USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Great Britain had defeated France (with Americans’ help) just 14 years before, in the French and Indian War. The French began offering money, troops, ships, and other aid to assist in the American war effort after Saratoga, and this helped secure an American victory.

Detailed explanation-2: -France provided crucial military support and legitimate recognition of American independence, which strengthened the Americans militarily and politically. The French military intervened at the Battle of Saratoga, effectively saving Americans from decimation at the hands of the British.

Detailed explanation-3: -Aftermath. The American victory in the Battles of Saratoga helped persuade the French to recognize American independence and to openly provide military assistance. It also increased Gates’s popularity-so much so that he was being considered to replace George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.

Detailed explanation-4: -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.