Negotiations of the Franco-American Alliance

Militia Diplomats and French Secret Assistance.

The 13 colonies had no official jurisdiction over foreign affairs. The continental congress created the "committee of secret correspondance" with Benjamin Franklin as its chairman. The Committee's task was to obtain arms, munitions, and manpower in order to carry out the war. They desperately needed outside assistance, since there were no local gunpowder supplies.

Militia Diplomats

Arthur Lee was transferred to France to represent the Continental Congress. In 1776, they also sent Silas Deane. Deane was paranoid about spies, yet his best friend was the Spy and delivered his every action to the British.

Objectives.

• French Military and Financial aid.
• French Recognition of American Independence.

French Secret Aid

• Actors: Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, French foreign minister. Considered Britain to be the first enemy. America was a tool to emberas the British. He disliked American's and the Republican ideal. Pierre Augustine caron de Beaumarchais. A famous playwrite and inventor. Organized the secret operation for delivery of military aid. He knew Arthur Lee, and loved excitement. A man of passion whose imagination was captured by this independence movement. Volunteered as a secret agent. A friend of Louis XVI, whom he bombarded with passionate arguments in support of the colonial patriots. The king was persuaded to aid the colonials.

• Beaumarchais' Plan: Rodrigue Hortalez and Company. A fake company that provided military aid and munitions. A trade company secretly shipping military aid through Spanish channels. The aid was massive, directly from the French arsenals. 90% of the gunpowder used in the first 2 years of the war came from the French and Spanish. Delivered aid to General Heratio Gates. Led directly to the win at the crucial Battle of Saratoga.

The Treaty Plan of 1776.

Outlines what the Americans wanted. Drafted by John Adams. Official commision in France included Lee, Deane, and Benjamin Franklin. The French did not take these goals very seriously. These were colonies only a year ago, not a great power. They made the concessions and agreements necessary to get them to take action against the British. The Colonial goals:

• French Recognition of American Independence. Shows the American lack of experience and expertise in international matters. They did not understand that any treaty automatically recognizes independence.
• A Treaty of Commerce and Friendship: A trade, but not a military, treaty.
• The Freedom of the Seas. "Free Ships, free goods." Allows neutral countries to trade between ports of belligerence. (The British would resist this for decades).
• No American Military Commitment. The US would not assist the British in any future war against the French.
• No Territorial Concession to France: The French were content with taking away the North American colonies of the British.
• Benjamin Franklin (an individual factor)
• American Victory at Saratoga (Oct. 1777)

French Fear of Anglo-American Peace: The French were concerned with the prospect of Anglo-American peace. If it happened, then Britain could turn its full attention towrd the French. But the French could not enter into a military treaty with anyone without Spanish consent (they had a treaty in which they would arrange all military treaties together to include both of them). The Spanish did not want Americans to come out victorious, for the Republican idea threatened Spanish control of the Americas. The French could not legally aid the Americans unless their Spanish allies agreed. The French proceeded to offend the Spanish by signing a treaty with the Americans anyway, without Spanish consent.

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