Hi abourne!!
Thank you for asking to Google Answers.
First of all I want to notify to you that this answer is not
considered ended until your entire satisfaction. This means that if
you find something unclear in the answer or feel that some part of it
need to be more detailed, you can post a request for an answer
clarification and I will gladly respond such request. Before rate this
answer, please use the clarification feature all the times that you
feel that is necesary to improve the answer until you are completely
satisfied with it.
Thank you in advance for your understanding.
-Historical background:
As the result of the Seven Years? War (French and Indian Wars)
(1756-1763) France lost almost its territory in North America and
India.
Since the end of this war the French government was looking for an
opportunity to revert the balance of power at England expense to
regain the power lost due the French humiliation in the Seven Years
Wars, which gave considerable economic and military advantages to
Britain.
France see its opportunity when, on 1776, the Congress sent Silas
Deane to Paris with the mission to get arms, uniforms and other
military supplies. He got this supplies secretly from Louis XVI.
Later, in the same year, Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee were sent to
Paris to join with Deane. Their new mission was to obtain more
supplies (open or undercover), and to initiate negotiations in order
to agree a Treaty of Amity and Commerce.
But at the end of 1776 the military position of the Continental Army
was hopeless, so at this point the Congress authorized Franklin to get
the French aid as a complete ally, that is to negotiate a Treaty of
Alliance with France.
On the other hand, the french society expressed his American cause
sympathies. They admired the republican's simplicity and also detested
the feudalism and privileges. They saw George Washington as a new
Cincinatus and many young idealistic officers go to America to
volunteered their services to the Continental Army, one of them was
the Marquis de Lafayette.
The french government had more practical considerations, they want a
revenge from the Seven Years War and the french manufacturers coveted
the North American market, which was closed from them due the British
commercial legislation.
Vergennes, foreign minister of France since 1774, granted non neutral
aid like munitions, supplies and stores, also the french ports was
opened to the American ships but he avoided to involve France in the
war.
As we said, the situation of the Continental Army and the Union was
hopeless and we must notice that the French aid keep the Union cause
alive. The victory at Saratoga was won with French guns and French
powder.
The consequences of Burgoyne?s surrender were catastrophic for the
British; until Saratoga, the French aid only gives support to the
Union, possibly with the intention to extend the American Independence
War in the time, making this war more expensive as possible to the
British without risks for France.
Saratoga changed this situation because for the first time the victory
of the Continental Army appears to be possible, and this British
disaster opened a big door to many liberal concessions from the part
ot the English government that makes possible a reunion of the Empire.
Vergennes reacted very quickly and on February 6, 1778, Franklin and
Vergennes signed treaties of alliance and commerce. Each country
commited itself to fight together until the American Independednce was
recognized. England declared the war against France inmediatly and the
Independence war became a World War. In 1779 Spain, keen to renew the
attempt to recover Gibraltar, entered in the war as French ally and it
was very helpfull in the South (New Orleans and Florida).
The victory of Saratoga resulted in a decisive increase of French support.
"The French extended considerable financial support to the
Congressional forces. France also supplied vital military arms and
supplies, and loaned money to pay for their purchase.
French military aid was also a decisive factor in the American
victory. French land and sea forces fought on the side of the American
colonists against the British. At the same time, British and French
(and to a lesser extent, Dutch and Spanish) forces fought for colonial
wealth and empire around the world. From 1778 through 1783 -- two
years after the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown -- French forces
fought the British in the West Indies, Africa and India.
From the perspective of the American Revolution, however, the high
point of French support is the landing of five battalions of French
infantry and artillery in Rhode Island in 1780. In 1781, these French
troops under the command of Count Rochambeau marched south to Virginia
where they joined Continental forces under Washington and Lafayette.
Cornwallis, encamped on the Yorktown peninsula, hoped to be rescued by
the British navy. A French fleet under the command of Admiral DeGrasse
intercepted and, after a fierce battle lasting several days, defeated
the British fleet and forced it to withdraw. This left the French navy
to land heavy siege cannon and other supplies and trapped Cornwallis
on the Yorktown peninsula.
