how did the french alliance contribute to the american revolution

In a word, Franklin laid the cornerstone of American foreign relations, and for a long time to come American treaties would be modeled on these first ones with France. His, Soon Beaumarchaiss coach was tearing down the road to Paris so fast that it overturned and he injured an arm. Patrick Henry delivering his famous speech on the Rights of the Colonies, before the . Sieur Montaudoin shared many interests with Franklin; both were members of the Royal Academy of Sciences, enthusiasts of the new physiocratic school, and Masons. Franklins most pressing assignment was to buy or borrow eight battleships from France and to urge both Bourbon powers, France and Spain, to send fleets at their own expense to act in concert with these ships. For the first time since Britain was a maritime power, Deane wrote Morris, the River Thames and others of its ports were crowded with French and other ships taking in freight, in order to avoid the risk of having property captured.. His contract with Wentworth gave him 500 down, the same amount as yearly salary, and a life pension. But he was needed more in Nantes. Because of the Family Compact, Spain would have to approve the alliance with America, and accordingly Vergenness memoir was sent to Madrid with its proposal for a triple offensive and defensive alliance. The American was adulated, wined and dined. Robert Morris alcoholic half brother Thomas had just been appointed by Congress as its commercial agent for all of France. The misunderstanding was cleared up, but meanwhile Deane was bitter about Morris and bitter about the energies he had poured into his public life, only to be systematically destroyed by the Lees. Dubourg, said the archivist, amassed arms with the help of the brilliant new foreign minister, the Comte de Vergennes, who was determined to make the American rebellion a success; and Montaudoin shipped this contraband to America. Overview of the four causes: 1. The American Revolution had a multifaceted effect in France, extending the national debt, contributing . If successful, France would get as her share half the Newfoundland fishery and all the sugar islands; Spain would be enriched by Portugal and the Floridas, and the United States would gain Canada, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. One after the other his Whig friends rose in Parliament and warned that France might soon come out in support of the Americans. On January 6 Wentworth was closeted for two hours with Franklin and Deane, having stipulated that Arthur Lee was to be excluded. By a natural process the activities of the mission were divided. It caused many French nobles and clergy to move to the newly independent United States. Only a great heart and a great faith could survive. With Deane and Carmichael, and all those shadowy young Americans who helped the great privateering drive of 1777, he organized an underground system for escapes. However, over time divisions of opinion became apparent between federalists and anti-federalists. Franklin looked upon these fleets with the lust of a patriot whose country was in mortal danger for lack of their support. Vergennes decided that honor was preferable to peace, faced down an ultimatum from England, and got the two Navy ships safely to sea, where they would have to take their chances with the British warships waiting for them. Trusted Writing on History, Travel, and American Culture Since 1949, Benjamin Franklin And The French Alliance, Franklin was now seventy, afflicted with gout, and wretchedly tired from his labors in Congress and its candle-burning committees. 1. He made for the English Channel, where he took four small merchantmen, which he sent to Lorient under prize masters. 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. Almost consciously Lee longed for that consummation. France did not wait for the announcement of July Fourth. His Amphitrite and Mercure were already home, having delivered their supplies at Portsmouthgunpowder and blankets and clothing, sixty cannon, and 12,000 stand of arms. When Stormont appeared at Versailles Vergennes assured him that the, Captain Conyngham had lost his ship on the last voyage, and was given command of the, The small matter was to be Conynghams capture of another British packet, this time the one plying to Holland. took place in France and India. France Allied with American Colonies. Franklin dealt with these suicidal moves in his usual oblique fashion. Here are five ways the French helped Americans win their freedom. These crucial French contributions exemplify the global character of the . The move was long overdue, for the Americans had been making a brilliant success of their sea raids all over the Atlantic and the Caribbean. Accordingly, the Doctor held his peace. how did the french alliance contribute to the american revolution. Strengthen unity in the event of war with France in the west. Wentworth reported to Eden that he had found Deane vain, desultory and subtle and indeed the commissioner must have had some difficulty keeping a straight face. The Declaration of Independence served as a model for the French Revolution. Congress had sent the King the Olive Branch Petition, which paralyzed war efforts for many months. The French Revolution was influenced by the experiences and systems of other nations. This blogpost looks at the important French role in the American Revolution. He was also making them a gift of 375,000 livres. The two Lee brothers in Congress saw that their brothers in London were put in posts of influence. In that short interval he had seen his people take up arms for a desperate war, declare themselves a nation, and make the first cautious moves in foreign relations. And finally Franklin played his trump card, the possibility that America might be forced back into the British Empire unless some powerful aid is given us or some strong diversion be made in our favor. He knew that the Bourbon nightmare was the picture of Britain, reunited with her American colonies, sweeping Spain from the lower Mississippi and both Bourbon powers from the Caribbean. 