Noble Blood - Prometheus in Paris

Episode Date: July 30, 2024

In 1777, Benjamin Franklin made his way across the Atlantic to Paris. He was the most famous American in the world, a celebrated inventor thought of as Galileo reincarnate. But Franklin would need more than just his celebrity if he were to achieve his mission: convincing the French monarchy to support the Americans in overthrowing a king.Support Noble Blood:— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon— Noble Blood merch— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school.

Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they hit a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of IHeart Radio and grim and mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. One brief housekeeping note before we begin, this fall I am teaching an online romance writing class with Not Sorry. It starts October 6th. It's on Sundays and it's virtual so you can sign up. if you're based anywhere in the world. Again, starting October 6th, it will go from eight weeks. This program is so much fun. Last year, I taught a class on horror writing. I had an amazing time. If you're interested in writing or you're already a writer or just want to like dip your toes into what it means to write romance or characters with chemistry. Or if you've ever wanted to do

nano-ri-ri-mo, write a novel in November, this is a great opportunity. It's an incredibly supportive community. and it offers accountability for your writing. So if you want to join us, sign up now at notsariworks.com. If you sign up quick, there's an early bird discount. There's also scholarships available if you scroll on the page and apply for that information. I just love teaching these classes. I love making writing accessible and building a fun community, and I've had a great time. This class I'm teaching with a brilliant co-teacher, Vanessa Zoltan, who I absolutely love.

She's so smart and so funny. I just know we're going to have a great time this October, so if this interests you, absolutely join us. Let's get into the episode. The man who arrived in Paris was one of the most famous people on the planet, the type of person who influenced fashion and caused crowds to gather on the sides of streets to cheer his carriage passing.

Collectibles would be printed with his face in honor of his arrival in France, and dinner parties would be thrown for him. The French considered him to be another Newton or Galileo, a great intellectual in the vein of Voltaire. He was Benjamin Franklin, and for most Parisians he was almost certainly the only person from America that they would have heard of,

the man who had managed to pull lightning from the heavens. It was an honor and a privilege that he was choosing to spend time in France, and the French were going to make sure that he knew that they understood that. Within weeks of his arrival, women began wearing lightning dresses and hats with metal lightning rods sticking out of them, complete with small chains trailing down to ground any possible electric charges, although I imagine these were only styles worn in comfortably sunny weather. Women also styled their pompadores to resemble the famous fur cap that Benjamin Franklin chose to wear instead of the more standard powdered wig. The women called the hairdo, a coiffure a la Franklin.

Paris had a case of Franklin mania. His book of poor Richard's aphorisms was translated and published in French. Copies of La Ciance de Bonhomme Richard frequently appeared at the most glamorous salemies. Lans. Franklin's portrait appeared over mantles. His face was embossed on collectibles, dishes, walking sticks, and snuff boxes. The French, Franklin wrote in a letter to family back in America, quote, have made your father's face as well known as that of the moon. In fact, the mania became so extreme that King Louis XVIth himself was a little annoyed by it, as a tongue-in-cheek gesture, he commissioned a chamber pot for a friend with Benjamin Franklin's face on it.

Franklin's social calendar was an endless parade of parties, dinners, and salons. It seemed that he spent most of his time flirting with his many female admirers. As a matter of fact, it seemed as though Benjamin Franklin was having so much fun in Paris that anyone might be forgiven for thinking that pleasure was the reason he was there in the first place. But the truth was something kept hidden by design from almost everyone in Europe. Benjamin Franklin was in France on a mission, and though he certainly enjoyed being fitted,

he knew that his mission was critically important to the fate of what he hoped would one day be his young nation. The American colonies were at war with the border with the British for their independence, and in 1777, they were lacking money, food, uniforms, and hope. Even the fantasy that George Washington and his meager army might defeat the vastly superior British forces would only be possible with the help of an outside resource. The American revolutionaries needed France, and so they needed Benjamin.

Franklin. So while Parisian socialites amused themselves dressing to honor Franklin's scientific achievements, Franklin himself was hard at work, trying to figure out a way to convince a monarch to help fund revolutionaries attempting to overthrow that very same system of government that he presided over. Franklin sat at feasts, trying to play his diplomatic hand exactly right. while he knew that at those exact same moments, American troops were starving. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. Benjamin Franklin wasn't always a revolutionary. Just a few years before he would sign the Declaration of Independence,

he was a loyal British subject, actually trying his diplomatic best to work within the colonial system, while tensions between the British and the colonists were rising. In 1772, Franklin was co-postmaster general, and he was faced with a massive scandal. An anonymous source had forwarded along a collection of private letters written by the governor of Massachusetts. The governor was writing to British officials saying that he thought the colonies needed harsher oversight and more troops,

even that certain liberties that English citizens enjoyed ought to be restricted amongst the colonists. Obviously, the letters were massively inflammatory, the type of rhetoric that would only stoke the growing revolutionary sentiment in America. Although Franklin decided that the letters should not be published or made public, he showed them to Samuel Adams and the members of the Massachusetts House. The letters did not stay secret. for long. They were published in the Boston Gazette. English officials were furious about the scandal. Those were private letters that had been leaked, and the source of the leak had not been identified. Who had given the letters to Franklin in the first place? Franklin was summoned to England to testify before the king's privy council, in a room referred to as the cockpit.

Franklin understood just how infuriated the colonists were, and he tried to reason with the Englishmen, advocating for the British to appoint a new governor and lieutenant governor in Massachusetts. But the men in the cockpit had no interest in engaging in good faith with Franklin. Instead, Franklin was mocked and ridiculed by the Solicitor General. He was accused of dishonor and thievery. Benjamin Franklin had come to England hoping to turn the temperature down on revolutionary talk. He sailed home convinced that revolution was the only way forward. A little over a year later, the first shot of the Revolutionary War would be fired at Lexington and Concord.

Though the revolutionaries had the strength of their convictions, that was one of the only strengths they had. American soldiers were untrained, underfed, and massively underfunded. If they were going to stand a fighting chance against the British, they needed help. On October 26, 1776, Benjamin Franklin, then 70 years old, was sent to France as one of three diplomats on a top-secret mission to secure French support for the revolution. He traveled with two of his grandsons on a ship called the reprisal. It was an incredibly treacherous journey. Franklin wrote that the voyage, quote,

Almost demolished me. They had limited rations on board, and by the time Benjamin Franklin landed in Europe, he had boils and scabs all over his body, including on his balding scalp. But even more dangerous than the risk of disease, or dangerous seas, was the fact that Benjamin Franklin was technically traveling as a traitor. The British Navy patrolled the Atlantic, and if they captured him, as a signer of the Declaration

of Independence, he could have been hanged. Fortunately, Franklin managed to make it to Brittany intact, and though he had planned on keeping his arrival in France a secret, celebrity made that challenging. word that the famous Benjamin Franklin was on their shores made it to Paris before he did, and the celebrations of all things Benjamin Franklin began. One thing that Benjamin Franklin understood implicitly was how to play-act the role of an American in order to delight the French. He wore an iconic fur hat in the style of a hat that had been famously worn by the philosopher Rousseau, which gave Franklin both an intellectual and a delightfully rustic frontier style appeal.

The hat also served the additional purpose of covering the scabs that still covered his head from the miserable shipride across the Atlantic. Franklin was a bona fide sensation, the most famous American in the world and a celebrated scholar-scientist. when he moved into a house in the suburbs outside Paris, invited by the man who owned the manor, a lightning rod was hoisted on the roof in Franklin's honor. He received what seemed like an endless stream of visitors, including plenty of women who adored his company and whom he adored right back. His favorite was a woman named Madame Brion, his 33-year-old married neighbor, a year younger than Franklin's daughter. The two had an incredibly close relationship.

They played chess and had tea multiple times a week. And though their letters were intimate in a loving way, and Franklin made his sexual interest clear, Madame Brion politely reminded him that she was a married woman, and the two just genuinely seemed to enjoy each other's company. From that point on, the relationship became more place. platonic and paternal. But Benjamin Franklin was an incredible flirt, which was one of the primary modes of communication in France. One particular line that I think shows off his celebrated charm came when he

was playing a game of chess with a woman. Instead of checkmating his opponent, he simply claimed her king. The woman scolded him, telling him in France they didn't take kings that way. Ah, Franklin replied, We do in America. As enjoyable as his socializing was, it wasn't the reason Benjamin Franklin was in France. He needed to convince King Louis XVI to join with the fledgling United States of America, to recognize it as a nation and support it in its revolution against the British. Now, if there's one thing France loves, it's fighting the British. And just a few years earlier, the British had human.

humiliated France in the Seven Years' War, cementing British domination in America and Canada. France did have a vested interest in restoring the balance of power away from England in the new world, and they had a personal interest in defeating the British. But Benjamin Franklin's task was still a massively difficult one. For one, much as he was trying to convince France that the United States was an actual unified nation, that was a long way off. America was fighting the Revolutionary War, yes, but there was still no consensus, even among the Continental Congress, whether America was one people or 13 pulling together for a common cause. For another thing, France's resources were already massively strained. And if they sent ships to North America,

they would be playing a risky games in terms of their ability to protect France itself and the French West Indies against the vastly powerful and far superior British Navy, the most powerful Navy in the world. It was such a dangerous proposition that Louis XVI wrote a letter to the King of Spain, king to king. He knew that whether or not to recognize the U.S. was an incredibly important decision, but it wasn't one that he wanted France to have to make a loan. And then, all of that aside, there was the philosophical issue of asking King Louis XVIth to fund the overthrow of another monarch.

While trying to win the French government over, Franklin told them about how powerful George Washington's army was. Washington was leading an army of 80,000 men, he said, well-trained, fierce fighters who would stop at nothing until they achieved their freedom from tyranny. Franklin said that Americans could hold out for 30 years. And when reports reached France that the British had taken Philadelphia, Franklin just smiled and shook his head. It was all part of the plan.

The river would freeze, you see, and the British would be trapped there. Franklin was fully bluffing. Washington had closer to 14,000 men, nowhere near 80, and they were so poor that they couldn't afford uniforms. When Philadelphia fell to the British, a British officer commandeered Benjamin Franklin's own home, stealing his books, private papers, and scientific equipment. Though Franklin's ally in France, the Foreign Minister Comp D'Evergène, was able to sneak Franklin and the Americans some fun. under the table, the French were not going to officially support the revolution unless there was some proof that it wasn't a fully lost cause. All Franklin could do, much to the chagrin of his American colleagues watching from across the ocean, was weight, continuing to wage his personal

charm offensive against the French people. After months of bluffing and treading water, the tide finally shifted on October 17, 1777, when Americans defeated the British general John Bergoin in the Battle of Saratoga. It was a tremendous victory, a turning point in the revolution, and exactly the sort of moment Benjamin Franklin needed in order to convince the French that helping the Americans was backing a winning team. Franklin sprang into action, right writing detailed and poetic accounts of the incredible victory, taking particular time to praise the French soldiers who had been fighting alongside the colonists. Because even if the French government had been hesitant to officially join in the American Revolution, there was no shortage

of valiant young Frenchmen, particularly young nobleman, inspired by the daring due of the Marquis de Lafayette, who wanted to prove their medal on a field of battle, that would also, incidentally, give them a chance to humiliate the British. Franklin's efforts worked. On February 6th, 1777, Benjamin Franklin met with the Foreign Minister Virgin to sign not one, but two treaties. The first was a treaty of friendship and commerce. The second and more important of the two was a treaty of military alliance. Not only had France officially recognized the United States as a nation, it had officially joined in its revolutionary efforts. Imagine the scene of French officials that day at the end of the 18th century and try to

picture what you imagine they might be wearing. Fine silks, embroideries, the type of clothing that reflects the importance of the occasion within a culture where people were already wearing incredibly ornate decorated clothing. In contrast, Benjamin Franklin wore a simple brown wool waistcoat suit, but he had a very specific reason for the outfit he chose. It was the exact same suit he had been wearing less than a decade earlier when he was berated and humiliated by the British while testifying in the cockpit. Now that same jacket would witness the signing of the treaty that might help America cast off Britain's yoke forever.

It was an act of sartorial vengeance, the 18th century equivalent of Princess Diana's revenge dress. Franklin did wear slightly more formal garb a month later when he appeared at Versailles for the ratification of the alliance. This time he wore a black velvet suit lined with white ruffles and silk stockings. Even still, the Chamberlain took a moment's pause before letting him into court, because Franklin wasn't wearing the wig and sword that was required by court's etiquette. Still, then, as today, dress codes are more suggestions when you're famous,

and Franklin was invited into an audience with King Louis XVIth in the 16th in the King's great chamber. The king extended a message of goodwill to Congress, stating that he hoped the alliance would be, quote, for the good of our two nations. Franklin was effusive in his gratitude, and replied to the king with the type of remark that seems so poignant in its dramatic irony that I'm tempted to believe it was apocryphal. If all rulers ruled with your benevolence, Franklin told the king, Louis XVIth, republics would never be formed. Once the formal acknowledgments were taken care of,

