Abstract
Diplomatic relations between the United States and France had been strained since the Genêt Affair in 1793. They were brought to the breaking point by the conclusion of Jay's Treaty in 1795. The American minister to France, James Monroe, did not defend Jay's Treaty with satisfaction, and President Washington recalled him, sending Charles C. Pinckney to replace him. Pinckney arrived in Paris in December, 1796, but the French refused to accept him and requested that he leave the country immediately. Pinckney wrote from the Netherlands that his rebuff was due to Washington's Farewell Address, and, more important, to the French hostility to Jay's Treaty.