Géographie d’une célébrité: la franklin mania dans les provinces françaises (1776-1790)

During the American War of Independence, the success of Benjamin Franklin’s diplomatic mission was not only played out in the private offices of the Château de Versailles. The American, just like the French Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Charles Gravier de Vergennes, knew that it was necessary to convince public opinion of the necessity of an alliance between France and the United States against Great Britain. The resulting massive propaganda campaign created an unprecedented celebrity phenomenon, now called franklin mania. Based on the provincial press and Franklin’s abundant French correspondence, this article aims to provide a better understanding of this phenomenon, its mechanisms and its consequences on public opinion in the French provinces. This study thus analyzes the means of diffusion of international information in the provinces and the several images and representations of Franklin, which resulted from it and which quickly conquered French public space. It also highlights the emergence of the new Republicans of Letters, who saw in the inventor of the lightning rod a master and a model and who spontaneously associated him with the scientific controversies of the moment.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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