When Deane arrived in Paris in the summer of 1776 Arthur Lee rushed over from London. The French Revolution also influenced U.S. politics, as pro- and anti- Revolutionary factions sought to . His friend Sieur Montaudoin bought a great Dutch ship and named it, Silas Deane was invaluable. This must not happen again. His first wife soon died and he married the daughter of a great political familyand switched to politics. In the summer of 1775 Colonel Henry Tucker, whose clan dominated island affairs, came to Philadelphia in a state of worry and resentment. The alliance of France with the American Patriots started on February 6, 1778, when the King of France signed a treaty with Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The commissioners drew on it for their expenses, for the purchase of war supplies, for building three frigates in Holland and France, and for keeping up the maritime war in European waters. But the Amphitrite and Mercure got away in time to reach Portsmouth by April, 1777, with supplies which at last turned the tide of war and made the crucial victory of Saratoga possible. The French people saw that a revolt could be successfuleven against a major . Since Wentworth often slipped across to Paris, much of Bancrofts information could be delivered verbally, but he made a weekly report in writing. His, Privateers could accomplish wonders, but they could not fight the great British ships of the line. At last America would hear of the third Lee brother, hitherto a cipher, as its savior in Europe. How Did the American Revolution Influence the French Revolution He had to fend off a break with England until France was ready for war. The memoir to Vergennes asked for a French loan of 2,000,000 (which Congress had hopefully requested) . 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. No man of his century could approach Franklin as a subtle and effective propagandist. Stamp Act of 1765. He wrote home that in the fighting there had been good order and readiness equal to anything of the kind in the best ships of the kings fleet.. Congress demanded impossibilities of him: a huge loan which France could not afford, French battleships and seamen, and the prompt entrance of the Bourbons into the war. The French, who had close touch with the Americans, were victorious in incorporating Enlightenment principles into a new governmental system. While Spain's influence on the Revolutionary War was significant, perhaps the most profound impact was the broader American Revolution's impact on Spain. Bancroft is entirely an American and every word he used on the late occasion was to deceive; perhaps they think Mr. Wentworth has been sent from motives of fear and if that is Franklins opinion the whole conduct he has shewn, is wise and to me it [unravels] what other ways would appear inexplicable.. Like the first conflict of that name, it was a period of intermittent warfare and political and economic rivalry between the two powers. No doubt the colonies hoarded local supplies for their own defense, and the merchants hoarded their stocks for higher prices. They sent eight of them to France and got back safely. The result of this conflict would not only determine the fate of the thirteen North American colonies, but also alter the balance of colonial power throughout the world. Without changing his normal contacts Franklin could easily have guided a conspiracy to make the Revolution a reality instead of a lost cause. The story of his amazing accomplishments, of his diplomatic feats, of his wizardry in supplying the Continental armies, of his struggles with envious fellow commissioners, scheming enemies, and vacillating friendsthis is the burden of Helen Augurs new book, The Secret War of Independence (Duell, Sloan and PearceLittle, Brown). He was lulled by the specious truce with Francebut how would he feel if Captain Wickes captured a royal packet carrying the royal mails? Gardoqui proposed a sensible solution: he and the retiring foreign minister, Grimaldi, would arrange a secret rendezvous just across the border, and Lee would not enter Spain at all. When hostilities first erupted, the crown did . Concluded between the government of King Louis XVI and the Second Continental Congress, the treaty proved critical to the United States winning its independence from Great Britain. Franklins household, the unofficial American embassy, was never lonely, even when Benny was sent off to school. If Conyngham was not punished, Stormont would resign, breaking off diplomatic relations with France. was a war only between the French and the Native Americans. Shortly after this, Parliament authorized British privateering. February 6, 1778. Then he captured the Kings packet, England registered the expected sense of outrage; the whole country seethed with the news. At the same time he yearned to be a statesman like Franklin. Born in Massachusetts in 1744, Bancroft was just of age when he settled in London, but he was already a notable scientist and writer. The campaign against Franklin, the father of mischief, took longer because, as Izard confessed in a letter to the president of Congress, Henry Laurens, it was extremely difficult to find any proofs of his crimes. The idling envoys to Vienna, Berlin, and Tuscany not only buzzed around Passy day after day but tried to rewrite Franklins treaties. It did contribute to the huge French debt that was the root cause of the French Revolution by accepting Military and economic assisstance from France during the American Revolution. And Franklin, Voltaire, and Rousseau were linked together as the presiding geniuses of the century. But the harm had been done. Since George III was violently against a war with the Bourbons these warnings disturbed him, but they did not change his fixed purpose to bully the colonies into obedience. Friends, and in French, amis! He was free for a time to be the scientist, finding in nature a fidelity to laws beyond the reach of human meddling. But his most important work was with the new firm of Hortalez & Company, which really meant the House of Bourbon. But Franklin and Deane knew what to expect from Arthur Lee. First these navies quarreled head-on, in the English Channel and then in the entirety of the Atlantic Ocean, in a war of escorts. It made the French . 