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Ben Franklin in Politics: The Founding Father Who Was Never President
With his face decorating the $100 bill, it is difficult for Americans to forget the figure that was Benjamin Franklin and his contribution to the founding of the United States. The details of his political career are, however, hardly common knowledge.
His career was as complex as his character. Like his character, his policies were also remarkably progressive for their time. Still, the events that led to American independence would be the highlight of his political career.
Benjamin Franklin’s decisions were at the center of how it would all resolve.
The Beginning of Ben Franklin’s Political Career
Statue of Benjamin Franklin on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Source: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Despite having little formal education, Benjamin Franklin became hugely successful and prominent with his business ventures. He contributed massively to society around him and became highly influential.
He became well known as a printer and publisher in Philadelphia, where he produced a wide range of materials, from pamphlets to newspapers. In 1737, Franklin was appointed postmaster in Philadelphia.
By the time he entered politics in the 1740s, Franklin was already a wealthy man with substantial influence over his community. Involved in politics in Philadelphia, Franklin became a Philadelphia councilman in 1748, and the following year, he was elected Justice of the Peace. In 1751, he was elected to serve in the Pennsylvania Assembly.
B. Franklin in Philadelphia by Benjamin Wilson (artist) and James McArdell (engraver). Source: Library of Congress
In 1753, Franklin was selected to be the deputy postmaster-general of British North America, a position with considerable political power. During this time, he was dedicated to education in the colonies and, along with George Whitefield, founded the University of Pennsylvania.
While in Albany, New York in 1754, Benjamin Franklin proposed uniting the colonies under a single national congress. The plan was rejected, but it formed an important foundation for the Constitution of the United States, which was ratified in 1781.
Benjamin Franklin in London
View of London with York Steps, St Paul’s, and Old London Bridge attributed to Robert Griffier, c. 1757/1758. Source: Wikimedia Commons
As a politician, Benjamin Franklin’s role took him far away from the colonies, into the halls of London, and further abroad to Europe, where he lobbied for the cause of independence.
Before this, however, his political work would be characterized by the struggle of the Pennsylvania Assembly against the Penn family, the proprietary owners of the Pennsylvania colony. As such, the Penn family had the right to overturn legislation made by the Pennsylvania Assembly. This dynamic was largely opposed by the inhabitants of Pennsylvania.
In the feud with the Penn family, Franklin was named Speaker of the Pennsylvania House in May 1764. He made the ironic suggestion of calling for a royal government in Pennsylvania over a proprietary one. This move, intended to deprive the Penn family of power, angered the colonists back home, who feared a royal government would deprive them of their liberties. As a result, Franklin lost his seat in the assembly. Nevertheless, He was sent back to England to continue battling against the proprietary rights of the Penn family.
Image from The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 9 1754, published by Benjamin Franklin, urging Americans to support the Albany Plan for Union. Source: Wikimedia Commons
While Franklin was in England during the mid-1760s, events would change the nature of his purpose there. The British government enforced more control over its colonies by imposing a series of taxes and tariffs, which proved widely unpopular in the American colonies.
Franklin headed the argument against the Stamp Act of 1765, which required all printed documents to carry a tax stamp. This included everything from official papers to newspapers and even playing cards. As expected, many in the colonies viewed this as a draconian measure that served as a symbol of British authority over the colonies.
The Stamp Act was repealed in 1776, but other measures were still in effect, and more acts were to follow. The Sugar Act of 1764 increased the duty on all non-British goods shipped to the colonies, while the Currency Act of 1764 forbade the colonies from printing their own money. These acts had already fomented protests, and many Americans boycotted the importation of British goods into the colonies.
King George III by Thomas Frye (artist) and William Pether (engraver), 1762. Source: Library of Congress
Further discontent came from the Townshend Acts, which were passed to facilitate the upkeep of the American colonies. Taxes were raised on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. These acts were repealed in 1770 because boycotts affected profits. The tax on tea, however, was kept in place.
After the Boston Tea Party in 1774, when revolutionaries threw British tea into the harbor, the British Parliament passed a series of acts known as the Coercive Acts in Britain, but as the Intolerable or Insufferable Acts in the colonies. These acts were designed as punitive measures to further strip Massachusetts of any autonomy. Predictably, these acts served to strengthen American resolve against British rule.
Louis XV of France by the Workshop of Louis-Michel van Loo, 1763. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Being in London at the time, Benjamin Franklin became the convenient choice to represent colonial interests to the Crown. He wrote many political essays at the time, representing colonial sentiment. He also traveled extensively and cultivated alliances and friendships with powerful people, not just in Britain but across the channel on the European mainland.
