Notes - Benjamin Franklin

December 3, 2025

Chapter One: Benjamin Franklin and the Invention of America

Franklin's Persona and the Invention of the American Archetype

Benjamin Franklin's famous autobiographical depiction of himself arriving in Philadelphia as a bedraggled 17-year-old is a carefully constructed scene written by the 65-year-old Franklin. The narrative layer reveals the older Franklin pretending the account is a letter to his illegitimate son, William, intended to remind the royal governor of his humble beginnings. An inserted phrase later reveals even deeper self-awareness, where Franklin notes his future wife, Deborah Read, saw him and "thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward ridiculous appearance," demonstrating his self-deprecation barely concealing pride in his social ascent. Franklin stands out among the Founding Fathers; he is often described as the one who "winks at us," seeming more like "flesh rather than of marble," speaking with a contemporary, chatty, and clever irony.

A Multifaceted Genius

Franklin was celebrated as America’s best scientist, diplomat, writer, and business strategist, as well as a practical political thinker. His accomplishments spanned many fields:

• Science and Invention: He proved lightning was electricity, invented the lightning rod, devised bifocal glasses and clean-burning stoves, and charted the Gulf Stream.
• Civic Improvement: He launched many successful schemes, including an insurance association, a lending library, a college, a volunteer fire corps, and a matching grant fund-raiser.
• Political Thought: He helped invent America's style of philosophical pragmatism and proposed seminal plans for uniting the colonies, influencing the creation of a federal government model.

The Middling People and Virtuous Image

Franklin considered his greatest invention to be himself, consciously crafting a persona that became the new American archetype. He cultivated an image of a simple yet ambitious tradesman, demonstrating diligence publicly, such as carting paper rolls through the streets of Philadelphia. This image was rooted in reality; Franklin was allergic to the "pomp and perks of a hereditary aristocracy" and often identified himself as "B. Franklin, printer".

His key vision was establishing an American national identity based on the values and virtues of the middle class. He had faith in the wisdom of the common man and believed that a new nation would draw strength from what he called "the middling people". Through advocating personal virtues and civic improvements for the common good, he helped establish and celebrate a new ruling class of ordinary citizens.

Morality and Legacy

Franklin’s character was a complex interplay of ingenuity and practical wisdom, featuring a Protestant ethic largely divorced from dogma. His core morality was founded on a sincere belief in a virtuous life and service to his country. This conviction led him to establish a link between private virtue and civic virtue, believing that these earthly qualities were connected to heavenly ones, as captured in the motto for his library: "To pour forth benefits for the common good is divine". His legacy remains resonant, especially in entrepreneurial periods, leading some contemporary observers to dub him "our founding Yuppie".

Chapter Two: Pilgrim’s Progress: Boston, 1706–1723

Lineage and the Puritan Migration

Franklin’s ancestors were English franklins—independent freeholders of the emerging middle class, proud but unpretentious, whose name derived from the Middle English word for freeman. This family, documented since the 1540s, possessed an independent, pragmatic, and ingenious spirit. They were early dissenters in the Reformation, risking trouble for their opposition to Catholicism, such as hiding the banned English Bible under a stool to read it. Franklin valued this heritage, writing that he had "ever had a pleasure in obtaining any little anecdotes of my ancestors". Benjamin Franklin was the youngest son of the youngest sons for five generations, meaning he inherited a tradition of individuals needing to strike out on their own, finding careers outside their fathers' villages. Franklin’s father, Josiah Franklin, became a Puritan dissenter in England. He emigrated to America in 1683, propelled by both religious desire for freedom and economic necessity. This Puritan migration established a foundational American characteristic: the Protestant ethic, which taught that enterprise was a virtue and that financial success need not preclude spiritual salvation. Josiah, leaving his trade as a silk dyer, shrewdly became a tallow chandler (candle and soap maker) in Boston, quickly finding a utilitarian and uncrowded niche.

Birth and Childhood

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. He was a natural leader as a child, once leading his playmates to build a wharf with stones stolen from a construction site, an event his father leveraged to teach the maxim "that nothing was useful which was not honest". His childhood fostered a lifelong love for swimming, for which he invented hand paddles and flippers. His most famous anecdote illustrating the virtue of thrift was the whistle incident: he paid four times its worth for a whistle, making "frugality" for him not only a virtue but a pleasure.

Education and Apprenticeship

Josiah planned for Benjamin to study for the ministry. Benjamin excelled at Boston Latin School but was withdrawn after only a year due to Josiah's financial strain or, more likely, the belief that his skeptical and impish son was unsuited for the clergy. At age 10, Benjamin was set to work full-time in the loathsome candle and soap shop. At age 12, Franklin was apprenticed to his elder brother, James Franklin, a printer. James launched the New England Courant (1721), America's first truly independent, antiestablishment newspaper. The Courant became embroiled in the controversy over smallpox inoculation, taking the wrong side against proponents like Cotton Mather. Franklin avoided this fight in his youth, later becoming a strong advocate for inoculation, especially after his son, Francis, died of the pox.

Literary Self-Improvement and Escape

Franklin cultivated his fondness for reading, drawing influence from authors like John Bunyan (Pilgrim's Progress), whose work emphasized "progress" and clean prose. He developed an aversion to being overly confrontational in arguments ("disputatious"), practicing the Socratic method of feigned curiosity and indirection to win points without giving offense.

To improve his writing, he practiced imitating the style of Joseph Addison and Richard Steele's The Spectator. This led him to create the pseudonymous character "Silence Dogood," a sassy, prudish widow whose essays he slipped under the print shop door. These essays were a literary triumph, establishing a genre of homespun, wry American humor. As Silence Dogood, Franklin lampooned Harvard and proclaimed himself a "mortal enemy to arbitrary government and unlimited power".

When James was jailed, Benjamin briefly ran the paper and published a blistering Silence Dogood attack on the religious hypocrites in government. James's resultant harsh treatment (including "blows his passion too often urged him to bestow") reinforced Franklin's lifelong "aversion to arbitrary power". Franklin ran away in September 1723, using a fraudulent apprenticeship discharge James had prepared for another purpose. He was not running toward the wilderness frontier but toward the commercial centers of New York and Philadelphia, leading an "errand into the Market streets".

Chapter Three: Journeyman: Philadelphia and London, 1723–1726

Arrival in Philadelphia and Unreliable Patrons

Franklin arrived in Philadelphia in October 1723, physically striking at 17. He found work with the quirky printer Samuel Keimer and lodged with John Read, father of his future wife, Deborah Read. He quickly became known for his magnetism and his concern for his public image, ensuring he appeared "in reality industrious and frugal". He engaged in long debates with Keimer, perfecting his Socratic method.

Franklin was enthusiastically adopted by Sir William Keith, Pennsylvania's effusive but "feckless busybody" governor, who promised to set him up in business with letters of credit for a trip to London. Franklin returned to Boston to see his family, flaunting his "genteel new suit," which James never forgave. Josiah refused to finance the venture, but Keith promised to fund it personally.

Franklin sailed for London in November 1724, but discovered on arrival that Keith had sent no credit or recommendation. Franklin concluded the unreliable governor "wished to please everybody" and therefore "gave expectations".

London, Moral Reflections, and the "Errata"

Franklin found a job and cheap lodgings in London, where he spent time with his poet friend James Ralph. Their friendship ended after Franklin, "under no religious restraint," tried to seduce Ralph's girlfriend.

In London, Franklin wrote "A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain" (1725), an intellectually shallow deist tract that rejected free will and claimed "evil doth not exist". He soon found the piece embarrassing, deemed it an "erratum," and burned most copies. He worried that simple deism was "not very useful," especially since his deist friends had wronged him. He pivoted to a more pragmatic, morally fortified deism where God was best served by good works.

He earned the nickname "Water American" at the printing house for eschewing beer in favor of water-gruel, noting that temperance brought "greater clearness of head".

Return and the Plan for Conduct

After securing a non-printing job as a clerk for the reliable Quaker merchant Thomas Denham, Franklin set sail for Philadelphia in 1726. During the voyage, he wrote a "Plan for Future Conduct," committing to four rules for success, including being frugal and industrious, aiming for sincerity, and resolving to "speak ill of no man whatever". This period reinforced his belief that "Man is a sociable being," noting that exclusion from society was a severe punishment.

