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Franco-American alliance
The Franco-American alliance was the 1778 military pact between the Kingdom of France and the United States during the American War of Independence. Formalized in the 1778 Treaty of Alliance, it was a military pact in which the French provided many supplies for the Americans in their conflict with France's rival Great Britain. The Netherlands and Spain later joined as allies of France; Britain had no European allies. The French alliance after the American forces captured a British army at Saratoga in October 1777, demonstrating the viability of the American cause.
Although France had played a significant role in the Americans' achievement of independence, the U.S. backed away from the alliance after 1793, when Great Britain and Revolutionary France went to war. The U.S. declared itself neutral. Relations between France and the United States worsened when the U.S. became closer to Britain, signing the Jay Treaty of 1795, leading to an undeclared Quasi-War. The alliance was entirely defunct by 1794 and formally ended in 1800.
France had been left deeply humiliated by the Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War. From 1763 onwards, France and its ally, Spain, began to rebuild their navies, prepare for a future war, and construct an alliance to fight a war of revenge against Britain. As the troubles in Britain's American colonies intensified during the 1760s and eventually led to open rebellion against the British in 1775, France began to anticipate the American rebels joining such an alliance.
In September 1775, the Continental Congress described foreign assistance as "undoubtedly attainable" and began to seek supplies and assistance from European powers hostile to Britain. The French leadership sought the "humiliation of England" and began giving covert aid to the rebels. The United States Declaration of Independence was advocated by some as necessary to secure European support against Britain. Silas Deane, an American envoy in Paris, proposed a major anti-British alliance and French invasions of Hanover and Portugal, both of which were allies of Britain.
The alliance was promoted in the United States by Thomas Jefferson, a Francophile. Based on the Model Treaty of 1776, Jefferson encouraged the role of France as an economic and military partner to the United States to weaken British influence. In 1776, Latouche Tréville transferred ammunition from France to the United States. Numerous French supplies as well as guns of the de Valliere type were used in the American War of Independence, especially the smaller 4-pounder field guns. The guns were shipped from France, and the field carriages provided for in the United States. The guns played an important role in such battles as the Battle of Saratoga, and the Siege of Yorktown. George Washington wrote about the supplies and guns in a letter to General Heath on 2 May 1777:
I was this morning favored with yours containing the pleasing accounts of the late arrivals at Portsmouth and Boston. That of the French ships of war, with artillery and other military stores, is most valuable. It is my intent to have all the arms that were not immediately wanted by the Eastern States, to be removed to Springfield, as a much safer place than Portsmouth... I shall also write Congress and press the immediate removal of the artillery, and other military stores from Portsmouth. I would also have you forward the twenty-five chests of arms lately arrived from Martinico to Springfield.
— George Washington letter to General Heath, 2 May 1777.
On 13 June 1777, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, reached America and joined Washington in the Continental Army as a major general. He participated to the Battle of Brandywine, where he was wounded, and he later served at the Battle of Rhode Island. Lafayette would later return to France during the war to advocate more support for the American cause.
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Franco-American alliance
The Franco-American alliance was the 1778 military pact between the Kingdom of France and the United States during the American War of Independence. Formalized in the 1778 Treaty of Alliance, it was a military pact in which the French provided many supplies for the Americans in their conflict with France's rival Great Britain. The Netherlands and Spain later joined as allies of France; Britain had no European allies. The French alliance after the American forces captured a British army at Saratoga in October 1777, demonstrating the viability of the American cause.
Although France had played a significant role in the Americans' achievement of independence, the U.S. backed away from the alliance after 1793, when Great Britain and Revolutionary France went to war. The U.S. declared itself neutral. Relations between France and the United States worsened when the U.S. became closer to Britain, signing the Jay Treaty of 1795, leading to an undeclared Quasi-War. The alliance was entirely defunct by 1794 and formally ended in 1800.
France had been left deeply humiliated by the Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War. From 1763 onwards, France and its ally, Spain, began to rebuild their navies, prepare for a future war, and construct an alliance to fight a war of revenge against Britain. As the troubles in Britain's American colonies intensified during the 1760s and eventually led to open rebellion against the British in 1775, France began to anticipate the American rebels joining such an alliance.
In September 1775, the Continental Congress described foreign assistance as "undoubtedly attainable" and began to seek supplies and assistance from European powers hostile to Britain. The French leadership sought the "humiliation of England" and began giving covert aid to the rebels. The United States Declaration of Independence was advocated by some as necessary to secure European support against Britain. Silas Deane, an American envoy in Paris, proposed a major anti-British alliance and French invasions of Hanover and Portugal, both of which were allies of Britain.
The alliance was promoted in the United States by Thomas Jefferson, a Francophile. Based on the Model Treaty of 1776, Jefferson encouraged the role of France as an economic and military partner to the United States to weaken British influence. In 1776, Latouche Tréville transferred ammunition from France to the United States. Numerous French supplies as well as guns of the de Valliere type were used in the American War of Independence, especially the smaller 4-pounder field guns. The guns were shipped from France, and the field carriages provided for in the United States. The guns played an important role in such battles as the Battle of Saratoga, and the Siege of Yorktown. George Washington wrote about the supplies and guns in a letter to General Heath on 2 May 1777:
I was this morning favored with yours containing the pleasing accounts of the late arrivals at Portsmouth and Boston. That of the French ships of war, with artillery and other military stores, is most valuable. It is my intent to have all the arms that were not immediately wanted by the Eastern States, to be removed to Springfield, as a much safer place than Portsmouth... I shall also write Congress and press the immediate removal of the artillery, and other military stores from Portsmouth. I would also have you forward the twenty-five chests of arms lately arrived from Martinico to Springfield.
— George Washington letter to General Heath, 2 May 1777.
On 13 June 1777, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, reached America and joined Washington in the Continental Army as a major general. He participated to the Battle of Brandywine, where he was wounded, and he later served at the Battle of Rhode Island. Lafayette would later return to France during the war to advocate more support for the American cause.
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