The Role of France in the American Revolutionary War

After years of spiraling tensions in Britain’s American colonies, the American Revolutionary War began in 1775. The revolutionary colonists faced a war against one of the world’s major powers, one with an empire that spanned the globe. To help counter Britains formidable position, the Continental Congress created the Secret Committee of Correspondence to publicize the aims and actions of the rebels in Europe. They then drafted the Model Treaty to guide negotiations of alliance with foreign nations. Once the Congress had declared independence in 1776, it sent a party that included Benjamin Franklin to negotiate with Britain’s rival: France. Why France Was Interested France initially sent agents to observe the war, organized secret supplies, and began preparations for war against Britain in support of the rebels. France might seem an odd choice for the revolutionaries to work with. The nation was ruled by an absolutist monarch who was not sympathetic to the principle of no taxation without representation, even if the plight of the colonists and their perceived fight against a domineering empire excited idealistic Frenchmen like the Marquis de Lafayette. In addition, France was Catholic and the colonies were Protestant, a difference that was a major and contentious issue at the time and one that had colored several centuries of foreign relations. But France was a colonial rival of Britain. While it was arguably Europe’s most prestigious nation, France had suffered humiliating defeats to the British in the Seven Years War—especially its American theater, the French-Indian War—several years earlier. France was looking for any way to boost its own reputation while undermining Britains, and helping the colonists to independence looked like a perfect way of doing this. The fact that some of the revolutionaries had fought France in the French-Indian War was expediently overlooked. In fact, the French Duc de Choiseul had outlined how France would restore their prestige from the Seven Years War as early as 1765 by saying the colonists would soon throw the British out, and that France and Spain had to unite and fight Britain for naval dominance. Covert Assistance Franklin’s diplomatic overtures helped prompt a wave of sympathy across France for the revolutionary cause, and a fashion for all things American took hold. Franklin used this popular support to help in negotiations with French Foreign Minister Vergennes, who was initially keen on a full alliance, especially after the British were forced to abandon their base in Boston. Then news arrived of defeats suffered by Washington and his Continental Army in New York. With Britain seemingly on the rise, Vergennes wavered, hesitating over a full alliance, though he sent a secret loan and other aid anyway. Meanwhile, the French entered negotiations with the Spanish. Spain was also a threat to Britain, but it was worried about supporting colonial independence. Saratoga Leads to Full Alliance In December 1777, news reached France of the British surrender at Saratoga, a victory that convinced the French to make a full alliance with the revolutionaries and to enter the war with troops. On February 6, 1778, Franklin and two other American commissioners signed the Treaty of Alliance and a Treaty of Amity and Commerce with France. This contained a clause banning both Congress and France from making a separate peace with Britain and a commitment to keep fighting until the independence of the United States was recognized. Spain entered the war on the revolutionary side later that year. The French Foreign Office had trouble pinning down â€Å"legitimate† reasons for France’s entry into the war; they found almost none. France couldn’t argue for the rights that the Americans claimed without damaging their own political system. Indeed, their report could only stress Frances disputes with Britain; it avoided discussion in favor of simply acting. Legitimate reasons were not terribly important in this epoch and the French joined the fight anyway. 1778 to 1783 Now fully committed to the war, France supplied arms, munitions, supplies, and uniforms. French troops and naval power were also sent to America, reinforcing and protecting Washington’s Continental Army. The decision to send troops was taken carefully, as France was not sure how the Americans would react to a foreign army. The number of soldiers was carefully chosen, striking a balance that allowed them to be effective, while not being so large as to anger the Americans. The commanders were also carefully selected—men who could work effectively with the other French commanders and the American commanders. The leader of the French army, Count Rochambeau, however, did not speak English. The troops sent to America were not, as has sometimes been reported, the very cream of the French army. They were, however, as one historian has commented, for 1780...probably the most sophisticated military instrument ever dispatched to the New World.† There were problems in working together at first, as American General John Sullivan discovered at Newport when French ships pulled away from a siege to deal with British ships, before being damaged and having to retreat. But overall, the American and French forces cooperated well, although they were often kept separate. The French and Americans certainly were quite effective when compared to the incessant problems experienced in the British high command. French forces attempted to buy everything from the locals that they couldn’t ship in, rather than requisition it. They spent an estimated $4 million worth of precious metal in doing so, further endearing themselves to the Americans. Arguably the key French contribution to the war came during the Yorktown campaign. French forces under Rochambeau landed at Rhode Island in 1780, which they fortified before linking up with Washington in 1781. Later that year, the Franco-American army marched 700 miles south to besiege Gen. Charles Cornwallis’ British army at Yorktown, while the French navy cut the British off from desperately needed naval supplies, reinforcements, and complete evacuation to New York. Cornwallis was forced to surrender to Washington and Rochambeau. This proved to be the last major engagement of the war, as Britain opened peace discussions soon after rather than continue a global war. Global Threat From France America wasn’t the only theater in a war which, with France’s entrance, had turned global. France threatened British shipping and territory around the globe, preventing their rival from focusing fully on the conflict in the Americas. Part of the impetus behind Britain’s surrender after Yorktown was the need to hold the remainder of their colonial empire from attack by other European nations, such as France. There were battles outside America in 1782 and 1783 as peace negotiations took place. Many in Britain felt that France was their primary enemy and should be the focus; some even suggested pulling out of the American colonies entirely to focus on their neighbor across the English Channel. Peace Despite British attempts to divide France and Congress during peace negotiations, the allies remained firm—aided by a further French loan—and peace was reached in the Treaty of Paris in 1783 between Britain, France, and the United States. Britain had to sign further treaties with other European powers who had become involved. Consequences Britain quit the American Revolutionary War rather than fight another global war with France. This might seem like a triumph for France, but in truth, it was a disaster. The financial pressures France faced at the time were only made worse by the cost of aiding the Americans. These fiscal troubles soon spiraled out of control and played a large role in the start of the French Revolution in 1789. The French government thought it was harming Britain by acting in the New World, but just a few years later, it was itself harmed by the financial costs of the war. Sources Kennett, Lee. The French Forces in America, 1780–1783. Greenwood Press, 1977.Mackesy, Piers. The War for America 1775–1783. Harvard University Press, 1964.

