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1. American colonists hoped for possible French aid in their struggle against British forces. The involvement of France in the American War of Independence (1775-1783) was not only significant in the progress of the war itself but also as a critical moment for France. France Allied with American Colonies. Behind the benevolent smile lurked the master of intrigue, skillfully maneuvering the vacillating courts of Europe. 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. French Empire wanted to take revenge on the British Empire for its defeat in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Meanwhile Arthur Lee and his younger brother William joined the floating malcontents who supported the flamboyant John Wilkes and helped elect him lord mayor of London late in 1774. It encouraged the French to adopt the government system of popular sovereignty. The prize crew of five Americans and sixteen Frenchmen were put in prison, and the prize master was forced to confess that Conyngham had made other captures. Robert Morris alcoholic half brother Thomas had just been appointed by Congress as its commercial agent for all of France. 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. Since the previous summer he had had the invaluable help of an unpaid deputy, William Carmichael. The Continental Navy would never be able to take on the larger British units. The Committee of Secret Correspondence, under Franklin, engaged agents abroad to explore the possibilities of foreign alliances. Tom Morris was dragging out the last months of his wretched life, and Lee saw no point in beating a dead horse. The currency had fallen to half its value. France remains the center of political activity, and here, therefore, I should choose to be employed., He went on to suggest how Franklin and Deane might be erased altogether. The single most important diplomatic success of the colonists during the War for Independence was the critical link they forged . 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. 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. This tax was given to the people to help settle the debt of the war, and it started an argument of "taxation without representation". Franklin was now seventy, afflicted with gout, and wretchedly tired from his labors in Congress and its candle-burning committees. For the rest of the war she ran salt to the mainland, refused to privateer against the Americans, and built for them her superb sloops. He had corrupted his government from Lord North down in the hope of buying security for himself. He often held back information or distorted it, and Wentworth sensed this and by summer made him take an oath before he delivered an oral report. Franklin insisted that Arthur Lee was mad, and perhaps only a madman could have created a cabal of such malignity and scope out of nothing but his own emotions. 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. 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. However, there are crucial differences that led to their respective results and their . A disguised British vessel at Dunkirk had alerted the warships, and as soon as the, By the middle of July Vergennes had made up his mind to ask the King for armed intervention. 1. The requested battleships were not forthcoming; it was explained that France needed every unit of her Navy for her own purposes, which of course meant her expected war with Britain. A number of ill-advised financial maneuvers in the late 1700s worsened the financial situation of the already cash-strapped French government. Arthur Lees secretary, Major John Thornton, was not only British but British secret service. Congress had sent the King the Olive Branch Petition, which paralyzed war efforts for many months. On the land, if Washington finally got enough men and guns, he might wear down British troops far from their home base. They were the victims of their friends in Congress, who believed in promiscuous diplomacy as a device for distributing patronage. There was no mention of payment. It was run, personally and in great detail, by George III himself, who spent hours reading the reports of agents scattered over America, the West Indies, and Europe. Franklin was a shrewd judge of men, and his unclouded confidence in Bancroft needs some extraordinary explanation. These were led by Libertadores - like Simn . On the very day the French ministry decided for the alliance, Paul Wentworth was back in Paris. Stormont was instructed to tell Vergennes that the Rebels game was up. The trouble with Silas Deane was tragically simple: he was never quite sure who he was. Congress had little to do with Americas maritime war, which was a tremendous undertaking. Their poison letter campaign was reinforced by the arrival of Ralph Izard, a southern planter and rancid snob. 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. A photograph of Edouard de Laboulaye from the Galerie Contemporaine collection. But the early ratio of seven British merchantmen captured to one American lost was rapidly declining, and Britains patrol of the seaboard was making it difficult to maintain a supply line of military and civilian goods. Later Congress backed up this pledge and authorized all tenders necessary to get Bourbon help. On July 14 a mob stormed the Bastille prison in Paris looking for arms to protect itself from the king's forces. The United States fought all the way through the war without a government. In this desperate situation a few individuals took over as heads of non-existent departments. William Lee was rewarded with office as alderman of the city, a title which he did not relinquish until the war was almost over and he knew which side would win. He returned to Paris with his usual air of pompous impeccability, for his conscience was light. But his eventual victory depended on two essentials which only Europe could provide: military supplies of all sorts and a powerful navy. 