History

History

2006

Though situated on another continent the United States has always been affected and , in fact , made impact on Europe . First of all this refers to such countries as England (the so-called mother of the United States and France . It is not a secret that France was an ally of the United States of America in the American War of Independence . For instance French forces assisted Americans lead by George Washington to release Yorktown in 1781 , which practically decided the war in favor of the United States . This meant end

of the Revolution , independence from British Empire . Yet , this turned out to be the beginning of another conflict , caused or predetermined by (what an irony , another revolution - this time in France , which undermined the previous friendship and urged to a Quasi-War that soon threatened to become a full-scale conflict (1 , 2001

And this was the fact . During 1798-1800 the United States and France were in state of the so-called `undeclared war ' that was later dubbed as the Quasi-War . The reason for it was that the United States refused to return loans given by the thrown off French monarchy and voiding treaties attacked the French ships . Remarkably , that the war was lead at see only and was settled by a man with pen in hand , instead of sword This man was the President of that time Thomas Jefferson , who managed to acquire Louisiana , thus , doubling the territory of the United States with the pen instead of the sword , as a consequence of the Convention of 1800 signed by the United States and France . Jefferson 's political more belligerent opponent , Alexander Hamilton , had to acknowledge the defeat .Therefore , the Quasi-War , though rocky at the beginning due to Napoleon 's invasive plans , yielded some positive results . Namely , it opened a new and great page in the history of the United States expanding , continued later during the War of 1812 . Furthermore , it renewed the former friendship between two nations that last until the present day

As to the second above-mentioned war - the War of 1812 - it officially began on HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /June_18 " \o "June 18 June 18 , HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /1812 " \o "1812 1812 when the United States HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Declaration_of_war " \o "Declaration of war " declared war to Britain . The motives were rather simple , that is numerous facts of sovereignty violation by Britain , and , of course American `expansionism ' boosted by the Quasi-War . This time the aim was the British Canadian colonies , most settlers of which were of American origin . For this reason , many Americans believed that those settlers remained faithful to their Motherland and would help American troops to annex their lands to the United States . The war was proclaimed to be `liberation ' one and HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Thomas_Jefferson " \o "Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson claimed that "the acquisition of Canada this year , as far as the neighborhood of Quebec , will be a mere matter of marching and will give...