Editing American Revolution (section)

===American alliances after 1778===
{{main|Diplomacy in the American Revolutionary War}}
{{Further|France in the American Revolutionary War|Spain in the American Revolutionary War|Carlisle Peace Commission}}
{{see also|First League of Armed Neutrality}}
[[File:Us_unabhaengigkeitskrieg.jpg|thumb|[[Hessian (soldiers)|Hessian]] troops hired out to the British by their [[Germany|German]] sovereigns]]
[[Battles of Saratoga|The capture of a British army at Saratoga]] encouraged the French to formally enter the war in support of Congress, and Benjamin Franklin negotiated a permanent military alliance in early 1778; France thus became the first foreign nation to officially recognize the Declaration of Independence. On February 6, 1778, the United States and France signed the [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (USA–France)|Treaty of Amity and Commerce]] and the [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|Treaty of Alliance]].<ref name="Hamilton, 1974 p. 28">Hamilton, ''The Papers of Alexander Hamilton'' (1974) p. 28</ref> [[William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham|William Pitt]] spoke out in Parliament urging Britain to make peace in America and to unite with America against France, while British politicians who had sympathized with colonial grievances now turned against the Americans for allying with Britain's rival and enemy.<ref>Stanley Weintraub, ''Iron Tears: America's Battle for Freedom, Britain's Quagmire, 1775–1783'' (2005) p. 151</ref>

The Spanish and the Dutch became allies of the French in 1779 and 1780 respectively, forcing the British to fight a global war without major allies, and requiring it to slip through a combined blockade of the Atlantic. Britain began to view the American war for independence as merely one front in a wider war,<ref>Mackesy, ''The War for America'' (1993) p. 568</ref> and the British chose to withdraw troops from America to reinforce the British colonies in the Caribbean, which were under threat of Spanish or French invasion. British commander Sir [[Henry Clinton (American War of Independence)|Henry Clinton]] evacuated Philadelphia and returned to New York City.  Washington intercepted him in the [[Battle of Monmouth|Battle of Monmouth Court House]], the last major battle fought in the north. After an inconclusive engagement, the British retreated to New York City. The northern war subsequently became a stalemate, as the focus of attention shifted to the smaller southern theater.<ref name="Higginbotham, 1983 p. 83">Higginbotham, ''The War of American Independence'' (1983) p. 83</ref>