Let's Learn From the Past: Ben Franklin -- Master negotiator

Benjamin Franklin was a master diplomat and negotiator, exercising restraint, flexibility and compromise to broker long-lasting relationships. Whether negotiating with farmers for supplies in Western Pennsylvania or with heads of state in England and France, Franklin forged alliances that shaped the future of the United States.

Franklin's life as a diplomat spanned more than 40 years and began just as he was being recognized for his scientific achievements, both in America and abroad. In 1755, Franklin's negotiating skills helped secure nearly 150 wagons from Pennsylvania farmers that Gen. Edward Braddock used in his failed attempt to capture Fort Duquesne from the French during the French and Indian War. Recently discovered letters show that the frontier farmers drove a hard bargain for their wagons and demanded Franklin personally insure them in case of loss. Franklin appealed to the patriotic duty of the farmers and hinted at the threat of a supply march through their territory by the British Army if they did not comply with his request.

Following the French and Indian War, Franklin spent nearly two decades traveling as a Colonial agent and diplomat to Great Britain, France and Ireland. He was in London in 1765 when the Stamp Act Crisis erupted, in which all newspapers and public documents in the American Colonies were required to be printed on paper purchased from England bearing an embossed seal, or "stamp." Franklin's testimony against the reviled stamp tax helped secure the repeal of the unpopular legislation.

Ten years later during the American Revolution, Franklin returned to Philadelphia and was elected to the Second Continental Congress. He proposed the first Articles of Confederation to band the Colonies together and helped draft the Declaration of Independence.

In late 1776, Franklin was sent to France to negotiate French aid for the American cause. Over the course of the war, the French provided supplies and troops to the Colonies and underwrote aid worth $13 billion in today's money.

Franklin's diplomatic prowess proved crucial once again in 1780 as Congress appointed him, along with John Adams, John Jay and Henry Laurens, to broker a treaty following the British Army's surrender in Yorktown. Franklin and his fellow delegates signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783, formally establishing peace between the United States and Great Britain.

Visitors to the History Center can learn more about Franklin's amazing achievements as part of the "Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World" exhibition, which closes July 31. For more information, visit www.heinzhistorycenter.org/franklin.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11202/1161693-51.stm#ixzz1Ue4arGTt