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 fight for American independence piqued the interest of Europe's most powerful colonial powers. Arthur Lee was rewarded by memories of turmoil, which he loved and which he was expert in creating. The French loan was a godsend. Had France lost the race for American friendship? Native Americans and the American Revolution: Choosing Sides No peace would be made except by the general consent. Vergennes sensed that the benign old Doctor was ready to fence with naked steel, that he perfectly realized France was playing the old game of power rivalry, and that he would co-operate in the gameup to a pointto keep France as an ally. The destinations given were usually French ports on the Channel, and the ostensible purpose was the sudden enormous need for arms in the French slave trade. The American Revolution and the French Alliance. He only succeeded in quarreling with them both, and when he tried to see Vergennes, he was quite properly snubbed. He was a young man of complete integrity and far from ordinary gifts, whom Franklin could well have used in Paris. Franklin and Deane were at the top of that long list. B.) The Channel Islands privateers were out in force, and the maritime war in Europe, which could no longer be closely directed from Passy, was in a state of anarchy. 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. 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.. Franklin, bobbing a thermometer over the Reprisal s rail to take the temperatures of the Gulf Stream, could think about the life of the sea, this western Atlantic and warm Caribbean which nature had chosen as the home for the new race of Americans. But Montaudoin and all Nantes had begun to increase clandestine trade with the thirteen colonies about 1770, long before Franklin decided on his personal break with England. The powder was stolen; Bermuda was fed. Too much depended on Franklin. 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. Why Did France Help In The American Revolutionary War? (One factor, the actual fighting on land, would make up the bulk of future histories. When they arrived at Martinique, the Americans were so cordially received that Bingham settled down as resident agent for Congress. And the French people, cheering in the streets and squares, were as proud of Saratoga, he wrote home, as if it had been a Victory of their own Troops over their own Enemies.. Then and then only did he dissolve his company, which had spent over 42,000,000 livres, mostly for America, and most of it never paid back. 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. Through English friends Franklin raised funds to give the prisoners warm clothes and blankets, food, a chance to bathe and wash their clothes, and spending money for small comforts. He raided in the North Sea and the Baltic; he sailed around England and then around Ireland, everywhere taking prizes. Only a great heart and a great faith could survive. In the last months the King had relinquished his illusion that war could be avoided, and he approved his ministers memoir the day it was presented. Knowing George III as he did, Franklin realized the importance of insulting him while all Europe looked on. He was the unifying force of the Revolution, the one man who could understand and use effectively the complex elements which composed it. Students will analyze maps, treaties, congressional records, first-hand accounts, and correspondence to determine the different roles assumed by Native Americans in the American Revolution and understand why the various groups formed the alliances they did. It inspired the French to launch their own revolution for liberty and equality. 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. These were proposed by your friend [A. Lee], evaded by his colleagues.. For diplomatic reasons, he always pretended a vast ignorance of Hortalez & Companya feat like hiding an elephant in a hat. Franklin took charge of diplomatic duties, Arthur Lee undertook missions to Spain and Prussia which happily kept him out of Paris at a crucial period, and Deane continued his commercial activities. George III, faced with plain warnings from Bancroft and Wentworth that a French alliance was pending, would not believe them. Franklin had already planned his mission to France, where he would be joined by his fellow commissioners, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee. It meant only the familiar rite of changing the property on paper. E . How was the Revolutionary War paid for? - Journal of the American 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. There would soon be an unfavorable change in the Spanish ministry: Grimaldi, friendly to America, would be replaced as chief minister by the Count of Floridablanca, who feared that an America now independent would before long overrun Spanish possessions in the New World. But somehow, even when he acted in a cheap way, Silas Deane was not cheap. He helped Beaumarchais buy and fit out eight ships, prudently scattered in various ports: the, Amphitrite, Mercure, Flammand, Mre Bobie, Seine, Thrse, Amelia, Delays which were not the fault of Deane and Beaumarchais held up most of the fleet for months after lading. According to Doniol, Franklin dealt through Sieur Montaudoin of Nantes, a great shipping merchant, and the savant Dr. Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg. Wentworth, he wrote North, is an avowed stock jobber and I never let that go out of my mind. It is also true that Franklin could have helped along such conspiratorial work without leaving a trace of his part of it. He supported his private investment in the American future by using his fleet of a dozen ships for Caribbean trade on the return voyage to France, and this sugar trade brought him profits to invest in more goods for America. A week later she was halfway out of the harbor when a British sloop and cutter were sighted. 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. During the Revolution this tiny island was the clearinghouse for American trade with the Caribbean and Europe, including Britain. British History in depth: Britain and the French Revolution - BBC Shipping was at a premium; in the last year the price of vessels had tripled. No charge was made against Deane, but for two years Congress kept him in Philadelphia at its pleasure while the press vilified him. Deane arranged to meet Wentworth at dinner a day or so later, and Franklin took care to tell the minister what was afoot. Economic historians will recognize the invaluable research and work of two individuals in particular that this article draws from: Merrill Jensen, and . Vergennes, on that December day of jubilation, did some cooler thinking of his own and rightly guessed that the British would try to effect a conciliation with the Americans before they won any more campaigns. Congress had sent the King the Olive Branch Petition, which paralyzed war efforts for many months. 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. Franco-American alliance - Wikipedia On February 6, 1778, Benjamin Franklin was in France signing the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance. Deane was up to his neck in business affairs and was essential to their success, for Tom Morris was clearly unfit to carry out any operation but commandeering cargoes from Congress to finance his endless debauch. In his plain dress, still wearing his comfortable fur cap, he was the natural man Rousseau had taught the French to revere, and a symbol of Utopia. 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. The currency had fallen to half its value. British firms had also been running munitions to the colonies, and continued to do so, despite orders-in-council. Stormont subsided; England needed time too. His new cutter, the, When Vergenness orders came through to sell the, Conyngham lusted for his fine new cutter, which mounted 14 six-pounders and 22 swivels, and would have a crew of more than a hundred American and French seamen. One of his parts was acting as confidential agent for the King, for his circumspection was as profound as Franklins. American Revolution - Treaty of Alliance (1778) - ThoughtCo 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. He was evidently buying arms and setting up a smuggling base in the Low Countries. In the late 1780s, Jefferson witnessed first-hand the beginnings of the French Revolution and what would become the eventual overthrow of King Louis XVI and the French monarchy. The arms of which Doniol speaks had long since been amassed, and it seems probable that Dubourg and Vergennes discussed other matters. Ironically, this was one of the key factors that caused the revolution in the first place. Edward Bancroft had been in British pay since 1772. He came down to Passy to receive one of the captains commissions Franklin was empowered to issue, and then Carmichael took charge of him. He had reached an impasse: France would not help America unless America showed promise of winning her war, and America could not win without French help. Franklin soon warned Congress not to enlarge its connections with this questionable pair. Somehow the wild Irishman, repeating the maneuver of the sound and sober Wickes, created an infinitely greater reaction. Soon the old names were changed to the Committee of Foreign Affairs and the Commercial Committee to make this distinction clear. In 1776, Louis XVI was just 22 years old and had been king for only two years. 1. He was never suspected by anybody but Arthur Lee, who suspected everybody but his own secretaries, who were almost invariably British agents. Today in History - February 6 | Library of Congress It was an entirely new sort of war because the United States was a new sort of country, whose survival depended less on land fighting than on a complex of factors in which Franklin was . DuVal, Kathleen. The Secret Committee, dominated by the capable merchant Robert Morris, methodized the smuggling of war supplies from Europe, which had been going on for years. America needed French aid of every sort: ships, supplies, loans, to begin with. 