Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jonathan Shipley, [June 1775]
From: Shipley, Jonathan
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir
[June 1775]
I would give much more than I can afford for one hours friendly Conversation with You. Writing is a tedious dilatory Business and tis impossible to enter into those Details which go to the Essence and Marrow of the Subject and enable us to judge with clearness and confidence.

Since my last the face of things is grown not only alarming but horrible. A civil War is begun; for whatever some of my Countrymen may do, I will never give the name of Rebels to Men who fight for their Liberties. You can hardly concieve the astonishment that was occasiond here by the commencement of hostilities. I own I had my share in it; for I flatterd myself that the present Ministers would either alter their measures, or shrink away from the Brink of the Precipice; or else that they would resign or be forcd to resign the direction of affairs in to abler Hands. But as yet no good Symptom of this sort appears. Our Deliverance from the Rocks and Shoals that surround us must depend upon their Wisdom, who have steer’d us into the midst of them. In this situation what can a Man do who loves his Country and is no Friend to Administration? For my own part I will lose no opportunity of bearing a publick Testimony against these violent and destructive measures. And I will endeavour within my own narrow Province to convince my Fellow Citizens that our Quarrel is not national, but ministerial; that the People of England have no real interest in the Contest, tho’ they may be infinite Sufferers by the Event; and that We can hope for no Advantage but from a speedy and equitable Reconciliation. I insist upon it that the ministerial Language is not true, that the Sense of the People is [not?] with them. I know not one, not even among themselves, who approves of all their measures and very few who approve of any. Many I meet with who are warmly and heartily your Friends and some whose constant Toast is Success to the Americans, in which, to own the Truth, I cannot join. My Toast is, Success to neither Party, but Peace and Good Will to both.
The only point in which Administration seem to have the People on their side is in asserting the Sovereignty of the Mother Country. But this would be to engage two Nations in a civil War about the meaning of a metaphysical Term. If by Sovereignty is meant that Power describd in the declaratory Law of making Laws for You in all cases whatsoever; or that absolute unlimited Power which contrary to Sense and Experience is supposd by Civilians, who borrowd their Ideas from Schoolmen to exist necessarily in every State; I take this to be a sort of Sovereignty which You will not submit to and no reasonable Englishman would wish to enforce. But if We mean by Sovereignty that just mixture of Power and Authority which is necessary to carry on the common Interest, and on great occasions to exert the Strength of the whole, and which ought to be applied most religiously to these Purposes, and to these only; such a Sovereignty as this I think may be fairly claimd by England, and would meet, I hope, but little opposition in America. And even this Sovereignty should be precisely quantum sufficit, neither more nor less. I would reduce it to what the Mathematicians call a Minimum. No Man can be intitled to any power over their Equals unless for very good purposes.
I consider Peace as a Good so necessary to both Countries, that I wish and recommend that any Proposal of Treaty might be listend to, and any tolerable Terms, that would not require the sacrifice of essential Rights, might be accepted. We have burnt our Fingers so throughly, that You need never apprehend such Flippancies from us again. Our Ministers who refusd so often to listen to your Petitions are now begging for them. Tho I do not love them yet rather than prolong our publick Dangers and Calamities I would give them the Honour of closing the Breaches they have made, and suffer them to continue the Abuse of their power in England as long as Heaven shall permit.
I have just read over a long 5 s. performance intitled Remarks on the principal Acts of the 13th Parliament &c. by Lind the Author of some sensible Letters on the present state of Poland. He labours to decide our Controversies by the interpretation of Charters and Acts of Parliament, by Facts and Narratives and such Topicks, as furnish matter for endless Debate and lead to no certain Conclusion. The grounds of natural Right and publick Utility, which ought to determine every thing are totally omitted. He shows Cleverness in condemning some of the ministerial measures; but He approves the worst of them. It is a visionary Idea to accommodate matters by reserving to ourselves the right of taxation; but to limit that right by requiring from You only a certain moderate proportion of the publick Expences. If there is such a Proportion in nature, which I doubt much, I believe our Ministers would neither find it, nor know where to look for it. It would be unjust too not to let You use your own Judgment in the Disposal of your own Money. If You contribute this proportional Quota your Money like ours, may be sacrificd to ministerial Extravagance, to Projects You dislike, or Jobbs You detest. Why should We endeavour to alter the good old way of Requisition? I am confident an honest Minister will allways gain more by your Generosity than by any Smithfield Bargain We can make at present.
The same Author asserts that all Property is derivd from the liberality of Government; that every thing in this Kingdom belongs to our Rulers, and that they are to divide the good things to their Subjects in what proportion they please, and that every Man ought to be thankful for what is left to him. This Doctrine is rare news for Ld. Sandwich and Rigby; but indeed it has not the merit of Novelty; for it was taught by Hobbes long ago. I am not of an intolerant Spirit and yet I should think it no great Crime to hang the Teachers of such Principles.
There is another Ministerial Pamphlet in the form of a Letter to You from the People of England, written by Sr. J. Dalrymple, so well known by his Publications and the Abuse they have brought upon him. A Large Cargo of them I am told is sent to the Colonies. It is written with Sense and Temper, it endeavours to coax and to terrify; but with all its smoothness I think it will hardly perswade You to allow that the late Acts You complain of were just and moderate measures. However it shows that Ministry has alterd its Disposition and its Stile. They have alterd them so much, that to my certain Knowledge some of those who encouragd the illiberal Treatment You met with, have expressed the highest opinion of your Wisdom and Integrity and hope that your great Talents, your Love of your Country and your high Character in America will all operate towards a general happy Reconciliation.
The Minstry I am confident wish for Peace; but the Party amongst them that has hitherto prevaild would risk the Ruin of both Countries rather than part with their places. There is no appearance here of a Tendency to Peace, tho every body wishes for it. The Stocks keep up in a manner that cannot be accounted for. Some Art may have been usd and We have had some favourable Accidents. A surprising Demand from European Markets has made us as yet not sensible of the Loss of our American Trade. People in general judge from their feelings and they have not yet begun to feel.
I own for my part I long for Peace. Every Hour may bring on new Calamities and (what may be worse in its consequences) every new calamity may increase that national hatred which I fear on your side has already gone too far. Indeed it is not so with us. The Majority here neither hate nor blame You.
I almost think I could demonstrate that Union and Friendship between our two Countries would be of infinite advantage to both and of yet more to yours than our own. The wise and the good on both sides, I trust, will do the little they can to restore them. But the wise and good who would use Power well, are seldom fortunate or enterprizing enough to get it. Providence governs us by the rough discipline of Experience and chiefly by the Experience of Evil. We must be content to foresee and to suffer the Calamities We cannot prevent. It is however my most firm Belief and Comfort that He who acts a virtuous part will be rewarded some where or other.
But these publick Scenes of Wrath and Distress are not the whole of our Misfortunes. We must hope no more to see You at Twyford to enjoy your Friendship and Society so improving to me, and so agreable to my Wife and Daughters. Nobody now will convey Philosophical truth to us in common Chit Chat and make us wiser without the trouble of learning. They all desire their Love to You (Georgiana insists on being particularly nam’d). They have lost their good Friend and are sensible of their Loss.
But after all why should I indulge these desponding Thoughts? Our Miseries perhaps may bring us to our Senses. (Indeed that seems to be the only vehicle of Instruction that the present Administration can profit by). After serving and reconciling the Mother Country and her Colonies, why may You not return to be respected, honour’d, and consulted by the Greatest in this Country? Our Men of Place and Titles will then be forcd to own that a Private Man may be wiser than themselves.
I love my poor Country and pray for it’s Peace and Liberty; and I wish a long continuance of Peace and Liberty to America, to America, that is, in my eyes, the fairest the noblest, the most promising Work of Providence. But while You hate and despise our Ministers, in which You differ but little from ourselves, forget not how much You owe to the Virtue and Moderation of our Ancestors.

Notation: Copy of my Letter to Dr. Franklin June 1775 / [In another hand:] (Bp of St Asaph)


Title: Four Pennsylvania Delegates in Congress to the Philadelphia Committee of Inspection and Observation, 3[-5?] July 1775
From: Four Pennsylvania Delegates in Congress
To: Philadelphia Committee of Inspection and Observation

Philip Skene had made a protracted visit to England and Ireland. During it he had furnished information to the ministry, and been rewarded with appointments as inspector of crown lands and lieutenant governor of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. When he returned to America he landed in Philadelphia, where he was promptly arrested on suspicion that Whitehall had sent him to bribe delegates. Congress appointed a committee to examine his papers, and on June 27 ordered him sent under guard to Connecticut; the Pennsylvania delegation was charged with handling the matter. On July 5 a companion of his by the name of Lundy was ordered to go with him. The Pennsylvania delegates apparently began to carry out their commission on July 3 and then, when Lundy was added two days later, hastily revised their letter to make it apply to both men.

Philada. July 3[–5?]. 1775.
By order of the Continental Congress The Committee of the City of Philada. are earnestly recommended Immediately to Convey Major Philip Skeene and Mr. Lundy and deliver thim to the Committee of New York who are requested to Convey him to Hartford in Connecticut. There to Deliver thim and the Order of Congress to the Committee of that Town And that this be done in the most Effectual Manner and the utmost care taken that he does not Escape. The Expences Will be paid by Congress.
B FranklinGeo: RossJohn DickinsonJames Wilson

Endorsed: July 3d. 1775 B. Franklin George Ross J Dickinson and Jas Wilsons Order to convey Major Skeene & Mr Lundy to New York


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to William Strahan, 5 July 1775
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Strahan, William

This famous letter was unquestionably not sent. The positive evidence is that the original remained with Franklin’s papers. The negative evidence is that Strahan later gave no sign that he had received such a blast: when he responded on September 6 to a letter, now lost, from Franklin two days after this one, and when he wrote again on October 4, he showed the pain and sorrow that one friend reserves for the other’s delusions, and also the implicit assumption that the relationship remained intact. On the rare occasions when Franklin lost his temper he was likely to recover it quickly. This outburst was an example in point: it relieved his rage at what was happening, and went no further.

