Benjamin Franklin and His Meld of Franco-American Interests Into Two Treaties

To what extent was Benjamin Franklin responsible for the first two treaties between France and America? Although an American victory at the battle of Saratoga and other factors contributed to the signing of the first two Franco-American treaties, a preponderance of the evidence points to Benjamin Franklin as the linchpin for the meld of national interests.

It began on 3 December 1776 when Franklin landed at Auray in Brittany on the coast of France.¹ He had been appointed as one of three commissioners only two months before.² Franklin, a widower, had taken ship on the sloop Reprisal.³ He was called a “dangerous engine.”⁴ The word “engine,”⁵ something used to effect a purpose or an instrument or machine of war, proved an appropriate synonym for Franklin’s leadership of the mission.

Events Leading Up to Franklin’s First Meeting with Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, Foreign Minister, on 28 December 1776

Amazingly, Franklin had passed his seventieth birthday before he landed in France.⁶ He brought his two grandsons. Little Benny Bache was destined for school in order to learn French, and Temple Franklin would serve as his grandfather’s unpaid secretary.⁷ Helen Augur wrote, “The man who believed there was never a good war or a bad peace was about to sweep the Bourbon nations into the War of Independence.”⁸

He made a bone-racking journey overland by post chaise.⁹ On his journey to Paris from Nantes he stayed at an inn where Edward Gibbon was staying. Franklin requested the honor of spending the evening with the eminent historian. The Tory-minded Gibbon could not reconcile it with his duty to the king. He rebuffed any conversation with in his opinion a rebellious subject. Franklin with his flair for preemptive wit replied to Gibbon’s note of rejection with his second note. He explained that he had materials in his possession that he would be happy to furnish for the course of Gibbon’s writing a history of the decline and fall of the British Empire.¹⁰

Besides writing Silas Deane on 4 December 1776, he also wrote Thomas Morris. He told Morris about the courage of the American forces. Additionally, he revealed how during his passage his vessel had made two captures of enemy ships.¹¹ He wrote M. Barbeu Dubourg on 04 December 1776 and John Hancock, President of Congress, on 08 December 1776.

He gave Hancock a thorough update of his activities. He explained the delicate issue of bringing British ships into French harbors for the sale of the bounty. Franklin commented on Britain’s treaties with France disallowing such actions. He went on and explained his work in lifting French spirits for the American cause.

Thomas Jefferson had turned down his appointment, leaving the door open for the appointment of Arthur Lee, who was in Britain at this time. The long letter to Hancock showed not only did Franklin accept the appointment, but also he immediately undertook his assignment with vim, vigor, and vitality.¹²

The three commissioners were meeting in Paris. “Most hope was based on Franklin.”¹³ Franklin had spent ten years in Britain, serving the colonies.¹⁴ He had visited France while an American agent in Britain. His publication of “Poor Richard’s Almanak” was disseminated into France. Therefore, Franklin was not unknown in France.¹⁵ He arrived in Paris on 20 December 1776, where he found Deane. Lee joined them the next day.¹⁶

One writer concluded that no other founder came close to Franklin’s direct level of familiarity with the cultures, beliefs and byways of the diverse and contradictory land and people that would become the United States of America.¹⁷ Through private study he had learned to read and write the French language.¹⁸ Thomas Jefferson called Franklin “the greatest man and ornament of the age and country in which he lived.”¹⁹ Jefferson’s motto was borrowed from Franklin - “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”²⁰

He was America’s elder statesman even before the Revolution.²¹ After the Declaration of Independence, he was the best asset of the colonies in their quest for French friendship.²² He was not a colonial American but a new man, an American.²³ He would transmute nebulous personal acclaim into guns and butter for the American war.²⁴

So what background did Benjamin Franklin come from?²⁵ He was a Boston-born descendant of Puritan artisans.²⁶ The tenth of seventeen children of a candle maker, Franklin became a highly successful printer.²⁷ He was also a publisher, author, inventor, and diplomat.²⁸ His coming over in the aftermath of the Declaration of Independence was appropriate since Franklin believed he and his countrymen had to first make a formal declaration of America’s independence.²⁹

Franklin was selected as one of three emissaries to meet with Britain’s Lord Howe in hopes of negotiating a peace treaty. The Americans were steadfast for their country’s independence. After the negotiations concluded, they were led down to the river for fording across to their lines. As the British sailors assisted and made ready for the crossing, Franklin reached into his pockets for gold and silver coins for tipping the sailors. He suggested America’s independent wealth³⁰

He was well known in European intellectual circles. Many considered him America’s foremost creative genius. In 1772, he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences, primarily for his work on electricity.³¹ When he attended a meeting of the Academy, at which Voltaire was present, a cry went up that the two philosophers must be introduced, and Gallic enthusiasm was not satisfied until they embraced and kissed each other in French fashion.³² Two noted historians pronounced, “Franklin embodied uncorrupted, simple republicanism.”³³

The man he wrote the day after his landing, Mr. Dubourg, was the journalist who had published The Way to Wealth in 1773 as part of Franklin’s complete works. A new translation arrived four years later bringing widespread attention and praise.³⁴

The Philadelphian thrived in his role. He made friends for America wherever he went. The urbane and witty diplomat enjoyed celebrity status. His republican-looking countenance was reproduced on such objects as snuffboxes, handkerchiefs, rings, and watches. Franklin did question whether it was a compliment for his likeness to be portrayed on porcelain chamber pots! This public adoration helped strengthen Franco-American relations in the months preceding the alliance.³⁵

This assignment called for the skills of a provincial politician and the wisdom of a worldly philosopher.³⁶ David Hackett Fischer stated it well.

Benjamin Franklin was the ideal choice. His interest in natural science impressed many members of Parisian beau monde who were likely to sympathize with opinions he was to disseminate in France. His openness and charm of manner calculated to leave a lasting impression on all who met him. His heavily accented and ungrammatical French, his plain clothes, cheap-looking spectacles, and rough fur cap, his amusing remarks, and evidence of fondness for female company caused him to become extremely well-liked as well as a respected figure in Parisian society.³⁷

“His sagacity, intellectual force, versatility, originality, firmness,

fortunate period of service, and longevity combined to make him a great

leader of his people.”³⁸ The commissioners went to Paris to represent a four-month-old republic unrecognized by any European nation.³⁹ Knowing England as he did, Franklin realized the importance of insulting her.⁴⁰

The bourgeoisie was highly favored in those days before the bourgeois revolution.⁴¹ Franklin represented the perfect type of middle-class virtue of the arch-bourgeois.⁴² The French government represented resistance to hereditary rights and the enemy of all those dreaming of liberty, for the French people revered him as a signer of the Declaration of Independence.⁴³

He dressed the part by going to court without wig or sword, with hair hanging loose, his spectacles on his nose, and his hat under his arm.⁴⁴ He was so beloved that everyone wanted an engraving of him over his mantelpiece.⁴⁵ In his almanac for 1757, he printed a collection of his proverbs. Two translations of it were made in French. The clergy and gentry distributed the almanac to poor French parishioners and tenants bought the almanac in great numbers.⁴⁶

Later on but before the treaties, Franklin was lionized in January-February 1777 when he attended the meeting of the French Academy of Science.⁴⁷ During the next year Jean Antoine Houdon executes his famous bust of Franklin. A widely circulated epigram, attributed to Turgot, declared: Eripuit caelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannis (“he seized the lightning from Heaven and the scepter from tyrants”).⁴⁸

All of this attention upon Franklin not only consumed a lot of his time, but also somewhat embarrassed French public relations with Britain. So Vergennes was pleased when Franklin moved to Passy to live in the Hotel de Valentinois, owned by tycoon Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont.⁴⁹ At first he lived in an outbuilding, but interestingly, once France recognized the United States, he moved into a wing of the main house.⁵⁰ Late eighteenth century Passy was probably the most luxurious suburb of Paris.⁵¹ “You wish to know how I live. It is a fine house situated in a neat village, on a high cliff, half a mile from Paris, with a large garden to walk in…”⁵² Franklin surely had a wonderful vantage point.

