France declared war on Britain on February 1, 1793. The United States had a treaty of alliance with France from 1778. Washington issued a Neutrality Proclamation on April 22, 1793, without consulting Congress. Hamilton defended the proclamation under the name Pacificus. Jefferson asked Madison to respond. Madison did, under the name Helvidius. The exchange defined the boundary between executive and legislative power over foreign policy.
The United States had signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce with France in 1778. The treaty was the foundation of French support for the American Revolution. By 1793, France had executed its king, declared war on Britain, and sent Edmond Genet as minister to the United States to recruit American privateers and raise troops for French campaigns. Washington's cabinet was divided. Jefferson argued for honoring the alliance. Hamilton argued for neutrality. Washington issued the proclamation on April 22, 1793.
The proclamation did not use the word "neutrality." It declared that the United States was at peace with all the belligerent powers and warned American citizens against acts that would violate that peace. Congress was not in session. Washington did not convene it. The question of whether the executive had the authority to issue such a proclamation unilaterally was immediately contested.
Hamilton published Pacificus No. 1 in the Gazette of the United States on June 29, 1793. He argued that Article II vested "executive power" in the President without restriction, and that the specific exceptions given to Congress (the power to declare war, to grant letters of marque) were narrow carve-outs from a general executive authority over foreign relations. The Neutrality Proclamation was within that authority.
The general doctrine of our constitution then is, that the Executive Power of the nation is vested in the President; subject only to the exceptions and qualifications which are expressed in the instrument.
Jefferson wrote to Madison in July 1793: "For god's sake, my dear Sir, take up your pen, select the most striking heresies, and cut him to pieces in the face of the public." Madison published Helvidius No. 1 on August 24, 1793. He argued that the power to declare war and the power to make peace were legislative functions, arguing that the Neutrality Proclamation usurped congressional authority by effectively settling a question that only Congress could decide.
Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges, whether a war ought to be commenced, continued, or concluded. They are barred from the latter functions by a great principle in free government, analogous to that which separates the sword from the purse.
Washington's neutrality held. Genet was recalled. The 1778 alliance with France was effectively suspended. Hamilton's reading of executive foreign policy authority became the operating standard. Presidents since Washington have issued proclamations, executive orders, and foreign policy decisions without prior congressional authorization as a routine matter. Madison's argument that war and peace are legislative functions has been raised in constitutional debate in every generation since, without resolution.
The Pacificus-Helvidius exchange is the founding text of the American debate over executive war powers. Both documents are at Founders Online. Both are public domain.
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