Committee of Secret Correspondence - Julien-Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir and The Committee of Secret Correspondence

Julien-Alexandre Achard De Bonvouloir and The Committee of Secret Correspondence

In 1775, the French cabinet was faced with a conflict in trying to decide whether or not to support the Patriots in the American Revolution. Supporting the Patriots would be an ideal opportunity for France to try and regain lost land in North America as well as dampen Great Britain’s economic and political strength by winning the revolution. On the other hand, the French were hesitant to support the Patriots, in case their success inspired other French colonies to attempt the same type of rebellion.

Before making a decision, the French cabinet decided it was necessary to acquire more information about the social, economic, and political situation in the United States. To do this, the cabinet chose Julien-Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir, a 26-year-old retired French officer, to travel to the United States as an undercover agent, and make contact with the Continental Congress.

While in the United States, Bonvouloir had three meeting with the Committee of Secret Correspondence from December 18 and 27. During the meeting, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay were continuously debating how much information about the state of their country they should tell the Frenchman, as they knew there was a chance that he was a spy. The Committee told Bonvouloir that the United States was serious in its plan to separate from Great Britain. They then asked Bonvouloir about France’s opinion of the North American colonies and about obtaining arms, munitions, and engineer officers from France.

As a result of these discussions, when Bonvouloir returned to France and shared his discoveries with the French government, they agreed to “give you secretly a million livres” as well as “convince the Court of Spain to unite in giving you another.” Although the aid the French gave the Americans during the revolutionary war was confidential, the alliance became formal with the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce on February 6, 1778. The main reason that France wanted this secrecy was to avoid fighting with Britain, who would be angry and threatened if they discovered France was providing aid to their rebelling colonies.

France’s desire to keep their aid to the United States secret was evident during the 1777 incident involving Arthur Lee and Silas Deane. Lee, who frequently aided the Committee of Secret Correspondence, suspected Silas Deane, a colonial agent in France, of financial wrongdoing. In order to prove Deane’s wrongdoings, information about the French aid to the United States would need to be released. However, French minister Gerard insisted that the information be kept confidential, and on January 12, 1778 Congress passed a resolution that denied any French aid to the United States. Although the aid the French gave the Americans at the beginning of the revolutionary war was confidential, the alliance became formal with the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce on February 6, 1778.