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Significant DS as president, one page, 8.5 x 11, October 8, 1870. President Grant directs the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to “a Proclamation.” Signed crisply at the conclusion by U. S. Grant. In fine condition, with some minor creasing and foxing. Accompanied by a printed copy of Grant’s proclamation, which relates to “neutrality in the present war between France and the North German Confederation and its allies.”
On August 22, 1870, President Grant proclaimed America’s position of neutrality toward the ongoing Franco-Prussian War between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia, which lasted from July 19, 1870, to January 28, 1871. This related proclamation from October 8, 1870, forbade certain actions, which included the equipping or arming of ships intended for war within the territory of the United States. The proclamation aimed to ensure the United States remained neutral in the conflict between France and Prussia.
In the document, Grant proclaimed ‘that any frequenting and use of the waters within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States by the armed vessels of either belligerent, whether public ships or privateers, for the purpose of preparing for hostile operations, or as posts of observation upon the ships of war or privateers or merchant vessels of the other belligerent lying within or being about to enter the jurisdiction of the United States, must be regarded as unfriendly and offensive, and in violation of that neutrality which it is the determination of this government to observe.’
America’s decision to stay neutral was an obvious choice. The U.S. held historical ties with France, dating back to the American Revolution, and the country sought good relations with Prussia, which was emerging as a powerful German state. Moreover, the U.S. Civil War had ended just a few years earlier, and the country was still undergoing Reconstruction. The government prioritized rebuilding the South, dealing with economic recovery, and continued westward expansion, not the loss of more American lives and resources.
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