Artifact: Interpretation 4: Proclamation of Neutrality

This document written by George Washington was a proclamation declaring neutrality for
the United States during the European war. George Washington was very against having the
United States take sides because he did not think it was wise to make an enemy out of one
country or the other, so he decided it was best to remain neutral in order to not disturb any
trade or economic situations in the U.S between any of the countries. There were many who
opposed (like Jefferson) and believed that we should fight for France. On the other hand, many
(like Hamilton) believed we should not anger Great Britain. (Brands,167)
Arguments and oppositions like Hamiltons and Jeffersons were the reasons Washington
felt justified to say they would not take part in either. To do so, he realized would split the
country. Half would be on Frances side and the other would have been on Great Britains
causing internal problems as well as the external. This is why it was vital that citizens of the
United States all remain neutral despite what was happening in the surrounding countries. If
some were to refuse, Washington made it clear he would no longer protect them under the
United States because they had gone against what the United States wanted, making them
liable for their own actions. He wanted it to be clear that the United States did not condone
any of its citizens turning hostile towards any of the powers. (Proclamation of Neutrality, 1793)
This document was intended as a message more so towards the countries at war, which
were listed in the document as Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, United Netherlands,
and France. However, France and Great Britain are the ones most commonly mentioned
everywhere. It was a message more intended for them because he wanted to be sure they
understood he was not personally sending anyone to attack anyone else, in order to not
provoke another country to turn against the U.S. and to keep everything in peace.
(Proclamation of Neutrality, 1793)

E-Portfolio Check-In Reflection

 For my reflection on an assignment, I chose the assignment we did for the document

interpretation 4. For this assignment I chose the Proclamation of Neutrality which was an

address from George Washington about the war between England and France. I chose this

specific assignment because for me, it has always been interesting that George Washington the

very first president, had always warned against foreign affairs. He knew that making enemies out

of any country at all was not good and he did as much as he could to be sure the United States

would only be concerned with internal affairs.

Now in recent history, it is a lot different. The United States has gone against George

Washingtons wishes and is known for its constant interference. Majority of the wars we have

been involved in have not even included us or had anything to do with the United States until we

joined in, causing unnecessary problems. For example, North Korea and United States are

constantly at each others throats and the reason for this being that the United States has made

itself into the defender of countries and has made itself into a super power, making North

Korea feel threatened enough to push back to demonstrate that they, are in fact, the ones with

power. Now it might not even be just North Korea. Throughout U.S history we have made

enemies of so many countries, which could have easily been avoided had we followed George

Washingtons wise advice. He knew more conflicts would not benefit us so he kept us out of

external affairs as much as possible and was wise with the way he ran his presidency. That is

why I chose this specific document to interpret.

This assignment I did, I felt, had some improvements in the sense that because I was actually

interested in this time period, it helped me write a little bit more about it and I also understood it

more than other assignments. Writing wise, I feel it has gotten a little tiny better but what I

continuously struggle with and realize that I do need to improve on is citations and using other
articles or documents for references. I am not very accustomed to using references so it is a

struggle. This is going to be one of the main things I am going to try to improve on little by little,

hopefully by the end of this semester.