The Congress had, by common consent, represented national sovereignty from the beginning of the war, but it was not until November 15, 1777, that articles of confederation were approved by the Congress, and submitted to the States. This compact, entitled "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union," was but little more than a treaty of mutual friendship on the part of the several States, and was not sanctioned by all of them until near the close of the Revolution. It was too weak to be effective in time of peace, and hardly necessary in time of war, when the common danger gave sufficient assurance of fidelity to the common cause. However, the Articles of Confederation undoubtedly promoted confidence in the stability of the government where that confidence was most needed, in the European cabinets adverse to British dominion in America. The surrender of Burgoyne gave to the American cause a status which it had lacked abroad, and it brought into full and effectual exercise the diplomatic side of the struggle for independence. It was then that Franklin showed himself another Washington. "On the great question of the foreign relations of the United States," says Wharton, "it made no matter whether he was alone or surrounded by unfriendly colleagues; it was only through him that negotiations could be carried on with France, for to him alone could the French government commit itself with the consciousness that the enormous confidences reposed in him would be honorably guarded." France, chiefly through the influence of Franklin, had given covert assistance to the colonies from the beginning of the struggle, but the French ministry hesitated to take a decisive step. Fear that the Americans would succumb, and leave France to bear the weight of British hostility, and apprehension that England might grant the demands of the colonists and then turn her forces against European foes, deterred the French government from avowed support of the American cause. The news from Saratoga gave assurance that America would prove a steadfast as well as a powerful ally, and that with the aid of the United States the British empire might be dismembered, and France avenged for her losses and humiliations on the American continent. Nor was revenge the only motive which led France to cast her lot with the revolted colonies. England was already stretching forth to establish her power in India, and France felt that with North America and India, both subject to the British, the maritime and commercial superiority of England would be a menace to other powers.