- - - - - -
Sections: - - -
- - - -
Break with Britain
Franklin began his career as a diplomat and statesman when he went to
London in 1757 as an agent of the Pennsylvania assembly and became an absentee
deputy British postmaster for North America. There he remained, except
for a brief return to Philadelphia, until the outbreak of the American
Revolution in 1775, serving as an American provincial agent and pursuing
his interests as an inventor, scientist, and author. In London, Franklin
gradually ceased his support for British rule and became an American revolutionary.
"You Are Now My Enemy"
Willliam Strahan, an English printer and publisher, who was Franklin's
friend and correspondent for many years, voted with the majority
of Parliament to proclaim the Americans as rebels. Franklin drafted
but never sent this well-publicized letter to Strahan to sever their
friendship.
|
Benjamin Franklin to William Strahan
(1715-1785), July 5, 1775
Manuscript letter
Enlarged version
Manuscript Division (10)
Partial Transcription |
"Tract Relative to the Affair
of Hutchinson's Letters written by Dr. Franklin." [1774]
Manuscript document
Manuscript Division (11)
Partial Transcription |
Response to the Hutchinson Affair
Benjamin Franklin wrote this tract after Alexander Wedderburn, British
Solicitor-General, sharply attacked Franklin. Wedderburn asserted
that Franklin was a "true incendiary" before the Privy
Council on January 29, 1774, and accused him of being the "prime
conductor" in the agitation against the British government largely
for illegally obtaining copies of Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson's
letters filled with advice on how to subdue America by restricting
its liberties. The tract was not published until after Franklin's
death.
|
Franklin Before the Lords in Council
This engraving captures the abusive hour-long attack waged by the
British Solicitor-General Alexander Wedderburn against Franklin before
the Privy Council in January 1774. Franklin remained silent throughout
the attack. He would later write of the incident: "Spots of
Dirt thrown upon my Character, I suffered while fresh remain; I .
. . rely'd on the vulgar Adage, that they would all rub off when
they were dry."
|
Robert Whitechurch (1814-ca. 1880), engraver
Franklin before the Lord's Council,
Whitehall
Chapel, London, 1774
Hand-colored engraving, 1859
Prints & Photographs Division (12)
LC-DIG-pga-03390
|
Benjamin Franklin to Lord Richard
Howe (1726-1799), July 20, 1776
Page 2
Manuscript letter
Manuscript Division (13)
Partial Transcription |
"It is impossible we should think of Submission"
Just days after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence
by Congress, Benjamin Franklin wrote this stinging rebuke to the
commander of British naval forces in North America and peace commissioner,
Lord Richard Howe, who had offered pardons to American political
leaders. The offer was rejected. Franklin replied that "It is
impossible we should think of Submission to a Government" that
has inflicted "atrocious Injuries" on Americans. |
The Assumed Plan
This 1779 British political cartoon shows a laughing Franklin, at
center, holding a copy of his "Plan" that calls for draining
of the "British Ocean" to facilitate an invasion by French
troops. In his other hand are strings connected to the noses of the
French King and members of the French Court. |
Artist unknown
The Plan,
or a Scene in the French Cabinet.
[London: September 1779]
Etching
Enlarged version
Prints & Photographs Division (15)
LC-DIG-ppmsca-10081
|