129-688: Governor Franklin may refer to: Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), 6th President of Pennsylvania Benjamin Joseph Franklin (1839–1898), 12th Governor of Arizona Territory Jesse Franklin (1760–1823), 20th Governor of North Carolina John Franklin (1786–1847), Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1837 to 1843 Michael Francklin (1733–1782), Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1766 to 1772 William Franklin (1731–1813), 13th Colonial Governor of New Jersey from 1763 to 1776 Topics referred to by
258-526: A planter from Barbados , in London. In 1763, he was appointed as the last royal governor of New Jersey. A Loyalist to the king, William Franklin saw his relations with father Benjamin eventually break down over their differences about the American Revolutionary War , as Benjamin Franklin could never accept William's position. Deposed in 1776 by the revolutionary government of New Jersey, William
387-587: A standing army at home so it was necessary to garrison most of the troops elsewhere. The outbreak of Pontiac's War in May 1763 led to the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the added duty of British soldiers to prevent outbreaks of violence between Native Americans and American colonists. 10,000 British troops were dispatched to the American frontier , with a primary motivation of the move being to provide billets for
516-624: A Freemason for the rest of his life. At age 17 in 1723, Franklin proposed to 15-year-old Deborah Read while a boarder in the Read home. At that time, Deborah's mother was wary of allowing her young daughter to marry Franklin, who was on his way to London at Governor Keith's request, and also because of his financial instability. Her own husband had recently died, and she declined Franklin's request to marry her daughter. Franklin travelled to London, and after he failed to communicate as expected with Deborah and her family, they interpreted his long silence as
645-542: A Maryland attorney and politician, disputed this assertion in a widely read pamphlet , arguing that the relations between the Americans and the English electors were "a knot too infirm to be relied on" for proper representation, "virtual" or otherwise. Local protest groups established Committees of Correspondence which created a loose coalition from New England to Maryland. Protests and demonstrations increased, often initiated by
774-413: A Puritan family that was among the first Pilgrims to flee to Massachusetts for religious freedom , sailing for Boston in 1635 after King Charles I of England had begun persecuting Puritans. Her father Peter was "the sort of rebel destined to transform colonial America." As clerk of the court , he was arrested on February 10, 1676, and jailed on February 19 for his inability to pay bail. He spent over
903-724: A Strong Naval Force, which it must forever be in the Power of Great Britain to hinder them from having: And whilst His Majesty hath 7000 Troops kept up within them, & in the Great Lakes upon the back of six of them, with the Indians at Command, it seems very easy, provided the Governors & principal Civil Officers are Independent of the Assemblies for their Subsistence, & commonly Vigilant, to prevent any Steps of that kind from being taken. The act
1032-585: A breaking of his promises. At the urging of her mother, Deborah married a potter named John Rogers on August 5, 1725. John soon fled to Barbados with her dowry in order to avoid debts and prosecution. Since Rogers' fate was unknown, bigamy laws prevented Deborah from remarrying. Franklin returned in 1726 and resumed his courtship of Deborah. They established a common-law marriage on September 1, 1730. They took in his recently acknowledged illegitimate young son and raised him in their household. They had two children together. Their son, Francis Folger Franklin ,
1161-517: A class for four years, and there would be no religious test for admission. Johnson went on to found King's College (now Columbia University ) in New York City in 1754, while Franklin hired Smith as provost of the College of Philadelphia, which opened in 1755. At its first commencement, on May 17, 1757, seven men graduated; six with a Bachelor of Arts and one with a Master of Arts. It was later merged with
1290-545: A further attempt to replace their local courts with courts controlled by England. As the act imposed a tax on many different types of paper items, including newspapers, contracts, deeds, wills, claims, indentures and many other types of legal documents, its effect would be felt in many different professions and trades, resulting in wide spread protests from newspapers, citizens, and even attacks on public officials, tax collectors and their offices and homes. Grenville started appointing Stamp Distributors almost immediately after
1419-503: A hundred acres were taxed 1s. 6d., between 100 and 200 acres 2s., and from 200 to 320 acres 2s. 6d., with an additional 2s 6d. for every additional 320 acres (1.3 km ). Cards were taxed a shilling a pack, dice ten shillings, and newspapers and pamphlets at the rate of a penny for a single sheet and a shilling for every sheet in pamphlets or papers totaling more than one sheet and fewer than six sheets in octavo , fewer than twelve in quarto , or fewer than twenty in folio (in other words,
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#17328558652321548-601: A legal Representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the Character of free Subjects to the miserable State of tributary Slaves. Massachusetts appointed a five-member Committee of Correspondence in June 1764 to coordinate action and exchange information regarding the Sugar Act, and Rhode Island formed a similar committee in October 1764. This attempt at unified action represented
1677-558: A major objection to the Stamp Act the following year. Parliament announced in April 1764 when the Sugar Act was passed that they would also consider a stamp tax in the colonies. Opposition from the colonies was soon forthcoming to this possible tax, but neither members of Parliament nor American agents in Great Britain (such as Benjamin Franklin ) anticipated the intensity of the protest that
1806-556: A member of Parliament. John Adams complained that the London ministry was intentionally trying "to strip us in a great measure of the means of knowledge, by loading the Press, the colleges, and even an Almanack and a News-Paper, with restraints and duties." The press fought back. By 1760 the fledgling American newspaper industry comprised 24 weekly papers in major cities. Benjamin Franklin had created an informal network so that each one routinely reprinted news, editorials, letters and essays from
1935-597: A modification of the Molasses Act of 1733. The Molasses Act had imposed a tax of 6 pence per gallon (equal to £5.24 today) on foreign molasses imported into British colonies. The purpose of the Molasses Act was not actually to raise revenue, but instead to make foreign molasses so expensive that it effectively gave a monopoly to molasses imported from the British West Indies. It did not work; colonial merchants avoided
2064-494: A new start in a new city. When he first arrived, he worked in several printing shops there, but he was not satisfied by the immediate prospects in any of these jobs. After a few months, while working in one printing house, Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith convinced him to go to London, ostensibly to acquire the equipment necessary for establishing another newspaper in Philadelphia. Discovering that Keith's promises of backing
