All language subtitles for PBS - Benjamin Franklin (2022).[eng]
Afrikaans
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Armenian
Azerbaijani
Basque
Belarusian
Bengali
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Catalan
Cebuano
Chichewa
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Corsican
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Esperanto
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Frisian
Galician
Georgian
German
Greek
Gujarati
Haitian Creole
Hausa
Hawaiian
Hebrew
Hindi
Hmong
Icelandic
Igbo
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Javanese
Kannada
Kazakh
Khmer
Korean
Kurdish (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz
Lao
Latin
Latvian
Lithuanian
Luxembourgish
Macedonian
Malagasy
Malay
Malayalam
Maltese
Maori
Marathi
Mongolian
Myanmar (Burmese)
Nepali
Norwegian
Pashto
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Romanian
Russian
Samoan
Scots Gaelic
Serbian
Sesotho
Shona
Sindhi
Sinhala
Slovak
Slovenian
Somali
Sundanese
Swahili
Swedish
Tajik
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Welsh
Xhosa
Yiddish
Yoruba
Zulu
Odia (Oriya)
Kinyarwanda
Turkmen
Tatar
Uyghur
Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:13,870
Histories of Lives
are seldom entertaining,
2
00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,670
unless they contain something
either admirable or exemplar.
3
00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,880
Know then, That I am an Enemy to Vice,
4
00:00:22,050 --> 00:00:23,800
and a Friend to Vertue.
5
00:00:23,970 --> 00:00:27,100
A mortal Enemy to arbitrary Government
6
00:00:27,260 --> 00:00:29,560
and unlimited Power.
7
00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:31,430
I am naturally very jealous
8
00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,440
for the Rights and Liberties
of my Country;
9
00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,690
and the least appearance of an Incroachment
on those invaluable Priviledges,
10
00:00:38,860 --> 00:00:42,440
is apt to make my Blood
boil exceedingly.
11
00:00:42,610 --> 00:00:45,700
Benjamin Franklin.
12
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:51,580
Franklin is, by far,
13
00:00:51,740 --> 00:00:54,080
the most approachable of our Founders.
14
00:00:54,250 --> 00:00:55,960
He's not somebody made of stone,
15
00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:58,920
like a George Washington.
16
00:00:59,090 --> 00:01:01,460
Franklin was pretty simple
in his moral code.
17
00:01:01,630 --> 00:01:04,220
He was driven by a desire
to pour forth
18
00:01:04,380 --> 00:01:06,970
benefits for the common good.
19
00:01:07,140 --> 00:01:08,890
But there's a lot in Benjamin Franklin
20
00:01:09,050 --> 00:01:10,760
that makes you flinch,
21
00:01:10,930 --> 00:01:14,350
and we see Franklin
not as a perfect person,
22
00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:16,100
but somebody evolving to see
23
00:01:16,270 --> 00:01:18,520
if he could become more perfect.
24
00:01:20,690 --> 00:01:22,530
He was a teenage runaway
25
00:01:22,690 --> 00:01:25,150
who achieved such remarkable success
26
00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:28,660
that his example would be
handed down for generations
27
00:01:28,820 --> 00:01:32,910
as the embodiment
of the American dream.
28
00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,170
He was a printer, a publisher,
and a writer,
29
00:01:37,330 --> 00:01:41,250
producing everything from
essays on politics and religion
30
00:01:41,420 --> 00:01:44,340
to biting satires and words of wisdom
31
00:01:44,510 --> 00:01:47,380
that would endure forever.
32
00:01:47,550 --> 00:01:49,930
He was a prolific inventor
33
00:01:50,090 --> 00:01:52,930
and a scientist whose
pioneering discoveries
34
00:01:53,100 --> 00:01:57,100
would make him the most famous
American in the world.
35
00:01:57,270 --> 00:01:58,770
He was a civic leader,
36
00:01:58,940 --> 00:02:01,560
the founder of a library
and a college,
37
00:02:01,730 --> 00:02:03,900
who introduced a host of improvements
38
00:02:04,070 --> 00:02:08,490
that made the lives
of everyday people better.
39
00:02:08,660 --> 00:02:10,660
He embraced the Enlightenment belief
40
00:02:10,820 --> 00:02:13,280
in the perfectibility of human beings;
41
00:02:13,450 --> 00:02:17,410
but no one understood
their foibles and failings,
42
00:02:17,580 --> 00:02:20,670
including his own, better than he did.
43
00:02:23,130 --> 00:02:27,550
He also owned and enslaved
human beings
44
00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,800
and benefited from
the institution of slavery.
45
00:02:32,180 --> 00:02:34,930
He was a reluctant revolutionary
46
00:02:35,100 --> 00:02:39,310
who became an indispensable
founder of a new nation;
47
00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:40,900
helped craft the document
48
00:02:41,060 --> 00:02:44,070
that declared his
country's independence;
49
00:02:44,230 --> 00:02:46,360
and then did as much as anyone
50
00:02:46,530 --> 00:02:49,280
to secure the victory that assured it.
51
00:02:50,860 --> 00:02:52,820
And he guided
the complicated compromises
52
00:02:52,990 --> 00:02:55,910
that created his
nation's Constitution,
53
00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:01,290
then tried to rectify
its central failing.
54
00:03:01,460 --> 00:03:04,750
He constantly remade himself
55
00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:08,210
from apprentice,
to printer, to scientist,
56
00:03:08,380 --> 00:03:13,430
to government official, to
revolutionary, to abolitionist.
57
00:03:13,590 --> 00:03:16,220
He never was finished with himself.
58
00:03:16,390 --> 00:03:19,480
He always thought that
he was a work in progress.
59
00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:22,440
He could be funny and unforgiving;
60
00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:24,860
folksy and philosophical;
61
00:03:25,020 --> 00:03:27,980
generous and shrewdly calculating;
62
00:03:28,150 --> 00:03:32,030
broadminded, yet deeply prejudiced;
63
00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,780
a family man, who spent years
away from his wife
64
00:03:35,950 --> 00:03:37,830
and let political differences
65
00:03:37,990 --> 00:03:41,370
destroy his relationship with his son.
66
00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:44,790
He concealed those
contradictions behind
67
00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,670
a carefully crafted public image.
68
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,920
He's a Puritan who then becomes
69
00:03:51,090 --> 00:03:54,140
the leading figure
in the Enlightenment.
70
00:03:54,300 --> 00:03:55,800
So that he stands astride
71
00:03:55,970 --> 00:03:59,020
so many contradictions
in his own life,
72
00:03:59,180 --> 00:04:00,660
that he understands them
and they don't become
73
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,810
contradictions for him.
74
00:04:02,980 --> 00:04:06,810
They become some
seamless web of insight.
75
00:04:06,980 --> 00:04:08,820
He wrote so much.
He wrote so well.
76
00:04:08,980 --> 00:04:11,940
He's somebody that
we need to know about.
77
00:04:12,110 --> 00:04:15,570
He can put us in touch
with the sensibilities
78
00:04:15,740 --> 00:04:18,870
of the 18th century in a way
that makes it
79
00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,920
both accessible and, yet,
captures its remoteness.
80
00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:25,710
Franklin is endlessly,
81
00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:27,880
endlessly interesting.
82
00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:29,670
He is the only Founding Father who
83
00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:31,300
evidently had a sense of humor,
84
00:04:31,460 --> 00:04:33,260
who was evidently human,
85
00:04:33,420 --> 00:04:35,010
who evidently had a sex life.
86
00:04:35,180 --> 00:04:36,900
And there's so much
about him that makes him
87
00:04:36,930 --> 00:04:38,760
seem approachable, on the one hand,
88
00:04:38,930 --> 00:04:41,270
and super-human on the other hand.
89
00:04:41,430 --> 00:04:45,600
"Let all men know
thee," Benjamin Franklin said,
90
00:04:45,770 --> 00:04:48,520
"but no man
know thee thoroughly."
91
00:04:50,610 --> 00:04:53,860
I never intend
to wrap my Talent in a Napkin.
92
00:04:54,030 --> 00:04:58,160
To be brief; I am courteous
and affable, good humor'd
93
00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:00,080
unless I am first provok'd,
94
00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,250
and handsome, and sometimes witty.
95
00:05:04,410 --> 00:05:06,040
If you would not be forgotten,
96
00:05:06,210 --> 00:05:08,880
as soon as you are dead and rotten,
97
00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,050
either write things worth reading,
98
00:05:11,210 --> 00:05:16,840
or do things worth the writing.
Benjamin Franklin.