“The French do not open their homes and hearts easily to strangers, but once friendship is won from a Frenchman it is deep and almost unbreakable.”⁵³ He wrote his sister, Jane Mecom, about how well the French accept him.⁵⁴ The people clustered around as he passed and asked, “Who is this old peasant who has such a noble air?”⁵⁵ “Franklin’s arrival in Paris set off an extraordinary wave of public excitement and bordered on hysteria.”⁵⁶ All this attention would give little real joy if his mission were not successful. The French people were moved by enthusiasm and impulse. The Court would be moved by cooler and more selfish purposes.⁵⁷

John Paul Jones was also in France at this time. The French government had turned over to him an old merchant hulk. Jones named this 42-gun man-of-war the Bon Homme Richard in honor of Franklin’s almanac character called “Poor Richard.”⁵⁸ Due to his familiarity with European courts, Franklin had the craftiness to use naval action as an instrument of diplomacy.⁵⁹

Although Franklin had little formal education, he was a “natural” as reflected in the astounding success of his almanac.⁶⁰ He explained in his Autobiography about his arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. He constructed a chart of thirteen virtues. He did place a dot beside each virtue daily in order to chronicle his progress. He abandoned this project, maybe because he was really stumbling on the virtue “Chastity.” Nevertheless, this endeavor bore fruit for it gave way to witty, entertaining, and wise proverbs and maxims in his almanac.⁶¹

Franklin told John Paul Jones⁶² that the best way to learn French was found in a “sleeping dictionary” (that is, a French mistress).⁶³ A widow had captivated him. She set a place for him at every meal. He proposed marriage to her. She refused true to her vow to stay single. Anne-Catherine Helvetius wrote a friend telling her that Franklin made her feel a little worthier after each visit.⁶⁴

Another close friend was Madame Brillon. Madame Brillon complained when he turned his attention elsewhere. “My heart, while capable of great love, has chosen few objects on which to bestow it. It has chosen them well; you are at the head of the list.”⁶⁵

The historian Claude-Anne Lopez, one of an eminent group at Yale University, having studied Benjamin Franklin’s relationships with women in detail, explained, “In the age of the salon, with its delicate network of influence, intrigue, and innuendo, the importance is crucial.”⁶⁶ At Versailles, Queen Antoinette called him “l’ambassadeur electrique.”⁶⁷

Philadelphians had seen their most famous townsman accomplish great mental feats.⁶⁸ One historian argued that Franklin was a wizard at intrigue. His genius in multiple areas would inspire alarm and jealousy in others. She advanced that he adopted the art of using screens and disguises. She wrote, “He masked his powerful and subtle mind behind the benevolent simplicity which was also part of his nature. He radiated reassurance like one of his own stoves; the warmth and charm of his personality masked his Merlin powers.”⁶⁹

As a diplomat Franklin would be an adjuster, rather than a stubborn claimant.⁷⁰ One writer believed sending Franklin was a masterstroke for he had a great reputation as a man of science and as “Bonhomme Richard.”⁷¹

He believed at this time that America was at a crossroads with Britain. The seeds of liberty had been planted and could not be eradicated. Franklin opined that the British parliament was not in touch with the heart and soul of the American people. He lamented a political system without American representation in the House of Commons. Franklin wrote, “This unhappy new system of politics tends to dissolve those bands of union and to sever us for ever.”⁷²

Franklin applied political pressure. His Whig friends warned about France coming into the war on the side of America. George III was against a war with Spain and France (Bourbons). The king still continued bullying the colonies into obedience.⁷³

One writer proclaimed that the French king was deeply impressed. He wondered if any other American could have negotiated the treaty of alliance.⁷⁴ Franklin was not just working on the alliance. He was trying to get whatever else he could: more supplies, more gifts, more trade, some highly skilled officers, and a formal recognition.⁷⁵ He accepted his role as matchmaker. He was determined to “suitor” France with every resource at his disposal.⁷⁶ Franklin never lost sight of the importance of French public opinion.⁷⁷ The great goal was the alliance with Louis’s regime. Franklin had to use his best efforts to keep his country afloat until the Bourbon monarch came around.⁷⁸

Franklin wrote a revealing letter to John Ingenhousz from Paris (date uncertain) about his mission. He reviewed his time in Britain; current tyranny against his countrymen, the need for an alliance, and what trade would be like once America was unshackled. After being publicly chastised in Britain, Franklin was determined to defeat them as one can see from his words, “when Britain shall make no more a formidable figure among the powers of Europe.”⁷⁹ He was not particularly concerned about the affronts to his private life. He was galled at Britain’s treatment of his country. He conveyed to John Ingenhousz that America would prevail. He prayed he would live long enough to see it.⁸⁰

France was assisting by arranging for arms and cannon to be sent.⁸¹ Vergennes kept enough cash flowing, and hinted the French would take care of the construction costs on the frigates. Franklin wrote Congress in November 1777. He declared the lack of an open alliance. The military goods came as if from private benevolence and generosity.⁸² Franklin used this benevolence for outfitting privateers to prey on British ships, including the highly successful and good friend, John Paul Jones. He was partly responsible for acquiring the services of the young French nobleman, Marquis de Lafayette.⁸³

Franklin was clever in his use of diplomatic tactics and brilliant at the negotiating table. He would say as little as possible, hint of parleying with enemy agents, publish propaganda, change carriages en route to meetings with Vergennes, have his friends serve as unpaid agents when traveling so they could record ship movements and report on public opinion.⁸⁴ “Champion of charm, Franklin was hard-nosed at the conference table. Shrewdly, he implied that America would come to terms with the British if the French did not soon commit support against their longtime foe.”⁸⁵ Everyone understood the value of a general, a president, but how many people find heroism in the tortuous tasks of politics and diplomacy?⁸⁶

The British ambassador to France had written Vergennes saying he would leave France if Franklin were allowed into Paris.⁸⁷ John Adams, who was often at odds with Franklin, especially after 1778, testified as follows:

His name was familiar to government and people, to kings, courtiers, nobility, clergy, and philosophers, as well as plebeians, to such a degree that there was scarcely a peasant or a citizen, a valet de chamber, coachman or footman, a lady’s chambermaid, or a scullion in the kitchen, who was not familiar with it, and who did not consider him a friend of human kind.⁸⁸

The three commissioners were waiting for an audience with Vergennes. Arthur Lee was the uncle of Robert E. Lee. His temperament was much different than his famous nephew’s. Arthur Lee’s hostility against Franklin was of long standing. Being a jealous man, Lee had coveted Franklin’s tenure in London as agent for Massachusetts.

Lee was eclipsed by Silas Deane who was engaged in the spectacular enterprise of obtaining supplies through the offices of playwright Caron de Beaumarchais.⁸⁹ The playwright acted as a secret agent supplying the support. He created a front firm, Roderigue Hortalez & Co.; to disguise the government’s role for Louis had approved the operations. “A substantial amount of French (and Spanish) money flowed through Beaumarchais’s hands, winding up as weapons and other material in America.”⁹⁰

Franklin wrote his friend in England, David Hartley, about American prisoners in British prisons, on October 14, 1777.⁹¹ He wrote, “You in England, if you wish for peace, have at present the opportunity of trying this means with regards to the prisoners now in your gaols.”⁹² He set up through Hartley and other friends in England, a committee to distribute money and clothing and other comforts to the prisoners, and get better living conditions for them.⁹³

When Captain Wickes brought in a hundred prisoners, Franklin wrote Stormont proposing an exchange. To the second or third such letter Stormont replied, “The King’s Ambassador receives no applications from rebels, unless they come to implore His Majesty’s mercy.”⁹⁴ Franklin ran an underground railway for the escape of American prisoners from Passy to the gates of the Old Mill Prison in Plymouth.⁹⁵

Negotiations Up to Burgoyne’s Surrender at Saratoga
17 October 1777

Professor Brands in his recent biography summed up the challenge facing the three commissioners, “Americans were caught in a cruel trap. They could not win without French backing, but they could not gain French backing without showing they could win.⁹⁶ The Comte de Vergennes welcomed them to the whimsical world of European diplomacy. Vergennes was a skillful diplomat. One of his highest policy goals was reducing Britain’s imperial might.⁹⁷

