On what date did the United States and France sign the Treaty of Alliance of 1778?

The United States and France signed the Treaty of Alliance on February 6, 1778.

The agreement was concluded in Paris during the American Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin, Arthur Lee, and Silas Deane signed for the United States, while Conrad Alexandre Gérard signed for France. The treaty created a defensive military alliance and formalized French support for American independence.

It followed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, signed the same day. That companion agreement established commercial relations and marked France’s formal recognition of the United States as a sovereign nation. The alliance treaty required cooperation if Britain attacked French or American interests and restricted either side from making a separate peace with Britain.

France notified Britain of the treaties on March 13, 1778, and Britain declared war on France four days later. French troops, ships, weapons, money, and supplies then became central to the American war effort. The alliance was later annulled by the United States in 1798 during tensions with revolutionary France.