Chapter Four: Printer: Philadelphia, 1726–1732

Becoming a Master Printer

Franklin's dream of becoming a merchant ended with Denham's death. He returned to Keimer's shop, where he became the first person in America to manufacture type by contriving his own lead molds. Growing tired of Keimer's abuse, Franklin secretly planned with his partner, Hugh Meredith, to start a rival shop. Their business succeeded due to Franklin's visible diligence and long hours; one neighbor remarked, "The industry of that Franklin is superior to anything I ever saw". Franklin embraced the persona of being—and appearing to be—industrious, even personally wheeling paper through the streets. When Meredith left, Franklin bought him out, establishing his own shop and lifelong identity: "B. Franklin, printer".

The Junto and Civic Virtue

In 1727, Franklin formed the Junto (or Leather Apron Club) for tradesmen, mixing social life with civic and business goals. It became a model for the uniquely American tradition of balancing individualism with association. Franklin mandated that discussions use the Socratic method and avoid all "expressions of positiveness in opinion". His public commentary on this included an essay listing conversational sins, stressing that "minding what others say is a much surer way of pleasing them than talking well ourselves".

The Junto served as the "launching pad" for many public-service ideas. The Library Company of Philadelphia (1731), America's first subscription library, emerged from the club; its motto was: Communiter Bona profundere Deum est (To pour forth benefits for the common good is divine). Franklin applied this spirit to the establishment of the Union Fire Company (1736). He famously spread his ideas by anonymously publishing essays (like the "Busy-Body" series). His essay "A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency" argued that a nation's wealth should be measured by the value of labor, not gold, and helped him win profitable printing work for the colony.

Marriage and Personal Morality

Franklin entered into a common-law marriage with Deborah Read in 1730. Their union was a practical, mutually useful partnership. Franklin prized her frugality and industry, saying he was "never prouder of any dress" than the clothes she made. He also published stern advice for women, urging wives to adhere to traditional roles and remember the word "obey".

The marriage was immediately complicated by Franklin taking custody of his illegitimate son, William, whose mother was likely a woman of low circumstances.

Tragedy struck in 1736 when their legitimate son, Francis ("Franky"), died of smallpox at age four, an event that fueled Franklin's deep commitment to inoculation.

Religious and Moral Perfection

Franklin refined his belief structure, rejecting Calvinist dogma for a pragmatic, virtuous deism: "The most acceptable service of God was doing good to man". He rejected organized religion that focused on doctrine rather than virtue, saying, "vital religion has always suffered when orthodoxy is more regarded than virtue".

He began his famous Moral Perfection Project, a systematic, non-theological attempt to achieve self-improvement. He listed thirteen virtues, including Temperance, Frugality, Industry, and Justice, adding Humility only after a friend called him "overbearing and rather insolent". He tracked his failures, famously finding himself "fuller of faults than I had imagined". He struggled most with Order and Humility, realizing he might be proud even of his own humility. This project was criticized by later romantics but reflected his pragmatic Enlightenment worldview, focused on practical outcomes rather than spiritual anguish.

Poor Richard's Almanack

In 1732, Franklin launched Poor Richard’s Almanack to make money and propagate virtuous instruction. Using the pseudonym Poor Richard Saunders, Franklin engaged in a running joke by predicting the death of rival Titan Leeds. The almanac popularized maxims stressing hard work and thrift, such as "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise". His sayings, though largely repurposed and polished, became quintessential American wisdom, and the compilation, The Way to Wealth, became a bestseller.

Chapter Five: Public Citizen: Philadelphia, 1731–1748

Civic Organization and Religious Debates

Franklin used his Junto to launch key civic institutions. He introduced progressive taxation ideas with his proposal for a publicly funded police watch. He founded the Union Fire Company (1736). He was an avid Freemason, quickly rising to Grand Master, embracing the organization's mix of fellowship and nonsectarian tolerance.

Franklin involved himself in the Great Awakening, publishing the fiery sermons of evangelist George Whitefield (who preached that salvation came through grace alone) and profiting greatly, yet he insisted the relationship was founded on his personal esteem for the preacher, not his theology. Franklin loved that Whitefield challenged the old Philadelphia establishment, defending Whitefield's largely working-class followers by ridiculing the elitist "better sort of people".

Politics and Military Mobilization

Franklin's rivalry with printer Andrew Bradford intensified as they battled for influence; Franklin eventually won the lucrative government printing contracts and succeeded Bradford as Philadelphia Postmaster. He used this position to build a media and distribution network spanning the colonies.

In 1747, prompted by French and Indian threats, Franklin published the rousing pamphlet "Plain Truth." He denounced the failure of the government (due to pacifist Quakers and self-interested Proprietors) to defend the colony. He made a call to action for "We, the middling people," who were like "separate filaments of flax" but could gain strength through "Union". He immediately organized the Militia Association, allowing soldiers to democratically elect their officers, leading Thomas Penn to label him "a sort of tribune of the people".

Scientific Interests and Retirement

Franklin’s scientific work continued, as shown by his "Pennsylvania Fireplaces" (stoves) and his discovery that the East Coast storms (northeasters) moved southwest-to-northeast, defying the wind direction. He declined a patent for his stove, believing that since he enjoyed the inventions of others, he should serve others with his own "freely and generously".

In 1748, at age 42, Franklin retired from the printing business, transferring control to David Hall for half the profits over eighteen years. His retirement was intended to allow him to focus on intellectual and civic pursuits, demonstrating that his primary goal was not wealth accumulation but usefulness: "I would rather have it said... 'He lived usefully,' than, 'He died rich.'". He entered a period of his life where he aspired to be a "gentleman philosopher and public official," blending Enlightenment gentility with his populist roots.

Chapter Six: Scientist and Inventor: Philadelphia, 1744–1751

The Practicality of Science

Franklin’s scientific inquiries, particularly vigorous during the 1740s after he retired from business in 1748, were driven by pure curiosity and the thrill of discovery, not primarily by pecuniary motives. Despite lacking formal academic training or grounding in math, Franklin excelled as an ingenious experimenter. His work on electricity has been recognized as ushering in a scientific revolution comparable to those led by Newton. Unlike in some other pursuits, Franklin declined to patent his inventions, believing that since he enjoyed the inventions of others, he should serve others with his own "freely and generously".

Franklin followed a general pattern of initiating scientific inquiry based on pure intellectual curiosity and then seeking a practical application for the findings. He famously captured this sentiment by noting: "What signifies philosophy that does not apply to some use?".

Key Inventions and Discoveries

• The Pennsylvania Fireplace (Stove): Designed in the early 1740s, this wood-burning stove was an effort to maximize heat while minimizing smoke and drafts. Using his knowledge of convection and heat transfer, the complex design aimed to heat an inner chamber that drew clean, cool air from the basement, warmed it, and released it into the room. He wrote a promotional pamphlet touting its efficiency and health benefits, noting that it reduced fevers and coughs. Despite initial popularity and testimonials, the original complex design eventually proved less practical than hoped, as sales tapered off and the design needed modification to prevent smoke from backing up.
• Urinary Catheter: Franklin devised and oversaw the construction of America's first urinary catheter as a modification of a European design, using a flexible tube with a wire inside that could be withdrawn as the tube reached the bend point.
• Northeasters: Franklin made the noteworthy discovery that major East Coast storms, known as northeasters, moved in the opposite direction of their winds (traveling southwest-to-northeast). This led him to the "very singular opinion" that rising air heated in the south created low-pressure systems that drew winds from the north. This work is credited as the start of weather prediction science.
• Heat Absorption: Based on experiments showing that dark fabrics absorb heat better than bright ones, he drew practical conclusions, such as that "black clothes are not so fit to wear in a hot sunny climate".

Electricity Experiments and the Lightning Rod

Franklin’s most celebrated endeavor was launched after witnessing electrical tricks in Boston. He was the ideal person to transform electricity from a parlor trick into a science because the task required a clever, ingenious person with mechanical talent and time to tinker.