The second day following Franklin’s arrival in Paris, the commissioners requested an interview with Vergennes for the purpose of negotiating a treaty of amity and commerce.⁹⁸ Within a week, they met secretly with Vergennes, the single Frenchmen most able to shape Franco-American relations.⁹⁹ “The first diplomatic exchange between the United States and a foreign power was highly personal: Franklin and Vergennes sizing up each other.”¹⁰⁰

At the appointed time, the commissioners handed him a draft of a treaty made by congress. They later asked for the immediate gift of eight ships of line, troops, arms, and ammunition. They were assured they would be given protection while in France. Since the Bourbon alliance demanded joint consideration, France would have to wait on a reply from Spain.¹⁰¹

Franklin spent the last days of 1776 drafting memorandums, which he delivered to Vergennes at Versailles in January 1777. He pointed out how combined forces of France, Spain, and America could overwhelm British forces, and seize their valuable West Indian lands. On the other hand, without French assistance, especially at sea, America might be forced to terminate the war. He predicted the economic result, “The opportunity of cementing them, and of securing all the advantages of that commerce, which in time will be immense, now presents itself.”¹⁰²

Louis XVI had only succeeded to the throne in 1774. His policy, coordinated and orchestrated by Vergennes, was careful handling of foreign affairs with Britain. Britain had defeated France in the Seven Years War. So, France strove to maintain peace in Europe, keeping Britain isolated. France would pounce on Britain at the first favorable opportunity.¹⁰³ The king hesitated to aid a cause that might fail. Franklin found an ally in Vergennes. “The Comte de Vergennes savored the prospect of humiliating England and at the same time trading freely with the independent America.”¹⁰⁴

On May 2, 1776, not waiting until July 4^th, Louis XVI signed documents committing France into action as America’s secret ally, in violation of her treaties with Britain. He contributed one million livres to the colonies’ war chest, and his uncle, Charles III of Spain, contributed a like amount.¹⁰⁵ The commissioners reminded the Bourbon governments what they had to gain by an American victory. France and Spain would secure access to the American market, which would strengthen them. Britain would lose its monopoly and weaken her to the additional advantage of France and Spain.¹⁰⁶

“If France did not come into the war soon, then America would once again be joined to Britain, either as subject or ally, and France could do nothing to prevent this.”¹⁰⁷ The French government was fearful that the Americans and British would make peace and leave no fruits of the war for her. In order to alleviate these fears, the commissioners drew up a personal pledge. Basically, it pledged that if war with Great Britain resulted to either France or Spain as a sequence of giving aid to or of making a treaty with America, then it would be right and proper for America not to make peace as long the war continued with respect to France or Spain. France and Spain were to give the same pledge to the United States.¹⁰⁸ What is the background of the other two commissioners?

Silas Deane had been in France for six months on a dual mission for the two secret committees. Deane represented Connecticut in Congress. He had a good grasp of international commerce and economics, and yearned to be a great statesman like Franklin, to whom he was devoted.¹⁰⁹

He organized after a while a steady stream of war supplies through Hortalez and Company. Deane like Franklin came from humble origins: he was the son of a blacksmith. He graduated from Yale University, became a lawyer, married into a prominent merchant family, and was successful in business. However, his zeal to be accepted as a gentleman by dressing in expensive clothing and currying favor with the aristocracy was his “Achilles heel.” For example, he sent young French noblemen, who were incompetent as soldiers, for service under George Washington.¹¹⁰

John and Samuel Adams had aligned themselves with the Virginia brothers, Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee. When Jefferson declined, this bloc spearheaded the appointment of Arthur Lee. The Lee brothers disliked Franklin.¹¹¹ Arthur Lee suffered from paranoia, and was jealous of Franklin. He had become the American agent in London after Franklin’s departure.¹¹² Although Franklin and Deane dreaded the arrival of Lee, they knew the three of them must work together, so the duties were divided.¹¹³

Franklin knew Vergennes’s purpose was the weakening of Britain rather than the emancipation of the United States.¹¹⁴ By a subtle grip on the negotiations, Franklin cast his country in the role of a beggar, needing French aid of every sort. Accordingly, the Americans were advancing Bourbon interests and fighting their war. Franklin and Vergennes were on guard for detecting the point at which French and American interests diverged. Franklin sent a letter of January 5^th to Vergennes. The letter was a paradigm of French goals with respect to Britain.¹¹⁵

Communications between the commissioners and Congress were precarious. The dispatches were often captured on the high seas. From May 1777 to May 1778, Congress would receive no direct word from the commissioners. However, before the hiatus occurred, Congress had gotten through dispatches to Franklin for him to manage his side of the desperate crisis as he saw fit.¹¹⁶

The commissioners laid their case at the feet of Louis XVI. The king was an absolute monarch so talk of revolution and liberties by American intellectuals was tedious.¹¹⁷ They proclaimed the hopes and despairs of their cause. They provided these documents in order to convince him of America’s capability for self-government: translations of the constitutions of several states as they transformed from colonies into states and translations of the Articles of Confederation which had been drawn up by the Continental Congress as a frame of national government.¹¹⁸

Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter from Paris to Juliana Ritchie dated 19 January 1777. He wrote about spies, “When a man’s actions are just and honorable, the more they are known, the more his reputation is increased and established. If I was sure, therefore, that my valet de place was a spy, as probably he is, I think I should not discharge him for that, if in other respects I liked him.”¹¹⁹ A master spy came to Paris to weave his web around Franklin.¹²⁰

Franklin knew Dr. Edward Bancroft from his days in London. Bancroft with a letter of introduction from Franklin secured a job with Silas Deane in Paris. Paul Wentworth working as a British spy for William Eden, an ambitious undersecretary, hired Bancroft.¹²¹ Franklin did plant information, yet information was picked up and transmitted to Stormont. Ships headed for America met with disaster, and may have been intercepted because of Franklin’s refusal to take spies seriously.¹²²

Bancroft as secretary to the mission copied countless documents in invisible ink, stuffed the papers in bottles, and left them in a tree on the south terrace of the Tuileries for his British contact.¹²³ George III was personally involved with Eden. The King poured over the information. He had trouble believing information either critical or inflammatory with respect to Britain. Wentworth made frequent trips to Paris so he could meet personally with Bancroft. Bancroft was not fully trusted by his superiors.¹²⁴

Privateers preyed on the maritime trade of Britain.¹²⁵ The captains had to take the prizes into open foreign ports. Lambert Wickes, the captain of the Reprisal, had sold his prizes to French purchasers. Upon pressure from Britain’s Lord Stormont, Vergennes issued a cease-and-desist order.¹²⁶ The privateers saw their activities as more of a moneymaking venture than one of patriotism.¹²⁷

Franklin wrote to the Committee of Secret Correspondence on 04 January 1777 about the success of the sea raids. He informed that “the cry of the nation is for us,” but the court [Louis XVI] is reluctance, “the press continues in England.”¹²⁸ He told the Committee how American privateers had damaged Britain’s West India trade.

Franklin and Deane were busy pushing their side of the maritime war. Soon they had a group of young men helping merchantmen and privateers speed on their way, informing them of shifts in French regulations, helping them recruit French seamen, finding masters for ships and ships for masters.¹²⁹ On 14 January 1777 the commissioners were assured of support.¹³⁰

The gigantic Farmers-General collected taxes for the realm. For the advance of a million livres (about $200,000), the commissioners promised to send over tobacco the following year. Vergennes also promised a loan of three million livres from the royal treasury. After annoying delays from the French government, hoping to blind the British, three vessels loaded with military stores finally sailed for America.¹³¹ Congress’s letters requested items like “40,000 compleat Suits of Soldiers Cloaths,…” a request that might faze even a modern quartermaster, especially if he were ordered to obtain them on credit.¹³² Besides supplies, General Washington also needed volunteers for America.

