Feuding Founders: The Lee Deane Conflict and the Political “Bloodbath” of 1778

How did a diplomatic dispute become one of the first political media storms in American history?

Join us at Stratford Hall for a commemorative America 250 conversation on the aftermath of the Lee Deane Conflict. In 1776, Silas Deane of Connecticut was sent to France to secure crucial wartime support. He came under fire when Arthur Lee, a Virginian also posted in Europe, accused Deane of profiteering and fraud. The matter exploded into the public sphere when Deane fired back, charging Arthur Lee with spying for the British and sharing information with them. Virginia congressmen Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee found themselves defending their family’s reputation amid a fierce smear campaign that played out in the pages of newspapers up and down the Eastern seaboard. John Jay, then president of Congress, was drawn into the dispute as well, with consequences that would shadow his diplomatic career for years. As accusations and defenses spilled from private correspondence into newspapers, the reputations of all four men were tested before a watching public.

This is a day for people who want to see how the Revolution unfolded not only in congresses and courts, but in print and in public opinion. Begin the morning with a tour of Menokin, Francis Lightfoot Lee’s home, before traveling to nearby Stratford Hall to walk the grounds and tour the house where the Lee brothers grew up. Share lunch and conversation, then hear from scholars representing all four partner sites — Menokin, Stratford Hall, the Webb-Deane-Stevens House, and the John Jay Historic Site — as they examine how the Deane controversy reverberated through the early republic. This Affair affected the reputations of other “feuding fathers” including Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin and John Adams. It offers a window into the rough-and-tumble politics of the 1770s — and a reminder that the tensions between press, politics, and personal reputation are as old as the republic itself.

SCHEDULE (subject to updates)

10:00 am – 11:30 am: Tour Menokin house and grounds, Warsaw, VA

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch at Stratford Hall, Montross VA

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Hour long round table discussion plus Q&A on the Lee Deane Conflict with representatives from the historic homes of John Jay (NY), Silas Deane (CT), Richard Henry Lee (VA) and Francis Lightfoot Lee (VA).

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Tour of Stratford Hall

5:00 pm  – 6:00 pm: Wrap-up Reception and NNK Symposium Kick off, Stratford Hall

6:30 pm – 7:30 Talk: NNK Symposium Keynote [add-on $10]

 Pricing:

$30 – Sun, 11/8 Day Pass: Includes Menokin tour, Stratford tour, Roundtable, Reception

$10 – add-on: NNK symposium keynote on 11/8 

$15: Roundtable only, 11/8 at 1 pm: $15

$5: Virtual admission only to Roundtable, 11/8 at 1 pm

Special: $60: Pass to 11/8 “Feuding Fathers” + Pass to 11/9 NNK Symposium