Desribe the objectives, actions, and results of American diplomacy during the American Revolution.
When the Continental Congress declared United States independence from England in 1776 the members understood the military weakness of the colonies versus the might of the most powerful nation in the world. Thus the primary objective of American diplomacy during the revolution was to secure foreign recognition, economic aid, and, if possible, a military alliance with a powerful European nation. Without such aid the cause of American independence was doomed.
Toward the goal of securing aid and recognition the Congress immediately dispatched diplomatic emissaries to those European powers who were commercial and national rivals of England. While Holland and Spain did lend some support to the American side, the bulk of the money, materials, and military aid came from France. Smarting after its humiliating defeat at England's hands in the 7-Years War, France welcomed any chance to avenge itself. The struggle for American independence provided such an opportunity for France.
Benjamin Franklin (one of three American emissaries - Arthur Lee and Silas Deane being the other two) was a shrewd diplomat and an excellent choice to serve as the main United States negotiator with France. He played the role of "homespun philosopher" and the type of "enlightenment man" the French court desired. While France had previously provided aid to the American colonies covertly through shipping tons of needed military supplies, the French were reluctant to take any overt action. Franklin's plea for official recognition of American independence, and even outright military aid went unheeded until American forces proved they could defeat an English army.
The American military victory over General Burgoyne at Saratoga, New York in 1777 provided Franklin with the diplomatic leverage he needed. He shrewdly hinted to the French foreign minister, Comte de Vergennes, that if no additional French assistance were given the Americans might seriously consider a British peace initiative and conclude an early end to the war. Franklin realized that France would prefer the war to continue so to further drain England militarily and economically. His negotiating ploy succeeded brilliantly with France agreeing to two separate treaties with the United States.
The first of two treaties agreed to in 1778, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, recognized the existence of the new republic and established formal commercial relationship with the United States. Franklin had thus secured the first of his major objectives, diplomatic recognition of the United States. The second treaty, a Treaty of Alliance, was even more significant for the militarily weak new nation. It provided that France would reject peace with England "until the independence of the United States shall have been formally or tacitly assured by the Treaty or Treaties that shall terminate the War."
The United States, in turn, pledged not to negotiate a separate peace treaty with Great Britain without first informing and securing formal consent from France. The tacit understanding was that France and the United States were in the war together until the end. Franklin secured an additional United States advantage when France agreed to surrender any claim to all territory east of the Mississippi River. Franklin's canny diplomacy not only gave the United States the militarily strong ally it needed, but at no loss of territory. The United States did, however, guarantee French possessions in America (the French West Indies, for example) against all powers "forever" thus committing itself to a "permanent foreign entanglement."
With the resulting intervention by France in the American Revolution, England was drawn into a general European war. The focus of English military attention was directed away from the rebellious colonies and toward powerful European rivals. England found itself fighting a war on two continents with the one in Europe becoming more important and the one in America decreasing in significance. Fortunately for the colonies England had "bigger fish to fry." American diplomacy thus succeeded in taking some of the military pressure off of United States forces.
Strengthened by the addition of French troops and portions of the French fleet the United States would, with its new allies, formulate a strategy for capturing a second British army. George Washington, with the assistance of thousands of French troops under Marguis de Lafayette and Comte de Rochambeau, surrounded a British army under General Cornwallis. With his retreat cut off by the French fleet under Comte de Grasse, Cornwallis was forced to surrender his entire army of 6,000 men. While this victory did not mean the military defeat of England in the colonies (the British still controlled New York City and Charleston) it was the last major battle of the revolution.
The real significance of the battle was psychological and political. Under increasing pressure from the war in Europe the England government could not withstand the loss of a second army in the colonies. When British Prime Minister Lord North heard of Cornwallis' surrended he declared, "Oh God! It is all over." Diplomacy, rather than military strategy, dominated the rest of the war. Having decided it must write off the colonies to concentrate on the European war the British government entered into negotiations with the United States.
The American delegation, consisting of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay, carried on secret negotiations with England in violation of the French Alliance. The preliminary agreement signed in 1783 resulted not only in the granting of American independence but in generous boundary settlements with the new nation receiving all the territory east of the Mississippi River. American diplomacy thus was particularly sucessful in securing the objectives of the American Revolution.
(End of essay. You may select another essay from Contents, take a practice Test, or Quit the tutorial.)