup, occurred in September.
[21] Moreau discovered such correspondence IOTL, but covered it up. This evidence would eventually lead to his exile to the US in 1804.
[22] Unlike Napoleon IOTL, who sent in General Pierre Augereau because he feared his dismissal in the case of failure.
[23] Augereau led an army of 12,000 men for this purpose IOTL
[24] The Coup of 18 Brumaire was of course the coup that ended the Directory IOTL, but ITTL this name goes to an alternate Coup of 18 Fructidor.
[25] Napoleon said something similar to his army IOTL.
[26] The Minister of Foreign Affairs was replaced with the corrupt Maurice de Talleyrand IOTL.
[27] Talleyrand sought for an explanation for this speech IOTL, and considering that Delacroix was a staunch supporter of the Directory, helping them depose the radical Batavian government with a Directory ally, he would make the same kind of request.
[28] Unlike IOTL, in which Talleyrand asked for bribes from the American diplomats
[29] Unlike IOTL, in which Talleyrand’s asking of bribes led to the diplomats feeling offensive and the Quasi-War.
[30] The Treaty of Mortefontaine, the treaty that ended the Quasi-War IOTL, offered many of these terms, except that it went further towards reconciliation. The Pinckney Treaty ITTL didn’t go as far due to the anti-American nature of the Directory, while the Treaty of Mortefontaine was signed by the Consulate (led by Napoleon).
[31] The Quasi-War led to this occurring IOTL.
“The Revolution has grown cold; all its principles are weakened; there remains only red caps worn by intriguers”
Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, President of the National Convention and ally of Robespierre in the wake of the events of Thermidor [Translated to English]
From: “A History of France” by Philippe Berger (Marseilles, 1992) [Translated to English]
The events of Thermidor led to the emergence of a wholly new stage of a revolution, which turned the whole event on its head and would gradually betray every one of its values. Although Sieyes, who would become known as one of the greatest leaders in French history for many remarkable achievements, was selected as Director in the latter portion of the regime, he was scarcely its leader.
This new regime was at first seen by many to be another Montagnard faction. These preconceptions were quickly erased. The Thermidorean regime, or the Directory, the two popular names which it is has been anachronistically termed, closed off the Jacobin Club and put its members in prison or sent them to the guillotine. In addition, the Jacobin committees were discontinued and replaced by new ones, of which there were many, which were as dictatorial as the ones they replaced but were more specialized and there were more of, breaking the revolutionary maxim of centralization.
However, this was nothing in comparison to sheer devastation of the economy under the Thermidoreans. The maximums were repealed because many of the new government felt argentism[14] would fix the economic issues going on within France and while it was believed there would be a brief rise in prices, they believed competition would force prices to equilibrium. Suffice to say, these liberal economics brutally failed. The sudden end of the war economy led to an economic descent[15]. Prices rose to unreasonable amounts and the assignat saw further hyperinflation, being worth less than three hundredths of their face value. This was so bad that merchants accepted any form of currency as long as it wasn’t cash. It seemed the economy was dead. In addition, peasants no longer brought in produce because they did not wish to be paid by either the bourgeoisie or the government in assignats. The government was unable to bring in the required rations into Paris and many departmental governments were forced to resort to limited regulations against the word of the Parisian government. As a result of the revival of French conservatism in addition to all of these economic failures, Paris once more fell to insurrection.
On the morning of April 1 1795 (or Germinal 12 of Year III in the Republican Calendar), Paris fell once more to radical insurrection. A mob burst into the Convention and forcing guards to let them through, and although spokesmen of this crowd were able to make their points, the National Guard came in and forced the mob to withdraw. But this was not the end of the insurrection. On May 20 (Prairial 1), the insurrection began once more. Revolutionaries were able to capture a public square in Paris, the Place du Carousel, and established control over it. However, the government were able to call in 20,000 men, forcing the revolutionaries to surrender and dooming the insurrection movement to failure.
With the brief period of instability seemingly over, the Thermidoreans could now work towards creating a new constitution. This new constitution was most like the Constitution before the Republican era, the Constitution of 1791. While many of the rights of the Revolution were confirmed, the rights granted by the (never implemented) Constitution of 1793 were revoked. The Constitution also established France as under a directorial form of governance and a Council of Five Hundred was created, with the Two Third Law, a law which required two thirds of the seats in the Council to come from the Convention. This constitution was generally accepted without fanfare, but a brief royalist insurrection in Paris emerged and was quelled by the obscure but notable general Napoleon Bonaparte.
