Regarding the rapidly changing foreign affairs situation, Franklin believed that there was no time to wait for orders on how to proceed, nor could they sit idly by and wait for France to make a decision.
They could not allow France to choose the timing of the alliance, because the war of Independence urgently needed allies, and the American soldiers on the front lines could not wait; a victory at Philadelphia alone could not guarantee a smooth path for the war from then on.
For the future of the war of Independence, the delegation unanimously decided to take the initiative immediately.
They needed to put pressure on France, forcing it to feel the urgency of an alliance.
After some consideration, Franklin and the other members of the delegation believed that this pressure could only come from Britain; they had to make a move against the British!
The delegation immediately spread rumors in France that if France did not recognize American independence, the United States would reconcile with Britain and join Britain in a war to conquer the islands held by France and Spain in the West Indies.
This was not groundless; before and after the outbreak of the war of Independence, Americans had never abandoned the idea of a peaceful resolution to the independence issue.
The current delegation to France itself had the political mission of concluding a peace treaty with Britain at any time.
As a capable diplomat, Vergennes did not believe these rumors.
He knew that once the United States returned to British rule, a war between France and Britain would not happen.
However, he was equally unsure of the purpose of British secret envoy Wentworth's visit: was it to prevent the American envoys from negotiating an alliance with France, or merely to make France distrust those envoys? Or was it a cunning ploy by Franklin to vex the French and hasten an alliance?
Vergennes clearly understood the interests between Britain, France, and the United States, and he could use those rumors to sway king Louis XVI.
At the same time, he dispatched more spies to monitor Wentworth.
It is said that Wentworth was so closely watched by the spies that he had to burn his documents to avoid exposing his identity.
His friends in Paris also avoided seeing him.
British Ambassador Stormont, to help him out of his predicament, took him to an audience with the king of France.
Vergennes also invited him to dinner so that he could observe him at close quarters.
Franklin, living in Passy, watched all the developments.
His plan was set; he just quietly waited for the right moment.
After Bancroft, who had rushed back to London to attend to his stock business after the great American victory in Philadelphia, returned to Paris, British secret envoy Wentworth immediately received intelligence that Franklin had received letters from the British opposition.
He wrote to his superior, Eden, explaining that the wise course of action was to promise everything to the American envoys.
Regardless of whether the promises would be kept later, every effort should be made to prevent a Franco-American Alliance.
He himself arranged a meeting with Franklin through Bancroft, but Franklin again refused.
A few days later, Spain's reply to America's request for an alliance finally arrived: Spain opposed signing an alliance treaty.
This was because the Spanish believed that the Americans had already gained an advantage over Britain after defeating the British army in Philadelphia, and their further involvement would only make the American side stronger.
This was inconsistent with their goal of letting the American and British sides exhaust each other in the war, with both enemies perishing together.
The independence movement was now too far along.
Further support would allow it to develop and possibly destabilize the entire colonial order of the Americas.
Therefore, France could only act alone if it wanted to sign the treaty.
Upon learning this news, Franklin gave the French Government a few days to consider and deliberate.
Then, he agreed to meet British secret envoy Wentworth at the end of the month.
However, it was stipulated beforehand that there should be no mention of remuneration for the envoys themselves, and so on.
In fact, this meeting was a crucial step in Franklin's well-planned chess game.
Its timing was appropriate, as the French Government could no longer consider Spain as a factor; its location was appropriate, a meeting with Franklin at the American delegation's residence, after he had twice refused to meet; it lasted for two hours, and although Franklin was constantly evasive and avoided discussing any substantive issues, to any outsider, such a long period of time was sufficient to conclude many matters.
This secret negotiation indeed caused great unease for the king of France, his courtiers, and his Government.
Although news had already arrived that king George had decided to continue expanding the war, who knew if this king was merely bluffing and would suddenly announce a ceasefire tomorrow?
Moreover, at the end of the month, they received intelligence from Philadelphia, America, that the Continental Congress had dispatched Jefferson as a peace envoy, who would soon arrive in Britain to begin negotiations with the British Government.
Through these actions, they only saw that the United States was about to lean towards Britain; to hold it, an alliance had to be concluded.
The day after Franklin and Wentworth's meeting, while Wentworth was still secretly wondering whether to go to Passy again—wanting to go, but feeling it wasn't worth it—the king's Council voted in favor of signing a treaty and forming an alliance with the United States.
Franklin's plan had succeeded brilliantly.
In July, Gerard came to Deane's residence in Paris to meet with the American envoys.
After they met, Gerard posed three questions, asked the delegation to prepare their replies, and then left for a while to allow the envoys to deliberate.
An hour later, Franklin had just written down two questions and their answers, and the three had not yet reached an agreement on the second question, when Gerard returned, eager to know the answers.
It turned out that the first question was: What needed to be done to make the American envoys commit to not listening to British proposals for an Anglo-American union?
Franklin and the other two envoys unanimously replied:
"The delegation has long proposed a treaty of amity and commerce, but it has not yet been concluded.
The immediate signing of this treaty would instantly dispel their doubts on this issue, enabling them to rely on their French allies and resolutely reject any peace proposals from Britain that are not based on their complete freedom and independence in government and commerce."
Seeing this written reply, Gerard nodded slightly, then said with a solemn expression,
"I now have the honor to inform you that the king has given his verbal command that France will sign the treaty."
Thus, after a year of delay, the signing finally saw France take the initiative, and the only commitment it sought was that the United States would not make peace with Britain.
Before Franklin gave this reply, he had just sent someone to bring Jefferson, who had failed in his mission to Britain, from Marseille, and learned that king George had indeed rejected the desire for peace talks, not even allowing Jefferson to meet officials in Whitehall.
