Page 159 - American Stories, A History of the United States

Spanish troop during the Seven Years’ War. During the early months
5.1 movements Lake Ontario NEW of the Revolution, the French covertly sent tons of mil-
YORK itary supplies to the Americans. The negotiations for
these arms involved secret agents and fictitious trad-
5.2 Lake Erie PENNSYLVANIA New ing companies, a type of clandestine operation more
York
Philadelphia N.J. typical of modern times than of the eighteenth cen-
tury. But when American representatives, Benjamin
MD. Franklin for one, pleaded for official recognition of
5.3 DEL. American independence or for outright military alli-

stakes were too great for King Louis XVI openly to
5.4 Ohio R. Proclamation Line of 1763 VIRGINIA ance, the French advised patience. The international
back a cause that had little chance of success.
SPANISH INDIAN NORTH Some adventurous French military men
SPANISH
LOUISIANA
LOUISIANA RESERVE CAROLINA embraced the American cause despite their nation’s
Mississippi R.
Mississippi R. CAROLINA official neutrality. The most famous of these men, the
Marquis de Lafayette, set sail in spring 1777, despite
SOUTH
being expressly forbidden to do so by King Louis XVI.
Charles Town Once in the United States, Lafayette became an aide-
GEORGIA
Savannah de-camp to George Washington, serving as a trusted
advisor, able administrator, and effective diplomat.
ATLANTIC
WEST FLORIDA It was the victory at Saratoga in 1777 that finally
Natchez OCEAN
Natchez
Mobile Pensacola earned the Americans official support from France.
EAST It convinced the French that the rebels had formida-
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge FLORIDA
New Orleans
New Orleans ble forces and were serious in their resolve. Franklin
hinted to French officials in Paris that the Americans
0 100 200 miles
Gulf of Mexico might accept a British peace initiative. If the French
0 100 200 kilometers
wanted the war to continue, if they really wanted to
embarrass their old rival, then they had to do what
maP 5.3 sPain EnTEREd ThE REVoluTionaRy waR as an ally oF
FRanCE in 1779. by 1781, spanish forces operating out of New Orleans and st. the British refused to do: formally recognize the
Louis had captured british forts in the Mississippi valley and the Midwest from baton independence of the United States.
Rouge and Natchez to as far north as the modern state of Michigan. On the Gulf coast, The stratagem paid off. On February 6, 1778, the
spanish amphibious forces led by count bernardo de Galvez had also overrun british
posts from what is now Mobile, Alabama, to Pensacola in what was then the british French presented American representatives with two
colony of West Florida. spain retained these Gulf coast ports and regained all of Florida separate treaties. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce
in the treaty of Paris in 1783.
established commercial relations with the United
States. It tacitly accepted the existence of a new, independent republic. The Treaty of
Alliance was even more generous, considering America’s obvious military and eco-
nomic weaknesses. If France and Britain went to war (they did so on June 14, as every-
one expected), the French agreed to reject “either Truce or Peace with Great Britain . . .
until the independence of the United States shall have been formally or tacitly assured
by the Treaty or Treaties that shall terminate the War.” Even more amazing, France
surrendered its claim to all British territories east of the Mississippi. The Americans
pledged not to sign a separate peace with Britain without first informing their new ally.
France also made no claim to recover Canada, asking only for British islands in the
Caribbean. Never had Franklin worked his magic to greater effect.
French intervention instantly transformed British strategy. A colonial rebellion
became a world conflict. British and French forces clashed in the Mediterranean, in
India and the Indian Ocean, in the Caribbean, and on the coast of West Africa. To
counter the French, Britain had to divert scarce military resources, especially newer
warships, from the American theater to the English Channel. In fact, there was talk
in London of a French invasion. French diplomacy also convinced the Spanish, eager
to benefit from Britain’s seeming weakness, to enter the world conflict in 1779. More
British ships and troops had to be diverted to the West Indies and Florida to counter
Quick Check Spanish threats. The navies of its imperial rivals threatened the overextended British
What role did French support play fleet. By concentrating their warships in a specific area, the French or Spanish could
in the winning of the Revolutionary hold off or even defeat British squadrons, an advantage that figured significantly in the
War?
war’s final victory at Yorktown.
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