Mr. Strahan,
Philada. July 5. 1775
You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that Majority which has doomed my Country to Destruction. You have begun to burn our Towns, and murder our People. Look upon your Hands! They are stained with the Blood of your Relations! You and I were long Friends: You are now my Enemy, and I am, Yours,
B Franklin

Notation: Letter to Mr Strahan July 5. 75.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from William Strahan, 5 July 1775
From: Strahan, William
To: Franklin, Benjamin

London, July 5. 1775.
I wrote you the 7th of last Month by the Packet, to which I beg leave to refer. I have since by the Papers and by several of your Friends, heard that you were safely arrived at Philadelphia, and unanimously voted by the Assembly then sitting, one of their Delegates to the Congress, then about to meet. I make no doubt but your Reception among your Friends was abundantly cordial, and I hope you will avail yourself of the great Knowledge you possess, respecting the Matters in dispute between your Country and this, to bring about a speedy Reconciliation. I see all your public Papers are filled with your Unanimity and Preparations for War. All this, however, seems to make no Impression here, or to have the least tendency to any Alteration of Measures. What Time may produce, I will not pretend to say. To me, I own, it appears, that after the Concessions lately made by Lord Dartmouth, and which seem to be rather more explicit than Lord North’s conciliatory Motion of Feb. 20th., there is little to be done till one Side or the other become sensible of the pernicious Consequences that must necessarily attend a Continuation of the Quarrel. If nothing less than a total Renunciation of the Legislature, of all Authority over the Colonies will satisfy them, God knows where the Dispute will end; for I am perswaded this will never be given up here. At least, I see no Tendency towards it. And if the Colonies should actually succeed in their Struggle to be totally emancipated from all Subjection to, or Connection with Britain, it will remain to be seen whether their Liberty and Security will or will not be materially affected by it; Whether it may not throw them under the Dominion of some enterprising Leader among themselves, or leave them a Prey to some ambitious European Power, under whom they may really experience all the Evils in the highest Degree, the very appearance of which, and that a very distant one, they now endeavour to avoid. These you may, perhaps, consider as idle and groundless Speculations. I wish heartily they may prove so. But without looking so far into Futurity, the Evils of a civil War, even for a short Duration, are worthy some Consideration. Possibly these may still be avoided. Now seems to be the critical Moment for America to obtain some permanent Constitution, in perfect Union with the Mother Country, by which her Liberties may be secured and protected by the Laws and Power of the whole Empire, and rendered as permanent in one Corner of it as in another, and every Part of it prove a mutual Protection to each other. Whether this Course will be taken we shall soon see, when the Resolutions of your Congress are made public. You are a perfect Master of the Subject, and therefore it is happy that you have a Voice in that Assembly, when so much of the Happiness of their Constituents depends upon their Proceedings. But I am somewhat afraid the Voice of Moderation will not now be listened to, and that the Violence of some Men whose Views may not be truly so patriotic as they appear to be, will inflame the Quarrel beyond a Possibility of Accommodation. This I hope you will exert all your Prudence and Sagacity to prevent. For my own Part, I have no doubt of the Prevalence of this Country in the End, should hostile Measures be pursued for any Length of Time. But, good God! Where does Victory on either Side lead to? To the immediate Destruction of half, and the ultimate Ruin of the whole, of the most glorious Fabric of Civil and Religious Government that ever existed on this Globe. If after we are both weakened by the Struggle, it terminates in our final Separation, this must unavoidably be the Consequence. However, I still hope better Things, and that perfect Order will arise from the present Convulsions. We are here in a State of the greatest Tranquility. All our Murmerings and Opposition to Government appear only in our Newspapers. I believe the Ministry are quite determined in their Operations, and in the Prosecution of coercive Measures. I see everybody is learning the Use of Arms with You; but surely it will not be attempted to distress You by Land. Our Navy is our great Strength, and sorry shall I be to see it long exerted against You; tho’ if no Steps are taken towards a Reconciliation, I am afraid that must be the Case. Is not this a Situation devotely to be avoided, if any human Means can be devised to prevent it? But I will not trouble You further on this Subject at present. Had I any material Facts to convey to You, I should have satisfied myself with a bare Recital of them, without any Reflections of my own, which to You can convey no kind of Information.

I was truly concerned to hear the other Day that You had ordered your Books &c. to be transmitted to You; but it looks as if you gave up all Thoughts of returning to us. I hope this is not the case; as upon the whole, You have much Reason to be pleased with your Reception in this Country, putting Politics out of the Question. But were You now even resolved to remain where You are for the rest of your Days, that Resolution, I trust, will soon be broken; and I shall expect to see You in the beginning of the Winter, invested with full Powers to put an End to all our Differences; for, as I observed above, if there is any Desire left among you for a Restoration of ancient Amity, now is the Time to procure it on safe and honourable Terms.
So may I prosper, as I wish the Liberty and Happiness of all our Brethren with You, with the same Ardor as I do our own. In this Desire I am sure we are of one Mind, however we may, at present, differ about the Methods of promoting it. May we quickly be united in Sentiment again; and may your Labours be once more confined to promoting the Arts of Peace, and encreasing the Means of human Felicity. I am ever, with the warmest Respect and Esteem &c.
Will. Strahan.
Copy.To Docr: Franklin.

Docketed: London, July 5. 1775. Copy of a Letter from Will. Strahan Esqr: to Docr: Franklin.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Arthur Lee, 6 July 1775
From: Lee, Arthur
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir.
July 6th. 1775.
I write to you more to prove my remembrance of you, than for the importance of any thing I have to communicate.
The two defeats near Boston seem to have made little impression on the Ministry. They still talk of great things to be expected from their Generals and Troops when united. One of your judgment will draw more information from the single word Rebels usd in the Gazette, than from any thing I can say. Far from retracting they mean to exasperate, in perfect confidense of being successful. It is the curse of fools to be secure; and I trust their fate will prove, that the end of the wicked is punishment.
Ld. G. Germaine, the Father of the military murder Bill, is Dictator in all the military operations against America. As Cowards are often confident, when danger is at a distance, this man is not only bold himself but inspires the King and his Ministers with equal confidense.
The report is that Ld. John Murray’s Regiment of Highlanders, and others to be raisd by Col. Fraser are to be sent over. The former I believe is true. The Scotch will fight with ten times the rancour and not half the bravery of the english. I can not conceive them to be formidable foes if bravely opposd. Against timid or flying enemies they act heroically.
The dissatisfaction of the Public here certainly increases every day. Shortly it will arrive to that degree, at which an untoward event or national calamity will kindle a flame destructive to all those who have plannd these fatal measures. You will see by the proceedings of the Common Hall, what are the sentiments of the City of London. I am much deceivd or the Nation in general will speak the same language in a little time. Happily however America is capable of working her own salvation, or the influence of corruption and dissipation here woud render her escape from the hand of tyranny extremely doubtful.
The Revolutions of great Empires have often been forc’d, by the follies of weak and wicked men; but never before I think, did the folly of man sin so obstinately against the evidence of accumulated instruction. An overruling Providence seems to employ their ignorance and rashness for purposes which wisdom woud forsee and shrink from.
It will be of great use in proving the propriety of our proceedings, to state the number of Petitions from all the Provinces, which have been presented in vain. Not being in possession of them, nor knowing how to get them but by the Speaker of each Province sending the part of their Journals which contains them, I must beg the favor of you to endeavor to obtain that for me. There will be a moment, I am sure, when stating the repeatedly rejected Petitions of America here, will bring down vengeance upon the heads of her inveterate enemies.

Some Gentlemen here have lately found by experiment, that man can bear 180 degrees of heat, and a dog 230, without injury for 30 minutes. The heat of the Dog’s body examind immediately, did not exceed 130. This proves, what I long ago observd in some experiments on Frogs, that the animal Body, when living, was endued with a power of generating Cold as well as heat.
A.L.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to [Joseph Priestley], 7 July 1775: extract
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Priestley, Joseph

Dear Friend
Philadelphia, 7th July, 1775.
The Congress met at a time when all minds were so exasperated by the perfidy of General Gage, and his attack on the country people, that propositions of attempting an accommodation were not much relished; and it has been with difficulty that we have carried another humble petition to the crown, to give Britain one more chance, one opportunity more of recovering the friendship of the colonies; which however I think she has not sense enough to embrace, and so I conclude she has lost them for ever.
She has begun to burn our seaport towns; secure, I suppose, that we shall never be able to return the outrage in kind. She may doubtless destroy them all; but if she wishes to recover our commerce, are these the probable means? She must certainly be distracted; for no tradesman out of Bedlam ever thought of encreasing the number of his customers by knocking them [on] the head; or of enabling them to pay their debts by burning their houses.
If she wishes to have us subjects and that we should submit to her as our compound sovereign, she is now giving us such miserable specimens of her government, that we shall ever detest and avoid it, as a complication of robbery, murder, famine, fire and pestilence.
You will have heard before this reaches you, of the treacherous conduct . . . to the remaining people in Boston, in detaining their goods, after stipulating to let them go out with their effects; on pretence that merchants goods were not effects; the defeat of a great body of his troops by the country people at Lexington; some other small advantages gained in skirmishes with their troops; and the action at Bunker’s-hill, in which they were twice repulsed, and the third time gained a dear victory. Enough has happened, one would think, to convince your ministers that the Americans will fight, and that this is a harder nut to crack than they imagined.
We have not yet applied to any foreign power for assistance; nor offered our commerce for their friendship. Perhaps we never may: Yet it is natural to think of it if we are pressed.
We have now an army on our establishment which still holds yours besieged.
My time was never more fully employed. In the morning at 6, I am at the committee of safety, appointed by the assembly to put the province in a state of defence; which committee holds till near 9, when I am at the congress, and that sits till after 4 in the afternoon. Both these bodies proceed with the greatest unanimity, and their meetings are well attended. It will scarce be credited in Britain that men can be as diligent with us from zeal for the public good, as with you for thousands per annum. Such is the difference between uncorrupted new states, and corrupted old ones.
Great frugality and great industry are now become fashionable here: Gentlemen who used to entertain with two or three courses, pride themselves now in treating with simple beef and pudding. By these means, and the stoppage of our consumptive trade with Britain, we shall be better able to pay our voluntary taxes for the support of our troops. Our savings in the article of trade amount to near five million sterling per annum.
I shall communicate your letter to Mr. Winthrop, but the camp is at Cambridge, and he has as little leisure for philosophy as myself. . . . Believe me ever, with sincere esteem, my dear friend, Yours most affectionately