Disputes with the Native Americans from the Beginning

Since the first arrival of colonists to America in 1607, disputes between the Native Americans and the colonist began arousing. In the years following the first arrival of the colonist, numerous outburst of war and treaties were made. Many of these treaties between the US and the natives were broken and by 1830, many Native American tribes found themselves being confined in reservations. During the second latter of the 19th century the US began to become industrialized and expand westward to fulfill the ultimate manifest destiny. The plains Indians, specifically found themselves begin affected by the various technologic developments and government action during the second half of the 19th century due to the completion of the trans continental railroad , gun invention, and broken treaties In order connect both East and West coast, the US passed the construction of the transcontinental rail road (1863), which would provide easier trade and transportation routes between the east and we st coast. This railroad although not thought of at first would undeliberately pass through Plain Indian territory, which was no good for these plains Indians. With the railroad passing directly through plain Indian territory, it would immediately attract white settlement. Soon after an influx of these white settlers began settling in. These white men not only brought families, but as well as diseases something tremendously foreign to these Indians. 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English Home Reading Project Free Essays

Todd Bowden is a boy who wants to be a detective when he gets older. He has been doing good in school and in his free time he runs background checks on people he sees. His neighbor Mr. We will write a custom essay sample on English Home Reading Project or any similar topic only for you Order Now Dussander was one of the people he did this too. He found out that he was using a fake name and was once referred to as the blood fiend of patin the only true thing about his life was that he was very old. When Todd confronts him about it he realizes that this secret is bigger than he thought. Todd soon starts to wonder about why he was called blood fiend so he started to ask some questions about it. When Dussander refuses, Todd black-males him into giving the stories. Todd starting to let his grades drop and when his first high school report card comes home he tries to change his grades with ink remover. He does this several times thought the novella. As the story’s get more and more graphic Todd begins to come almost psychopathic. He starts to make Dussander wear these awful Nazi suits and recite saying that he used to say during the war. Dussander starts to have nightmares about the war and find a gruesome way to cope with the stress. Because he used to work in one of the crematoriums, Dussander starts to find stray cats and put them in his kitchen oven. He would soon become worse and â€Å"rescue† dogs from a shelter to burn. ( worst part of book. too many details. ) As Todd grades drop further his guidance counselor try’s to set up a meeting between him and his parents. Todd black-males Dussander into pretending that he is his grandfather and proceeds with the meeting without his real parents. Todd is told that if he gets another flunk card that he will have to repeat this grade . One night after having listened too so many of the horrible stories he has a nightmare. These dreams persist for weeks and eventually Todd comes up with a plan to kill dussander. When nightmares continue to get worse Todd stabs a homeless man to death and realizes that murder helps with his stress and the dreams start to go away . he continues to commit murder whenever the dreams get too bad. Dussander starts too do the same as Todd and buries his victims in his basement. towards the end of the story the guidance counselor meets Todd’s real grandfather and starts too talk about the meeting they had and when the grandfather dident remember the conversation he puts the pieces together. CLIMAX chapter 17. his is the climax of the story because at this point the entire story changes. Dussander had a heart