“Indeed nothing has ever hurt me so much and affected me with such keen Sensations, as to find myself deserted in my old Age by my only Son; and not only deserted, but to find him taking up Arms against me, in a Cause, wherein my good Fame, Fortune and Life were all at Stake.” Benjamin Franklin wrote these words in 1784 after receiving a letter from his son, William, asking for amends. As it is perceived, there are clearly hurt feelings in their father and son relationship. What could have possibly forced these two men to have different opinions regarding the Revolution, how did their responses to separate hardships shape their involvement, and could they be representative for average Patriots or Loyalists at this time? Well, Benjamin and William’s transition in their relationship occurred because of their economic, personal, and political circumstances and their responses to these differences changed their viewpoints drastically.
Benjamin and William had very different economic, political, and personal circumstances. For instance, Benjamin was a self-made man, who had run away to become influential in the colonial world. He became a Philadelphia printer, then a statesman, and was even able to retire in his forties. Benjamin had a lot of pride in Great Britain and was extremely loyal up to this point. But in 1774, his mood towards Britain changed greatly after his ordeal before the Privy Council. They humiliated him and then the government took away his post office position. He acted indifferent but his view on Great Britain was never the same. On the other hand, William Franklin was raised in different circumstances. Though he was an illegitimate child without a proper mother, he was raised in stable economic conditions. He ...
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...Benjamin Franklin to William Franklin, 16 August 1784, in Shelia L. Skemp, Benjamin and William Franklin: Father and Son, Patriot and Loyalist, (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1994), 183.
Sheila L. Skemp, Benjamin and William Franklin: Father and Son, Patriot and Loyalist, (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1994), 106.
William Franklin, Speech to the New Jersey Legislature, 13 January 1775, in Skemp, Benjamin and William Franklin, 175-177.
Benjamin Franklin, Causes of the American Discontents before 1768, January 1768, in Skemp, Benjamin and William Franklin, 171.
Benjamin Franklin, January 1768, 174.
William Franklin to Benjamin Franklin, 7 September 1765, in Skemp, Benjamin and William Franklin, 155-157.
John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies, 1767, 1768, in Skemp, Benjamin and William Franklin, 160.
Ben Franklin was born in Boston on a Sunday in January of 1706. His father was a candle maker and had many sons. Ben from a young age was a very adventurous boy, he was often getting in trouble. As a teen Ben Franklin went to work with his brother as a newspaper printer. Ben was in love with books and wanted to write a column in his brothers paper. He and his brother argued several times and Ben ran away to New York but soon ended up in Philadelphia running his own newspaper company. Ben Franklin was a scientist and inventor, we’ve all heard about Ben with electricity. Ben Franklin was also a major founding father of the constitution and was viewed as a very patriotic person.
Sheila Kemp did an outstanding job in her short history of one of America’s most treasured -- arguably the most looked up to -- political heroes. Whether the Cockpit had as astounding an effect on Franklin’s political career, and the defining moment that pushed him on the path as an advocate for independence is up for argument. Did Kemp adequately protect her position: that Benjamin Franklin became a revolutionary after his incident at the Cockpit? The questions seem to be answerable morally, as well as historically. In truth, Kemp defended her position with as much armor as she could smith whilst writing her definingly short biography, but sometimes lost her argument in midst of a flood of historical information. Thus, in this review the writer seeks to find the ‘do’s and don'ts’ that Sheila Kemp wrote on the path of drawing her conclusion, and thus he seeks his own conclusion as to whether the cockpit truly represented Franklin’s most defining political moment of change.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers to the United States, was not a patriot but a mere loyalist to England before the dissolution between England and the colonies occurred. Sheila L. Skemp's The Making of a Patriot explores how Benjamin Franklin tried to stay loyal to the crown while taking interest in the colonies perception and their own representation in Parliament. While Ms. Skemp alludes to Franklin's loyalty, her main illustration is how the attack by Alexander Wedderburn during the Privy Council led to Franklin's disillusionment with the British crown and the greater interest in making the Thirteen Colonies their own nation. Her analysis of Franklin's history in Parliament and what occurred on the night that the council convened proves the change behind Franklin's beliefs and what lead to his involvement in the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin was the colonial agent representing Massachusetts in Parliament in Britain.
"Governor William Berkely on Bacon's Rebellion 19 May 1676." American History From Revolution to Reconstruction and beyond. http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1651-1700/governor-william-berkely-on-bacons-rebellion-19-may-1676.php
“Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826).” American History Central. MIT school of engineering. August 2003. Web. 24 March 2014.
Mill, John Stuart, “On Liberty. ch. 1, 3,” from Project Gutenberg Web site: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34901, No. 01/10, Pp. 1-19, Public Domain, 2011
... The Opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts.” In The William and Mary Quarterly 65, no. 3. Virginia: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, 2008.
John Hope Franklin’s childhood had a huge impact on his life and scholarship. His parents were a primary influence in his education and much of the subjects he was passi...
John Dickinson, from Letters from a farmer in Pennsylvania (1768) from Voices of America Past & Present pgs. 66-67
This paper also seeks to compare the autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and Fredrick Douglas. In an e...
As a result of the French and Indian War, England’s attention became focused on the areas that required tending by the government other than North America, which provided the colonies with the one thing that ensured the downfall of Britain’s monarchial reign over America: salutary neglect. The unmonitored inhabitants of the colonies accustomed themselves to a level of independence that they had never possessed before, and when these rights were jeopardized by the enforcement of the Stamp Act after the Seven Year’s War, the colonists would not take it lying down. The colonies bound together in rebellion against the taxation without representation through boycotting the use of English goods, as embodied by Benjamin Franklin’s famous drawing of a snake; the “Join or Die” snake, as a whole representing the functionality and “life” of the colonies if they would work together, also forewarns the uselessness and “death” of the individual regions, suggesting that the colonies as a whole would have to fight the revolution against the Mother Country or else fail miserably...
In The Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin recounts the many paramount experiences throughout his life that shaped him into great American figure he was known to be. On the opening page, Franklin reveals the book’s epistolary format by writing, “Dear Son,” going on to admit that he’s made some mistakes in the past and to recollect that past is a way to relive it. By divulging his desire to “change some sinister Accidents & Events” (Franklin 3) the author indicates how important it is for his son to observe as he amends his mistakes. Pride, virtue and vanity play a pivotal role in Benjamin Franklin’s life and the way he portrays himself to others. Instances occur where the author is shown gloating about his great accomplishments and he puts emphasis on his need to live a virtuous and morally perfect life. Throughout his story, Benjamin Franklin tells his son of his many virtuous acts and momentous achievements, motivating the question as to whether he seeks his own approval more so than the approval of his peers.
Adams, John. The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1988.
"North America Review." Rev. of Uncle Tom's Cabin. North American Review [Boston] Oct. 1853: 467-93. Stephen Railton, 1998. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.
A general theme in Franklin's writings is the differences between the private and public self and how the two interact. Parts One and Two of his Autobiography were written at different times and intended for different audiences. In Part One Franklin is speaking to his Son, (who was then the Governor of New Jersey) a public figure. It was started in 1771. Part Two was begun...