99
00:05:28,940 --> 00:05:31,070
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston
100
00:05:31,230 --> 00:05:34,190
on January 17, 1706,
101
00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:38,610
the youngest son and 15th child
of Josiah Franklin,
102
00:05:38,780 --> 00:05:40,740
who had come from England
103
00:05:40,910 --> 00:05:45,330
to the Massachusetts Bay Colony
in 1683.
104
00:05:45,500 --> 00:05:47,960
Josiah made candles and soap
105
00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,090
and became a respected member
of South Church,
106
00:05:51,250 --> 00:05:55,880
one of the town's 3
congregations of Puritans.
107
00:05:56,050 --> 00:05:58,760
When his first wife
died in childbirth,
108
00:05:58,930 --> 00:06:02,050
Josiah married Abiah Folger
of Nantucket,
109
00:06:02,220 --> 00:06:05,770
who came from a family
of free-thinkers.
110
00:06:05,930 --> 00:06:09,020
Benjamin would be her eighth child.
111
00:06:10,810 --> 00:06:12,980
He grew up in a 4-room house
112
00:06:13,150 --> 00:06:15,530
where the dinner table
was always crowded,
113
00:06:15,690 --> 00:06:20,700
and often included friends his
pious and serious-minded father
114
00:06:20,870 --> 00:06:23,490
invited over for conversation.
115
00:06:24,870 --> 00:06:27,870
From the start,
the boy was precocious.
116
00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,960
He was reading the Bible by age 5.
117
00:06:31,130 --> 00:06:35,090
His sister Jane recalled
that he "studied incessantly"
118
00:06:35,250 --> 00:06:38,630
and "was addicted to
all kinds of reading."
119
00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,050
But he was also irreverent.
120
00:06:41,220 --> 00:06:45,140
He found the long prayers
before each meal tedious
121
00:06:45,310 --> 00:06:48,680
and suggested his father
simply say grace once
122
00:06:48,850 --> 00:06:52,230
over the entire winter's
supply of food.
123
00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:58,360
"It would be," young Benjamin
said, "a vast saving of time."
124
00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:02,780
He and his boyhood friends
125
00:07:02,950 --> 00:07:06,040
fished and frolicked in a nearby pond.
126
00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,040
An avid swimmer,
he designed rudimentary fins
127
00:07:09,210 --> 00:07:12,790
to propel himself faster
across the water;
128
00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,290
other times, he floated on his back
129
00:07:15,460 --> 00:07:19,880
and let himself be
pulled along by a kite.
130
00:07:20,050 --> 00:07:22,390
Josiah initially thought his son
131
00:07:22,550 --> 00:07:24,220
should study for the ministry
132
00:07:24,390 --> 00:07:27,770
and enrolled him at age 8
in the Boston school
133
00:07:27,930 --> 00:07:31,640
that prepared students
for Harvard College.
134
00:07:31,810 --> 00:07:34,730
But the academy proved too expensive,
135
00:07:34,900 --> 00:07:37,440
and eager to have
another set of hands,
136
00:07:37,610 --> 00:07:41,200
his father put him to work
in the family's candle shop.
137
00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:46,160
He was 10 years old;
his schooling was over.
138
00:07:47,540 --> 00:07:51,080
I think it was crucial
to Franklin's success
139
00:07:51,250 --> 00:07:53,790
that he had very little
formal education.
140
00:07:55,290 --> 00:07:57,670
When people go through formal schools,
141
00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,300
they learn what
you're supposed to know.
142
00:08:00,460 --> 00:08:04,390
They also learn what
you don't have to know.
143
00:08:04,550 --> 00:08:06,240
With Franklin, he never knew
what he didn't have to know,
144
00:08:06,260 --> 00:08:08,140
so, he assumed he had
to know everything.
145
00:08:10,980 --> 00:08:13,770
In 1718, at age 12,
146
00:08:13,940 --> 00:08:16,230
Franklin began the work
that would define
147
00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:17,770
the rest of his life.
148
00:08:17,940 --> 00:08:20,230
He signed a 9-year apprenticeship,
149
00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,950
legally indenturing himself
to his older brother James,
150
00:08:24,110 --> 00:08:28,330
who had opened
a printing shop in Boston.
151
00:08:28,490 --> 00:08:30,490
Printing was
an amazing business if you were
152
00:08:30,660 --> 00:08:35,040
both clever with your hands
and good at thinking.
153
00:08:35,210 --> 00:08:38,670
Printers are setting type
upside-down and backward.
154
00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,090
And you have to be really
hyper-literate to understand
155
00:08:42,260 --> 00:08:43,880
how language works that way,
156
00:08:44,050 --> 00:08:45,490
and to correct things as you go along,
157
00:08:45,510 --> 00:08:47,220
and get it right.
158
00:08:47,390 --> 00:08:49,970
Handling the heavy sets of lead type
159
00:08:50,140 --> 00:08:52,770
strengthened and broadened
his shoulders.
160
00:08:52,930 --> 00:08:54,770
Having access to books
161
00:08:54,940 --> 00:08:58,900
strengthened and liberated his mind.
162
00:08:59,070 --> 00:09:01,030
Often I sat up in my room
163
00:09:01,190 --> 00:09:03,320
reading the greatest part
of the night,
164
00:09:03,490 --> 00:09:05,740
when the book was borrowed
in the evening and had to be
165
00:09:05,910 --> 00:09:09,410
returned early in the morning
lest it should be missed.
166
00:09:09,580 --> 00:09:12,830
And all the little money
that came into my hands
167
00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,960
was ever laid out in books.
168
00:09:17,170 --> 00:09:18,880
Here was a kid who only had
169
00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,460
two years of formal education, ever.
170
00:09:22,630 --> 00:09:28,090
So, what did he do?
He taught himself how to write.
171
00:09:28,260 --> 00:09:31,390
He composed poetry--
including a ballad
172
00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:36,190
commemorating the recent killing
of Blackbeard the pirate.
173
00:09:36,350 --> 00:09:38,560
He read articles from "The Spectator,"
174
00:09:38,730 --> 00:09:40,360
a London periodical,
175
00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,070
and, on paper salvaged
from the print shop,
176
00:09:43,230 --> 00:09:46,820
attempted to reproduce them by memory.
177
00:09:46,990 --> 00:09:50,740
He stayed up late at night
and rose early each morning
178
00:09:50,910 --> 00:09:54,290
to continue his reading
before the shop opened.
179
00:09:54,450 --> 00:10:01,210
"I was," Franklin said,
"extremely ambitious."
180
00:10:01,380 --> 00:10:05,130
In 1721, his brother James
decided to publish
181
00:10:05,300 --> 00:10:09,140
his own weekly newspaper,
"The New-England Courant."
182
00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,010
From its inception,
the paper courted controversy.
183
00:10:14,180 --> 00:10:16,430
Its first issue
attacked Cotton Mather,
184
00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,730
Boston's pre-eminent preacher
and the colony's
185
00:10:19,900 --> 00:10:23,020
strict and severe moral authority.
186
00:10:23,190 --> 00:10:25,690
Mather called the newspaper wicked,
187
00:10:25,860 --> 00:10:29,280
filled with immorality, and lies.
188
00:10:29,450 --> 00:10:31,620
What James Franklin does is he creates
189
00:10:31,780 --> 00:10:36,200
the first real independent
newspaper in America.
190
00:10:36,370 --> 00:10:39,040
His paper, in Boston, is, quote,
191
00:10:39,210 --> 00:10:40,710
"Not published by Authority."
192
00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,380
All the others, you were
given a stamp of authority.
193
00:10:44,550 --> 00:10:48,630
On April 2, 1722, an essay appeared
194
00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,260
over the name of Silence Dogood,
195
00:10:51,430 --> 00:10:54,560
who claimed to be a widowed
woman from the countryside,
196
00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,140
and who had lots of homespun wisdom
197
00:10:57,310 --> 00:10:59,940
and sharp social critiques to share.
198
00:11:00,100 --> 00:11:02,650
It was an immediate hit.
199
00:11:02,810 --> 00:11:06,900
No one, including
James Franklin, had any idea
200
00:11:07,070 --> 00:11:09,900
that the real author
was a teenage boy,
201
00:11:10,070 --> 00:11:13,370
James's 16-year-old brother Benjamin,
202
00:11:13,530 --> 00:11:17,620
who had secretly slipped
the essay under the door.
203
00:11:17,790 --> 00:11:21,670
More of Silence Dogood's
articles began to appear.
204
00:11:21,830 --> 00:11:25,250
She offered irreverent
advice on funeral eulogies,
205
00:11:25,420 --> 00:11:28,460
advocated fiercely
for women's education,
206
00:11:28,630 --> 00:11:32,340
and in one dispatch
poked fun at Harvard
207
00:11:32,510 --> 00:11:34,300
and the wealthy parents who dreamed of
208
00:11:34,470 --> 00:11:38,600
sending their children
to the elite institution.