• Single-Fluid Theory and Terminology: Franklin discovered that electricity was "not created by the friction, but collected only". He devised the single-fluid theory of electricity and the conservation of charge. He also coined fundamental electrical terms still used today, including battery, charged, neutral, condense, and conductor, apologizing for the new coinage but feeling compelled to use it until others provided better ones. The conservation of charge is considered of the "same fundamental importance to physical science as Newton’s law of conservation of momentum".
• The Power of Points: He discovered that pointed metal objects easily draw off electrical charges, observing that an electrified iron ball's charge could be drawn away silently by bringing a sharp point near it.
• The Leyden Jar and Battery: Franklin studied the Leyden jar, a primitive capacitor, proving that the charge resided in the glass insulator itself, not the fluid or metal inside. He lined up a series of these charged plates and connected them, giving the new device the name "an electrical battery".
• Frivolity and Amusement: Franklin often combined his scientific work with fun; he created an electrified fence, a charged metal spider, and rigged a picture of King George II to shock visitors, calling it "The Conspirators". He even held an electrical party where a turkey was killed and roasted by electrical shock, joking that the fowl "eat uncommonly tender".

Snatching Lightning from the Sky

Franklin noted intriguing similarities between lightning and electrical sparks, suggesting that, since they agreed in all known particulars, they were likely the same. His hypothesis led to a "momentous rallying cry: 'Let the experiment be made'".

• The Experiment Design: In letters presented to the Royal Society, Franklin detailed the plan to use a tall, sharply pointed metal rod on a high tower to draw electrical charges from a cloud silently, thereby securing structures from lightning strikes.
• The French Verification: French scientists (Comte de Buffon and Thomas-François D’Alibard) translated Franklin's papers and, with the encouragement of King Louis XV, successfully carried out the experiment in May 1752, confirming his conjecture that lightning was electrical.
• The Kite Experiment: Before receiving word of the French success, Franklin devised his own ingenious method using a kite with a sharp wire and a key attached near the bottom of the string. A storm cloud passed, and he was able to draw sparks, proving that the electrical matter was the same as lightning.
• Public Impact and Controversy: Franklin delayed reporting the experiment for four months, likely to perfect it and avoid ridicule, as critics like the Abbé Nollet had called the idea foolish. He soon convinced Philadelphians to erect the first grounded lightning rods for protection. He also placed one on his own house with an ingenious bell-and-ball device to warn of approaching storms. The invention generated controversy, especially from religious circles like Nollet, who claimed the lightning rod was an offense to God. Franklin retorted that thunder was no more supernatural than rain, which people guard against with roofs.
• Scientific Legacy: Franklin was celebrated as the "new Prometheus" for stealing the fire of heaven. His key theoretical contributions include the single-fluid theory of electricity, the distinction between insulators and conductors, and the concepts of capacitors and batteries. As a result of his fame, he received honorary degrees from Harvard and Yale and the prestigious gold Copley Medal from London’s Royal Society.

The Priority of Public Affairs

Despite his love for science, Franklin believed that philosophical pursuits should not supersede the greater demands of public affairs. He urged his friend Cadwallader Colden, who retired to pursue science, to remember that if Newton had abandoned the helm of a single ship in danger, his finest discoveries could not have excused it—let alone if the ship "had carried the fate of the Commonwealth". This sentiment foreshadowed his next career turn.

Chapter Seven: Politician: Philadelphia, 1749–1756

Civic Projects and Political Philosophy

After retiring from business, Franklin focused his ambition on intellectual and civic pursuits.

• The Academy and the Hospital: Driven by his earlier youthful envy of Harvard, Franklin championed the creation of an academy (which became the University of Pennsylvania). His 1749 proposal emphasized practical instruction—writing, accounting, history, and business skills—to cultivate "an inclination joined with an ability to serve mankind". The new institution, America's first nonsectarian college, was taken over from the hall initially built for George Whitefield. Franklin next raised money for the Pennsylvania Hospital, famously conceiving the matching grant scheme: he persuaded the Assembly to agree that if £2,000 could be raised privately, it would be matched by the public purse. Franklin confessed this successful maneuver gave him great pleasure, though it involved using cunning.
• Political Philosophy: Franklin's belief system integrated individual initiative with civic duty, leading him to favor public-private partnerships that avoided imposing excessive authority. He espoused a pragmatic, non-ideological approach, preferring to focus on "what worked". His core vision emphasized that the nation’s identity should be based on the virtues and values of the middle class, contrasting with Thomas Jefferson’s more restrictive idea of grooming a "natural aristocracy". Franklin believed in encouraging opportunities for all people based on their diligence, hard work, and virtue.
• "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind" (1751): This tract, cited by Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus, used empirical data to calculate that America’s population would double every twenty years. Franklin argued against the British mercantilist system that sought to restrain colonial manufacturing, advising that Britain should instead encourage expansion because as long as land was abundant, colonists would not become cheap urban laborers to compete with English manufacturers.
• Rattlesnake Hoax: To satirize Britain's policy of expelling convicts to America, Franklin published a satirical piece (as "Americanus") proposing that America retaliate by shipping a boatload of rattlesnakes back to England.
• Evolving Views on Slavery: Although Franklin eventually became a staunch abolitionist, the sources show his views evolving. In 1751, he attacked slavery on economic grounds, claiming that slave owners became "enfeebled" and that white children became proud and disgusted with labor. The tract initially contained prejudices against German immigration and non-white races. However, after visiting a school for black children in 1763, Franklin confessed a higher opinion of the natural capacities of the black race and subsequently omitted the racist sections of his tract.

Albany and the Call for Union

In 1751, Franklin was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly, increasing his ability to act as a "great promoter of useful projects". He was instrumental in establishing progressive taxation ideas in his plan for publicly funded night watchmen.

• Indian Diplomacy: Franklin was appointed a commissioner to the 1753 Carlisle conference to reaffirm allegiance with Indian leaders. He was appalled by white traders selling rum to the Indians and witnessed a chaotic bacchanal after the alcohol ban was lifted.
• Deputy Postmaster: In 1753, he was appointed Deputy Postmaster for the Colonies. He used this position for patronage (giving jobs to William and other relatives) and to reform the system, cutting delivery time between New York and Philadelphia to one day. Crucially, the role cemented his non-parochial view of the disparate colonies as a "potentially unified nation".
• "Join, or Die": Driven by the French threat, Franklin attended the Albany Conference in 1754. He advocated for unity, noting the irony that six nations of "ignorant savages" could form a union, but English colonies could not. He published America's first famous editorial cartoon: a snake cut into pieces labeled with the colonies' names, captioned: "Join, or Die".
• The Albany Plan: The plan, largely drafted by Franklin and Thomas Hutchinson, called for a General Government to handle defense and expansion, while colonies retained local governing power (a model of federalism). The legislature would have proportional representation, and the executive would be a "President General" appointed by the King. Franklin noted the need for compromise, stating he was "obliged sometimes to give up some smaller points in order to obtain greater". The plan was rejected by the colonial assemblies (too much prerogative) and by London (too much democracy). Franklin believed its adoption could have prevented the Revolution.

The Rift with the Proprietors

In 1755, Franklin took on the mission of supplying General Edward Braddock’s British forces against the French, even giving his personal bond to pay the farmers for their wagons and horses. Braddock’s eventual defeat exposed Franklin to financial ruin until General Shirley covered the debt.

• Political Battles: The disaster fueled Franklin’s fury over the Proprietors' refusal to allow their estates to be taxed for defense, especially after Governor Morris was found to be following a secret clause forbidding him to approve such a tax. Franklin, abandoning his conciliatory stance, wrote Assembly messages calling the Governor a "hateful instrument of reducing a free people to the abject state of vassalage".
• The Revolutionary Cry: Franklin penned the famous line: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety".
• Colonel Franklin: Franklin successfully pushed a bill for a voluntary militia, which included democratically electing officers, leading Thomas Penn to call him "a sort of tribune of the people". Franklin served as a frontier commander, amusingly devising a plan to assure attendance at worship services by assigning the chaplain to dole out the daily rum allotment immediately after the service.
• The Cost of Pride: Upon returning, Franklin indulged his vanity by scheduling a grand public review of his troops, which included an artillery salute that "shook down and broke several glasses of my electrical apparatus". Thomas Penn seized on this display, calling it a "proof of my having an intention to take the government of the province out of his hands by force". Franklin admitted he enjoyed the public affection but acknowledged that "popular favor is a most uncertain thing".
• New Mission: By 1756, his relations with the Proprietors and their government were poisoned. The Assembly voted to send Franklin to London to lobby for the removal of the Proprietors' charter. Thomas Penn worried that Franklin’s "popularity of his character and the reputation gained by his electricity discoveries" would make him a dangerous enemy.