2193-629: A newspaper were empty, he worked as a typesetter in a printer's shop in what is the present-day Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great in the Smithfield area of London. Following this, he returned to Philadelphia in 1726 with the help of Thomas Denham , a merchant who employed him as a clerk, shopkeeper, and bookkeeper in his business. In 1727, at age 21, Franklin formed the Junto , a group of "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community." The Junto
2322-530: A patriotic stand in the growing crisis with Great Britain. Franklin's Connecticut Gazette (1755–68), however, proved unsuccessful. As the Revolution approached, political strife slowly tore his network apart. In 1730 or 1731, Franklin was initiated into the local Masonic lodge . He became a grand master in 1734, indicating his rapid rise to prominence in Pennsylvania. The same year, he edited and published
2451-485: A postal system. The report of the committee, providing for the appointment of a postmaster general for the 13 American colonies, was considered by the Continental Congress on July 25 and 26. On July 26, 1775, Franklin was appointed postmaster general, the first appointed under the Continental Congress. His apprentice, William Goddard , felt that his ideas were mostly responsible for shaping the postal system and that
2580-643: A scheme for the Academy, Charity School, and College of Philadelphia ; however, the person he had in mind to run the academy, Rev. Richard Peters , refused and Franklin put his ideas away until 1749 when he printed his own pamphlet, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania. He was appointed president of the Academy on November 13, 1749; the academy and the charity school opened in 1751. In 1743, he founded
2709-553: A scientist and statesman, he habitually signed his letters with the unpretentious 'B. Franklin, Printer.' In 1732, he published the first German-language newspaper in America – Die Philadelphische Zeitung – although it failed after only one year because four other newly founded German papers quickly dominated the newspaper market. Franklin also printed Moravian religious books in German. He often visited Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , staying at
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#17328558652322838-451: A significant step forward in colonial unity and cooperation. The Virginia House of Burgesses sent a protest of the taxes to London in December 1764, arguing that they did not have the specie required to pay the tax. Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Connecticut also sent protest to England in 1764. The content of the messages varied, but they all emphasized that taxation of
2967-455: A stamp tax. The Glorious Revolution had established the principle of parliamentary supremacy. Control of colonial trade and manufactures extended this principle across the ocean. This belief had never been tested on the issue of colonial taxation, but the British assumed that the interests of the thirteen colonies were so disparate that a joint colonial action was unlikely to occur against such
3096-500: A tax–an assumption that had its genesis in the failure of the Albany Conference in 1754. By the end of December 1764, the first warnings of serious colonial opposition were provided by pamphlets and petitions from the colonies protesting both the Sugar Act and the proposed stamp tax. For Grenville, the first issue was the amount of the tax. Soon after his announcement of the possibility of a tax, he had told American agents that he
3225-418: A then uncultivated and unhospitable country where they exposed themselves to almost all the hardships to which human nature is liable, and among others to the cruelties of a savage foe, the most subtle, and I take upon me to say, the most formidable of any people upon the face of God's earth.... They nourished by your indulgence? They grew by your neglect of 'em. As soon as you began to care about 'em, that care
3354-650: A valour amidst their constant and laborious industry for the defence of a country whose frontier while drenched in blood, its interior parts have yielded all its little savings to your emolument .... The people I believe are as truly loyal as any subjects the king has, but a people jealous of their liberties and who will vindicate them if ever they should be violated; but the subject is too delicate and I will say no more." Massachusetts Royal Governor William Shirley assured London in 1755 that American independence could easily be defeated by force. He argued: At all Events, they could not maintain such an Independency, without
3483-844: A year and a half in jail. Franklin was born on Milk Street in Boston , Province of Massachusetts Bay on January 17, 1706, and baptized at the Old South Meeting House in Boston. As a child growing up along the Charles River , Franklin recalled that he was "generally the leader among the boys." Franklin's father wanted him to attend school with the clergy but only had enough money to send him to school for two years. He attended Boston Latin School but did not graduate; he continued his education through voracious reading. Although "his parents talked of
3612-504: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [ O.S. January 6, 1705] – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath : a leading writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher . Among the most influential intellectuals of his time, Franklin
3741-636: Is evidently a portrait of his rival, Samuel Keimer . Franklin had mixed success in his plan to establish an inter-colonial network of newspapers that would produce a profit for him and disseminate virtue. Over the years he sponsored two dozen printers in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, Connecticut, and even the Caribbean. By 1753, eight of the fifteen English language newspapers in the colonies were published by him or his partners. He began in Charleston, South Carolina , in 1731. After his second editor died,
3870-679: Is suppos'd an undoubted Right of Englishmen not to be taxed but by their own Consent given thro' their Representatives. That the Colonies have no Representatives in Parliament." The counter to this argument was the theory of virtual representation . Thomas Whately enunciated this theory in a pamphlet that readily acknowledged that there could be no taxation without consent, but the facts were that at least 75% of British adult males were not represented in Parliament because of property qualifications or other factors. Members of Parliament were bound to represent
3999-728: The American Philosophical Society to help scientific men discuss their discoveries and theories. He began the electrical research that, along with other scientific inquiries, would occupy him for the rest of his life, in between bouts of politics and moneymaking. During King George's War , Franklin raised a militia called the Association for General Defense because the legislators of the city had decided to take no action to defend Philadelphia "either by erecting fortifications or building Ships of War." He raised money to create earthwork defenses and buy artillery. The largest of these
