There was little confidence in America’s capacity for war with Great Britain. The 13 fledgling states were militarily insignificant, their populations small and their economies too underdeveloped to engage in a prolonged conflict with a global superpower like England. There was no tradition of standing armies in America, only untrained and poorly armed local militias.
Since mercantilist laws had required America to purchase most of its manufactured goods and weaponry from Britain, these supplies ceased after the outbreak of war. Colonial America’s agrarian economy had little capacity for making war supplies like muskets, cannon, cannonballs, gunpowder and other requisites of war. These things would have to be stolen from the British in raids or purchased from abroad.
Obtaining support from abroad was essential to the Americans for overcoming these obstacles. This was quickly realised by the delegates of the second Continental Congress, who had passed the Declaration of Independence for the benefit of potential allies as much as for their own people.
Congress sent emissaries from America to all corners of Europe, seeking political, materiel and preferably military support in their struggle for freedom. It sent many of its most experienced men: Benjamin Franklin to France, John Jay to Spain and John Adams to Holland were the best-known of these diplomatic appointments.
Congress also looked for help from more unlikely sources, such as a futile attempt to obtain help from Russia. Francis Dana, unable to speak Russian, lingered in St Petersburg for two years, largely ignored and achieving almost nothing.
“[For European nations] the prime objective in relations with the rebellious colonies and with the young United States was to use them to redress the balance of power in Europe. Hence the first objective of French diplomacy was to guarantee independence. A second prime objective of French diplomacy was to hitch America to the French wagon.”
Herbert Aptheker, historian
It was not until 1777 and beyond, when America’s fortunes in the war began to improve, that foreign leaders began to seriously contemplate direct involvement in the Revolutionary War. A critical alliance with France finally came in 1778, largely the work of Benjamin Franklin, who had become enormously popular in Paris and Versailles.
A scientific genius in the guise of a plain-spoken commoner, Franklin’s image appeared in artwork, on coins, watches and brooches. It became fashionable to invite him to balls and parties, and his rough charm even won the approval of the stuffy queen, Marie Antoinette. He forged a friendship with Comte de Vergennes, and together they were able to convince the king that the interests of both nations would be advanced if the British were removed from America.
These alliances, sealed through the charisma and determined diplomacy of men like Franklin, Jay and Adams, transformed the Revolutionary War from an isolated colonial conflict into a world war.
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