209
00:11:38,770 --> 00:11:41,270
Most of them
consulted their own Purses
210
00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,270
instead of their Childrens Capacities.
211
00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:46,270
At Harvard They learn little more than
212
00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:48,690
how to carry themselves handsomely,
213
00:11:48,860 --> 00:11:51,070
and enter a Room genteely...
214
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:52,660
and from whence they return,
215
00:11:52,820 --> 00:11:55,240
after Abundance of Trouble and Charge,
216
00:11:55,410 --> 00:11:57,950
as great Blockheads as ever,
217
00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,080
only more proud and self-conceited.
218
00:12:03,790 --> 00:12:06,170
In the summer of 1722,
219
00:12:06,340 --> 00:12:09,630
James was jailed for 3 weeks
without trial
220
00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,680
for questioning the competence
of Cotton Mather
221
00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,430
and the colony's other leaders.
222
00:12:15,590 --> 00:12:18,640
Quoting from an article he had
read in a London newspaper,
223
00:12:18,810 --> 00:12:23,890
Benjamin, as Silence Dogood,
came to his brother's defense.
224
00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:26,640
Without Freedom of Thought,
225
00:12:26,730 --> 00:12:29,320
there can be no such Thing as Wisdom;
226
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,900
and no such Thing as publick Liberty,
227
00:12:32,070 --> 00:12:33,820
without Freedom of Speech.
228
00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:37,530
Whoever would overthrow
the Liberty of a Nation,
229
00:12:37,700 --> 00:12:41,370
must begin by subduing
the Freeness of Speech.
230
00:12:43,460 --> 00:12:45,080
When James was released from jail
231
00:12:45,250 --> 00:12:47,420
and resumed putting out his newspaper,
232
00:12:47,580 --> 00:12:51,010
Benjamin confessed publicly
that he, in fact,
233
00:12:51,170 --> 00:12:54,340
was writing Silence Dogood's essays.
234
00:12:54,510 --> 00:12:57,050
Many cheered him for his artfulness,
235
00:12:57,220 --> 00:12:59,930
but James was jealous.
236
00:13:00,100 --> 00:13:04,560
They would argue--and it
sometimes came to blows.
237
00:13:04,730 --> 00:13:06,520
I fancy his harsh and tyrannical
238
00:13:06,690 --> 00:13:08,810
Treatment of me, might be a means of
239
00:13:08,980 --> 00:13:12,320
impressing me with that
Aversion to arbitrary Power
240
00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,900
that has stuck to me
thro' my whole Life.
241
00:13:17,450 --> 00:13:19,700
Franklin decided to run away,
242
00:13:19,870 --> 00:13:24,620
even if it meant breaking his
legal obligation to his brother.
243
00:13:24,790 --> 00:13:28,210
After selling some of his books
to pay for his passage,
244
00:13:28,380 --> 00:13:31,590
he slipped out of town
on a ship heading south,
245
00:13:31,750 --> 00:13:35,800
convincing the captain to keep
quiet under the false pretense
246
00:13:35,970 --> 00:13:40,140
that he had gotten a girl
pregnant and needed to leave.
247
00:13:40,300 --> 00:13:43,060
He was 17 years old.
248
00:13:52,150 --> 00:13:56,360
11 days later, on October 6, 1723,
249
00:13:56,530 --> 00:13:59,030
Franklin arrived at
the Market Street wharf
250
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,660
on the Delaware River in Philadelphia,
251
00:14:01,830 --> 00:14:05,790
the City of Brotherly Love
founded by William Penn,
252
00:14:05,950 --> 00:14:10,540
a Quaker for whom the colony of
Pennsylvania was named.
253
00:14:10,710 --> 00:14:13,710
With 6,000 residents,
Philadelphia was now
254
00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:18,680
America's third-largest city
after Boston and New York.
255
00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:22,510
It was a thriving outpost
of the British Empire--
256
00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:26,680
its streets filled with both
newcomers and Native peoples,
257
00:14:26,850 --> 00:14:32,860
including the Lenape, on whose
land the city now stood.
258
00:14:33,020 --> 00:14:36,070
People are coming
from all sorts of backgrounds.
259
00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,110
There's Anglicans, there's Jews,
260
00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,490
there's slaves, freed slaves.
261
00:14:40,660 --> 00:14:43,280
There's the Germans coming in
and the Presbyterians
262
00:14:43,450 --> 00:14:45,910
and the Native Americans
who were there.
263
00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,420
And, unlike Puritan Boston,
where you have to follow
264
00:14:49,580 --> 00:14:52,790
the theocratic maxims
of the Mather family,
265
00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:58,050
people in Philadelphia
have a certain tolerance.
266
00:14:58,220 --> 00:15:01,050
Colonial Philadelphia
had a different vibe,
267
00:15:01,220 --> 00:15:02,850
a different flavor.
268
00:15:03,010 --> 00:15:07,470
Growing commerce, saloons and taverns,
269
00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:10,940
a sort of hospitable place,
but also a place in which
270
00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:14,690
people could find themselves
and create themselves.
271
00:15:14,860 --> 00:15:17,570
Franklin landing in
Philadelphia at this moment
272
00:15:17,730 --> 00:15:20,900
was perfect for him,
in terms of timing.
273
00:15:21,070 --> 00:15:24,990
He didn't have to be someone
who came from great wealth
274
00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,200
in order to find opportunity.
275
00:15:28,370 --> 00:15:30,580
He's just a kid.
276
00:15:30,750 --> 00:15:32,830
He's run away from his apprenticeship,
277
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,000
so, he's scared, probably,
that they're going to
278
00:15:35,170 --> 00:15:36,420
track him down.
279
00:15:36,590 --> 00:15:40,010
He's not sure what comes next.
280
00:15:40,170 --> 00:15:42,800
"I was dirty from
my journey," Franklin wrote,
281
00:15:42,970 --> 00:15:46,350
"and I knew no soul
nor where to look for lodging.
282
00:15:46,510 --> 00:15:50,600
I was fatigued and very hungry."
283
00:15:50,770 --> 00:15:54,150
It was a Sunday, and he saw
a crowd of well-dressed people
284
00:15:54,310 --> 00:15:56,690
heading into a church.
285
00:15:56,860 --> 00:16:00,780
They were Quakers about to
attend their weekly service,
286
00:16:00,940 --> 00:16:04,660
marked by sitting in silence together.
287
00:16:06,950 --> 00:16:08,410
I sat down among them,
288
00:16:08,580 --> 00:16:10,750
and after looking round awhile
289
00:16:10,910 --> 00:16:12,410
and hearing nothing said,
290
00:16:12,580 --> 00:16:15,630
I fell fast asleep, and continued so
291
00:16:15,790 --> 00:16:20,170
till the meeting broke up, when
one was kind enough to rouse me.
292
00:16:23,090 --> 00:16:25,390
Walking up
Market Street, he passed a house
293
00:16:25,550 --> 00:16:28,390
and exchanged glances
with a 15-year-old girl
294
00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,520
standing in the doorway,
who, he was sure,
295
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,390
"thought I made, as I certainly did,
296
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,650
a most awkward,
ridiculous appearance."
297
00:16:38,980 --> 00:16:41,820
He went to work at one of
the city's print shops
298
00:16:41,990 --> 00:16:44,610
and eventually began
renting a room at the house
299
00:16:44,780 --> 00:16:47,620
he had passed that first morning.
300
00:16:48,870 --> 00:16:50,910
The girl he had seen was
his landlord's daughter--
301
00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,120
Deborah Read.
302
00:16:53,290 --> 00:16:54,830
They struck up a romance,
303
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,550
and by the fall of 1724
were talking of marriage.
304
00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,260
Meanwhile, patrons of
the print shop had noticed
305
00:17:04,420 --> 00:17:06,890
Franklin's skill and diligence.
306
00:17:07,050 --> 00:17:10,260
One of them, Pennsylvania's
governor William Keith,
307
00:17:10,430 --> 00:17:15,140
offered what seemed to be
the opportunity of a lifetime.
308
00:17:15,310 --> 00:17:17,520
He would send Franklin to London
309
00:17:17,690 --> 00:17:20,190
with letters of introduction
and credit
310
00:17:20,360 --> 00:17:21,900
to purchase the equipment needed
311
00:17:22,070 --> 00:17:25,610
to start his own
print shop in Philadelphia.
312
00:17:27,780 --> 00:17:30,240
Marriage to Deborah
would have to wait.
313
00:17:30,410 --> 00:17:33,660
Benjamin was bound for England.
