Editing Benjamin Franklin (section)

==Public life==
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===Early steps in Pennsylvania===
[[File:Feke - Benjamin Franklin.png|thumb|A portrait of Franklin c. 1746–1750,{{refn|group=Note|According to Professor Zara Anishanslin.}} by [[Robert Feke]] widely believed to be the earliest known painting of Franklin<ref>{{cite web |title=Franklin in Portraits: Robert Feke |url=https://benjaminfranklinhouse.org/event/franklin-in-portraits-robert-feke/ |website=Benjamin Franklin House}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Franklin in Portraits: Robert Feke [CC] | website=[[YouTube]] | date=March 12, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxlYvETkq4Q |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin - Join or Die.jpg|thumb|''[[Join, or Die]]'', a 1754 political cartoon by Franklin, urged the colonies to join the [[Seven Years' War]] in the [[French and Indian War]]; the cartoon was later resurrected, serving as an iconic symbol in support of the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution]].]]
[[File:PennsylvaniaHospitalWilliamStrickland.jpg|thumb|In 1751, Franklin co-founded [[Pennsylvania Hospital]] in Philadelphia, one of the first hospitals in the United States, depicted in this 1755 engraving by [[William Strickland (architect)|William Strickland]].]]
[[File:1757 UPenn Seal.png|thumb|Seal of the College of Philadelphia, a college founded by Franklin that is now the [[University of Pennsylvania]]]]
[[File:Sketch of Tun Tavern in the Revolutionary War.jpg|thumb|Sketch of the original [[Tun Tavern]]]]
In 1736, Franklin created the [[Union Fire Company]], one of the first [[Volunteer fire department|volunteer firefighting companies]] in America. In the same year, he printed a new currency for New Jersey based on innovative anti-[[counterfeit]]ing techniques he had devised. Throughout his career, he was an advocate for [[Banknote|paper money]], publishing ''A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency'' in 1729, and his printer printed money. He was influential in the more restrained and thus successful monetary experiments in the Middle Colonies, which stopped [[deflation]] without causing excessive inflation. In 1766, he made a case for paper money to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|British House of Commons]].<ref>[[John Kenneth Galbraith]]. (1975). ''Money: Where It Came, Whence It Went'', p. 54. Houghton Mifflin Company.</ref>

As he matured, Franklin began to concern himself more with public affairs. In 1743, he first devised a scheme for the [[Academy and College of Philadelphia|Academy, Charity School, and College of Philadelphia]]; however, the person he had in mind to run the academy, Rev. [[Richard Peters (priest)|Richard Peters]], refused and Franklin put his ideas away until 1749 when he printed his own pamphlet, ''Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania.''<ref name="MontgomeryHistory">{{cite book | title=A History of the University of Pennsylvania from Its Foundation to A.D. 1770 | url=https://archive.org/details/ahistoryunivers02montgoog | publisher=George W. Jacobs & Co. | last=Montgomery |first=Thomas Harrison | year=1900 | location=Philadelphia | lccn=00003240}}</ref>{{rp|30}} He was appointed president of the Academy on November 13, 1749; the academy and the charity school opened in 1751.<ref>[http://www.archives.upenn.edu/primdocs/upl/upl125.pdf The Early Years: The Charity School, Academy and College of Philadelphia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205112444/http://www.archives.upenn.edu/primdocs/upl/upl125.pdf|date=February 5, 2012}} at the University of Pennsylvania Archives, 1972.</ref>

In 1743, he founded the [[American Philosophical Society]] to help scientific men discuss their discoveries and theories. He began the electrical research that, along with other scientific inquiries, would occupy him for the rest of his life, in between bouts of politics and moneymaking.<ref name="vandoren"/>

During [[King George's War]], Franklin raised a militia called the Association for General Defense because the legislators of the city had decided to take no action to defend Philadelphia "either by erecting fortifications or building Ships of War." He raised money to create earthwork defenses and buy artillery. The largest of these was the "Association Battery" or "Grand Battery" of 50 guns.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dorwart |first=Jeffery |title=Fort Mifflin of Philadelphia: An Illustrated History |pages=9–11 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8122-1644-8 }}</ref><ref name=Kyria1>{{cite book|title=Philadelphia's Lost Waterfront|first =Harry |last = Kyriakodis|publisher= The History Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-62584-188-9 |page=114 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Lt2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT114 |chapter = 16. At Washington Avenue}}</ref>

In 1747, Franklin (already a very wealthy man) retired from printing and went into other businesses.<ref>James N. Green, "English Books and Printing in the Age of Franklin", in ''The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World'' (2002), 257.</ref> He formed a partnership with his foreman, [[David Hall (printer)|David Hall]], which provided Franklin with half of the shop's profits for 18 years. This lucrative business arrangement provided leisure time for study, and in a few years he had made many new discoveries.

