Donald Trump is hardly the first American to use trade for political ends.

[mdrohan@mstdn.ca]

Donald Trump is hardly the first American to use trade for political ends. #OTD March 2, 1776, Benjamin Franklin and other members of the Committee of Secret Correspondence decided to offer France access to American trade in exchange for French support for the American Revolution.

The offer was laid out in the committee’s instructions to Silas Deane, an agent they were sending to Paris. Deane was to use Franklin’s contacts in scientific circles to gain an audience with the French foreign minister, Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes.

He was to tell Vergennes that “the Commercial Advantages, Britain had enjoyed with the Colonies had contributed greatly to her late Wealth & Importance,” and then ask for France’s political and financial support, including arms, ammunition, and clothing for 25,000 men.

#hedidnotconquer #canada #history #books #americanrevolution #america250