Episode
443 How Independence Happened, Part 1: The Lee Resolution
- Podcast
- Ben Franklin's World
- Published
- Jun 16, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4662
- Processing state
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Summary
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 the founders' understanding that the United States would need to become a "treaty-worthy" nation before France would take it seriously. This is the second episode in a three-part series. Sara’s Website | Book Lige's Website | BookShow Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/444 EPISODE OUTLINE00:00:00 Introduction00:00:21 Three Legs of Independence00:01:17 The Second Continental Congress Votes Independence00:02:58 The Second Leg of Independence: Foreign Alliances00:03:28 The Model Treaty00:07:12 Why the Virginia Resolution Included Foreign Alliances00:19:00 Specifics of the Model Treaty00:21:30 Founders' Goals for the Model Treaty00:28:21 The Model Treaty Drafting Committee00:41:20 The Model Treaty as a Document00:39:15 The Story of Common Sense00:50:07 Commercial Alliances01:04:42 The Model Treaty's Place in the American RevolutionRECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 007: John Adams & the Adams Papers Documentary Project🎧 Episode 128: American Revolutions: A Continent…