In our time with melvorne bragg is produced by simon tillotson. And if you'd like to hear the in our time on the war of 18 12, you can search for it on b b c sounds. We are rounding off this current third series by going state side and focusing on five great stories from american history. As we get jazzy with the harlem renaissance, enjoy some dry wit in a prohibition era. Discover if the greatest showman, p t Barnum, really was quite so great. Go exploring with the native american heroine, sakujuea, and discover how early America turned itself into a new country.
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