Would America gained her Independence in the Revolutionary War without Frances help?

Question

You do realize I only ask this because there are a lot of Americans who do not support helping Iraq keep her freedom.

How soon they forget History.

Anybody who does concede to the fact that they helped us in a very, very big way with money, guns, and men.. are sadly mistaken.
England had the biggest Navy in the World then, we could not of fought without France.

Answer 1

Quite possibly not.

Benjamin Franklin played a crucial role in getting France to help the US.

Benjamin Franklin should be on Mount Rushmore way before anyone else gets put up there.

Answer 2

Probably not.

France gave us a fortune and I can't see us paying for it any other way. And timing was crucial here. For one must keep in mind that we did not totally defeat the nation of Great Britain. We defeated the armies that they sent to the continent to quell the rebellion. Basically, we caused them enough trouble that the 13 colonies weren't worth fighting for any more. To win, they expected, hoped and needed a quick victory. All such wars are fought in somewhat similar ways

However, your Iraq comparison is a very bad one, at least for it to support the point that you are trying to make.

France did not care about our freedom, they just wanted to stick it to an old rival.

Nor were there thousand of French soldiers dying in the streets of Boston and Philadelphia for years on end.

And you didn't have supporters of John Adams drilling holes into the heads of Benjamin Franklin supporters the whole time either.

Answer 3

Absolutely!

French participation reflected the desperate French diplomatic position on the European continent. The war was a tragic failure for France: American independence failed to weaken Britain. The Battle of Saratoga provided only the occasion for French participation, a policy which had already been decided. The Spanish navy was vital to the maintenance of the military initiative by the allies. France was desperate for peace but did not attempt to betray the United States. The French government was overwhelmed by debt maintenance, but war led to the financial crisis "which provided the immediate occasion for the release of those forces which shattered the French political and social order."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_in_the_American_Revolutionary_War

Answer 4

No, at least not in the manner that we gained it.

I think that somewhere between the two World Wars and the Cold War we've more than repaid the obligation to France though.

Answer 5

Little known history. It wasn't really Frances help. France enlisted the help of former slaves in the Caribbean to help America.

"From around 1774, in the British thirteen colonies of the America, the subjects were fighting against unfair taxation and out of that battle was born on the 4th of July 1776 a new nation, the United States of America, for which Haitian volunteers such as: Henri Christophe, Rigaud, Beauvais among the most famous fought for the cause of American freedom in Savannah, Georgia. French Admiral, Comte D'Estaing brought some of the Haitians to help in the US war of independence after the George Washington's liberation army was almost defeated by the British colonial army. Some of the Haitians fought under the command of famous French General Lafayette. Haitian volunteers also fought under the command of French General Comte De Grace in the famous sea battle of Yorktown, Virginia, one of the most decisive battle in the American war for Independence. "
http://www.heritagekonpa.com/archives/A%20LOOK%20AT%20HAITIAN%20HISTORY%20FROM%20A%20HAITIAN%20PERSPECTIVE.htm
Notable Haitian figures:
King Henri Christophe http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/0/09/180px-HenriChristopheRoi.jpg
Jean Jacques Dessalines ( Link corrected) : http://thelouvertureproject.org/images/thumb/f/f3/Jean_jacques_dessalines_II.jpg/240px-Jean_jacques_dessalines_II.jpg

Answer 6

Iraq is in a civil war, not war with another country. You know, Sunnis and Shiites and insurgents (oh my).

Where was France in 1865?

What?

We fought our own civil war like big boys and girls without anyone else's participation?

AND, everything turned out ok?

What a NOVEL idea!

Answer 7

Only with France's help the colonies were able to break away.

Much of the credit for its involvement has to credited with Ben Franklin, a real dirty old man, that Clinton would have been proud of.

Answer 8

Not in the Revolutionary war. Yo know that hunk of copper in New York? That was sent to us as a sign of goodwill, but also to remind us that the French helped us out during that war and that we are allies.
So the lot of you stop dissing the French.

Answer 9

No, France was the catalyst in our obtaining our independence. There is no way around that, though many Americans don't care to or don't want to know or remember that fact. They say France is ungrateful for our role in saving their butts in WW II, but we have been no more grateful or acknowledging about their role in our struggle for independence.

Answer 10

Probably, but it would have taken longer. Rember the spanish also helped us by raiding and sinking British supplies coming across the Atlantic.