Franklin wrote a letter to Washington recommending Lafayette.¹³³ Frenchmen wanting to go besieged Franklin. He wrote to Dubourg in the autumn of 1777, “These applications are my perpetual torment.”¹³⁴ Most applicants were unacceptable. Franklin wrote a satirical and witty model letter of recommendation for all occasions.¹³⁵ On 04 September 1777 a letter went from Passy to General Washington on Baron de Steuben. It thoroughly recommended the services of Steuben, who was also commended by Vergennes and St. Germain.¹³⁶ Franklin also recommended Count Pulaski of Poland who ended up organizing the American cavalry.¹³⁷ “What America needed was not men but money.”¹³⁸

Consummation of Two Treaties on 06 February 1778 And The Aftermath

When Franklin was told in Paris that Howe had taken Philadelphia, Franklin reportedly replied, “I beg your pardon, Philadelphia has taken Howe.”¹³⁹ The young messenger then exclaimed, “But, sir, I have greater news than that, General Burgoyne and his whole army are prisoners of war!”¹⁴⁰ The commissioners had heard rumors about Philadelphia and Saratoga. Jonathan Loring Austin arrived at Passy with the astounding news on 04 December 1777.¹⁴¹ Alfred Owen Aldridge remarked, “By the end of the year, news of Burgoyne’s defeat had given America a new prestige in France, and Franklin was now free to make public appearances.”¹⁴²

By January 1778 France was prepared to recognize the United States and ally with the new nation. France had achieved a near naval parity with Britain by this time. This made Louis XVI’s decision easier.¹⁴³

Franklin had previously, on 07 April 1777, written Count D’Aranda, Spanish Ambassador to the Court of France. Franklin broached the subjects of joining the Americans in the war, the Americans declaring war on Portugal, assisting Spain and France for their conquest of the English sugar islands, and granting Spain possession of the town and harbor of Pensacola.¹⁴⁴ How real was the prospect of their reconciliation with Britain, or their defeat? Vergennes needed to know.¹⁴⁵

Franklin finally had to play his trump card, the possibility that America might be forced back into the British Empire. He knew that the Bourbon nightmare was the picture of Britain, sweeping Spain from the lower Mississippi and both countries from the Caribbean.¹⁴⁶ The Americans had shown their power at Saratoga.¹⁴⁷

Vergennes sent his first secretary, Gerard de Rayvenal, to Passy with his congratulations and the suggestion that Franklin might now press the treaty negotiation, which France had avoided for nearly a year.¹⁴⁸ Vergennes was getting worried and alarmed. He sent word to Passy that France would after all not wait for word from Spain, but would conclude the alliance independently, on the one condition that no separate peace be made with England.¹⁴⁹

On 06 January 1778 Wentworth gave Franklin and Deane an unsigned letter from Eden, which said that Britain was ready to fight for another ten years rather than grant American independence. “America,” Franklin retorted, “is ready to fight fifty years to win it.”¹⁵⁰ The British were alarmed at the determination of the Americans. They began scurrying around to prevent an alliance with France.¹⁵¹

The British sent envoys informal and official to meet with Franklin and determine whether the Americans might settle their dispute with Britain without involving the French. Britain’s mood had changed, but so had America’s. Franklin told the British they could make an offer, but he would communicate it to the French. He said America as a new government was new at treaty-making and wished to employ the experience of their French friends.¹⁵²

On January 7, Franklin heard that the King’s Council had met and voted to recommend both a treaty of commerce and an alliance. The next day Gerard came to meet with the commissioners. Gerard asked the Americans if they needed some satisfaction so as to engage them not to listen to any proposition from England.

Franklin wrote out an answer about how they had proposed a treaty of amity and commerce, but it had not been accepted. Gerard had impatiently walked back in. They showed him their answer as Franklin had crafted it. This is what Vergennes wanted to know. Gerard took Franklin’s hand and said: “I am at liberty to tell you that the treaty will be concluded.”¹⁵³

David Schoenbrun reported the event:

There were two treaties to be signed: a treaty of amity and commerce and a treaty of defensive alliance. On the evening of February 6, 1778, in the offices of the French Foreign Ministry, at the Hotel de Lautrec in Paris, the French Plenipotentiary, Gerard, and the three American commissioners signed this historic document, which would then be taken to Versailles for Vergennes to present to the King.¹⁵⁴

The Continental Congress on 04 May 1778 considered the two treaties and “Resolved unanimously, That the same be and is hereby ratified,.”¹⁵⁵ On the next day, the Continental Congress approved the following minutes: “and further authorize and direct our commissioners at the court of France, or any of them, to deliver this our act of ratification in exchange for the ratification of the said treaty on the part of his most Christian majesty the king of France and Navarre.”¹⁵⁶

The treaty of amity and commerce granted each country the unfettered access to the markets of the other. The treaty of alliance pledged French support for American independence and American support to France in the event of an Anglo-French war.¹⁵⁷ The treaties were presented to Louis XVI on 20 March 1778.¹⁵⁸

Helen Augur emphasized that Franklin had provided much of the language contained in the two treaties. She declared their significance: “In a word, Franklin laid the cornerstone of American foreign relations, and for a long time to come American treaties would be modeled on these first ones with France.¹⁵⁹

Edwin Erle Sparks in his informative article believed the most innovative feature from the American standpoint was the abolition of the odious practice known as the droit d’aubraine (law of aliens). Sparks explained, “In feudal France it was felt that the possession of property of the realm by an alien would be detrimental to the allegiance which each property owner was supposed to owe to the sovereign. From this it was easy to declare that the property of a deceased foreigner should be confiscated by the state. It was also easy to decree that a tax should be levied on inherited property removed from the country.”¹⁶⁰

Ever since the Revolution, American diplomacy has concerned itself with opening markets. The first treaty was not about a military alliance but about trade. France and the United States granted each other “most favored nation” status, and American goods were to be admitted to French markets with as few obstacles as possible.¹⁶¹

Franklin wrote to Thomas Cushing about the treaties on 21 February 1778.¹⁶² He said the treaty of amity and commerce was on the plan proposed by Congress, with some good additions. Franklin emphasized this, “The great principle in both treaties is a perfect equality and reciprocity; no advantage to be demanded by France, or privileges in commerce, which the States may not grant to any and every other nation.”¹⁶³ It has been reported that Thomas Jefferson once espoused the greatness of Washington and Franklin by saying, “… that mankind had drawn a line between them and the rest of the human race.”¹⁶⁴

An article was published in the London Chronicle on 01 October 1778. The brief article was entitled “Authentic Memoir of Dr. Franklyn.” It was a glorification at the height of the American “rebellion” of the arch-rebel who had recently concluded a treaty of alliance with England’s traditional enemy France.¹⁶⁵ The harangue of Benjamin Franklin in the Cockpit a little over four years before had destroyed Franklin’s feelings of kinship with Britain.¹⁶⁶ Now in the fall of 1778, through Franklin’s magnificent leadership, America was recognized as a country in her own right. Britain had made him a “dangerous engine.”

The United States now had treaties that protected her commerce on the seas and her growing space on land. She was a rising people for whose friendship Britain and France must compete.¹⁶⁷ The recognition would mean the interchange of accredited representatives. This gave rise to a complete diplomatic system.¹⁶⁸ Professor Brands summed up Franklin’s achievement, “Of those patriots who made independence possible, none mattered more than Franklin, and only Washington mattered as much. Washington won the battle of Yorktown, but Franklin won the European support that allowed Washington his victory.”¹⁶⁹

Footnotes:

1 Edwin Erle Sparks, “Formative Incidents in American Diplomacy,”Chautauquan 34 (November 1901): 139. On the day after his arduous ocean voyage, Franklin wrote a letter to Silas Deane, a fellow commissioner along with Arthur Lee from Virginia. He said he would remain incognito until he ascertained whether the court [French] would receive ministers from the United States. Ibid. The three men served on the Committee of Secret Correspondence. See David Hatchett Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride (New York, Oxford University Press, 1994), 207. Before his departure, he outlined the terms upon which he supposed a peace might be made with Great Britain, in case an opportunity for a negotiation should offer. His suggestions were submitted to the secret committee. See John Bigelow, ed., The Works of Benjamin Franklin in Twelve Volumes (New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1904) fed. ed., 7, 128.