Franklin became involved in Philadelphia politics and rapidly progressed. In October 1748, he was selected as a councilman; in June 1749, he became a [[justice of the peace]] for Philadelphia; and in 1751, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. On August 10, 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster-general of [[British North America]]. His service in domestic politics included reforming the postal system, with mail sent out every week.<ref name="vandoren"/>

In 1751, Franklin and [[Thomas Bond (American physician)|Thomas Bond]] obtained a charter from the Pennsylvania legislature to establish a hospital. [[Pennsylvania Hospital]] was the first hospital in the colonies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=IN THE BEGINNING – The Story of the Creation of the Nation's First Hospital|url=https://www.uphs.upenn.edu/paharc/features/creation.html|url-status=live|access-date=August 22, 2021|website=Penn Medicine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021015112900/http://www.uphs.upenn.edu:80/paharc/features/creation.html |archive-date=October 15, 2002 }}</ref> In 1752, Franklin organized the [[Philadelphia Contributionship]], the Colonies' first [[Home insurance|homeowner's insurance]] company.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Landers|first1=Jackson|title=In the Early 19th Century, Firefighters Fought Fires ... and Each Other|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/early-19-century-firefighters-fought-fires-each-other-180960391/|access-date=December 10, 2017|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|date=September 27, 2016|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=McGuire|first1=Virginia|title=What Are Those Little Shields Above the Doorways of Philadelphia Homes?|url=http://www.phillymag.com/property/2013/05/03/the-storied-fire-marks-of-philadelphia/|access-date=December 10, 2017|work=[[Philadelphia (magazine)|Philadelphia]]|publisher=[[Metrocorp Publishing]]|date=May 3, 2013}}</ref>

Between 1750 and 1753, the "educational triumvirate"{{sfn|Olsen|2013|p=174}} of Franklin, [[Samuel Johnson (American educator)|Samuel Johnson]] of [[Stratford, Connecticut]], and schoolteacher [[William Smith (Episcopal priest)|William Smith]] built on Franklin's initial scheme and created what [[James Madison (bishop)|Bishop James Madison]], president of the [[College of William & Mary]], called a "new-model"<ref>Smith, Horace Wemyss, ''The Life and Correspondence of the Rev. Wm. Smith, D.D.'', Philadelphia, 1880, Volume 1: pp. 566–567.</ref> plan or style of American college. Franklin solicited, printed in 1752, and promoted an American textbook of [[Ethics|moral philosophy]] by Samuel Johnson, titled ''Elementa Philosophica'',<ref>Samuel Johnson, ''Elementa philosophica: containing chiefly, Noetica, or things relating to the mind or understanding: and Ethica, or things relating to the moral behaviour. Philadelphia'', Printed by B. Franklin and D. Hall, at the new-printing-office, near the market, 1752</ref> to be taught in the new colleges. In June 1753, Johnson, Franklin, and Smith met in Stratford.{{sfn|Olsen|2013|pp=163–274}} They decided the new-model college would focus on the professions, with classes taught in English instead of Latin, have subject matter experts as professors instead of one tutor leading a class for four years, and there would be no religious test for admission.{{sfn|Olsen|2013|p=163}} Johnson went on to found King's College (now [[Columbia University]]) in New York City in 1754, while Franklin hired Smith as provost of the College of Philadelphia, which opened in 1755. At its first commencement, on May 17, 1757, seven men graduated; six with a Bachelor of Arts and one with a Master of Arts. It was later merged with the [[University of the State of Pennsylvania]] to become the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. The college was to become influential in guiding the founding documents of the United States: in the [[Continental Congress]], for example, over one-third of the college-affiliated men who contributed to the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] between September 4, 1774, and July 4, 1776, were affiliated with the college.{{sfn|Olsen|2013|p=308}}

In 1754, he headed the Pennsylvania delegation to the [[Albany Congress]]. This meeting of several colonies had been requested by the [[Board of Trade]] in England to improve relations with the Indians and defense against the French. Franklin proposed a broad [[Albany Plan|Plan of Union]] for the colonies. While the plan was not adopted, elements of it found their way into the [[Articles of Confederation]] and the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Union: Joseph Galloway, Plan of Union|url=https://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch7s3.html|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=press-pubs.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

In 1753, [[Harvard University]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=History of honorary degrees|url=https://www.harvard.edu/about/history/honorary-degrees/|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=Harvard University|language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Yale]]<ref>[http://ris-systech2.its.yale.edu/hondegrees/hondegrees.asp Honorary Degrees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610204206/http://ris-systech2.its.yale.edu/hondegrees/hondegrees.asp|date=June 10, 2010}} Yale University. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> awarded him honorary master of arts degrees.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Resume {{pipe}} Ben Franklin Exhibit|url=https://www.benfranklinexhibit.org/resume|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=www.benfranklinexhibit.org}}</ref> In 1756, he was awarded an honorary [[Master of Arts]] degree from the [[College of William & Mary]].<ref>{{cite book |date=1874 |title=The History of the College of William and Mary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfaiLj00yFYC&pg=PA48 |location=Richmond, VA |publisher=J.W. Randolph & English |page=148|isbn=978-1-4290-4333-5 }}</ref> Later in 1756, Franklin organized the [[Pennsylvania Army National Guard|Pennsylvania Militia]]. He used [[Tun Tavern]] as a gathering place to recruit a regiment of soldiers to go into battle against the Native American uprisings that beset the American colonies.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Peter|title=Rum Punch & Revolution: Taverngoing & Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia|date=1999|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia|page=}}</ref>

