As every American knows, the 13 Colonies could not have gotten their independence without aid from France. That aid came with a price as the newly created United States owed a substantial debt to the French king. One reason Louis XVI was overthrown was because of the damage his huge debt had done to the viability of his government. Naturally, the new French government wanted America to help out by paying its debt to France. The Americans argued that they owed the money to the king and since he was deposed, the debt did not exist anymore. You can imagine what the French thought of that argument. Plus, the French were aggravated by the ingrate Americans continuing to trade with their enemy Britain. They began to seize American merchant ships. In 1796, over 100 American ships were taken, mostly by French privateers. Pres. Adams responded by reauthorizing the U.S. Navy (which had been allowed to wither after independence) and sending our frigates out to counter the French. Our first victory was the USS Constellation defeating the French frigate L’Insurgente. Our frigates turned out to be stellar and included the very first Enterprise. Several captains, including Stephen Decatur, made names for themselves. Because of the pain caused by the U.S. Navy and general exhaustion, the French agreed to negotiate an end to the war. You could call it a tie, but the French did take nearly 2,000 merchant ships during the “war”.
https://historycollection.co/nation-war-9-forgotten-american-wars/
U.S.S. Enterprise kicking ass
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