2 His official appointment was on Thursday, September 26, 1776. See Journals of the Continental

Congress, 1774-1789. Franklin on his appointment turned to Benjamin Rush who was sitting right beside him and said: “I am old and good of nothing; but, as the storekeepers say of their remnants of cloth, ‘I am but a fag end, and you may have me for what you please,’ just so my country may command my services in any way they choose.” See Catherine Drinker Bowen, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Scenes From the Life of Benjamin Franklin (Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown & Company, 1974), 247.

3 C. P. Reynolds, “Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard in Paris,” Gourmet (April 1990): 132.

4 Bowen reported on the British viewpoint with respect to Franklin, “In a word, my lord, I look upon him as a dangerous engine, and am very sorry that some English frigate did not meet with him by the way.” See Bowen, 252.

5 Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, s.v. “engine.”

6 “Franklin Papers IV: B. Franklin, the American diplomat: a spokesman for freedom, he won our first ally,” Life 49, no. 5 (01 August 1960): 50. From the moment of his arrival, he knew he was on stage, casting himself as Bonhomme Richard, as the French knew Poor Richard. He styled himself a Quaker by his dress, identifying with the myth of the Good Quaker extolled in Voltaire’s Lettres anglaises ou philosophiques. See Reynolds, 132. Young French dandies exchanged their swords for a walking stick, the only defense of a Quaker, as they called Franklin. See Sparks, 142. The cause of les insurgens, as they called the Americans, appealed to the sympathetic nature of the French. Ibid.

7 Helen Augur, “Benjamin Franklin and the French Alliance,” American Heritage 7, no. 3 (April 1956): 66. British warships had been on the prowl trying to capture the famous American rebel. Franklin also suffered from gout and was exhausted from his labors in Congress. Ibid.

8 Ibid., 68.

9 Ibid., 72.

10 Richard B. Morris, “Meet Dr. Franklin,” American Heritage 23, no.1 (December 1971): 91. On arriving in Paris, he first stayed at the Hotel d’Entragues on December 21, 1776, and moved less than two weeks later to the nearby Hotel d’Hambourg. See Reynolds, 132.

11 Bigelow, 148-9.

12 Ibid., 151, 153-56.

13 Sparks, 139.

14 On 29 January 1774 Benjamin Franklin stood silently in the Cockpit while Alexander Wedderburn, the solicitor general in London, vilified him for allowing some private papers respecting Thomas Hutchinson, the royal governor of Massachusetts, to be published. Professor Brands in his recent biography summarized what happened that fateful day. Brands concluded, “Franklin left the Cockpit seething-yet enlightened. Wedderburn had answered the question that Franklin had been asking all his life, and that his fellow Americans had been asking of late. Who were they? They must be Americans, for they could not be Britons.” Found in H. W. Brands, The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin (New York: Anchor Books, 2002), 4, 7.

15 Ibid.

16 Bigelow, 153.

17 Stephan A. Schwartz, “Dr. Franklin’s Plan,” Smithsonian 33, issue 3 (June 2001): 114.

18 Sparks, 139.

19 “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,” Condensed from “Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiographical Writings,” Reader’s Digest 48, no. 288 (April 1946): 144.

20 Benson Bobrick, Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution (New York: Penguin Books, 1998): 66.

21 Ibid., 43.

22 David Jayne Hill, “A Missing Chapter of Franco-American History,” The American Historical Review 21 (October 1915 to July 1916): 713.

23 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin and the French Alliance,” 67.

24#sdfootnote24anc

Alice J. Hall, “Philosopher of Dissent Benj. Franklin,” National Geographic 148, no. 1 (July 1975): 112.

25 Franklin was not afraid of fighting. In the French and Indian War he accepted the task of rounding up wagons and packhorses for the expedition Braddock lead against Fort Duquesne. See Bobrick, 21. Benson Bobrick in his highly readable book on the American Revolution entitled Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution noted the following achievements: in 1754 he wanted the colonies to unite and defend themselves so England would not have to do it for he knew this defense would entail taxes from the mother country; his Albany Plan of 1754 had been a precursor of his own more ambitious Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union; his ballad written in 1765 expressed a conditionally defiant but still loyal attitude to England, with a clear warning to the French; served on the committee for drafting a declaration of independence, steadying Thomas Jefferson when other members wanted to change or modify his language; made his famous remark, “we must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately; and on the day the Declaration of Independence was signed, he was appointed to the committee to devise the great seal for the new confederated states. Ibid., 35, 205, 30-1, 190, 202, 493. He was appointed to the Committee of Secret Correspondence along with John Dickinson, Benjamin Harrison, John Jay, and Thomas Jefferson. Their job was to seek foreign support for the war. See Brands, 521.

26 David Hackett Fischer, 16.

27 Ibid., 21.

28 Ibid., 22. Franklin’s wide ranging interests included founding the first library in America. He traveled from Boston to Philadelphia in a chaise. At every mile, he unloaded a milestone from his cart. He was establishing the penny post for Philadelphia. Bobrick, 48-9. He retired from business at the age of forty-two. He devoted another forty-two years wholly to the service of the public, as a scientist, philanthropist and statesman: “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,” 144.

29 Ibid., 115.

30 Bobrick, 218.

31 James Kirby Martin and Mark Edward Lender, A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763-1789 (Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 1982), 116.

32 Sparks, 143. Nantes was an active place for commerce. The French citizens there exchanged information, including Masonic literature, with their American counterparts. “The new physiocratic school has its followers on both sides of the Atlantic. And Franklin, Voltaire, and Rousseau were linked together as the presiding geniuses of the century. At the moment, Nantes was all Frankliniste.” See, Augur, “Benjamin Franklin and the French Alliance,” 72. Alice J. Hall in her article argued that Paris remembers him still. She quoted, “More important, Franklin’s simplicity evokes Rousseau: his wit matches Voltaire’s. This along with his scientific achievements places him among our beloved philosophes.” Hall, 112.

33 Martin and Lender, 116.

34 Alfred Owen Aldridge, Franklin and his French Contemporaries (Washington Square: New York University Press, 1959), 41.

35 Martin and Lender, 117. Franklin’s wit was marvelous. See for example, a quip of Franklin’s reported by Sparks as follows: “Figure me in your mind as jolly as formerly, and as strong and hearty, only a few years older; very plainly dressed, wearing my thin gray hair, that peeps out under my coiffure, a fine fur cap, which comes down my forehead almost to my spectacles. Think how this must appear among the powdered heads of Paris.” The author continued, “He wishes that his fashion could become universal in France and that the ladies would dismiss their one hundred thousand hair-dressers, and pay to him half the money they pay to them. He would send the money to his needy countrymen, and would enlist the hair-dressers as soldiers for America.” Sparks, 142.

.36 Alice J. Hall, 112.

37 David Hackett Fischer, 208.

38 Charles W. Eliot, Four American Leaders (Boston: Beacon Press, 1906), 79-80.

39 C. P. Reynolds, 132.

40 Helen Augur, Secret War of Independence, 163. With hardly any staff, consular functions fell to the commissioners. All this business had to be conducted with poor intelligence. Often the information came via London after having been manipulated by British propaganda. See Reynolds, 134.

41 Malcolm Cowley, review of Benjamin Franklin, by Carl Van Doren, The New Republic 86, no. 1245 (19 October 1938): 338.

42 Ibid.

43 Samuel Eliot Morison, “The Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin,” Saturday Evening Post 262, no. 4 (May/June 1990): 39.

44 Ibid.

45 Brands, 528.

46 Sparks, 139.

47 Leonard W. Labaree, et al., eds. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1964), 316. He was often called Doctor Franklin. The University of St. Andrews had awarded him an honorary degree for his inventions and experiments. See Alice J. Hill, 112.

48 Ibid.

49 C. P. Reynolds, 134. He was established at Passy by March 2, 1777. Deane lived there, but Lee resided elsewhere. See Labaree, 316. David Schoenbrun argued, “The Passy hideout changed Franklin’s mode of life in France from the early hectic concentration on politics and aid to a much broader social and intellectual activity which played its part in his campaign. Schoenbrun, 99. He later wrote portions of his Autobiography here: Labaree, 26. Chaumont was one of a handful of well-connected financiers who supported the colonies-bid for independence and promised substantial financial aid. Two of the king’s most powerful ministers were close friends, Gabriel de Sartines, secretary of the navy, and Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, foreign minister. See Meredith Martindale, “Benjamin Franklin’s residence in France,” The Magazine Antiques, 112, no. 2, (August 1979): 269-70.