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. After France entered on February 6th, 1778 in the American Revolutionary War, the British naval force - master of the seas - and French fleet confronted each other from the beginning. The American victory secured critical financial support from the French. 2. He masked his powerful and subtle mind behind the benevolent simplicity which was also part of his nature. One result of the raid by the Dunkirk Pirate was the fact that British merchants no longer trusted the Admiraltys ability to protect British ships. He and his friend the Marquis de Bouille, the new governor of Martinique, had a privateer fleet with American masters and French and Spanish crews which was making itself felt in the Caribbean. Early in 1774 Franklin had written from London to a friend at home that he wished Americans might know what we are and what we have. After much private groping and anguish he had discovered what he was: not a colonial American, but that new man, an American. Vergennes was alarmed. It is hard to see how the patriots could have started their war, or kept it going, without the help of the islanders. This must not happen again. Despite his own best efforts, Lees mission turned out to be a success. He knew that this purpose was the weakening of Britain rather than the emancipation of the United States. He made this gesture impressive by sending two sloops of war to Dunkirk to take the captain and his men and deliver them to the local jail. He wrote Lord North that the agent has shewn great zeal and dispatch in the business he had so handsomely undertaken and ably accomplished.. So too was our want of guns, supplies, and everything needed in a war against one of the major powers of the earth. These prospects were bleak enough in December, 1775, but Franklin sent Bonvouloir back with such a rosy report that they immediately improved. 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. It began with the bold request that France sell the United States eight ships of the line, On January 24 Wickes sailed out of Nantes with a French pilot and several French seamen aboard, strengthening the desired impression of collusion with Versailles. Franklin had already planned his mission to France, where he would be joined by his fellow commissioners, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee. In 1757, Franklin went to England to represent the Pennsylvania Assembly as a diplomat in its fight against the descendants of the Penn . This treaty was a promise from France to help the fight against the British. He was a young man of complete integrity and far from ordinary gifts, whom Franklin could well have used in Paris. The romantic era of secret aid was finished; there would be no more subsidies and loans from Versailles, and his company was already in financial straits. Despite having little experience in commanding large, conventional military forces, his leadership presence and fortitude held the American military together long enough to secure victory at Yorktown and independence for his new nation in 1781. The fact that he was a genius, and a genius of such multiple gifts that he might easily inspire alarm or jealousy in others, had early taught him the art of using screens and disguises. Lee next stormed Prussia. The Continental Navy would never be able to take on the larger British units. However, he had proved to himself more than once that prodigies could result from careful planning and unstinted effort. 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. Explain the purpose of a colonial stamp tax, how it would be implemented and which people or groups it would affect. Young Gustavus Conyngham of the landed Irish gentry had emigrated as a boy to Philadelphia where his relatives were prominent shipping merchants. Moreover, a certain project which he may have discussed with Morris and Wickes was developing in his mind, and he needed to find out how France would react if prizes were brought into Nantes. Finally, not daring to return to France, he made for Cap Ferrol in Spain. A growing fleet of American privateers had already brought prizes into the various French ports, and a system had been perfected for their disposal. During the American Revolution, the American colonies faced the significant challenge of conducting international diplomacy and seeking the international support it needed to fight against the British. Spain had been fighting Portugal in South America and had favored just such an alliance with the hope of getting Portugal as her share of the plunder. Anthony Todd, secretary of the General Post Office, read Franklins letters to people in England. From May, 1777, to May, 1778, Congress would receive no direct word from its mission in Paris. Q. However, Franklin was a wizard at intrigue, and many secrets lie with him in the Christ Church burying ground. In this desperate situation a few individuals took over as heads of non-existent departments. 