Chapter Eight: Troubled Waters: London, 1757–1762

New Family, Old City

Franklin arrived in London in July 1757, commencing what he thought would be a five-month trip but which stretched into five years. He had long held the conviction that "nothing was useful which was not honest," but he realized in London that his soothing temperament and political prudence would be tested by the bitter Proprietors.

• The Craven Street Household: Franklin found cozy lodgings with Margaret Stevenson, a sensible widow, and settled into a familial relationship that replicated his domestic partnership in Philadelphia. Franklin’s London life was one of "domestic comfort and intellectual stimulation".
• Polly Stevenson: With the landlady's daughter, Mary ("Polly") Stevenson, Franklin developed a lifelong intellectual and flirtatious companionship. He treated her as a surrogate daughter, instructing her on science and education, and sending her letters "far more often than he wrote to his family". Their relationship was one of amitié amoureuse—a blend of playful romantic attraction and intellectual bonding.
• Deborah’s Hesitance: Franklin’s friend William Strahan wrote Deborah urging her to join her husband, warning her to come "with all convenient speed to look after your interest" (a veiled reference to Franklin's female friendships). Franklin knew her "invincible aversion to crossing the seas" meant she would not come, which seemed to suit him, as he felt she would be out of place in London. His letters were kindly but cool, reassuring her of his fidelity with "a coolly abstract manner".
• London Society: Franklin found favor not among the aristocracy (to whose pomp he was allergic) but among the growing middle class of intellectuals, writers, and scientists, gathering mostly at coffeehouses. He found a "new set of friends that replicated for Franklin his old Junto but with more sophistication and distinction".

Diplomacy Against the Penns

Franklin’s mission was based on the loyalist belief that Americans were not second-class citizens and should have all the rights of British subjects, including local legislative power.

• Proprietary Resistance: Franklin’s effort to convince the Penns to revise their autocratic ways began poorly; when Franklin addressed the Penns' case somewhat informally ("Heads of Complaint"), the Penns ordered him to deal only through their lawyer.
• The "Low Jockey" Incident: At a rancorous meeting with Thomas Penn in 1758, Penn asserted that his father, William Penn, had no right to grant the privileges of a representative assembly that the colonists enjoyed. Franklin, infuriated, replied that those who settled in Pennsylvania were "deceived, cheated and betrayed". Penn responded with a "triumphing, laughing insolence, such as a low jockey might do when a purchaser complained that he had cheated him in a horse". Franklin concluded he felt a "more cordial and thorough contempt for him than I have ever before felt for any man living".
• Shift in Strategy: With negotiations personally stalled, Franklin embraced a new, high-stakes goal: convincing Britain to revoke the Proprietors' charter and turn Pennsylvania into a Crown colony. This crusade, though politically difficult, was driven by his intense personal animosity toward the Penns.
• Partial Victory and Compromise: On the contentious issue of taxing the Proprietors' lands, Franklin reverted to his old pragmatism. When Lord Mansfield of the Privy Council proposed a compromise, Franklin agreed that the Assembly's tax bill would exclude the Proprietors’ unsurveyed land and tax the rest no higher than similar land owned by others. This settled the taxation issue temporarily, but failed to remove the Penns' charter.

William, Canada, and Departure

• William's Aspirations and Illegitimate Son: Franklin's illegitimate son, William, aspired to aristocratic status and inherited a greater yearning for social rank than his father. William also sired an illegitimate son, William Temple Franklin ("Temple"), in 1760. Franklin took Temple under his care, keeping him out of sight and later bringing him back to America.
• Scientific and Social Joys: Franklin found his time in Scotland (1759) visiting intellectuals like David Hume and Lord Kames to be "six weeks of the densest happiness I have met with in any part of my life". He also engaged in sophisticated scientific study, demonstrating the possibility of freezing a man to death on a warm summer’s day using ether evaporation, and correctly surmising that summer breezes cool people through the increased evaporation of human perspiration.
• Loyalty and Empire: Still a proud Briton, Franklin advocated forcefully in a pamphlet, "The Interest of Great Britain Considered," that Britain must keep Canada rather than trade it back to France, arguing that the future stability of the empire lay in America. He believed the colonies would remain loyal as long as the government was "mild and just" and did not practice "tyranny and oppression".
• Departure: Franklin finally departed in 1762, leaving behind the possibility of a permanent relocation to England and his newly successful son, William, who had just been appointed Royal Governor of New Jersey. Franklin did not attend William's wedding or departure. The emotional void was immediately filled: Franklin wrote a farewell letter to Polly Stevenson full of emotion and paternal love, lamenting that she did not become his daughter-in-law.

Chapter Nine: Home Leave: Philadelphia, 1763–1764

The Restlessness of Home

Franklin arrived back in Philadelphia in November 1762 and settled into the new three-story brick house he designed but had not yet seen. However, he was still restless and uninterested in a sedentary life in Pennsylvania.

• Wanderlust and Family: Within months, he left for a seven-month, 1,780-mile postal inspection tour from Virginia to New Hampshire. He took his 19-year-old daughter, Sally, with him, and she met his former flirtation, Caty Ray Greene, who was now married. Franklin suffered two injuries, dislocating his shoulder twice. On his return, Franklin admitted that the conflict over where he would spend his remaining years was unresolved.
• New House Details: Franklin was deeply involved in the design details of his Market Street house, intending it for the comfort of his family, although it also reflected his love of projects. He confessed that his inability to settle all his affairs in Philadelphia made it impossible for him to retire in England.

The Paxton Boys and the Crisis of the Common Man

The first major crisis Franklin faced was triggered by the Paxton Boys uprising in late 1763, where frontiersmen murdered peaceful, converted Christian Indians and threatened to march on Philadelphia to kill others. This threatened a serious civil war between the frontiersmen (mostly Presbyterian and Scots-Irish) and the pacifist Quaker leadership.

• "A Narrative of the Late Massacres": Franklin wrote one of his most emotional pamphlets in response, denouncing the murders in gory detail and appealing for tolerance. He stressed that punishing an individual for the acts of their race or group was immoral: "The only crime of these poor wretches seems to have been that they had a reddish brown skin and black hair". He used the analogy of punishing all "freckled red-haired men" for one man's crime to demonstrate the absurdity of prejudice.
• Confrontation and Resolution: Governor John Penn sought Franklin’s advice and offered him control of the militia, which Franklin wisely declined. Franklin led a delegation to meet the armed mob, and through "The fighting face we put on and the reasonings we used," they persuaded the Paxton Boys to disperse if they could present their grievances.
• Renewed Political Contempt: Governor Penn then betrayed Franklin, meeting privately with the Paxton Boys' delegation and agreeing not to press charges, in exchange for political support from the Presbyterian-German faction. Franklin was livid, declaring, "All hopes of happiness under a Proprietary government are at an end". This incident fueled Franklin’s growing resolve to remove the Proprietors’ charter.

Defeat and Departure

Franklin renewed his political crusade to replace Proprietary rule with a royal colony. He was challenged by John Dickinson, who argued against abandoning the existing charter's safeguards.

• Election Defeat: The campaign turned vicious; opposing pamphlets raked up every allegation against Franklin, including that his son was the bastard child of a "kitchen wench" and accusations of being a lecher. Despite the mudslinging, which Franklin handled with composure, he lost the election for the Assembly seat, finishing thirteenth out of fourteen candidates.
• Return to London: As consolation, the Assembly voted 19–11 to send Franklin back to London as an agent to present the petition against the Proprietors. His departure was fueled by his depression and confinement in Philadelphia, contrasting with the invigorating life he found in London.
• The Vision of Union: As he left, Franklin was already looking beyond the Proprietary issue toward a larger vision: a union of colonies and a more equal relationship with Britain, perhaps including representation in Parliament.

