biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1737–89)
|
| biography:
| Diplomat and legislator, born in Groton, Connecticut, USA. He was the first diplomat sent abroad by the united colonies. In France in 1776, he persuaded the French government to send military supplies to the colonies under the guise of a holding company, and in concert with Arthur Lee (1740–1792) and Benjamin Franklin negotiated two treaties with France (1778). He was recalled to America following insinuations made against him of disloyalty and embezzlement, and although the accusations were never proved, they ended his career. He returned to Europe as a private citizen to prove his innocence, advocating reconciliation with the British. After the American Revolution he lived as an impoverished exile in Belgium and then London. In 1842, Congress re-examined the evidence in his case, and made restitution of $37 000 to his heirs. |
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