1778 - Political Events

Political Events

News of General Burgoyne's defeat last autumn thrills Paris, which has for 2 years been secretly supplying money and supplies to the American revolutionists. France's Bourbon monarchy recognizes American independence and formalizes its commitment to helping the colonists defeat their British overlords. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce signed February 6 along with the Treaty of Alliance delights Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Virginia-born diplomat Arthur Lee, now 37, who joined Franklin and Deane at Paris in December, having been appointed in place of Thomas Jefferson (who declined). Lee has charged Deane with disloyalty and embezzlement, and Deane soon returns to Philadelphia to answer the accusations that will eventually be proved false. The Treaty of Alliance stipulates American independence as a condition of peace and requires French and American concurrence in any peace agreement.

John Paul Jones sails his ship Ranger into France's Quiberon Bay February 14 and exchanges gun salutes with Admiral Le Motte Piquet—the first time that a foreign government has officially recognized the Stars and Stripes (see 1777; 1779).

Former British prime minister Viscount William Pitt, earl of Chatham, comes down to the House of Lords April 2 and speaks a few words that win a majority vote against adopting a peace-at-any-price measure, rises again to reply to a query, but falls back exhausted into the arms of friends and dies at London May 11 at age 69. The "Elder Pitt" is honored with a state funeral and a statue in Westminster Abbey, the government appropriates £20,000 to pay his debts, and it confers an annual pension of £4,000 on his descendants.

The Second Continental Congress ratifies the treaties with France May 4 and is so assured by the French alliance that it rejects British peace offers in mid-June.

The Battle of Monmouth June 28 ends in a victory for General Washington, whose army of 11,000 was reduced to 8,000 by hunger, illness, and exposure in winter quarters at Valley Forge. The troops have been drilled at Valley Forge by Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, 46, a Prussian general who performs valuable service. General Charles Lee has gained release from British custody in April, having been exchanged for the recently captured British general Richard Prescott (see 1776). After visiting Philadelphia to complain to the Continental Congress about his lack of promotion he went to Valley Forge and regained his command in May. Lee reluctantly agrees to lead the American attack at the Battle of Monmouth but begins a retreat in the heat of battle; General Washington intervenes to save the day. "Molly Pitcher" gains her soubriquet by carrying water to tired and wounded Continental Army troops; when her husband, George McCauley, is overcome by heat, Mary Hays McCauley (née Ludwig), 23, takes over his cannon and uses it to good effect through the rest of the battle. General Washington gives her the rank of sergeant in the Continental Army. Lee is court-martialed July 4, found guilty August 12, and suspended for 12 months.

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George Washington avoided pitched battles but he beat the British at Monmouth with help from "Molly Pitcher."

The Second Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation July 9.

French warships begin attacking British ships in July, implementing the treaties signed with the Americans in February.

Britain's Shawnee allies kidnap pioneer Daniel Boone, but George Rogers Clark takes the French settlement of Kaskaskia by surprise July 4 and shows them evidence that France has allied herself with the American cause (see 1777). He meets with the tribal chiefs of the upper Illinois area, persuades them that they are being used by the British, and impresses them with his audacity. Clark goes on to take Cahokia and Vincennes, but the British retake Vincennes December 17 (see 1779).

British Loyalists (Tories) and their Native American allies massacre 360 settlers in Pennsylvania's Wyoming Valley July 3 and in New York's Cherry Valley November 11. Colonel John Butler has led a force of 1,000 Loyalists and Iroquois allies against the 5,000 inhabitants of the Wyoming Valley, about 300 men and boys have left the protection of Fort Forty to stop them, and many of the remaining men, women, and children who escape into the forests die of starvation.

Mohawk and other Iroquois Nation tribesmen from the villages of Unadilla and Oquaga on the Susquehanna River follow Chief Joseph Brant against the Americans and destroy German Flats near Herkimer, New York, September 17. Americans under the command of Colonel William Butler retaliate October 8 and 10, destroying the Indian villages.

Some 3,000 British troops sail from New York for Georgia November 9 under the command of Lieut. Col. Archibald Campbell, who was released by the Americans May 6 in exchange for Ethan Allen and received orders for the expedition November 8 (see 1776). His men take Savannah December 29 (see 1779).

Spain's cortes enacts a law that abolishes the 50-year-old Caracas Company (Compañia Gupuzcoana) that has governed Venezuela (see 1749; 1797).

The War of the Bavarian Succession begins in July as Prussia's Friedrich II (the Great) invades Bohemia. The elector Palatine has been persuaded to recognize some old Austrian claims to Lower Bavaria and part of the Upper Palatine in the January Treaty of Vienna (see 1777), Austrian troops have occupied Lower Bavaria, but Friedrich has persuaded the elector to renounce Austrian claims and persuaded Saxony and Mecklenburg to join him in opposing the emperor Josef II (see 1779).

Bengal's governor Warren Hastings takes Chandernagor, Pondichéry, and Mahe in the continuing Anglo-Maratha War (see 1776; 1779).

Siamese forces invade the Burmese-held Laotian kingdoms of Luang Prabang and Vien Chan (see 1752); by 1782 there will be Siamese commissioners in both kingdoms and in Champassak as well, they will be obliged to pay tribute to Bangkok, and Bangkok will appoint their kings (see 1805).