The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

“Magna Brittania: her Colonies Reduc’d,” ca. 1766

She never wounds till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.… a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America.

—Benjamin Franklin, “The Rattle-Snake as a Symbol of America,” The Pennsylvania Journal, December 27, 1775

From his base in England, Franklin was out of touch with the mood of his countrymen and seriously underestimated the intensity of colonial anger against the Stamp Act of 1765. In a rare misstep, he continued negotiating towards a compromise—but the tensions between the colonies and Great Britain were already irreconcilable.

In 1774, in the wake of the Boston Tea Party and in the midst of colonial cries for “no taxation without representation,” Franklin was summoned by solicitor-general Lord Wedderburn to appear before the British Privy Council. There he was accused of treason against the Crown and publicly humiliated—yet Franklin remained silent throughout the ordeal. This was a moment of epiphany, as Franklin came to realize that compromise—for once—was unlikely to carry the day. He left London for the colonies where he added his voice to the growing insurgency. On July 4, 1776, the American colonists declared their independence from Britain.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

—Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. It proclaimed to the world that colonial America sought independence from Great Britain. It declared that independence rested on the clearest of principles: that men are created free and equal, and that they cannot legitimately be governed by those to whom they have not given their consent. Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the document, aided by a committee including Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. The Declaration of Independence was written, in part, to demonstrate American resolve and solidarity in its formal split from Great Britain. This was important because the colonies needed to persuade potential allies–especially France—to aid the American cause.

Holograph draft of the Declaration of Independence, 1776

Franklin before the Lords in Council, 1774

Alexander Wedderburn, Speech before the Privy Council, January 29, 1774

Reproduction suit of clothes, 2005

The Doctor… stood conspicuously erect, without the smallest movement of any part of his body. The muscles of his face had been previously composed as to afford a placid tranquil expression of countenance, and he did not suffer the slightest alteration of it to appear.

—Edward Bancroft, who observed the confrontation in the Cockpit

On January 29, 1774, Lord Alexander Wedderburn verbally attacked Benjamin Franklin, accusing him of deliberately leaking letters in order to provoke colonial riots against the Crown. This humiliating, hour-long confrontation took place before the members of the British Privy Council at the Cockpit (a room named for its previous use—cockfighting). While the councilors jeered, Franklin refused to respond, and his silence was more powerful than words.

The letters in question were written by Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, advising England on ways to deal with growing colonial unrest. They were passed on, indirectly, to Franklin; he shared them with colleagues in Boston and—despite his request otherwise—they were published. As a result, radical colonial patriots were outraged and their increasing hostility culminated in the Boston Tea Party.