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4128-615: The Bute ministry decided in early 1763 to keep ten thousand British regulars in the American colonies, which would cost about £225,000 per year, equal to £42 million today. The primary reason for retaining such a large force was that demobilizing the army would put 1,500 officers out of work, many of whom were well-connected in Parliament . This made it politically prudent to retain a large peacetime establishment, but Britons were averse to maintaining
4257-622: The College of William & Mary , called a "new-model" plan or style of American college. Franklin solicited, printed in 1752, and promoted an American textbook of moral philosophy by Samuel Johnson, titled Elementa Philosophica , to be taught in the new colleges. In June 1753, Johnson, Franklin, and Smith met in Stratford. They decided the new-model college would focus on the professions, with classes taught in English instead of Latin, have subject matter experts as professors instead of one tutor leading
4386-710: The Franklin stove . He founded many civic organizations , including the Library Company , Philadelphia 's first fire department , and the University of Pennsylvania . Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity . He was the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence, Treaty of Paris , peace with Britain and the Constitution . Foundational in defining
4515-586: The Instructor and made it The Pennsylvania Gazette . The Gazette soon became his characteristic organ, which he freely used for satire, for the play of his wit, even for sheer excess of mischief or of fun. From the first, he had a way of adapting his models to his own uses. The series of essays called " The Busy-Body ," which he wrote for Bradford's American Mercury in 1729, followed the general Addisonian form, already modified to suit homelier conditions. The thrifty Patience, in her busy little shop, complaining of
4644-618: The Moravian Sun Inn . In a 1751 pamphlet on demographic growth and its implications for the Thirteen Colonies, he called the Pennsylvania Germans "Palatine Boors" who could never acquire the "Complexion" of Anglo-American settlers and referred to "Blacks and Tawneys" as weakening the social structure of the colonies. Although he apparently reconsidered shortly thereafter, and the phrases were omitted from all later printings of
4773-495: The Old South Meeting House by Reverend Samuel Willard , and had ten children with her. Benjamin, their eighth child, was Josiah Franklin's fifteenth child overall, and his tenth and final son. Benjamin Franklin's mother, Abiah, was born in Nantucket , Massachusetts Bay Colony , on August 15, 1667, to Peter Folger , a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife, Mary Morrell Folger , a former indentured servant . Mary Folger came from
4902-447: The Sons of Liberty and occasionally involving hanging of effigies. Very soon, all stamp tax distributors were intimidated into resigning their commissions, and the tax was never effectively collected. Opposition to the Stamp Act was not limited to the colonies. British merchants and manufacturers pressured Parliament because their exports to the colonies were threatened by boycotts. The act
5031-660: The Stamp Act Congress held in New York City was the first significant joint colonial response to any British measure when it petitioned Parliament and the King. One member of the British Parliament argued that the American colonists were no different from the 90-percent of Great Britain who did not own property and thus could not vote, but who were nevertheless "virtually" represented by land-owning electors and representatives who had common interests with them. Daniel Dulany ,
5160-778: The United States Declaration of Independence , enabling the organized colonial resistance which led to the American Revolution in 1775. The British victory in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), known in the United States and elsewhere as the French and Indian War , was won at great financial expense. During the war, the British national debt nearly doubled, rising from £72,289,673 in 1755 to almost £129,586,789 by 1764. Post-war expenses were expected to remain high because
5289-645: The University of the State of Pennsylvania to become the University of Pennsylvania . The college was to become influential in guiding the founding documents of the United States: in the Continental Congress , for example, over one-third of the college-affiliated men who contributed to the Declaration of Independence between September 4, 1774, and July 4, 1776, were affiliated with the college. In 1754, he headed
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5418-489: The Act passed Parliament. Applicants were not hard to come by because of the anticipated income that the positions promised, and he appointed local colonists to the post. Benjamin Franklin even suggested the appointment of John Hughes as the agent for Pennsylvania, indicating that even Franklin was not aware of the turmoil and impact that the tax was going to generate on American-British relations or that these distributors would become
5547-399: The American ethos, Franklin has been called "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become". His life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and his status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored for more than two centuries after his death on the $ 100 bill and in
5676-526: The British Plantations in America. He used the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales as the cover illustration. Franklin wrote a letter, " Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress ," dated June 25, 1745, in which he gives advice to a young man about channeling sexual urges. Due to its licentious nature, it was not published in collections of his papers during the 19th century. Federal court rulings from
5805-581: The King and People of Great Britain. On 6 June 1765, the Massachusetts Lower House proposed a meeting for the 1st Tuesday of October in New York City: That it is highly expedient there should be a Meeting as soon as may be, of Committees from the Houses of Representatives or Burgesses in the several Colonies on this Continent to consult together on the present Circumstances of the Colonies, and
5934-618: The Liberties, privileges, Franchises, and Immunities that have at any Time been held, enjoyed, and possessed, by the People of Great Britain. Resolved, That by the two royal Charters, granted by King James the First, the Colonists aforesaid are declared entitled to all Liberties, Privileges, and Immunities of Denizens and natural Subjects, to all Intents and Purposes, as if they had been abiding and born within
6063-594: The Loyalist cause, was held in solitary confinement at Litchfield for eight months. When finally released in a prisoner exchange in 1778, he moved to New York City, which was occupied by the British at the time. While in New York City, he became leader of the Board of Associated Loyalists, a quasi-military organization chartered by King George III and headquartered in New York City. They initiated guerrilla forays into New Jersey, southern Connecticut, and New York counties north of
