Silas Deane (December 24, 1737 – September 23, 1789) was an American merchant, politician and diplomat. Originally a supporter of American independence Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and then as the United States' first foreign diplomat when he travelled to France to lobby the French government for aid. Deane was drawn into a major political row over his actions in Paris, and subsequently endorsed Loyalist criticisms of American independence and lived on a modest charity provided him in London. Deane later lived in the Dutch Republic and Great Britain. Upon attending a naval voyage back to America, Deane died under suspicious circumstances.