=== Postmaster ===
<!--The 'Franklin on U.S. postage' section links to this section/image file. -->
[[File:Franklin SC1 1847.jpg|thumb|The first [[United States Postal Service|U.S. postag]]e stamp, issued in 1847 in honor of Franklin]]
[[File:Franklin_signed_pass_for_Goddard3.jpg|thumb|A Pass, signed by Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin, gave [[William Goddard (publisher)|William Goddard]] the authority to travel as needed to investigate and inspect postal routes and protect the mail.<ref name="Smithsonian">{{cite web| url = https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-postal-inspection-service-duties-and-history-history/william-goddard| title = William Goddard, Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Essay}}</ref>]]
Well known as a printer and publisher, Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, holding the office until 1753, when he and publisher William Hunter were named deputy postmasters–general of British North America, the first to hold the office. ([[Postmaster General of the United Kingdom#Two Postmasters General, 1691–1823|Joint appointments]] were standard at the time, for political reasons.) He was responsible for the British colonies from Pennsylvania north and east, as far as the [[Newfoundland (island)|island of Newfoundland]]. A post office for local and outgoing mail had been established in [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], by local stationer Benjamin Leigh, on April 23, 1754, but service was irregular. Franklin opened the first post office to offer regular, monthly mail in Halifax on December 9, 1755. Meantime, Hunter became postal administrator in [[Williamsburg, Virginia]], and oversaw areas south of [[Annapolis, Maryland]]. Franklin reorganized the service's accounting system and improved speed of delivery between Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. By 1761, efficiencies led to the first profits for the colonial post office.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Civilization.ca – A Chronology of Canadian Postal History|url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1753ae.html|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=www.historymuseum.ca}}</ref>

When the lands of [[New France]] were ceded to the British under the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1763, the British [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|province of Quebec]] was created among them, and Franklin saw mail service expanded between [[Montreal]], [[Trois-Rivières]], Quebec City, and New York. For the greater part of his appointment, he lived in England (from 1757 to 1762, and again from 1764 to 1774)—about three-quarters of his term.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Civilization.ca – A Chronology of Canadian Postal History – 1760–1840|url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/chs1760e.html|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=www.historymuseum.ca}}</ref> Eventually, his sympathies for the rebel cause in the American Revolution led to his dismissal on January 31, 1774.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-21-02-0021| title = To Benjamin Franklin from Anthony Todd, 31 January, 1744}}</ref>

On July 26, 1775, the [[Second Continental Congress]] established the [[United States Post Office Department#Foundations|United States Post Office]] and named Franklin as the first [[United States Postmaster General|United States postmaster general]]. He had been a postmaster for decades and was a natural choice for the position.{{sfn|Isaacson|2003|pp=206–209, 301}} He had just returned from England and was appointed chairman of a Committee of Investigation to establish a postal system. The report of the committee, providing for the appointment of a postmaster general for the 13 American colonies, was considered by the Continental Congress on July 25 and 26. On July 26, 1775, Franklin was appointed postmaster general, the first appointed under the Continental Congress. His apprentice, [[William Goddard (publisher)|William Goddard]], felt that his ideas were mostly responsible for shaping the postal system and that the appointment should have gone to him, but he graciously conceded it to Franklin, 36 years his senior.<ref name="Smithsonian" /> Franklin, however, appointed Goddard as Surveyor of the Posts, issued him a signed pass, and directed him to investigate and inspect the various post offices and mail routes as he saw fit.<ref name="RI_Journalism">{{cite web| url = http://www.uri.edu/artsci/jor/sarah.htm| title = Journalism Department University of Rhode Island}}</ref><ref name="Library_of_Congress">{{cite web| url = https://www.loc.gov/rr/news/18th/659.html| title = The Library of Congress| website = [[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> The newly established postal system became the United States Post Office, a system that continues to operate today.<ref>{{cite news|title=History of the United States Postal Systems|newspaper=Thoughtco|url=http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmailus1.htm#CONGRESS|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711224521/http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmailus1.htm#CONGRESS|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 11, 2012|access-date=June 20, 2011|publisher=Inventors.about.com}}</ref>

====Political work====
[[File:US-Colonial (PA-115)-Pennsylvania-18 Jun 1764.jpg|thumb|Pennsylvania colonial currency printed by Franklin and [[David Hall (publisher)|David Hall]] in 1764]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1767.jpg|thumb|Franklin in London in 1767, wearing a powdered wig and blue suit with elaborate gold braid and buttons, a far cry from the simple dress he affected at the [[Royal court|French court]] in later years, [[Portrait of Benjamin Franklin|depicted in a portrait]] by [[David Martin (artist)|David Martin]] that is now on display in the [[White House]]]]

In 1757, he was sent to England by the Pennsylvania Assembly as a colonial agent to protest against the political influence of the [[William Penn|Penn family]], the [[proprietary colony|proprietors of the colony]]. He remained there for five years, striving to end the proprietors' prerogative to overturn legislation from the elected Assembly and their exemption from paying taxes on their land. His lack of influential allies in [[Whitehall]] led to the failure of this mission.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

At this time, many members of the Pennsylvania Assembly were feuding with William Penn's heirs, who controlled the colony as proprietors. After his return to the colony, Franklin led the "anti-proprietary party" in the struggle against the Penn family and was elected [[List of speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives|Speaker of the Pennsylvania House]] in May 1764. His call for a change from proprietary to royal government was a rare political miscalculation, however: Pennsylvanians worried that such a move would endanger their political and religious freedoms. Because of these fears and because of political attacks on his character, Franklin lost his seat in the October 1764 Assembly elections. The anti-proprietary party dispatched him to England again to continue the struggle against the Penn family proprietorship. During this trip, events drastically changed the nature of his mission.<ref name="ANB2">J.A. Leo Lemay, "Franklin, Benjamin". ''[[American National Biography]] Online'', February 2000. https://www.anb.org/display/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-0100298?rskey=69AExU&result=10</ref>

