CLEP U.S. History I 029: Military Turning Points and the French Alliance

After defeat around New York in 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware and attacked Hessian troops at Trenton, then struck Princeton. These small victories restored morale. In 1777, British General John Burgoyne advanced from Canada expecting support that did not arrive. American forces surrounded him near Saratoga. His surrender was the important diplomatic turning point because it convinced France that the American rebellion could survive.

France recognized the United States and entered a formal alliance in 1778, supplying money, arms, troops, and naval power. Spain joined the war against Britain as France’s ally, not as a formal U.S. Ally, and fought along the Gulf Coast and Mississippi. The Netherlands also became involved. Britain now faced a global imperial war, which dispersed its military resources.

The winter at Valley Forge did not produce the army from nothing, but it exposed supply failures and tested endurance. Baron von Steuben’s training improved standardized drill, while Nathanael Greene and others helped administration. War in the South became brutal civil conflict among patriots, Loyalists, and militias. American victory came through endurance, foreign intervention, local support, British mistakes, and the difficulty of occupying a vast rebellious territory.

A focused video lesson

This American Battlefield Trust lesson supplies a second explanation of the same period. Note where chronology, cause, and perspective connect.

Video: America's Alliance with France: The Revolutionary War In4 Minutes, American Battlefield Trust.