Interpreting the Republican Spirit: The Genet Affair and the Rhetoric of Radicalism
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This project examines the 1793 Genet Affair, a diplomatic incident in early American political history between the minister plenipotentiary of revolutionary France and Washington’s cabinet. Edmund Charles Genet arrived in the United States to great fanfare with the mission of strengthening the relationship between the two countries as France prepared to go to war with the monarchies of Europe. Upon encountering reticence on the part of the American government, Genet reportedly threatened to appeal to the people in a total rejection of the structure of the post-constitutional convention federal system. In essence, the minister made the claim that Washington had abandoned the precepts of the American Revolution and begun acting contrary to the will of the people. The Genet Affair exposed an ideological conflict that had been brewing in the aftermath of the war for independence not only in Philadelphia, but in France and Britain as well, representing a transatlantic dialectic of radicalism. The minister’s arrival prompted the formation of America’s first political societies, leading to a flurry of debates in the flourishing printing sphere from elite and non-elite writers alike. These missives were colored by British anti-Franco propaganda, which in turn became visible commentaries on the United States government direction and philosophy. In visiting the Library Company of Philadelphia and analyzing these printed essays, broadsides, and cartoons in reference to the rhetoric espoused by Genet, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and others, a more distinct picture of American attitudes at the time becomes apparent. As a result of this incident, radical republicanism became delegitimized in America in a manner that can be tracked through rhetorical shifts regarding aristocracy, governmental legitimacy, and the future of egalitarian republicanism.