Franco-American Alliance, Summary, Facts, Significance

The Franco-American Alliance was established between the United States and France during the American Revolutionary War. It was an economic and military alliance that provided the United States with military and financial support. France was the first nation to recognize the independent United States.

Essential Facts

France considered supporting the American Colonies after the American Revolutionary War started.
In November 1775, the Congress established the Committee of Secret Correspondence to communicate with foreign nations.
Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee met with Pierre de Beaumarchais in London in 1775.
The French Foreign Minister, Comte de Vergennes. was open to discussion with the Americans.
Vergennes sent Julien de Bonvouloir to meet with American representatives.
Based on Bonvouloir’s report, Vergennes gained support from King Louis XVI to secretly aid the American war effort.
After the United States declared independence and defeated the British at Saratoga, France agreed to form an alliance.
The nations agreed to two treaties.
Despite early difficulties at the Battle of Rhode Island and the Siege of Savannah, French forces won the Battle of the Capes and played a significant role in forcing the British to surrender at Yorktown.
The Franco-American Alliance continued after the war but was altered by the French Revolution.

Significance

The Franco-American Alliance is important to American History because it helped legitimize the United States on the world stage and provided critical military support during the Yorktown Campaign. Its impact extended beyond the war and helped shape Foreign Affairs in the New Nation, including the French Revolution and the Quasi-War with France.

Overview and History

Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee negotiated two treaties with France that formed an economic, political, and military alliance.

The Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed on February 6, 1778. France became the first nation to officially recognize the independent United States as a country separate from Britain. The treaty also established a trade agreement between the two nations.
The Treaty of Alliance created a military alliance between the United States and France against Britain, and France agreed to provide support for American forces in the American Revolutionary War.

As part of this new relationship, Conrad-Alexandre Gérard de Rayneval was appointed as the French Minister to the United States.

Relations Between America and France

At the start of the American Revolutionary War (see Battles of Lexington and Concord), tensions existed between Americans and France over the French and Indian Wars. American Protestants were also skeptical of French Catholics due to the persecution Protestants received during the Reformation and the Wars of Religion.

However, after the passage of the Intolerable Acts, the Second Continental Congress put aside the concerns over Catholicism and worked to convince the Province of Quebec to join the Patriot Cause as the 14th Colony.

Although the French Canadians refused to join the Americans, Congress was open to the possibility of creating an alliance with France.

The Committee of Secret Correspondence

In November 1775, Congress established the Committee of Secret Correspondence. This committee was tasked with secretly communicating with foreign nations to secure aid, including ships, weapons, and ammunition.

The original members were John Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, John Jay, and Thomas Johnson. Robert Morris joined soon after.
One of the Committee’s agents in Europe, Arthur Lee, established contact with Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, a French playwright who was secretly working as a French agent.
Beaumarchais was investigating the conflict between Great Britain and America on behalf of France.
In early 1775, Lee, Beaumarchais, and Franklin met in London at the home of John Wilkes, a British politician who had spent time in prison for publishing articles criticizing King George III in 1763.
Lee and Franklin shared details about American plans with Beaumarchais, who informed Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, the French Foreign Minister.

Vergeness Seeks Clarification on American Intentions

Vergennes sent Julien Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir to America to find out if the Americans intended to declare independence.
Bonvouloir was told he could not commit to anything, but he was allowed to tell Americans that France was interested in regaining control of Canada and would consider opening its ports to American merchant ships.

Bonvouloir Meets with the Committee of Secret Correspondence

Bonvouloir arrived in Philadelphia in December 1775 while American forces were involved in the Invasion of Quebec and preparing to attack Quebec City.
He did not speak English, so he went to a Frenchman and acquaintance, Francis Daymon.
Daymon agreed to act as a translator for Bonvouloir.
Bonvouloir and Daymon met with Benjamin Franklin and John Jay three times at Carpenters’ Hall between December 18 and 27.
No official reports were kept during these meetings, but Bonvouloir kept a journal and filed a report with Vergennes.

American Requests

According to Bonvouloir’s report, the Americans asked him three main questions, all with the understanding they were private citizens, not official representatives of their governments:

Can he tell us what the views of the Court of France are in regard to the North American colonies? Are they favorable, and if so, how can we obtain official confirmation of this?
Could we find in France two competent engineer officers, well recommended and reliable? What steps should we take to obtain them?
May we obtain from France arms and other necessary munitions of war in exchange for the products of our country? And may we have free entry into the French ports?

Bonvouloir also mentioned that Franklin asked him if the Americans could send a representative to France and said the Colonies were likely to declare independence.

NOTE: The source for the three American requests is Carpenters’ Hall.

Bonvouloir Exagerrates the Success of the American War Effort

For reasons unknown, Bonvouloir exaggerated the status of the war to Vergennes, telling him:

The Americans were preparing to capture Quebec City successfully. This was premature, and American forces lost the Battle of Quebec.
The Americans had 50,000 well-trained Regulars. The Continental Army never reached that level of enrollment. At the time, the troops were undisciplined volunteers.
General George Washington’s forces at the Siege of Boston were in good condition. The reality is that they were short on ammunition, supplies, and clothing.

