USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -On October 26, 1776, exactly one month to the day after being named an agent of a diplomatic commission by the Continental Congress, Benjamin Franklin sets sail from Philadelphia for France, with which he was to negotiate and secure a formal alliance and treaty.

Detailed explanation-2: -Benjamin Franklin’s popularity in France bolstered French support for the American cause. The French public viewed Franklin as a representative of republican simplicity and honesty, an image Franklin cultivated.

Detailed explanation-3: -Franklin served from 1776 to 1778 on a commission to France charged with the critical task of gaining French support for American independence. French aristocrats and intellectuals embraced Franklin as the personification of the New World Enlightenment.

Detailed explanation-4: -The cagey diplomat used that factor, combined with news of the British occupation of Philadelphia, to convince the French to provide financial and eventually military support to the revolutionary effort in America.

Detailed explanation-5: -Saratoga provided the French with the confidence to sign treaties of alliance and trade with the Americans and join the war against the British. The new allies agreed they would continue the war until the colonies were independent, and neither would make a separate peace with Britain.