Headline, May 26 2024/ ''' AMERICA ONCE AMERICA '''

''' AMERICA ONCE

 AMERICA '''

'' AMERICA WAS ONCE THE COUNTRY BEGGING FOR HELP ''. Few 18th century Europeans expected the U.S. ever to play a role on the world stage. And the logic of foreign entanglement with richer allies was the same then as it is now.

EVEN before they declared their independence, it was clear to the American colonies that in their struggle against Great Britain they would need a wealthy benefactor.

The colonies were desperately short of men, money and material. There was little by the way of an American Navy, and barely an engineer on the continent. 

In 1776, the most gifted orator in Congress called for a declaration not by choice but by necessity, ''as the only means by which foreign alliance can be obtained. '' In that light, our founding document nearly qualifies for an SOS.

It was no secret to Congress that France secretly favored the American experiment. With George Washington's Army down to a handful of rounds of powder per man, all eyes turned to Benjamin Franklin.

No one had more experience with the world beyond American shores. Already Franklin had crossed the ocean six times. He was dimly understood to speak French. He sat on the secret committee that had dispatched an earlier envoy to Paris.

The unanimous choice on one-side of the ocean, he was the ideal choice on the other. Celebrated across Europe as a tamer of lightning, Franklin met in Paris streets with cheering crowds and theater's with thunderous ovations.

His celebrity assisted little with his clandestine mission, however. The French government could not openly receive him without provoking their powerful rival, Great Britain.

Eager though he was to shrink the British sphere of influence, The French foreign minister, the Comte de-Vergennes, was unimpressed by the Americans. He doubted their resolve for the task at hand, a fear in which the British ambassador in Paris played, advertising the colonists as a cowardly band of thieves and muggers.

Vergennes was less impressed still by General Washington. He seemed to proceed from defeat to defeat.

In America, too, there remained varying degrees of discomfort with the idea of a foreign partner. John Jay hoped to win the war without French involvement of any kind. John Adams hoped to win the war without French troops. Franklin hoped to win the war.

Though he knew the situation to be dire, he waged in Paris a war of disinformation. The farther the British penetrated the continent, Franklin cowed, the more resistance they would meet. He boasted that Washington would soon command a force of 80,000 expertly trained men.

The truth was closer to 14,000 amateurs, beset by desertions, discontent and disease. You would think we might have destroyed General Howe's forces by now, the financier Robert Morris wrote to Franklin,  '' and undoubtedly should have an army to do it.''

As France waited for an American army on which to bank and Washington waited for French aid with which he might deliver a victory, Franklin solicited secret arms, arranging for their covert dispatch to America.

With whispers of munition sales swirling around Paris, the British ambassador raced to Versailles for an explanation. What was all that French equipment doing in America? Could a shipment of 30,000 muskets, 5,000 tents, 60 cannons and 400 tons of gunpowder truly be said to represent a gift from a nation at peace? Britain would not tolerate such subterfuges.

He made it his business to discredit the colonists in the drawing rooms of Paris. The French, he assured everyone who would listen, would soon tire of and abandon the ruffians on the other side of the ocean.

Vergennes recognized the British strategy for what it was : They were leading the Americans to despair by crushing their hopes for French support.

The Continental Army's victory at Saratoga changed everything. In February 1778, France and America entered into an official alliance : Franklin could at least deal openly with Versailles.

At one point he submitted a 38-page shopping list. Along with a frigate and a ship of the line, Congress requested clarinets and trumpets, paint and thimbles. Vergennes was floored by the scale of the demand, reminding Franklin that it was equivalent to one-tenth of the French government's annual budget.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Analysis and Global Operational Historical Research on The Rise of this Great Nation U.S. continues. The World Students Society thanks Stacy Schiff for his Opinion.

With most loving and respectful dedication to the People and Nation of America, and then Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. SeeYou all prepare for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society, lovingly and respectfully called !WOW! : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

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