The American Revolution, is known as the conflict that gained the American colonies their independence and is arguably the most important battle that shaped the future of America’s government and ideals. It is still a mystery today how a disorganized group of militiamen faced the most powerful army in the world and won, but many factors underlaid the seemingly impossible victory of the underdogs. The colonies faced the challenge of rallying troops with little money to pay, organizing a navy large enough to even make a dent in the British armada, and most of all, mustering the international support necessary to make the British this war for independence seriously and prove that this fledgling nation intended to use all available resources in its quest for freedom. The Americans found the staunch ally they were looking for in the French, who had been chased out of America by the British during the Seven Years’ War and were itching for an opportunity at revenge. They were the perfect ally to challenge Britain with, possessing an army and navy with a reputation to match Britain’s. Seeing that this rebellion had a chance of disrupting British trade and taking away their precious, lucrative colonies, France finally had an opportunity to gain both the upper hand over Britain and an useful ally in trade and war. The ragtag Americans were determined to defend their freedom from the vast British army by asking for French help, but the key French generals who turned the tide and the naval and military aid that France provided for the colonies could not have reached success without the alliance treaty that gave Americans a strong foreign ally to aid them in the war for independence.
Washington, leader of the Continental Army, did not possess an extremely apt military mind, but was still able to achieve victory during a few key battles with the aid of brilliant French generals. Initially, with most Americans holding out in hope of reconciliation with their mother nation, France could not openly support the rebellion in fear of British retaliation, should the rebels fail in their mission. Through covert assistance, they were able to send the colonists gunpowder and monetary support under the pretense of a company. Once the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and the decisive victory at Saratoga in 1777 was won, King Louis XVI saw that there was no hope of a reunion between Britain and America, and began to openly support the colonies by sending generals and military troops to aid them (Kennedy 155
). With these reinforcements and military minds coming their way, America had a renewed sense of hope that victory was possible. Washington was hopelessly swamped with the task of managing men that had never been in battle before, and French expertise was invaluable in upping morale and maintaining order. General Rochambeau was one such general sent over to America along with 5,500 troops, whose “logistical maneuvering and siege of Yorktown was [his] greatest military achievement” (“General Jean”). His expertise as a military leader during the Seven Years’ War contributed to his success in warfare alongside Washington. At the Battle of Yorktown, his troops, along with the American troops, blocked the path of British retreat across land, effectively forcing their surrender. Along with Rochambeau, Lafayette, perhaps the most important French general involved, earned the trust of Washington through his dedication to the cause and enthusiasm for the cause of independence. He entered America at 19 as a wealthy aristocrat willing to serve without pay, and proved himself to be one of Washington’s most capable and trusted underlings. Though young and inexperienced, Congress granted him the commission of major general, and “in April 1781, he captured Richmond, Virginia and held it despite British efforts to recapture the city” (Fogarty). No one was more loyal to Washington than he, and there was not a Frenchman more dedicated to the cause. His role in the revolution endeared him to the American people, who would forever remember the selfless part he played in helping a foreign nation achieve independence. Lafayette was the main catalyst in convincing the French army to come to America to aid in the war, and was willing to sacrifice his life for the cause of a country that was not his own. Without the aid of key French generals, the Revolutionary War could have very well swung in the favor of the other side.
The question remains of how a shabby army of misfits outfitted in torn and disorganized uniforms, managed to defeat the leading global superpower of the world by themselves. The simple answer is that they did not- without the naval and military support of the French army, the American troops could never have hoped to defeat Britain on its own. Washington was working with a third of what Congress had promised, and the roughshod troops he did have often fled during battle. The French argued hotly amongst themselves over the decision to send open military aid, and ultimately, “the numbers of soldiers were carefully chosen to balance being effective, with not being large enough to anger Americans…”, the troops themselves described as “the most sophisticated military instrument ever dispatched to the New World” (Wilde). With the addition of trained men accompanied by an experienced leader lifted a great burden off of Washington’s shoulders. With the victory at Saratoga, the French that supported the war found an opportunity to prove to King Louis that the Americans had a chance of defeating Britain. When the French king was persuaded to send men and fully participate in the war, it bolstered Washington’s numbers and allowed him to execute strategies with new troops under the watchful eye of capable generals. The thousands of men sent under the command of Rochambeau proved instrumental in violent clashes against the redcoats. These troops, and the eventual participation of France’s navy, changed the outcome of key battles such as the Battle of Yorktown, where the presence of the French navy blocking escape by sea led to British General Cornwallis’ surrender in 1781 (Fogarty). After the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Britain’s navy was established as the most powerful in the world. Americans, with their fledgling ships and barely any money to fund a proper navy, could not hope to match the might of the British empire. Yorktown, the decisive end to fighting in the colonies, was achieved through France’s naval and land troops combined with the Continental Army. The strategy was this: Rochambeau’s troops were tasked with blocking the British from land, while de Grasse barricaded a naval retreat with the French navy after beating British ships. Cornwallis surrendered his 7,000 men after three weeks of siege, French providing all naval power and half of Washington’s 16,000 troops (Kennedy 157). This proved to be the last conflict in the colonies of the Revolutionary War, and led to peace negotiations between the new nation and Britain. The battle was as much a French victory as it was an American one. Cornwallis retreated to Yorktown in the shadow of the British navy, reliant on their strength to hold an escape route and fend off any naval strikes. Unfortunately for the British, de Grasse defeated the ships at Yorktown with the French fleet, effectively blocking the British in from the seaward side, with Washington and French land troops approaching from land. Without their aid, Americans could not have held the area around Yorktown by themselves and won the decisive last blow of the Revolutionary War.
