how did the french alliance contribute to the american revolution

Franklin and Deane co-operated with him by being very discreet about evading this prohibition, but the year which had begun so brilliantly in maritime operations was in the doldrums. The Battle of Saratoga was an extensive and punishing conflict and a key victory for the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Due to the fantastic time lag in communications with Congress, Alderman Lee was about to take up his assignment as joint commercial agent for France ten months after Congress had canceled that assignment and appointed him envoy to Prussia and Austria. Arthur Lee was rewarded by memories of turmoil, which he loved and which he was expert in creating. He soon went down to Spain, where Conyngham was taking fresh prizes. These were proposed by your friend [A. Lee], evaded by his colleagues.. Moreover, importers of cannon and powder had to arm their merchantmen, and if their merchantmen were transformed into privateers, as many were, they needed a large supply of ammunition. Franklin soon warned Congress not to enlarge its connections with this questionable pair. Williams, now 27, had been trained in the Caribbean trade; he spoke French and was capable of dealing with accounts, which always baffled his granduncle. By this process of elastic diplomacy the amenities were preserved while both sides gained time for war preparations and spared their exchequers the drain of active hostilities. A phenomenal number of men escaped Old Mill Prison at Plymouth; they scaled the walls, dug long tunnels under them, or bribed the guards to let them through the gates. Before Deane and Wentworth met, he sent word to Passy that France would after all not wait for word from Spain but would conclude the alliance independently, on one condition: that no separate peace be made with England. Which French foreign minister and supporter of American independence convinced the French king to form an alliance with the Patriots? It was plain that Vergennes rather disliked him and gave every evidence that he was dealing with him only because he represented someone important. New York: Random House, 2015. Discovering that point at which the common interests of France and the United States diverged would be a delicate task, and also an enjoyable one since he was matching wits with Franklin. It inspired the French to launch their own revolution for liberty and equality. This released a great stock of surplus arms for Hortalez to buy up cheaply. The power which first recognizes the independence of the Americans, he said, will be the one to gather all the fruits of this war.. On Christmas Day Washington wrote Congress: Our want of powder is inconceivable. Three weeks later there was not a pound in his magazines. Bancroft had sped to London, mainly to make a killing on the stock market, but he would not fail to bring George III the bad news. A number of ill-advised financial maneuvers in the late 1700s worsened the financial situation of the already cash-strapped French government. As a fellow commissioner, Deanes prodigious energies and devotion to Franklin would help to pull them both through the stormy year ahead. Franklin and Vergennes, knowing that Arthur Lee was dangerous as well as disagreeable, kept him out of the treaty negotiations as much as possible. Once he was installed as sole envoy in Paris, I should have it in my power to call those to account, through whose hands I know the public money has passed, and which will either never be accounted for, or misaccounted for, by connivance between those, who are to share in the public plunder. There must be a breaking point somewhere in his patience. Nearing France, Dr. Franklin changed the captains orders. However, Franklin had boarded the, But now he had something serious to report: My informations says that the, In later reports Sir Joseph drew such an alarming picture of Dutch gunrunning, especially to the Caribbean, that the British sent a Navy sloop and cutter to spend the winter at Texel Island near Amsterdam. For months, in fact, Franklin and Deane had slipped away in the evening for conferences with the minister, and Lee spread the word that the Doctor was having an affair with some French beauty. Soon the old names were changed to the Committee of Foreign Affairs and the Commercial Committee to make this distinction clear. The end of 1799 may be conveniently taken as the . A little pressure on Vergennes would do no harm. The conversation continued with this sort of exchange, and Franklin kept it going for two hours. And Franklin, Voltaire, and Rousseau were linked together as the presiding geniuses of the century. Moreover, he knew that Franklin was talking sense; if Washington was losing battles there were reasons for his setback which France could do a great deal to remedy. The glorious news of General Gatess victory at Saratoga reached Passy about the first of December, 1777, by a Charleston ship, and on the fourth it was confirmed by Jonathan Loring Austin, secretary of the Massachusetts Board of War, who had rushed to France in a specially chartered vessel. He was overimpressed with titles and high connections and had made the serious blunder of sending a stream of idle young aristocrats overseas to serve under Washington. As the American who best understood both sides of the Atlantic, Franklin had carried much of that burden, and for a long time to come would carry all the responsibility for getting maximum aid from the neutral powers without