Hotel de Coislin, Paris, France - Benjamin Franklin on Waymarking.com

Metro : Concorde, Address : 4, place de la Concorde, Paris 8e.

[On February 6, 1778], a small group of Americans and French gathered in Silas Deane's apartment on the second floor of the Hotel de Coislin at the corner of rue Royale and place de la Concorde (then, Place Louis XV). They signed the Treaties of Friendship, Commerce and Alliance by which France, first of all nations, recognized the independence of the United States. Conrad Alexandre Gerard represented the King of France. The American delegates were Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee.

Until that moment, the American nation, born in the thirteen colonies and unified in the Declaration of Independence of 1776, did not exist as an independent country, nor did it have official ambassadors. Its citizens were not recognized abroad or protected by a consul. For the rest of the world, Americans were still subjects of the British monarch. On this fateful day, one of the major powers in Europe recognized the independence of the United States of America...

The signing of the treaty marked the success of Franklin's long, patient efforts to win France's help since his arrival in Paris in December 1776. For the British Ambassador, Lord Stormont, whose spies had kept track of the wily septuagenarian's every movement, it was a major setback. News of the treaty was rushed to England. When the British arrived to negotiate with the Colonies, they found that the Franco-American treaty had already been ratified by Congress.

(Text taken from "Paris : Birthplace of the U.S.A." by Daniel Jouve, Alice Jouve,and Alvin Grossman.)

A commemorative plaque can be seen on the building at street level along the rue Royale.

Location Type: Building Reference Web Site: [Web Link] Property Type: Private Fee required: no Location Notes: Metro : Concorde, Address : 4, place de la Concorde, Paris 8e. Established Date: Not listed

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