attack and this leads to new situations that completely change the story. The resolution of this story is that todd bowden is questrioned by the police. After this he goes to a secret spto on the highway. Gets a gun, and goes on a rampage. Only to end in his own dea th. I think this was a great ending to the story. If fit perfect with all the little details that were put into the book. It all fits together at the end. Characterization Todd Bowden: Main character of the book. He is shown as decieving and mean. Througout the novella todd tricks and manipulated people into doing things that could help himself and hurt others. He is important to the story because without him nothing would have happened and it wouldent be a good book. Arthur Denker AKA Mr. Dussander: main character. Shown as a nice man but forceful when need be and his past shows him as a monster. He is important to the story because he feeds all of todds rage to him and is an antagonist to the story. Todds personality chapter 6. this shows Todds evil side and proves just how much of a monster he can be to put an old man throug this rough time again. Todd is not the kind of person I would like to be friends with. He is a lieing kid who is extremly mean. And throughout the book he is seen by his peers as a loser. Conflict One main conflict in this story is when Todds grades start too fall. He constantly changes them to deceive his parents and when he is confronted by his guidance counselor about it he decides to lie about his situation in hopes to fix it. Todd has Dussander go to the school and talk to the counselor instead of his parent to â€Å" sweep the problem under the rug†. This fixes one of his problems but makes life much more difficult in the rest of the story. I can relate to some of todds problems like falling grades sometimes and feeling like your stuck in a place that your know wont lead anywhere good. But as for the rest of his problems like where to bury his victims I cannot say that I have any experience in. Theme one main theme of this novella is deception and black-male can only get you so far, because when the time comes for the truth it will only bring you down. This is shown when todds grandfather meets the counselor and realizes that todd lied to his parents about his grades and the whole situation unfolds. How to cite English Home Reading Project, Papers

this is wierd Essay Example For Students

this is wierd Essay We say Now that we know Dave is staying at CBS, its time to ask the question: Why do more viewers watch Lenos Tonight Show when Lettermans Late Show is so clearly superior? Maybe its a lowest-common-denominator thing: Leno goes for only the most obvious gags, so he makes people feel smarter because they can guess the punchlines. And dont give us that old Daves-too-cranky argument. In the aftermath of his heart surgery and Sept. 11, Dave has radiated a hell of a lot more warmth than NBCs animatronic joke machine. So go ahead, America stay with Jay. Daves still our fave. Winner LettermanWe say Now that we know Dave is staying at CBS, its time to ask the question: Why do more viewers watch Lenos Tonight Show when Lettermans Late Show is so clearly superior? Maybe its a lowest-common-denominator thing: Leno goes for only the most obvious gags, so he makes people feel smarter because they can guess the punchlines. And dont give us that old Daves-too-cranky argument. In the aftermath of h is heart surgery and Sept. 11, Dave has radiated a hell of a lot more warmth than NBCs animatronic joke machine. So go ahead, America stay with Jay. Daves still our fave. Winner LettermanWe say Now that we know Dave is staying at CBS, its time to ask the question: Why do more viewers watch Lenos Tonight Show when Lettermans Late Show is so clearly superior? Maybe its a lowest-common-denominator thing: Leno goes for only the most obvious gags, so he makes people feel smarter because they can guess the punchlines. And dont give us that old Daves-too-cranky argument. In the aftermath of his heart surgery and Sept. 11, Dave has radiated a hell of a lot more warmth than NBCs animatronic joke machine. So go ahead, America stay with Jay. Daves still our fave. Winner Letterman