The Outcome of Meetings with Bonvouloir

The Americans believed the French were eager to support the war effort and sent Silas Dean and Arthur Lee to meet with French representatives.
Vergennes devised a scheme that was approved by King Louis XVI.
It permitted Beaumarchais to set up a company called Roderigue Hortalez and Company (Rodrique Hortalez et Cie).
Through this company, France started to provide clandestine shipments of gunpowder and other war materials to support the American war effort.

French Concerns

At the time, the American Colonies had not declared independence, so the conflict was an uprising, not a war between two nations.
The French were hesitant to openly support the Colonies, fearing it would lead to a larger conflict with Great Britain.
Despite concerns, formal negotiations for an alliance started after Benjamin Franklin arrived in France in December 1776.

Early French Support and American Independence

The French provided 1 million livres to America to use to buy munitions on May 2, 1776.
Despite Franklin’s fame, he was unable to convince France to openly support the Colonies, despite his insistence they would declare independence.
The Colonies agreed on independence on July 2, 1776, and announced it on July 4.

Saratoga Convinces the French to Take Action

The American victory at Saratoga on October 17, 1777, changed the situation.
France feared that the loss of an entire British Army would lead the British to reconcile with the Americans.
By mid-December 1777, Vergennes agreed to recognize the United States as an independent nation and sign a formal alliance.

Establishment of the Franco-American Alliance

Negotiations continued for roughly six weeks, and the two treaties were signed on February 6, 1778. Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee represented the United States.

The Treaty of Amity and Commerce was a commercial agreement that opened trade between the two nations.
France received “most favored nation” trading status from the United States.
The Treaty of Alliance was a formal alliance that depended on a declaration of war between France and Great Britain, although the representatives all understood war was inevitable.
Once war was declared, the French promised to fight until U.S. independence was guaranteed.
France renounced all territorial claims in contested areas of North America.
Both sides agreed they would not make peace with Britain without consent from the other.

The Delayed Impact of the French Alliance

Despite the treaties, it took more than three years for the alliance to yield significant military benefits.
In the meantime, France provided a safe haven for U.S. privateers and warships in the French West Indies.
From 1778 to the summer of 1781, France focused on a potential invasion of Great Britain.

Early Failures of the Military Alliance

Intermittent French efforts to assist the United States often led to ill will and disappointment. In the summer of 1778, French forces under Admiral Comte d’Estaing made several strategic mistakes.

They failed to trap a British fleet in the Chesapeake and did not attack a weaker British fleet in New York Harbor.
There was a lack of coordination with American troops during the Battle of Rhode Island (August 29, 1778).
D’Estaing withdrew due to the threat of a hurricane and sailed to Boston, forcing General John Sullivan to end his attack.

Tensions in Boston

This created resentment between French and American forces.
French sailors clashed with civilians in Boston, worsening relations.
Efforts were made by both French and American leaders to resolve issues and ease tensions.

Siege of Savannah

Admiral d’Estaing captured Grenada and St. Vincent in the West Indies.
He returned to North America off the coast of Georgia in September 1779 and joined American forces at the Siege of Savannah.
As before, there were disagreements between French and American military leaders.
The siege dragged on, and d’Estaing told General Benjamin Lincoln he would need to withdraw due to the impending hurricane season.
This led the Franco-American forces to launch a ground assault on Savannah.
The assault failed, and French troops withdrew on October 19.
They were followed soon after by the Americans, who marched to Charleston, South Carolina.

The Arrival of French Forces and the Yorktown Campaign

In July 1780, the French landed a major expeditionary force in the United States.
This French Army remained in Newport, Rhode Island, for most of a year after the British evacuated in the fall of 1779.
In August 1781, Admiral Comte de Grasse and a large fleet of French ships left the West Indies to support operations off the Chesapeake.
British forces, led by General Charles Cornwallis, were entrenched at Yorktown, Virginia and waiting for a British fleet to arrive from New York.
On September 5, 1781, de Grasse and his fleet won the Battle of the Capes and forced the British fleet to retreat to New York.
By this time, the French army under General Comte de Rochambeau had joined George Washington outside New York.
Washington and Rochambeau marched to Virginia, trapping Cornwallis in Yorktown.
Despite earlier mistakes, French forces were crucial to the British surrender at Yorktown.

The Franco-American Alliance After the War

The Franco-American Alliance had lasting effects on the Foreign Affairs of the New Nation.
During the French Revolution (1789–1799), many believed the United States should support France, which went to war with neighboring nations.
When Great Britain went to war with France in 1793, French officials sent Edmond Charles Genêt to the U.S. to persuade the Washington administration to provide them with military support. This is known as the Citizen Genêt Affair.
President Washington refused and issued a Proclamation of Neutrality (1793), which increased tensions with France.
Jay’s Treaty (1794) granted Britain “most favored trading” status with the United States, further increasing tensions between the U.S. and France.
These tensions led to the XYZ Affair and the Quasi-War.
After Napoleon came to power in France, hostilities ended with the Convention of 1800, which replaced the original treaties between the new nations.
Three years later, in 1803, France sold the Louisiana Territory to the U.S.

Franco-American Alliance APUSH

The Franco-American Alliance is part of the following units, topics, and chapters in the AP US History curriculum: