444 How Independence Happened, Part 2: The Model Treaty
About this episode
This episode discusses the Model Treaty and its significance in establishing American foreign policy during the early days of independence.
Declaring independence on July 2, 1776 was only the beginning. To actually become a nation, the United States needed something else: foreign allies, international recognition, and the credibility to negotiate as an equal among the world's great powers. Five days after Richard Henry Lee introduced his famous Virginia Resolution, the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five — John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, and Benjamin Harrison — to figure out how to achieve international recognition. The result was the Model Treaty: a document we almost never discuss today, but one that Adams considered his most important contribution to Congress and the nation. Historians Sara Georgini and Eliga Gould guide us through Adams's revolutionary blueprint for American foreign policy and how the founders understood that the United States would need to become a "treaty worthy" nation before France would take them seriously. This is the second episode in a three-part series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More episodes of Ben Franklin's World
- 447 The Other Committee Members: Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman, and the Declaration of Independence
- BFW Revisited: A Declaration in Draft, 2026
- 446 The Declaration of Independence at 250
- 445 How Independence Happened, Pt 3: The Articles of Confederation
- 443 How Independence Happened, Part 1: The Lee Resolution
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