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KF5JRV > TODAY 17.12.25 07:45l 31 Lines 1877 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 6400_KD5TCY
Subj: Today in History
Path: IZ3LSV<IK6IHL<IK7NXU<HB9ON<DK0WUE<PD0LPM<VE3CGR<KD5TCY
Sent: 251217/0633Z 6400@KD5TCY.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.23
On December 17, 1777, the French foreign minister, Charles Gravier, count of Vergennes, officially
acknowledges the United States as an independent nation. News of the Continental Army’s overwhelming
victory against the British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga gave Benjamin Franklin new leverage in
his efforts to rally French support for the American rebels. Although the victory occurred in October, news
did not reach France until December 4th.
Franklin had quickly mustered French support upon his arrival in December 1776. France’s humiliating loss
of North America to the British in the Seven Years’ War made the French eager to see an American victory.
However, the French king was reluctant to back the rebels openly. Instead, in May 1776, Louis XVI sent
unofficial aid to the Continental forces and the playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais helped
Franklin organize private assistance for the American cause.
Franklin, who often wore a fur cap, captured the imagination of Parisians as an American man of nature and
his well-known social charms stirred French passions for all things American. He was the toast of Parisian
society, enchanting salons with his wide-ranging knowledge, social graces and witty repartee. Nevertheless,
he was not allowed to appear at court.
It took the impressive and long-awaited victory at Saratoga to convince Louis that the American rebels had
some hope of defeating the British empire. His enthusiasm for the victory paired with the foreign minister’s
concern that the loss of Philadelphia to the British would lead Congress to surrender, gave Franklin two
influential allies with two powerful—if opposing—reasons for officially backing the American cause. A formal
treaty of alliance followed on February 6, 1778.
73 de Scott KF5JRV Pmail:
KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA Email
KF5JRV@gmail.com
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