The proclamation, on the lines upon which all had agreed, was draughted by Randolph who showed it to Jefferson in order to assure him that “there was no such word as neutrality in it.”  Jefferson, whose own account this is, did not mention that he raised any objection to the wording of the proclamation at the time, though a few months later he referred to it in his private correspondence as a piece of “pusillanimity,” because it omitted any expression of the affection of America for France.  The proclamation was issued on April 22, two weeks after the arrival of Genet at Charleston.  The procedure that had been adopted at Jefferson’s instance avoided none of the difficulties that a declaration of neutrality would have encountered but rather increased them by putting the Government in a false position.  The mere omission of the term did not prevent it from being known as a neutrality proclamation.  It was at once so designated and has always been so considered.  Jefferson himself, in advising the American foreign representatives of the policy of the Government, said that it would be “a fair neutrality”; and, in writing to Madison a few days after the proclamation had been issued, he remarked, “I fear a fair neutrality will prove a disagreeable pill to our friends, though necessary to keep us out of the calamities of war.”

By its terms, however, the proclamation was simply an admonition to American citizens to keep out of the war, with notice that, if they got into trouble by engaging in contraband trade, they would not receive the protection of the United States, and would be liable to prosecution for the commission of acts of a nature to “violate the law of nations.”  It is manifest that the question whether or not the French treaty was still in operation was of great practical importance.  If it was still in force, the treaty formed part of the law of the land, and American citizens might plead immunity for acts done in pursuance of its provisions.  Hamilton was for suspending the treaty since a situation had arisen which made its provisions inconsistent with a policy of neutrality.  His main contention was that the obligations imposed by the treaty of ’78 were no longer binding on the United States, since they contemplated only defensive war.  By her declaration of war France had taken the offensive, thereby relieving the United States of her reciprocal obligations.  Jefferson held that the treaty was still operative, for even if its provisions apparently required the United States to engage in the war, it did not follow that such action would be an actual consequence.  The possibility was “not yet certain enough to authorize us in sound morality to declare, at this moment, the treaties null.”