French aid, began in 1778 with a treaty came in the form of GUNS and other much needed supplies. These supplies proved vital in the American push to extend the war. French troops joined the war in 1778 in an attack on Newport, Rhode Island.
The Spanish joined in 1779 over a dispute with Britain over the Gibraltar. The Dutch joined following a dispute over terms of neutrality with the British.
The Spanish contributed mainly in the form of their powerful navy. They helped by causing the British to divert troops to other locations such as Gibraltar where they sieged it for 4 years though unsuccessfully. Spain also contributed gold and silver.
The Dutch also contributed in the form of their navy. Their contibutions were mainly in India. They, along with the French fought the British because all three had outposts there. The Dutch also contributed goods and money.
In 1780 the Armed Neutrality was formed by Catherine the Great, it included Denmark-Norway, Sweden, the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, Portugal, and the Two Siciles.
In 1781, Admiral De Grasse and Rochambeau of the French helped defeat the British at the Battle of Yorktown. This was the most important French contribution.
Both France and Spain received territorial gains when America won its independence.
France gained Tobago, Saint Lucia, the Senegal River area, and fishing rights in Terra Nova. Spain gained Minorca and Florida.
Overall, the French made the biggest contributions to the Americans lending them money, men, and supplies. They also contributed ships and helped the Americans build up their meager navy. They made telling contributions on all fronts of the war. The Spanish helped with their navy and movey and contributed in the South and in Minorca. The Dutch contributed their navy, goods, and money and fought the British in India. Contributions by the Spanish and the Dutch have sadly been overlooked. The Spanish played a pretty crucial role in our independence. As is common, British stupidity is evident here. They forced both the Spanish and the Dutch to join up with the French in the cause of American Independence.
12 comments:
The Europeans did create a huge impact on the war in our favor. good post.
The American Revolution is so poorly named it's not even funny. Personally, I think they should have called it the War of Beating up Britain...it has nice alliteration and everything! Anyway, the contributions of other European nations (except maybe France) are often overlooked, and this is kind of sad, because Spain and Holland especially were crucial to the eventual American victory...I enjoyed reading your post.
I had no idea that all those nations helped us! Britain was really good at making everybody angry. You'd think that they could get it together and be nice to somebody for one second so they wouldn't have a war on so many fronts.
Great information, the book overlooked all of this!
Zac, good post. Nice opening picture. Thanks for putting this together.
I knew France played a large role in foreign aid to the Americans. I did not know much about Holland's or Spain's role though.
Good Job.
This is very good summary of all the help Americans recieved during the Revolution... which, I agree with Matthew, is very poorly named. It seems more like the real First World war! After all, the Americans were barely surviving at the point they began recieving European aid... and a scary thought to wonder is what if the Europeans had turned their backs???
Yayyy! Whitehawk decide not to scalp because whitehawk like opening picture. whitehawk learned much about spain. whitehawk decide to go noodle.
PS chief greeneagle like big guns
So before I read this chapter/post, I pretty much thought the was was America vs. Britain. It's crazy how absolutely NOT true that is. Thanks for posting this, it was really interesting!
Can I just tell you that your minigun picture is now my background? Dude that's insane! Ha i like your post. It actually helped jog my memory on France and Spain quite well. Nice job!
We sure couldn't have done it without help!Good job!I always remember that France helped us, but it seems insane that we had the whole world cheering for us and helping us out.
Thank you Zac,
The book never really covered what the Spanish did to support the war effort. It only mentioned that they were there and that the French pulled them into the war.
By the way, Picture 1
-"How many guns do you need exactly? 'Cause if things go according to plan, we should not even need them."
-"Well, when have things exactly gone as planned?"
-"............No Grenades."
-"Awwwww"
From Serenity
Wow the last 16 years of my life have been a lie. Where in the world have spain and holland been hiding all these years
I agree. Spain and Holland need to get their butts out of the Revolutionary War!! EVERYTHING I KNOW IS A LIE!!!!!!!!
Opening pic rocks by the way
Great post
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