Chapter Ten: Agent Provocateur: London, 1765–1770

The Stamp Act Crisis

Franklin returned to his old lodgings on Craven Street in December 1764. His mission was immediately jeopardized by the passage of the Stamp Act (1765), Parliament’s first major internal tax on the colonies.

• Misjudgment and Concealment: Although Franklin opposed internal taxes, he did not fight the act with vigor, instead trying to play conciliator. He made a major error by recommending his friend John Hughes as the collection officer in Pennsylvania, advising him to act with "coolness and steadiness" despite the "madness of the populace".
• Public Relations Disaster: Philadelphians believed Franklin supported the act. A cartoon showed the devil whispering to him: "Thee shall be agent, Ben, for all my dominions". A mob threatened to level his new house in Philadelphia, forcing his wife Deborah to dispatch Sally but refuse to flee herself, defending her home with the help of cousins.
• Spin Cycle: Franklin launched a desperate public relations campaign to recover his reputation, denying his support for the act and advocating a colonial boycott of British imports. He published satires, including one signed "Homespun" (ridiculing the need for British tea) and a political cartoon showing a dismembered British Empire (caption: "Give a Penny to Belisarius").
• Testimony in Parliament: On February 13, 1766, Franklin testified in Parliament against the Stamp Act in a masterful, dramatic performance, where he asserted that Americans were willing to pay external taxes (tariffs) but not internal taxes, since they had "no representation there". He famously compared the pre-Stamp Act relationship to a thread: "They were led by a thread". He warned that military force would not quell the discontent, stating: "They will not find a rebellion; they may indeed make one". The testimony led to the act's repeal and restored his reputation in America.

Townshend Duties and Political Turning Point

The British government retaliated by passing the Townshend duties (1767), tariffs on imports that implicitly accepted Franklin's distinction between external and internal taxes. Franklin was initially moderate, but the new duties and the subsequent stationing of British troops in Boston (after the Massachusetts Assembly protested the duties) began to solidify his position.

• Confronting Lord Hillsborough: Franklin was still attempting to get a land grant and a high appointment in the British ministry, but his hopes were abruptly dashed in a contentious meeting with Colonial Secretary Lord Hillsborough. Hillsborough dismissed Franklin's credentials as Massachusetts agent and insulted his standing. Franklin was so angered that he reported the confrontation verbatim and admitted: "I find that he did not mistake me" in taking offense.
• The American Patriot: The clash ended Franklin's moderation and cemented his opposition to Parliament. He wrote essays railing against Hillsborough (calling him "our new Haman") and warning that continued taxation would lead to war and the "total disunion of the two countries".
• Propaganda Masterpiece: He resurrected his old love of satire, publishing the brilliant anonymous parodies "Rules by Which a Great Empire May be Reduced to a Small One" (listing 20 ways Britain was losing the empire) and "An Edict by the King of Prussia" (a hoax applying British colonial rules to England itself). The "Edict" fooled many and was declared a "fair hit" by his friends.
• Dismissal: After Franklin helped orchestrate the ouster of Hillsborough, his enemies retaliated. In January 1774, immediately following his ordeal in the Cockpit over the Hutchinson letters (see Chapter 11), Franklin was dismissed as Deputy Postmaster. He recognized his long diplomatic day was done and decided to return home.

Chapter Eleven: Rebel: London, 1771–1775

The Vacations of 1771

Franklin’s political missions had reached an impasse, leading him to temporarily abandon public affairs for extended travel, which lasted until the end of 1771. This included a visit to a pond in Clapham where, using just a teaspoon of oil, he demonstrated its power to calm a half-acre of rough water. He turned this phenomenon into a parlor trick, carrying a hidden cruet of oil in his bamboo cane to impress guests like David Garrick and the French philosopher the Abbé Morellet.

During a seven-month tour of industrial northern England, Franklin studied the booming economy, visiting metal casting shops and silk mills, and even riding on the Duke of Bridgewater's luxurious horse-drawn boat on an aqueduct. This led him to the firm belief that necessity, combined with prudence, would soon force the colonies to seek self-sufficiency in industry, such as clothing, instead of relying on British imports.

The Autobiography

During an extended stay in late summer 1771 at the Tudor manor of Bishop Jonathan Shipley in Twyford, Franklin, then 65, began the first installment of his renowned memoirs, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. He addressed the work to his illegitimate son, William, pretending it was a private letter, while simultaneously crafting it for public consumption. The memoir was intended to remind the royal governor of his "humble origins" and serve as a subtle warning against aristocratic pretensions favored by William.

Franklin's writing flowed as a series of wry anecdotes and instructive lessons, which he read aloud to the Shipley family, helping to create the voice of a lovable old raconteur. He deliberately included a long section justifying the "vanity" of his decision to speak about himself, noting his aim was to describe his rise from obscurity and provide "useful hints" for others to imitate. He finished the first installment (covering up to 1731) before returning to London, only briefly mentioning politics at the end by saying libraries helped foster a "stand so generally made throughout the colonies in defense of their privileges".

The Hutchinson Letters and the Tea Party

In December 1772, Franklin received a batch of secret letters, purloined by an unnamed Member of Parliament, that had been written by Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson. The letters advised the British government on how to subdue colonial unrest by suggesting "an abridgment of what are called English liberties". Franklin sent them to his Massachusetts ally Thomas Cushing with the intent of showing that British problems were caused by bad advice from royal appointees like Hutchinson, hoping to promote "a reconciliation" between Britain and America.

However, the letters were published in Boston and immediately fueled the fury of the patriots there. This controversy coincided with Franklin's publication of two anonymous satires in London papers in September 1773: "Rules by Which a Great Empire May be Reduced to a Small One," which listed twenty ways Britain was losing the empire, and "An Edict by the King of Prussia," a hoax applying British colonial rules to England itself.

The crisis escalated when the Boston Tea Party occurred in December 1773. Franklin was "shocked by the act of violent injustice," stating his support for the colonial cause was not enough to overcome his "basic conservatism about rabble rule".

In the Cockpit

The Hutchinson affair led to Franklin being publicly exposed as the source of the letters, forcing him to step forward in a letter to the London Chronicle on Christmas Day 1773.

In January 1774, Franklin was summoned before the Privy Council in a room known as the Cockpit, ostensibly to hear a petition to remove Hutchinson from his post. The event was turned into a hostile political show, with royal Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn delivering a brutal, hour-long tirade against Franklin. Wedderburn called Franklin the "prime conductor" of the agitation, accused him of stealing the letters, and declared that Franklin had "forfeited all the respect of societies and of men".

Franklin stood at the edge of the room in a blue Manchester velvet suit, refusing to betray emotion. He kept his face "immovable as if my features had been made of wood". He refused to be questioned, believing silence was his strongest weapon, making him appear "contemptuous rather than contrite".

The Council rejected the petition against Hutchinson and, the next day, Franklin was dismissed as Deputy Postmaster. He was now politically outcast, recognizing that his long diplomatic day was done.

The Breach with William

The impending war inevitably led to a personal rift between Franklin and his loyalist son, William. William was appointed Royal Governor of New Jersey and repeatedly affirmed his unwavering allegiance to the Crown, even noting to his British handlers that "No attachment or connections shall ever make me swerve from the duty of my station".

Franklin, fully committed to the American cause after the Cockpit humiliation, forcefully argued that Parliament had "no right to make any law whatever binding on the colonies". He chided William for clinging to his governorship, declaring that remaining dependent on a royal salary would prevent him from paying off his debts and that his situation would soon become uncomfortable. The final break was formalized in a letter from William on Christmas Eve 1774, informing his father of Deborah's death.

Chapter Twelve: Independence: Philadelphia, 1775–1776

Choosing Sides and the Onset of War

Franklin arrived back in Philadelphia on May 5, 1775, just weeks after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. He found delegates assembling for the Second Continental Congress and was immediately selected as a member, making him, at nearly 70, the oldest delegate. Franklin arrived with his 15-year-old grandson, Temple.