However, Francois-Nobel Babeuf, a very radical revolutionary[16] more in line with the plebeian radicals[17] of the later nineteenth century who argued for plebeian rule of France, organized his “Conspiracy of the Equals”. This organization was attracted by Agrarian Law, a doctrine practiced in some agrarian communities of sharing goods in order to create economic equality within their community. By the time Robespierre fell, however, Babeuf turned this a complex plan of collective production and ownership. This remained the aim of the Conspiracy by the time of the Directory, when Babeuf organized a rebellion alongside sans-culottes. However, these sans-culottes were crippled following the events of Prairial and an untrue member[18] within their ranks betrayed them to a Director. When conspirators attempted to rally the soldiers of Grenelle to their cause, cavalry arrested them and put Babeuf to the guillotine, averting the coup.
The Directory remained in power due to a series of military successes overseas, most notably by General Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy. However, the authoritarian nature of the Thermidorean regime would lead to the French public being attracted to counter-revolutionary ideology. This proved to be a shift that would nearly lead to the collapse of the Republic
When the Directory held elections in accord with its own constitution in 1797, it held elections for all of its seats including the third that were supposed to be directly appointed. The Directorial parties lost their seats in all but a dozen departments and royalists, funded by Britain, gained control over departmental assemblies, choosing royalist General Jean-Charles Pichegru as President of the Council. Laws that restricted the power of religion were repealed, enabling the Church to begin to regain its once lost power. In addition, the Directory lost much of its power to the Royalist-controlled Council. Knowing perfectly well that royalist control over a republic led to a potential coup the Council sought ways to remain in power. To that end, “Philosophical Institutes” were created in every department that had the purpose of keeping republicans away from the ballot box and attract “honest men” instead. Although the Royalists were tempted to enact an immediate restoration, knowing how fragile their political situation was, and wishing for some support amongst voters, they waited for the next election. For the time being, they revoked laws that restricted the rights of priests and émigrés.
The two Directors that were not swayed by the monarchists nor were neutral and opportunistic – Louis-Marie de Laveillerie and Jean-Francois Reubell – sought to find evidence to overthrow the royalist-controlled Council, but such evidence was not uncovered immediately[19]. As a result, royalists controlled the Council until late October (or early Brumaire, according to the Republican Calendar)[20], when one of General Moreau’s aides – who’s name has been forgotten – who was loyal to the Directory found evidence of traitorous correspondence between President Pichegru and émigré Prince de Conde[21], sufficient evidence to accuse the Council of sedition. This aide also found evidence that Moreau had attempted to cover this evidence up. Almost immediately, this aide shared this information with allies of the Director.
The effects of this document were immediate. Almost immediately, the Directory began to reshuffle government, appointing the pro-Directory general Lazare Hoche Minister of War and brought his troops into Paris ostensibly in order to amass troops against England. However, Hoche was unable to be appointed as minister due to his young age and his troops came within 60 kilometres of the capital, an act that broke constitutional law. As a result, Hoche was dismissed. The Royalists, overly cautious and indecisive due to the diverse nature of the group ranging from absolutists to constitutionalists, were unable to capitalise on this advantage.
On the night of November 8-9 (or 17-18 Brumaire), the Directory now had sufficient evidence to accuse the Council of sedition and troops, who were suddenly given leave, led by Hoche – who chose to lead the coup himself despite knowing that if the coup failed he would be dismissed as general and possibly killed[22] –came into the capital to support the Directory in their attempt to regain power with an army of 30,000 men[23]. The city gates were locked and the deputies were captured in a perfectly orchestrated and bloodless coup.
Many Royalists, such as Pichegru, were put to the guillotine, while others were sent to French Guinea, a place known as the “dry guillotine” because the death rate was high in the colony. Most notably, Moreau attempted to flee across the Rhine after hearing word of this coup and his fall from favour, but was captured by republicans within his ranks. Although many Directors wished to kill Moreau, Hoche, a general who the Directors were indebted to for obvious reasons, wanted him to be spared. Instead Moreau was exiled to the United States.
This “Second Directory” appointed two new Directors, but left the Council vacant and had now learned to rig elections to ensure its survival while still ostensibly remaining true to revolutionary ideals. It spread propaganda stating that a royalist coup had occurred – not a complete lie, but not a complete truth either. This made it appear as if Brumaire had not gone against French ideals of democracy, but occurred to protect it.
Although this Coup of 18 Brumaire[24] saved the Directory from collapse and also saved France from falling to counter-revolution, French democracy, once so preciously protected, was dead for the time being. As Sieyes stated a few years later in, “Fellow citizens! Shackles we once destroyed have been replaced. You know of it. We rose up, identified the traitors and already we are in chains”[25]. In addition, counter-revolutionaries had not given up. If anything, all of the times that they were crushed were leading to their increasing extremism. They still sought to overthrow the Republic.