6192-596: The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency in 1729, and his printer printed money. He was influential in the more restrained and thus successful monetary experiments in the Middle Colonies, which stopped deflation without causing excessive inflation. In 1766, he made a case for paper money to the British House of Commons . As he matured, Franklin began to concern himself more with public affairs. In 1743, he first devised
6321-805: The Pennsylvania delegation to the Albany Congress . This meeting of several colonies had been requested by the Board of Trade in England to improve relations with the Indians and defense against the French. Franklin proposed a broad Plan of Union for the colonies. While the plan was not adopted, elements of it found their way into the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution . In 1753, Harvard University and Yale awarded him honorary master of arts degrees. In 1756, he
6450-476: The Pennsylvania legislature to establish a hospital. Pennsylvania Hospital was the first hospital in the colonies. In 1752, Franklin organized the Philadelphia Contributionship , the Colonies' first homeowner's insurance company. Between 1750 and 1753, the "educational triumvirate" of Franklin, Samuel Johnson of Stratford, Connecticut , and schoolteacher William Smith built on Franklin's initial scheme and created what Bishop James Madison , president of
6579-423: The Realm of England. Resolved, That the Taxation of the People by themselves, or by Persons chosen by themselves to represent them, who could only know what Taxes the People are able to bear, or the easiest method of raising them, and must themselves be affected by every Tax laid on the People, is the only Security against a burdensome Taxation, and the distinguishing characteristick of British Freedom, without which
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#17328558652326708-464: The Seven Years' War and once again in 1761. Grenville had actually been presented with drafts of colonial stamp acts in September and October 1763, but the proposals lacked the specific knowledge of colonial affairs to adequately describe the documents subject to the stamp. At the time of the passage of the Sugar Act in April 1764, Grenville made it clear that the right to tax the colonies was not in question, and that additional taxes might follow, including
6837-452: The Thirteen Colonies. The August 1, 1768, issue of the Pennsylvania Chronicle , established by William Goddard , printed on the front page a four-column article of an address made at the State House (Independence Hall) against the Stamp Act , and other excessive tax laws passed without colonial representation in the British Parliament . The newspapers reported effigy hangings and stamp master resignation speeches. Some newspapers were on
6966-457: The ancient Constitution cannot exist. Resolved, That his majesty's liege people of this his most ancient and loyal Colony have without interruption enjoyed the inestimable Right of being governed by such Laws, respecting their internal Polity and Taxation, as are derived from their own Consent, with the Approbation of their Sovereign, or his Substitute; and that the same hath never been forfeited or yielded up, but hath been constantly recognized by
7095-420: The appointment should have gone to him, but he graciously conceded it to Franklin, 36 years his senior. Franklin, however, appointed Goddard as Surveyor of the Posts, issued him a signed pass, and directed him to investigate and inspect the various post offices and mail routes as he saw fit. The newly established postal system became the United States Post Office, a system that continues to operate today. From
7224-432: The burning spirits, and Daniel Rees died of his burns two days later." While Franklin did not directly participate in the hazing that led to Rees' death , he knew of the hazing before it turned fatal, and did nothing to stop it. He was criticized for his inaction in The American Weekly Mercury , by his publishing rival Andrew Bradford . Ultimately, "Franklin replied in his own defense in the Gazette. " Franklin remained
7353-421: The church as a career" for Franklin, his schooling ended when he was ten. He worked for his father for a time, and at 12 he became an apprentice to his brother James, a printer, who taught him the printing trade. When Benjamin was 15, James founded The New-England Courant , which was the third newspaper founded in Boston. When denied the chance to write a letter to the paper for publication, Franklin adopted
7482-477: The city. When British troops evacuated from New York, William Franklin left with them and sailed to England. He settled in London, never to return to North America. In the preliminary peace talks in 1782 with Britain, "... Benjamin Franklin insisted that loyalists who had borne arms against the United States would be excluded from this plea (that they be given a general pardon). He was undoubtedly thinking of William Franklin." In 1732, Franklin began to publish
7611-459: The colonial post office. When the lands of New France were ceded to the British under the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the British province of Quebec was created among them, and Franklin saw mail service expanded between Montreal , Trois-Rivières , Quebec City, and New York. For the greater part of his appointment, he lived in England (from 1757 to 1762, and again from 1764 to 1774)—about three-quarters of his term. Eventually, his sympathies for
7740-403: The colonies by Parliament. It was judged by the colonists to be a more dangerous assault on their rights than the Sugar Act was, because of its potential wide application to the colonial economy. The theoretical issue that soon held center stage was the matter of taxation without representation . Benjamin Franklin had raised this as far back as 1754 at the Albany Congress when he wrote, "That it
7869-399: The colonies to raise revenue. Politicians in London had always expected American colonists to contribute to the cost of their own defence. So long as a French threat existed, there was little trouble convincing colonial legislatures to provide assistance. Such help was normally provided through the raising of colonial militias, which were funded by taxes raised by colonial legislatures. Also,
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#17328558652327998-405: The colonies without colonial assent was a violation of their rights. By the end of 1765, all of the Thirteen Colonies except Georgia and North Carolina had sent some sort of protest passed by colonial legislative assemblies. The Virginia House of Burgesses reconvened in early May 1765 after news was received of the passage of the act. By the end of May, it appeared that they would not consider
8127-400: The colonies, and it had to be paid in British currency , not in colonial paper money . The purpose of the tax was to pay for British military troops stationed in the American colonies after the French and Indian War , but the colonists had never feared a French invasion to begin with, and they contended that they had already paid their share of the war expenses. Colonists suggested that it
8256-421: The colonies, the revenues were to be expended in America, especially for supplies and salaries of British Army units who were stationed there. Two features of the act involving the courts attracted special attention. The tax on court documents specifically included courts "exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction." These type of courts did not currently exist in the colonies and no bishops were currently assigned to
