250 and Counting

Tag: Backchannel Diplomacy

  • The French Connection–March 1, 1776

    Cover art for March 1, 1776: portrait of Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, created by Jean-Marc Nattier, 1755. via Wikimedia Commons.

    We bumped into a little dilemma when putting together this episode. Specifically, what do we do when 1776 doesn’t match up with 2026?

    As it turns out, 1776 was a leap year, so that year had a February 29, whereas 2026 does not. So we decided to do what most Leap Babies seem to do: mark the day on March 1.

    To that end, today marks two events: first, we take a look at an arrangement that France and Spain made to trade with America on a kind of gray market. That arrangement was first presented to King Louis XVI on February 29, 1776.

    From there we jump to March 1, the date that the Royal Navy began enforcing the Prohibitory Act in earnest. It was supposed to go into effect on January 1, but presumably the Navy didn’t know about it until after that date, so March 1 became the agreed-upon start date. Under the terms of the Prohibitory Act, the Colonies were banned from trading with other nations, in addition, any Colonial ships were considered enemy vessels and were subject to being captured and retained. Likewise, any sailors aboard those ships were enemies of the Crown and to be treated as such.

    This was almost certainly the last straw for many in the Colonies.

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  • A Plan For Reconciliation–January 3, 1776

    Cover Art for January 3, 1776: a 1913 painting of the Continental Congress in session, by John Ward Dunsmore.
    A 1913 painting of the Continental Congress in session, by John Ward Dunsmore. This is supposed to be the moment that John Adams recommends George Washington to lead the Continental Army. I couldn’t find any images of Lord Drummond, at least not the correct Lord Drummond.

    It was called “A Plan of Accommodation,” and it had been in the works for most of the previous year before Lord Drummond tried to present it to the Second Continental Congress.

    Taxation was the big ticket item originally, but they managed to work that out with a perpetual grant of a percentage of revenues of certain items. Once the Americans got past that, the negotiations moved quickly: Britain would modify many of its restrictions on the Colonies, and the Colonies would in turn observe certain trade rules and provide Britain with military support when needed.

    All of this was under the table, though: the next step was to begin formal negotiations. Drummond wanted the Americans to send an official delegation, but the delegates pointed out that they were likely to be arrested if they went to England, so Drummond offered himself as a hostage.

    It was all looking good until several pieces of bad news came in.

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  • July 14, 1775: Support From An Odd Place

    Cover art for July 14, 1775: Cropped detail from John Glynn, John Wilkes and John Horne Tooke, after Richard Houston (1769), given to the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1922.

    Lord John Wilkes was an interesting person who was always willing to run against popular opinion if he felt strongly that he was in the right.

    In 1769 he fought for the right of his voters – rather than the House of Commons – to determine their representatives. In 1761 he got Parliament to concede the right of publishers to print the content of Parliamentary debates. In 1776 he put forth a bill proposing Parliamentary reform.

    But on this day in 1775, Wilkes managed to anger a great number of people in Parliament when he expressed support for the Colonial rebels.

    Unfortunately, after one of his actions had an unfortunate effect, his politics became increasingly conservative and as a result he lost his seat in Parliament in 1790. Not long afterward he took a position as a magistrate, and he seemed to once again show more compassion toward the lower classes.

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  • March 21, 1775: Franklin Departs London Forever

    Cover art for March 21, 1775: The house where Benjamin Franklin stayed while on his final trip to London.

    Benjamin Franklin was pretty good at diplomacy, but even when given several years to try, he was unable to bring about peace between England and the Thirteen Colonies.

    From December 1774 through February 1775, he and some of his British friends tried to put together a map to peace, but unfortunately both sides were too entrenched to even consider compromise. Franklin finally went home on this day in 1775, but he left one final impression that we’ll learn about tomorrow.

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  • March 18, 1775: Ben Franklin Confides in Edmund Burke

    Cover art for March 18, 1775: Portrait of Edmund Burke. 1771 by Joshua Reynolds

    Among the casualties of the early days of American History are all the friendships that were damaged by people being on opposite sides of the political fence. Good thing we’re all past that sort of petty nonsense nowadays, amirite?

    Sigh.

    We’ve talked in the past about John Adams and his former friend Daniel Leonard, who sparred in print under pen names and never quite repaired their relationship. Today we talk about Benjamin Franklin and Edmund Burke, a member of the British Parliament who was good friends with Franklin, though perhaps not publicly. Today marks the likely last day that the two men ever saw each other, as Franklin was on the final trip to England of his lifetime. Sadder still, Burke was actually sympathetic to the Colonist cause, though he wasn’t entirely convinced that they’d win a war.

    On the other hand, hardly anyone was convinced that Britain would be defeated, so there’s that.

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