The French Alliance with the Colonies

At first, the colonies position in the war wasn't very steady. But their luck turned around when the patriots won the batlle at Saratoga. This showed the French, that this was the perfect opportunity for them to weaken an old enemy. During the early years of the war the French secretely supported Continental Troops by shipping the colonists ammunition. After the battle of Saratoga, the friendship of these two took a complete turn. On 1778, Benjamin Franklin and a group of people traveled to Paris, France, to take this to the next level. The Alliance was formed in the middle of the Revolutionary war. France was a potential ally to the Americans due to the rivallry between Britain and France. So when the delegates of The Second Continental Congress met with the delegates of King Louis XVI on February 16, 1778, the alliance was official. The treaty was called, "The Treaty of Alliance."  The first four articles of the alliance established that the war would even out when American and French military join together to make a powerful army such as Britain's. The next 5 articles talked about the terms and policies of past French-British traties. Article 10 was an open invitation for other countries to join the alliance of they wished to. Article 11 talked about land claims, and how the Americans and the French divided the land, and the final article; article 12 included the dates of the treaty, the signatures, and the ratifications. The Treaty was effective until the year 1800, being annulled after King Louis XVI death.