sourced story
6 February 1778Primary source · 2 sourcesWell documented

France and America Sign a Formal Alliance

Franklin, Deane, and Lee secure the treaty that turns a colonial revolt into a world war

On the timeline · around 6 February 1778 · The War for IndependenceThe War for IndependenceFrance and America Sign a Formal Alliance177717781779

Quick facts

Location
Paris, France
Date
6 February 1778
American signers
Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, Arthur Lee
Key term
Neither party makes separate peace until American independence is secured

What happened

On 6 February 1778, American commissioners Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee signed a Treaty of Alliance with France in Paris, formalizing the support France had informally extended since Saratoga convinced Louis XVI's court that American independence was achievable. The treaty bound both nations not to make a separate peace with Britain until American independence was secured, and it followed a companion Treaty of Amity and Commerce signed the same day. France, still recovering from its defeat in the Seven Years' War, saw the alliance as a chance to weaken its rival.

Why it matters

French support brought money, arms, and eventually a full navy and army into the war, transforming a colonial rebellion into a global conflict that stretched British resources across the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and India. The French fleet and army would prove decisive four years later at Yorktown, where French ships blocked a British evacuation by sea.

How we know

The Library of Congress holds the treaty's text, digitized by the American Battlefield Trust from the original 1778 document.

Sources

See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.

Part of a timelineThe American Revolution30 events · How a tax dispute among British colonists became a war for independence and a new republicView all →
France and America Sign a Formal Alliance · The American Revolution · SourcedStory