8385-442: The colonies, who would preside over the courts. Many colonists or their ancestors had fled England specifically to escape the influence and power of such state-sanctioned religious institutions, and they feared that this was the first step to reinstating the old ways in the colonies. Some Anglicans in the northern colonies were already openly advocating the appointment of such bishops, but they were opposed by both southern Anglicans and
8514-414: The colonists. The Sugar Act, to a large extent, was a continuation of past legislation related primarily to the regulation of trade (termed an external tax), but its stated purpose was entirely new: to collect revenue directly from the colonists for a specific purpose. The novelty of the Stamp Act was that it was the first internal tax (a tax based entirely on activities within the colonies) levied directly on
8643-424: The consent of Parliament, but the colonists argued that due to their theoretical Rights as Englishmen , they could not be taxed without their consent, which came in the form of representation in Parliament. The colonists elected no members of Parliament, and so it was seen as a violation of their Rights for Parliament to tax them. There was little time to raise this issue in response to the Sugar Act, but it came to be
8772-712: The construction of a printing network based on a chain of partnerships from the Carolinas to New England. He thereby invented the first newspaper chain. It was more than a business venture, for like many publishers he believed that the press had a public-service duty. When he established himself in Philadelphia, shortly before 1730, the town boasted two "wretched little" news sheets, Andrew Bradford 's The American Weekly Mercury and Samuel Keimer 's Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences, and Pennsylvania Gazette . This instruction in all arts and sciences consisted of weekly extracts from Chambers's Universal Dictionary . Franklin quickly did away with all of this when he took over
8901-478: The debate, Charles Townshend said, "and now will these Americans, children planted by our care, nourished up by our Indulgence until they are grown to a degree of strength and opulence, and protected by our arms, will they grudge to contribute their mite to relieve us from heavy weight of the burden which we lie under?" This led to Colonel Isaac Barré 's response: They planted by your care? No! Your oppression planted 'em in America. They fled from your tyranny to
9030-405: The difficulties to which they are and must be reduced by the operation of the late Acts of Parliament for levying Duties and Taxes on the Colonies, and to consider of a general and humble Address to his Majesty and the Parliament to implore Relief. There was no attempt to keep this meeting a secret; Massachusetts promptly notified Richard Jackson of the proposed meeting, their agent in England and
9159-480: The disease that subsequently killed him. Deborah wrote to him in November 1769, saying she was ill due to "dissatisfied distress" from his prolonged absence, but he did not return until his business was done. Deborah Read Franklin died of a stroke on December 14, 1774, while Franklin was on an extended mission to Great Britain; he returned in 1775. In 1730, 24-year-old Franklin publicly acknowledged his illegitimate son William and raised him in his household. William
9288-579: The failure of this mission. At this time, many members of the Pennsylvania Assembly were feuding with William Penn's heirs, who controlled the colony as proprietors. After his return to the colony, Franklin led the "anti-proprietary party" in the struggle against the Penn family and was elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania House in May 1764. His call for a change from proprietary to royal government
9417-533: The first Masonic book in the Americas, a reprint of James Anderson 's Constitutions of the Free-Masons . He was the secretary of St. John's Lodge in Philadelphia from 1735 to 1738. In January 1738, "Franklin appeared as a witness" in a manslaughter trial against two men who killed "a simple-minded apprentice" named Daniel Rees in a fake Masonic initiation gone wrong. One of the men "threw, or accidentally spilled,
9546-526: The focus of colonial resistance. Debate in the colonies had actually begun in the spring of 1764 over the Stamp Act when Parliament passed a resolution that contained the assertion, "That, towards further defraying the said Expences, it may be proper to charge certain Stamp Duties in the said Colonies and Plantations." Both the Sugar Act and the proposed Stamp Act were designed principally to raise revenue from
9675-442: The following year he became the publisher of The Pennsylvania Gazette , a newspaper in Philadelphia. The Gazette gave Franklin a forum for agitation about a variety of local reforms and initiatives through printed essays and observations. Over time, his commentary, and his adroit cultivation of a positive image as an industrious and intellectual young man, earned him a great deal of social respect. But even after he achieved fame as
9804-402: The governor , young Franklin took over the newspaper and had Mrs. Dogood proclaim, quoting Cato's Letters , "Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech." Franklin left his apprenticeship without his brother's permission, and in so doing became a fugitive. At age 17, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia , seeking
9933-561: The interests of all British citizens and subjects, so colonists were the recipients of virtual representation in Parliament, like those disenfranchised subjects in the British Isles. This theory, however, ignored a crucial difference between the unrepresented in Britain and the colonists. The colonists enjoyed actual representation in their own legislative assemblies, and the issue was whether these legislatures, rather than Parliament, were in fact
10062-568: The late 1750s, he began arguing against slavery , became an active abolitionist , and promoted the education and integration of African Americans into U.S. society. As a scientist, his studies of electricity made him a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics . He also charted and named the Gulf Stream current. His numerous important inventions include the lightning rod , bifocals , glass harmonica and
10191-529: The law. The articles written in colonial newspapers were particularly critical of the act because of the Stamp Act's disproportionate effect on printers. David Ramsay , a patriot and historian from South Carolina, wrote of this phenomenon shortly after the American Revolution: It was fortunate for the liberties of America, that newspapers were the subject of a heavy stamp duty. Printers, when influenced by government, have generally arranged themselves on
10320-422: The legislatures were sometimes willing to help maintain regular British units defending the colonies. So long as this sort of help was forthcoming, there was little reason for the British Parliament to impose its own taxes on the colonists. But after the peace of 1763, colonial militias were quickly stood down. Militia officers were tired of the disdain shown to them by regular British officers, and were frustrated by