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. There was nothing to do but restore the packet and the brig to England and order the arrest of Conyngham and his crew. This required certain arrangements in the ports of France. The treaties of amity and commerce were promptly offered. General Washington in the American Revolution. The American Revolution was by no means a purely American-British conflict. only affected North America. By April American privateers had taken so many British seamen prisoner that the British fleet was not half manned, and Stormont hinted to Vergennes that peace could not last much longer if France continued to arm the United States. 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. This kept him out of personal debates and increased his potential. Vergennes, who had confidently hoped to receive these protests under very different circumstances, was forced to buy a little more time at the expense of his American friends. When Deane left Philadelphia on his mission to France, Franklin suggested that Edward Bancroft would be a useful consultant on European affairs, and so it proved. But Franklin and Deane knew what to expect from Arthur Lee. Introduction. Even respected modern historians will repeat some of Arthur Lees calumnies about Franklin and Deane, Jonathan Williams, and William Carmichael, though they have been disproved over and over since their creation in a sick mind. In mortal terror of discovery, Bancroft was always called Edwards or some other cover name in the secret files, and even in private conferences with Wentworth and Lord Stormont. During 1775, in London on a royal errand, he was in close touch with the American patriots. During the struggle for American independence, France provided the money, troops, armament, military leadership, and naval support that tipped the balance of military power and paved the way for the Continental Army's ultimate victory. Grard, calling at Passy that evening, gave the commissioners a full report of the Cabinet meeting. The providence which was evidently favoring the American cause got the rest of the fleet safely to the mainland except the Seine , which the British captured after she had unloaded part of her cargo on Martinique. George III, faced with plain warnings from Bancroft and Wentworth that a French alliance was pending, would not believe them. Athur Lees mission to Spain had done nothing to warm her heart to America. 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. He seemed to be everywhere at once, a nightmare figure. A year ago America had been a counter on the board of Old World rivalries, a piece to be moved here and there as the calculations of the powers dictated. While Spain's influence on the Revolutionary War was significant, perhaps the most profound impact was the broader American Revolution's impact on Spain. The King was progressing from the swaddling clothes of a dominant mother to the strait jacket of his manic seizures, and even in his long periods of sanity his balance was precarious. British general Henry Clinton marched north from New York and could have helped Burgoyne turn the tide at Saratoga, but he never arrived. By a supple turn of the wrist, Franklin transformed Franco-American relations. Conclusion. The colonies needed these things . Franklin was a shrewd judge of men, and his unclouded confidence in Bancroft needs some extraordinary explanation. It had only an overworked legislature trying to perform administrative functions. As for Dr. Dubourg, this bookish man was an incongruous visitor at Versailles by June of 1776, by which time he had received Franklins appointment as the French agent of his Committee of Secret Correspondence. The next day the Crown Council decided to conclude the alliance, and Vergennes rushed word to Passy that France would carry out her secret agreement of December 17 and fight at Americas side until her independence was won. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over . Behind the benevolent smile lurked the master of intrigue, skillfully maneuvering the vacillating courts of Europe. On May 2, 1776, Louis XVI signed documents committing France to action as a secret American ally, in violation of her treaties with Britain. Their poison letter campaign was reinforced by the arrival of Ralph Izard, a southern planter and rancid snob. 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. However, Franklin had boarded the Reprisal for that very purpose. His contacts with his British employers revealed a quite different side, deformed by cupidity and fear. It could not supply Washington gunpowder in 1775 nor cope with the enlarging task of war procurement. France, wretchedly poor at the bottom of its society and jaded and apprehensive at the top, was rushing towards its own revolution, and the violent emotions which would ruin the French Revolution were tripped off in wild demonstrations of welcome. He was to steal all original papers possible from the commissioners, and copy others. Masonry was powerful in France and all-powerful in Nantes, and for perhaps a generation its exporters had been sending American brothers, along with bills of lading and business papers, sheaves of French Masonic literature in exchange for similar pamphlets from the colonies. Lord Stormont, the British ambassador, had been sputtering at Vergennes for two years about the shipping of contraband from French ports, and now he raised such a storm that the minister had to forbid the sailing of one Hortalez vessel after the other. He refused, when his mission was over, to return to his once beloved Paris. On May 3 Vergennes wrote his royal master that he proposed to call in Sieur Montaudoin of Nantes and entrust him with forwarding funds and arms to America. It inspired the French to launch their own revolution for liberty and equality. The Americans' victory over the British may have been one of the greatest catalysts for the French Revolution. The American Revolution and the French Alliance. The