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Jonathan Shipley, 7 July 1775
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Shipley, Jonathan

Philada July 7. 1775
I received with great Pleasure my dear Friends very kind Letter of April 19, as it informed me of his Welfare, and that of the amiable Family in Jermyn Street. I am much obliged by the Information of what pass’d in Parliament after my departure; in return I will endeavor to give you a short Sketch of the State of Affairs here.
I found at my arrival all America from one End of the 12 united Provinces to the other, busily employed in learning the Use of Arms. The Attack upon the Country People near Boston by the Army had rous’d every Body, and exasperated the whole Continent; The Tradesmen of this City, were in the Field twice a day, at 5 in the Morning, and Six in the Afternoon, disciplining with the utmost Diligence, all being Volunteers. We have now three Battalions, a Troop of Light Horse, and a Company of Artillery, who have made surprizing Progress. The same Spirit appears every where and the Unanimity is amazing.
The day after my Arrival, I was unanimously chosen by our Assembly, then sitting, an additional Delegate to the Congress, which met the next Week. The numerous Visits of old Friends, and the publick Business has since devoured all my time: for We meet at nine in the Morning, and often sit ’till four. I am also upon a Committee of Safety appointed by the Assembly, which meets at Six, and sits ’till near nine. The Members attend closely without being bribed to it, by either Salary, Place or Pension, or the hopes of any; which I mention for your Reflection on the difference, between a new virtuous People, who have publick Spirit, and an old corrupt one, who have not so much as an Idea that such a thing exists in Nature. There has not been a dissenting Voice among us in any Resolution for Defence, and our Army which is already formed, will soon consist of above 20,000 Men.
You will have heard before this reaches you of the Defeat the Ministerial Troops met with in their first Sortie; the several small Advantages we have since had of them, and the more considerable Affair of the 17th. when after two severe Repulses, they carry’d the unfinished Trenches of the Post we had just taken on a Hill near Charlestown. They suffered greatly however, and I believe are convinc’d by this time, that they have Men to deal with, tho’ unexperienced, and not yet well arm’d. In their way to this Action, without the least Necessity, they barbarously plundered and burnt a fine, undefended Town, opposite to Boston, called Charlestown, consisting of about 400 Houses, many of them elegantly built; some sick, aged and decrepit poor Persons, who could not be carried off in time perish’d in the Flames. In all our Wars, from our first settlement in America, to the present time, we never received so much damage from the Indian Savages, as in this one day from these. Perhaps Ministers may think this a Means of disposing us to Reconciliation. I feel and see every where the Reverse. Most of the little Property I have, consists of Houses in the Seaport Towns, which I suppose may all soon be destroyed in the same way, and yet I think I am not half so reconcileable now, as I was a Month ago.
The Congress will send one more Petition to the King, which I suppose will be treated as the former was, and therefore will probably be the last; for tho’ this may afford Britain one chance more of recovering our Affections and retaining the Connection, I think she has neither Temper nor Wisdom enough to seize the Golden Opportunity. When I look forward to the Consequences, I see an End to all Commerce between us: on our Sea Coasts She may hold some fortified Places as the Spaniards do on the Coast of Africa, but can penetrate as little into the Country. A very numerous Fleet extending 1500 Miles at an immense Expense may prevent other Nations trading with us: but as we have or may have within ourselves every thing necessary to the Comfort of Life, and generally import only Luxuries and Superfluities, her preventing our doing that, will in some Respects contribute to our Prosperity. By the present Stoppage of our Trade we save between four and five Millions per Annum which will do something towards the Expence of the War. What she will get by it, I must leave to be computed by her own political Arithmeticians. These are some of my present Ideas which I throw out to you in the Freedom of Friendship. Perhaps I am too sanguine in my opinion of our Abilities for the Defence of our Country after we shall have given up our Seaports to Destruction: but a little time will shew.
General Gage we understand enter’d into a Treaty with the Inhabitants of Boston, whom he had confin’d by his Works, in which Treaty it was agreed that if they delivered their Arms to the Select Men, their own Magistrates, they were to be permitted to go out with their Effects. As soon as they had so delivered their Arms, he seiz’d them, and then cavil’d about the meaning of the word Effects which he said was only wearing Apparel and Household Furniture, and not Merchandize or Shop Goods which he therefore detains: And the continual Injuries and Insults they met with from the Soldiery, made them glad to get out by relinquishing all that kind of Property. How much those People have suffered, and are now suffering rather than submit to what they think unconstitutional Acts of Parliament is really amazing. Two or three Letters I send you inclosed may give you some, tho’ a faint Idea of it. Gage’s Perfidy has now made him universally detested. When I consider that all this Mischief is done my Country, by Englishmen and Protestant Christians, of a Nation among whom I have so many personal Friends, I am ashamed to feel any Consolation in a prospect of Revenge; I chuse to draw it rather from a Confidence that we shall sooner or later obtain Reparation; I have proposed therefore to our People that they keep just Accounts and never resume the Commerce or the Union, ’till Satisfaction is made. If it is refused for 20 Years, I think we shall then be able to take it with Interest.
Your excellent Advice was, that if we must have a War, let it be carried on as between Nations who had once been Friends, and wish to be so again. In this ministerial War against us, all Europe is conjur’d not to sell us Arms or Amunition, that we may be found defenceless, and more easily murdered. The humane Sir W: Draper, who had been hospitably entertain’d in every one of our Colonies, proposes, in his Papers call’d the Traveller to excite the Domestic Slaves, you have sold us, to cut their Master’s Throats. Dr. Johnson a Court Pensioner, in his Taxation no Tyranny adopts and recommends that Measure, together with another of hiring the Indian savages to assassinate our Planters in the Back-Settlements. They are the poorest and most innocent of all People; and the Indian manner is to murder and scalp Men Women and Children. His Book I heard applauded by Lord Sandwich in Parliament, and all the ministerial People recommended it. Lord Dunmore and Governor Martin, have already, we are told, taken some Steps towards carrying one part of the Project into Execution, by exciting an Insurrection among the Blacks. And Governor Carleton, we have certain Accounts, has been very industrious in engaging the Indians to begin their horrid Work. This is making War like Nations who never had been Friends, and never wish to be such while the World stands. You see I am warm: and if a Temper naturally cool and phlegmatic can, in old age, which often cools the warmest, be thus heated, you will judge by that of the general Temper here, which is now little short of Madness. We have however as yet ask’d no foreign Power to assist us, nor made any Offer of our Commerce to other Nations for their Friendship. What another year’s Persecution may drive us to, is yet uncertain. I drop this disagreeable Subject; and will take up one, that I know must afford you and the good Family, as my Friends, some Pleasure. It is the State of my own Family, which I found in good Health; my Children affectionately dutifull and attentive to every thing that can be agreeable to me; with three very promising Grandsons, in whom I take great Delight. So that were it not for our publick Troubles, and the being absent from so many that I love in England, my present Felicity would be as perfect, as in this World one could well expect it. I enjoy however, what there is of it while it lasts, mindfull at the same time that its Continuance is like other earthly Goods, uncertain. Adieu my dear Friend, and believe me ever, with sincere and great Esteem Yours most Affectionately
  B Franklin

  My respectfull Compliments to Mrs. Shipley.
Your Health on this side the Water is every where drank by the Name of THE Bishop.
I send for your Amusement a Parcel of our Newspapers. When you have perused them, please to give them to Mr. Hartley of Golden Square.

