France and its people played an important part in Franklin’s life, even
though he was in his 70’s when he went there to live and work as America’s
first Ambassador to France. Franklin learned the language and etiquette of the
country, both of which endeared him to the French people and helped him obtain
military aid for the American’s struggle with England. Franklin was considered
a celebrity by the French because of his scientific, philosophical, and political
writings, and he became a favorite guest of the courtiers to King Louis XVI.
He lived in Passy, just outside of Paris, where he entertained some of the greatest
minds of Europe. There is little doubt that without Franklin’s dedicated
service in France, the colonists would have lost the war with England. Franklin
loved the French people, and the French people adored Franklin in return.
• France was the site of the first experiments proving Franklin’s theories
of electricity.
• In 1772, prior to Franklin moving to France, he was
elected to the French Academy of Sciences. He also received
honors in the academies of sciences and arts at Orleans and
Lyons.
• In 1776, Franklin arrived in France as the American Ambassador.
• Franklin obtained multiple loans to finance American troops fighting the
British.
• In 1778, Franklin negotiated and signed a Treaty of Alliance between France
and the United States.
• Franklin was instrumental in sending the Marquis de Lafayette to train American
troops in 1778.
• Franklin attended the Montgolfier brothers’ famous first balloon flight
in 1783.
• Franklin established a printing press and publishing operation in Passy.
• In 1783, Franklin signed the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war with England.
• Franklin left France in 1785 to return home to Philadelphia.
• After Franklin’s death in 1790, the French National Assembly declared
a national month of mourning in respect for the man that they called "the
genius who Freed America and shed torrents of light upon Europe."
Franklin received honors from a number of French societies and academies.
• Paris Academie Royale des Sciences in 1772
• Paris Academie Royale de Medicine in 1777
• Academie Nationale des Sciences, Belle-Lettres et Arts in Lyon in 1785
• Orleans Societie Royale de Physique, d’Histoire Naturelle et des Arts
in 1785