greatest suppressed scandal of the war was the British trade with the enemy on Statia. Nothing came of these appeals, and meanwhile Franklin and Deane had been working at a highly secret project which might prove more effective in precipitating a Franco-British war. People he loved and admired had far too much influence on him. Franklin knew that Vergennes, who for years had befriended America, would scuttle her the instant she ceased to serve his purpose. Franklin was now seventy, afflicted with gout, and wretchedly tired from his labors in Congress and its candle-burning committees. C.) It encouraged the French to adopt the government system of popular sovereignty. The second . It inspired the French to launch their own revolution for liberty and equality. Late in May Captain Wickes made a cruise quite around Ireland in company with two other captains and captured eighteen small vessels. By 1763, France had suffered a crushing defeat in the Seven Years' War (more commonly called the "French and Indian War" in the U.S.), losing all its claims to mainland Canada and the Louisiana Territory. The only source for salt during the war was the Turks Islands beds at the tail of the Bahama chain, long a Bermudian monopoly. The country had no President and Cabinet, no executive departments, no constitution. Contrary winds kept the Reprisal from entering the Loire to make the port of Nantes. The news of Howes occupation of Philadelphia arrived in November as the climax of an excruciating period in which Franklins own campaign had reached a stalemate. 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. What was the main purpose of the Stamp Act Congress? The port records were similarly camouflaged. Wentworth, he wrote North, is an avowed stock jobber and I never let that go out of my mind. George III now realized that the purpose behind the Wickes and Conyngham raids was to stir him up against France, which only increased his fury. Americas first decisive victory held the promise of the final one at Yorktown. Franklin and Vergennes, knowing that Arthur Lee was dangerous as well as disagreeable, kept him out of the treaty negotiations as much as possible. Washington was the War Department, Robert Morris at various times was Treasury and Navy and always was Commerce, and Franklin was the Department of State. On July 23 he wrote a memoir to Louis XVI declaring that the moment had come when France must resolve either to abandon America or to aid her courageously and effectively. He urged a closer alliance to prevent a reunion of Britain and America. France had been secretly aiding the American Colonies since 1776, because France was angry at Britain over the loss of Colonial territory in the French and Indian War. Tom Morris was dragging out the last months of his wretched life, and Lee saw no point in beating a dead horse. This was a bitter blow to Vergennes and a calamity to the Americans. Franklin labored incessantly to get prisoners exchanged in the time-honored way, with only partial success. Now she was acknowledged as a nation in her own right, a nation whose treaties protected her commerce on the seas and her growing space on land, a rising people for whose friendship Britain and France must compete. Vergennes himself could not have stated the Bourbon feelings about Britain more accurately. These were led by Libertadores - like Simn . William Lee opened the campaign against Deane in a letter to Francis Lightfoot Lee. On the last day of the year the bad news arrived from Spain: Charles III was unwilling to enter an alliance with America. The prevention of anarchy and civil unrest. At Passy Bancroft was a loved and trusted figure, and Vergennes so admired him that after the war he sent Bancroft on a highly confidential mission to Ireland. Their difficulties in shipping out supplies to America were also greatly increased, for Lee had set down everything he could learn without coding it. Somehow the wild Irishman, repeating the maneuver of the sound and sober Wickes, created an infinitely greater reaction. No charge was made against Deane, but for two years Congress kept him in Philadelphia at its pleasure while the press vilified him. Stormont was instructed to tell Vergennes that the Rebels game was up. 3. But the, In a few swift parries Franklin suggested what his technique of dealing with the ministry would be. This period of conflict began in 1698 with the War of the Grand . Soon Beaumarchaiss coach was tearing down the road to Paris so fast that it overturned and he injured an arm. Deanes griefs were personal. Dr. Bancroft was an old friend of Franklins from his London days. If he had written the true story of his life as a drama no audience would have believed it. His friend Sieur Montaudoin bought a great Dutch ship and named it, Silas Deane was invaluable. In making this special adaptation of her book for AMERICAN HERITAGE, she has re-created that less familiar but vital struggle behind the scenes which was necessary at Versailles before Cornwallis could march out, in defeat, at Yorktown while the drums beat for the birth of a new nation. By late June the captain and his men were released from jail, and the Revenge was loaded with powder and arms. William Lee was appointed joint commercial agent for France to checkmate Robert Morris brother. Meanwhile, Grard warned, the negotiations must be kept secret. He might have included the foreign islands, since all colonial America had been united for a century and a half in its resistance to the mercantilism of Europe. But he was quite happy to spend the year of 1777 in the humbler role of itinerant trouble shooter in the French ports.

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