Treaty of Alliance (1778)

When the thirteen British colonies in America declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776, their most obvious potential ally was France, a long-time enemy of Britain and a colonial rival who had lost much of their lands in the Americas after the French and Indian War. France's leadership had been alarmed by Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War which had shifted the European balance of power and had been planning for a war of revenge since the Treaty of Paris that had ended the conflict in 1763.[9] The French foreign minister Choiseul had envisaged this taking place in alliance with Spain and involving a Franco-Spanish invasion of Britain.[10] Choiseul had been ready go to war in 1770 during the Falklands Crisis, but Louis XV had been alarmed by the British naval mobilization and instead dismissed Choiseul and backed down.

Benjamin Franklin's celebrity-like status in France helped win French support for the United States during the American Revolutionary War.[11]

As a result, Jefferson began drafting conditions for a possible commercial treaty between France and the future independent colonies of the United States, which declined the presence of French troops and any aspect of French authority in colonial affairs.[12] On September 25 the Continental Congress ordered commissioners, led by Benjamin Franklin, to seek a treaty with France based upon Adams draft treaty that had later been formalized into a Model Treaty which sought the establishment of reciprocal trade relations with France but declined to mention any possible military assistance from the French government.[11] Despite orders to seek no direct military assistance from France, the American commissioners were instructed to work to acquire most favored nation trading relations with France, along with additional military aid, and were encouraged to reassure any Spanish delegates that the United States had no desire to acquire Spanish lands in the Americas, in hopes that Spain would in turn enter a possible Franco-American alliance.[12]

Despite an original openness to the alliance, after word of the Declaration of Independence and a British evacuation of Boston reached France, the French Foreign Minister, Comte de Vergennes, put off signing a formal alliance with the United States after receiving news of British victories over General George Washington in the New York and New Jersey campaign.[11] With the help of the Committee of Secret Correspondence, established by the U.S. Continental Congress to promote the American cause in France, and his standing as a model of republican simplicity within French society, Benjamin Franklin was able to gain a secret loan and clandestine military assistance from the Foreign Minister but was forced to put off negotiations on a formal alliance while the French government negotiated a possible alliance with Spain.[11]

With the defeat of Britain at the Battle of Saratoga and growing rumors of secret British peace offers to Franklin, France sought to seize an opportunity to take advantage of the rebellion and abandoned negotiations with the Dutch Republic to begin discussions with the United States on a formal alliance.[11] With official approval to begin negotiations on a formal alliance given by King Louis XVI, the colonies turned down a British proposal for reconciliation in January 1778[13] and began negotiations that would result in the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and The Treaty of Alliance.

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The Treaty of Alliance was in effect an insurance policy for France, which guaranteed the support of the United States if Britain broke the peace that it had with the French "either by direct hostilities, or by (hindering) her commerce and navigation,"[14] as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The treaty noted the terms and conditions of the military alliance, established requirements for the signing of future peace treaties to end hostilities with the British, and provided for other nations, namely Spain, to join as allies.[11][14]

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, 1820

On February 6, 1778, Benjamin Franklin and the two other commissioners, Arthur Lee and Silas Deane, signed the treaty on behalf of the United States, and Conrad Alexandre Gérard signed on behalf of France.[15]

On March 13, 1778, France informed Britain of its signing of the treaties and subsequent recognition of the United States as an independent nation; four days later, Britain declared war on France, thereby bringing the French into the American Revolutionary War.[13] Their entry led to a significant escalation, as what would otherwise have been a "lopsided colonial rebellion" became a much larger and more complex geopolitical conflict with one of the world's premier superpowers.[16]

As contemplated by the Treaty of Alliance, Spain allied with France against Britain through the Treaty of Aranjuez on April 12, 1779. The Franco-Spanish siege on Gibraltar, though ultimately unsuccessful, served to sap British manpower and war material from North America. The Dutch Republic joined the conflict the following year, when Britain declared war after seizing a Dutch merchant ship alleged to be carrying contraband to France.[17] Although the Dutch did not formally ally with the United States, their role as co-belligerents with France further occupied British forces, particularly in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. The Dutch Republic also became the second nation to officially recognized U.S. independence, in 1782, and concluded its own commercial and navigation treaty with America.

After the signing of the treaty, an influx of French arms, ammunition, and uniforms proved vital for the Continental Army,[11] while their military actions in the West Indies and elsewhere forced Britain to redeploy troops and naval units away from the North American colonies to secure their holdings.[13] French involvement in the war would prove to be exceedingly important during the Siege of Yorktown, when 10,800 French regulars and 29 French warships, under the command of the Comte de Rochambeau and Comte de Grasse respectively, joined forces with General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette to obtain the surrender of Lord Cornwallis's Southern army, and effectively bringing an end to the fighting on the North American mainland for the remainder of the war. Despite British efforts to negotiate separate treaties with their opponents, Spain, France, and the United States held together during their negotiations with Britain, and concluded hostilities by signing the 1783 Treaty of Paris.[11]

• Hoffman, Ronald; Albert, Peter J., eds. Diplomacy and Revolution : the Franco–American Alliance of 1778 (Charlottesville: Univ. Press of Virginia, 1981); ISBN 978-0-8139-0864-9.
• Ross, Maurice. Louis XVI, Forgotten Founding Father, with a survey of the Franco–American Alliance of the Revolutionary period (New York: Vantage Press, 1976); ISBN 978-0-533-02333-2.
• Corwin, Edward Samuel. French Policy and the American Alliance of 1778 (New York: B. Franklin, 1970).