Detail of Silas Deane, Esqr.Commissioner from Congress in France – Connecticut Historical Society
Silas Deane (1737-1789)
Silas Deane was a politician and diplomat credited with successfully soliciting the foreign aid the colonies needed to defeat the British during the Revolutionary War. Prior to that, he represented Wethersfield in the Connecticut Assembly. He also served as Secretary of the Connecticut Committee of Correspondence and as a delegate to the Continental Congress. After receiving an appointment to France, he was part of a delegation that signed the Treaty of Alliance, which brought the French into the Revolutionary War in 1778. Congress recalled Deane from his appointment, however, to discuss charges that he embezzled funds. To clear his name, Deane returned to Europe to gather documents necessary for his defense but died before making it back to America.
More on Silas Deane from the CT Digital Archive
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The Rise and Fall of Silas Deane, American Patriot
Esteemed by his fellow patriots as a savvy diplomat who helped cement a strategic alliance with France during the American Revolution, Deane spent his final years under a cloud of suspicion. …[more]
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Places
“Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum,” 2017. Link.
Documents
Connecticut Historical Society. “A Guide to the Silas Deane Papers,” 2012.
Library of Congress. “Benedict Arnold to Silas Deane, March 30, 1776 - George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress,” 2012. Link.
Connecticut Digital Archive. “Silas Deane Collection,” n.d. Link.
Library of Congress. “Silas Deane, 1779-1781, Extract from Expense Account with Congress - The Thomas Jefferson Papers,” 2012. Link.
Books
Clark, George L. Silas Deane, a Connecticut Leader in the American Revolution. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1913. Link.
James, Coy Hilton. Silas Deane, Patriot or Traitor? East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1975.
Van Vlack, Milton C. Silas Deane, Revolutionary War Diplomat and Politician. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2013.
Deane, Silas, and Charles Isham. The Deane Papers ... 1782-1790. Vol. 5. New York, NY: New York Historical Society, 1887. Link.
Deane, Silas. The Deane Papers; Correspondence Between Silas Deane, His Brothers and Their Business and Political Associates, 1771-1795. Hartford, CT: Connecticut historical Society, 1930.
