How Did King Louis Xvi Contribute To The American Revolution

French King and Great Contributor to the American Revolution
King Louis XVI was a great contributor to the American Revolution, sending supplies and troops to the colonies. King Louis XVI was born in 1754 and was pronounced king of France when he succeeded his grandfather in 1774. Even though some consider King Louis to just be a contributor he was one of the key people that led to colonial victory over the British. The support King Louis gave to the colonists led to the crucial victory in Yorktown when he sent his naval fleet to prevent the British from evacuating their troops. By signing the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance, King Louis XVI contributed many supplies and much needed military support to the thirteen colonies

On February 6, 1778 the French drafted and signed the two treaties. In doing so, France was officially declaring the colonies a separate nation from Britain and recognizing them as the United States. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed by King Louis XVI because he realized that it would benefit not only America but France as well because the trade would help strengthen and boost France and its economy. (Malloy 479) Despite the fact that King Louis signed the treaties, he and many ministers and citizens in France had a hard time with wanting to openly support the American’s Revolution. The one minister who had the utmost trouble with the signing of the treaties was Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, who was the French Foreign Minister. It was Gravier that generally stayed King Louis hand when it came to signing the treaties and continued to do so until 1778. Even though King Louis was secretly supporting the colonists’ efforts for several years, it wasn’t until 1778 that he was willing to do so officially. For King Louis, he did not want to back a potentially losing cause. He needed to feel assured that the Revolution would succeed before fully supporting it. It was only after the colonists defeated the British at Saratoga in October 1777 that King Louis decided to publically back them. However, it was

King Louis expected the United States to make France its primary trading partner, which did not happen. Soon after hostilities had ended Britain became the United States’ main trading partner. Due to this, the debts measured by France accumulated. This put France into a large pit of debt. There was no way to get out of it without angering the residents of France. However, the method that King Louis XVI decided to use to try to get France out of its debt was, in a sense, British. This is because King Louis’s system was to tax his subjects very heavily and he taxed almost everything, which completely infuriated the French population. They began to feel just like the colonists had after the continuous British taxation. Unfortunately for King Louis, the French population learned from the struggles of the colonists and from their fight with the British. The American Revolution steered the French toward, and inspired them, to start a Revolution against their controlling Monarchy. The start of this French Revolution eventually headed on the road to the trial and execution of King Louis XVI in