USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Treaty of Amity and Commerce promoted trade between the United States and France and recognized the United States as an independent nation. Between 1778 and 1782 the French provided supplies, arms and ammunition, uniforms, and, most importantly, troops and naval support to the beleaguered Continental Army.

Detailed explanation-2: -Some of this aid came in the form of 20-year-old French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, who paid his way to America in 1777 to fight with distinction for the Continental army as a major general in Washington’s command.

Detailed explanation-3: -The British had won the French and Indian War. They took control of the lands that had been claimed by France (see below). France lost its mainland possessions to North America. Britain now claimed all the land from the east coast of North America to the Mississippi River.

Detailed explanation-4: -Later in the Revolutionary War, French soldiers and sailors were instrumental in the victory of the United States. Officers like the Comte de Rochambeau and the Comte de Grasse led the French land and sea forces that made possible Washington’s victory at Yorktown in 1781.

Detailed explanation-5: -France, Spain and the Dutch Republic helped to make it possible for the American colonies to sustain the war, and in Yorktown, the French played a critical role in the victory by using their navy to block British ships that would have evacuated Cornwallis and his troops from Virginia.