Episode 3 of 4
First U.S. foreign aid in response
- When
- 1812
- Where
- Venezuela
- Part of
- 1812 Caracas earthquake
The United States Congress unanimously decreed sending five ships loaded with flour to Venezuela, the first-ever instance of U.S. foreign aid, valued at $50,000.
The first international assistance received by Venezuela in response to the earthquake came from the United States, when the congress convened in Washington decreed unanimously the sending of five ships loaded with flour, to the coasts of Venezuela to be distributed among the most indigent of its inhabitants. The $50,000 expenditure was the first-ever instance of U.S. foreign aid.
Sources
- 1812 Caracas earthquake Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-19
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.