Carla J. Mulford
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- June 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199384198
- eISBN:
- 9780199384211
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199384198.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature
Chapter 7 takes up about 1769 to 1775, important years in the evolution of Franklin’s ideas about three matters: that agriculture rather than commerce was the foundation of a nation’s well-being; ...
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Chapter 7 takes up about 1769 to 1775, important years in the evolution of Franklin’s ideas about three matters: that agriculture rather than commerce was the foundation of a nation’s well-being; that constitutional reform was essential to the colonies’ political status as part of the British Empire; and that British North American defense and commerce needed to be free of intervention by Crown, ministry, and Parliament. Franklin’s ideas about the potential self-sufficiency of the colonies developed into a theory that embraced constitutional monarchy. Franklin’s turn against the British Empire reached clear articulation in 1771, after Franklin toured Ireland. In thinking about legal opinions being rendered about British India, Franklin groped toward an opinion regarding British Americans’ original sovereignty over their colonies—thus denying the British nation’s jurisdiction over American lands—and conceived that lands in North America acquired peacefully from the Native peoples there belonged to the new possessors alone.Less
Chapter 7 takes up about 1769 to 1775, important years in the evolution of Franklin’s ideas about three matters: that agriculture rather than commerce was the foundation of a nation’s well-being; that constitutional reform was essential to the colonies’ political status as part of the British Empire; and that British North American defense and commerce needed to be free of intervention by Crown, ministry, and Parliament. Franklin’s ideas about the potential self-sufficiency of the colonies developed into a theory that embraced constitutional monarchy. Franklin’s turn against the British Empire reached clear articulation in 1771, after Franklin toured Ireland. In thinking about legal opinions being rendered about British India, Franklin groped toward an opinion regarding British Americans’ original sovereignty over their colonies—thus denying the British nation’s jurisdiction over American lands—and conceived that lands in North America acquired peacefully from the Native peoples there belonged to the new possessors alone.
Carlton F.W. Larson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190932749
- eISBN:
- 9780190932770
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190932749.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century, Cultural History
This chapter discusses two broad themes that emerged following the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765. First, there was a growing desire in Great Britain to punish acts of colonial resistance as ...
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This chapter discusses two broad themes that emerged following the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765. First, there was a growing desire in Great Britain to punish acts of colonial resistance as treason and to bring resistance leaders to England for trial under the statute of 35 Henry VIII. Colonial Americans responded that resistance activities did not legally constitute treason and that trials of alleged American traitors in England, far from a local jury, were illegal. Second, and somewhat paradoxically, colonial Americans readily hurled accusations of treason at their political enemies, ranging from colonial governors to Parliament, its ministers, and even the king himself. “Traitors” (and “enemies to their country)” were now denounced for betraying America, their “country,” and even liberty itself. Once the War for Independence had begun, it was easy to conclude that these individuals were no longer traitors in a rhetorical sense, but real traitors who directly threatened the American cause.Less
This chapter discusses two broad themes that emerged following the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765. First, there was a growing desire in Great Britain to punish acts of colonial resistance as treason and to bring resistance leaders to England for trial under the statute of 35 Henry VIII. Colonial Americans responded that resistance activities did not legally constitute treason and that trials of alleged American traitors in England, far from a local jury, were illegal. Second, and somewhat paradoxically, colonial Americans readily hurled accusations of treason at their political enemies, ranging from colonial governors to Parliament, its ministers, and even the king himself. “Traitors” (and “enemies to their country)” were now denounced for betraying America, their “country,” and even liberty itself. Once the War for Independence had begun, it was easy to conclude that these individuals were no longer traitors in a rhetorical sense, but real traitors who directly threatened the American cause.
Carla J. Mulford
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- June 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199384198
- eISBN:
- 9780199384211
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199384198.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature
Benjamin Franklin was America’s first Atlantic world intellectual. Inquisitive, energetic, and competitive, he learned about and was proud of his British family and intellectual heritage, British ...
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Benjamin Franklin was America’s first Atlantic world intellectual. Inquisitive, energetic, and competitive, he learned about and was proud of his British family and intellectual heritage, British political history, and British culture. From the time of his youth, Franklin embraced a set of values that he attempted, across his long life, to speak about, refine, and implement. Franklin originally conceived of himself a loyal Briton, but beginning in the 1750s, he began to see the futility of gaining a fair hearing and representation for Americans in Parliament. From the 1750s onward, Franklin began to conclude that the colonies could do without the complicated system of British politics and political intrigue, without a system of taxation depriving Americans of their rights of representation, not to mention their productivity and commerce, and without the demeaning and begrudging subjection so frequently thrust their way. If any American could have gained the colonies a fair hearing, Franklin was the man to do so. That he did not succeed in gaining the attention of Britons in England only confirmed what he had known for many years: British Americans could make it without Britain.Less
Benjamin Franklin was America’s first Atlantic world intellectual. Inquisitive, energetic, and competitive, he learned about and was proud of his British family and intellectual heritage, British political history, and British culture. From the time of his youth, Franklin embraced a set of values that he attempted, across his long life, to speak about, refine, and implement. Franklin originally conceived of himself a loyal Briton, but beginning in the 1750s, he began to see the futility of gaining a fair hearing and representation for Americans in Parliament. From the 1750s onward, Franklin began to conclude that the colonies could do without the complicated system of British politics and political intrigue, without a system of taxation depriving Americans of their rights of representation, not to mention their productivity and commerce, and without the demeaning and begrudging subjection so frequently thrust their way. If any American could have gained the colonies a fair hearing, Franklin was the man to do so. That he did not succeed in gaining the attention of Britons in England only confirmed what he had known for many years: British Americans could make it without Britain.