In chapter 6 of America a Concise History, I think one of the most important parts is The French Alliance. At the time, France was the most powerful European nation, so they had a lot to offer the Americans. As it says on page 178, "The alliance brought the Americans money, troops, and supplies and changed the conflict from a colonial rebellion to an international war." In my opinion, forming an alliance with France was a necessary move for the Americans to win the war. Would we have won the war if it had not been for the French?
Something else that I noticed in the Henretta reading was on page 183. This page is full of questions about events that happened. It is interesting to think about all of these "what if" questions and their answers. There are always going to be questions about what if someone had done this or that. But what if one the answers to these questions were different, such as, "Why had Howe not ruthlessly pursued Washington's army in 1776?" Would one of these minor things have changed the outcome of the war at all?
In the Skemp reading for this week, one sentence can sum up what is happening. On page 126 it says, "King and country, father and son, were about to go their separate ways." In the reading this week that is exactly what happened. Ben and Will started to drift more and more apart. Both were stubborn men who stuck to their beliefs, unwilling to back down. The same is true for the King and country; ultimately they had to part. What would have happened though, if either Will or Ben had given in and done what the other had wanted?
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When looking at the "what if" questions, it seems like if just one of these scenarios would have actually happened, the tide of the war would have surely shifted. What if the British actually had intelligent generals who kept minimal supplies, did not bring women or children along for the ride, struck quickly, or fought in the winter? What if the British kept a watch or guard during Christmas at Trenton? It is laughable that such a dominant country could make such grave errors to lead to a humiliating defeat. Poor Brits.
I love your point in regards to the "what ifs." And I agree with Mark completely. If one little thing was different, the whole outcome of the war may have been different. You can make tons of what ifs with Ben Franklin too. What if Ben loved candle-making like his father and decided to do that his whole life. How much different would America be without Ben Franklin the amazing diplomat, inventor, etc. etc.
I don't believe that we would have won the war without the French. They aided us in so many ways. It would have been very difficult for us to eventually continue the war had it not been for the food, ammunition, clothing and even the help of their soldiers. Alliances tend to make your group stronger, and your cause more worth it. With the French at our side, we knew we were fighting for something more than just what we wanted. It in turn was a support system, almost saying what we were doing what right. They were the addition that helped get us where we needed to be. Who knows what would have happened without them? We could have won still, or we could had lost. All I know is, I am glad they came to our assistance, whether it was to encourage us or for them to just get land out of the situation. Either way, it was beneficiary and was nothing more than a positive addition to our efforts.
SO very true about the King and country and father and son going their seperate ways. Although Ben and Will are giving an extremely good effort to remain close with eachother, it is bound to happen. They are eachother's enemies. I don't think either of them ever would have given up their beliefs and joined the other side, but if someone did, I think it would be William to leave and join the Patriots.
The French alliance was most definetly a very important event, in fact it may be the main reason that the Colonist won their freedom. I don't think that the Colonist would have outlasted the British without the help of the French. The French gave the Colonist much needed supplies and also gave them more hope and insperation that they could win their freedom.
I think that the British made multiple mistakes that could have vastly changed the outcome of the war. Of course first that comes to mind are the mistakes that Howe made letting Washington's army stick around on the brink of being squashed. He should have pushed the troops on and took care of the Colonist army, instead falling into the colonist suprise attack. Which ended up starting a big swing in Colonist's soldier moral.
If it weren't for the French alliance and the lucky of the Contienental Army there is no way we would have one. If any little thing changed the whole war could (and probably would) have been different.
Without the French, the war would have likely gone on for many many more years, eventually ending in British victory. Don't get me wrong, for how young the colonies were, they put up a heck of a fight. But just as I said, they were young. The colonies were just too new to the world to be a stand alone victor. With all the development going on in the states and all the struggle, I'm sure it was very difficult to focus on the fighting as much as young America would have liked to. Thank goodness for the French, a long time ago.
I completely agree with Emma and with zacahry's comments. Without the French we would have lost or at least would have had to figure out another way to come up with money, supplies, and man power. I also think this will be a key question on the test, because of how much time we've spent talking about it.
You make very good points in this blog. First about the French alliance, I agree, it was huge, and was a big factor in the outcome of the war. Also the "what if?" questions, esp. about Howe taking out Washington's army. If Howe would have just persued Washington and attacked it would have been a huge swing in the war, and potential change in the overall outcome.
The french alliance was a major necessity in order for America to win the war. I',m not sure if America would have won or lost without the French alliance; i think it would have been a different war without france on the American side with an outcome that is too hard to predict. The fact that William and Ben stuck to their own politcal views and did not switch their beliefs to make the other happy was an important part of both Ben and Williams characters. It was important for William and Ben to stick to their own views since they had such different opinions about political issues.
The what if's are always interesting to think about. I don't think that events would have been different if Will had caved in and joined the patriots, however, if Ben had changed his mind and sided with will the revolution would have gone a completely different way. Benjamin Franklin was a major factor in having the french align with colonies and ultimately lead to victory of the colonies.
i think God wanted us to win the war, so he/she made britain make the mistakes for us. just kidding. but seriously, there are a whole lot of things that went in our favor for us to win an unlikely victory. but the same can be said for all wars. ww2 and hitlers invasion of russia for example.
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