from Hacker News

A tale about how Ben Franklin invented the US

by jmsdnns on 8/19/23, 3:55 PM with 60 comments

• by realce on 8/19/23, 6:18 PM

  One of John Adams' famous criticisms of Franklin came in a letter to James Lovell dated April 14, 1781. In it, Adams writes:

  "The history of our Revolution will be one continued lie from one end to the other. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin's electrical rod smote the Earth and out sprang General Washington. That Franklin electrified him with his rod—and henceforth these two conducted all the policy, negotiations, legislatures and war."

• by arbuge on 8/19/23, 7:30 PM

  > He got the French on-board with the US cause by repeatedly lying to French leaders about how well the war against the British was going! He told them the colonies were kicking ass left n right and he urged them to join in while English ass was still available. History books typically mention the shock of the French when they arrived in the colonies and find Washington’s Army in poor health, with many barely clothed at all, but they don’t usually say why they were so shocked. The truth here is classic Franklin. The French Army would already be fighting by the time France learned of it, and Franklin could surely find a way to talk himself out of that.

  Smart. Exploiting the fact that transatlantic communications took a couple of months at the time. Franklin would have had to use a different strategy today!

• by exabrial on 8/19/23, 7:27 PM

  I prefer to think of it as April 19, 1775

• by RcouF1uZ4gsC on 8/19/23, 6:23 PM

  July 4th is the US’s birthday.

  The article is describing the conception and pregnancy of the US.

• by bavell on 8/19/23, 6:00 PM

  Headline a little click-baity but good article so far