10449-588: The mid-1750s to the mid-1770s, Franklin spent much of his time in London. In 1757, he was sent to England by the Pennsylvania Assembly as a colonial agent to protest against the political influence of the Penn family , the proprietors of the colony . He remained there for five years, striving to end the proprietors' prerogative to overturn legislation from the elected Assembly and their exemption from paying taxes on their land. His lack of influential allies in Whitehall led to
10578-516: The mid-to-late 20th century cited the document as a reason for overturning obscenity laws and against censorship. In 1736, Franklin created the Union Fire Company , one of the first volunteer firefighting companies in America. In the same year, he printed a new currency for New Jersey based on innovative anti- counterfeiting techniques he had devised. Throughout his career, he was an advocate for paper money , publishing A Modest Enquiry into
10707-408: The most easy and least objectionable to the Colonies". Thomas Whately had drafted the Stamp Act, and he said that the delay in implementation had been "out of Tenderness to the colonies", and that the tax was judged as "the easiest, the most equal and the most certain." The debate in Parliament began soon after this meeting. Petitions submitted by the colonies were officially ignored by Parliament. In
10836-510: The names of warships , many towns and counties, educational institutions and corporations , as well as in numerous cultural references and a portrait in the Oval Office . His more than 30,000 letters and documents have been collected in The Papers of Benjamin Franklin . Anne Robert Jacques Turgot said of him: "Eripuit fulmen cœlo, mox sceptra tyrannis" ("He snatched lightning from the sky and
10965-706: The nature of his mission. Stamp Act 1765 The Stamp Act 1765 , also known as the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765 ( 5 Geo. 3 . c. 12), was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper from London which included an embossed revenue stamp . Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout
11094-500: The near-impossibility of obtaining regular British commissions; they were unwilling to remain in service once the war was over. In any case, they had no military role, as the Indian threat was minimal and there was no foreign threat. Colonial legislators saw no need for the British troops. The Sugar Act of 1764 was the first tax in Grenville's program to raise a revenue in America, which was
11223-399: The non-Anglicans who made up the majority in the northern colonies. The act allowed admiralty courts to have jurisdiction for trying violators, following the example established by the Sugar Act. However, admiralty courts had traditionally been limited to cases involving the high seas. The Sugar Act seemed to fall within this precedent, but the Stamp Act did not, and the colonists saw this as
11352-421: The noted Poor Richard's Almanack (with content both original and borrowed) under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, on which much of his popular reputation is based. He frequently wrote under pseudonyms. The first issue published was for the upcoming year, 1733. He had developed a distinct, signature style that was plain, pragmatic and had a sly, soft but self-deprecating tone with declarative sentences. Although it
11481-597: The office until 1753, when he and publisher William Hunter were named deputy postmasters–general of British North America, the first to hold the office. ( Joint appointments were standard at the time, for political reasons.) He was responsible for the British colonies from Pennsylvania north and east, as far as the island of Newfoundland . A post office for local and outgoing mail had been established in Halifax, Nova Scotia , by local stationer Benjamin Leigh, on April 23, 1754, but service
11610-463: The officers who were part of the British patronage system. John Adams wrote disparagingly of the deployment, writing that "Revenue is still demanded from America, and appropriated to the maintenance of swarms of officers and pensioners in idleness and luxury". George Grenville became prime minister in April 1763 after the failure of the short-lived Bute Ministry , and he had to find a way to pay for this large peacetime army. Raising taxes in Britain
11739-411: The others, thus helping form a common American voice. All the editors were annoyed at the new stamp tax they would have to pay on each copy. By informing colonists what the other colonies were saying the press became a powerful opposition force to the Stamp Act. Many circumvented it and most equated taxation without representation with despotism and tyranny, thus providing a common vocabulary of protest for
11868-511: The pamphlet, his views may have played a role in his political defeat in 1764. According to Ralph Frasca, Franklin promoted the printing press as a device to instruct colonial Americans in moral virtue. Frasca argues he saw this as a service to God, because he understood moral virtue in terms of actions, thus, doing good provides a service to God. Despite his own moral lapses, Franklin saw himself as uniquely qualified to instruct Americans in morality. He tried to influence American moral life through
11997-627: The pseudonym "Richard Saunders". After 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle , a newspaper known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the policies of the British Parliament and the Crown . He pioneered and was the first president of the Academy and College of Philadelphia , which opened in 1751 and later became the University of Pennsylvania. He organized and
12126-522: The pseudonym of " Silence Dogood ," a middle-aged widow. Mrs. Dogood's letters were published and became a subject of conversation around town. Neither James nor the Courant 's readers were aware of the ruse, and James was unhappy with Benjamin when he discovered the popular correspondent was his younger brother. Franklin was an advocate of free speech from an early age. When his brother was jailed for three weeks in 1722 for publishing material unflattering to
12255-636: The rebel cause in the American Revolution led to his dismissal on January 31, 1774. On July 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the United States Post Office and named Franklin as the first United States postmaster general . He had been a postmaster for decades and was a natural choice for the position. He had just returned from England and was appointed chairman of a Committee of Investigation to establish
12384-481: The repeal of the unpopular Stamp Act by the British Parliament. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired as the first U.S. ambassador to France and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco–American relations . His efforts proved vital in securing French aid for the American Revolution . From 1785 to 1788, he served as President of Pennsylvania . At some points in his life, he owned slaves and ran "for sale" ads for slaves in his newspaper, but by
12513-464: The royal payroll and supported the act, but most of the press was free and vocal. Thus William Bradford , the foremost printer in Philadelphia, became a leader of the Sons of Liberty. He added a skull and crossbones with the words, "the fatal Stamp," to the masthead of his Pennsylvania Journal and weekly Advertiser . Some of the earliest forms of American propaganda appeared in these printings in response to
