This led to the famous attack by Washington, on December 25, 1776 when he crossed the Delaware and captured the British at Trenton. Another turning point in the war came on October 17, 1777 when the British surrendered at Saratoga. This was a turning point in the war because the Americans received foreign aid, which was the last element that they required to win the war. The French also helped the Americans against the British. Ever since 1763, the French were looking for revenge against the British, and helping the Americans was the best way that they could do it. In February 1778, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance were both signed by the Americans and the French. These treaties were vital to the Americans success. The French provided the Americans with money to buy munitions and supplies. Later, in June 1779, the Spanish entered on the side of the French. The Spanish were careful not to appear on the American side; for fear that their colonies would get the same idea, and revolt against them. In Yorktown, the American and French forces, from land and the sea, closed in on Cornwallis and forced him to surrender his army on October 17, 1781. During this time, the American, French, Spanish, and British representatives were running back and forth across the English Channel with offers and counteroffers. The American peace administrators, John Jay, John Adams, and Franklin were given orders by Congress to insist on freedom and agree with France on everything else. They didn't follow this, but they ended up with a treaty that gave the United States a northern boundary, that holds today, the western line at the Mississippi River, and the thirty-first parallel as the southern boundary.
The members of the Continental Congress had no perception of what they had done on July 4, 1776 when they told the world that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.
