TheTreaty of Amity and Commerce established formal diplomatic and commercial relations between theUnited States andFrance during theAmerican Revolutionary War. It was signed on February 6, 1778, in Paris, together with its sister agreement, theTreaty of Alliance, and a separate, secret clause allowingSpain and other European nations to join the alliance.[1][2][3] These were the firsttreaties negotiated by thefledgling United States, and theresulting alliance proved pivotal to American victory in the war;[4] the agreements are sometimes collectively known as theFranco-American Alliance[3] or theTreaties of Alliance.[5]
The Treaty of Amity and Commerce recognized the independence of the U.S. and established mutualcommercial and navigation rights between the two nations; it served as an alternative to the BritishNavigation Acts, which restricted American access to foreign markets. The Treaty of Alliance established amutual defense pact, forbidding either nation from making a separate peace with Britain, and guaranteeing French support for the Americans should the British violate their peace with France.[6]
Due to the critical material, financial, and military support secured by the treaties, their successful negotiation is considered the "single most important diplomatic success of the colonists".[7][8] However, later complications with the Treaty of Alliance led to America forgoing any formalmilitary alliance until theDeclaration by United Nations in 1942.
Early in 1776, as members of theSecond Continental Congress began to move closer todeclaring independence from Britain, leading American statesmen began to consider the benefits of forming foreign alliances to assist in theirrebellion against theBritish Crown.[9] The most obvious potential ally was France, a long-time enemy and colonial rival of Britain who had lost much of their colonial possessions in the Americas after theFrench and Indian War. As a result,John Adams began drafting conditions for a possible commercial treaty between France and the future independent colonies of the United States, which declined the presence of French troops and any aspect of French authority in colonial affairs.[9] Congress sentSilas Deane to France to negotiate.
On September 25 the Continental Congress orderedBenjamin Franklin andArthur Lee to seek a treaty with France based upon Adams's draft treaty that had later been formalized into aModel Treaty which sought the establishment of reciprocal trade relations with France but declined to mention any possible military assistance from the French government.[10] Despite orders to seek no direct military assistance from France, the American commissioners were instructed to work to acquiremost favored nation trading relations with France, along with additional military aid, and also encouraged to reassure any Spanish delegates that the United States had no desire to acquire Spanish lands in the Americas, in the hopes that Spain would in turn enter a Franco-American alliance.[9]
Despite an original openness to the alliance, after word of theDeclaration of Independence and a British evacuation of Boston reached France, the French Foreign Minister,Comte de Vergennes, put off signing a formal alliance with the United States after receiving news of British victories over American GeneralGeorge Washington in New York.[10] With the help of theCommittee of Secret Correspondence, established by the Continental Congress to promote the American cause in France, and his standing as a model ofrepublican simplicity within French society, Benjamin Franklin was able to gain a secret loan andclandestine military assistance from the Foreign Minister but was forced to put off negotiations on a formal alliance while the French government negotiated a possible alliance with Spain.[10]
With the American victory at theBattles of Saratoga and growing rumors of secret British peace offers to Franklin, France sought to seize an opportunity to take advantage of the rebellion and abandoned negotiations with Spain to begin discussions with the United States on a formal alliance.[10] With official approval to begin negotiations on a formal alliance given by KingLouis XVI, the colonies turned down a British proposal for reconciliation in January 1778 and began negotiations that would result in the signing of theTreaty of Alliance and Treaty of Amity and Commerce.[11]
The treaty established a comprehensive framework for mutual diplomatic, commercial, and navigational cooperation.[12]
The Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed on February 6, 1778, at theHôtel de Crillon by American delegatesBenjamin Franklin,Silas Deane, andArthur Lee, and the French representative to the U.S.,Conrad Alexandre Gérard de Rayneva.[13]
Congress received the signed text on May 2, 1778, and ratified it on May 4, 1778, by unanimous vote; not all states were represented in the vote, asNew Hampshire andNorth Carolina were absent while the attendance ofDelaware andMassachusetts are uncertain. Urgency overrode the necessity of having all thirteen states ratify the document.[14]
The Treaty was ratified by France on July 16, 1778.[15]
On September 1, 1778, Congress formally expunged Articles 11 and 12, which dealt withimport duties and exportation ofmolasses, respectively. Upon the Treaty's first printing in France the following month, references to these articles were removed, and all subsequent articles were renumbered.[16]
While France had aided the colonists as early as June 1775, its support was largely clandestine and led by envoys and donors acting in their individual capacities. Along with the Treaty of Alliance, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce resulted in substantial and full-fledged support of the American cause,[5] in the form of loans, military equipment, naval forces, technical and strategic assistance, and manpower.[17] Aside from the direct strategic benefits, French recognition served to turn an "otherwise lopsided colonial rebellion" into a larger conflict, as France was the only nation roughly on parity with Britain.[17] Open diplomatic support by the leading power of continental Europe also served to legitimatize the newly emerging United States, which in turn would invite other nations to recognize American independence and provide aid.[18]
Shortly after the treaties were signed, French aid grew significantly and substantively. Over 12,000 soldiers, 22,000 sailors, and 63 warships served in the rebellion. Military leaders such asLafayette andComte de Rochambeau played a decisive role in the American victories at theChesapeake and atYorktown, which together hastened the end of the conflict. France played a leading role in brokering the1783 Treaty of Paris that formally ended the war and led tode jure American independence; pursuant to the Treaty of Alliance, only when Britain and France settled their differences did the United States sign the Treaty of Paris.[17]