314
00:17:41,090 --> 00:17:42,750
The great center of England
315
00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,420
is the city of London
and parts adjacent.
316
00:17:45,590 --> 00:17:47,680
All that vast mass of buildings,
317
00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,850
and how much farther
it may spread, who knows?
318
00:17:51,010 --> 00:17:53,890
New squares and new streets
rising up every day
319
00:17:54,060 --> 00:17:56,850
to such a prodigy of buildings
that nothing in the world
320
00:17:57,020 --> 00:18:02,150
does, or ever did, equal it,
except old Rome.
321
00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:03,570
Daniel Defoe.
322
00:18:05,900 --> 00:18:07,820
With more than 600,000 residents,
323
00:18:07,990 --> 00:18:10,780
100 times the size of Philadelphia,
324
00:18:10,950 --> 00:18:13,870
London was the teeming hub
of an empire
325
00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:19,000
that considered its far-flung
colonists with mild disdain.
326
00:18:19,170 --> 00:18:23,300
They viewed Americans as
backwards suppliers of raw materials
327
00:18:23,460 --> 00:18:26,340
and as purchasers
of manufactured goods
328
00:18:26,510 --> 00:18:30,220
only England could provide.
329
00:18:30,390 --> 00:18:31,510
Coming out of the Provinces,
330
00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:33,810
he found a greater world.
331
00:18:33,970 --> 00:18:38,810
In England, he was
young and impressionable
332
00:18:38,980 --> 00:18:45,690
and able to make his way into
that huge metropolis of London
333
00:18:45,860 --> 00:18:48,990
from nothing but his ability.
334
00:18:49,150 --> 00:18:52,200
Upon his arrival,
Franklin learned too late that
335
00:18:52,370 --> 00:18:56,160
Governor Keith had
a reputation for unreliability.
336
00:18:56,330 --> 00:18:59,920
There were no letters of credit
or introduction.
337
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,340
Once more, he would have
to fend for himself.
338
00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,050
For a year and a half,
he made the most of it.
339
00:19:07,210 --> 00:19:09,630
London had more print shops
than all of
340
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,180
the American colonies combined,
341
00:19:12,340 --> 00:19:14,300
and he quickly found work,
342
00:19:14,470 --> 00:19:19,730
impressing his employers with
his strength and his sobriety.
343
00:19:19,890 --> 00:19:22,940
Unlike all the other workers,
he did not drink
344
00:19:23,110 --> 00:19:28,110
a pint of beer 6 different times
during the workday.
345
00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:31,410
I drank
only Water; the other Workmen
346
00:19:31,570 --> 00:19:32,700
wonder'd to see from this
347
00:19:32,860 --> 00:19:36,080
that the Water-American,
as they call'd me,
348
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,290
was stronger than themselves.
349
00:19:40,330 --> 00:19:43,330
He spent his
free time poring through books,
350
00:19:43,500 --> 00:19:47,800
especially Enlightenment
treatises by Isaac Newton,
351
00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,760
René Descartes, John Locke,
and other philosophers
352
00:19:51,930 --> 00:19:54,930
who argued that truths
were to be found
353
00:19:55,100 --> 00:19:58,890
through the study of how things
work in the natural world.
354
00:20:02,770 --> 00:20:03,850
The Enlightenment.
355
00:20:04,020 --> 00:20:06,900
It's a commitment
to reason and science.
356
00:20:07,070 --> 00:20:09,070
It's a belief that
every problem can be solved
357
00:20:09,230 --> 00:20:12,610
and that every institution
can be reformed,
358
00:20:12,780 --> 00:20:14,320
that life on Earth is perfectible,
359
00:20:14,490 --> 00:20:17,200
at least up to a point,
360
00:20:17,370 --> 00:20:19,620
and maybe altogether.
361
00:20:19,790 --> 00:20:21,620
In London, Franklin also seemed
362
00:20:21,790 --> 00:20:23,460
to have forgotten Deborah
363
00:20:23,620 --> 00:20:25,790
and indulged in what he called
364
00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,670
"foolish intrigues
with low women."
365
00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,840
He wrote her only one letter.
366
00:20:32,010 --> 00:20:36,680
In his absence,
Deborah married someone else.
367
00:20:36,850 --> 00:20:38,640
But when a Quaker merchant
368
00:20:38,810 --> 00:20:41,060
offered Franklin a job as a clerk
369
00:20:41,220 --> 00:20:43,480
selling merchandise in a general store
370
00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:44,850
back in Philadelphia
371
00:20:45,020 --> 00:20:48,360
and then dangled
a potential partnership,
372
00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:50,530
he headed home.
373
00:20:53,450 --> 00:20:56,950
During the 12-week voyage,
Franklin wrote out a plan
374
00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:01,290
for future conduct,
with 4 basic rules:
375
00:21:01,450 --> 00:21:03,410
be "extremely frugal,"
376
00:21:03,580 --> 00:21:07,210
"endeavor to speak the truth
in every instance,"
377
00:21:07,380 --> 00:21:11,920
"apply myself industriously
to whatever business I take,"
378
00:21:12,090 --> 00:21:14,880
and "speak ill of
no man whatever."
379
00:21:17,510 --> 00:21:20,930
In Philadelphia, he threw
himself into his new job,
380
00:21:21,100 --> 00:21:25,100
becoming, he said,
an "expert at selling."
381
00:21:25,270 --> 00:21:28,900
But that winter, his employer
took ill and died.
382
00:21:30,190 --> 00:21:33,860
Franklin decided to return
to his old trade as a printer.
383
00:21:35,030 --> 00:21:37,530
In 1728, he opened
384
00:21:37,700 --> 00:21:39,950
his own shop on Market Street
385
00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:42,410
with a partner whose father underwrote
386
00:21:42,580 --> 00:21:45,460
the initial expenses.
387
00:21:45,620 --> 00:21:49,000
He had devised a foundry
for casting type,
388
00:21:49,170 --> 00:21:52,670
saving the cost of sending to
England for replacements,
389
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:54,920
and won a contract to print
390
00:21:55,090 --> 00:21:58,010
the authorized history of the Quakers.
391
00:21:59,220 --> 00:22:00,930
When his new partner took to drinking,
392
00:22:01,100 --> 00:22:04,270
Franklin found other backers
to buy him out
393
00:22:04,430 --> 00:22:07,690
and continued as sole proprietor.
394
00:22:07,850 --> 00:22:10,060
In his drive to succeed,
he often worked
395
00:22:10,230 --> 00:22:11,860
until 11 at night
396
00:22:12,020 --> 00:22:14,900
and was back at his shop before dawn.
397
00:22:16,490 --> 00:22:18,990
I took care not only to be in Reality
398
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,580
Industrious and frugal, but to avoid
399
00:22:21,740 --> 00:22:24,950
all Appearances of the Contrary.
400
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,580
He made sure people noticed,
401
00:22:27,750 --> 00:22:31,290
and his business increased.
402
00:22:31,460 --> 00:22:34,170
He was a writer.
You know, writers invent.
403
00:22:34,340 --> 00:22:38,260
He might be his own best invention.
404
00:22:38,430 --> 00:22:42,220
Franklin is so relentless
in learning how to do things,
405
00:22:42,390 --> 00:22:45,850
learning how to do things
correctly in a certain way,
406
00:22:46,020 --> 00:22:48,060
how to write, how to dress, how to
407
00:22:48,230 --> 00:22:50,230
speak to different kinds of people.
408
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,440
It's sort of impossible
to know what was there
409
00:22:53,610 --> 00:22:56,610
before he did all that
and invented himself.
410
00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:02,120
With 11 other up-and-coming tradesmen,
411
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:05,290
Franklin formed a club
that met each Friday evening
412
00:23:05,450 --> 00:23:10,000
to socialize and forge
business connections.
413
00:23:10,170 --> 00:23:12,750
But they also discussed current events
414
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,420
and politely debated
a variety of topics--
415
00:23:16,590 --> 00:23:20,380
What is wisdom?
What defines good writing?
416
00:23:20,550 --> 00:23:23,970
Did importing indentured
and enslaved servants
417
00:23:24,140 --> 00:23:27,390
help or hurt the colonial economy?
418
00:23:28,890 --> 00:23:32,270
The official name of the group
was the Leather Apron Club.
419
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,820
Informally, they
called themselves the Junto,
420
00:23:35,980 --> 00:23:39,190
from the Latin for
"joined together."
421
00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:42,820
At 21, Franklin was
its youngest member,
422
00:23:42,990 --> 00:23:47,120
but unquestionably its driving force.