In London, Franklin opposed the [[Stamp Act 1765|1765 Stamp Act]]. Unable to prevent its passage, he made another political miscalculation and recommended a friend to the post of stamp distributor for Pennsylvania. Pennsylvanians were outraged, believing that he had supported the measure all along, and threatened to destroy his home in Philadelphia. Franklin soon learned of the extent of colonial resistance to the Stamp Act, and he testified during the House of Commons proceedings that led to its repeal.<ref>Peter Charles Hoffer, ''Benjamin Franklin Explains the Stamp Act Protests to Parliament, 1766'' (2015)</ref> With this, Franklin suddenly emerged as the leading spokesman for American interests in England. He wrote popular essays on behalf of the colonies. [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[New Jersey]], and [[Massachusetts]] also appointed him as their agent to the Crown.<ref name="ANB2"/>

During his lengthy missions to London between 1757 and 1775, Franklin lodged in a house on Craven Street, just off [[Strand, London|the Strand]] in [[central London]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/2/2006_2_49.shtml|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005062210/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/2/2006_2_49.shtml|url-status=dead|title=Tom Huntington|archivedate=October 5, 2009}}</ref> During his stays there, he developed a close friendship with his landlady, Margaret Stevenson, and her circle of friends and relations, in particular, her daughter Mary, who was more often known as Polly. The house is now a museum known as the [[Benjamin Franklin House]]. Whilst in London, Franklin became involved in [[Radicalism (historical)|radical]] politics. He belonged to a [[gentlemen's club]] (which he called "the honest [[Radical Whigs|Whigs]]"), which held stated meetings, and included members such as [[Richard Price]], the minister of [[Newington Green Unitarian Church]] who ignited the [[Revolution controversy]], and [[Andrew Kippis]].<ref>Duncan Wu, ''William Hazlitt (1737–1820), the Priestley Circle, and "The Theological Repository:" A Brief Survey and Bibliography'', The Review of English Studies New Series, Vol. 56, No. 227 (Nov. 2005), pp. 758–766 [762]. Published by: Oxford University Press {{JSTOR|3661246}}.</ref>

====Scientific work====
In 1756, Franklin had become a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (now the [[Royal Society of Arts]]), which had been founded in 1754. After his return to the United States in 1775, he became the Society's Corresponding Member, continuing a close connection. The Royal Society of Arts instituted a [[Benjamin Franklin Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Benjamin Franklin Medal]] in 1956 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of his birth and the 200th anniversary of his membership of the RSA.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nicholles|first=Natalie|title=What Would Benjamin Franklin Say?|url=https://www.thersa.org/blog/2016/12/what-would-benjamin-franklin-say|url-status=live|access-date=September 16, 2021|website=The RSA|date=December 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916164701/https://www.thersa.org/blog/2016/12/what-would-benjamin-franklin-say |archive-date=September 16, 2021 }}</ref>

The study of [[natural philosophy]] (referred today as science in general) drew him into overlapping circles of acquaintance. Franklin was, for example, a corresponding member of the [[Lunar Society of Birmingham]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Schofield|first=Robert E.|title=The Industrial Orientation of Science in the Lunar Society of Birmingham|date=December 1957|journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]|volume=48|issue=4|pages=408–415|publisher=The University of Chicago Press on behalf of [[The History of Science Society]]|doi=10.1086/348607|issn=0021-1753|jstor=227513|s2cid=144950413}}</ref> In 1759, the [[University of St Andrews]] awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his accomplishments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/people-franklin-resume.htm|title=Benjamin Franklin's Resume – Independence National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)|website=www.nps.gov}}</ref> In October 1759, he was granted [[Freedom of the City|Freedom of the Borough]] of [[St Andrews]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Kate Kennedy Club|url=http://www.katekennedyclub.org.uk/news.aspx#19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327111941/http://katekennedyclub.org.uk/news.aspx|archive-date=March 27, 2009|access-date=September 21, 2009|publisher=The Kate Kennedy Club}}</ref> He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by [[Oxford University]] in 1762. Because of these honors, he was often addressed as "{{abbr|Dr.|Doctor}} Franklin."<ref name="Britannica" />

While living in London in 1768, [[Benjamin Franklin's phonetic alphabet|he developed a phonetic alphabet]] in ''A Scheme for a new Alphabet and a Reformed Mode of Spelling''. This reformed alphabet discarded six letters he regarded as redundant (c, j, q, w, x, and y), and substituted six new letters for sounds he felt lacked letters of their own. This alphabet never caught on, and he eventually lost interest.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benjamin Franklin's Phonetic Alphabet|url=https://omniglot.com/writing/franklin.htm|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=omniglot.com}}</ref>

