The americans were at odds with britain because of neutral rights. The news of the decapitation of louis the sixteenth encouraged them to declare neutrality, which went absolutely against their treaty with a france. And what they began to do was that h britain and the united states, in various ways, tacitly supported each other,. particularly in the caribbean. France essentially gained nothing, which meant that they started then going after America's ships and privateers. Within not very long time, you had a poor united states spinning between britains and francs - being attacked by both. But this causes a debate about 17 78 treaty and the governing party's position
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the treaties France entered into with the United States of America in 1778, to give open support to the USA in its revolutionary war against Britain and to promote French trade across the Atlantic. This alliance had profound consequences for all three. The French navy, in particular, played a decisive role in the Americans’ victory in their revolution, but the great cost of supporting this overseas war fell on French taxpayers, highlighting the need for reforms which in turn led to the French Revolution. Then, when France looked to its American ally for support in the new French revolutionary wars with Britain, Americans had to choose where their longer term interests lay, and they turned back from the France that had supported them to the Britain they had just been fighting, and France and the USA fell into undeclared war at sea.
The image above is a detail of Bataille de Yorktown by Auguste Couder, with Rochambeau commanding the French expeditionary force in 1781
With
Frank Cogliano
Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh
Kathleen Burk
Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London
And
Michael Rapport
Reader in Modern European History at the University of Glasgow
Producer: Simon Tillotson