Franklin was invited to spend time with the royal family. One account relates that while Franklin was watching a game play out on a gaming table, he was, quote, honored by the particular notice of the queen, who courteously desired him to stand near to her, and as often as the game did not require, her immediate attention, she took occasion to speak to him in very obliging terms. Franklin and Marie Antoinette were also said to have strolled through the gardens of Versailles,

where he explained to her the basics of his electrical experiments. Allegedly, Marie Antoinette asked Benjamin Franklin, if he was worried that, like Prometheus, who was chained to a rock with his liver plucked out for all eternity, he too worried that he would be punished for stealing fire from heaven. Franklin replied that he would, quote, if he did not behold a pair of eyes pass unpunished, which have stolen infinitely more fire from Jove than he ever did, though they do more mischief in a week than he has done in all my experiments.

The task of official recognition was done, but Benjamin Franklin's work was far from over. over. The revolutionaries were in desperate need still of money, supplies, and ammunition, and trying to get the French people to provide it became the central focus of Franklin's work. Biographer Stacey Schiff recounted how at one point the Americans sent Franklin a 38-page list of the things they needed from the French, including, quote, a frigate, a ship of the line, and 49,000 uniforms, as well as spoons, trumpets, paint, and thimbles. According to Schiff, the demands was so massive that Franklin was left speechless.

It's at this point that another founding father makes a cameo in the story. In 1778, future president John Adams joined Franklin in France as an ambassador. It was a terrible idea from the start. If you've seen the excellent HBO miniseries John Adams starring Paul Giamatti, you probably have a fairly good understanding of what sort of man Adams was, principled and brilliant, but straightforward, blunt, hardworking, with no patience for nonsense. In other words, a terrible fit for France, where diplomacy was more reliant on charm and flirtation than anything else. He was also a terrible match for Benjamin Franklin, who, as Schiff elegantly put it, was a master of the French art of, quote, accomplishing much while appearing to accomplish little.

Adams despised Franklin. Where was the man who had written poor Richard's almanac? Early to bed, early to rise, all of that? The Franklin that Adams saw in France was a lush who seemed to spend more time social. than working. He was invited to dine every day and never declined, Adams wrote, and it was the only thing in which he was punctual. To make matters worse, Adams also had to bear witness to Franklin's tremendous celebrity. As Adams put it, Franklin was greeted like, quote, an opera girl, everywhere they went. Adams was so unpopular in France that the foreign minister actually insisted. that Franklin be the only American representative, and so Adams was sent back across the Atlantic, although his mistrust and resentment of Franklin never abated. In 1783, Adams wrote a letter stating,

quote, If I was in Congress and Franklin and the Marble Mercury in the Garden of Versailles were in nomination for an embassy, I would not hesitate to give my vote for the statue, upon the principle that it would do, no harm. The growing sentiment of resentment of Franklin's slow progress in France seemed to be shared amongst the United States. America needed resources immediately, and France was not providing them. Why couldn't Franklin get more? At one point, Congress was so frustrated with Franklin that they floated the idea of replacing him. That notion was so abhorrent to Franklin's friend and ally, the Foreign Minister Rijin, that Vosgen immediately sent over a large shipment to America and wrote to make sure that Congress understood that he had only granted it specifically on

account of Benjamin Franklin. Franklin continued his efforts to fund the Americans, writing letters and missives, charming the French and trying to secure supplies as best he could. But by 1781, the war was dragging on. It was midnight when a courier arrived at the suburban home Franklin lived in with incredible news. The Americans had achieved victory at Yorktown. With the help of 6,000 men that King Louis XVI had sent under Lieutenant General Rochambeau, George Washington had trapped General Cornwallis, and a helpful French fleet posted just offshore meant that the British wouldn't be able to escape or send for more supplies. Cornwallis had no options. He surrendered. The American Revolutionary War was all but over, and John Jay and John Adams arrived in Europe

