VI.

Diplomat of the Revolution

The day after his arrival in America, Franklin was chosen a member of the Second Continental Congress. The Continental Congress voted to have a postal system and chose Franklin to be the first postmaster general. It also sent him to Canada as part of a commission to persuade Canada to join the revolution against Britain. He was nearly 70 years old when he made this difficult winter journey, and the mission was a failure. Upon his return from Canada, Franklin became one of the committee of five chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence. He was also one of the signers of that historic document, reportedly advising the assembly with characteristic wit: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

In September 1776 the Continental Congress chose Franklin and two other Americans, Arthur Lee and Silas Deane, to seek economic assistance from France for waging the war against Britain. Franklin’s scientific reputation, his integrity, and his wit and gracious manner made him extremely popular in French political, literary, and social circles. Against the vigorous opposition of the French minister of finance, Jacques Necker, he managed to obtain liberal grants and loans from Louis XVI of France. While in France, Franklin also encouraged and assisted American privateers operating against the British navy, especially John Paul Jones.

The victory over British forces at Saratoga in 1777 was a triumph for the Americans, and it convinced France that supporting America might be backing the winning side against its longtime enemy, Britain. As a result Franklin negotiated a treaty of commerce and defensive alliance with France in February 1778. This treaty represented, in effect, the turning point of the American Revolution. French aid enabled the newly formed United States to win the war, although it also helped bankrupt France, thereby contributing to the French Revolution (1789-1799). Seven months after the treaty was concluded, Congress appointed Franklin the first minister plenipotentiary (ambassador with full powers) from the United States to France.

In 1781 Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay were appointed to conclude a treaty of peace with Great Britain. The final treaty was signed at Versailles on September 3, 1783 (see Paris, Treaty of), almost two years later. About this time Franklin remarked, “There never was a good war or a bad peace.” Franklin stayed in France until 1785 and was accorded many honors.