Silas Deane

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Silas Deane in a 1766 painting by William Johnston

Silas Deane (born December 24, 1737 in Groton , Colony of Connecticut , † September 23, 1789 at sea near England ) was a member of the American Continental Congress and represented the United States as the first diplomat in another country.

Life

Deane was born in Groton in 1737, the eldest son of a wealthy farmer . He was the first in the family to go to college. In 1761 he left Yale University , moved to Wethersfield after completing his law degree and worked there briefly as a lawyer . After his marriage to Mehitable Webb, he became a merchant. From 1768 to 1775 he was a member of the Connecticut General Assembly as a deputy.

Deane was involved in the independence movement during the American Revolution and was a member of the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. In early 1776 he was sent to France to solicit material and financial donations from the French government for the colonies that were at war with Great Britain . Initially unofficially, he later became one of the first American diplomats in this country, along with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee . In France he organized the safe transport of weapons, ammunition and equipment by sea, recruited soldiers for the USA (including Lafayette , Baron Johann de Kalb , Thomas Conway , Casimir Pulaski and Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben ) and began negotiations with Charles Gravier and Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais on their support for the war.

On November 21, 1777, Deane was called back to the United States before the Continental Congress and replaced in France by John Adams . Reason were allegations by Arthur Lee, who harbored a personal dislike of Deane and accused him of getting rich financially in his transactions instead of having the good of the colonies in mind. Before his planned return, Deane was one of the signatories of the American-French alliance on February 6, 1778. The congressional hearing at which he was defended by John Adams and John Jay was long and controversial and also led to diplomatic tension France. In 1781 he was allowed to return to Paris and find copies of important documents that should prove his innocence. While Deane was in Paris, the Rivington's Royal Gazette in New York published some private letters from Deane, which he had sent to his brother, in which he questioned the revolution and called for rapprochement with England. These circumstances meant that Deane was no longer allowed to enter the United States and was viewed as a traitor . In 1789, while Silas Deane was on his way back to the USA to clear up the allegations, he suddenly fell ill and died unexpectedly on board his transport ship near the Kent coast . Some historians believe Deane was murdered by double agent Edward Bancroft. Lee's allegations could never be substantiated, and in 1841, nearly 50 years after his death, Deane was acquitted of all charges and his descendants were paid compensation.

Silas Deane 1781

aftermath

Deane was instrumental in the planning for the construction of the United States Navy and was just as important in the successful outcome of the Battle of Ticonderoga . His troops and equipment efforts in France culminated in an official alliance between the two countries in 1778, which was decisive for the outcome of the revolution. Even so, he is unknown to the majority of Americans. In the USA, in addition to a street in Weathersfield, the USS Deane , a school and a museum are named after him. His home in Weathersfield, the Silas Deane House , has been a National Historic Landmark since 1969 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Www. britica.com: Silas Deane; Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed July 15, 2009
  2. ^ Treaty of Alliance Between The United States and France; February 6, 1778 ( Memento of January 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (text of the contract in the Avalon Project of the Yale Law School), accessed on July 16, 2009
  3. ↑ a b www.silasdeaneonline.org: SilasDeaneOnline; The decline and fall of Silas Deane ', accessed July 15, 2009
  4. ↑ www.silasdeaneonline.org: SilasDeaneOnline; Who was Silas Deane, accessed July 15, 2009
  5. ↑ webb-deane-stevens.org; The Silas Deane House( Memento from February 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : Silas Deane  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Deane, Silas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Member of the American Continental Congress and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH December 24, 1737
PLACE OF BIRTH Groton , Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH September 23, 1789
Place of death at sea near England