Role of France during the revolutionary war?

Answer 1

Roughly speaking, France gave the colonies the following

1. Moral support

2. Going to war against England, which lessened the number of British troops and navy in America.

3. A very young, very well-connected French General named Lafayette. Not only was Lafayette a much better commander than anyone the British sent to America, but he also personally knew the French king, and was a very serious supporter of the overall commander of troops in America - George Washington.

4. The French sent to the colonies a couple of infantry groups along with quite a number of French naval warships. The usefulness of the French troops and navy was not all that great, but the fact that they were on American soil worked heavily against the British commanders - they were never quite sure where the French were, so had to assign extra troops to guard against a French attack, leaving fewer soldiers to guard against an American attack.