The Transatlantic Political Economy

The economic relations between the United States and France were at the heart of the « Atlantic Dream » of the Enlightenment and of many French Revolutionaries in the 1780s. On both sides of the Atlantic, a desire to deepen economic ties between the two « regenerated » nations was kindled by the ide...

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Main Author: Allan Potofsky
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association Française d'Etudes Américaines 2006-03-01
Series:Transatlantica
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/474
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author Allan Potofsky
author_facet Allan Potofsky
author_sort Allan Potofsky
collection DOAJ
description The economic relations between the United States and France were at the heart of the « Atlantic Dream » of the Enlightenment and of many French Revolutionaries in the 1780s. On both sides of the Atlantic, a desire to deepen economic ties between the two « regenerated » nations was kindled by the ideological potentials of republicanism in the United States and of the « reform monarchy » at the end of the ancien régime and opening years of the Revolution. This article examines an overlooked element in the « master narrative » of historians who have focused on the degradation of the political and economic ties between the two nations after 1787 : the American financial debt toward France grew in significance with the awareness of the proportions of the deficit of the French state. From the announcement by Calonne of the catastrophic state of the French state’s finances until the « Quasi‑War » of 1798, the American debt played a growing role in the disillusionment of the French revolutionaries toward the « Atlantic Revolution. »
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spelling doaj.art-8fa14b2c74974c2abe18b8d93f5d04452022-12-22T02:46:36ZengAssociation Française d'Etudes AméricainesTransatlantica1765-27662006-03-01110.4000/transatlantica.474The Transatlantic Political EconomyAllan PotofskyThe economic relations between the United States and France were at the heart of the « Atlantic Dream » of the Enlightenment and of many French Revolutionaries in the 1780s. On both sides of the Atlantic, a desire to deepen economic ties between the two « regenerated » nations was kindled by the ideological potentials of republicanism in the United States and of the « reform monarchy » at the end of the ancien régime and opening years of the Revolution. This article examines an overlooked element in the « master narrative » of historians who have focused on the degradation of the political and economic ties between the two nations after 1787 : the American financial debt toward France grew in significance with the awareness of the proportions of the deficit of the French state. From the announcement by Calonne of the catastrophic state of the French state’s finances until the « Quasi‑War » of 1798, the American debt played a growing role in the disillusionment of the French revolutionaries toward the « Atlantic Revolution. »http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/474CalonneClavièreDucherEnlightenmentFrench Revolution
spellingShingle Allan Potofsky
The Transatlantic Political Economy
Transatlantica
Calonne
Clavière
Ducher
Enlightenment
French Revolution
title The Transatlantic Political Economy
title_full The Transatlantic Political Economy
title_fullStr The Transatlantic Political Economy
title_full_unstemmed The Transatlantic Political Economy
title_short The Transatlantic Political Economy
title_sort transatlantic political economy
topic Calonne
Clavière
Ducher
Enlightenment
French Revolution
url http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/474
work_keys_str_mv AT allanpotofsky thetransatlanticpoliticaleconomy
AT allanpotofsky transatlanticpoliticaleconomy