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. For 70 years, American Heritage has been the leading magazine of U.S. history, politics, and culture. France did not wait for the announcement of July Fourth. However, there are crucial differences that led to their respective results and their . Nor had Vergennes, who was extremely cool in his calculations. As a fellow commissioner, Deanes prodigious energies and devotion to Franklin would help to pull them both through the stormy year ahead. By the middle of July Vergennes had made up his mind to ask the King for armed intervention. It thus comprises the first seven years of the period of warfare that was continued through the Napoleonic Wars until Napoleon's abdication in 1814, with a year of interruption under the peace of Amiens (1802-03). He went back to London in a fury. Richardson (Bancrofts tiny, curiously contorted script was almost feminine). A disguised British vessel at Dunkirk had alerted the warships, and as soon as the Revenge was in the open sea she was chased by several British frigates, sloops of war, and cutters. Soon Franklin and Deane had a group of young men busy in the various ports, helping merchantmen and privateers speed on their way, informing them of shifts in French regulations and dangerous areas patrolled by British warships, recruiting French seamen to fill out depleted ships companies, finding masters for ships and ships for masters. As Americas sole diplomat Franklin had done all that one man could do to influence the ministries of Europe. On July 14 a mob stormed the Bastille prison in Paris looking for arms to protect itself from the king's forces. So too was our want of guns, supplies, and everything needed in a war against one of the major powers of the earth. Even though some consider King Louis to just be a contributor he . He decided that Jonathan Williams, the soul of probity, should be drawn into the Lee crusade against all rivals, and soon Congress was hearing about Williams embezzlements of public funds. Franklin prudently released his grandnephew from his post as special agent for the mission, and he remained in Nantes in private business. He had put up for a long time with colonial violations of the trading laws, but when the Boston Tea Party made him look ridiculous, George III precipitated the war. In 1865, Edouard de Laboulaye (a French . It inspired the French to launch their own revolution for liberty and equality. Behind the benevolent smile lurked the master of intrigue, skillfully maneuvering the vacillating courts of Europe. He had come to the point where he must drop his perilous but always enjoyable collaboration with Franklin and play for France alone. Whether this was one of the patriotic conspiracies for which he risked his life that year scarcely matters, for the contraband traffic would have gone merrily on if Benjamin Franklin had never existed. As for the French islands, the Cape developed into a prime source for munitions, and Martinique became an American privateer base before Franklin sailed. Wickes got clean away, only to founder in a storm off the Banks of Newfoundland. 900 seconds. After the scheme had been put into effect they explained the mechanism to their committee: For though the fitting out [of an American vessel in a French port] may be covered and concealed by various pretenses, so at least to be winked at by the Government here yet the bringing in of prizes by a vessel so fitted out is so notorious an act, and so contrary to treaties, that if suffered must cause an immediate war.. He was the mutant of a new species. Short as it was, the crossing was a godsend. The trouble with Silas Deane was tragically simple: he was never quite sure who he was. In a few swift parries Franklin suggested what his technique of dealing with the ministry would be. When Colonel Tucker told Franklin and Morris that there was a respectable supply of gunpowder in the royal arsenal at St. Georges which could be abstracted in a midnight raid, a bargain was struck. This was the same thing as asking France and Spain to declare immediate war against Great Britain. Much paper would be required for their letter campaign, and a spate of words would cover their omission of proofs. Sailcloth and shoes, embroidered waistcoats and fusils, cannon and wig powder were crated and piled on the docks for shipment to the country that needed everything. 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. All this was so familiar to Franklin that it did not discourage him; he simply had to be on his guard for the moment when Vergennes would stop playing for the joint interests of both countries and play for France alone. Grimaldi told him that the King was presenting the Americans stores of arms, clothing, and blankets which their ships could pick up at New Orleans and Havana. France in the American Revolutionary War - cs.mcgill.ca 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. The French Revolution | American Experience | PBS By the summer of 1777 Arthur Lee openly accused Deane and Beaumarchais of appropriating 200,000 which he said the Bourbons had intended as a free gift to America. Vergennes was so disheartened by the bad news which had arrived even before these disasters were known, and he so much dreaded a sudden declaration of war by Britain, that in August he formally closed the ports of France to American privateers and their prizes. French Involvement in the American Revolution Robert Morris had arranged Toms appointment under the delusion that the youth had reformed during a long stay abroad and was to be trusted with the public business. The country had no President and Cabinet, no executive departments, no constitution. The bogus company functioned as a legitimate business house, paying cash for its purchases and keeping its connection with Versailles a secret even from the American leaders.