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Early in 1777 France recognized America and Declared war on Britain. They were set on more than just gaining American independence they had aims in India and the Caribbean as well as taking some revenge and weakening their enemy the British. Not long after the French declaration the Spanish got involved too with their own declaration of war and their own aims for the war. They wanted to reclaim islands in the Mediterranean especially Gibraltar they also hoped to make gains in the Caribbean as well as a general weakening of Britain. French and Spanish involvement in the war forced a shift in focus for the British from the north to the south so that their navy would be in a better position to defend their possessions in the Caribbean. First landing in Savanah, Georgia they quickly beat back the Patriot militias in Georgia and headed into South Carolina where they once again brushed aside the local militia and repeated the same thing in North Carolina. Their roll came to a stop in Virginia where they were stopped by a Congressional Army under General Nathanael Greene. The Patriots took most of the year to push the British out of Virginia and North Carolina where they were joined by several French units. Spanish forces marched out of New Orleans to capture the ports of Mobile, Baton Rouge, and Pensacola with the help of their native allies and some Patriot militia. Spain and France would capture several Islands and would seem to hold naval supremacy for most of the war.

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