compromising the future of the new republic. People heavily associate the French Revolution with the American Revolution, due to the many general similarities. The British had many other secret agents in France, and other avenues of information. Because the future could somehow work in him he had become the sort of man coming generations would repeat. Most of the supply was still down in the Caribbean, but the fact remains that there must have been more powder on the continent than the various colonies and the merchants were willing to release to Congress. Congress would not even sanction commerce with friendly powers because that was tantamount to declaring independence. His private period of turmoil and decision lay behind him, and he could think calmly of what must be done to make Jeffersons great charter a reality. This long-range program was necessary, but it did not change the fact that the lumbering and inefficient British war machine had at last got itself oiled and repaired for a heavy assault upon the United States. The Committee of Secret Correspondence, under Franklin, engaged agents abroad to explore the possibilities of foreign alliances. His future United States included Canada and the Floridas and the British West Indies, especially Bermuda and the Bahamas. When they arrived at Martinique, the Americans were so cordially received that Bingham settled down as resident agent for Congress. George III was delighted and directed Lord North to stress in Parliament this proof of Frances intention to keep appearances. The next step would be to force France to deliver Conyngham to Britain for hanging as a pirate. Native American groups had to choose the loyalist or patriot causeor somehow maintain a neutral stance during the Revolutionary War. A generation after the end of the Revolutionary War, new revolutions emerged in nearly a dozen Spanish colonies in Central and South America. Some inner mechanism in the Lee genes transmuted whatever was wrong with the Lees into something much worse that was wrong with their enemies. Compared to the antics of the French Revolution, the infamous Tea Party in Boston was like the sisters at the convent sneaking into the dorm of the rival convent and shorting their sheets. He spent much of the latter half of 1776 in Paris as mentor to the inexperienced American, and the close friendship thus begun lasted as long as Deane lived. Captain Wickes, who had been one of the picked men of Morris trading fleet, was chosen for the voyage. Communications with Congress were rapidly being snuffed out by the capture of dispatches on the high seas and even more by the skill of British agents in intercepting letters, especially those bound for America. America, Franklin retorted, is ready to fight fifty years to win it.. The new physiocratic school had its followers on both sides of the Atlantic. The Declaration was passed with independence a hope on the far side of a hopeless-seeming war. The American people had shown their power. French Empire wanted to take revenge on the British Empire for its defeat in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). There was nothing to do but restore the packet and the brig to England and order the arrest of Conyngham and his crew. The result of this conflict would not only determine the fate of the thirteen North American colonies, but also alter the balance of colonial power throughout the world. His affection for Franklin and Deane had the ring of sincerity, and years later, when Deane was of no possible use to him, he was still the devoted friend. He supported his private investment in the American future by using his fleet of a dozen ships for Caribbean trade on the return voyage to France, and this sugar trade brought him profits to invest in more goods for America. Franklins hosts were the merchants Pliarne and Penet, who had little standing in Nantes, but who may have been subsidized by Vergennes. But the, In a few swift parries Franklin suggested what his technique of dealing with the ministry would be. Soon Franklin and Deane had a group of young men busy in the various ports, helping merchantmen and privateers speed on their way, informing them of shifts in French regulations and dangerous areas patrolled by British warships, recruiting French seamen to fill out depleted ships companies, finding masters for ships and ships for masters. But he had not reckoned on the reversal of Spanish policy. The sacred British mails were rushed down to Passy, and then the storm broke at Versailles. Gunrunning to America was certainly going on in 1774, and no doubt Franklin knew about it. How long could he continue? This blogpost looks at the important French role in the American Revolution. Later Congress backed up this pledge and authorized all tenders necessary to get Bourbon help. He had to fend off a break with England until France was ready for war. It thus comprises the first seven years of the period of warfare that was continued through the Napoleonic Wars until Napoleon's abdication in 1814, with a year of interruption under the peace of Amiens (1802-03). After Lees visit he proffered no more aid and listened to Floridablanca. As for the French islands, the Cape developed into a prime source for munitions, and Martinique became an American privateer base before Franklin sailed. There were sixty-odd American merchants established in Nantes, and when Franklin considered that all this activity was being repeated on a somewhat smaller scale in Bordeaux, Lorient, Le Havre, and Dunkirk, he felt