The Quasi-War was an undeclared naval war fought from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States.
Left: USS Constellation vs L'Insurgente; right: U.S. Marines from USS Constitution boarding and capturing French privateer Sandwich
Image: USS Constellation Vs Insurgente
Benjamin Stoddert, United States Secretary of the Navy
A 20th-century illustration depicting United States Marines escorting French prisoners
Treaty of Alliance (1778)
The Treaty of Alliance, also known as the Franco-American Treaty, was a defensive alliance between the Kingdom of France and the United States formed amid the American Revolutionary War with Great Britain. It was signed by delegates of King Louis XVI and the Second Continental Congress in Paris on February 6, 1778, along with the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and a secret clause providing for the entry of other European allies; together these instruments are sometimes known as the Franco-American Alliance or the Treaties of Alliance. The agreements marked the official entry of the United States on the world stage, and formalized French recognition and support of U.S. independence that was to be decisive in America's victory.
Benjamin Franklin's celebrity-like status in France helped win French support for the United States during the American Revolutionary War.
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, 1820
Image: Franco American treaty of alliance 6 feb 1778
Image: Franco American treaty 1778