50 Ibid. From the journal of George Forster, the German author and scientist, Robert L. Kahn in his article related portions having to do with a dinner party attended by Forster at Passy. Kahn reported, “The venerable Philosopher of the Western World dined there. His silver hair and his large front ensured him reverence and Esteem, Persuasion and Goodness sat on his lips, and the benignity of the whole Aspect was admirable. He spoke little and chiefly on philosophical subjects, and dressed in a plain suit of grey and white silk stockings: joked with Mad. Le Roy, and told a number of humorous stories at the table. Robert L. Kahn, “An Account of a Meeting with Benjamin Franklin at Passy on October 9, 1777: From George Forster’s English Journal,” William and Mary Quarterly 12, no. 3 (July 1955): 473.

51 Ibid.

52 Benjamin Franklin to Margaret Stevenson, Passy, January 25, 1779, quoted in John Bigelow, ed., The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin (New York, 1888) 6, 300.

53 Schoenbrun, 55.

54 Carl Van Doren, Jane Mecom (New York: Viking Press, 1950), 131-2. He said in a postscript, “of the respect with which I am received and treated here by the first people, in my private character; for as yet I have assumed no public one.” After his service in France has concluded, Franklin reminiscenced about Paris, “All my pleasant dreams are laid in that city.” See Hall, 120.

55 Aldridge, Franklin and his French Contemporaries, 43.

56 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin and the French Alliance,” 72.

57 Sparks, 143.

58 David Hackett Fischer, 145.

59 Augur, The Secret War of Independence, 164. “Like a protective father, he worried about American sailors held in English prisons and sought their exchange for captured British seamen.” Hall, 114.

60 Benson Bobrick, 42. He received his second honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1762. See Schwartz, 115.

61 Ibid., 43-4. Franklin saw churches as one institution in the new world, and one of the few, which could support virtue, which he saw as critical to a citizen’s inner growth and the creation of a civil society. Schwartz, 116. Perhaps, Franklin reflected his rearing by Puritan parents.

62 John Paul Jones in writing to Robert Morris paid Franklin a great compliment: "... and if my testimony could add anything to Franklin’s reputation I would witness the universal veneration and esteem with which his name inspires all ranks, not only at Versailles and all over this kingdom, but also in Spain and Holland.” See, Samuel Eliot Morison, “The Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin,” Saturday Evening Post 262, no. 4 (May/June 1990): 40.

63 Ibid., 388. In his youth, Franklin visited Philadelphia’s brothels. He recognized an illegitimate son, William. This son later became the last royal governor of New Jersey. Ibid., 44.

64 Hall, 116. A Franklin scholar at Yale University, Ms. Claude-Anne Lopez, did not believe the gossip about him having thirteen illegitimate children. She corrected the myth, “Franklin always admired and respected lively intelligent women. He paid attention to them as people.” Compare Claude-Anne Lopez, Mon Cher Papa: Franklin and the Ladies of Paris, new ed. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1990), 3. Madame Brillon flirted with him constantly. She turned to Franklin as her father when her husband was unfaithful. She addressed him as “mon cher Papa.” She summarized his allure as being full of gaiety and gallantry that causes all women to love you, because you love them all. See, Hall, 118. Richard B. Morris in his article for American Heritage on page 86 described his belief that Franklin relished the role of “papa.” Professor Brands, the recent biographer, recorded how Franklin called Madame Helvetius the “Notre Dame d’Auteuil.” “If Notre Dame is pleased to spend her days with Franklin, he would be just as pleased to spend his nights with her,” he wrote. “And since he has already given her so many of his days, although he has so few left to give, she seems very ungrateful in never giving him one of her nights, which keep passing as a pure loss, without making any one happy except Poupon [her cat].” Brands, 559.

65 Brands, 554.

66 Lopez, 20. In a letter to Emma Thompson, a single woman, from Paris on 08 February 1777, he said, “And methinks you, with all other Women who smart or have smarted under the Tyranny of a bad husband, ought to be fix’d in Revolution Principles, and act accordingly.” See Lemay, 994-97.

67 Hall, 116. Franklin said of the queen, with regard to her eyes, “do more mischief in a week than I have done in all my experiments.” Ibid.

68 Edward Countryman, The American Revolution, American Century Series (New York: Hill and Wany, 1985), 216.

69 Augur, Benjamin Franklin and the French Alliance, 69. Franklin was famously many sided. There are few sides from which he, and his memoirs, have not been approached: Stacy Schiff, “Never Trust a Memoirist: Ben Franklin and the Autobiography,” The American Scholar 70, no.2 (Spring 2001): 68. Malcolm Cowley commented about the use of the mask. He related how William Butler Yeats expressed how a great man may overcome his weaknesses and redouble his influence by creating a false character for himself, based on exactly those qualities in which he is lacking: Cowley, 338.

70 Sparks, 140.

71 Samuel Eliot Morison, “The Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin,” Saturday Evening Post, 262, no. 4, (May/June, 1990): 39.

72 Bobrick, 84. “All Europe is on our side of the question-as far as applause and good wishes can carry them.” (Letter to Samuel Cooper, Paris, May 1, 1777.) This was quoted in Augur,” Benjamin Franklin and the French Alliance,” 67.

73 Ibid., 68. Helen Augur continued on page 85, “Only a great heart and a great faith could survive.” The American army was encamped at this time at Valley Forge.

74 Cowley, 338.

75 Lopez, 3.

76 Ibid., 4.

77 Ibid., 13.

78 Brands, 532.

79 The Works of Benjamin Franklin, 178.

80 Ibid., 178-80.

81 By early 1775 the British embassy in France estimated that war supplies worth 32,000,000 livres (about $6,000,000) had been shipped from the kingdom to the colonies. See Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 70. The traffic, which started in about 1770, was large. American merchantmen picked up contraband all over Europe: the British, Dutch, and French sent cargoes direct to the colonies, but greater amounts went to their islands in the Caribbean, to be picked up by American traders. Ibid. Augur argued, “It is hard to see how the patriots could have started their war, or kept it going, without the help of the islanders.” Ibid., 71.

82 Brands, 539. Franklin wrote about the poor quality of the arms sent through France’s indirect channels. He commented about how America needed good fighting men from France, but they sent the dregs of society. See, Aldridge, Franklin and his French Contemporaries, 63. The American merchants were concentrated where Franklin came into France at Nantes. Franklin considered that similar activities, on a smaller scale, were taking place at Bordeaux, Lorient, Le Havre, and Dunkirk. See Augur, “Benjamin Franklin and the French Alliance,” 72.

83 Franklin Papers IV, 50.

84 Hall, 118. Franklin achieved his first successes and the base of his fortune through his expertise as a writer and printer. H. W. Brands in his book recorded how sometime during the first year at Passy, Franklin set up a printing press. He hired help and before long he was back in the printing business. See Brands, 566. He joined the “Nine Sisters.” This was the first school of Constitutionalism that ever existed in Europe. Franklin was the master. Their group examined the foundations of government. The work was under way by 1778. After the war in America was over, leaders and soldiers like Lafayette returned home, inspired by the American example. Writers were inspired also, and mindful of the groundwork of the “Nine Sisters.” Therefore, the combination of events gave shape and substance to the early period of the French Revolution. See Hill, 714,718. Also, the Masonic Lodge of the Nine Sisters helped to mobilize public opinion in favor of French intervention in the War of Independence. See Samuel Eliot Morison, “The Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin,” Saturday Evening Post 262, no. 4 (May/June 1990): 40.