that the Franco-American alliance was already a reality. Before he left Philadelphia Franklin had written with Morris certain instructions for Captain Wickes: he was to cruise against the British in their home waters, and bring his prizes into a French port. Now the picture had entirely changed, and Spain hoped to make peace with the new king on the Portuguese throne. It was an entirely new sort of war because the United States was a new sort of country, whose survival depended less on land fighting than on a complex of factors in which Franklin was deeply involved. One traditional characteristic of the French diplomacy of alliances has been the "Alliance de revers" (i.e. The memoir to Vergennes asked for a French loan of 2,000,000 (which Congress had hopefully requested) . Thus he was the perfect performer in maritime histrionics that Franklin needed for his plan of implicating France in a conspicuous insult to England. C.) It encouraged the French to adopt the government system of popular sovereignty. First off, the debt of the French Indian War was the reason parliament started imposing taxes on the colonist in the first place. In the last months the King had relinquished his illusion that war could be avoided, and he approved his ministers memoir the day it was presented. He was the unifying force of the Revolution, the one man who could understand and use effectively the complex elements which composed it. In order to bring the reluctant enemies to blows he had to influence chiefly two men: George III, who was just as set against a French war as he was adamant in the American conflict, and Vergennes, the mentor of a young and inexperienced king. The single most important diplomatic success of the colonists during the War for Independence was the critical link they forged . The British were methodical. He agreed to investigate the matter. He helped Beaumarchais buy and fit out eight ships, prudently scattered in various ports: the Amphitrite, Mercure, Flammand, Mre Bobie, Seine, Thrse, Amelia , and Marie Catherine . The French, who had close touch with the Americans, were victorious in incorporating Enlightenment principles into a new governmental system. In 1865, Edouard de Laboulaye (a French . Since Nantes was the key port for American purposes, Franklin made a personal sacrifice and sent his grandnephew Jonathan Williams there as the special agent for the commissioners. It could not supply Washington gunpowder in 1775 nor cope with the enlarging task of war procurement. 1783. Bancroft is entirely an American and every word he used on the late occasion was to deceive; perhaps they think Mr. Wentworth has been sent from motives of fear and if that is Franklins opinion the whole conduct he has shewn, is wise and to me it [unravels] what other ways would appear inexplicable.. France is one of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) top five troop contributors. Then he captured the Kings packet Swallow , running between Falmouth and Lisbon. The Americans' victory over the British may have been one of the greatest catalysts for the French Revolution. It is significant that while the Americans and French trusted Bancroft implicitly, the British were always suspicious of him, had his letters opened at the post office, and watched his movements. Captain Pearson of the, The islet of St. Eustatia, an international free port in the northern Leewards, was a fountainhead of what Samuel Adams called the, To the citizens of Nantes the alliance was not merely a commercial bond, but a blend of credos and enthusiasms which they shared with their friends overseas. was a war only between the French and the Native Americans. The stench of treachery was in the air. Sitting together in Deanes hotel while the crowds outside waited for a glimpse of their idol, the two men were already dreading the arrival of Arthur Lee as their colleague. In November 1789, Richard Price . He was lulled by the specious truce with Francebut how would he feel if Captain Wickes captured a royal packet carrying the royal mails? Later Lee developed this fantasy into a sinister engine of destruction against those he hated. Now he must placate Stormont. A photograph of Edouard de Laboulaye from the Galerie Contemporaine collection. This rule was so thoroughly disobeyed that great shipping houses like Willing & Morris of Philadelphia kept factors, or at least correspondents, all over Europe and the Caribbean to take care of their trade. The man who believed there was never a good war or a bad peace was about to use all his powers to sweep the Bourbon nations into the War of Independence. They were in the best possible hands; Captain Lambert Wickes was one of the few masters seasoned in the merchant fleet who had joined the Continental Navy. In France, however, this separation of function was impossible. He went on with suggestions for arming vessels in Martinique and manning them with French seamen, which must have amused Bingham, who was already busy at this very work. Temple Franklin was only seventeen, but he was working out well as his grandfathers personal secretary, patiently making several copies of important papers to be sent on different ships bound for home in the hope that at least one copy would arrive safely. He did extremely well in these successive careers, and now at forty held a position of high honor. Then he tried to tempt Deane with the honours and emoluments which the King would bestow on him if he brought about a reconciliation. These were led by Libertadores - like