Editing Jacques Necker (section)

===Impact of the American Revolution===
One of the most significant fiscal issues Necker faced was the [[American Revolutionary War]] and the resulting debt. The war was popular with almost every Frenchman, except Necker.{{sfn|Durant|Durant|1967|p=870}} For the first time, the king waged a war without raising the taxes.{{sfn|Aftalion|1990|p=23}} As France had financed its participation almost exclusively by [[municipal bonds]], Necker warned of the consequences for the French national budget as the war continued. (The war had cost the state already ca. 1.5 billion livres.) The [[Alexandre Marie Léonor de Saint-Mauris de Montbarrey|ministers of War]] and [[Antoine de Sartine|Navy]] were especially hostile towards him.{{sfn|Aftalion|1990|p=24}}

In 1781, Congress appointed [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] as [[Superintendent of Finance of the United States|
Superintendent of Finance]] after the US went bankrupt. In 1783, Morris cut off interest payments to France, its largest foreign creditor. This led Necker to seek funds from elsewhere. [[Nicolaas van Staphorst]] told Necker that the entire French debt might be redeemed without any loss through the Amsterdam capital markets. The Van Staphorsts made an offer for the American bonds. Necker warmed to the proposal but asked for [[collateral (finance)|collateral]] and the sanction of a large investment bank. Necker decided that without collateral or the sanction of a major investment bank, the proposal was not acceptable.<ref name="Veru" />

[[Thomas Jefferson]], who had succeeded Franklin as American minister to France and [[John Adams]] as head of American finance in Europe in 1785, learned about the meeting between the [[Nicolaas van Staphorst|Van Staphorsts']] representatives and the French Minister of Finance only in November 1786, when he received a redacted document describing the Dutch offer from [[Étienne Clavière]], a Genevan banker and pro-America.<ref name="Veru">{{Cite journal |last=Veru |first=Peter Theodore |date=2021-07-15 |title=The French bonds: the little-known bidding war for France's holdings in American debt, 1786–1790 |journal=Financial History Review |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=259–280 |doi=10.1017/S096856502100010X |via=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

The Dutch bankers advanced the treasury sufficient funds to forestall a crisis over the next year. The winter of 1788–89 was one of the bitterest in history. By the summer of 1789, the population suffered from famine. Necker intervened personally and successfully at the Amsterdam bank [[Hope & Co.]] to supply the 'King of France' with grain.<ref name="Buist">{{Cite book |last=Buist |first=Marten Gerbertus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zbIjCQAAQBAJ |title=At Spes non Fracta: Hope & Co. 1770–1815 |date=2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9789401188586 |pages=46}}</ref>{{sfn|d'Haussonville|2004|p=156}} He used the 2.4 million livres in the royal treasury as a collateral.<ref name="Privatleben"/>{{rp|83}}