423
00:23:47,290 --> 00:23:51,210
Franklin believed
that the virtues and values
424
00:23:51,370 --> 00:23:53,250
of a working middle class
425
00:23:53,420 --> 00:23:56,710
were going to be the backbone
of American society.
426
00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,300
The artisans, the shopkeepers,
427
00:23:59,460 --> 00:24:02,300
the people who put on leather
aprons early in the morning
428
00:24:02,470 --> 00:24:05,260
to help serve the public.
429
00:24:05,430 --> 00:24:07,850
The Junto moved its meeting place
430
00:24:08,010 --> 00:24:10,680
from a local tavern to a rented house,
431
00:24:10,850 --> 00:24:12,690
and at Franklin's suggestion,
432
00:24:12,850 --> 00:24:14,770
each member brought some books
433
00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:17,020
that the other members could read.
434
00:24:20,110 --> 00:24:21,420
Eventually, they broadened the idea
435
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,860
into the Library Company
of Philadelphia,
436
00:24:25,030 --> 00:24:27,280
America's first subscription library
437
00:24:27,450 --> 00:24:28,870
open to the public,
438
00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:31,710
who paid small dues
for the chance to borrow
439
00:24:31,870 --> 00:24:35,130
books imported from Europe.
440
00:24:35,290 --> 00:24:37,670
And, every year,
more and more books would be
441
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,010
collected and extend knowledge.
442
00:24:41,170 --> 00:24:44,130
What was so important
about the Library Company
443
00:24:44,300 --> 00:24:50,060
was that it wasn't
just for wealthy, elite men.
444
00:24:50,220 --> 00:24:52,230
This Library afforded me
445
00:24:52,390 --> 00:24:56,150
the Means of Improvement
by constant Study,
446
00:24:56,310 --> 00:24:58,940
for which I set apart
an Hour or two each Day;
447
00:24:59,110 --> 00:25:01,280
and thus repair'd in some Degree
448
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,860
the Loss of the Learned Education
449
00:25:04,030 --> 00:25:06,570
my Father once intended for me.
450
00:25:08,620 --> 00:25:10,240
He always looked
around wherever he was
451
00:25:10,410 --> 00:25:12,040
and said, "What needs to be done?
452
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:13,600
"What's missing?
What are the things
453
00:25:13,620 --> 00:25:15,620
that a community ought to have?"
454
00:25:15,790 --> 00:25:19,210
He had read enough to know
that there was more elsewhere
455
00:25:19,380 --> 00:25:21,920
and he wanted to make
those good things happen
456
00:25:22,090 --> 00:25:24,130
to the community of Philadelphia.
457
00:25:25,590 --> 00:25:27,840
Self-reliance, which Franklin loved,
458
00:25:28,010 --> 00:25:30,390
and community engagement may seem like
459
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:31,850
they oppose each other.
460
00:25:32,020 --> 00:25:34,890
But as Franklin repeatedly said,
461
00:25:35,060 --> 00:25:37,060
the good that we can do together
462
00:25:37,230 --> 00:25:40,110
surpasses the good we can do alone.
463
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,070
Over the coming years,
Franklin and his Junto
464
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,450
would turn to other civic projects
465
00:25:48,620 --> 00:25:51,240
to improve life in Philadelphia.
466
00:25:52,950 --> 00:25:54,790
Under their guidance, the city formed
467
00:25:54,950 --> 00:25:57,210
volunteer fire companies.
468
00:25:57,370 --> 00:25:59,670
They advocated for a police force
469
00:25:59,830 --> 00:26:02,500
paid by a property tax.
470
00:26:02,670 --> 00:26:04,420
And at one Junto meeting,
471
00:26:04,590 --> 00:26:08,640
Franklin raised the idea
of starting a college.
472
00:26:10,550 --> 00:26:12,560
When the Public Academy
of Philadelphia
473
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:15,480
finally opened in 1751,
474
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,440
Franklin would be elected
president of the board.
475
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,570
It was the first non-sectarian
college in America
476
00:26:23,730 --> 00:26:28,030
and would later become
the University of Pennsylvania.
477
00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:31,700
Expanding on the Junto model,
478
00:26:31,870 --> 00:26:33,910
he proposed and organized
479
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,210
the American Philosophical Society,
480
00:26:37,370 --> 00:26:40,670
whose members would be
scientists and intellectuals
481
00:26:40,830 --> 00:26:43,210
from throughout the colonies,
482
00:26:43,380 --> 00:26:47,010
who could share ideas
and scholarly papers by mail
483
00:26:47,170 --> 00:26:50,470
if they could not
come to meetings in person.
484
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:54,930
It would become the colonies'
first learned society.
485
00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,350
And to build a new hospital,
he devised a plan
486
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:04,230
that matched private donations
with public funds,
487
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,990
giving people, he said,
"an additional motive to give,
488
00:27:08,150 --> 00:27:11,820
since every man's donation
would be doubled."
489
00:27:13,370 --> 00:27:14,930
He always believed
that if you just get a few
490
00:27:14,950 --> 00:27:17,290
good and interested men, always men,
491
00:27:17,450 --> 00:27:21,210
on any civic problem,
you can solve it.
492
00:27:21,370 --> 00:27:26,210
Ben Franklin is,
I think, emblematic of what
493
00:27:26,380 --> 00:27:29,970
America wanted to be,
should be, could be.
494
00:27:30,130 --> 00:27:33,600
The things that he spoke of,
the things that he wrote about,
495
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:38,980
often missing are other people.
496
00:27:39,140 --> 00:27:42,100
Women, people of color, in particular,
497
00:27:42,270 --> 00:27:45,230
enslaved men and women, never had
498
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,610
the opportunities that
a Ben Franklin had.
499
00:28:00,410 --> 00:28:02,670
Franklin's print shop was thriving.
500
00:28:02,830 --> 00:28:05,670
Pennsylvania's colonial
legislature awarded him
501
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,300
the contract to print
its paper currency.
502
00:28:09,460 --> 00:28:10,920
When he learned that South Carolina
503
00:28:11,090 --> 00:28:12,840
was looking for a printer,
504
00:28:13,010 --> 00:28:15,050
he dispatched one of his employees
505
00:28:15,220 --> 00:28:17,680
to open a shop in Charleston.
506
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:23,690
And on October 2, 1729,
he began publishing
507
00:28:23,850 --> 00:28:28,360
his own newspaper,
"The Pennsylvania Gazette."
508
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,530
He filled its pages with
reports from other newspapers
509
00:28:31,690 --> 00:28:33,660
in America and England,
510
00:28:33,820 --> 00:28:35,780
along with crime stories,
511
00:28:35,950 --> 00:28:38,740
notices of fires and deaths,
512
00:28:38,910 --> 00:28:40,750
a moral advice column,
513
00:28:40,910 --> 00:28:45,540
funny tales he concocted that
flirted with sexual innuendo,
514
00:28:45,710 --> 00:28:50,210
and letters from readers,
including some he wrote himself,
515
00:28:50,380 --> 00:28:52,260
under tongue-in-cheek pseudonyms like
516
00:28:52,420 --> 00:28:56,640
Anthony Afterwit
and Alice Addertongue.
517
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,510
"If you would make your
paper a vehicle of scandal,"
518
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,230
Addertongue advised in one letter,
519
00:29:02,390 --> 00:29:05,400
"you would double the number
of your subscribers."
520
00:29:07,150 --> 00:29:08,940
The "Gazette" caught on.
521
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:11,940
Ben Franklin understood the power
522
00:29:12,110 --> 00:29:14,700
of the printing press.
523
00:29:14,860 --> 00:29:18,570
He understood that
those who controlled words,
524
00:29:18,740 --> 00:29:22,950
those who are able to
disseminate information, um,
525
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:24,580
had a certain amount of power.
526
00:29:24,750 --> 00:29:29,250
He could be the arbiter of
what was seen as important.
527
00:29:31,210 --> 00:29:33,090
The idea, first, was to engage people,
528
00:29:33,260 --> 00:29:35,090
to entertain people.
529
00:29:35,260 --> 00:29:36,690
Franklin understood that
if you could get people
530
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,300
to laugh with you, you're halfway to
531
00:29:38,470 --> 00:29:41,140
getting them to agree with you.
532
00:29:41,310 --> 00:29:43,180
He also welcomed essays
533
00:29:43,350 --> 00:29:46,770
espousing opinions of all kinds.
534
00:29:46,940 --> 00:29:48,400
If all printers were determined
535
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,230
not to print anything till they were
536
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,360
sure it would offend nobody,
537
00:29:52,530 --> 00:29:54,650
there would be very little printed.
538
00:29:55,900 --> 00:29:57,860
He said in the end you have to bear
539
00:29:58,030 --> 00:30:02,740
some responsibility for the type
of ideas that you put forward.
