"We signed a treaty with a King whose head is now in a basket, Would you like to take it out and ask it? 'Should we honor our treaty, King Louis’ head?' 'Uh… do whatever you want, I’m super dead,'” – Hamilton. Which country fought a quasi-war with America when the U.S. failed to pay its debt?

The French helped the newly-formed nation fight against their mutual enemy, the British, but they expected some return on that assistance. The United States had bills to pay after becoming independent, and Hamilton wasn't one to shirk that debt. Hamilton attempted to chip away at it during his tenure with help from the taxes he imposed, but when the French monarchy was overthrown, the U.S. looked at this as technically wiped clean, as the former regime didn't exist anymore. However, the French didn't see it that way, and a quasi-war of Atlantic naval battles with its former allies ensued.

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