With the First Stage of the European Revolutionary War over and with France undemocratic but with stability unprecedented since prior to the Revolution and with peace successfully achieved, the nation, and indeed all of Europe, now had some breathing room.
*
From: “America: The Post-Revolutionary Years” by Elizabeth Wyndham (New York, 1996)
The United States fell into tumult almost immediately after the Revolution. According to the Articles of Confederation that weakly linked the colonies as a confederation of closely bonded nations, the federal government was unable to tax at all and was thus unable to pay off the tremendous debt it owed to France following its help in the Revolution. As a result of this, American money fell into a period of inflation and by 1780 it was worth one percent of its face value. Inflation got so bad that Shea’s Rebellion, a rebellion caused by this inflation, occurred before being crushed by George Washington. As a result of this perceived instability, the states sent delegates to Philadelphia to revise the Articles in 1783. Of course, the fifty-five delegates had no intention to merely revise the Articles. It sought to replace it with what would prove to be one of the most important documents in human history.
These delegates, who chose as their president of the “Constitutional Convention” George Washington, sought to create an entirely new constitution that bound together the colonies in not a confederation, but a federation. In secret discussions that remarkably remained secret despite conflicts between many of the delegates and widely differing points of view. Almost immediately, factions within the Convention began to emerge. There were those who sought to create a legislature according to the New Jersey Plan that gave every state equal representation in a unicameral Congress and there were those who sought to create a legislature according to the Virginia Plan that gave every state representation by population in one directly elected house of a bicameral Congress, while the other house would have been elected by this house. Eventually, the two sides compromised and one house, known as the House of Representatives, was created in which there was representation by population and was directly elected by the people for two years, and the other house, known as the Senate, had its members chosen by state legislatures and each state legislature chose two representatives to represent it for six years. Of course the election system of the Senate was eventually reformed, but that is another matter. Together, these two houses were to be known as Congress. This compromise, although it was not perfect, was able to stop much of the infighting and rivalries in the Convention.
Another notable aspect of the Constitution was the “Electoral College”. In older presidential elections, voters did not actually vote for the President. Instead, in an almost medieval process, voters voted for electors pledged to vote for a certain candidate and those electors were able to elect any candidate they wished to elect. This system existed in order to avoid “mob rule” and the electors, being from higher classes, were supposedly more “educated” than the masses and thus could make a decision more rational than the people.
While the Constitution was being ratified, two factions soon developed. The first faction was the Federalists, who were in favour of the Constitution, and the Anti-Federalists, who were against the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, each of whom were staunch Federalists, wrote a series of essays that are today known as the Federalist Papers that, when read together, make a strong argument for a federal government. These arguments helped sway New York (New York being a swing state) into passing the Constitution and affected its ratification by other states.
George Washington was elected in 1788-89 and 1792 in two uncontested elections. Despite his Federalist-leaning tendencies, he was a bipartisan (or perhaps at this point bi-factional) figure. His presidency saw the creation of many aspects of modern American government, such as the cabinet, that we take for granted. He also saw the avoidance of a war with Britain in the form of the signing of the Jay Treaty, a treaty that, while not establishing an alliance, improved trade substantially and ending the period of bad relations between the two. His presidency also saw the heightening of the divide between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, to the point that the two factions had become political parties.
In what was the first contested election in the US, John Adams of the Federalist Party was elected by an extremely small margin against Thomas Jefferson of the Republican Party (which many Anti-Federalists joined) in 1796 with a campaign promise of closer relations with Britain and a harder line, but not necessarily war, against France.
Adams continued the argentine economic policy of the Washington administration. He also expanded the central government, which is something one would expect from a “Federalist Party”. His early administration was centred on arguments with party leader Alexander Hamilton and his allies, who Adams argued with as much as he argued with the Republicans.
However, in 1797, France and the US had a crisis over debt that could have led to war. France believed that debt acquired by the US to France during the American Revolution had to be paid off, while the US believed that this debt was owed to the monarchical government, not the republican one. The reason behind the two views is quite obvious, but the US was especially hampered by large amounts of debt acquired during its revolution.
Most Americans were pro-France because of the substantial help that it gave during the American Revolution. Despite this, this debt issue was very major and to that end the US sent a diplomatic mission to France to negotiate this debt and sign a treaty similar to the Jay Treaty, a trade treaty between Britain and the US that averted war between the two nations and led to an expansion of trade
The cabinet met to choose who should join American ambassador to France Charles Pinckney on the mission. Adams chose John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry to accompany Pinckney to the mission, but the cabinet suggested Francis Dana to join Pinckney because Gerry was less of a Federalist than Dana, but Dana refused to join the mission, and Gerry was ultimately chosen.