540
00:30:02,910 --> 00:30:05,200
And if they're really odious,
if they're really harmful,
541
00:30:05,370 --> 00:30:08,420
you have to curate them out.
542
00:30:08,580 --> 00:30:10,540
If you made a mistake, you could,
543
00:30:10,710 --> 00:30:15,670
as they always did in those
days, add an errata page.
544
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:20,220
And you could fix anything
with that errata page.
545
00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:23,890
Local merchants advertised their goods
546
00:30:24,060 --> 00:30:25,390
in the "Gazette;"
547
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,640
tradesmen advertised their services.
548
00:30:28,810 --> 00:30:32,400
Franklin also published
notices offering rewards
549
00:30:32,570 --> 00:30:35,110
for runaway indentured servants,
550
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:36,860
like he had once been,
551
00:30:37,030 --> 00:30:39,410
and slaves for sale.
552
00:30:41,530 --> 00:30:44,200
To be sold in Lots or singly,
553
00:30:44,370 --> 00:30:47,250
a choice parcel of Negroes
lately Imported,
554
00:30:47,410 --> 00:30:49,960
consisting chiefly of
young Men and Girls,
555
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:52,290
bred to Plantation Business;
556
00:30:52,460 --> 00:30:55,300
also Jamaica Rum,
Sugar of sundry Sorts,
557
00:30:55,460 --> 00:30:58,380
Molasses, Cotton, and Pimento.
558
00:31:00,970 --> 00:31:04,510
Run away from the subscriber,
a Negroe lad called Ned,
559
00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:08,430
about 18 years of age,
5 feet 7 inches high,
560
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:10,810
speaks pretty good English, but thick,
561
00:31:10,980 --> 00:31:14,400
has very thick lips, and is much
pitted with the small-pox;
562
00:31:16,690 --> 00:31:20,240
TO BE SOLD, A LIKELY young
breeding Negroe Woman,
563
00:31:20,410 --> 00:31:23,200
speaks good English,
understands her Needle
564
00:31:23,370 --> 00:31:25,790
and any sort of Household Work,
565
00:31:25,950 --> 00:31:27,450
and has had the Small-Pox.
566
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:30,920
Enquire of the Printer.
567
00:31:38,130 --> 00:31:39,260
When Benjamin Franklin
568
00:31:39,420 --> 00:31:41,340
had returned from England,
569
00:31:41,510 --> 00:31:44,140
he had fallen back into
some of the habits
570
00:31:44,300 --> 00:31:46,850
he had acquired in London.
571
00:31:47,010 --> 00:31:49,680
That hard-to-
be-govern'd Passion of Youth
572
00:31:49,850 --> 00:31:52,850
hurried me frequently into
Intrigues with low Women
573
00:31:53,020 --> 00:31:54,520
that fell in my Way,
574
00:31:54,690 --> 00:31:57,020
which were attended with some Expence.
575
00:31:57,190 --> 00:32:01,110
Besides a continual Risque
to my Health by a Distemper
576
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:02,860
which of all Things I dreaded,
577
00:32:03,030 --> 00:32:06,200
tho' by great good Luck I escaped it.
578
00:32:07,950 --> 00:32:10,750
Now, as he became
a successful businessman,
579
00:32:10,910 --> 00:32:15,000
he decided he needed to
settle down and get married.
580
00:32:16,500 --> 00:32:19,510
Meanwhile, his former fiancée
Deborah Read
581
00:32:19,670 --> 00:32:22,300
had seen her marriage fall apart.
582
00:32:22,470 --> 00:32:26,890
Her husband had abandoned her
and fled to the West Indies.
583
00:32:27,050 --> 00:32:30,770
Reports came back that he
had died there in a brawl,
584
00:32:30,930 --> 00:32:32,730
but they were unconfirmed.
585
00:32:34,310 --> 00:32:37,900
In Quaker Pennsylvania,
Deborah was in a legal limbo.
586
00:32:38,070 --> 00:32:41,740
If she remarried and it
turned out he wasn't dead,
587
00:32:41,900 --> 00:32:45,780
she would be guilty of bigamy,
punishable at the time
588
00:32:45,950 --> 00:32:49,990
by 39 lashes and life imprisonment.
589
00:32:51,750 --> 00:32:53,620
She now lived with her widowed mother,
590
00:32:53,790 --> 00:32:56,920
who sold homemade remedies
to support them both
591
00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:59,840
in their house on Market Street.
592
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,340
Franklin felt some responsibility
593
00:33:02,510 --> 00:33:05,260
for Deborah's unhappiness,
and he said,
594
00:33:05,430 --> 00:33:09,350
"our mutual affection
was revived."
595
00:33:09,510 --> 00:33:14,270
On September 1, 1730,
forgoing a legal wedding,
596
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,520
they simply moved in together
597
00:33:16,690 --> 00:33:19,440
and entered into
a common-law marriage,
598
00:33:19,610 --> 00:33:22,860
a practice not all that uncommon.
599
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,450
She prov'd
a good and faithful Helpmate.
600
00:33:26,610 --> 00:33:29,030
Assisted me much
by attending the Shop.
601
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,750
We throve together, and have
ever mutually endeavour'd
602
00:33:32,910 --> 00:33:35,250
to make each other happy.
603
00:33:35,410 --> 00:33:37,830
I think he loved her.
604
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,960
I think they rubbed on
together beautifully,
605
00:33:41,130 --> 00:33:43,590
as he would have said.
606
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:45,360
I think during the time
that Franklin was
607
00:33:45,420 --> 00:33:47,390
an up-and-coming tradesman,
608
00:33:47,550 --> 00:33:50,890
it was a perfect union.
609
00:33:51,060 --> 00:33:54,850
She was an excellent
choice for a wife.
610
00:33:55,020 --> 00:33:59,020
She was well connected;
she belonged to Christ Church,
611
00:33:59,190 --> 00:34:01,650
which was the church in town.
612
00:34:01,820 --> 00:34:04,610
It was less of a romantic
relationship than it was
613
00:34:04,780 --> 00:34:08,530
a good, strong,
business-like partnership.
614
00:34:09,910 --> 00:34:11,870
But there was a complication.
615
00:34:12,030 --> 00:34:16,540
Franklin had recently fathered
a son with another woman.
616
00:34:16,710 --> 00:34:18,960
He never revealed
the mother's identity,
617
00:34:19,130 --> 00:34:22,710
but Franklin wanted to take
custody of the child.
618
00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,380
Deborah agreed the boy
could live with them.
619
00:34:25,550 --> 00:34:28,550
He was named William.
620
00:34:28,720 --> 00:34:30,640
She takes in his son,
who is not her son,
621
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,010
and raises him, not always happily.
622
00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:36,230
Benjamin and Deborah
623
00:34:36,390 --> 00:34:38,140
expanded the print shop to include
624
00:34:38,310 --> 00:34:40,610
sales of her mother's ointments,
625
00:34:40,770 --> 00:34:44,480
fine soap from Franklin's family
back in Boston,
626
00:34:44,650 --> 00:34:48,860
coffee, tea, chocolate,
and other items.
627
00:34:49,030 --> 00:34:51,570
Deborah purchased rags,
which mills throughout
628
00:34:51,740 --> 00:34:54,080
the colonies turned into paper,
629
00:34:54,240 --> 00:34:56,750
creating another profit center.
630
00:34:56,910 --> 00:34:59,580
She also managed the household,
631
00:34:59,750 --> 00:35:03,250
and at night bound books
by candlelight.
632
00:35:05,300 --> 00:35:08,670
Two years into their union, in 1732,
633
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:11,800
they had a child
of their own, Francis.
634
00:35:11,970 --> 00:35:16,100
His proud and doting
father called him Franky.
635
00:35:17,430 --> 00:35:19,520
But just after his fourth birthday,
636
00:35:19,690 --> 00:35:24,480
Franky came down with smallpox
and died.
637
00:35:24,650 --> 00:35:27,150
The huge tragedy of their lives
638
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:29,900
was the death of Franky.
639
00:35:30,070 --> 00:35:33,320
Franklin was one of the few
people in the Colonies
640
00:35:33,490 --> 00:35:37,080
who was 100% behind inoculation.
641
00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:40,540
But it was thought that because Franky
642
00:35:40,710 --> 00:35:42,750
had a very bad cold at the time,
643
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,550
they should hold off
until he recovered enough
644
00:35:46,710 --> 00:35:49,380
to be able to withstand
the assault on his system
645
00:35:49,550 --> 00:35:52,180
that inoculation would provide.
646
00:35:52,340 --> 00:35:54,640
He never was inoculated.