===Return to London and Travels in Europe===
From the mid-1750s to the mid-1770s, Franklin returned to England and spent much of his time in London.<ref>{{cite web |title=Franklin & the House |url=https://benjaminfranklinhouse.org/the-house-benjamin-franklin/ |website=Benjamin Franklin House |access-date=8 November 2024}}</ref>, using the city as a base from which to travel. In 1771, he made short journeys through different parts of England, staying with [[Joseph Priestley]] at [[Leeds]], [[Thomas Percival]] at [[Manchester]] and [[Erasmus Darwin]] at [[Lichfield]].<ref name="sparks">{{Cite web|title=Biography of Benjamin Franklin|url=https://www.ushistory.org/franklin/biography/chap05.htm|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=www.ushistory.org}}</ref> In Scotland, he spent five days with [[Henry Home, Lord Kames|Lord Kames]] near [[Stirling]] and stayed for three weeks with [[David Hume]] in Edinburgh. In 1759, he visited Edinburgh with his son and later reported that he considered his six weeks in Scotland "six weeks of the densest happiness I have met with in any part of my life."<ref name="Buchan 2003 p. 2">{{cite book | last=Buchan | first=James | title=Crowded with Genius | publisher=Harper | date=November 25, 2003 | isbn=0-06-055888-1 | page=2}}</ref>

In Ireland, he stayed with [[Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire|Lord Hillsborough]]. Franklin noted of him that "all the plausible behaviour I have described is meant only, by patting and stroking the horse, to make him more patient, while the reins are drawn tighter, and the spurs set deeper into his sides."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIAxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR21|title=Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|editor=Nathan Haskell Dole|year=2003|publisher=Kessinger |access-date=September 21, 2009|isbn=978-0-7661-4375-3}}</ref> In [[Dublin]], Franklin was invited to sit with the members of the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]] rather than in the gallery. He was the first American to receive this honor.<ref name="sparks" /> While touring Ireland, he was deeply moved by the level of poverty he witnessed. The [[Ireland#Economy|economy]] of the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] was affected by the same trade regulations and laws that governed the Thirteen Colonies. He feared that the American colonies could eventually come to the same level of poverty if the regulations and laws continued to apply to them.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|title=Benjamin Franklin {{pipe}} Ken Burns {{pipe}} PBS {{pipe}} Watch Benjamin Franklin: A Ken Burns Film {{pipe}} Full Documentary Now Streaming {{pipe}} PBS|url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/benjamin-franklin/|access-date=December 30, 2022|website= PBS|language=en}}</ref>

Franklin spent two months in German lands in 1766, but his connections to the country stretched across a lifetime. He declared a debt of gratitude to German scientist [[Otto von Guericke]] for his early studies of electricity. Franklin also co-authored the first [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Prussia–United States)|treaty of friendship]] between Prussia and America in 1785.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Avalon Project: Treaty of Amity and Commerce between His Majesty the King of Prussia, and the United States of America|url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/prus1785.asp|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=avalon.law.yale.edu}}</ref> In September 1767, he visited Paris with his usual traveling partner, [[Sir John Pringle, 1st Baronet]]. News of his electrical discoveries was widespread in France. His reputation meant that he was introduced to many influential scientists and politicians, and also to King [[Louis XV]].{{sfn|Isaacson|2003|p={{page needed|date=April 2025}}}}

===Defending the American cause===
One line of argument in Parliament was that Americans should pay a share of the costs of the [[French and Indian War]] and therefore taxes should be levied on them. Franklin became the American spokesman in highly publicized testimony in Parliament in 1766. He stated that Americans already contributed heavily to the defense of the Empire. He said local governments had raised, outfitted and paid 25,000 soldiers to fight France—as many as Great Britain itself sent—and spent many millions from American treasuries doing so in the French and Indian War alone.<ref>{{cite book |editor=James A. Henretta.|title=Documents for America's History, Volume 1: To 1877|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_rsacFjVCAC&pg=PA110|year=2011|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|page=110|isbn=978-0-312-64862-6}}</ref>{{sfn|Isaacson|2003|pp=229–230}}

In 1772, Franklin [[Hutchinson letters affair|obtained private letters]] of [[Thomas Hutchinson (governor)|Thomas Hutchinson]] and [[Andrew Oliver]], [[Governor of Massachusetts|governor]] and [[Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts|lieutenant governor]] of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]], proving that they had encouraged the Crown to crack down on Bostonians. Franklin sent them to North America, where they escalated tensions. The letters were finally [[News leak|leaked]] to the public in the ''[[Boston Gazette]]'' in mid-June 1773,<ref>{{cite book|last=Bailyn|first=Bernard|title=The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson|location=Cambridge, MA|year=1974|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-64160-0|oclc=6825524|url=https://archive.org/details/ordealofthomashu00bern}}, p. 240.</ref> causing a political firestorm in Massachusetts and raising significant questions in England.<ref name="Penegar29">{{cite book|last=Penegar|first=Kenneth|title=The Political Trial of Benjamin Franklin|publisher=Algora Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-0-87586-849-3|location=New York|oclc=696296728}}, p. 29.</ref> The British began to regard him as the fomenter of serious trouble. Hopes for a peaceful solution ended as he was systematically ridiculed and humiliated by [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor-General]] [[Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn|Alexander Wedderburn]], before the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] on January 29, 1774. He returned to Philadelphia in March 1775, and abandoned his accommodationist stance.<ref>Sheila L. Skemp, ''The Making of a Patriot: Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit'' (Oxford University Press; 2012)</ref>