12642-474: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Governor Franklin . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Governor_Franklin&oldid=1224440441 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Title and name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
12771-727: The scepter from tyrants"). Benjamin Franklin's father, Josiah Franklin , was a tallow chandler , soaper , and candlemaker . Josiah Franklin was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire , England, on December 23, 1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith and farmer, and his wife, Jane White. Benjamin's father and all four of his grandparents were born in England. Josiah Franklin had a total of seventeen children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683; they had three children before emigration and four after. Following her death, Josiah married Abiah Folger on July 9, 1689, in
12900-437: The side of liberty, nor are they less remarkable for attention to the profits of their profession. A stamp duty, which openly invaded the first, and threatened a great diminution of the last, provoked their united zealous opposition. Most printers were critical of the Stamp Act, although a few Loyalist voices did exist. Some of the more subtle Loyalist sentiments can be seen in publications such as The Boston Evening Post , which
13029-642: The sole recipients of the colonists' consent with regard to taxation. In May 1764, Samuel Adams of Boston drafted the following that stated the common American position: For if our Trade may be taxed why not our Lands? Why not the Produce of our Lands & every thing we possess or make use of? This we apprehend annihilates our Charter Right to govern & tax ourselves – It strikes our British Privileges, which as we have never forfeited them, we hold in common with our Fellow Subjects who are Natives of Britain: If Taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having
13158-599: The tax by smuggling or, more often, bribing customs officials. The Sugar Act reduced the tax to 3 pence per gallon (equal to £2.24 today) in the hope that the lower rate would increase compliance and thus increase the amount of tax collected. The act also taxed additional imports and included measures to make the customs service more effective. American colonists initially objected to the Sugar Act for economic reasons, but before long they recognized that there were potential constitutional issues involved. The British Constitution guaranteed that taxes could not be levied without
13287-437: The tax generated. Stamp acts had been a very successful method of taxation within Great Britain; they generated over £100,000 in tax revenue with very little in collection expenses. By requiring an official stamp on most legal documents, the system was almost self-regulating; a document would be null and void under British law without the required stamp. Imposition of such a tax on the colonies had been considered twice before
13416-412: The tax on pamphlets grew in proportion to their size but ceased altogether if they became large enough to qualify as a book). The high taxes on lawyers and college students were designed to limit the growth of a professional class in the colonies. The stamps had to be purchased with hard currency , which was scarce, rather than the more plentiful colonial paper currency. To avoid draining currency out of
13545-415: The tax with Benjamin Franklin , Jared Ingersoll from New Haven, Richard Jackson , agent for Connecticut, and Charles Garth , the agent for South Carolina (Jackson and Garth were also members of Parliament). These colonial representatives had no specific alternative to present; they simply suggested that the determination be left to the colonies. Grenville replied that he wanted to raise the money "by means
13674-678: The tax, and many legislators went home, including George Washington . Only 30 out of 116 Burgesses remained, but one of those remaining was Patrick Henry who was attending his first session. Henry led the opposition to the Stamp Act; he proposed his resolutions on 29 May 1765, and they were passed in the form of the Virginia Resolves . The Resolves stated: Resolved, That the first Adventurers and Settlers of this his majesty's colony and Dominion of Virginia brought with them, and transmitted to their Posterity, and all other his Majesty's subjects since inhabiting in this his Majesty's said Colony, all
13803-467: The useless visitors who waste her valuable time, is related to the women who address Mr. Spectator. The Busy-Body himself is a true Censor Morum, as Isaac Bickerstaff had been in the Tatler . And a number of the fictitious characters, Ridentius, Eugenius, Cato, and Cretico, represent traditional 18th-century classicism. Even this Franklin could use for contemporary satire, since Cretico, the "sowre Philosopher,"
13932-404: The whole. This did not suffice, however. Franklin conceived the idea of a subscription library , which would pool the funds of the members to buy books for all to read. This was the birth of the Library Company of Philadelphia , whose charter he composed in 1731. Upon Denham's death, Franklin returned to his former trade. In 1728, he set up a printing house in partnership with Hugh Meredith ;
14061-569: The widow, Elizabeth Timothy , took over and made it a success. She was one of the colonial era's first woman printers. For three decades Franklin maintained a close business relationship with her and her son Peter Timothy , who took over the South Carolina Gazette in 1746. The Gazette was impartial in political debates, while creating the opportunity for public debate, which encouraged others to challenge authority. Timothy avoided blandness and crude bias and, after 1765, increasingly took
14190-505: Was a discussion group for issues of the day; it subsequently gave rise to many organizations in Philadelphia. The Junto was modeled after English coffeehouses that Franklin knew well and which had become the center of the spread of Enlightenment ideas in Britain. Reading was a great pastime of the Junto, but books were rare and expensive. The members created a library, initially assembled from their own books, after Franklin wrote: A proposition
14319-446: Was a rare political miscalculation, however: Pennsylvanians worried that such a move would endanger their political and religious freedoms. Because of these fears and because of political attacks on his character, Franklin lost his seat in the October 1764 Assembly elections. The anti-proprietary party dispatched him to England again to continue the struggle against the Penn family proprietorship. During this trip, events drastically changed
14448-440: Was actually a matter of British patronage to surplus British officers and career soldiers who should be paid by London. The Stamp Act was very unpopular among colonists. A majority considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial legislatures could grant. Their slogan was " No taxation without representation ". Colonial assemblies sent petitions and protests, and
