Franklin's Collaboration with Mirabeau

Franklin's collaboration with Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, marked a notable intersection of American and French revolutionary thought. In July 1784, Benjamin Franklin met with Mirabeau, who was emerging as a significant figure in the French Revolution. During this meeting, Franklin provided Mirabeau with anonymous materials that would later be incorporated into Mirabeau's first signed work, 'Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus.' This work was particularly critical of the Society of the Cincinnati, an organization formed by American Revolutionary War officers. The Society was perceived by some as elitist, and Mirabeau's critique reflected broader concerns about aristocracy and privilege in the context of revolutionary ideals. Franklin's input not only influenced Mirabeau's writing but also highlighted the transatlantic exchange of ideas that characterized the period leading up to the French Revolution.