647
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:57,310
Franklin never forgave himself.
648
00:36:08,150 --> 00:36:09,670
Franklin's exposure to the writings of
649
00:36:09,740 --> 00:36:11,950
Europe's Enlightenment thinkers
650
00:36:12,110 --> 00:36:15,410
had led him to reject most of
the Puritan teachings
651
00:36:15,570 --> 00:36:18,040
of his family's church in Boston.
652
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:21,410
He no longer worshipped
a God intimately connected
653
00:36:21,580 --> 00:36:23,210
with a person's daily life
654
00:36:23,370 --> 00:36:27,670
who answered private prayers
or sent down punishments.
655
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:32,300
But he still believed in
a Supreme Being
656
00:36:32,470 --> 00:36:35,640
who had created the world.
657
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:37,300
I believe He is pleased
658
00:36:37,470 --> 00:36:39,220
and delights in the happiness
659
00:36:39,390 --> 00:36:41,140
of those He has created;
660
00:36:41,310 --> 00:36:45,690
and since without virtue man can
have no happiness in this world,
661
00:36:45,860 --> 00:36:50,650
I firmly believe He
delights to see me virtuous.
662
00:36:50,820 --> 00:36:53,200
Avirtuous heretick shall be saved
663
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:55,740
before a wicked Christian.
664
00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,240
No one feared for Benjamin's soul
665
00:36:59,410 --> 00:37:03,120
more than his pious parents
back in Boston,
666
00:37:03,290 --> 00:37:06,500
whose Calvinist Puritanism
espoused that salvation
667
00:37:06,670 --> 00:37:09,380
came solely through God's grace
668
00:37:09,550 --> 00:37:11,210
rather than good works
669
00:37:11,380 --> 00:37:14,130
and anyone who strayed
from that doctrine
670
00:37:14,300 --> 00:37:16,890
would be eternally damned.
671
00:37:18,180 --> 00:37:20,600
Benjamin, for whom tolerance
was becoming
672
00:37:20,770 --> 00:37:23,350
central to his evolving beliefs,
673
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:26,190
tried to explain himself.
674
00:37:26,350 --> 00:37:29,270
Honored Father and Mother, I imagine
675
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:31,940
a Man must have a good deal
of Vanity who believes
676
00:37:32,110 --> 00:37:35,150
that all the Doctrines
he holds, are true;
677
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:37,780
and all he rejects, are false.
678
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:42,910
I think vital Religion
has always suffer'd,
679
00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:47,170
when Orthodoxy is more
regarded than Virtue.
680
00:37:47,330 --> 00:37:50,960
And the Scripture assures me,
that at the last Day,
681
00:37:51,130 --> 00:37:54,260
we shall not be examin'd
by what we thought,
682
00:37:54,420 --> 00:37:55,800
but what we did.
683
00:38:00,390 --> 00:38:02,850
He's a man of
omnivorous curiosity, um,
684
00:38:03,020 --> 00:38:05,430
of endless invention,
of endless self-invention.
685
00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:07,310
He's so bent on self-improvement,
686
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:09,860
on teaching himself
how to write properly,
687
00:38:10,020 --> 00:38:12,730
or cleansing himself
of his moral sins.
688
00:38:12,900 --> 00:38:15,190
He gives us this idea
that human nature
689
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:16,650
may be flawed in some ways,
690
00:38:16,820 --> 00:38:19,320
but anything can be improved.
691
00:38:21,410 --> 00:38:24,040
In his constant
effort for self-improvement,
692
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:27,250
Franklin made a list of 12 virtues
693
00:38:27,410 --> 00:38:31,840
that could lead him to what
he called "moral perfection":
694
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:38,550
temperance, silence, order,
695
00:38:38,720 --> 00:38:44,220
resolution, frugality, industry,
696
00:38:44,390 --> 00:38:53,320
sincerity, justice,
moderation, cleanliness,
697
00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,780
tranquility, and chastity.
698
00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:00,490
Then he made a chart with 7 columns
699
00:39:00,660 --> 00:39:02,490
for each day of the week
700
00:39:02,660 --> 00:39:05,540
and rows labeled with each virtue
701
00:39:05,700 --> 00:39:07,870
and went to work on his progress,
702
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:12,250
marking any infraction
with a black spot.
703
00:39:12,420 --> 00:39:16,300
"I was surprised," he said,
"to find myself much fuller
704
00:39:16,460 --> 00:39:19,050
of faults than I had imagined."
705
00:39:20,550 --> 00:39:23,800
Every week, Franklin
would make a chart and check,
706
00:39:23,970 --> 00:39:26,180
did he master the virtue?
707
00:39:26,350 --> 00:39:29,230
At one point, he said,
"I've mastered all the 12
708
00:39:29,390 --> 00:39:30,770
"virtues I had.
709
00:39:30,940 --> 00:39:33,310
"And I showed it around
with great pride.
710
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:36,480
"And one of my friends said,
'Franklin, you're missing
711
00:39:36,650 --> 00:39:37,880
a virtue you might want
to try.'"
712
00:39:37,900 --> 00:39:39,740
And Franklin says,
"What's that?"
713
00:39:39,900 --> 00:39:41,360
And the friend says, "Humility.
714
00:39:41,530 --> 00:39:45,160
You might want to add
that one to your list."
715
00:39:45,330 --> 00:39:47,950
In reality,
there is perhaps no one of our
716
00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:52,370
natural Passions so hard
to subdue as Pride.
717
00:39:52,540 --> 00:39:55,290
Disguise it, struggle with it,
beat it down, stifle it,
718
00:39:55,460 --> 00:39:59,340
mortify it as much as one
pleases, it is still alive,
719
00:39:59,510 --> 00:40:03,510
and will every now and then
peep out and show itself.
720
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:07,060
Even if I could conceive that
I had completely overcome it,
721
00:40:07,220 --> 00:40:11,560
I should probably be
proud of my Humility.
722
00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:18,820
7 years after the
death of their son Franky,
723
00:40:18,980 --> 00:40:23,700
Deborah gave birth to another
child, a daughter named Sarah.
724
00:40:23,860 --> 00:40:26,080
They called her Sally.
725
00:40:27,410 --> 00:40:30,120
Franklin's son William
was now a teenager,
726
00:40:30,290 --> 00:40:34,080
as restless as his father
had been at that age.
727
00:40:34,250 --> 00:40:37,130
Deborah treated him
with occasional coldness,
728
00:40:37,290 --> 00:40:40,260
but Franklin was indulgent
as a father,
729
00:40:40,420 --> 00:40:43,550
making sure the boy
got the formal education
730
00:40:43,720 --> 00:40:46,640
Franklin himself had been denied.
731
00:40:48,180 --> 00:40:50,980
At age 16, William enlisted
to fight against
732
00:40:51,140 --> 00:40:53,690
the French and their Indian allies
733
00:40:53,850 --> 00:40:56,810
in what was called King George's War,
734
00:40:56,980 --> 00:40:59,320
and quickly rose
to the rank of captain,
735
00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:03,150
tracking down deserters
in Pennsylvania.
736
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:05,910
When he returned to Philadelphia,
737
00:41:06,070 --> 00:41:08,490
his father began to envision William
738
00:41:08,660 --> 00:41:11,450
rising in the ranks
of the British Empire
739
00:41:11,620 --> 00:41:16,040
and made plans for him
to study the law in England.
740
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:23,720
Franklin had started
to acquire some wealth.
741
00:41:25,010 --> 00:41:27,720
Like many other
Colonial Pennsylvanians,
742
00:41:27,890 --> 00:41:30,600
he held a number of enslaved people,
743
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:33,100
up to 5 or 6, in his home,
744
00:41:33,270 --> 00:41:36,940
including a married couple,
Peter and Jemima.
745
00:41:37,100 --> 00:41:40,070
He was committed to slave labor.
746
00:41:40,230 --> 00:41:44,780
He used it alongside of
his business ventures
747
00:41:44,950 --> 00:41:47,360
in order to gain more wealth.
748
00:41:47,530 --> 00:41:49,070
At the time,
749
00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:51,620
nearly a tenth of
Philadelphia's residents
750
00:41:51,790 --> 00:41:53,040
were enslaved,
751
00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:56,920
toiling in homes and businesses.
752
00:41:57,080 --> 00:41:59,460
We tend to associate slavery with
753
00:41:59,630 --> 00:42:01,710
plantation labor in the South.
754
00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:04,510
But there were slaves all up
and down the Eastern Seaboard,
755
00:42:04,670 --> 00:42:06,800
every one of the 13 Colonies.
756
00:42:06,970 --> 00:42:08,860
And they did everything.
