June 24, 1798 – The XYZ Affair: “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.”

From 1778 to 1783, France and Britain were at war. Both countries exerted pressure on the U.S. to join the war on their side. President Washington urged the country to avoid “entangling alliances.” But there was no agreement in the country; as historian Joel Richard Paul explains in his book Without Precedent, “supporters of neutrality coalesced into the Federalist Party [led by Washington], and critics of the administration formed the Republican Party, led by Jefferson.”

In 1795 John Jay negotiated a [very unpopular] treaty with Britain, and in 1797 the new President John Adams sent a three-man commission overseas to negotiate a treaty with France. He chose the Republican Elbridge Gerry, and Federalists Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and John Marshall. The commissioners thought it would not take long. However, they did not count on the obstructionism of the French minister of foreign affairs, Marquis de Talleyrand.

What Talleyrand was most interested in from the Americans was money. Most notably, he wanted America to “lend” France more than four hundred million in 2018 dollars; and to pay a bribe of around 6 million in today’s dollars to Talleyrand himself.

Portrait of Talleyrand by Ary Scheffer

The commissioners had no authority to advance or promise any money to France even if they wanted to, which they did not. Or at least, the two Federalists did not. As Paul writes, the French were incredulous that the Americans thought they could obtain anything without forking over a lot of money, and Pinckney and Marshall insisted they would not lend money “under the lash & coercion of France.” The negotiations stalled, and in the meantime, French ships continued to assault U.S. merchant vessels. Moreover, the French threatened to close French ports to American ships.

Between the weather and the British blockade, it took months for dispatches from the commissioners to reach the President back in Philadelphia. When President Adams finally did hear what was going on, he was incensed. He asked Congress to appropriate funds to prepare for war. Congress demanded to know what was in the dispatches, and Secretary of State Timothy Pickering released them, but first replaced the names of Talleyrand’s agents with the letters “X,” “Y,” and “Z.” Thus the diplomatic episode became known as “The XYZ Affair.”

Back in France, Talleyrand said he would only negotiate with the Francophile, Gerry, and Pinckney and Marshall began the long journey back to the U.S.

John Marshall, by Cephas Thompson, 1809-1810. National Portrait Gallery

The country was now backing Adams for going to war against France. Congress appropriated funds to purchase armed ships and approved a trade embargo against France. Thus began the “Quasi-War,” against France, the first undeclared war in American history.

Marshall returned to the U.S. on June 17, 1798 and was hailed as a hero for standing up to the French. At a lavish banquet in his honor, Paul reports that there were toasts to Marshall, Pinckney, and the United States, including one toast by South Carolina Representative Robert Goodloe Harper that became enshrined in American history: “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.” That slogan became a rallying cry against French aggression.

Robert Goodloe Harper