Initially, Franklin kept quiet about his political intentions, causing some—including John Adams and Franklin’s old printing rival William Bradford—to suspect he might be acting as a British spy. In reality, Franklin was biding his time as he tried to convert two key individuals to the American rebel cause: his long-time political ally Joseph Galloway and his son, William.

The Summit at Trevose

In late May 1775, the three generations of Franklins—Benjamin, William, and Temple—met at the manor of Joseph Galloway near Philadelphia. At this summit, Benjamin Franklin "declared in favor of measures for attaining to independence," recounting the abuse he had suffered in London and arguing that separation was necessary due to the corruption of the kingdom. William angrily resisted, advising his father to "take care to run away by the light of it" if he intended "to set the colonies in flame". William returned to New Jersey, defeated and dejected, to continue his duties as a royal governor, taking Temple with him for the summer.

Franklin the Rebel and the Call for Union

In July 1775, Franklin made his rebel sentiments public, writing a famous, though unsent, letter to his friend, printer and Member of Parliament William Strahan, in which he declared, "You are now my enemy". In a letter he did send to Strahan, Franklin lamented, "All tends to a separation".

Franklin became one of the most ardent anti-British voices in the Congress, stating that if Britain insisted on subjugating the Americans, the bloody struggle would end in "absolute slavery to America, or ruin to Britain by the loss of her colonies". Franklin believed that independence was the inevitable result of the new American character, which chafed at hierarchy and resisted arbitrary authority.

Franklin’s First Articles of Confederation Plan

Franklin believed that for the colonies to cross the threshold of rebellion, they had to embrace unity. On July 21, 1775, he presented his Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union to Congress. This plan envisioned a strong central government with a single legislative chamber based on proportional representation (rather than one vote per state). The Congress would have the power to levy taxes, make war, manage the military, and enact laws "necessary to the general welfare". Crucially, the document provided that the union would be "perpetual," though it included a loophole allowing dissolution if Britain granted all American demands and paid reparations. This proposal was ahead of its time and was not voted on immediately.

The Mission to Canada

Despite his poor health, Franklin embraced pragmatic and hands-on military assignments, including leading the committee that created the new postal system. In spring 1776, at age 70, Franklin embarked on a difficult mission to Quebec to try and secure Canada as an ally. The brutal month-long journey proved physically overwhelming; Franklin suffered from boils, swollen legs, and severe fatigue. He found the American forces in disarray and the Canadians reluctant to join the revolt, especially since Franklin brought no money. The mission failed, and Franklin returned to Philadelphia exhausted and ill in May 1776, feeling he had performed his last service.

The Path to the Declaration

The path to independence was paved by Thomas Paine's widely successful pamphlet, Common Sense, published in January 1776. Paine, whom Franklin had helped immigrate to America, argued that there was no "natural or religious reason" for hereditary rule and that separation was inevitable.

When the Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776, it took a significant step against the Franklins: it ordered the removal of all royal governments, leading to the imprisonment of Governor William Franklin in Connecticut.

Editing Jefferson

To explain the decision for independence, Congress appointed a five-man committee, including Thomas Jefferson and Franklin, to draft a declaration. Jefferson wrote the initial draft alone. Franklin made only a few changes to the document.

The most significant change was Franklin's alteration of Jefferson's phrase, "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable," to "We hold these truths to be self-evident". This small change rooted the assertion of equality and inalienable rights in rationality and scientific determinism (like that of David Hume) rather than religious assertion.

The Signing and Constitutional Ideas

After Congress approved independence on July 2, 1776, and finalized the Declaration on July 4, the parchment was signed on August 2. John Hancock declared that the signers must "all hang together" to which Franklin replied, "Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately".

Franklin, appointed president of Pennsylvania's constitutional convention, advocated for a single-chamber legislature, comparing a two-chamber body to a "snake with two heads" that perishes while debating which way to go.

Meeting Lord Howe Again

In July 1776, British Admiral Lord Richard Howe, commander of British forces and a newly appointed peace envoy, sent a letter to his "worthy friend" Franklin proposing peace talks. Franklin replied forcefully on July 30, emphasizing that America viewed itself as an independent nation and would not submit to the government that had "deluge[d] our settlements with blood". However, he used an eloquent metaphor, saying he had long worked to prevent the breakup of the British Empire, calling it a "fine and noble china vase".

In September, Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge were appointed to meet Howe on Staten Island. During the arduous trip, Franklin and Adams were forced to share a bed, leading Adams to record a lengthy, amusing description of Franklin's theory on colds. At the summit, Howe insisted on reconciliation under allegiance to the Crown; Franklin flatly rejected this, stating that all former attachments were "obliterated".

Franklin was chosen to sail for France two weeks later as an envoy, taking his grandsons Temple and Benny with him.

Chapter Thirteen: Courtier: Paris, 1776–1778

The World’s Most Famous American

Franklin arrived on the coast of Brittany in December 1776 after a difficult six-week voyage. In France, he was immediately greeted as the world’s most famous American, a philosopher-statesman who symbolized the union of New World freedom and Enlightenment wisdom.

His celebrity stemmed from his scientific discoveries (earning him the name franklinistes), his writings (especially La Science du Bonhomme Richard), and his public image. He consciously cultivated the image of a simple backwoods sage by dressing plainly, often wearing a soft marten fur cap he acquired in Canada. This image, a pose for a man who had mostly lived in cities, became a fad known as the coiffure à la Franklin.

Franklin found France "a most amiable nation to live with". He recognized that his mission was critical: America needed France's aid, recognition, and navy to win the war.

Franklin’s Court at Passy

Franklin established his residence and America's first foreign embassy in the Parisian village of Passy, in a villa offered rent-free by merchant Jacques-Donatien Leray de Chaumont. Passy became a miniature court attracting spies, intellectuals, and flirtatious admirers.

Franklin was joined by his co-commissioners: the congenial but suspect Silas Deane and the antagonistic Arthur Lee, who quickly grew paranoid and accused Franklin of corruption and being too devoted to pleasure. Franklin was exasperated by Lee, once drafting an unsent letter that declared Lee's mind "sick" and tortured by jealousies.

The American delegation's secretary was Edward Bancroft, a trusted friend Franklin had hired in London. Bancroft was, in fact, a highly active British spy who regularly sent sensitive information on American plans and arms shipments to his London spymasters using invisible ink in fake love letters. Franklin was aware he was surrounded by spies but took a famously sanguine approach, writing that his policy was "to be concerned in no affairs I should blush to have made public, and to do nothing but what spies may see and welcome".

Realism and Idealism

Franklin dealt primarily with the French Foreign Minister, the Comte de Vergennes, a professional diplomat who was shrewdly anti-British. Vergennes calculated that crippling England by supporting American independence was in France's strategic interest.

Franklin’s diplomatic strategy involved a unique blend of realism and idealism.

1. Realism: Franklin emphasized the balance-of-power calculus, warning Vergennes that if France did not support America, the new nation might reconcile with Britain, allowing Britain to retain power and become the "Terror of Europe".
2. Idealism: Franklin promoted America's exceptionalism, arguing that the American cause was "the cause of all mankind" and that America was a virtuous asylum for liberty.

Vergennes initially rejected an immediate alliance, cautious due to the cost and America's recent losses. However, the news of the decisive American victory at the Battle of Saratoga in December 1777 instantly tipped the balance of power.

The Treaties of Friendship and Alliance

Franklin leveraged the Saratoga victory by orchestrating a clever gambit: he allowed British peace feelers (through agent Paul Wentworth) to reach him and deliberately let word leak that America might reconcile with Britain if France delayed. This pressure worked.

Vergennes quickly offered full recognition and two treaties: a Treaty of Amity and Commerce and a Treaty of Military Alliance. The alliance was nonexclusive, meaning America did not concede a monopoly on trade or diplomatic favors to France, aligning with Franklin's "idealistic view" of avoiding entangling foreign alliances.

At the signing on February 6, 1778, Franklin famously wore a plain, faded blue Manchester velvet suit—the very same suit he wore when he was humiliated in the Cockpit four years earlier. He explained he wore it "to give it a little revenge".

King Louis XVI officially received the commissioners at Versailles on March 20, 1778. Franklin, dressed plainly without a wig or sword, was shouted out as Vive Franklin by the massive crowds. Franklin had won "a diplomatic campaign equal in results to Saratoga," securing America the means to achieve victory.

