Effects Of Washington s Decision For France During Its...

Natalie Wynn Pamela Yates American History I 19 October 2014 The Effect of Washington’s Decision not to Help France During its Revolution The French Revolution had an immense impact on the way America operated. A once unbreakable bond between the two countries became severed by France’s intentions of altering political and social matters. With this in mind, Washington had to consider the way this would affect America’s impending future and he had to make sure the situation was handled properly. Quite a few effects resulted from this incident and they have altered America’s history forever. During America’s fight for liberty, the French were known as its right-hand man. Support from the French was always given regardless of how dangerous†¦show more content†¦The decision to refrain from interfering with the French was quite the act to execute, but more severe consequences were sure to follow. Howard Zinn claims â€Å"enthusiasm for the war was not strong† (77). Washington believed the fragility of the country proved that it was not quite ready to interfere in a military conflict. But what spurred the thought in which Washington decided to abstain from aiding the French? There appears to be more than what meets the eye when this topic is observed more closely thus several factors contributed to Washington’s final verdict. The talk of widespread political change led to Americans providing their eager attitude to the situation at hand. The Franco-American partnership was believed to strengthen with the assistance of democratic reforms if the plan followed through. Although this seems to be a positive outcome, there were several other detrimental issues that would follow the aftermath of this political alteration. Along with political modifications, social changes also accompanied this series of events, which quickly led to an outbreak of political strife. For instance, Americans constantly argued over how the French already had issues regarding political parties. This led to high ranking politicians forming pro-British and pro-French sides, which was a concerning topic among the society of America. This affected the American society directly by twisting the social and political views of the public. The combination of