The Proclamation of Neutrality was a formal announcement issued by President George Washington in May 1793, declaring the nation neutral in the conflict between France and Great Britain. It threatened legal proceedings against any...

Read the text of the Proclamation of Neutrality issued by George Washington in April, 1793, showing his effort to keep his new nation safe from unhealthy alliances.

See why a war between Great Britain and France showed the vulnerablity of the new United States. Should the United States help France, after that country gave so much in the Revolutionary War, and risk the economic and military enmity of...