Did the United States assist either side during the French Revolution?

by Facistpikl

I know the French helped the American rebels during their revolution; did America ever help France during theirs?

AristoPhilosor

In short No, by and large Americans were sympathetic at first to the Revolution in France, but as time went on many especially those in the Federalist Party became disgusted by its excesses, while many in the Democratic-Republican Party like Thomas Jefferson held the Revolution as good thing. Our neutrality wasn't simply ideological, it was practical. France was across the Atlantic and openly allying them would have left the US vulnerable to the British Navy which was at war with Revolutionary France. America was a young nation, with much of its military disbanded after its victory in the Revolutionary War. Not to mention the nation was still divided, the Constitution had only became law that same year the Bastille fell. the Untied States wasn't full united, the States still saw themselves and acted as separate countries and another war with England could have triggered succession, which almost did happen in New England during the War of 1812. For these reasons George Washington made his Proclamation of Neutrality declaring the US was to be neutral for the conflict. This neutrality angered both Revolutionary French and the English and lead to instances of conflict with both nations on the high seas. Eventually English attacks on American shipping would trigger the war of 1812. Before I forget there is one American I can recall who aided France, Thomas Paine who was a sympathetic defender of the Revolution traveled to France in 1792 and acted as political adviser to one of the many factions, he was eventually arrested in one of Robespierre's purges and almost guillotined. There are so many sources covering this topic. David McMullough John Adams covering the debate in Washington's cabinet over neutrality and the Quasi-War is probably a good place to start