anted men, native-born
Americans were taken off under the pretext that one could not tell an
American from an English sailor. Our fathers could stand a great deal,
but this was too much, and a cry for war went up from all parts of
the country.

But Washington did not want war, and took two measures to prevent it.
He persuaded Congress to lay an embargo for thirty days, that is, forbid
all ships to leave our ports, and induced the Senate to let him send
John Jay, the Chief Justice, to London to make a treaty of amity and
commerce with Great Britain.

%231. Jay's Treaty, 1794.%--In this mission Jay succeeded; and though
the treaty was far from what Washington wanted, it was the best that
could be had, and he approved it.[1] At this the Republicans grew
furious. They burned copies of the treaty at mass meetings and hung Jay
in effigy. Yet the treaty had some good features. By it the King agreed
to withdraw his troops from Oswego and Detroit and Mackinaw, which
really belonged to us but were still occupied by the English. By it our
merchants were allowed for the first time to trade with the British West
Indies, and some compensation was made for the damage done by the
capture of ships in the West Indies.

[Footnote 1: The Senate ratified this treaty in the summer of 1795.]

%232. Treaty with Spain.%--About the same time (October, 1795) we
made our first treaty with Spain, and induced her to accept the
thirty-first degree of latitude as the south boundary of our country,
and to consent to open the Mississippi to trade. As Spain owned both
banks at the mouth of the river, she claimed that American ships had no
right to go in or out without her consent, and so prevented the people
of Kentucky and Tennessee from trading in foreign markets. She now
agreed that they might float their produce to New Orleans and pay a
small duty, and then ship it wherever they pleased.

%233. The Election of Adams and Jefferson, 1796%.--Washington had
been reelected President in 1792, but he was now tired of office, and in
September, 1796, issued his "Farewell Address," in which he declined to
be the candidate for a third presidential term. In those days there were
no national conventions to nominate candidates, yet it was well
understood that John Adams, the Vice President, was the candidate of the
Federalists, and Thomas Jefferson, of the Republicans. When the votes
were counted in Congress, it was found that Adams had 71 electoral
votes, a