Addressed: Lord Bishop of St. Asaph / [deleted: Jermyn Street / London / In another hand:] at Twyford / near / Winchester


Title: Editorial Note on the Olive Branch Petition, 8 July 1775
From:
To:

By the beginning of June, 1775, the shadow of coming events lay over the delegates in Philadelphia. Boston was informally besieged, New York went in fear of British attack, and at any moment the colonies might find themselves at the point of no return. Moderates were appalled at the prospect, and recoiled from commitment to civil war until the last stone had been turned in search of compromise. They faced strong opposition in Congress, but eventually secured agreement, grudging in many cases, for a final appeal to the King. On June 3 a committee of five, including Franklin, was appointed to draw up a petition. On the 19th the committee submitted its draft, the work of John Dickinson, which the Congress adopted on July 8 with virtually no amendment, and which all its members signed as individuals. The petition was couched in generalities, as it had to be to secure approval. Although it professed deep loyalty, it offered no concessions and asked for none, except the repeal of unspecified statutes that distressed the colonies. It left the whole problem of reconciliation to the ingenuity of Whitehall, and there it made small impression because, as William Knox pointed out, “not one profession of what they will submit to is contained in it.”
No evidence has come to light that Franklin played any part in framing the petition, or had any real hope for it. On its arrival, he was quoted as saying months later, “the Ministry might think best to relax a little but it was by no means to be trusted to.” During his negotiations in London the previous winter he had offered specific and uncompromising terms, and had not coated them with professions of American loyalty; his approach had been crisply practical. Even by that time he had lost all faith in petitioning as a method of redress, and he had seen Whitehall’s studied neglect of the petition from the first Congress. When he now concurred in this gesture from the second, the reason was presumably that he wanted every effort made, however hopeless, before accepting the alternative of war.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Mary Hewson, 8 July 1775
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Hewson, Mary (Polly) Stevenson

My dear Friend
Philada. July 8. 1775
I thank you for your kind Letter of April 11th. It grieves me that the present Situation of publick Affairs, makes it not eligible for you to come hither with your Family, because I am sure you would otherwise like this Country, and might provide better here for your Children, at the same time that I should be made more happy by your Neighbourhood and Company. I flatter myself that this may yet happen, and that our public Disputes may be ended by the time your private Business is settled to your Mind, and then we may be all happy together.
The Debt you mention of mine to Bolton remain’d unpaid thro’ his own Neglect. I was charg’d by Mathews £10 for the Tea Kitchen; but Bolton told me I ought not to pay so much; that he would see what it should be when he got home, and send me word, which he never did. I dunn’d him for it by Letters, as often as Mathews sent to me, but receiv’d no Answer.
I take it kindly of my Godson, that he should remember me; my Love to him. I am glad to hear the dear Children are all well through the Measles. I have much Delight in my Grandsons. Mr. and Mrs. Bache join in Love to you and yours. Ben, when I delivered him your Blessing, enquired the Age of Elizabeth, and thought her yet too young for him; but as he made no other Objection, and that will lessen every day, I have only to wish being alive to dance with your Mother at the Wedding.
Temple was much oblig’d by your kind Remembrance of him. He is now very happy with his Father at Amboy near Newyork, but returns to me in September, to prosecute his Studies in our College.
I am much pleas’d with the Contribution Letter, and thank you for your Share in it. I am still well and hearty, and never went thro’ more Business than I do at present. God knows when I shall be permitted to enjoy the Repose I wish. Adieu my very dear Friend. Continue your pleasing Correspondence; and believe me ever Yours most Affectionately
B Franklin
Mrs. Hewson

Notation: Phil July 9, 75


Title: Three Pennsylvania Delegates in Congress to the Lancaster County Committee, 11 July 1775: résumé
From: Three Pennsylvania Delegates in Congress
To: Lancaster County Committee

< July 11, 1775: We have received your communication about the rifle company to which Captain Smith is appointed. You mention that James Ross has raised men from whom a good company may be formed; we immediately laid this matter before Congress, which approved their enlistment. Please certify the officers, as with the other company, and have the best men available prepared with the utmost dispatch to follow Captain Smith, who we suppose will have marched before this reaches you.
The Congress highly approves the generous bounty provided by the people of Lancaster County. Signed by Franklin, George Ross, and James Wilson. >


Title: Endorsement of Legal Opinions on Land Titles Obtained From the Indians, 12 July 1775
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

The promoters of the Walpole Company in London had decided not to wait for confirmation of their grant before putting at least part of it on the market. They had obtained two legal opinions that their title to that part, the lands that the Indians had ceded at Fort Stanwix to the “suffering traders” was a valid one. Franklin’s involvement in their marketing plan in 1775 seems to have been minimal. Samuel Wharton had asked him to help Major Trent’s lobbying among members of Congress, but the only small sign of his support that has come to light is the endorsement below. What he endorsed were the opinions, which Trent had brought with him. The first was from Henry Dagge, a counsel for and member of the Walpole Company; he argued that the right to property lay with the original Indian possessors, who were free to alienate as they pleased; their conveyance to the crown at Fort Stanwix had been for the sole use of the traders, subject only to the king’s sovereignty over settlers as British subjects, and title rested with the grantees. The second opinion, by Sergeant Glynn, was to the same effect: the crown had proprietary rights in vacant and unappropriated lands, but not in those that had been ceded to the traders, whose title was good and sufficient and protected by the laws of England. This subject was, as Franklin says, one to which he had given a great deal of attention. It was also, as he does not say, one on which he held more radical views that those of the two lawyers. His interest in it went beyond a mere endorsement. One of his proposed articles of confederation, which he was presumably drafting at about this time, rested on the assumption that previous purchases from the Indians were valid. In 1776 he was actively concerned in Trent’s efforts to dispose of the land ceded to the traders. He retained his shares in the Walpole Company, and in 1780 he and Wharton petitioned Congress to complete the grant.

Philada. July 12. 1775
Having long since carefully studied these Points, I concur fully with Counsellor Dagge and Serjeant Glynn in their Opinions as above deliverd.
B Franklin


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jane Mecom, 14 July 1775
From: Mecom, Jane
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Warwick July 14, 1775
The Concern I knew my Ever Dear Brother would be in to know what was become of me made me take the first opertunity to write to him and twice since, but did not recve a line from you till the day befor yesterday when I recd. yrs of the 17 June and this Day I have recd. the first you wrot, it had been Return’d from Cambridg and had lane 3 weeks in Newport Office.
Your care for me at this time Added to the Innumerable Instances of your Goodnes to me gives me grat comfort under the Difeculties I feel with others but not in a grater Degree for I am in want of nothing haveing mony suficent to soport me some time if I should go to board (which however Mrs. Green will not consent to) and I have with me most of the things I had to sell and now and then sell som small mater. I thought I had tould you I Brought out what I could Pack up in trunks and chists and I so contrived to Pack em in our wereing Aparil Lining and Beding that they Pas’d Examination, without discovery. This was not an unlawfull smugling which you would have reproved for they were not owed for, nor any won cheated of Duties. I wish I could have brought all my Effects in the same maner but the Whol of my Household furniture Exept a few small maters [interlined: some wood, soap, &c. &c. &c.] I put into my trunk I left behind, secured Indeed in the house with locks and bars but those who value not to Deprive us of our lives will find a way to brake throw them if they are premitted. My Daughters Goods are there two for tho she Board[ed in] the country some time before the Town was sh[ut up?] she din not Remove her furniture, what [remained?] of there [moveables?] Cousen Williams got out [torn] but he ar[torn]n’d Estates with so [torn] man [torn] there to Liv [torn] Leter Pleased me much, shall convey it to them first opertunity. My Daughter foot Gone to Dunstable, she in a bad stat of helth, left there Goods in Boston. My son John’s widow who mareyed Mr. Turner an Officer left them in Boston how it has faired with them Can not hear tho I wish them saif for He realy apeared a Good sort of man. O how horrable is our situation that Relations seek the Destruction of Each other.
Por Flagg tho He has used me very Ill I Deplore His Fate the more as there is two of my Daughters Children left. I know not how they will be Provided for. His storey is two long, and two full of shocking sircumstances to troble you with, shall only tell you that in the winter He was taken in a fitt which terminated in Distraction and confined Him some time, but got so much beter as to go about His Bus[iness] and sent out His wife and children Intending to folow them but was soon After taken in the same maner as in winter and Died in a few days. My Good Mrs. Royal and famely that I lived so happyley with 2 year is Gone to worcester. I have not recved the Invitation you say your son was so good as to send me nor a Line from Him a long time tho I have wrot several by such hands as I know he must have recved. Cousen Coffen has Invited me to nantuckett which was sent to Boston and Return’d before the Resolves of the Congres. I dont know if it would be P[ruden]t for me to go now, I cannot Determin what [course to?] take at Present. I wish you could Advise me, I am [anxious?] at being an Incumbrance to this good Famely as my [torn] is for me, but I strive all in my Power [to make my vis?]it as light as I can, when Mrs. [Green]e In a jocoos [way mention?]ed our mounting our [torn] and see you [torn] Remember [torn] should [torn Conn]eticutt at the [torn.] I am rejoyc’d that your Children and famelys are well. I have before heard of your young Hercules, my Neice was so good as to write me won long leter about the Children, and ben franklin won for Himself of which I wrot you to England. You say nothing about him he apeard to me to be an Extrodnery child, I answred His leter but He does not contineu the corispondenc.
I could have wish’d you had been left to your own Option to have assisted in Publick Affairs so as not to fatigue you two much, but as your Talants are superour to most other men I can’t help desiering your Country should Injoy the benifit of them while you live, but cant bare the thought of your going to England again as has been sugested hear and won sentance in your leter seemes to favour. You Positively must not go, you have served the Publick in that way beyond what any other man can Boast till you are now come to a good old Age and some younger man must now take that Painfull service upon them. Dont go, pray Dont go, you certainly may do as much good hear as surcumstances are at present [and] posable the Congress may not think it proper to send since those late transactions of the Armey. I am so much at a lose to know whether the News I hear be trew or no that prehaps I had beter leve it to other hands. But my Daughter wrot me last week from Roxbury that on our Army’s fiering Canon that reach’d in to the fortifiecation and kill’d six men Gen’l Gage sent out word we had beter not proceed to Extremeties for the King had sent for two of the men of war home. I left my Daughter in so much fear that she could not sleep on nights but she now writs me (from the same place) that she hopes all things, and fears nothing, the Reason she Imagins because she sees all about her in the same disposition.
The Famely h[ere are?] well and almost as numerous, Mrs. Greene says she will [write and?] I only add my love to all your Children and grand Chi[ldren and tha?]t I am as Ever your most Affectionat Sister
Jan[e Mecom]


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Margaret Stevenson, 17 July 1775
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Stevenson, Margaret

