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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