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/9780199384198.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature
Along with the previous and next chapters, this chapter discusses Franklin’s goals for Pennsylvania in negotiations with the Pennsylvania Proprietors, Crown, and Parliament. He was seeking for ...
More
Along with the previous and next chapters, this chapter discusses Franklin’s goals for Pennsylvania in negotiations with the Pennsylvania Proprietors, Crown, and Parliament. He was seeking for Pennsylvania an administrative policy that would establish—among all the colonies—an equable laboring and trading situation with Britain, in effect creating a commonwealth (and commonly held ideas about liberties and benefits) among all trading partners. Examining Franklin’s responses to Pennsylvania politics creates a backdrop to our understanding of his ideas about what ought to be the purposes and goals of empire, especially regarding manufacturing and commercial freedom, self-rule, and self-determination. Franklin’s work as a tradesman interested in social projects, his service to Philadelphia, and his concerns about the Assembly’s relationship to the Proprietors, especially as these related to the essential need to defend the Pennsylvania colony—these form the basis of this chapter.Less
Along with the previous and next chapters, this chapter discusses Franklin’s goals for Pennsylvania in negotiations with the Pennsylvania Proprietors, Crown, and Parliament. He was seeking for Pennsylvania an administrative policy that would establish—among all the colonies—an equable laboring and trading situation with Britain, in effect creating a commonwealth (and commonly held ideas about liberties and benefits) among all trading partners. Examining Franklin’s responses to Pennsylvania politics creates a backdrop to our understanding of his ideas about what ought to be the purposes and goals of empire, especially regarding manufacturing and commercial freedom, self-rule, and self-determination. Franklin’s work as a tradesman interested in social projects, his service to Philadelphia, and his concerns about the Assembly’s relationship to the Proprietors, especially as these related to the essential need to defend the Pennsylvania colony—these form the basis of this chapter.
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/9780199384198.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature
This chapter discusses Franklin’s young adult and middle years, when he was involved with Pennsylvania politics and learning strategies for political negotiation. During these years Franklin ...
More
This chapter discusses Franklin’s young adult and middle years, when he was involved with Pennsylvania politics and learning strategies for political negotiation. During these years Franklin carefully developed a socioeconomic view supporting both free trade and a politics of imperialism. This chapter discusses Franklin’s A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper-Currency, among other of his writings, relating Franklin’s views to well-known writers on economic and civil matters. For someone of his relative youth and inexperience, Franklin developed a fairly sophisticated theory of economics that included an investigation of several viable economic processes, including the idea of foreign-paid incomes and the effects of economic elasticity based in an analysis of a specie-flow, supply-demand mechanism. His aim was to show the impact of trade on local agriculture, construction, and merchant activities.Less
This chapter discusses Franklin’s young adult and middle years, when he was involved with Pennsylvania politics and learning strategies for political negotiation. During these years Franklin carefully developed a socioeconomic view supporting both free trade and a politics of imperialism. This chapter discusses Franklin’s A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper-Currency, among other of his writings, relating Franklin’s views to well-known writers on economic and civil matters. For someone of his relative youth and inexperience, Franklin developed a fairly sophisticated theory of economics that included an investigation of several viable economic processes, including the idea of foreign-paid incomes and the effects of economic elasticity based in an analysis of a specie-flow, supply-demand mechanism. His aim was to show the impact of trade on local agriculture, construction, and merchant activities.
