The story of Silas Deane is the most intriguing tale I have encountered since my .
reintroduction to history via this class. Although I knew in my mind I was doing research .
for an assignment, I felt as if I were simply reading an intriguing mystery novel whose .
initial pages I could not help but continue to turn. It reaffirmed for me a love of the study .
of the past, as well as reminding me that although there are historic facts that have been .
reiterated to me throughout my educational endeavors, there is always a bigger story that .
lay beneath the surface shrouded in these facts, and if I am to truly understand the facts I .
am asked to learn, the I must continually question what lies beneath.
Silas Deane was quite a character, his beginnings humble as the son of a .
Connecticut blacksmith. Fortunately for him, his father had the foresight to send his son .
to Yale to get an education. There he studied law and set up a private practice in Hartford .
upon graduation. Although procuring an education improved his social status somewhat, .
Mr. Deane accomplished his upward mobility via the art of marrying well. Initially, he .
married the widow of a wealthy merchant and took over the business her late husband left .
behind. Following the death of his first wife, he then married the granddaughter of a .
former Connecticut governor and decided to enter the political arena. Initially he served .
on a local level, and later served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental .
Congresses, where he caught the attention of such influential men as Ben Franklin, .
Robert Morris, and John Jay.
Following the beginnings of the Revolution, Silas Deane was sent to France as the .
United States" first representative abroad under the unified colonies. His mission was to .
purchase arms from the French government. He was later joined by Ben Franklin and .
Arthur Lee in attempt to form a formal treaty of alliance with the French for their .