Franklin traveled to Germany and France, where his reputation as a scientist had earned him some fame. He was introduced to many famous scientists in France, as well as King Louis XV.
He also traveled to Ireland, where he was warmly received. Franklin saw the poverty in Ireland as a result of British policies and concluded that the same could happen to the colonies unless the yoke of British control were thrown off.
Evolving Desire for Independence
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham after Richard Brompton (copy after original of 1772). Source: Wikimedia Commons
By the end of the 1760s, rebel sentiment in the colonies was increasing, and the British Crown was imposing harsher measures on the colonies. Benjamin Franklin became increasingly attentive to the cause of independence and actively worked not just to stand up for the colonies in British politics but to foment the cause of independence back home.
In 1772, Franklin obtained letters from high-ranking officials, which he used to spur the Americans into taking action. The letters were from Governor Thomas Hutchinson and Lieutenant-Governor Andrew Oliver, both of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, who, in their letters, urged the Crown to take a harder line on Bostonians.
Well aware of the furor it would cause, Franklin sent the letters to America, where they were published in the Boston Gazette. Franklin’s rationale in this regard was likely born out of a desire to direct colonial attention away from the Crown and toward local governors. For Franklin, however, this attempt backfired.
This move drove deep wedges in the political dynamic at the time. The Americans were furious at their leadership, while in London, respect for Franklin as an accommodationist ended. He was ridiculed in front of his peers.
A New and Accurate Map of the Colony of Massachusets(sic) Bay by John Hinton, 1781. Source: Library of Congress
A last-ditch attempt to settle the dispute between the crown and the colonies failed. Franklin had finalized a plan with William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham, to end the animosity between the factions. Pitt, a highly respected leader and former prime minister, was responsible in part for winning the Seven Years’ War. Yet, he, too, was ridiculed in parliament.
With this nail in the proverbial coffin of rapprochement, Franklin returned to Philadelphia in March 1775 and was re-elected to the Colonial Assembly in October of the same year. The British government even issued a warrant for his arrest.
He did not hold this position for long, though. Franklin resigned in February 1776 in order to concentrate on his position within the Second Continental Congress, where he was highly active.
American Independence & Courting the French
Franklin’s Reception at the Court of France, 1778 by Anton Hohenstein. Source: Library of Congress
As a member of the Second Continental Congress, Benjamin Franklin was involved in the need to procure resources for the upcoming conflict. He was aware that difficult times for the colonies lay ahead. He was also part of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, working alongside Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.
Cultivating alliances with the French was of the utmost importance, and Franklin spent much time in the court of France, developing relationships with nobles and powerful politicians. He was made Commissioner to France, and already 70 years old, he worked tirelessly to obtain help from his French allies. The trip was dangerous. Had he been caught by the British, Franklin would have been tried and hanged for treason.
Surrender of General Burgoyne by John Trumbull. Source: Wikimedia Commons
The French were cautious about aiding the Americans. They wanted to help the cause but were not enthused about the prospect of losing another war to Britain. Franklin used his charisma and bluffed his way into winning the French over.
He laughed off British victories and claimed that the Continental Army was 80,000 strong when, in reality, it barely contained 14,000 soldiers.
The victories at Saratoga gave France the confidence it needed to declare for the Americans. Once this was done, Franklin became central to the procurement of goods for the Revolutionary cause. He worked tirelessly for several years entertaining guests in Paris, making business arrangements, and listening to stories from his substantial fanbase.
Ending the War & Ending the Career of Benjamin Franklin
The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial in Philadelphia. Source: Wikimedia Commons
On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, officially ending the American War of Independence. Benjamin Franklin’s work in securing this peace was as considerable as his work in securing American victory. French aid had been so significant that it almost bankrupted the kingdom, a factor that played a major part in the French Revolution that would occur several years later.
On May 2, 1785, Franklin resigned as Commissioner to France and returned to America after nine years abroad. He continued to work in politics and was a delegate in the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Franklin argued for a bicameral legislature that would evolve into the House and the Senate.
Benjamin Franklin officially retired from office in 1788 and died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. He was so loved and admired that the United States House of Representatives declared a month of mourning, while the French National Assembly declared three days of mourning.
Benjamin Franklin was a highly charismatic person. His career in politics spanned many decades, and during that time, he transformed the nature of what he did. He formed a foundation of foreign diplomacy that many still study today. Without his incredible efforts in securing French support, it is unlikely the Americans would have won their struggle against the British.
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