85 There have been negatives reported on Franklin’s diplomacy, especially after John Adams arrived on the scene after the alliance was signed. He was criticized for not taking adequate precautions against spies. He was said to be apathetic in the conduct of his duties and servile to the French court. It was reported that the other Americans with whom he served were critical of his efforts. Writers have reported that Vergennes complained about him. Maybe all these complainers had hidden agendas. History shows that Franklin was never recalled from Britain or France. For a discussion of his shortcomings as a diplomat, see John Ferling, “John Adams, Diplomat,” William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser., 51, no. 2 (April 1994): 249-50. Richard B. Morris maintained, “the statesman entourage included a spy in British pay, a maitre d’ hotel who was a thief, and a grandson who was a playboy.” See, Morris, 89. Morris was referring to William’s son, Temple, who was serving as his grandfather’s private secretary. It is interesting that Franklin brought both of his grandsons. But who would not want to go with a grandfather like this one.

86 Richard D. Miles, “The American Image of Benjamin Franklin,” American Quarterly, 9, no.2, part1 (Summer 1957): 118. “Benjamin Franklin’s reputation as an anchor of American Revolutionary diplomacy is doubtless established, and deservedly so.” See James H. Henderson, “Congressional Factionalism and the Attempt to Recall Benjamin Franklin,” William and Mary Quarterly, 3^rd ser., 27, no.2, (April 1970): 246. The writer continued, “Neither the ambivalence of his earlier politics as anti-proprietary agent during the resistance nor the opportunism of his business dealings in land and stocks during the Revolution have diminished the historian’s recognition of Franklin in Paris during the eight years from 1776 to 1783 which steadied American relations with France.” Ibid. One recognizes a difference of opinion as to whether or not Franklin engaged in private business dealings during the Revolution. His letter to his sister, Jane Mecom, partially quoted supra, indicated his separation of his private life from his public life.

87 Sparks, 141. Vergennes, the wily politician that he was, replied, “that he would send a courier to stop Franklin. However, if he should slip into the country, then it would be scandalous and against the laws of hospitality to drive him out of Paris.” Ibid. The French court was worried by the British ambassador’s protests, so they kept him uneasily at arm’s length. Lopez, 5.

88 Ibid.

89 Lopez, 5. Lee accused Franklin of engaging in commerce for his personal enrichment at the expense of the nation. Lee even wrote a note about a “scheme of commerce” to Gerard, Vergennes’s chief assistant, to such effect. Schoenbrun, 131-2. Augur in The Secret War of Independence on page 178 pronounced, “Franklin was one of the very few leaders of the Revolution who carried on no private business during the war.”

90 Brands, 534.

91 The Works of Benjamin Franklin, 225-30. Hartley began a campaign to ease the conditions of American prisoners and to work for their release: Schoenbrun, 164.

92 Ibid., 227.

93 Augur, The Secret War of Independence, 244.

94 Ibid. Franklin gave the British an opportunity, Schoenbrun reported Franklin’s words, “Between nations long exasperated against each other in War, some Act of generosity and kindness towards Prisoners on one side has softened Resentment and abated Animosity on the other, so as to bring on an Accommodation.” Schoenbrun, 163.

95 Ibid., 236. He refused to sign the final peace treaty with England until all American prisoners were released. Augur, “Benjamin Franklin and the French Alliance,” 85.

96 Brands, 523. See also, Labaree, 315. The purposes of the mission were as follows: “initially, to secure treaties of commerce and alliance with France and French aid in money and supplies; later, to negotiate treaty of peace with Great Britain; thereafter to negotiate treaties of amity and commerce with other powers. Other responsibilities: procurement and shipment of supplies for American army, assistance to American naval vessels in French waters, commissioning of privateers, adjudication of prizes, promoting the exchange and repatriation of American prisoners of war, and continuously, fostering the sympathy and support of the French people for American cause.” Helen Augur argued that an eventual American victory depended on military supplies and a powerful navy. See, Augur, “Benjamin Franklin and the French Alliance,” 68.

97 Martin and Lender, 115.

98 Sparks, 143.

99 Reynolds, 132.

100 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 75.

101 Sparks, 143. Franklin saw the American war in a large context. In a letter to Dr. Cooper on May 1, 1777 from Paris, he opined, in part, “Hence ‘tis a common Observation here that our Cause is the Cause of all Mankind; and that we are fighting for their Liberty in defending our own…” See “Franklin Papers IV,” 57. He had previously written the Committee of Secret Correspondence on 04 January 1777. In referencing Vergennes’s advice, Franklin wrote, “By his advice, we have had an interview with the Spanish Ambassador, Count d’Aranda, who seems well disposed towards us, …” See Bigelow, 168.

102 Brands, 530. He was certainly prophetic as to the commercial empire his country would one day become. His messages mixed promises with threats. Franklin explained to the Committee of Secret Correspondence, “clearly the government is not ready to embrace the American cause openly for fear of giving umbrage to England.” Ibid.

103 John Ferling, ed., The World Turned Upside Down: The American Victory in the War of Independence (New York, Westport, CN, and London: Greenwood Press, 1988), 149.

104 Hall, 112. Edwin Erle Sparks quoted Vergennes’s remarks to his cabinet about a year before as follows: “The continuation of the war would be advantageous to the two crowns [of France and Spain]. The best mode of securing this result would be on the one hand to keep up the persuasion in the minds of the English ministries that the intentions of France and Spain were pacific, so that they might not hesitate undertaking an active and costly campaign; and on the other hand to sustain the courage of the Americans, by countenancing them secretly, and by giving them vague hopes which would obstruct any attempts England might make to bring about an amicable accommodation.” See Sparks, 144.

105 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 73.

106 Brands, 538.

107 Schoenbrun, 148.

108 Sparks, 144.

109 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 72-3.

110 Ibid., 73-4. By October 1776 Beaumarchais had spent the original 2,000,000 livres, plus another million from France, and 2,600,000 livres in the form of credit from French merchants. Two ships finally got away in time to reach Portsmouth by April 1777, with supplies that helped turn the battle of Saratoga. Ibid., 74-5.

111 Another brother, William Lee, was in France serving as joint commercial agent. William and Arthur wanted to move Deane and Franklin out so they would have control of American interests in France, the fulcrum of European support. They opened a letter writing campaign with the Adams-Lee bloc. Ibid., 84.

Eventually, Congress recalled Deane for questioning about the commercial transactions. Ibid., 86.

Franklin and Vergennes kept Lee away from the treaty negotiations, knowing he was dangerous and disagreeable. Ibid., 87.

112 Ibid., 74-5.

113 Franklin took charge of diplomatic duties, Arthur Lee undertook missions to Spain and Prussia, which kept him out of Paris at a crucial period, and Deane continued his commercial activities. Ibid., 77. Lee angered the Spanish and Prussian governments by his arrogance. It was a shame because Frederick of Prussia hated the British. A British agent stole Lee’s private journal while he was in Prussia. It contained the details of every move made by the Paris mission up to that date. Ibid., 84. After Lee’s visit to Spain, Charles III refused to send any more aid. He listened to his new foreign minister, Floridablanca, who disfavored an American alliance. Ibid.

114 The French king had to be convinced to support the American rebels. David Schoenbrun pinpointed the critical role played by Franklin, “Franklin knew he could help Vergennes and the common cause most by rallying the leaders of French society, the great families and savants of France, to his side. If the noblest families declared themselves for America, along with France’s leading writers and scientists, this would go far toward calming the King’s anxieties.” See Schoenbrun, 78-9. Franklin parlayed his wonderful sense of just what to say, and how to say it, with the best smiles, and body language, for drawing French interests into an alliance. Surely, Britain had called him the chief rebel, and was eager to apprehend him on the high seas, and hang him from the nearest yardarm. Vergennes and his lieutenant, Gerard, soon realized they were negotiating with a maestro. “His flexibility, his real desire to do everything the French wanted, endeared him to Vergennes and the court.” Ibid., 84.