My dear dear Friend,
Philada July 17. 1775
All Trade and Business, Building, Improving, &c. being at a Stand here, and nothing thought of but Arms, I find no Convenience at present of putting out your Money in this Country, and therefore have concluded not to draw it over, but return it into your Hands; and accordingly inclose an Order for it on Messrs. John & Robert Barclay, Cheapside, with whom I left it. I send you also inclos’d an Order on Browns and Collinson for £260 more, supposing by the Sketch Mr. Williams made of our Accts. that I may owe you about that Sum: When they are finally settled we shall see where the Ballance lies, and easily rectify it. In the mean time you will be in Possession of a compleat £1000 which as a Friend I would not advise you to trust in your Stocks; for Britain having begun a War with us, which I apprehend is not likely soon to be ended, and may possibly draw on one with some European Power, there is great Probability of those Stocks falling headlong, as you remember the India did. You had better therefore, I think, put your Money out on a good Mortgage of Land.
I received what you sent me per Major Trent, and since your kind Letter of April 24. I rejoice to hear you are well and happy. I am well, and as happy as I can be under the Fatigue of more Business than is suitable to my Age and Inclination: But it follows me every where, and I submit. I am delighted with my little Family. Temple is with his Father. He has written to you, and to his other Friends. My Respects to Mr. and Mrs. Elphinstone when you see them. I shall write to them when I can, for I think we are much indebted to them for the Improvement of that fine Boy. My Love to dear Polly and Dolly. I shall write to them by next Opportunity. I pray God to bless and preserve you, being ever, my dear Friend, Yours most affectionately
BF.
Mrs Stevenson


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Catharine Greene, [18 July? 1775]
From: Greene, Catharine
To: Franklin, Benjamin

My Dear Friend
[July 18?, 1775]
Your letter which had the Pleasure of Receiving gave me great Pleasure as it gave me a fresh Proff of your own Dear Self, and being once more on the Same Land with us. Your Dear good Sister Grew Very impatient till She heard from you and began to fear you was not Come. She was kind enough to Shew me her letter and you are fear full She will be trouble Some but be assurd that her Company Richly Pays as She goes along and we are Very happy together and Shall not Consent to Spare her to any body but her Dear Brother was he to Stay at home and Be Positive. But if you are to Journey we must have her for She is my mama and friend and I tell her we are Rich that we have a lot here and another there and have 3 or 4 of them and we Divert one another Charmingly. Do Come and See us Certain! Dont think of going home again. Do Set Down and injoy the Remainder of your Days in Peace have Just been enguagd in Somethin that Prevents my writeing as I designd to have done. I hope ne[xt time?] I write to be more my[self. My?] kind love to [torn Mr. and] Mrs. Beach and the D[ear Children. I?] hope your [torn] Sympathiss with you [torn ma]de up in them [torn] girl. So is mine [torn] of each other [torn jou]rney love to B[torn] him Nancy [torn Your affe]ctionate friend as long as life
Caty Greene


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jonathan Williams, Jr., 19 July 1775
From: Williams, Jonathan Jr.
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear and honoured Sir
London July 19. 1775
Yesterday being the Day appointed by Lord Dartmouth I waited on him, but he having a greater Number of Gentlemen at Levee than he could attend to, I was desired to call again to day: which I accordingly did.
On my entring he said, Mr. Williams I have only to tell you, I have delivered your Petition into the Kings hands, but Things are in such a State, no regular Agent here, and American Matters being wholly under the consideration of Parliament, His Majesty did not answer it. The Petition remains in His Majestys Possesion.
I returned. Then my Lord I am to say, the Petition was presented, but His Majesty did not condesend an Answer.
He said I would not have you write anything that may make an unfavourable Impression on the Minds of the People of New Jersey. The King could not with propriety give an Answer, and I do not consider my Conversation with you as Oficial. I then Answered My Lord I shall not presume to be an authorised Agent for the Colony, nor as such write an Answer to the Speaker of the House; But I shall do it through Doctor Franklin, and leave the Mode of communication entirely to him.
He said very well, and I retired.
Since I returned from Lord D, I have seen Mr. Lee; who told me he received the first Petition, and Lord D— returned it to him without presenting it. I am happy that my Endeavours have been more successfull, though in Effect of as little Use. I have however some Satisfaction in having got [it] into the Kings hands altho’ it is unanswered as it leaves a Possibility of its being again taken up for which Reason did ask [for] it again.

Endorsed: to Doctr Franklin July 19. 1775


Title: Intended Vindication and Offer from Congress to Parliament, [before 21 July 1775]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

This document has often been reprinted but, for good reason, never explained. When it appeared in the Public Advertiser in 1777, it was introduced with what purported to be an account of its origin: “The following Paper was drawn up in a Committee of Congress, June 25, 1775, but does not appear in their Minutes, a severe Act of Parliament which arrived about that Time having determined them not to give the Sum proposed in it. It is supposed to have been written by Dr. Franklin.” Although much of this note is fanciful, it has kernels of truth. Franklin did draw up the paper and read it to a committee, but it was probably not a report from that committee. It came before Congress and was not acted upon, but for a quite different reason from the one the printer assigned.
The evidence for these conclusions, although reported in the 1780’s, is persuasive. Silas Deane referred to the episode twice, once in a letter to Franklin in 1782 and again, with more circumstantial detail, in a pamphlet published in 1784. Both letter and pamphlet were attempts to exonerate himself from charges against him, and may be considered suspect for that reason. But what he had to say about this document was irrelevant to the later charges; he therefore had no motive for twisting the facts, and the gist of his testimony appears to be reliable.
It does, however, contradict itself in some details. In 1782 he spoke of the paper as a report, drawn up by Franklin in a committee on which he and Deane served, and submitted to Congress a few days after passage of the Olive Branch Petition. The offers it contained were debated and had warm support, particularly from Richard Henry Lee and Roger Sherman, but did not come to a vote; they were put aside because of “the multiplicity, and confusion, of the important business at that time on hand.” In Deane’s pamphlet the story changes. The paper was not drawn up in a committee or submitted by it. Franklin, Deane, and Richard Henry Lee were serving on one with a quite different assignment, which must have been to recommend policy on trade. During a pause while the recommendations were being transcribed, Franklin read this paper to the members. Lee approved, and asked to have the offers in it brought before Congress as an individual motion. When Franklin declined to act, Lee moved them the next day. “The proposals appeared no way disagreeable to the house,” but were objected to as premature, and inconsistent with the request in the Olive Branch Petition that the colonies be restored to the status quo of 1763. If after that request Congress approved the present offers and made them official, Whitehall might raise its demands. Lee thereupon withdrew his motion, and no entry was made of it in the journals. This second version of the story, though written even longer after the event, is much the more plausible. The first presupposes a committee and a report of which no record exists, and ends with the offers’ being in effect overlooked. The second explains why the records are silent about the proposal and why it was withdrawn.
The offers are, in contrast to the generalities of the Petition, concrete and to the point. They consist of two alternatives. If Britain will accord the colonies the commercial status that Scotland acquired in the Act of Union, and allow them to trade freely with the rest of the world, they will pledge an annual revenue of £100,000 for the next century. If this proposal is declined, they will bind themselves in a covenant to recognize for the same period the right of Parliament to regulate their trade in the common interest. Remarkable offers at the best of times, and that July the times were not at their best. News of Bunker Hill had reached the delegates on June 22; soon afterward they learned that the New England Restraining Act had been extended to other colonies, and branded these statutes as unconstitutional. The fact that they then seriously considered such dramatic terms of conciliation says much about their open-mindedness.
The bulk of Franklin’s paper is a vindication of the colonies against charges of ingratitude, and the arguments used had long been part of his stock in trade. The offers, which appear almost as interpolations near the end, are also outgrowths of his earlier thinking. The first one, of a fixed revenue, goes back to the “Hints” that began his negotiations in London the previous December: he there made and then withdrew the suggestion that Britain give up her trade restrictions on the colonies in exchange for such a revenue, although the amount and duration were not stipulated. The germ of the alternative offer, a century-long covenant to accept the Navigation Acts, is in another provision of the “Hints,” that those acts be embodied in colonial legislation; the covenant is simply such legislation in more lasting form. Nothing about the document is surprising except that Congress gave it a sympathetic hearing at that time.
Why was it first printed in London two years later? Because Franklin, we strongly suspect, added a few footnotes and the fictitious explanation of why the proposals were not adopted and then, either just before leaving America or just after arriving in France, sent the paper to his old friend Richard Price. By the beginning of 1777, if not before, it was in Price’s hands. He thought it so important that he inserted a quotation from and brief description of it, along with the same explanation of its fate that the printer used later, in a work of his own that was then in press. He may well have gone on to send the entire document to the Public Advertiser in July, which was a timely moment for propaganda. A small United States squadron had been raiding with impunity in the Irish Sea; the damage to British commerce had been great and the public outcry greater. It would have been natural for Price, a stalwart champion of the Americans, to try to demonstrate how reasonable, even generous, their attitude had been two years before, and thereby underline how costly British intransigence had proved to be.