Giving this commitment not to make peace now was truly too easy.
Franklin's delegation used Britain's suspicions to force France's hand.
The intelligence provided by the spies during the period leading up to the treaty's signing was actually used by the delegation.
The details of this treaty signing, when they reached America, were described by some in the Continental Congress as the American delegation to France achieving a victory in France as significant as the one at Philadelphia.
The contents of the upcoming Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance between the United States and France were roughly as follows: France would help the United States achieve independence, and the United States would help France fight if war broke out between France and Britain; neither party could make a separate peace with Britain without the other's consent, and both parties agreed not to lay down arms until America's independence was affirmed by treaty; in terms of trade, France and the United States would grant each other most-favored-nation status, and generally speaking, the ports of both countries would be freely open to each other.
America's war of Independence thus gained France, a powerful European continent nation, as an ally, and victory was further secured.
The treaty was signed a month later.
When the three American envoys appeared at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all eyes were on Franklin, everyone curious as to why he wore such an old blue velvet suit on such a solemn and celebratory day.
Among the American delegation, Deane and Bancroft both knew that Franklin had prepared this suit to wear to yesterday's signing ceremony.
After the ceremony was temporarily postponed, he took it off and saved it to wear today.
It seemed as if he had to wear this particular suit for this ceremony.
Deane couldn't help but ask Franklin:
"Your Excellency was preparing this suit yesterday, as if you absolutely had to wear this one?"
Franklin looked at his suit and told Deane:
"Indeed! This is a small revenge.
When I was insulted by Wedderburn in Whitehall, Britain, that year, I was wearing this very suit."
Deane suddenly understood.
He had not expected this outwardly kind and gentle old man to remember the humiliation Britain had inflicted upon him so deeply.
That year, when he went to Britain to plead for peace and was cursed out, Franklin, who seemed unperturbed, had actually buried his anger for eight years, and now it was finally vented.
With all parties present, the signing ceremony officially began.
Gerard first signed his name on the alliance, followed by Franklin, then Deane and Arthur Lee.
After the treaty was signed, it was entrusted to Franklin for safekeeping.
The next day, the carriage carrying Franklin, Deane, and Arthur Lee drove through the streets of Versailles and stopped near the palace, with many people crowding the roadside to watch.
Franklin alighted from the carriage and, with the other two envoys, walked towards the palace.
Today, he wore no wig, carried no sword, was dressed in a brown velvet suit, white stockings, with his hair loosely flowing, spectacles on his nose, and a white hat tucked under his arm, making his image particularly distinct among the envoys.
The other two envoys wore official attire.
Behind the envoys were William Lee, Ralph Izard, and several other American friends.
They entered the palace, and Vergennes led them to an audience with the king of France.
As they proceeded, courtiers in the galleries and reception halls watched them attentively, observing these American republicans whose names they had long heard but had never seen.
Louis XVI, dressed in civilian clothes, was in his dressing room.
Upon seeing the American envoys, he first asked them to convey his friendly wishes to the Continental Congress and mentioned the recently signed Franco-American treaty, saying:
"This is an equal treaty, and I hope it will be beneficial to both nations."
Then the king of France greeted Franklin, praising Franklin and his compatriots in France for their virtues.
Franklin, on behalf of the United States, thanked the king of France and also said very politely:
"Your Majesty can rely on the gratitude of the Continental Congress and its faithful fulfillment of the obligations it has undertaken."
After the audience, the American envoys crossed the courtyard to meet with other members of the cabinet, and the crowd cheered loudly for them, as if forgetting the dignity of the palace.
The five envoys dined in Vergennes' department, met many French nobles, and then visited the royal family.
The Queen invited Franklin to stand beside her and conversed with him when she was not engrossed in playing cards.
This Queen, who would later be sent to the guillotine, had a fondness for playing cards.
The king of France acknowledged the Franco-American treaty by receiving the American envoys.
The British Government, after its defeat in Philadelphia, also suffered a diplomatic defeat.
Knowing that British reinforcements would still take several months to prepare, if they stood by and watched the United States and France form an alliance, by the time these British reinforcements arrived on the American continent, they would likely have to face a fully coordinated Franco-American joint force.
They were unwilling to accept defeat, and before the Continental Congress, far away in America, learned of what had happened in France, they drafted a proposal for reconciliation based on lord North's reconciliation speech in Parliament that year.
They dispatched fast ships to America, striving to reach an agreement with the Continental Congress first, even if this agreement would be immediately torn up once the British reinforcement troops arrived.
Anyway, information transmission was slow at this time, and they also knew from Jefferson, the "peace envoy," that the Continental Congress was very eager for peace.
Since they had not officially rejected the peace envoy initially, suddenly agreeing to peace talks now would not be considered reneging.
Therefore, if this "temporary" peace agreement could be presented to the Continental Congress before the official French agreement, it was very likely to be passed.
This would not only sow discord between the United States and France but also give Britain enough time to dispatch reinforcements from home.
So, just as the French Navy ships were still preparing to depart, the British fast ships set off first.
The French Navy then followed, carrying that precious signed treaty, heading to the United States.
Britain and France, the two largest countries in Europe, after last month's diplomatic race to curry favor with the United States, engaged in a true maritime race across the Atlantic Ocean.
If Britain's peace proposal arrived first and was passed by the Continental Congress, then the Franco-American Alliance would undoubtedly be excluded before Britain abrogated that treaty.
Conversely, if France's alliance agreement arrived first, there was no doubt that Britain's peace proposal would no longer be considered by the Continental Congress.