14577-547: Was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the College of William & Mary . Later in 1756, Franklin organized the Pennsylvania Militia . He used Tun Tavern as a gathering place to recruit a regiment of soldiers to go into battle against the Native American uprisings that beset the American colonies. Well known as a printer and publisher, Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, holding
14706-429: Was born in October 1732 and died of smallpox in 1736. Their daughter, Sarah "Sally" Franklin , was born in 1743 and eventually married Richard Bache . Deborah's fear of the sea meant that she never accompanied Franklin on any of his extended trips to Europe; another possible reason why they spent much time apart is that he may have blamed her for possibly preventing their son Francis from being inoculated against
14835-445: Was born on February 22, 1730, but his mother's identity is unknown. He was educated in Philadelphia and beginning at about age 30 studied law in London in the early 1760s. William himself fathered an illegitimate son, William Temple Franklin , born on the same day and month: February 22, 1760. The boy's mother was never identified, and he was placed in foster care. In 1762, the elder William Franklin married Elizabeth Downes, daughter of
14964-437: Was exercised in sending persons to rule over 'em, in one department and another, who were perhaps the deputies of deputies to some member of this house, sent to spy out their liberty, to misrepresent their actions and to prey upon 'em; men whose behaviour on many occasions has caused the blood of those sons of liberty to recoil within them.... They protected by your arms? They have nobly taken up arms in your defence, have exerted
15093-522: Was irregular. Franklin opened the first post office to offer regular, monthly mail in Halifax on December 9, 1755. Meantime, Hunter became postal administrator in Williamsburg, Virginia , and oversaw areas south of Annapolis, Maryland . Franklin reorganized the service's accounting system and improved speed of delivery between Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. By 1761, efficiencies led to the first profits for
15222-440: Was made by me that since our books were often referr'd to in our disquisitions upon the inquiries, it might be convenient for us to have them altogether where we met, that upon occasion they might be consulted; and by thus clubbing our books to a common library, we should, while we lik'd to keep them together, have each of us the advantage of using the books of all the other members, which would be nearly as beneficial as if each owned
15351-611: Was no secret that he was the author, his Richard Saunders character repeatedly denied it. "Poor Richard's Proverbs," adages from this almanac, such as "A penny saved is twopence dear" (often misquoted as "A penny saved is a penny earned") and "Fish and visitors stink in three days," remain common quotations in the modern world. Wisdom in folk society meant the ability to provide an apt adage for any occasion, and his readers became well prepared. He sold about ten thousand copies per year—it became an institution. In 1741, Franklin began publishing The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for all
15480-438: Was not opposed to the Americans suggesting an alternative way of raising the money themselves. However, the only other alternative would be to requisition each colony and allow them to determine how to raise their share. This had never worked before, even during the French and Indian War, and there was no political mechanism in place that would have ensured the success of such cooperation. On 2 February 1765, Grenville met to discuss
15609-525: Was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States ; a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence ; and the first postmaster general . Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at age 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richard's Almanack , which he wrote under
15738-484: Was out of the question, since there had been virulent protests in England against the Bute ministry's 1763 cider tax , with Bute being hanged in effigy. The Grenville ministry, therefore, decided that Parliament would raise this revenue by taxing the American colonists without their consent. This was something new; Parliament had previously passed measures to regulate trade in the colonies, but it had never before directly taxed
15867-471: Was passed by the British Parliament on 22 March 1765 with an effective date of 1 November 1765. It passed 205–49 in the House of Commons and unanimously in the House of Lords . Historians Edmund and Helen Morgan describe the specifics of the tax: The highest tax, £10, was placed ... on attorney licenses. Other papers relating to court proceedings were taxed in amounts varying from 3d. to 10s. Land grants under
15996-667: Was placed under house arrest at his home in Perth Amboy for six months. After the Declaration of Independence , he was formally taken into custody by order of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey , an entity which he refused to recognize, regarding it as an "illegal assembly." He was incarcerated in Connecticut for two years, in Wallingford and Middletown , and, after being caught surreptitiously engaging Americans into supporting
16125-538: Was repealed on 18 March 1766 as a matter of expedience, but Parliament affirmed its power to legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever" by also passing the Declaratory Act . A series of new taxes and regulations then ensued—likewise opposed by the Americans. The episode played a major role in defining the 27 colonial grievances that were clearly stated within the text of the Indictment of George III section of
16254-479: Was run by British sympathizers John and Thomas Fleet. The article detailed a violent protest that occurred in New York in December, 1765, then described the riot's participants as "imperfect" and labeled the group's ideas as "contrary to the general sense of the people." Vindex Patriae denigrated the colonists as foreign vagabonds and ungrateful Scots-Irish subjects determined to "strut and claim an independent property to
16383-410: Was selected as a councilman; in June 1749, he became a justice of the peace for Philadelphia; and in 1751, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. On August 10, 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster-general of British North America . His service in domestic politics included reforming the postal system, with mail sent out every week. In 1751, Franklin and Thomas Bond obtained a charter from
16512-510: Was the "Association Battery" or "Grand Battery" of 50 guns. In 1747, Franklin (already a very wealthy man) retired from printing and went into other businesses. He formed a partnership with his foreman, David Hall , which provided Franklin with half of the shop's profits for 18 years. This lucrative business arrangement provided leisure time for study, and in a few years he had made many new discoveries. Franklin became involved in Philadelphia politics and rapidly progressed. In October 1748, he
16641-467: Was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected its president in 1769. He was appointed deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies in 1753, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. Franklin became a hero in America when, as an agent in London for several colonies, he spearheaded
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