[Before July 21, 1775]
Forasmuch as the Enemies of America in the Parliament of Great Britain, to render us odious to the Nation, and give an ill Impression of us in the Minds of other European Powers, have represented us as unjust and ungrateful in the highest Degree; asserting on every Occasion, that the Colonies were settled at the Expence of Britain; that they were at the Expence of the same protected in their Infancy; that they now ungratefully and unjustly refuse to contribute to their own Protection, and the common Defence of the Nation; that they aim at Independence; that they intend an Abolition of the Navigation Acts; and that they are fraudulent in their commercial Dealings, and purpose to cheat their Creditors in Britain, by avoiding the Payment of their just Debts:
As by frequent Repitition these groundless Assertions and malicious Calumnies may, if not contradicted and refuted, obtain farther Credit, and be injurious throughout Europe to the Reputation and Interest of the Confederate Colonies, it seems proper and necessary to examine them in our own just Vindication.
With regard to the first, that the Colonies were settled at the Expence of Britain, it is a known Fact, that none of the Twelve United Colonies were settled, or even discovered, at the Expence of England. Henry the VIIth indeed granted a Commission to Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian, and his Sons, to sail into the Western Seas for the Discovery of new Countries; but it was to be suis eorum propriis sumptibus et expensis, at their own Costs and Charges. They discovered, but soon slighted and neglected, these Northern Territories, which were after more than a hundred Years Dereliction purchased of the Natives, and settled at the Charge and by the Labour of private Men and Bodies of Men, our Ancestors, who came over hither for that Purpose. But our Adversaries have never been able to produce any Record, that ever the Parliament or Government of England was at the smallest Expence on these Accounts; on the contrary, there exists on the Journals of Parliament a solemn Declaration in 1642, only 22 Years after the first Settlement of the Massachusetts, when if such Expence had ever been incurred, some of the Members must have known and remembered it, “That these Colonies had been planted and established without any Expence to the State.” New-York is the only Colony in the founding of which England can pretend to have been at any Expence; and that was only the Charge of a small Armament to take it from the Dutch, who planted it. But to retain this Colony at the Peace, another at that Time full as valuable, planted by private Countrymen of ours, was given up by the Crown to the Dutch in Exchange, viz. Surinam, now a wealthy Sugar Colony in Guiana, and which but for that Cession might still have remained in our Possession. Of late, indeed, Britain has been at some Expence in planting two Colonies, Georgia and Nova Scotia, but those are not in our Confederacy; and the Expence she has been at in their Name has chiefly been in Grants of Sums unnecessarily large, by Way of Salaries to Officers sent from England, and in Jobbs to Friends, whereby Dependants might be provided for; those excessive Grants not being requisite to the Welfare and good Government of the Colonies; which good Government (as Experience in many Instances of other Colonies has taught us) may be much more frugally, and full as effectually, provided for and supported.
With Regard to the second Assertion, That these Colonies were protected in their Infant State by England, it is a notorious Fact, that in none of the many Wars with the Indian Natives, sustained by our Infant Settlements for a Century after our first Arrival, were ever any Troops or Forces of any Kind sent from England to assist us; nor were any Forts built at her Expence to secure our Sea-ports from foreign Invaders; nor any Ships of War sent to protect our Trade till many Years after our first Settlement, when our Commerce became an Object of Revenue, or of Advantage to British Merchants; and then it was thought necessary to have a Frigate in some of our Ports, during Peace, to give Weight to the Authority of Custom-house Officers, who were to restrain that Commerce for the Benefit of England. Our own Arms with our Poverty, and the Care of a kind Providence, were all this Time our only Protection; while we were neglected by the English Government, which either thought us not worth its Care, or having no Good-will to some of us on Account of our different Sentiments in Religion and Politics, was indifferent what became of us. On the other Hand, the Colonies have not been wanting to do what they could in every War for annoying the Enemies of Britain. They formerly assisted her in the Conquest of Nova Scotia. In the War before last they took Louisbourg, and put it into her Hands. She made her Peace with that strong Fortress, by restoring it to France, greatly to their Detriment. In the last War it is true Britain sent a Fleet and Army, who acted with an equal Army of our’s in the Reduction of Canada, and perhaps thereby did more for us than we in the preceding Wars had done for her. Let it be remembered, however, that she rejected the Plan we formed in the Congress at Albany, in 1754, for our own Defence, by an Union of the Colonies; an Union she was jealous of, and therefore chose to send her own Forces; otherwise her Aid, to protect us, was not wanted. And from our first Settlement to that Time, her Military Operations in our Favour were small, compared with the Advantages she drew from her exclusive Commerce with us. We are however willing to give full Weight to this Obligation; and as we are daily growing stronger, and our Assistance to her becomes of more Importance, we should with Pleasure embrace the first Opportunity of shewing our Gratitude by returning the Favour in kind. But when Britain values herself as affording us Protection, we desire it may be considered that we have followed her in all her Wars, and joined with her at our own Expence against all she thought fit to quarrel with. This she has required of us; and would never permit us to keep Peace with any Power she declared her Enemy; though by separate Treaties we might well have done it. Under such Circumstances, when at her Instance we made Nations our Enemies, whom we might otherwise have retained our Friends, we submit it to the common Sense of Mankind, whether her Protection of us in these Wars was not our just Due, and to be claimed of Right, instead of being received as a Favour? And whether, when all the Parts of an Empire exert themselves to the utmost in their common Defence, and in annoying the common Enemy, it is not as well the Parts that protect the Whole, as the Whole that protects the Parts. The Protection then has been proportionably mutual—And whenever the Time shall come, that our Abilities may as far exceed hers, as hers have exceeded ours, we hope we shall be reasonable enough to rest satisfied with her proportionable Exertions, and not think we do too much for a Part of the Empire, when that Part does as much as it can for the Whole.
The Charge against us, that we refuse to contribute to our own Protection, appears from the above to be groundless; but we farther declare it to be absolutely false; for it is well known that we ever held it as our Duty to grant Aids to the Crown upon Requisition, towards carrying on its Wars; which Duty we have chearfully complied with to the utmost of our Abilities, insomuch that frequent and grateful Acknowledgments thereof by King and Parliament appear on their Records. But as Britain has enjoyed a most gainful Monopoly of our Commerce, the same with our maintaining the Dignity of the King’s Representative in each Colony, and all our own separate Establishments of Government, Civil and Military, has ever hitherto been deemed an Equivalent for such Aids as might otherwise be expected from us in Time of Peace. And we hereby declare, that on a Reconciliation with Britain, we shall not only continue to grant Aids in Time of War as aforesaid, but, whenever she shall think fit to abolish her Monopoly, and give us the same Privileges of Trade as Scotland received at the Union, and allow us a free Commerce with all the rest of the World, we shall willingly agree (and we doubt not it will be ratified by our Constituents) to give and pay into the Sinking Fund £100,000. Sterling per Annum for the Term of One Hundred Years; which duly, faithfully, and inviolably applied to that Purpose, is demonstrably more than sufficient to extinguish all her present National Debt, since it will in that Time amount, at legal British Interest, to more than £230,000,000.
But if Britain does not think fit to accept this Proposition, we, in order to remove her groundless Jealousies, that we aim at Independence and an Abolition of the Navigation Act, (which hath in Truth never been our Intention) and to avoid all future Disputes about the Right of making that and other Acts for regulating our Commerce, do hereby declare ourselves ready and willing to enter into a Covenant with Britain, that she shall fully possess, enjoy, and exercise that Right for an Hundred Years to come, the same being boná fide used for the common Benefit; and in case of such Agreement, that every Assembly be advised by us to confirm it solemnly by Laws of their own, which once made cannot be repealed without the Assent of the Crown.
The last Charge, that we are dishonest Traders, and aim at defrauding our Creditors in Britain, is sufficiently and authentically refuted by the solemn Declarations of the British Merchants to Parliament, (both at the Time of the Stamp Act, and in the last Session) who bore ample Testimony to the general good Faith and fair Dealing of the Americans, and declared their Confidence in our Integrity; for which we refer to their Petitions on the Journals of the House of Commons. And we presume we may safely call on the Body of the British Tradesmen, who have had Experience of both, to say, whether they have not received much more punctual Payment from us than they generally have from the Members of their own two Houses of Parliament.
On the whole of the above it appears, that the Charge of Ingratitude towards the Mother Country, brought with so much Confidence against the Colonies, is totally without Foundation; and that there is much more Reason for retorting that Charge on Britain, who not only never contributes any Aid, nor affords by an exclusive Commerce any Advantages to Saxony, her Mother Country; but no longer since than in the last War without the least Provocation, subsidized the King of Prussia while he ravaged that Mother Country, and carried Fire and Sword into its Capital, the fine City of Dresden. An Example we hope no Provocation will induce us to imitate.


Title: Proposed Articles of Confederation, [on or before 21 July 1775]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

These articles and Franklin’s “Short Hints” for uniting the northern colonies in 1754 are the two occasions when he formulated his ideas of what an intercolonial constitution should be. Both formulations were developed in ways that he could not have anticipated. He and others reworked the “Hints” into the Albany Plan. He never reworked the present articles, and they were never implemented; but they became part of the intellectual store from which the Articles of Confederation and even the federal constitution were derived. Where did Franklin’s ideas come from? A natural assumption would be that he quarried them from the Albany Plan, altered to fit the new circumstances; and to some extent he did. But his principal source, it was argued years ago, was the New England confederation of 1643, which some of his earlier “Hints” resembled as well. We have no other evidence that he was familiar with the confederation; it was already beginning to arouse interest as a precedent for union, however, and his debt to it is unquestionable.
He showed his draft articles to Jefferson and others, some of whom approved while some disapproved. The plan appealed to those who had abandoned hope of reconciliation, and antagonized those who had not; putting it to a vote would shatter the fragile consensus in Congress. Franklin, however, was looking ahead to a time when the majority would accept, as he already did, the need for bold action. He therefore asked leave to lay his scheme on the table, so that the delegates might think about the subject and prepare themselves to act when they saw the need to. Leave was given, according to Jefferson, but only on condition that the plan should not appear in the journals of Congress. On July 21, when the house resolved itself into a committee of the whole, Franklin read his articles and left them on the table and hence off the record. But they were disseminated through the colonies, to work as they might upon men’s minds.
The possibility of a federation came up again the following January, and Franklin argued for it. But the delegates were still not ready, and the issue was shelved. Not until June, 1776, was a committee appointed to work on the question, and Franklin was not a member. Although some of his points, such as a common treasury and an executive council, were embodied in the draft that came out of the committee, many of the most important ones, such as proportional representation and the amendment process, were not; and the committee’s handling of representation led Franklin to draft, but not deliver, a protest to Congress. There matters rested for a time. Tracing his ideas through the later debates on the Articles of Confederation and then on the federal constitution would be beyond the scope of this note.
Franklin was far ahead of most of the delegates in his readiness to separate from Britain. Just as his resolutions on trade asserted America’s economic independence, so these articles asserted its political sovereignty. They empowered the United Colonies to amend their individual constitutions as they saw fit; a common treasury was to administer funds raised by proportional taxation; Congress was authorized to initiate amendment of the articles, to settle intercolonial disputes, to create new colonies and admit established ones into the union, to negotiate with the Indians, to make war and peace and form alliances, and to send and receive ambassadors. This degree of autonomy was independence. The final paragraph of the plan, it is true, provided that the new government would lapse if Britain conceded all the points at issue and made reparation for damages; the colonies would then return to “their former Connection.” If Britain did not surrender, on the other hand, America would remain permanently outside the authority of Parliament and the crown.