115 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 75-6. A few months later, on 17 March 1777 the commissioners sent memorials to the French and Spanish ministries urging a triple war against Britain and her ally Portugal. The joint conquest of Canada, Florida, and the West Indies was proposed. If successful, France would get as her share half of the Newfoundland fishery and all the sugar islands; Spain would claim Portugal and the Florida region, and the United States would gain Canada, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. No peace would be made except by mutual consent. Ibid., 77. The memorial to Vergennes had asked for ₤ 2,000,000, but nothing came of this request. Ibid. Franklin addressed Vergennes in his letter from Versailles dated 05 January 1777 as follows: “To his Excellency the Count de Vergennes, one of his most Christian Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State, and Minister for foreign Affairs.” See William B. Willcox, ed., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1983) 23, 122-3. Now this is a great salutation! He boldly declared, “North America now offers to France and Spain her Amity and Commerce.” Ibid., 123. Vergennes had been caught off guard somewhat, because he thought the Americans would proceed slowly with only a request for a treaty of commerce. See Schoenbrun, 82-3. Franklin as a great negotiator asked for all his beloved country needed.

116 Ibid.

117 Schoenbrun, 78.

118 Sparks, 144.

119 Bigelow, 170.

120 Schoenbrun, 91.

121 Ibid., 91-2. Bancroft and Wentworth were both Americans. Dr. Bancroft was an esteemed scientist. Sixty years after his death, the truth came out about Bancroft. He was the “Edward Edwards” of the secret service, the master spy of the century. See Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 78-9.

122 Ibid., 92.

123 Hall, 118. With Gallic flair, the French gave Franklin the code name, Promethee, after the Greek god who brought fire from the heavens. In British cipher Franklin was a prosaic number, “72.” Ibid.

124 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 77-9.

125 American privateers could accomplish wonders, but they could not prey on the huge British ships of the line. The British patrol of the seaboard made it difficult to maintain a supply line of military and civilian goods. Franklin’s most pressing assignment was to buy or borrow eight battleships from France and urge the Bourbon powers to commit their fleets in concert with these ships. See Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 68-9. Privateers were active before Lexington and Concord. Ibid., 69. The privateers attracted most of the able seamen so American naval affairs floundered. Ibid., 76.

126 Brands, 533. See “Franklin Papers IV” on page 57 for a description of how John Paul Jones in planning and executing his naval raids relayed military information collected in England.

127 Ibid. In March 1777 ships began arriving in New Hampshire ports bearing some 22,000 muskets, tons of gunpowder, military equipment, clothing, boots, blankets, tents, cannon, and everything needed to keep an army in the field. See Ferling, World Turned Upside Down, 151.

128 Bigelow, 168. Helen Augur described how Captain Gustavus Conyngham sailed around England, and then sailed around Ireland, taking prizes as he went. Stormont railed Vergennes for Conyngham’s continuous raids, and his terrorizing of the east coast of England and Scotland. Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 82-3.

129 Augur, Secret War, 168. By early 1777, the French and British had a tacit agreement that their war might be postponed indefinitely. As British patrols blockaded the American coastline, physical danger increased for American land forces, and the sickening of hope was paralyzing America. Ibid., 79.

130 Sparks, 144.

131 Ibid.

132 Reynolds, 134. According to Doniol, a French historian who searched through the archives, Franklin dealt through Montaudoin of Nantes, a great shipping merchant. See Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 69.

133 Bobrick, 295.

134 Brands, 537. Franklin wrote: “If, therefore, you have the least remaining kindness for me, if you would not help to drive me out of France, for God’s sake, my dear friend, let this your twenty-third application by your last.” See Sparks, 144.

135 Lemay, 919. The first sentence was, “The Bearer of this who is going to America, presses me to give him a Letter of Recommendation, tho’ I know nothing of him, not even his Name.” Ibid.

136 Continental Congress 1777, 7: 224.

137 Brands, 536.

138 Ibid., 537.

139 This was an inference from Franklin as to the problem of maintaining garrisoned towns. See Bobrick, 307.

140 Brands, 342. Today the United States is a world power. The battle of Saratoga on 17 October 1777 must be one of the “turning point” battles of all time.

141 Sparks, 144.

142 Aldridge, Franklin and his French Contemporaries, 65. This military victory turned the tide. Louis XVI could back a winner. On March 20, 1778, after the two treaties had been signed, the king received the Americans at Versailles. See Hall, 114.

143 Ferling, The World Turned Upside Down, 152. Compare Reynolds, “Louis XVI was persuaded to risk a navy far from its own shores and to ransack French arsenals for arms and ammunition. All of this was largely because one man manipulated the French view of their interests masterfully. Withal, most Frenchmen loved Franklin for it, and he returned the compliment.” Reynolds, 138. Alfred Owen Aldridge believed, “Franklin’s features during the eighteenth century were as familiar as Voltaire’s.” This was quoted by Winterich on page 19.

144 Continental Congress 1777, 7: 205. The king of France wrote his uncle, the king of Spain, “The destruction of the army of Burgoyne and the straitened conditions of Howe has totally changed the fate of things. America is triumphant, and England cast down. I have thought …that it was just and necessary to begin to treat with them to prevent their reunion with the mother country.” See Sparks, 145.

145 Brands, 529. The author on page 563 reasoned, “Louis may have understood-or only sensed-the full threat Franklin represented to the ancien regime.”

146 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 76.

147

#sdfootnote147anc

Ibid., 86.

148 Ibid., 87.

149 Ibid., 88. France hesitated for nearly two months, waiting to hear from Spain. See Sparks, 145.

150 Ibid. Being an American, I just love this man. He is my hero!

151 Brands, 543.

152 Ibid.

153 Schoenbrun, 177.

154 Ibid., 179. Vergennes said France would fight at America’s side until her independence was won. See Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 88. The Masonic Lodge of the Nine Sisters inducted Franklin during the spring of 1778, after the treaty was signed, as their 106^th member. See Brands, 563.

155 Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, May 4, 1778.

156 Ibid., May 5, 1778.

157 Brands, 544. “The treaty of commerce provided for free entrance of goods from the ports of each country to the other; protection on land and sea; joint suppression of pirates; confining fishing to limits of respective territories; the abolition of droit d’ aubaine; arrangements for defining contraband goods; for carrying prizes into each other’s ports; and for granting an asylum when pursued by an enemy.” See Sparks, 145-6. “The treaty of close alliance guaranteed the independence of the United States; renounced the claims of France to all parts of northern America or the Bermuda Islands if conquered by the United States; and yielded any claims of the United States to islands in the Gulf of Mexico or near the gulf which might be conquered by France. It also renewed the pledge given by the commissioners that neither party should make peace with Great Britain without the consent of the other being first obtained. A third act, separate and secret, was added to the foregoing treaties, granting Spain the right to come in at any time she might choose upon the terms already determined.” Ibid.

158 Sparks, 146.

159 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 87. “It became a pattern which was followed for over a century in the isolated condition of America.” See Sparks, 146. “Among the features included in succeeding treaties were mutual defense against pirates; abolishing the droit d’aubaine; no contraband goods to be removed from a vessel except under a court of admiralty; requiring property captured by pirates to be restored; prizes may be brought into a port but not remain there; giving aid to shipwrecked vessels; six months allowed after declaration of war for removal of property; prohibiting either party issuing letters of marque-practically licensing a freebooter; forbidding vessels of any nation with whom either may be at war from fitting out in ports of the other; allowing either to trade with the enemy except in contraband goods; confining contraband goods purely to articles intended for war and excluding food, clothing, raw goods, and ship material; requiring neutral vessels to carry proof papers in time of war; and regulating methods for carrying on the search of a suspected vessel in war time.” Ibid., 147.

160 Sparks, 147.

161 Walter Russell Mend, Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001), 107.

162 Bigelow, 251-4.

163 Ibid., 254.

164 Miles, 117. After the signing, Franklin attended a dinner where Louis XVI and George III were elegantly toasted. Of course, the great American would not be outdone. Franklin said, “I can not give you the sun or the moon, but I give you George Washington, General of the armies of the United States, who, like Joshua of old, commanded both the sun and the moon to stand still, and both obeyed.” See Bobrick, 466. The Briton had compared his king to the sun and the Frenchman had compared his king to the moon.

165 Alfred Owen Aldridge, “The First Published Memoir of Franklin,” William and Mary Quarterly 24, 3d ser., no. 4 (October 1967): 624.

166 See footnote 14 supra for Britain’s public vilification of who Dr. Brands called “The First American.”

167 Augur, “Benjamin Franklin,” 88.

168 Sparks, 147.

169 Brands, 8.