In 1773, Franklin published two of his most celebrated pro-American satirical essays: [[s:Rules By Which A Great Empire May Be Reduced To A Small One|"Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One,"]] and "[[s:An Edict by the King of Prussia|An Edict by the King of Prussia.]]"<ref>{{cite web|last=Franklin|first=Benjamin|title=reprinted on The History Carper|url=http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/pa-1773.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060103051246/http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/pa-1773.htm|archive-date=January 3, 2006}}</ref>

=== Agent for British and Hellfire Club membership ===
Franklin is known to have occasionally attended the [[Hellfire Club]]'s meetings during 1758 as a non-member during his time in England. However, some authors and historians would argue he was in fact a British spy. As there are no records left (having been burned in 1774<ref>''City of Blood, Cities of the Underworld'' – History Channel 2 (H2), 2008</ref>), many of these members are just assumed or linked by letters sent to each other.<ref>Ashe, Geoffrey. ''The Hell-Fire Clubs: A History of Anti-Morality''. Great Britain: Sutton Publishing, 2005, p. 121.</ref> One early proponent that Franklin was a member of the Hellfire Club and a double agent is the historian [[Donald McCormick]],<ref>{{Cite web|title="Famous British Historian claims Benjamin Franklin Was A British Spy", by Richard Deacon|url=https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/fc/deacononfranklin.html|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=msuweb.montclair.edu}}</ref> who has a history of making controversial claims.<ref>{{cite book | title=Hayek: A Collaborative Biography | chapter=Donald McCormick: 2 + 2 = 5 | last=Spence | first=Richard B. |date = January 15, 2015| page=236 | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | isbn=978-1-137-45242-9|quote=The question at the heart of this volume is the reliability, indeed, the fundamental honesty, of Donald McCormick, best known under his nom de plume, Richard Deacon. As the chapters generally attest, 'Deacon' McCormick could be an unreliable, even misleading, source.}}</ref>

===Coming of revolution===
In 1763, soon after Franklin returned to Pennsylvania from England for the first time, the western frontier was engulfed in a bitter war known as [[Pontiac's Rebellion]]. The [[Paxton Boys]], a group of settlers convinced that the Pennsylvania government was not doing enough to protect them from [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] raids, murdered a group of peaceful [[Susquehannock]] Indians and marched on Philadelphia.{{sfn|Isaacson|2003|pp=209–216}} Franklin helped to organize a local militia to defend the capital against the mob. He met with the Paxton leaders and persuaded them to disperse. Franklin wrote a scathing attack against the [[racism|racial prejudice]] of the Paxton Boys. "If an ''Indian'' injures me," he asked, "does it follow that I may revenge that injury on all ''Indians''?"<ref>Franklin, Benjamin. [http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/massacre.htm "A Narrative of the Late Massacres&nbsp;..."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427070508/http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/massacre.htm |date=April 27, 2006 }} reprinted on The History Carper.</ref><ref name=":01scratch">{{cite book | last=Calloway|first= C. G. | date=2006 | title=The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America | chapter=4 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-530071-0}}</ref>

He provided an early response to British surveillance through his own network of [[Surveillance art|counter-surveillance and manipulation]]. "He waged a public relations campaign, secured secret aid, played a role in privateering expeditions, and churned out effective and inflammatory propaganda."<ref>{{cite journal| last=Crews| first= Ed| title= Spies and Scouts, Secret Writing, and Sympathetic Citizens| journal= Colonial Williamsburg Journal| url=http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Summer04/spies.cfm| date=Summer 2004| access-date=April 19, 2009}}</ref>

===Declaration of Independence===
[[File:Declaration independence.jpg|thumb|alt=About 50 men, most of them seated, are in a large meeting room. Most are focused on the five men standing in the center of the room. The tallest of the five is laying a document on a table.|[[John Trumbull]]'s portrait of the [[Committee of Five]] presenting their draft of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration]] to the [[Second Continental Congress]] in [[Philadelphia]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Key to Declaration|url=https://www.americanrevolution.org/deckey.php|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=www.americanrevolution.org}}</ref>]]
By the time Franklin arrived in Philadelphia on May 5, 1775, after his second mission to Great Britain, the [[American Revolution]] had begun at the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] the previous month, on April 19, 1775. The New England militia had forced the main British army to remain inside Boston.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Princeton University Press |url=https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/the-fourth-of-july-but-not-1776-independence-and-epidemics-in-boston}}</ref> The Pennsylvania Assembly unanimously chose Franklin as their delegate to the [[Second Continental Congress]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}} In June 1776, he was appointed a member of the [[Committee of Five]] that drafted the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. Although he was temporarily disabled by [[gout]] and unable to attend most meetings of the committee,{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}} he made several "small but important" changes to the draft sent to him by [[Thomas Jefferson]].{{sfn|Isaacson|2003|pp=311–312}}

