The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

Portrait medallion of Benjamin Franklin, 1777

Eripuit coelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis (He snatched the lightning from the skies and the scepter from the tyrants).

—Letter from Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot to Samuel P. du Pont, ca. 1779

The fledgling American army was no match for Britain’s well-established military might. In the fall of 1776, Franklin was sent overseas to negotiate a military alliance with the French. In France he capitalized on his scientific fame, networking enthusiastically within the Paris social scene. Franklin became an active member of the Freemasons and developed friendships with General Lafayette and Caron de Beaumarchais. He recognized that to win the cooperation of the French he had to understand their interests and remain humble in demeanor. By wearing a fur cap rather than an elaborate wig, for instance, Franklin cultivated an image of personal modesty and rustic charm.

His strategy paid off. Franklin soon won the support of the foreign minister Comte de Vergennes and King Louis XVI, and in 1778 the Treaty of Amity between America and France was signed. In it France agreed to supply troops, funds, and armaments vital for an American victory against Great Britain.

There shall be a firm, inviolable and universal Peace, and a true and sincere Friendship between the most Christian King, his Heirs and Successors, and the United States of America.

—Treaty of Amity, February 6, 1778

Miniature portrait of Louis XVI, 1784

Le Docteur Francklin couronné par la Liberté, 1778

In 1778 the Treaties of Amity and Commerce (commonly known as the Treaty of Amity) produced a strategic alliance between the United States and France, in which each nation agreed to aid one another in the event of British attack. Already at war with Britain, the new American nation needed significant support in the form of loans, military supplies, and troops. The Treaty officially brought France into the American Revolutionary War, providing aid at a crucial time and ultimately enabling the Americans to win their fight for independence. Negotiating the Treaty on behalf of the United States were Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, Arthur Lee, and Conrad Alexander Gerard.

Treaties of Amity and Commerce, 1778

“Estimate of Stores for the Armye,” July 1779

I have at last obtained a Promise of Some money towars the supplies and shall want I believe 10,000 suits of Cloaths with shirts, hats stockings and shoes.

—Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Jonathan Williams, Jr., December 22, 1779

With the start of the Revolutionary War, Americans faced the daunting challenge of fighting the British Empire—until now, their main provider of military goods. As Commissioner to France, one of Franklin’s major duties was to secure desperately needed supplies for the American army. Working from an extensive list provided by Congress, Franklin sought everything from cannons, to musical instruments, to buttons and shoes. Over the course of the war, the French provided supplies and underwrote aid worth $13 billion in today’s money.