Benjamin Franklin, U.S. Minister at the French Court, Issues the “oath of allegiance to the United States of America” to an American Sea Captain to Join the Navy and Return to America

An incredibly rare document, the only such certification of loyalty signed by Franklin we can find ever reaching the market (and one of just a small number he issued during the war); Written just three months after French forces left for Newport, RI and four months after a formal alliance between the U.S. and France was announced

When news reached France of the Declaration of Independence of the thirteen colonies, it was perceived by many as the incarnation of the Enlightenment spirit against the tyranny of England. So when Benjamin Franklin arrived in Paris on December 21, 1776, he found much sympathy for his cause; and he himself was the “celebrated Dr. Franklin” from the beginning. The people gathered in crowds to see and acclaim him and shopkeepers rushed to their doors to catch a glimpse of him as he passed along the sidewalk.  Perhaps no person in history has come to symbolize America as Franklin did in Paris. The official reaction to Franklin's cause was, however, more restrained, as France did not wish to rush into a war with Britain or back a losing cause.

In France, Franklin acted as diplomat charged with convincing France to ally itself with America and fund the Revolution; he was purchasing agent to acquire ships and war supplies to be sent home; head recruiter seeking experienced or promising officers for the Continental Army and Navy; loan negotiator to obtain monies for the virtually bankrupt Congress; intelligence strategist handling information in the chess game between the American, French, British and Spanish governments; funds disburser for the American acquisitions effort; and generally acted as the ambassador and main representative of the new United States in Europe. Just two weeks after his arrival, Franklin formally requested French aid. King Louis XVI approved a response to him, and on January 13, 1777 Franklin received a verbal promise of two million livres. In March 1777, Franklin established himself at Passy, a charming village outside Paris where he remained throughout his French mission. In early June, he received the first proceeds from the French, an advance of one million livres, which they immediately deposited with a private banker that the United States used in Paris, Ferdinand Grand. This would prove a prototype, as in the future private entities would be utilized by the French government to provide clandestine aid in the way of secret arms, supplies and funds to the Americans. But at first, the aid was meagre and halting.

Military news coming from America in the summer of 1777 was not good, so France looked to Spain and they both hesitated to make an alliance with the U.S. However, soon the Americans won a decisive battle against the British at Saratoga, where the entire British force under General John Burgoyne surrendered.  This demonstration of superiority would give France the impetus it needed to formally recognize the Americans.  John Paul Jones arrived in France on December 4, 1777, with the news about Saratoga; the war effort was about to change.

On February 6, 1778, just two months later, France signed a Treaty of Alliance and a Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States. This alliance would eventually bring victory in the Revolution and lead to American independence.  Britain declared war on France on March 17, 1778. In late April 1778, Comte D’Estaing left France in command of a fleet of twelve ships of the line and four frigates with the intention of assisting the American colonies against Great Britain.  He arrived in late July.

The issue of allegiance was a primary but difficult one for the Americans, with the war having torn the country between patriots advocating independence and loyalists still maintaining fidelity to Britain. Many of these loyalists had family or commercial ties to Britain, or were not inclined to believe that the colonists could win. Patriots, meanwhile, looked for some tangible sign that their neighbors were enlisted in the cause of American liberty. As early as June 1775 the Continental Congress set forth an oath of allegiance. In November 1776, Britain issued a proclamation offering pardons to any American willing to swear an oath to the British crown.  In January of 1777, General Washington issued his own proclamation giving those who had taken this oath 30 days to explain themselves or be considered “as common enemies of the American states.”  Another oath format was established by Congress in February 1778. So there were multiple forms the oath of allegiance took.

After the outbreak of the American Revolution, Solomon Townsend was a merchant ship’s captain commanding the ship Glasgow, which was berthed in London due to the cessation of trade between Britain and its American colonies. The ship's owner was reluctant to put the vessel at risk by leaving the harbor, effectively stranding the crew in England. Townsend made his way to Paris where he befriended Benjamin Franklin and was received at the French court.

Franklin administered this oath to Townsend: "I do acknowledge the thirteen united states of america namely: New hampshire, Massachuset’s Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, new york, new jersey, Pensylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, south Carolina and Georgia to be free, independent and sovereign states, and declare that the People thereof owe no Alledgiance or Obedience to George the third king of Great Britain; and I renounce, refuse and abjure any alledgiance or obedience to him. And I do swear that I will to the utmost of my Power, support, maintain and defend the said united states, against the said George the third, king of Great Britain and his heirs and successors and his and their Abettors, assistants and adherents."

Franklin also commissioned Townsend into the Continental Navy and helped him secure passage back to America on the Frigate USS Providence, under the command of Commodore Abraham Whipple. Franklin provided Townsend with the following letter of safe passage:

Autograph document signed, a certification of loyalty, June 27, 1778 from, “Passy, near Paris.”  “I certify to whom it may concern that Captain Solomon Townsend of New York, mariner, hath this day appeared voluntarily before me, and taken the oath of allegiance to the United States of America, according to the resolution of Congress, thereby acknowledging himself a subject of the United States.”  This is the very document specifically mentioned in Benjamin Thompson’s "The History of Long Island: From Its Discovery and Settlement."

The Providence arrived in Boston in November 1778. Townsend did not return to sea, but established an ironworks and later served in the New York State Assembly. His son Peter established the New York Academy of Sciences.

As to the rarity of these certifications of loyalty signed by Franklin, Franklin himself gives us this accounting in a September 1778 letter.  “Applications have frequently been made to Us, by Americans, who have been Some time abroad, to administer the oath of allegiance to the United States and to give them Certificates that they had taken such oaths. In three Instances We have yielded to their Importunity.”

This is the only certification of loyalty signed by Franklin we have found ever reaching the market.