The "all hang together" saying ascribed to Franklin at the signing is probably apocryphal. He reportedly replied to [[John Hancock]] when Hancock stated that [[Founding Fathers of the United States|they]] must all hang together, "Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/lifebenjaminfra00spargoog|quote=franklin shall all hang separately sparks.|title=The Life of Benjamin Franklin: Containing the Autobiography, with Notes and a Continuation |first=Jared |last=Sparks |author-link=Jared Sparks |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifebenjaminfra00spargoog/page/n437 408]| publisher=Whittemore, Niles and Hall |location=Boston |year=1856 |access-date=April 9, 2025}}</ref>  Carl Van Doren in ''Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiographical Writings'' writes that the person who said this was most likely Richard Penn, former  governor of Pennsylvania, replying to a member of Congress who had said "they must all hang together"... 'If you do not, gentlemen,' said Mr. Penn, '1can tell you that you will be very apt to hang separately.'"{{sfn|Van Doren|1945|pp=418–419}}

{{Anchor|Ambassador to France}}

===Ambassador to France (1776–1785)===
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[[File:Franklin1877.jpg|thumb|Franklin, in his [[fur]] hat, charmed the [[French people|French]] with what they perceived as his rustic [[New World]] [[genius]].{{refn|group=Note|Portraits of Franklin at this time often contained an inscription, the best known being [[Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune|Turgot's]] acclamation, "{{lang|la|Eripuit fulmen coelo sceptrumque tyrannis.}}" (He snatched the lightning from the skies and the scepter from the tyrants.) Historian [[Friedrich Christoph Schlosser]] remarked at the time, with ample hyperbole, that "Such was the number of portraits, busts and medallions of him in circulation before he left Paris, that he would have been recognized from them by any adult citizen in any part of the civilized world."&nbsp;– {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Franklin, Benjamin}}}}]]
[[File:Libertas Americana silver medallion 1783.jpg|thumb|While in France, Franklin designed and commissioned [[Augustin Dupré]] to engrave the medallion [[Libertas Americana]], which was minted in Paris in 1783.]]
On October 26, 1776, Franklin was dispatched to France as [[commissioner]] for the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/benjamin-franklin-sets-sail-for-france|title=Benjamin Franklin sets sail for France|website=history.com|date=November 13, 2009 }}</ref> He took with him as secretary his 16-year-old grandson, [[William Temple Franklin]]. They lived in a home in the Parisian suburb of [[Passy]], donated by [[Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont]], who supported the United States. Franklin remained in France until 1785. He conducted the affairs of his country toward the French nation with great success, which included securing a critical military alliance in 1778 and signing the 1783 [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]].<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Miller|editor-first=Hunter|title=British-American Diplomacy: The Paris Peace Treaty of September 30, 1783|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/paris.asp|publisher=The Avalon Project at Yale Law School}}</ref>

Among his associates in France was [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau]]—a [[French Revolution]]ary writer, orator and statesman who in 1791 was elected president of the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Assembly]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Book in the Painting {{pipe}} Jefferson|url=https://www.isthisjefferson.org/DLP_D04.html?zoom_highlight=Franklin|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=www.isthisjefferson.org}}</ref> In July 1784, Franklin met with Mirabeau and contributed anonymous materials that the Frenchman used in his first signed work: ''Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus''.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Mirabeau|first1=Gabriel-Honoré de Riquetti|url=http://archive.org/details/cihm_39568|title=Considérations sur l'Ordre de Cincinnatus ou Imitation d'un pamphlet anglo-américain [microforme]|date=1784|publisher=A Londres: Chez J. Johnson ...|others=Canadiana.org|isbn=978-0-665-39568-0}}</ref> The publication was critical of the [[Society of the Cincinnati]], established in the United States. Franklin and Mirabeau thought of it as a "noble order," inconsistent with the [[Egalitarianism|egalitarian]] ideals of the new republic.<ref>Van Doren, Carl. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (The Viking Press: New York). 1938. pp. 709–710.</ref>

During his stay in France, he was active as a Freemason, serving as venerable master of the lodge [[Les Neuf Sœurs]] from 1779 until 1781. In 1784, when [[Franz Mesmer]] began to publicize his theory of "[[animal magnetism]]" which was considered offensive by many, [[Louis XVI]] appointed [[Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism|a commission]] to investigate it. These included the chemist [[Antoine Lavoisier]], the physician [[Joseph-Ignace Guillotin]], the astronomer [[Jean Sylvain Bailly]], and Franklin.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Franklin's Forgotten Triumph: Scientific Testing|url=https://www.americanheritage.com/franklins-forgotten-triumph-scientific-testing|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=AMERICAN HERITAGE|language=en}}</ref> In doing so, the committee concluded, through [[Blinded experiment|blind trials]] that mesmerism only seemed to work when the subjects expected it, which discredited mesmerism and became the first major demonstration of the [[placebo]] effect, which was described at that time as "imagination."<ref>{{cite web |title=The phony health craze that inspired hypnotism |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQyAnKjD6W4 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211123/KQyAnKjD6W4| archive-date=November 23, 2021 | url-status=live|website=YouTube | date=January 27, 2021 |publisher=Vox |access-date=January 27, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 1781, he was elected a fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter F|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterF.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterF.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=July 28, 2014}}</ref>

