SILAS DEANE
Dean was America’s first spy, secretly sent by Congress to France to ascertain what the disposition of the French government would be toward the American revolutionaries.
Beaumarchais had loaned the Americans ½ million French Livres. However, Beaumarchais served the French King Louis XVI as a spy and advisor on foreign affairs. The money had been secretly provided by the French government to help the American cause while still being able to officially deny to England that they were in any way involved in the rebellion. The American agent, Silas Dean, who arranged for the money saw through the ruse. See {624187} regarding the transaction. It was the first material aid that the French provided. Much more followed without which the American Revolution might never have been successful.
Silas Deane was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, then as the first foreign diplomat from the United States to France. Near the end of the war, Congress charged Deane with financial impropriety, and the British intercepted and published some letters in which he had implied that the American cause was hopeless. After the war, Deane lived in Ghent and London and died under mysterious circumstances while attempting to return to America.