Fact is he did in fact leave the country. Franklin in reality was a loyal British subject until subjected to circumstances that turned him around. Fact is maybe he was more like Snowden than not...
From Subject to Citizen - The Political Transformation of Benjamin Franklin
In 1757 Benjamin Franklin arrived in London a British gentleman of the Empire – a loyal subject to His Majesty the King. He departed in March 1775 a radical republican, a man dedicated to separating his country of birth from its motherland. How did Franklin arrive at that end? How and why did he transform from loyal subject of a crown to citizen of a republic?
Franklin’s initial response to parliamentary legislation toward the American colonies was moderate and he attempted to bridge the differences between the sides and explain one to the other. When parliament tried to raise revenue to offset losses during the Seven Years War through the 1764 Sugar Act, Franklin’s response to Americans was that they should work harder to offset that new tax. Yet he also issued a cautionary note to British leaders that too heavy tax burdens on Americans could only, in the long-run, hurt imperial trade.
Franklin initially accepted the 1765 Stamp Act and acquired for his Pennsylvania friend, John Hughes, the royal position of stamp commissioner. In this case, Franklin badly misread opinion in America.
Riots occurred throughout the colonies due to the imposition of this internal tax, and even Franklin’s Philadelphia home was the scene of protests.
Standing before the House of Commons in 1766 on the issue of repealing the Stamp Act, Franklin reversed his acceptance of the tax and requested repeal. When indeed parliament did repeal the Stamp Act, Franklin saw this as evidence that the Empire did work well as a political unit and that American interests did have a legitimate voice in imperial governance.
Franklin’s standing among British leaders and his own view of America’s future within the British Empire began to change with his January 1771 meeting with Lord Hillsborough, then Secretary of State for the Colonies. Hillsborough refused to accept Franklin’s diplomatic credentials as agent for Massachusetts because they were given by the Massachusetts assembly and not the Royal Governor. This was the first of many snubs Franklin was to receive on his road to republicanism.
The most spectacular miscalculation Franklin made and the one which was his turning point to rebellion, was the Hutchison Affair.
In 1772 an anonymous source gave Franklin letters written by Massachusetts Royal Governor Thomas Hutchison. These letters from Hutchison to London authorities suggested the curtailment of English liberties for Massachusetts citizens in order to squash growing unrest. Franklin sent these letters confidentially to dissident leaders in Massachusetts as proof that the threat to liberty did not emanate from London, but from in-country authorities. When the letters were made public and Franklin admitted to having sent the letters to Massachusetts, he was called before the Privy Council where Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn publicly humiliated Franklin.
On January 29, 1774, Franklin entered the Cockpit and stood before the Privy Council a humbled but still loyal subject of the King. He left Whitehall that day humiliated, and a transformed revolutionary.
He made once last attempt at reconciliation, working with Pitt, Lord Chatham, on legislation that would reconcile the American colonies to parliament. When that legislation failed in February 1775, Franklin knew all hope was lost. Benjamin Franklin departed London on March 20, 1775, sailing home to Philadelphia where he joined the Second Continental Congress as revolutionary sage and editor to Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence.
By Dr. Steve Neiheisel of
St. Mary’s University in Texas
