Comparing Benjamin Franklin And Silas Deane's Letter To Congress

After two months of sailing, he finally landed north of Charleston on June 13, 1777. He then spent the next month traveling through various states like North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, and after thirty-two days, arrived in Philadelphia. Congress originally tossed aside even considering letting Lafayette fight; but they would soon be persuaded. Not only did Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane write a letter to Congress on Lafayette’s behalf, but Lafayette also took the liberty to write a letter to Congress as well. He wrote, “After the sacrifices I have made, I have the right to exact two favours: one is, to serve at my own expense, - the other is, to serve at first as a volunteer” (85). Moved by this sentiment, Congress established him as a major general of the Continental Army on July 31. After joining, Lafayette finally got to meet the man he
Washington’s troops were tired, beaten, and ready to quit. It seemed as though the American Revolution had reached the end; however, it did not. Washington and his troops did not give up. By April of 1778, Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian military officer, came and began to transform the American army into men with which Washington could defend America. Because of this change and the troops’ loyalty, the Conway Cabal, a plot to remove Washington from power, was crushed. Later in May, the French had committed to an alliance and with it military and financial support from France. Although no fighting occurs here, there was a shift in the war nonetheless. Vowell explains, “No one can deny that the flinty survivors of Valley Forge embodied another national trait that every man, woman, and child in this republic is supposed to have: backbone, self-reliance, grit” (156). Vowell was not the only one astonished by the endurance of the army, for Lafayette also comments, “The strength of that army never ceased being a mystery”