I'm always amazed at the absence of questions about the honorable Doctor Franklin in this sub. It's subsequently a treat when I see them.

...what helped kick the British... is French... involvement in the war after Saratoga

We wouldn't have had anything to shoot at Saratoga without French supplies. But let's start before that.

In Nov 1775, Congress appointed Franklin, John Dickinson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Johnson, and John Jay to the Committee of Secret Correspondence. Their goal was foreign support.

It would be agreeable to Congress to know the disposition of the foreign powers toward us. We need not add that great circumspection and impenetrable secrecy are necessary. - B. Franklin, 1775

Franklin wrote the son of the Spanish King, Charles, and shared a copy with him of;

(T)he proceedings of our American Congress, just published... (as they) may be of some curiosity at your court... (so that your) wise politicians may contemplate the first efforts of a rising state, which seems likely soon to act a part of some importance on the stage of human affairs...

The same week the Committee of Secret Correspondence would meet secretly at night, in Carpenters Hall, with Monsieur Bonvouloir. He was a French agent sent to essentially spy on the American situation. During the meeting Franklin expressed desire for French supplies. Without acting as "an agent of the state," Bonvouloir suggested a deal could be made for weapons and ammunition.

Franklin was already a member of the Secret Committee, which was formed in Sept of the same year to procure army munitions for the colonial forces, and had a meeting shortly after with two French merchants. They hoped to enrich themselves from supplying the Americans and indicated they were agents of the King (which was not true). They were given a list of supplies and the meeting was done.

Silas Deane, who had been a member of the Secret Committee but was no longer, was sent to France with letters for several of Franklin's contacts, including his publisher, M. Dubourg. The publisher would connect them to a very important Frenchman, Comte de Vergennes, the foreign minister of France. Franklin told him to first commence in good for the "Indian trade" so as to avoid detection as a colonial agent. He also instructed he should meet with Vergennes at the first opportunity and inform him of his status as a colonial merchant, but adding he say that he has;

...something to communicate to him that may be mutually beneficial to France and the North American Colonies

Guns and their procurement was the main goal, but Franklin advised he also convey;

...if we should... come to total seperation from Britain, France would be looked upon as the power whose friendship it would be fittest for us to obtain and cultivate.

He was asking what happens if we declare independence. He additionally pressed that, should Deane detect sympothy, he also determine if France would be open to recieving ambassadors or entering a treaty with the new nation. In May of 1776 King Louis approved 1,000,000 France bucks (livres) to finance Franklin's requested items and transport of them to the colonies;

... clothing and arms for twenty-five thousand men, with a suitable quantity of ammunition, and one hundred field pieces... which it might be well to secure by a convoy of two or three ships of war.

This gave us a start, and in a lot of ways it added capability to cause of independence. We could fight the British now, though not for long. More was needed but would not be given without confidence we would not reconcile with Britain. We declared independence and created the United States of America. Surely that confidence was now provided.

In the fall of 1775, General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold invaded Canada in a two prong approach. Things went well for Montgomery, taking Ft St John's and Montreal. Half of Arnold's soldiers deserted or died on the 400 mile hike through Maine wilderness, but they had met Montgomery's forces at the end of the year and launched their combined attack on Quebec City. It failed and Montgomery was killed. The colonials stayed until the spring of '76 when British General Burgoyne arrived via the St Lawrence with reinforcements. Arnold's men were quickly pushed out and pursued, but the British commander, Guy Carleton, failed to crush the army. Burgoyne devised a plan to take Carleton's forces south and split the colonies in half, crushing their army and drawing the conflict to a close. He was appointed commander and allowed to pursue this plan.

In addition to this loss, Washington had been defeated off Long Island. The initial sparks of success were not growing into a raging fire. The confidence our independence offered was nullified by our seeming inability to withstand another season of war. By the time they could send help would it just arrive on a British dock, anyway? France, and moreso Spain, was not ready to engage us officially or offer support.

We found ourselves out on a limb and without a safety net. We had severed the cord to the Empire, yet had to prove we could win to get foreign assistance. We needed assistance to prove we could win. Stuck, congress sent Franklin - over an enemy patrolled ocean - to France. Every ship in the Royal Navy knew Franklin's face. Indeed most British and French citizens did. If caught, he would likely be very publicly hung in London. Jefferson and Adams had both refused, but Franklin knew it to be the risk needed for freedom. At 70 he told Benjamin Rush;

I have only a few years to live and I am resolved to resolved to devote them to the work that my fellow citizens deem proper for me; or speaking as old-clothes dealers do of a remnant of goods, "You shall have me for whatever you please."

Turn tape over to side two now.