THE DIPLOMACY OF THE REVOLUTION

When the full measure of honor is given to the soldiers and sailors and their commanding officers, the civilians who managed finances and supplies, the writers who sustained the American spirit, and the women who did well their part, there yet remains the duty of recognizing the achievements of diplomacy.  The importance of this field of activity was keenly appreciated by the leaders in the Continental Congress.  They were fairly well versed in European history.  They knew of the balance of power and the sympathies, interests, and prejudices of nations and their rulers.  All this information they turned to good account, in opening relations with continental countries and seeking money, supplies, and even military assistance.  For the transaction of this delicate business, they created a secret committee on foreign correspondence as early as 1775 and prepared to send agents abroad.

=American Agents Sent Abroad.=—­Having heard that France was inclining a friendly ear to the American cause, the Congress, in March, 1776, sent a commissioner to Paris, Silas Deane of Connecticut, often styled the “first American diplomat.”  Later in the year a form of treaty to be presented to foreign powers was drawn up, and Franklin, Arthur Lee, and Deane were selected as American representatives at the court of “His Most Christian Majesty the King of France.”  John Jay of New York was chosen minister to Spain in 1779; John Adams was sent to Holland the same year; and other agents were dispatched to Florence, Vienna, and Berlin.  The representative selected for St. Petersburg spent two fruitless years there, “ignored by the court, living in obscurity and experiencing nothing but humiliation and failure.”  Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, expressed a desire to find in America a market for Silesian linens and woolens, but, fearing England’s command of the sea, he refused to give direct aid to the Revolutionary cause.

=Early French Interest.=—­The great diplomatic triumph of the Revolution was won at Paris, and Benjamin Franklin was the hero of the occasion, although many circumstances prepared the way for his success.  Louis XVI’s foreign minister, Count de Vergennes, before the arrival of any American representative, had brought to the attention of the king the opportunity offered by the outbreak of the war between England and her colonies.  He showed him how France could redress her grievances and “reduce the power and greatness of England”—­the empire that in 1763 had forced upon her a humiliating peace “at the price of our possessions, of our commerce, and our credit in the Indies, at the price of Canada, Louisiana, Isle Royale, Acadia, and Senegal.”  Equally successful in gaining the king’s interest was a curious French adventurer, Beaumarchais, a man of wealth, a lover of music, and the author of two popular plays, “Figaro” and “The Barber of Seville.”  These two men had already urged upon the king secret aid for America before Deane appeared on the scene.  Shortly after his arrival they made confidential arrangements to furnish money, clothing, powder, and other supplies to the struggling colonies, although official requests for them were officially refused by the French government.