Who led American efforts in Paris to gain French support during the American Revolution?
In late 1776, with both France and Spain already secretly providing munitions and money for the Revolutionary War, Benjamin Franklin led a delegation to Paris hoping to negotiate a formal alliance. (The Americans realized that the war for independence would be lost without the support of other nations. Indeed, they had looked to France as a potential ally in the struggle with Great Britain as early as 1774.)
Franklin was a popular figure at the French court, and he was a skilled statesman. But it took news of the American victory at the Battles of Saratoga (autumn 1777) to convince France that the United States could actually win the war. In February 1778, Franklin's delegation concluded a commercial agreement and a formal alliance with the government of France. Saratoga often is considered the turning point of the war because French aid — in the form of full military and financial support — ultimately tipped the balance of the war in favor of the Americans.
In June 1782, an American delegation led by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay opened peace talks with British and French diplomats in Paris. After intense negotiations, the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, ending the American War for Independence.