[On or before July 21, 1775]
Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, proposed [interlined: entred into] by the Delegates of the several Colonies of New Hampshire &c. in general Congress met at Philadelphia, May 10. 1775.
Art. I. The Name of the Confederacy shall henceforth be The United Colonies of North America.
Art. II. The said United Colonies hereby severally enter into a firm League of Friendship with each other, binding [interlined: on] themselves and their Posterity, for [interlined: their common] Defence [interlined: against their Enemies, for] the Security of their Liberties and Propertys, the Safety of their Persons and Families, and their mutual and general welfare.
Art. III. That each Colony shall enjoy and retain as much as it may think fit of its own present Laws, Customs, Rights, Privileges, and peculiar Jurisdictions within its own Limits; and may amend its own Constitution as shall seem best to its own Assembly or Convention.
Art. IV. That for the more convenient Management of general Interests, Delegates shall be annually elected in each Colony to meet in General Congress at such Time and Place as shall be agreed on in the next preceding Congress. Only where particular Circumstances do not make a Deviation necessary, it is understood to be a Rule, that each succeeding Congress be held in a different Colony till the whole Number be gone through, and so in perpetual Rotation; and that accordingly the next [interlined: Congress] after the present shall be held at Annapolis in Maryland.
Art. V. That the Power and Duty of the Congress shall extend to the Determining on War and Peace, to [interlined: sending and receiving Ambassadors, and] entring into Alliances, [the Reconciliation with Great Britain;] the Settling all Disputes and Differences between Colony and Colony [interlined: about Limits or any other cause] if such should arise; and the Planting of new Colonies when proper. The Congress shall also make such general Ordinances as tho’ necessary to the General Welfare, particular Assemblies cannot be competent to; viz. those that may relate to our general Commerce [in the margin: or general Currency]; to the Establishment of Posts; and the Regulation of [interlined: our common] Forces. The Congress shall also have the Appointment of all Officers civil and military, appertaining to the general Confederacy, such as General Treasurer Secretary, &c.
Art. VI. All Charges of Wars, and all other general Expences to be incurr’d for the common Welfare, shall be defray’d out of a common Treasury, which is to be supply’d by each Colony in proportion to its Number of Male Polls between 16 and 60 Years of Age; the Taxes for paying that proportion [interlined: are] to be laid and levied by [interlined: the] Laws of each Colony.
Art. VII. The Number of Delegates to be elected and sent to the Congress by each Colony, shall be regulated from time to time by the Number of [interlined: such] Polls return’d, so as that one Delegate be allow’d for every [5000] Polls. And the Delegates are to bring with them to every Congress an authenticated Return of the number of Polls in their respective Provinces, [interlined: which is] to be annually [interlined in another hand: triennially] taken, for the Purposes abovementioned.
Art. VIII. [In the margin: At every Meeting of the Congress One half of the Members return’d exclusive of Proxies be necessary to make a Quorum, and] Each Delegate at the Congress, shall have a Vote in all Cases; and if necessarily absent, shall be allowed to appoint [interlined: any other Delegate from the same Colony to be his] Proxy, who may vote for him.

Art. IX. An executive Council shall be appointed by the Congress [interlined: out of their own Body,] consisting of [12] Persons; of whom in the first Appointment [interlined: one Third, viz.] [4], shall be for one Year, [4] for two Years, and [4] for three Years; and as the said Terms expire, the vacancies shall be filled by Appointments for three Years, whereby One Third of [the] Members will be changed annually. [In the margin: And each Person who has served the said Term of three Years as Counsellor, shall have a Respite of three Years, before he can be elected again.] This Council [interlined: (of whom two thirds shall be a Quorum)] in the Recess of the Congress is to execute what shall have been enjoin’d thereby; to manage the general [interlined: continental] Business and Interests to receive Applications from foreign Countries; to prepare Matters for the Consideration of the Congress; to fill up (pro tempore) continental Offices that fall vacant; and to draw on the General Treasurer for [such] Monies as may be necessary for general Services, and appropriated by the Congress to such Services.
Art. X. No Colony shall engage in an offensive War with any Nation of Indians without the Consent of the Congress, or great Council above-mentioned, who are first to consider the Justice and Necessity of such War.
Art. XI. A perpetual Alliance offensive and defensive, is to be entered into as soon as may be with the Six Nations; their Limits to be [interlined: ascertain’d and] secur’d to them; their Land not to be encroach’d on, nor any private [interlined: or Colony] Purchases made of them hereafter to be held good; nor any [interlined: Contract for Lands] to be made but between the Great Council [interlined: of the Indians] at Onondaga and the General Congress. The Boundaries and Lands of all the other Indians shall also be [in the margin: ascertain’d and] secur’d to them [interlined: in the same manner]; and Persons appointed to reside among them in proper Districts, who shall take care to prevent Injustice in the Trade with them, [in the margin: and be enabled at our General Expence by occasional small Supplies, to relieve their personal Wants and Distresses.] And all Purchases from them shall be by the Congress for the General Advantage and Benefit of the United Colonies.
Art. XII. As all new Institutions may have Imperfections which only Time and Experience can discover, it is agreed, that the General Congress from time to time shall propose such Amendment of this Constitution as may be found necessary; which being approv’d by a Majority of the Colony Assemblies, shall be equally binding with the rest of the Articles of this Confederation.
Art. XIII. Any and every Colony from Great Britain [interlined: upon the Continent of North America] not at present engag’d in our Association, may upon Application [interlined: and joining the said Association,] be receiv’d into this Confederation, viz. [Ireland] the West India Islands, Quebec, St. Johns, Nova Scotia, Bermudas, and the East and West Floridas: and shall [interlined: thereupon] be entitled to all the Advantages of our Union, mutual Assistance and Commerce.
These Articles shall be propos’d to the several Provincial Conventions or Assemblies, to be by them consider’d, and if approv’d they are advis’d to impower their Delegates to agree to and ratify the same in the ensuing Congress. After which the Union thereby establish’d is to continue firm till the Terms of Reconciliation proposed in the Petition of the last Congress to the King are agreed to; till the Acts since made restraining the American Commerce [interlined: and Fisheries] are repeal’d; till Reparation is made for the Injury done to Boston by shutting up its Port; for the Burning of Charlestown; and for the Expence of this unjust War; and till all the British Troops are withdrawn from America. On the Arrival of these Events the C[olonies are to] return to their former Connection and Friendship with Britain: But on Failure thereof this Confederation is to be perpetual.

Notation: Sketch of Articles of Confederation July 75. This Sketch in handwritg of Doct Franklin
Read before Congress July 21. 1775


Title: Resolutions on Trade Submitted to Congress, [on or before 21 July 1775]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

News of the second Restraining Act infuriated and alarmed Congress. On July 12, 1775, it appointed a committee, of which Franklin was a member, to formulate a program for protecting the colonies’ trade. Three days later, on Franklin’s motion, the nonexportation agreement was modified to permit paying in produce for imported war material; but this concession solved only one of the problems that the agreement posed. The committee addressed the others in two closely similar sets of resolutions, reported on the 21st by Franklin and Richard Henry Lee. Both proposed opening American commerce to the world outside the empire.
Franklin had long disapproved, both in practice and principle, of Parliamentary constraints on American trade; he was ready for a clean sweep. The content of his proposals showed his daring, and the method of implementing them showed his moderation. The ports would not be opened if the Restraining Act was repealed at any time before July 20, 1776; once opened on that date they would remain so, come what might, for two years at the least. Just as Franklin had acquiesced in the Olive Branch Petition to explore the last hope of compromise, so he now offered the British government a year in which to reconsider its course. His fellow delegates, however, were not yet ready to commit themselves, even conditionally and in the future, to a declaration of commercial independence. They had lived so long within the closed system of the Navigation Acts that few could envisage dispensing with it. The resolutions were shelved, and the idea that underlay them was not adopted until almost nine months later.

At some time during those months Franklin’s resolutions were apparently reintroduced. Someone brought them up to date by adding to the AD, in an unidentifiable hand, an introductory clause about the abundance of grain after the harvest of 1775, and by making other minor changes. These have understandably confused modern editors about both the wording and the date of what Franklin submitted. His draft, which except for a few phrases noted below is identical with our text, permits us to delete silently the words added later, and to supply in brackets those later effaced.

[On or before July 21, 1775]
Resolved, That from and after the 20th of July [1776 being one full Year after] the Day appointed by a late Act of the Parliament of Great Britain for restraining the Trade of the Confederate Colonies, all the Custom-Houses therein (if the said Act be not first repealed) shall be shut up, and all the Officers of the same discharged from the Execution of their several Functions; and all the Ports of the said Colonies are hereby declared to be thenceforth open to the Ships of every State in Europe that will admit our Commerce and protect it; who may [bring in] and expose to Sale free of all Duties their respective Produce and Manufactures, and every kind of Merchandise, excepting Teas, and the Merchandize of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British West India Islands.
Resolved, That we will to the utmost of our Power maintain and support this Freedom of Commerce for two Years certain after its Commencement, any Reconciliation between us and Britain notwithstanding; and as much longer beyond that Term, as the late Acts of Parliament for Restraining the Commerce and Fisheries, and altering the Laws and Charters of any of the Colonies, shall continue unrepealed.

