French Ambassador Genet, Recalled at Washington's Request, Avoided Arrest by Staying in the United States

EDMOND CHARLES GENET (1763-1834), also known as Citizen Genet, was the French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution. He severely strained Franco-American relations by attempting to pull the United States in the French war.

Referred to as “The Citizen Genet Affair,” which began in 1793, his efforts to bring the United States into the war between France and Great Britain and his high-handed arming of privateers in American ports to operate against the British brought relations between the U.S. and France to the brink of war. In August 1793, President Washington, who was firmly committed to neutrality in the European conflict, requested that Genet be recalled.

Realizing that he faced arrest if he returned to France, Genet chose to remain in the United States. He married the daughter of George Clinton, Governor of New York, and became a U.S. citizen. Genet settled on a farm he called Prospect Hill in East Greenbush, NY, overlooking the Hudson River and lived the life of a gentleman farmer.

2 ½” x 6” nicely vignette check, August 31, 1829, payable to Gibs Woods for $25 and signed E.C. Genet.  Wonderful association of George Washington’s policy of neutrality.

Age toning, one repair at the center and a small tear at the lower left, away from Genet’s signature. Some soiling on verso.  Great for framing.  Comes with a large magazine photo of Genet taken from an oil painting done by Ezra Ames.

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