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A CAUSE for REVOLUTION
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the
tenth son of Josiah, a candle purveyor, and Abiah Folger. Educated at Boston
Grammar School, Benjamin apprenticed with his father, and then his half-brother,
Peter, a controversial printer in Boston. Young Franklin struck out on
his own in 1723 eventually finding employment as a journeyman printer in
Philadelphia. By 1730, he controlled his own printing shop and published The
Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper, had fathered a son, William, and married
Deborah Read Rogers.
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Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
"Join, or Die"
Page 2
Woodcut from the Pennsylvania Gazette, Philadelphia, May 9, 1754
Enlarged versions: Page 1 - Page
2
Serial & Government Publications
Division (2)
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"Join, or Die"
Benjamin Franklin published this woodcut in the Pennsylvania
Gazette, which represents America as a snake severed into
various provinces. Prior to the outbreak of the French and Indian
War, Franklin hoped to persuade the American colonies to unite
their governments to protect themselves from the French and their
Native American allies under a plan later known as "The
Albany Plan," which was ultimately rejected. The image,
the first to address unification of the colonies, would later
be used as a symbol of the American Revolution with the motto: "Don't
Tread On Me."
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Magna Britannia
This vivid allegorical cartoon, which illustrates the fatal effects
on the empire that would result from taxing the colonies, was designed
by Franklin in 1766. Franklin printed the image on cards that he
distributed to Parliament during the debate over the repeal of
the Stamp Act. This broadside carries a text that reads: "The
Moral is, that the Colonies may be ruined, but that Britain would
thereby be maimed." Both the card and the broadside version,
with the explanation and moral, are extremely rare.
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MAGNA Britannia, her Colonies
REDUC'd.
[Philadelphia, ca.1766]
Photostat copy
Enlarged version
Rare Book & Special Collections
Division (4)
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No Stamped Paper To Be Had.
[Philadelphia: Printed by Hall & Franklin, November 7, 1765]
Enlarged version
Rare Book & Special Collections
Division (5A)
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Subverting the Stamp Act
On October 31, 1765, the publishers announced the suspension of
the Pennsylvania Gazette in protest of the provisions of
the Stamp Act, which required that newspapers be printed on imported,
stamped paper that required payment of a duty. Between November
7 and December 26, Franklin's partner David Hall issued news sheets
on unstamped paper without a masthead, thus avoiding legal repercussions
while satisfying the subscribers.
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Franklin Supports the
1765 Stamp Act
Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania agent and deputy postmaster general
in North America, initially supported the Stamp Act of 1765, by
which Parliament levied a new tax on British colonies. Although
the tax would not raise much money, the British chancellor of the
Exchequer Sir George Grenville wanted a declaration of Parliament's
sovereign right to tax the colonists. Franklin became an opponent
when he learned of the fervent colonial opposition.
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An Act for granting and applying
certain Stamp Duties. . .
London: Mark Baskett, Printer to the King, 1765
Printed pamphlet
Manuscript Division (6)
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Benjamin Franklin to Charles Thomson,
September 27, 1766
Page 2
Manuscript letter
Enlarged version: Page 1 - Page
2
Manuscript Division (7)
Partial
Transcription
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Stamp Act Repeal in 1766
In this letter sent from London, Franklin thanks his old friend
and Philadelphia neighbor for endorsing his conduct in regard to
the repeal of the Stamp Act. Although Franklin, as Pennsylvania's
agent in London, had briefly supported the new tax on America,
he quickly switched to opposition after hearing of the angry response
in Pennsylvania. Franklin attributed America's success in obtaining
the repeal "to what the Profane would call Luck & the
Pious Providence."
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Franklin and the King
and Queen of France
Benjamin Franklin was visiting France in 1767 when he wrote this
letter to Mary (Polly) Stevenson, the intellectually curious daughter
of his British landlady, Margaret Stevenson (ca. 1706-1783), describing
in words and a drawing his experience at a public supper with the
French King Louis XV and Queen Marie, who spoke to Franklin "Very
graciously and cheerfully."
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Benjamin Franklin to Mary Stevenson
(1739-1795), September 14, 1767
Manuscript letter
Manuscript Division (9)
Partial
Transcription
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