Endorsed by Charles Thomson: a proposal for opening the ports of N.A. brot. in by Committee read. July 21. 1775, on motion postponed for future Consideration.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from [David Hartley], 22 July 1775
From: Hartley, David
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir
Golden Square July 22d. 1775
I take the opportunity of writing a line to you by Capt. Read, tho. I have not any thing now to say. We seem rather on this side the water to be expecters of news and events; more especially as to the proceedings and proposals from the Congress. As to my own opinion and wishes, they continue the same. I can only wish generally for peace, and for such measures on your side of the water, as woud most contribute to it. As long as our Bretheren in America continue to trust that it is not the nation, but only the ministry, with whom they are at war, so long I shall still hope for an amicable accommodation. The very jealousy, that this nation coud take so unjust a part as not to wait for the impartial hearing of both sides, but that they woud swallow implicitly the Ministerial charges and representations against America, woud be the only possible way to create a national disquiet against you; but a confidence in the liberality and justice of this nation, expressed in terms of reliance and affection, woud in the greatest degree captivate the heart of a free and generous people; which I hope and believe to be the characteristick of the English. An exposition of facts, founded in historical evidence of transactions, which have hitherto been partially stated to the publick, must I am sure have the most favourable effect to cultivate a good disposition here. There is nothing that I can think woud do so much good, as a kind of affectionate expostulation with the people of England. Facts have been so much misrepresented, that unless they are otherwise stated by Authority, it seems very much like giving up the cause as a Matter of Justice, and trusting to the security of a distant situation and arms; and upon these suggestions, runners of the Ministry ground the false charge of a long [blank in MS] view of independence; As to my own sentiments, I have long seen the terms of parent state, over children &c., as very misleading in themselves; if we must have allegorical terms, let us change them for Bretheren and friends. The duties annexed to the terms of Bretheren and friends in private life, woud naturally had [lead?] us to the contemplation of these duties between Great Brittain and America; which woud make a firm and everlasting bond of affection and mutual interest; but the superictious usurpation of authoratative parental rights, over those whom God has made our equals, cannot fail to pervert reason at the outset. It presupposes a parental affection which cannot exist, having no foundation in nature beyond natural parents. It presupposes a dispensation of our own private interests, in competition with that of our provincial children; the very contrary of which, constitutes in our estimation their only value to us; and under this false colouring, even respect and gratitude from our Colonies, is received as the payment of a debt, and not set to the Account of affection or merit. Let us be bretheren and friends, and the mutuality of good offices required in the very terms, will impress upon the mind all those dispositions of humanity and mutual Assistance, which fellow Creatures and fellow Subjects shoud sustain towards each other. I send you the petition of the City of London to the King, which in my opinion breaths wisdom, humanity, and affection to our bretheren in America. As to the Answer of the Minister, (for so it must be considered, like the kings speeches to the Parliament,) I have nothing to say but this, that it appears to me to be canvassing for the people of England, and seems to confess that their Sentiments are not with the Ministerial Measures; for if they were, they wou’d hardly want to be so studiously informed, that their rights and interests are the only points, which the Ministry have in view. The very pointing this out in the terms of an Apology for the conduct of the ministry, shews that the general sense of the nation is not convinced. I think the proposition of the City of London is not far from the propositions made in Parliament on the 27th of March, for requisitions to the Colonies, and a suspension of hostilities in the enterim. I am Dear Sir with the greatest regard Yours &c.
G B


Title: Address by Pennsylvania and Virginia Delegates in Congress to the Inhabitants West of Laurel Hill, 25 July 1775: résumé
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

<Philadelphia, July 25, 1775: We are concerned about your continuing boundary disputes. We do not inquire into their origins or merits but, as representatives of two of the colonies united to defend the liberties of America, have the duty to remove if we can every obstacle that prevents Americans from co-operating to that end. This is our motive for earnestly requesting you to turn your animosities as inhabitants of separate colonies into a common effort to preserve all that makes our country dear to us.
We are convinced that you, like us, wish to see this transformation. To that end we recommend that you disband all bodies of armed men maintained by either province, discharge all those who are in prison or under bail for their part in the contest, and until it is settled leave every one in peaceful possession; thus “the public tranquility will be secured without injury to the titles on either side.” We are confident that the dispute, which has brought much mischief and no good, will soon be peaceably and legally determined. Signed for the Pennsylvania delegation by Franklin, John Dickinson, Charles Humphreys, George Ross, and James Wilson, and for the Virginia delegation by Benjamin Harrison, P. Henry, Jr., Thomas Jefferson, and Richard Henry Lee. >


Title: Amendment to Jefferson’s Draft of the Congressional Response to Lord North’s Conciliatory Resolution, [on or before 25 July 1775]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: North, Lord Frederick

On March 3, 1775, Dartmouth transmitted to the colonial governors Lord North’s conciliatory resolution, introduced in the House of Commons on February 20 and passed on the 27th. The assemblies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia took the position that an answer must come from Congress, to which the New Jersey delegates transmitted the resolution on May 26. On July 22 Franklin, Jefferson, John Adams, and Richard Henry Lee were named as a committee to report on the matter, which they did three days later; on the 31st Congress adopted the report with few changes. Jefferson, who was familiar with the questions at issue because he had drafted the response of the Virginia House of Burgesses, wrote the bulk of the committee’s report. Franklin added part of one paragraph, in which he advanced much the same arguments against the resolution that he had expressed months earlier in his journal of the negotiations in London. Jefferson accepted the addition, and with minor verbal changes it was embodied in the final resolutions of Congress. We print Franklin’s draft, with bracketed insertions at the beginning and end to set it in the context of the committee’s report.

[On or before July 25, 1775]
[The resolution seems to have been intended to deceive the world into thinking] that there was no Matter in Dispute between us but the single Circumstance of the Mode of Levying Taxes, which Mode as they are so good as to give up to us; of course that the Colonies are unreasonable if they are not thereby perfectly satisfied: Whereas in truth our Adversaries not only still claim a Right of demanding ad libitum, and of taxing us themselves to the full Amount [in another hand: of their Demands] if we do not fulfill their Pleasure, which leaves us without any thing we can call Property; but what is of more Importance, and what they keep in this Proposal out of sight, as if no such Point was in Contest, they claim a Right of altering all our Charters and establish’d Laws, which leaves us without the least Security for our Lives or Liberty. The Proposition seems also calculated more particularly &c. [to lull the British public into a false sense of security.]

Notation by Jefferson: amendment by Dr. Franklin.


Title: Editorial Note on the Founding of the Post Office, 26 July 1775
From:
To:

One of the first institutions to suffer from the colonists’ rising hostility to Britain was the royal Post Office. As early as 1773 enterprising postriders in New England were establishing routes of their own in defiance of the law. “It is next to impossible to put a stop to this practice,” wrote a new surveyor general, “in the present universal opposition to every thing connected with Great Britain. Were any Deputy Post Master to do his duty, and make a stir in such matter, he would draw on himself the odium of his neighbours and be mark’d as the friend of Slavery and oppression and a declar’d enemy to America.” Soon after Franklin’s dismissal as deputy postmaster general for North America in January, 1774, the system to which he had devoted so much time and energy began to fall apart. The old argument that postal revenue was a form of taxation gained new force as the quarrel with the mother country intensified. A system independent of the crown was becoming imperative, furthermore, if the colonists were to communicate without fear of interception. By the summer William Goddard’s “constitutional post,” a replacement for the older one, was making headway from New England to Virginia. In the autumn Goddard tried and failed to have the first Continental Congress take over his creation. But by the time the second Congress got down to business the whole situation had changed. Independent post offices were burgeoning, set up sometimes by towns and sometimes by colonial assemblies. The outbreak of hostilities increased the need for reliable communication, and the sooner the better; improvisations would no longer serve.
The delegates wasted no time. On May 29, nineteen days after they convened, they appointed a committee of six, including Franklin, “to consider the best means of establishing posts for conveying letters and intelligence through this continent.” The committee deliberated for almost two months, and on July 25 brought in its report. The next day the draft was debated by paragraphs, and may or may not have been revised. The form in which it was adopted became the charter of the new Post Office. The head of the organization was the Postmaster General. His office was to be in Philadelphia and his annual salary $1,000; he was authorized to appoint a secretary and comptroller at a salary of $340, and as many deputies as he thought necessary, who were to have twenty percent of receipts up to $1,000 and ten percent of those above that amount, and who were to account quarterly with the central office. The Postmaster General was to account annually with the continental treasurers (who, if proceeds were less than outlay, were to make good the difference), and was to establish postal routes from Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) to Savannah, with as many side routes as he thought fit. Franklin was unanimously elected to the position on the day it was created, July 26. Soon afterward he appointed Richard Bache as secretary and comptroller and Goddard as surveyor general.
There the record ends. The crucial report from Franklin’s committee has disappeared; neither his correspondence nor that of other delegates says anything about how the report was compiled or about the ensuing debate on it; all that remains is the bare outline of the actions Congress took. The same silence covers Franklin’s activities during his term of office. Almost no evidence about them survives, and the little that does is trivial: six commissions as postmasters over his signature; a letter from Bache as his deputy asking a local committee to nominate to the office; expenses of one journey to Perth Amboy on postal business. The question of whether the new system was primarily Franklin’s creation or his subordinates’ seems to be unanswerable. The Post Office was one of the solid achievements of the period, and the one about which the least is known.