5. Washington had Genet recalled to France after failing to restrain his activities
In Philadelphia, the American government attempted in vain to curtail Genet’s activities. When Washington sent the French ambassador an 8,000-word letter, written jointly by Hamilton and Jefferson, demanding he stop arming privateers in American ports, the Frenchman ignored him. Instead, Genet demanded America renounce its neutrality and actively support France in the war. Meanwhile, ships armed by Genet attacked British shipping, leading to formal protests from Great Britain. Washington ordered Jefferson to return Genet’s credentials as ambassador to the United States and demanded the French government recall him to Paris. By then there had been a shift in the power structure in the French assembly, and Genet had little support in Paris. When France recalled Genet, he appealed to Jefferson to allow him to remain in the United States as a private citizen.
Genet argued that returning to France would lead to his immediate arrest and likely execution on the guillotine. Hamilton, who had broadly condemned Genet’s activities in the United States, met with the former ambassador and agreed to present his case to Washington. Though Jefferson had demanded Genet leave the country, Washington agreed to allow the Frenchman to remain in the United States. When the French government issued an arrest warrant for Genet, Washington offered him asylum in America. Genet relocated to New York, and for the rest of his life involved himself in American politics, often in opposition to Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party which emerged in the late 18th century. In the end, the Genet affair strengthened the power of the Presidency in dealing with foreign affairs, though it increased suspicions by the British of American sympathy for their French and Spanish enemies.