21 September 1711, in an 11-day battle, the Corsaire René Duguay-Trouin captured Rio de Janeiro in the Battle of Rio de Janeiro with twelve ships and 6 000 men, in spite of the defence consisting of seven ships of the line, five forts and 12 000 men; he held the governor for ransom. Investors in this venture doubled their money, and Duguay-Trouin earned a promotion to Lieutenant général de la Marine. Territorial conflicts in the North Northern America became an important theater of the conflict between France and Great Britain in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), known as the French and Indian War. The royal French forces allied with the various Native American forces in a Franco-Indian alliance. The conflict, the fourth such colonial war between the nations of France and Great Britain, resulted in the British conquest of Canada. The outcome was one of the most significant developments in a century of Anglo-French conflict. To compensate its ally, Spain, for its loss of Florida to the British, France ceded its control of French Louisiana west of the Mississippi. France's colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the tiny islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, confirming Britain's position as the dominant colonial power in North America. The eastern half of Hispaniola (modern Dominican Republic) also came under French rule for a short period, after being given to France by Spain in 1795. American war of independence France soon became again involved in North America, this time by supporting the American revolutionary war of independence. A Franco-American alliance was formed in 1778 between Louis XVI's France and the United States, during the American Revolutionary War. France successfully contributed in expelling the British from the nascent United States. The Treaty of Paris was signed on 3 September 1783, recognizing American independence and the end of hostilities. When the French Revolution led to war in 1793 between Britain (America's leading trading partner), and France (the old ally, with a treaty still in effect), Washington and his cabinet decided on a policy of neutrality. In 1795 Washington supported the Jay Treaty, designed by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to avoid war with Britain and encourage commerce. The Jeffersonians vehemently opposed the treaty, but Washington's support proved decisive, and the U.S. and Britain were on friendly terms for a decade. However the foreign policy dispute polarized parties at home, leading to the First Party