In 1793, Congress unilaterally suspended repayment of French loans from the American Revolutionary War, and in 1794 signed the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. Then engaged in the 1792 to 1797 War of the First Coalition, France retaliated by seizing U.S. ships trading with Great Britain. When diplomacy failed to resolve these issues, in October 1796 French privateers began attacking all merchant ships in U.S. waters, regardless of nationality.
In 1793 Congress unilaterally suspended repayment of French loans from the American Revolutionary War, and in 1794 signed the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. Then engaged in the 1792 to 1797 War of the First Coalition, France retaliated by seizing U.S. ships trading with Great Britain When diplomacy failed to resolve these issues, in October 1796 French privateers began attacking all merchant ships in U.S. waters, regardless of nationality.