Fun Fact #405 The Quasi War

 Fun Fact #404

The Quasi War

In 1793 The US due –to budget constraints– suspended repaying the loans from the American Revolution until they could get the funds. Yet this was a problem because at that time France was fighting the war of the First Coalition, the very same conflict which would see the French Kingdom’s fall, and The rise of Napoleon’s French Republic. To get the money they needed both sides of France gave out the order –piracy against American ships was now legal.

In response the US sent in the Revenue Cutters to protect their ships while congress scrambled to build a navy. Yet there was a problem. Congress never declared war, resulting in the situation being mocked as “The Quasi War”.

The USRC meanwhile was too busy winning to notice they were being mocked, with The USRC Pickering on its own capturing 10 French ships. By the end of the war Napoleon would negotiate the treaty of 1800, but the USRC decided they weren’t going to return the 20 surviving captured French ships. Instead they were donated to become the first ships in the new US Navy joining some other ships which had been built during the war such as The USS Constitution.

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