Chapter Fourteen: Bon Vivant: Paris, 1778–1785

John Adams

When John Adams arrived in Paris in April 1778 to replace the recalled Silas Deane, he immediately resented Franklin's dominance. Adams was rigid and outspoken, appalled by Franklin's fluid work habits and his life of "continual dissipation" and social engagements, complaining that Franklin was treated with reverence even by people who knew little of him.

Adams accused Franklin of being soft on France and too willing to serve French interests, a rift that grew until Adams was eventually forced out of Paris by Vergennes in 1780. Despite the constant friction, Franklin maintained cordiality and believed Adams was an honest and patriotic man, even if sometimes "absolutely out of his senses".

Voltaire and the Muses

Franklin and the French Enlightenment icon Voltaire (then 84) were seen as twin sages of the age. Their first public meeting occurred in February 1778, when Voltaire gave Franklin’s grandson Benny a blessing: "God and Liberty".

Their staged public embrace at the Académie Royale in April 1778 caused a sensation throughout Europe, with observers calling the scene "Solon qui embrasse Sophocles" (the lawgiver embracing the playwright), elevating Franklin to the status of a classical philosopher.

Franklin also became the Grand Master (Venerable) of the Lodge of the Nine Sisters, a Masonic lodge popular among freethinkers.

Madame Brillon

Franklin's closest female friend in Passy was his talented musician neighbor, Madame Brillon de Jouy. Their relationship was gossiped about due to Madame Brillon's "sweet habit of sitting on your lap," but it was an amitié amoureuse—a blend of intellectual and playful romantic affection without physical commitment.

Franklin often pressed her for a closer relationship, even challenging her to "convert" him. When she rejected his advances, she declared they must adopt the roles of daughter and father. In response to her rejection, Franklin wrote his classic tale, "The Ephemera," where a dying fly laments that his short life's only pleasure was "the sensible conversation of a few good Lady-Ephemeres" and "a kind smile and a tune from the ever-amiable BRILLANTE".

Madame Helvétius

Franklin was also an ardent suitor of Madame Helvétius, a bohemian aristocrat and wealthy widow who ran an irreverent intellectual salon nearby in Auteuil. Franklin proposed marriage in a letter asking that she "pass her nights with her" since he had given her so many of his days. When she refused, Franklin wrote his famous tale, "The Elysian Fields," recounting a dream where her late husband was married to Franklin's late wife, Deborah, prompting Franklin to declare, "Here I am! Let us revenge ourselves".

The Bagatelles

Franklin devoted much of his time to literary amusements he called bagatelles—fables and tales written to amuse his friends.

• "Dialogue between the Gout and Mr. Franklin": The gout mercilessly chided Franklin for his indolence, eating, and late-night chess games, prescribing exercise and fresh air.
• "The Morals of Chess": He described the game as a metaphor for life, teaching foresight and humility, and advising players to "never hurry your opponent".
• "An Economical Project": A humorous spoof that argued Parisians should rise earlier in the summer to save money on candles by using the sun ("Daylight Savings Time").
• **"To the Royal Academy of *": A mock-scientific proposal urging a serious inquiry into how to create a drug that would make flatulence "agreeable as perfumes," thus removing a social barrier.

Family Matters

Franklin’s two grandsons, Temple and Benny Bache, were part of his Passy household. Temple, the older and less focused, became a dandy and a playboy. Benny was sent away to a strict school in Geneva, where he grew depressed and lonely. Franklin failed to visit Benny but often wrote him exhortations on diligence, and later, pulled him back to Passy to apprentice him as a printer.

Franklin also found his daughter Sally's domestic requests frustrating. When she asked for fashionable pins and feathers, he scolded her, saying that of all luxuries, "idleness is the dearest," and advised her that feathers could be had "from every cock’s tail". However, he praised her "amor patrie" (patriotism) for organizing a drive to sew and donate over two thousand shirts to Washington's troops.

Chapter Fifteen: Peacemaker: Paris, 1778–1785

Minister Plenipotentiary

After the French alliance was secured, Franklin was appointed the sole Minister Plenipotentiary in Paris, replacing the triumvirate of commissioners. He was instrumental in securing crucial loans from France throughout the war, resorting to pleas to the French for funds that were essential to keep American independence alive. Despite his success, Franklin’s health declined, and in 1781 he requested that Congress accept his resignation, though they refused and gave him a new role.

John Paul Jones

Franklin was tasked with overseeing the daring American naval officer John Paul Jones, whom he found brave but lacking prudence. Franklin secured Jones an old man-of-war, which Jones renamed the Bonhomme Richard in his honor. Franklin gave Jones explicit orders not to burn defenseless towns and to avoid plundering.

In September 1779, Jones fought the British Serapis, famously replying to a demand for surrender, "I have not yet begun to fight!". Jones won the battle, cementing his reputation and Franklin's pride.

Peace Commissioner

In 1781, Congress appointed Franklin as one of five peace commissioners (including John Adams and John Jay). Crucially, the commissioners were instructed to "undertake nothing in the negotiations for peace... without their knowledge and concurrence" of the French. Franklin, trusting in the sincerity of the French, was pleased with this instruction.

The decisive American victory at Yorktown in October 1781 effectively ended the war and opened the door for peace talks. Franklin knew that power on the battlefield correlated to power at the bargaining table.

The Negotiations Begin

Franklin seized the initiative by opening a secret back-channel negotiation with Lord Shelburne, the new British Prime Minister, sending his own envoy, Richard Oswald, to Paris. Franklin insisted that America would not treat without France, but behind the scenes, he worked to ensure that a separate, direct peace channel was established, using his charm and intellect to manage the British envoys.

Franklin presented Oswald with a peace plan that included four "necessary" provisions (full independence, removal of troops, secure boundaries, and fishing rights) and four "advisable" suggestions, including the ceding of Canada to the United States.

Franklin deliberately used his willingness to negotiate as leverage against the French, creating a sense of urgency for France to secure its own interests.

The Final Treaty and Loyalty Conflicts

John Jay and John Adams soon arrived and were skeptical of the French. Jay, in particular, correctly suspected that Vergennes wanted to delay Britain's recognition of American independence until Spain could secure territory (the land between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi). Jay and Adams insisted that Oswald's commission explicitly acknowledge the United States as independent before proceeding.

Franklin agreed to proceed with Adams and Jay, ultimately choosing the American national interest over his obligation to France. The most contentious issue in the final negotiations was compensation for British loyalists. Franklin vehemently opposed this, motivated in part by his deep anger toward his loyalist son, William. Franklin produced a paper threatening to demand reparations for all American property destroyed, including his looted library.

The British were forced to accept merely asking the states to "earnestly recommend" compensation, though Franklin insisted this recommendation exclude loyalists like his son William who had "borne arms" against the United States. The provisional treaty was signed on November 30, 1782, declaring the United States "free, sovereign and independent".

Placating the French

Franklin then faced the task of explaining the breach of alliance to Vergennes. Franklin wrote a masterpiece of diplomacy, admitting they had neglected a "point of bienséance" (propriety) but arguing that the great work of securing American independence must not be ruined by a single indiscretion. He also renewed his plea for a French loan, effectively using the crisis to secure more aid. Vergennes, having little choice, conceded, allowing the matter to drop rather than risk driving the Americans back to Britain. Franklin’s negotiation was praised as "the greatest diplomatic victory the United States has ever achieved".

Endgame and Farewell

Franklin eventually accepted his resignation after Congress approved it in May 1785, allowing him to finally return home at age 79. He sailed home from Southampton after a final, cold reunion with William, where he negotiated a hard bargain regarding William’s New Jersey property and debts for the benefit of his grandson Temple. He embarked on his last voyage, surrounded by his two grandsons, Temple and Benny.

Franklin's ability to navigate the complexities of diplomacy, balancing idealism with pragmatic realism, was like skillfully playing chess on a vast, unpredictable board, allowing him to win a revolution while securing future influence for the new nation.

