Quote:
Originally posted by Sodfather
(Benjamin Franklin) really was a smart ass, and, as obviously not many people know, thought of France as "the center of civilization" as opposed to the States when he lived in paris, I believe, for 25 of his 33 last years on Earth. Little disrespectful for a founding father, huh? |
I seemed to remember his having been the first
US ambassador to France (which would rather let him off the ol' turncoat hook, don't you think?) and checked this on
http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/facts/ -- a none-too-reverent site as it reports that he fathered a child out of wedlock.
Turns out he left in 1776 and returned seven years later:
Quote:
In part via Franklin's popularity, the government of France signed a Treaty of Alliance with the Americans in 1778. Franklin also helped secure loans and persuade the French they were doing the right thing. Franklin was on hand to sign the Treaty of Paris in 1783, after the Americans had won the Revolution.
Now a man in his late seventies, Franklin returned to America. He became President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and signed the Constitution. One of his last public acts was writing an anti-slavery treatise in 1789. |
I'm sure you can appreciate how important it was for the young US to have as its ally Britain's traditional number-one enemy.
Revealing the foibles of our heros (which serves us right for having them) is always a book-seller. So what if Franklin was a cheapskate, etc.? He was also a real Renaissance Man, which is a lot more than you can say for You-Know-Who.