[XYZ Affair]:

$750 · Offered by William Reese Company

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ACCOMPANYING A COMMUNICATION, No. 8. FROM THE ENVOYS EXTRAORDINARY TO THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.... The dispatch, signed by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry, transmits a letter from French minister Talleyrand to the envoys, and their reply. It was published on June 18, 1798, two months after the first news of the incident broke. The incident known as the XYZ Affair had its origins in a French attempt to coerce a bribe from American envoys in order to engage in negotiations to improve relations between the two countries. The incident only served to sour Franco-American relations, leading to the so-called "Quasi War." This led directly to the Alien Acts, the first of which was published at the same time as this documents.

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