Chapter Sixteen: Sage: Philadelphia, 1785–1790

The Final Voyage and Scientific Observations

Franklin's final ocean crossing in 1785, which he viewed as part of his last day's work before going home to bed, involved a prodigious output of forty pages detailing maritime observations and scientific theories,. His studies covered how to design hulls to minimize resistance, rig up sliced playing cards to gauge wind effects, and analyze the causes of ship leaks. He returned to his interest in the Gulf Stream, conducting experiments that showed the water gathered from a depth of thirty-five fathoms was six degrees cooler than the surface, leading to his suggestion that navigators use a thermometer to optimize their travel by catching the stream eastbound and avoiding it westbound. He also produced detailed papers on highly practical matters, such as curing smoky chimneys and constructing better stoves. This scientific outpouring was his most significant since his electricity experiments in 1752, demonstrating his appreciation for combining scientific theory, technical invention, and practical utility.

Home Life, Clubs, and Construction

Franklin arrived in Philadelphia to "acclamations quite to my door" and an "affectionate welcome," relieving his earlier worries that his reputation had been harmed by his enemies. He was soon joined by Polly Stevenson Hewson and her children, creating the hybrid family of real and adopted kin he enjoyed,. He resumed his club life, meeting with the four remaining members of his original Union Fire Company and enjoying card games, rationalizing the time by noting that since the soul is immortal, he shouldn't be a "niggard of a little time",.

Despite his age and chronic pain from kidney stones, Franklin oversaw the construction of a new three-story wing for his house. This addition included a library occupying the entire second floor, which held 4,276 volumes, a building endeavor he humorously described as an "amusement". He took pride in the fact that the design put into practice many of his fire safety ideas, such as tightly plastered walls and floors. His home included new inventions, most notably the bifocal spectacles he perfected in 1784, which used two types of glass in one circle for distant and near viewing,. He also created a mechanical arm to retrieve books from high shelves.

Political Leadership and the Spirit of Compromise

Franklin was unanimously elected to a third term as State President (the equivalent of governor),. This renewed "unbounded confidence" pleased him greatly, especially since it destroyed "party rage" in the state and brought temporary political calm,.

At 81, Franklin was the oldest delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, but he brought the essential ingredients needed for success: a comfort with democracy, a deep knowledge of the disparate colonies, and a strong belief in the spirit of pragmatic compromise,,.

Key moments and contributions at the Convention included:

• Plea for Humility and Prayer: As the debate over proportional representation grew heated, Franklin asked that the delegates open sessions with prayer, noting that "God governs in the affairs of men" and urging them to doubt their own infallibility,.
• The Great Compromise: When the Convention was on the brink of breaking up over whether representation should be by population or equal for every state, Franklin promoted the "Connecticut Compromise",. He insisted that in negotiations, "both sides must part with some of their demands," likening it to a carpenter making a good joint between two planks. This successful compromise created the bicameral legislature—proportional representation in the House, and equal representation in the Senate—and proved crucial to the Constitution's ratification.
• Democratic Principles: He opposed property requirements for the right to vote and for holding office. He argued unsuccessfully that officials should serve without pay, fearing that profit-driven ambitions would corrupt government,.
• Closing Address: In his eloquent final speech, Franklin urged every member to "doubt a little of his own infallibility" and sign the Constitution, noting the document was not perfect but "astonish[ing]... how near to perfection it does" approach,. He famously remarked, observing the sun carved on Washington's chair, that he now had the "happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun".

Franklin was the only person to sign all four founding documents of the republic: the Declaration of Independence, the treaty with France, the peace accord with Britain, and the Constitution.

Final Crusade Against Slavery

At the very end of his life, Franklin, who had owned slaves earlier, became president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery in 1787 and took an uncompromising moral stance,. His society was dedicated not only to freeing slaves but also to helping them become good citizens through specific programs for education and employment,.

In February 1790, Franklin presented a formal abolition petition to Congress. When this was attacked by defenders of slavery, Franklin published his last great parody, pretending to be an Algerian arguing against freeing Christian slaves using the exact same economic and religious justifications offered by Congressmen defending African slavery,,,.

Death

Franklin wrote a final summation of his religious views to Rev. Ezra Stiles of Yale, affirming his belief in one God and the excellent morals of Jesus, but maintaining doubts about Jesus's divinity, which he thought was "needless to busy myself with now". His last letter went to Thomas Jefferson,.

Benjamin Franklin died on April 17, 1790, at the age of 84. His tombstone was designed simply to read: "Benjamin and Deborah Franklin".

Chapter Seventeen: Epilogue

The Legacy of His Family

Franklin’s will dictated that his estranged son, William Franklin, receive nothing more than some worthless Canadian land claims and the forgiveness of remaining debts, an estate share that William condemned as "shameful injustice". William, having fled to London and married his landlady, died in 1814, lonely and estranged from his own son, Temple.

Temple Franklin inherited Franklin's papers and estate share. However, Temple remained aimless and failed to publish a definitive collection of his grandfather's papers for decades, even leaving many precious documents with a tailor in London,.

Sally and Richard Bache received most of his property, including the Market Street houses. Richard was required to free his slave, Bob. Sally also received a diamond-encircled miniature from King Louis XVI with the stipulation that she not use the diamonds for personal adornment, thereby avoiding the encouragement of "expensive, vain and useless fashion".

His grandson, Benjamin Bache ("Benny"), inherited the printing equipment, establishing the fiercely partisan Jeffersonian newspaper, The American Aurora. He frequently attacked political opponents like John Adams and was arrested for sedition before dying of yellow fever at age 29.

The Tradesmen's Bequest

The most unusual legacy was a £2,000 trust fund split between Boston and Philadelphia to provide loans to "young married artificers" seeking to establish their own businesses. Franklin, who had opposed receiving a salary, dedicated this money (earned as State President) to aid aspiring tradesmen, calculating the fund would grow substantially over two centuries. The funds eventually went to organizations like the Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, continuing Franklin’s legacy of supporting the ingenuity and education of the common man,,.

Chapter Eighteen: Conclusions

History's Conflicting Reflections

Franklin embodies a deep dichotomy in the American character: he represents the side of pragmatism and middle-class values over romanticism and aristocratic aspirations,. Changing historical assessments of him reflect the shifting values of the judging era.

• The Romantic Era (Mid-1800s): Intellectuals such as John Keats and D. H. Lawrence criticized Franklin for his lack of imagination and spiritual fervor, attacking him as a "snuff-colored little man" full of "mean and thrifty maxims",,. Critics like Vernon Parrington dismissed his achievements as too "mundane".
• The Age of Capitalism (Late 1800s): Industrialists like Thomas Mellon and Andrew Carnegie revered Franklin, seeing him as the model for success through "industry, thrift and frugality". Historians like Frederick Jackson Turner praised him as the "first great American" for applying "American common-sense" to all fields.
• The Modern Era: Franklin became the patron saint of the self-help movement, influencing figures like Dale Carnegie and Stephen Covey,. He is often viewed as the "Founding Yuppie" who would be instantly comfortable in a modern office park due to his focus on progress, networking, and comfortable middle-class values,.

The Final Balance of the Ledger

Franklin's greatness did not stem from profundity or poetry; rather, he was a man of extraordinary complexity whose strengths lay in his practicality,. His life lacked the poetic anguish or deep, intimate bonds often valued by critics,.

However, the ledger balances strongly in his favor:

• Civic Benevolence: His personal and civic virtues transformed society, producing improvements like the fire company, bifocals, and the lightning rod,.
• Tolerance: His greatest contribution was his profound advocacy for "good-natured religious tolerance," helping to create a nation that could draw strength from pluralism,.
• Uncompromising Principles: Despite being deemed a compromiser, Franklin never wavered in his fundamental opposition to arbitrary authority (whether from his brother, the Proprietors, or Parliament). He resolutely promoted a society where power was based on merit and virtue rather than heritage.
• Ultimate Legacy: Franklin’s faith in the wisdom of the common citizen and his opposition to all forms of tyranny became the necessary "foundation for the democratic republic",. His ability to weave together technological ingenuity, philosophical pragmatism, and meritocratic mobility made him the most influential figure in "inventing the type of society America would become".

Franklin's ability to combine the lofty ideal of liberty with practical action was exemplified by his famous two-part epigram, quoted from Turgot: "He snatched lightning from the sky and the scepter from tyrants".