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-Sam
1778- France and United States form Franco-American Alliance
Franco-American Alliance
When the thirteen British colonies in America declared their independence from the UK in 1776, their most obvious ally was France, a big enemy of Britain and a colonial enemy since they were rivals of colonies. This alliance, is the alliance of King Louis XIV's France, and the United States, during the revolutionary war. It is a military pact where France provided the arms and the money, preparing for the war against Britain. Later, The Netherlands and Spain joined this alliance, and outnumbered the British who had no allies. In October 1777, the Americans captured a British invasion army. This proved the viability of the Americans. In 1793, Britain and France went to war again, and the United States declared themselves neutral, making the Alliance become controversial. The alliance was promoted in America (which later became the USA) by Thomas Jefferson. He encouraged the role of France as an economic and military partner to America, so that they could weaken the British. This is one of the important facts of the American Revolution since it is what over-numbered the British army, and helped the Americans a lot in defeating the British with all the forces that they had.
1781- British Forces under Cornwallis surrender to Washington at Yorktown
This event is also called the "Surrender of Yorktown". It happened on October 19th, 1781. After the dispatches from France arrived, George Washington and Rochambeau asked the conte de Grasse for assistance in either sieging New York, or with troops against a British army in Virginia. In summer of 1781, the American and French armies united north of New York, where the British forces were. At the end of August, de Grasse sailed from the West Indies to Chesapeake Bay, with more troops and providing a naval blockade of Yorktown. With him, he had 500 thousand silver pesos that he got from the citizens of Havana, in Cuba. This money was used to fund the siege and payroll for the Continental Army. In beginning September, de Grasse defeated a British fleet that was coming to relieve Cornwallis at the battle of the Chesapeake. Thanks to this victory, he blocked any escape by sea for Cornwallis. Towards the end of September Washington and Rochambeau came, and the naval forces and the army surrounded Cornwallis' forces. The American army combined with the french forces installed their first parallel and started bombarding the British. When most of the British defense was gone, on October 14th, the American artillery was getting closer and closer to the British, the British were losing their soldiers very fast and Cornwallis asked for capitulation terms (surrender) on the 17th of October. The surrender ceremony happened on the 19th, after 2 days of negotiation. Lord Cornwallis was not present at this ceremony, claiming to be ill. Negotiations between the United States and the UK began after 7000 British soldiers were captured, this finished by the Treaty of Paris in 1783. This was an important part of the American Revolution because it showed how valuable the allies were to America, and was the first time that British forces surrendered to the Americans.
17 83- Treaty of Paris signed to end war
Treaty of Peace
The peace Treaty of Paris was signed on the 3rd of September 1783, ending the revolutionary war between the Americans and its allies on one side and the British on the other. The other countries, the allies of the Americans (Spain, the Dutch Republic and France) had other agreements. These peace negotiations started in April 1782 with the American representatives: Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, John Adams, and John Jay, and the British representatives: David Hartley and Richard Oswald.The treaty was signed at the Hotel d'York in Paris. The UK also signed other agreements with France and Spain, and with the Netherlands, on September 3rd. The Congress of the Confederation of America ratified this Treaty in January 1784. Some copies were also sent back to Europe for ratification by the other parties involved in the war. The first copy reached France only in March. The americans in the countryside received the news much later since there was not very fast communication. The British ratification happened in April 1784 and the copies were in paris in May 1784. This was important to the Revolution because it was basically the end, when there was no war anymore and the nations were at peace.