A Declaration of Independence, or a Declaration of Love?

Centuries before America could lay claim to saving France in the Second World War, the French nation entered the American Revolutionary War and potentially changed the trajectory of the bitter conflict with its mother country. But how was this facilitated? Was the Declaration of Independence more of a declaration of love, a wooing of a nation with a common enemy in the form of Britain?

Having lost the Seven Years’ War, France was not a happy little empire. The colonial disaffection being demonstrated in the American colonies was not necessarily to France’s benefit but the temptation of sticking it to the British proved too great, and France signed a Treaty of Alliance with the Thirteen United States of America in 1778. 

However, this belies the fact that France had a finger in the tumultuous revolutionary pie from much earlier on. France had taken the opportunity to aid the American cause starting with secret negotiations, with Silas Deane travelling there in March 1776. He was to stress the need for military stores and the French obliged, providing secret aid in return for American trade. This aid proved indispensable in the Battle of Saratoga, but the Declaration allowed France the opportunity to escalate their opposition to the British by recognising the colonies’ independence and signing said formal treaty, giving the Americans the legitimacy they sought.

Thomas Paine detailed many of these globally-minded reasons for declaring independence in his Common Sense: foreign powers could not intervene while the colonies still remained ‘the subject of Great Britain’, or if it simply enabled them to return to Britain’s sphere of influence, or if they continued being seen as nothing more than mere rebels. In sum, the Declaration was precisely what Paine and others had come to see as a necessity, and the enabling of France’s formal entry into the fray had been relied upon as a natural consequence.

The negotiations between the Americans and France were detailed by double-agent Edward Bancroft, whose help had at first been enlisted by America but who turned away after feeling alarmed and disillusioned at the thought of a larger war against Britain. His ‘narrative’, written on 14 Aug 1776, was sent to Britain to inform them of all that had taken place, and nicely describes the interplay in which the Declaration and the lure of American independence was used to get France on board.

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A compelling narrative indeed. France had much to consider before it joined the Americans as an ally, no doubt, but it's clear that the Declaration of Independence and the birth of a new nation allowed the French to view their new partners as equals. When Homer Simpson becomes inadvertently employed by the world's best boss and genius super villain, Hank Scorpio, he gets asked which is his least favourite country, "France or Italy?" Homer picks France immediately, no second thoughts, with Hank giving a knowing chuckle: "Nobody ever says Italy". But perhaps the unlikely historical love affair between these two countries will one day change that.

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