Date of Award
5-1-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in History
First Advisor
Susan G, Stearns
Second Advisor
Marc Lerner
Third Advisor
Theresa Levitt
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
This dissertation reframes Benjamin Franklin’s diplomatic mission to France during the revolutionary war arguing that informal diplomacy—rooted in friendship, sociability, gender, and honor—was essential to securing American independence. Rather portraying Franklin’s success as inevitable or based on his genius, this dissertation shows how his strategic relations with French women, especially salonnières who gave Franklin access to elite social and political networks which enabled him to achieve his diplomatic goals in France. The introduction identifies the historiographical gaps vis-à-vis gender, diplomacy, and honor surrounding early American diplomacy. Chapter one explores Franklin’s diplomatic failures in England and how social exclusion was fatal to diplomatic success. Chapter two shows how Franklin was initially political weak in France due to the political influence of the Lord Stormont, the British Ambassador to France, who was able to outmaneuver Franklin and hinder American objectives throughout 1777. Chapter three explores how Franklin’s friendships with elite French women, specifically Madame Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy, facilitated Franco-American diplomacy. Chapter four studies Franklin’s social and political life in France, focusing on the effects of his celebrity and French women’s diplomatic labor as go-betweens with the French and Spanish government. Chapter five examines how Americans mistrusted Franklin for his close relationships with French women and members of the French government which led to the rise of honor-based criticisms against Franklin’s character. Finally, the conclusion calls for re-centering the role of women, friendship, and informal diplomacy in American diplomacy.
Recommended Citation
Pellettiere, Kelsa, "“This Is A Man’s World”: Benjamin Franklin and the Politics of Friendship, Gender, and Diplomacy in France During the American Revolutionary War, 1776–1785" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 8864.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/8864