24. Beaumarchais is all but forgotten to American history
The hidden activities of Beaumarchais saved the American Revolution. Without just the gunpowder his ships provided the war would have been lost, let alone all of the other supplies. Yet he is forgotten in America, history textbooks scarcely mention his name. There is a reason for that. He made many political enemies during his lifetime, counting among them John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Arthur and Richard Henry Lee, and even Lafayette, who lost a small fortune by investing in Hortalez et Cie. The shameful behavior of the American government over its benefactor also helped his role in the revolution to be covered up.
Few men in history ever did another country a greater service, though Beaumarchais never set foot in America. When Hortalez et Cie was officially dissolved in 1783, its books revealed over 21,000,000 livres (French pounds), equivalent to approximately $4 billion today, were sent by company ships to the United States either directly or via St. Eustatius and other West Indies ports. The victory won by Washington and the Continental Army, with the aid of the French Army and Navy, was financed through the unseen maneuvers of a wily French polymath. And yet he is forgotten. How he would feel about that can be surmised from what he wrote in the play The Barber of Seville. “I quickly laugh at everything, for fear of having to cry”.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Beaumarchais and the American Revolution”. Brian N. Morton and Donald C. Spinelli. 2003
“Benjamin Franklin and the Birth of America”. Stacy Schiff. 2006
“Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais”. Harlow Giles Unger. 2011
“Letter to Benjamin Franklin” John Jay. June 15, 1779. Online
“St. Eustatius: The Nexus for Colonial Caribbean Capitalism”. R. G. Gilmore III. 2013. Online
“Spying through the ages”. Aram Bakshian Jr, National Interest. February 10, 2019. Online
“Secret Committees”. Public Affairs, Defense Intelligence Agency. May 11, 2014. Online