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. However, Izard and Arthur Lee let no day pass without earnest efforts, and on January 2, 1781, a move was made in Congress for Franklins recall. However, over time divisions of opinion became apparent between federalists and anti-federalists. It was plain that Vergennes rather disliked him and gave every evidence that he was dealing with him only because he represented someone important. The Revenge was owned half by Congress and half by Hodge and David Conyngham, a wealthy cousin of the captains who was on a business trip to Europe. Besides, five British warships blockaded the harbor. Bancroft was still the mission confidant at Passy; certain Americans who sat at Deanes dinner table reported on ship movements to the British secret service, and Captain Joseph Hynson, who happened to be Lambert Wickess stepbrother, stole an entire pouch of dispatches intended for Congress, which contained all the secret correspondence between the mission and the French ministry for the last eight months. The chief results of the mission were the snuffing out of Prussia as a potential ally, and the theft of Lees papers by a professional burglar hired by the British ambassador. He went back to London in a fury. This blogpost looks at the important French role in the American Revolution. 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. This well-connected young man had been sent direct from Congress to buy two ships to serve as packets for the mission. Despite his own best efforts, Lees mission turned out to be a success. Wentworths connection with the secret service was not suspected; Franklin regarded him as a former patriot who had joined the Tory ranks and must be treated with caution. Every step in preparing the lugger for a cruise was watched by the British in Dunkirk. Before they escaped they were furnished money and instructions about English allies who would get them across the Channel, and French merchants at the ports who would then take care of them. Bancroft belonged to the American patriot group in London and wrote able papers defending the cause of the thirteen colonies. American merchantmen picked up contraband all over Europe; the British, Dutch, and French sent some cargoes direct to the thirteen colonies, but far greater amounts to their islands in the Caribbean, to be picked up by American traders. Though the mail vessel was lightly armed she gave Wickes some trouble, and one of his seamen was killed and a lieutenant wounded. But the, In a few swift parries Franklin suggested what his technique of dealing with the ministry would be. Almost every transaction carried out for Congress was a mixture of public and private business, an accepted practice. He was the mutant of a new species. Floridablancas policies prevailed; he wanted to keep the United States too weak to threaten Spanish possessions in America. By early 1775 the British embassy in France estimated that war supplies worth 32,000,000 livres (about $6,000,000) had been shipped from that kingdom to the colonies. But Deane was not interested; he showed great American pride, Wentworth wrote Eden. But if she should declare war on France, we conceive that by the united force of France, Spain, and America, she will lose all her possessions in the West Indies, much the greatest part of that commerce which has rendered her so opulent, and be reduced to that state of weakness and humiliation which she has, by her perfidy, her insolence, and her cruelty both in the east and the west, so justly merited.. His friend Sieur Montaudoin bought a great Dutch ship and named it, Silas Deane was invaluable. It happened that Franklin and Morris were the only members of the Committee of Secret Correspondence in town when the courier arrived, and they resolved to keep the news to themselves. In 1776, France was one of the great powers of Europe. The United States, far from asking something for herself, was in reality advancing Bourbon interests and fighting their war. According to Doniol, Franklin dealt through Sieur Montaudoin of Nantes, a great shipping merchant, and the savant Dr. Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg. Charles III refused the triple alliance. 2. Every man aboard was lost except the cook. Edward Bancroft had been in British pay since 1772. 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. At the moment, Nantes was all, The American was adulated, wined and dined. Moreover, orders would be given for British warships to seize the French fishing fleet daily expected from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Following hard on the American Revolution (1776-83), the sweeping aside of the French feudal order demonstrated the irresistible rise of freedom and enlightenment. The French support NATO modernization efforts and are leading contributors to the NATO Response Force. British spies were everywhere. This wealthy and devoted young Marylander had been educated in England and was qualified for diplomatic assignments. Grard, calling at Passy that evening, gave the commissioners a full report of the Cabinet meeting. It is hard to see how the patriots could have started their war, or kept it going, without the help of the islanders. The French Navy and American Independence: A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774-1787. how did the french alliance contribute to the american revolution. Here we are too near the sun, and the business is dangerous; with you it may be done more easily.. At once, on March 17, the commissioners sent memoirs to the French and Spanish ministries urging a triple war against Britain and her ally Portugal. Stamp Act of 1765. He came down to Passy to receive one of the captains commissions Franklin was empowered to issue, and then Carmichael took charge of him. Franklin labored incessantly to get prisoners exchanged in the time-honored way, with only partial success. This required certain arrangements in the ports of France. Continental Congress established the Secret Committee of Correspondence to publicize the American cause in Europe. When they arrived at Martinique, the Americans were so cordially received that Bingham settled down as resident agent for Congress. Both men were in Franklins confidence, and they worked closely with Vergennes. The French, who had close touch with the Americans, were victorious in incorporating Enlightenment principles into a new governmental system. He was annoyed to find that Bancroft was in London, making contact with the mission rather difficult. He was to evoke this nightmare more than once, but it never lost its effect. Shortly after this, Parliament authorized British privateering.