Who negotiated the Franco-American Alliance?

• A. John Jay
• B. Thomas Jefferson
• C. Benjamin Franklin
• D. John Adams

Answer: (C)

Foreign diplomacy during the American Revolution shows how the United States secured foreign aid to sustain the fight. The Franco-American Alliance was negotiated by Benjamin Franklin in Paris in 1778, working with French leaders to formalize a mutual defense and aid pact. Franklin’s standing in France and France’s strategic goal to weaken Britain helped seal the agreement, which provided crucial military support, funds, and naval power for the American cause. This alliance not only legitimized American independence on the world stage but also brought French troops under American command and a decisive naval presence that shifted the balance, contributing to victories like Yorktown. Other American diplomats such as John Jay and John Adams were involved in diplomacy at other times and in different theaters, and Thomas Jefferson would later serve in France but did not negotiate this particular treaty.