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Securing American Independence John Jay and the French Alliance

Frank W. Brecher

Book Code: GM2591

ISBN: 0-313-32591-X

ISBN-13: 978-0-313-32591-5

DOI:

344 pages

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 4/30/2003

List Price: $91.95 (UK Sterling Price: £51.95)

Availability: In Stock

Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

Subjects:

Series Title: Contributions to the Study of World History

Series Number: 105

Awards:

Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2003

Reviews:

Brecher paints a masterful picture of how these two men worked from individual positions and perspectives to create a transformed international landscape in the post-1783 era....this is a must-read. Essential. All academic collections.
—Choice December 2003
Brecher's account of Jay's diplomacy is a valuable contribution to the literature on the Revolution.
—The Historian Spring 2005
[T]he author has marshaled a convincing argument, making this volume a worth contribution to the diplomacy of the American Revolution....The author has focused on an important question in considering the role of John Jay in the foreign policy of the 1780s.
—The Journal of American History December 2004

Description: Veteran diplomat and diplomatic history author Frank Brecher follows the chronology of the American War of Independence, alternating between accounts of the conflict as experienced diplomatically and, in less detail, militarily by the Americans and the French, respectively. In doing so, after summarizing in his preface a highly informed and articulate contemporary analysis of the origins of the Revolution from the perspective of the more conservative elements of the American leadership, of whom John Jay was very much a part, Brecher focuses on the particular experiences of Jay and Vergennes, both in their personal lives and in their politial careers. He describes and compares their respective--and quite different--preparations for their historical activities as peace negotiators, and describes the major developments of the conflict itself as they themselves participated in, and analyzed, them. While Vergennes, the French Foreign Minister, for the first time in his career, remained physically stationary in Versailles, Jay, for the first time in his life as well as career, left the New York region to live in Philadelphia, then Madrid, and finally Paris, before returning as Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1784, after four and a half eventful and personally dramatic years abroad. The lessons each of these two diplomats learned as a result of the crucible through which they had to pass before their very personal--and historically important--encounter in France toward war's end very much affected the negotiating strategies they adopted and the ultimatley paradoxical mixture of both triumph and disappoinment with which they helped bring to a succesful conclusion the military phase of an alliance embarked upon by their two nations some five long years earlier. Brecher presents a provocative view of early American diplomacy that will be of interest to scholars and students alike.

Table of Contents:

Preface
Two Determined Diplomats
The Pre-Independence Outlook, 1774-76
From the Declaration of Independence to the Battle of Saratoga
From the French-U.S. Alliance to Spain's Entrance into the War, February 1778-April 1779
From the French-Spanish Alliance of April 1779 Versus England to the Militarily Victorious Year of 1781
1781-82: An American Military Campaign Unexpectedly Changes the Shape of the War
Peace Negotiations, 1782-83
Concluding Assessments
Appendix A: A Contemporary View of Pre-Independence Military Events and Their Consequences
Appendix B: Secretary Livingston's Unsent Analysis of "The Present State of Europe" (December 1781)
Appendix C: For Further Reading
Source Notes

LC Card Number: 2002030749

LCC Class: E302

Dewey Class: 973


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