Franklin's advocacy for [[religious tolerance]] in France contributed to arguments made by French philosophers and politicians that resulted in Louis XVI's signing of the [[Edict of Versailles]] in November 1787. This edict effectively nullified the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]], which had denied non-Catholics civil status and the right to openly practice their faith.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Book338glava314dictofersailles1787html Wa365bet Vioslot|url=https://booking-help.org/book_338_glava_314_Edict_of_Versailles_(1787).html|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=booking-help.org|archive-date=December 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230204343/https://booking-help.org/book_338_glava_314_Edict_of_Versailles_(1787).html|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Franklin also served as American minister to Sweden, although he never visited that country.<ref name="hist_Benj">{{cite web |title=Benjamin Franklin – People – Department History – Office of the Historian |work=history.state.gov |access-date=February 27, 2019 |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/franklin-benjamin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023040237/https://www.history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/franklin-benjamin |archive-date=October 23, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He negotiated a [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Sweden)|treaty]] that was signed in April 1783. On August 27, 1783, in Paris, he witnessed the [[Hot air balloon#First manned flight|world's first hydrogen balloon flight]].<ref name="EcceF">{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_7IRHZGyzMC&pg=PA36 |title=Eccentric France: Bradt Guide to mad, magical and marvellous France| author=Piers Letcher&nbsp;– Jacques Charles |year= 2003|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |access-date=March 17, 2010| isbn=978-1-84162-068-8}}</ref> ''[[Robert brothers#First hydrogen balloon|Le Globe]]'', created by professor [[Jacques Charles]] and [[Robert brothers|Les Frères Robert]], was watched by a vast crowd as it rose from the [[Champ de Mars]] (now the site of the [[Eiffel Tower]]).<ref name="Sci&Soc">{{cite web| url=http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10447673 |title=Science and Society, Medal commemorating Charles and Robert's balloon ascent, Paris, 1783 |publisher=Scienceandsociety.co.uk |access-date=March 17, 2010}}</ref> Franklin became so enthusiastic that he subscribed financially to the next project to build a manned hydrogen balloon.<ref name="Fid Green">{{cite web| url=https://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/Aircraft/Balloon-Charles.html |title=Fiddlers Green, History of Ballooning, Jacques Charles |publisher=Fiddlersgreen.net |access-date=June 20, 2011}}</ref> On December 1, 1783, Franklin was seated in the special enclosure for honored guests [[Robert brothers#First manned hydrogen balloon flight|it took off]] from the [[Tuileries Garden|Jardin des Tuileries]], piloted by Charles and [[Robert brothers|Nicolas-Louis Robert]].<ref name="EcceF"/><ref name="FAI">{{cite web| url=http://www.fai.org/ballooning/newsletter/pr00-02.htm |title=Federation Aeronautique Internationale, Ballooning Commission, Hall of Fame, Robert Brothers |publisher=Fai.org |access-date=March 17, 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080516222023/http://www.fai.org/ballooning/newsletter/pr00-02.htm |archive-date=May 16, 2008}}</ref> [[Walter Isaacson]] describes a [[chess]] game between Franklin and the Duchess of Bourbon, "who made a move that inadvertently exposed her king. Ignoring the rules of the game, he promptly captured it. 'Ah,' said the duchess, 'we do not take Kings so.' Replied Franklin in a famous quip: 'We do in America.{{'"}}{{sfn|Isaacson|2003|p=372}}

===Return to North America===
[[File:Franklin's return to Philadelphia 1785 cph.3g09906.jpg|thumb|''Franklin's return to Philadelphia, 1785'', a portrait by [[Jean Leon Gerome Ferris]]]]
[[File:Foundation of the American Government by Henry Hintermeister.jpg|thumb|[[George Washington]] witnesses [[Gouverneur Morris]] sign the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]] with Franklin seen behind Morris, in [[John Henry Hintermeister]]'s 1925 portrait, ''Foundation of the American Government''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Raymond H. |title= George Washington: American Symbol|chapter= The Marketing of an Icon |year=1999 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eLxsfeV43-wC&q=foundation%20of%20the%20American%20government%2C%20John%20Henry%20Hintermeister&pg=PA117 |page= 117 |publisher=Hudson Hills |isbn=9781555951481 |quote= Figure 56 John Henry Hintermeister (American 1869–1945) ''Signing of the Constitution'', 1925...Alternatively labeled ''Title to Freedom'' and the ''Foundation of American Government''...".}}</ref>]]

When he returned home in 1785, Franklin occupied a position second only to that of [[George Washington]] as the champion of American independence. Le Ray honored him with a commissioned portrait painted by [[Joseph Duplessis]], which now hangs in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in Washington, D.C. After his return, Franklin became an [[Abolitionism|abolitionist]] and freed his two slaves. He eventually became president of the [[Pennsylvania Abolition Society]].<ref name="auto1"/>

==== President of Pennsylvania and Delegate to the Constitutional convention ====
Special balloting conducted October 18, 1785, unanimously elected him the sixth [[List of governors of Pennsylvania|president]] of the [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania]], replacing [[John Dickinson]]. The office was practically that of the governor. He held that office for slightly over three years, longer than any other, and served the constitutional limit of three full terms. Shortly after his initial election, he was re-elected to a full term on October 29, 1785, and again in the fall of 1786 and on October 31, 1787. In that capacity, he served as host to the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention of 1787]] in Philadelphia.<ref>Brands, ''The First American'', pp. 654–55, 694.</ref>

He also served as a delegate to the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Convention]]. It was primarily an honorary position and he seldom engaged in debate.
According to [[James McHenry]], [[Elizabeth Willing Powel]] asked Franklin what kind of government they had wrought. He replied: "A republic, madam, if you can keep it."{{sfn|Isaacson|2003|p=459}}