Winning key battles and skirmishes against the British was highly impressive, verging on a miracle, but the Americans’ greatest accomplishment was their ability to conduct foreign relations and skew international support in their favor. France was reluctant to step onto an open offensive, but in 1778, America and France signed a Treaty of Alliance, promising to ally in war against Britain. The Americans were scraping by without foreign help, but “they did not achieve their independence until the conflict erupted into a multipower world war that was too big for Britain to handle” (Kennedy 157). For Britain, this spelled disaster- a foreign power getting involved could lead hostilities between countries in Europe, the majority of which would ally with the American cause in their dislike of England. The fight in the colonies was no longer a British attempt to put down a rebellion of their unhappy subjects, and with the involvement of such a major power, they were forced to adopt a much less aggressive military campaign. The treaty between France and America expanded to include Spain and Holland, whose combined fleets outnumbered Britain’s. Being fully committed to the cause against England, “France was now able to threaten British shipping and territory around the globe, preventing their rival from focusing fully on the conflict in the Americas” (Wilde). Many factors led to the eventual victory of the colonists, and it is general consensus that they could not have achieved independence on their own merit. British attention was not solely on fighting the war on American soil, but also on its assets in the West Indies, Mediterranean, and possible invasion of England itself. The British army was spread very thin preceding and during the Revolutionary War. It was just another advantage for France that they achieved revenge against Britain, and a strong foreign ally and trade partner to sweeten the deal. Without global interest in the revolution, England would not have been as eager to offer peace as they were after Yorktown. In fact, “many in Britain felt that France was their primary enemy, and should be the focus” of their enterprise, especially when they were the more intimidating military threat (Wilde). The involvement of Britain’s longtime enemy drew the ire of British citizens, who did not regard the Americans as a real threat and some of whom supported their cause. The widening disinterest concerning the fight in the colonies contributed to the decision to offer a peace treaty after the Battle of Yorktown. Additionally, the unrest in Ireland and support of the colonies by the French and Spanish meant that the British army had to be in many places at once to maintain their share of power. The Treaty of Alliance propelled a much wider global war than the Americans could have anticipated, and was ultimately the reason for British withdrawal being offered much sooner than it could have. This global interference and widespread dissatisfaction against England led to greater priorities taking their place in the eyes of Parliament, leaving the colonists to celebrate their victory and establish their own independent government.
Though the outcome of the war for independence was heavily influenced by global superpowers, its ideas spread and sparked revolutions in countries across the ocean. Ironically enough, 1789 saw the beginning of the French Revolution, where the French king was overthrown by the working class. Although King Louis was the one who perpetrated the “overthrow” of British rule over the colonies in the first place, the radicals of the French Revolution took the ideas of the American Revolution and twisted them to match the thinking of unhappy sans-culottes of the lower class. This culminated in the Reign of Terror, where anyone who remotely disagreed with revolutionary ideas was imprisoned and guillotined. The French pushed radical ideas much further than Americans ever did, as evidenced when Louis XVI was sentenced to a beheading by the Committee of Public Safety. When he decided to help America, it was out of spite for France’s old enemy, Britain, but when these ideas of liberty came back to France, it ended in his downfall. The French Revolution also mirrored its American counterpart in the first draft of the Declaration of Rights of Man, which took inspiration from America’s own Declaration of Independence, but the similarities end there. France would experience a backlash and a long period of changing regimes, but American government would go on after the war to flourish and become the government it is today. For good reason, France is regarded as America’s oldest ally, and without its generals and troops, the revolution could not have succeeded. The all-important Treaty of Alliance sparked a global outcry against Britain, the effects of which led to the American victory in the Revolutionary War, toppled Britain from its throne atop all European powers, and forever changed the balance of power. The outcome of only American troops fighting against England most likely would have resulted in the colonies staying under British control for a number of years. The extent to which France contributed to a colonial victory can be described as this: Without French intervention, America as it is known today would not exist.