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Article: France America's foreign friend: two mighty navies--the French and the British--faced one another at the Battle of the Capes in September 1781. The outcome of this naval battle helped determine what ultimately would happen at the siege of Yorktown.
- Article from:
- Cobblestone
- Article date:
- October 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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America could not have won the Revolutionary War on its own. Fortunately for this nation struggling for its freedom, France provided the necessities: money, more troops, and supplies.
Efforts to gain French support for an independent America had begun in March 1776, when the Continental Congress sent diplomat Silas Deane to France. Public official, writer, and scientist Benjamin Franklin, as well as diplomat Arthur Lee, joined Deane later that year. Together, they persuaded the dramatist Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais to help arrange for the French to secretly send guns, uniforms, and other supplies to the Americans. They also began meeting with the Comte ...