Simn . The celebrated dramatist Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais now cast himself in his own best role, which he played without applause. Bancroft was in a balky mood but finally gave the desired information: Spain was not ready for a war with England. While a gifted and expert secret agent can develop a second personality which keeps him from making slips, in Bancrofts case this doubling of self may have reflected a profound split in the psyche. For one thing, he worshiped Franklin and wanted to be useful to him; for another, he enjoyed hobnobbing with the rough sea captains he was assigned to help. But he was too late. was part of a larger war between Britain and France. The Stamp Act riots were noisy on the land, but the seas were quiet and busy. Free subscription>>, Please consider a donation to help us keep this American treasure alive. At any rate, they had bobbed up in Philadelphia and obtained the first publicized arms contract between Congress and foreign shippers. He was the mutant of a new species. A week later she was halfway out of the harbor when a British sloop and cutter were sighted. The Bahamas, too, acted as allies. In the kindest of letters, Gardoqui explained the situation to the approaching envoy and suggested a meeting on the French side of the border. Nor had Vergennes, who was extremely cool in his calculations. He had reached an impasse: France would not help America unless America showed promise of winning her war, and America could not win without French help. The first British protests were made to the French ambassador, Noailles, who blandly replied that in a great nation there are many turbulent spirits eager to run after adventures. He did not attempt to have his turbulent compatriots released from prison. He was annoyed to find that Bancroft was in London, making contact with the mission rather difficult. As Americas sole diplomat Franklin had done all that one man could do to influence the ministries of Europe. Here are five ways the French helped Americans win their freedom. Inequality of Rights. Some of them were British merchants; others were American sea captains who could be trusted to deliver letters or verbal messages to people on the Continent. However, there are crucial differences that led to their respective results and their . But the Amphitrite and Mercure got away in time to reach Portsmouth by April, 1777, with supplies which at last turned the tide of war and made the crucial victory of Saratoga possible. The Estates-General was a meeting of the three estates (clergy, nobles, everyone else) that could be called by the French King and was famously and infamously called in 1789 out of a desperate desire to try to push through reforms that would keep France from going bankrupt. There is a distinct anomaly in the fact that even with captures from British transports Congress scraped together for Washingtons use in 1775 only about forty tons of gunpowder. France Allied with American Colonies. If Conyngham was not punished, Stormont would resign, breaking off diplomatic relations with France. Despite his own best efforts, Lees mission turned out to be a success. Spain had suffered less, but she was tied to France by the Bourbon Family Compact. Deane was up to his neck in business affairs and was essential to their success, for Tom Morris was clearly unfit to carry out any operation but commandeering cargoes from Congress to finance his endless debauch. It was a long time before this contract with the Farmers General could be satisfied, since few ships could now run the British blockade of the American seaboard. And Spanish concurrence in the alliance must be won. only affected North America. Podcast: Libert, Unit, Egalit. His association with Hortalez was a stroke of luck. The American Revolution was by no means a purely American-British conflict. Deane and Beaumarchais were already fast friends, working in harmony to load the Hortalez fleet with war supplies. In mid-November George III, who had no intention of starting a war with France, decided it would be useful to know the Spanish plans and sent Paul Wentworth to Paris to find out how Charles III stood. England, Franklin said suavely, could hardly object to France sending the battleships with their crews, since Britain herself was borrowing or hiring troops from other states. Congress had little to do with Americas maritime war, which was a tremendous undertaking. There was merely enthusiasm for the American cause, Stormont reported to Whitehall, on the part of the Wits, Philosophers and Coffee House Politicians who are all to a man warm Americans.. By then Congress had set up two secret committees on both of which Franklin was extremely busy. Like the first conflict of that name, it was a period of intermittent warfare and political and economic rivalry between the two powers. As the French Revolution was inspired by the American Revolution, it is easy to determine that the two must have similarities. The court of France, he wrote, is the great wheel that moves them all and he added that of all posts he preferred Paris for himself. Intended as a defensive alliance, it saw France provide both supplies . The southern states were crammed with tobacco, which could not even be sent up along the coast because of the British cruisers on patrol. To gain time, he placated Stormont by arresting the three Wickes vessels (which kept them safe from the British warships on patrol) and by promising that the new cutter being fitted for Conyngham would be sold.