Editing Silas Deane (section)

==France==
[[Image: Lafayette and Deane.jpg|thumb|''Baron de Kalb Introducing Lafayette to Silas Deane'' (1879 Print)]]
On March 2, 1776, Congress appointed Deane as a secret envoy to France with the mission of inducing the French government to grant financial aid to the colonies.{{sfn|Baker|2014|p=64}} He began negotiating with French Foreign Minister [[Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes|Comte de Vergennes]] as soon as he arrived in Paris. Deane organized the shipment of arms and munitions to the colonies with the assistance of [[Pierre Beaumarchais]], the playwright and outspoken supporter of American independence.<ref>"[http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2008-09/interact/10things/oniontown/all Wethersfield, CT, and Onions]", [[Yankee Magazine]], August 1993</ref>{{sfn|Paul|2009}} Deane also tacitly approved the plot of Scotsman [[John the Painter|James Aitken]] (John the Painter) to destroy [[Royal Navy]] stores and dockyards in [[Portsmouth]] and [[Plymouth]], England, on behalf of the Continental cause.{{sfn|Warren|2005}}

Deane's position was officially recognized after [[Benjamin Franklin]] and [[Arthur Lee (diplomat)|Arthur Lee]] arrived in Paris in December 1776, with orders from Congress appointing the trio as the diplomatic delegation to France.{{sfn|Schaeper|2011|pp=84–86}} Deane recruited the services of several foreign soldiers to the cause, including [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de Lafayette]], Baron [[Johann de Kalb]], [[Thomas Conway]], [[Casimir Pulaski]], and [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben|Baron von Steuben]]. For a variety of reasons, many of the foreign officers were unpopular in America, and many in Congress blamed Deane for their behavior,{{sfn|Flemming|2007|pp=58–59}}<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/10/silas-deane-forlorn-forgotten-patriot/|title = Silas Deane: Forlorn and Forgotten Patriot|last = Dick|first = Jimmy|date = October 28, 2013|journal = Journal of the American Revolution}}</ref> leading them to recall him on December 8, 1777.{{sfn|Baker|2014|p=67}}

On February 6, 1778, Deane and the other commissioners signed the Treaties of [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (France–United States)|Amity and Commerce]] and of [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|Alliance]], officially creating the alliance between France and the American colonies.{{sfn|Schaeper|2011|p=114}}