Although several ministerial changes occurred in the wake of the Coup of 18 Brumaire, the Minister of Foreign Affairs remained Charles-Francois Delacroix[26] because the Coup was so recent that such ministerial changes were not complete. Delacroix was concerned of closer ties between the US and Britain and the xenophobic nature of post-Brumaire France made it likely that a war, or a worsening of relations between the two nations, would occur.
Immediately after arriving in Paris in early October, the diplomats sought a meeting with Delacroix. In a meeting, Delacroix sought for an explanation for one of Adams’ speeches which seemed to be anti-French[27]. The diplomats decided not to speak of the issue.
These meeting went fairly well[28]. Although Delacroix was extremely suspicious of Americans, as were most other Directors and government officials, he was willing to give them a fair chance. However, neither side budged from their initial opinions, with the exception of Elbridge Gerry, who as aforementioned was a very moderate Federalist.
By mid-October, both sides began to negotiate. Gerry, already very much for some sort of negotiation, was able to convince his fellow diplomats to actively negotiate with Delacroix, while the minister’s envoys were able to convince him to do likewise.
With both sides willing to negotiate, the next meetings went far better by the end of November. Delacroix invited Gerry to negotiations without the more radical and Federalist diplomats and although Gerry knew perfectly well the reasoning behind this, he accepted these invitations, negotiating with Delacroix in order to moderate his opinions and quicken the process.
With the influence of Gerry, the two sides began to reach an agreement. The two sides signed a treaty known as the Pinckney Treaty[29]. This treaty established that there would be an “inviolable peace” between the two nations; all prior agreements were null and void (a manifestation of the anti-Americanism of the Directory and the anti-French nature of the Federalists), ending the only military alliance the US had; and that French fishing rights in Newfoundland and the Gulf of Mexico were assured[30].
This treaty represented a successful avoidance of war. Although it did not give France and the US the same trade agreement that the Jay Treaty offered to Britain and the US, the biases of both sides made such a conciliatory agreement possible. When these diplomats came home, although President Adams, along with most of the Republican Party, was disappointed that an agreement similar to the one signed between Britain and the US was not created, he was nevertheless happy that a war was avoided.
Not everyone shared this opinion. Hamilton, along with much of the Federalist Party, were angered by how a war that would have led to a drastic increase in support of the Federalists; indeed, the entire Republican Party could have been accused of sedition[31]. This could have led to a huge expansion of the Federalist Party, but this killed any hopes for such a thing to occur. This began a split within the party that threatened its very existence.
Ultimately, the American public saw this treaty as a success. It released the US from its only military alliance, fulfilling Washington’s Farewell Address that spoke against any such alliance, while at the same time avoiding war with France, a nation many Americans felt indebted to. Indeed, by the end of 1797, even within the Republican Party, Adams was a popular president.
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[14] Capitalism
[15] Recession
[16] Indeed, IOTL, Babeuf was so radical he is seen by many as being the first socialist and he became known as a communist hero in the USSR.
[17] Socialist
[18] What we would call a mole or double agent.
[19] IOTL, Napoleon supplied this evidence, but this is after his death.
[20] IOTL, the Coup of 18 Fructidor, the name of a similar coup, occurred in September.
[21] Moreau discovered such correspondence IOTL, but covered it up. This evidence would eventually lead to his exile to the US in 1804.
[22] Unlike Napoleon IOTL, who sent in General Pierre Augereau because he feared his dismissal in the case of failure.
[23] Augereau led an army of 12,000 men for this purpose IOTL
[24] The Coup of 18 Brumaire was of course the coup that ended the Directory IOTL, but ITTL this name goes to an alternate Coup of 18 Fructidor.
[25] Napoleon said something similar to his army IOTL.
[26] The Minister of Foreign Affairs was replaced with the corrupt Maurice de Talleyrand IOTL.
[27] Talleyrand sought for an explanation for this speech IOTL, and considering that Delacroix was a staunch supporter of the Directory, helping them depose the radical Batavian government with a Directory ally, he would make the same kind of request.
[28] Unlike IOTL, in which Talleyrand asked for bribes from the American diplomats
[29] Unlike IOTL, in which Talleyrand’s asking of bribes led to the diplomats feeling offensive and the Quasi-War.
[30] The Treaty of Mortefontaine, the treaty that ended the Quasi-War IOTL, offered many of these terms, except that it went further towards reconciliation. The Pinckney Treaty ITTL didn’t go as far due to the anti-American nature of the Directory, while the Treaty of Mortefontaine was signed by the Consulate (led by Napoleon).
[31] The Quasi-War led to this occurring IOTL.
Please keep this up.
