The Seeds of Discord: Taxation without Representation (1757-1775)

In 1757, the war in North American wilderness was going very badly for Britain. Franklin’s reputation as a defender of colonial interests in London was growing, recognized not only by the Pennsylvania Assembly but, increasingly, throughout the colonies. He was initially selected as a colonial agent and sent to London to present the colonies’ case before the royal authorities. The primary obstacle was the refusal of the Crown to acknowledge the right of colonial legislatures to regulate their own local affairs. France was finally defeated after the capture of the city of Québec in 1760. The Treaty of Paris of 1763 stripped France of all its North American territories east of the Mississippi. However, a new source of contention arose between the colonies and the monarchy: the repayment of the war debt. The dispute now centered on whether the King could unilaterally impose taxes on the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures. Colonists resisted, citing the English Bill of Rights and the colonial charters as a constraint on unilateral royal authority over their legislatures. It was in the summer of 1768, frustrated by the lack of progress in negotiations, Franklin drafted his Reformed Mode of Spelling (cf. Appendix 2) with the assistance of his young collaborator, Polly Stevenson.Franklin’s Whig allies in England strongly supported the American cause. Foremost among them was former Prime Minister William Pitt (Lord Chatham) who vigorously defended Franklin and the colonists before the House of Lords in 1774 and again in early 1775. Nevertheless, their efforts were insufficient to sway the opinions of the ruling Tory establishment.Throughout this period, Franklin’s affection for London and for English language and culture remained undiminished. Of all the Founding Fathers, he fought the longest and hardest to maintain America within the British Empire. He left London in disgrace but returned to Philadelphia to a hero’s welcome, coinciding with the outbreak of hostilities between Massachusetts militia and British troops north of Boston.