Editing Benjamin Franklin (section)

=== Postmaster ===
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[[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>