Revolutionary War: THE BLOG

One of the key parts of the Revolutionary War was foreign relations.

Ben Franklin was essential in his diplomatic negotiations with France, the one large supporter of America's split with Britain. Determined to make a good impression on their (hopeful) chief funder, Franklin went to work gaining the popularity of the aristocrats. However, instead of attempting to meet their standards of class and dressing in all the fineries of a nobleman, he played on the idea of "the American Quaker". 

Franklin dressed in handmade, plain clothing, wore no wigs, and carried a simple walking stick. His well-known trademark in France was the fur cap that he wore at every social occasion he could. The cap was donned to display his simplicity, but perhaps it was also a symbol, meant to blatantly tell the French monarchy that America was a new nation that would not follow the standards of any other country, and instead become a free democracy.



He was very popular with the aristocrats- especially the women. Nearly all of France was taken aback and astounded by his apparent humbleness in apparel and attitude, and embraced him for it. The closest thing that I can relate it to is a wealthy woman and a puppy. 

While it may seem like a stretch, I think the metaphor is fairly accurate: the snobbish woman turns her nose down at the eager men who attempt to capture her attention, but will swoon over a small, rather adorable puppy. John Adams would take the place of the hopeful men in this comparison, while Ben Franklin would be seen as the puppy, and France, of course, the wealthy woman. Adams' vain attempts of foreign relations are failures, while Franklin has major success with the French. To the disbelief and irritation of Adams, Franklin is a charming master-mind at work when it comes to social interactions. And, like a puppy, he seems innocent and adorable on the outside, when in truth all he needs to do is "turn on the charm", so to speak. With his ability to enthrall and delight the French courts (and French women), America gains their first foreign ally.

For a little over a year, Franklin visited with King Louis XVI and the rest of the French government to work out a deal in which France would fund the rebellious colonies and stock their weapons, as well as other supplies. At last, with the help of Franklin and two additional diplomats, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee, America's budding revolution was backed by the Treaty of Alliance with France, as well as the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, founded on February 6th in 1778. Relations between the two nations were positive until the French Revolution and the execution of Louis XVI, in which America declared neutrality and the French grew angry, all due to the fact that they had aided the American Revolution while the Americans stood by as their country rose up against their own monarchy.

However, that's another story for another blog. 

- MAK

For more information on the puppy-ish womanizer that was Ben Franklin, feel free to check out this video.

Spain and the Beginnings of Slave Labor

In this blog, I'll be focusing on the Spanish conquistadors' treatment of natives in the New World: especially the Aztecs.

Both the Spanish and English practiced the extremely poor treatment of natives. However, the Spanish CONQUISTADORS' abuse of the natives was far worse than the New England colonists'.

The Spaniard's hunt for gold and silver was a crazed frenzy, an obsessive search that often led to the bloody slaughter of natives as they moved through southern America. An example of this would be Hernando Cortes, a Spanish conquistador. 

"...he invited the headmen of the Cholula nation to the square. And when they came, with thousands of unarmed retainers, Cortes's small army of Spaniards, posted around the square with cannon, armed with crossbows, mounted on horses, massacred them, down to the last man. Then they looted the city and moved on."

While the English colonists were more concerned about their settlements and their religion to focus on anything more than the banishment of the Indians, the conquistadors enslaved the natvies that they came across. In their search for GOLD and as part of the ECOMIENDA, they forced the natives into SLAVERY.

The working conditions and lifestyle that the enslaved natives endured were almost unimaginable. They were often worked to the death, and treated worse than animals.

"Total control led to total cruelty. The Spaniards 'thought nothing of knifing Indians by tend and twenties and cutting slices off of them to test the sharpness of their blades.'"

"[They] 'grew more conceited every day' and after a while refused to walk any distance. They 'rode the backs of Indians if they were in a hurry' or were carried on hammocks by Indians running in relays. 'In this case they also had Indians carry large leaves to shade them from the sun and others to fan them with goose wings.'"

The picture below shows a mass hanging of natives, and the murder of native children.

The Spaniards' use of natives for labor was also an important part of the COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE. The enslaved AZTECTS and INCAS worked to collect the gold and silver that was sent from the New World back to the Old World. 

In addition, Cortes and his followers created a generation of MESTIZOS, the offspring of raped indigenous women, and the BLACK LEGEND, one view of the actions taken by the Spanish conquistadors. 

The battle fought by the Aztecs- and the siege they now refer to as "NOCHE TRISTE"- was fought and lost. But what if the they had succeeded and driven Cortes out? It may have frightened Spain off for a time, perhaps. However, it's more likely that Spain would have sent more troops and wiped out the natives completely.