At that point, the defeat of Cornwallis was essentially a matter of
time. On September 14, 1781, the French and Continental armies
completed their 700 mile march and soon thereafter laid siege to the
British positions. After a number of weeks and several brief but
intense engagements, Cornwallis, besieged on the peninsula by the
large and well-equipped French-American army, and stricken by
dysentery, determined to surrender his army. On October 19, 1781, the
British forces marched out between the silent ranks of the Americans
and French, arrayed in parallel lines a mile long, and cast down their
arms."
Extracted from "The French Contribution to the American War of
Independence" at a website dedicated to the 85ème Régiment de
Saintonge which in 1781 joined the American forces under General
Washington and make the critical contribution to the final defeat of
the British Crown forces at Yorktown:
http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/sfelshin/saintonge/frhist.html
The American-French victory at the battle of Yorktown for all
practical purposes ended the War for American Independence.
-Conclusion:
King Louis XVI's regime was one of the more absolutist regimes and,
believe it or not, it helped to born a nation with liberal and
democratic ideals. This could happened only if we recognize that the
nation's interests are separated from their ideals. At this level only
the convenience rules.
We cannot speculate about what happened without the French
intervention in that war, but regardless of the goals that French
government tried to achieve, their aid and support was decisive in the
defeat of the British Army in the American Independence War:
French clandestine aid supported the Union in the early stages of the
Independence War, and helped to win the battle of Saratoga ("won with
French guns and French powder"). After this, the aid became open and
France recognized the American Independence and entered in the war as
an ally.
They gave a decisive military and financial support: "At Yorktown...it
was French expertise in siege warfare, not to mention the French siege
artillery brought by Rochambeau's forces, which eventually forced the
surrender. The French contribution to American victory becomes even
more obvious when we look at the role of the French navy. It was
Admiral de Grasse' fleet which kept the Royal Navy from making contact
with Cornwallis when it sailed out to meet the challenge in the Battle
of the Capes in early September 1781. Without the French fleet,
British Admiral Graves might just have succeeded in rescuing
Cornwallis from Yorktown. The Continental Navy would have been unable
to stop him: in 1781, the Royal Navy had about 140 ships of the line,
the French had 67 capital ships, Spain had 58, the Dutch 19, and the
United States had none.
French expenditures for the war were enormous: Robert D. Harris sets
the total French cost for the war for the years 1776-1782 at 928.9
million livres (as opposed to 2,270.5 million livres for the British),
with another 125.2 million to be added for the year 1783!"
Extracted from the following document:
http://www.hudsonrivervalley.net/ROCHAMBEAUINCONNECTICUT/ROCHAMBEAUINCONNECTICUT4.pdf
The only conclusion that we can take is that the French intervention
during the American War of Independence was DECISIVE in the result of
that war.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Some links for additional reference:
"Franklin's Contributions to the American Revolution as a Diplomat in France":
http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/history/franklin.html
"1776-1783: Diplomacy of the American Revolution":
http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/time1.html
"French Assistance to the American Cause":
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/ar/14312.htm
"The Battle of Yorktown 1781" at BritishBattles.com:
http://www.britishbattles.com/battle-yorktown.htm
"The French Contribution to the American War of Independence":
http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/sfelshin/saintonge/frhist.html
"Timeline of the American War of Independence":
http://www.changingthetimes.co.uk/resources/timeline_of_the_american_war_of_.htm
"The American War of Independence: The Rebels and the Redcoats" by
Richard Holmes at the BBC's "The British Empire History" site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/empire/rebels_redcoats_01.shtml
"Les Régiments Français":
Regiments of l'Armée de Terre Royale in the American War for Independence:
http://xenophongroup.com/mcjoynt/regmts.htm
See also this excelent document:
http://www.hudsonrivervalley.net/ROCHAMBEAUINCONNECTICUT/ROCHAMBEAUINCONNECTICUT4.pdf
------------------------------------------------------------
I hope that this helps you. Please feel free to use the clarification
feature if you need further assistance on this answer.
Best regards.
livioflores-ga |