to work with Benjamin Franklin on finalizing the end of the war with the British. Though the nature of the American treaty with France meant that the Americans were supposed to consult with France and Virgin on their British peace agreement, John Jay and Adams balked at that idea and preferred to work independently. It was a tricky situation for Franklin, who had seen firsthand just how much the French had done for them and how much Bergen had done for him personally, but he had no choice but to go along with the other negotiators. France was understandably upset at being left completely out of the peace agreement, and so it was left to Franklin to apologize to Verschen, which he did in an absolutely masterful letter. He wrote that the omission, quote,

was not from want of respect for the king, whom we all love and honor. It is not possible for anyone to be more sensible than I am of what I and every American owe to the king, for the many and great benefits and favors he has bestowed upon us. The English, I just now learn, flatter themselves that they have already divided us. I hope this little misunderstanding will therefore be kept a perfect secret, and that they find themselves totally mistaken. He added that he hoped, quote, the great work which has Hithorobin so happily conducted, is so nearly brought to perfection, and is so glorious to his reign, will not be. ruined by a single indiscretion of ours. And certainly the whole edifice falls to the ground

immediately if you refuse on that account to give us any further assistance. Did you catch that last part? Not only had America excluded France from negotiating in the peace agreement, but now America needed more money. And the absolutely insane part, the letter worked. Next time you apologize, if it doesn't end with the person you wronged giving you more money, just know that Benjamin Franklin was operating on a different level. And the affection the French had for Benjamin Franklin lasted until the end. When Franklin eventually left the country, it was Marie Antoinette who personally lent him a litter carried between mules

because Franklin's health issues made normal coach travel uncomfortable. I want to be clear, as an American citizen, I am personally very grateful to the French for everything they did for us in the Revolutionary War. But hindsight being what it is, looking back, it was a catastrophic move for the French monarchy. According to Schiff, the value of French material and manpower sent by Louis XVIth was the equivalent of approximately $20 billion in today's money. The empty treasury was certainly an aggravating factor six years later when the French Revolution began. And the money doesn't even account for the philosophical impact of the American Revolution on the French people. Hearing all about overthrowing a tyrannist monarch and the essential promises of liberty helped the French revolutionaries establish their vocabulary when it came to the revolution that would lead to Louis XVI's

head detached from his body. But again, for Americans, it is almost impossible to overstate how important that French aid was during the Revolutionary War. As Schiff says, quote, when the British surrendered at Yorktown, they did so to forces that were nearly equal parts French and American, all fed, clothed, and paid by France, and protected by a French Navy. Biographer Walter Isaac puts Benjamin Franklin's impact specifically into focus. He said, quote, I think Benjamin Franklin, by sealing the alliance with France, did as much to win the revolution as anybody,

with the possible exception of George Washington. If John Adams were to hear that, I know he would be rolling in his grave. Even as it happened, he was aware of the mythologizing that was happening in real time, our tendency to exalt individual heroes over the boring hard work of slow collective effort. Quote, the history of our revolution will be one continued lie from one end to the other, he wrote. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin's electric rod smote the earth and outsprung General Washington.

I apologize to John Adams if this podcast continues, The Frank. myth-making. Yet another telling of the story of the man who charmed the French into helping us win a war. That's the story of Benjamin Franklin working with the French monarchy to overthrow the British monarchy, but keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit about how the French inspired one of Benjamin Franklin's most famous inventions. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from stepbrother, There's Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo.

My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with him one day, and I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah.

He goes, but there's so much. much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right. It wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to thanks, Dad, on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo. Woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever.

I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place they come. Look for us. up-and-coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah.

He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat, just hang in there. Yeah. It would not be... Right, it wouldn't be that.

There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Benjamin Franklin is famous as a founding father, but he's also acclaimed as an inventor. Ask any precocious elementary school student in the U.S., and they'd probably be able to rattle off a few of his inventions. The lightning rod, of course, but also the Franklin's stove. A glass harmonica, the catheter. and swim fins. And one of his other most famous inventions

came about because he wasn't that good at French. During his time in Paris, Benjamin Franklin was invited to a countless number of dinner parties. Because his French was still rudimentary if he wanted to understand what his dining companions were saying, he would need to be able to see their lips moving across the table. But he also wanted to be able to make out the food in front of peasant. him. This dilemma of wanting his vision corrected at different distances led to an invention

that's still used today by Focals. Noble Blood is a production of IHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Menke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Courtney Sender, Julia Melani and Armand Kasam. The show is edited and produced by Noami Griffin and Rima Il K. Ali with supervising producer Josh Thane and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah.

This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer?

They hit a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.