On November 16, 1776, a ship carrying the flag of the Continental Congress entered port at St. Eustatius in the West Indies. Adhering to custom, the ship fired a salute & the guns of the fort returned their ritual response. But this act acknowledged the vessel & its country as legitimate. It was the first official salute to the United States of America. Taking this as her starting point, Barbara Tuchman illuminates the effect our revolution had not only on America & England, but Holland & France, & by extension, the entire Old World as well