They served as domestic servants;
757
00:42:08,890 --> 00:42:12,430
they served as cooks;
um, they served as nursemaids;
758
00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:17,060
they served as dock workers;
they served as hired hands.
759
00:42:17,230 --> 00:42:21,110
The advantage was that
Africans couldn't leave.
760
00:42:21,270 --> 00:42:24,610
Indentured servants
filled out their time.
761
00:42:24,780 --> 00:42:27,200
Africans, you had for life.
762
00:42:28,450 --> 00:42:30,450
Many of Franklin's Quaker friends
763
00:42:30,620 --> 00:42:34,160
considered slavery a sin
that threatened to corrode
764
00:42:34,330 --> 00:42:37,750
the moral fiber of
the community at large.
765
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:41,500
Franklin published some of
their anti-slavery tracts--
766
00:42:41,670 --> 00:42:44,920
though he intentionally
kept his own name as printer
767
00:42:45,090 --> 00:42:47,630
off the title page.
768
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,680
Franklin lived in
a moment in which slavery was
769
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:55,560
being challenged, pretty
constantly, in Philadelphia.
770
00:42:55,720 --> 00:42:59,270
He was very aware that this
was happening, yet he still
771
00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:02,690
made the decision to
hold onto his men and woman
772
00:43:02,860 --> 00:43:04,650
who were enslaved.
773
00:43:04,820 --> 00:43:06,690
He made a choice.
774
00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:16,750
Franklin's publishing empire was
775
00:43:16,910 --> 00:43:19,960
expanding and making more money.
776
00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:22,130
He was named clerk of Pennsylvania's
777
00:43:22,290 --> 00:43:25,420
colonial assembly,
which didn't pay well,
778
00:43:25,590 --> 00:43:28,420
but had won the contract
to print their proceedings,
779
00:43:28,590 --> 00:43:30,590
which did.
780
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:34,300
He made even more profits
printing the paper currency
781
00:43:34,470 --> 00:43:38,270
for Pennsylvania, Delaware,
and New Jersey.
782
00:43:38,430 --> 00:43:41,230
With former employees,
he would establish
783
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,440
printing partnerships in
Newport, Rhode Island;
784
00:43:44,610 --> 00:43:48,360
New York City; and Antigua
in the West Indies;
785
00:43:48,530 --> 00:43:52,660
as well as the one in
Charleston, South Carolina.
786
00:43:52,820 --> 00:43:56,240
He published Bibles,
and Samuel Richardson's
787
00:43:56,410 --> 00:43:59,580
"Pamela," the first novel
printed in America,
788
00:43:59,750 --> 00:44:03,460
along with treaties with
Native peoples that were used
789
00:44:03,630 --> 00:44:08,550
to systematically dispossess
them of their lands.
790
00:44:08,710 --> 00:44:13,840
In 1737, he was appointed
Philadelphia's postmaster,
791
00:44:14,010 --> 00:44:16,430
giving him access to news from Europe
792
00:44:16,600 --> 00:44:21,480
and the rest of the Colonies
before his competitors.
793
00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:23,370
One of the advantages
of being a printer is that
794
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:26,360
he is totally tuned into the news.
795
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:28,610
He's totally tuned into
everything that's
796
00:44:28,780 --> 00:44:30,360
going on in North America.
797
00:44:30,530 --> 00:44:34,870
His vision is broader than
most of his neighbors.
798
00:44:35,030 --> 00:44:39,330
He had a kind of public opinion
embedded in his brain.
799
00:44:39,490 --> 00:44:42,750
And he knew that opinion
in the end was what would
800
00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:45,420
decide where power resided.
801
00:44:48,630 --> 00:44:51,130
Early to Bed, and early to rise,
802
00:44:51,300 --> 00:44:54,930
makes a Man healthy, wealthy and wise.
803
00:44:56,510 --> 00:44:58,680
By now, thousands of readers
804
00:44:58,850 --> 00:45:00,810
from South Carolina to New York
805
00:45:00,970 --> 00:45:04,690
were buying Franklin's
"Poor Richard's Almanack,"
806
00:45:04,850 --> 00:45:08,320
which he had launched in 1733.
807
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:11,400
Many printers published almanacs.
808
00:45:11,570 --> 00:45:15,530
They outsold everything
in the colonies except Bibles
809
00:45:15,700 --> 00:45:18,030
and had the advantage
of requiring people
810
00:45:18,200 --> 00:45:21,750
to buy a new one each year.
811
00:45:21,910 --> 00:45:23,870
But Franklin's stood out.
812
00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:25,790
In addition to weather predictions,
813
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:29,960
astronomical, astrological,
and other observations,
814
00:45:30,130 --> 00:45:34,930
he included aphorisms that
combined wisdom with humor,
815
00:45:35,090 --> 00:45:38,050
philosophy with word play.
816
00:45:38,220 --> 00:45:40,100
All of it was ostensibly written
817
00:45:40,260 --> 00:45:42,350
by the hapless Richard Saunders,
818
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:44,640
who claimed he was writing his almanac
819
00:45:44,810 --> 00:45:48,310
simply because his wife
threatened to burn his books
820
00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:51,570
if he didn't earn something from them.
821
00:45:51,730 --> 00:45:53,610
Franklin got this from his reading
822
00:45:53,780 --> 00:45:55,200
of Jonathan Swift.
823
00:45:55,360 --> 00:45:56,760
Swift had produced
the "Bickerstaff Papers,"
824
00:45:56,780 --> 00:45:59,530
which was a parody of the almanac.
825
00:45:59,700 --> 00:46:03,950
And Franklin decides
to incorporate this style
826
00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:05,960
into Richard Saunders.
827
00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:07,870
And it was genius.
828
00:46:08,040 --> 00:46:10,060
People go to almanacs for
all sorts of important things--
829
00:46:10,090 --> 00:46:11,380
when to plant potatoes or peas;
830
00:46:11,550 --> 00:46:14,340
when... what's the best time
to harvest--
831
00:46:14,510 --> 00:46:16,970
but they stayed
because these fillers were
832
00:46:17,130 --> 00:46:20,390
funny, witty, and useful.
833
00:46:20,550 --> 00:46:23,140
"Fish and visitors,"
Poor Richard wrote,
834
00:46:23,310 --> 00:46:25,810
"stink in 3 days."
835
00:46:25,980 --> 00:46:31,360
"He that lies down with dogs,
shall rise up with fleas."
836
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:34,900
"God helps them
that help themselves."
837
00:46:35,070 --> 00:46:37,610
"Haste," he said, "makes waste."
838
00:46:37,780 --> 00:46:41,450
And "lost time is
never found again."
839
00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:46,830
God heals,
and the doctor takes the fees.
840
00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:49,290
A countryman between two lawyers
841
00:46:49,460 --> 00:46:52,880
is like a fish between two cats.
842
00:46:54,420 --> 00:46:57,130
The greatest monarch
on the proudest throne,
843
00:46:57,300 --> 00:47:00,430
is obliged to sit upon his own arse.
844
00:47:01,430 --> 00:47:04,770
Franklin is endlessly quotable.
845
00:47:04,930 --> 00:47:07,560
You could live your life,
I think, in Franklin aphorisms,
846
00:47:07,730 --> 00:47:10,010
most of which, we should say,
are stolen from other people
847
00:47:10,060 --> 00:47:12,060
but slightly reworked,
so in Franklin's version,
848
00:47:12,230 --> 00:47:14,270
they're in a better form.
849
00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:17,150
"Three can keep a secret,
if two of them are dead."
850
00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:22,070
I think one of
Franklin's great inventions is
851
00:47:22,240 --> 00:47:25,790
that American style of homespun humor,
852
00:47:25,950 --> 00:47:29,660
somebody who's pricking at
the pretensions of the elite,
853
00:47:29,830 --> 00:47:32,630
somebody who has sort of a
cracker barrel sensibility.
854
00:47:32,790 --> 00:47:36,170
This new style of humor
where people are poking fun
855
00:47:36,340 --> 00:47:38,340
at themselves indirectly.
856
00:47:38,510 --> 00:47:42,220
You see it in Mark Twain
and Will Rogers and others.
857
00:47:42,390 --> 00:47:44,350
I think it started with Franklin.
858
00:47:54,730 --> 00:47:56,400
The man who had
arrived in Philadelphia
859
00:47:56,570 --> 00:47:59,570
virtually penniless at age 17
860
00:47:59,740 --> 00:48:02,320
was now the city's largest bookseller,
861
00:48:02,490 --> 00:48:05,700
its most successful
printer and publisher,
862
00:48:05,870 --> 00:48:09,830
and the biggest paper merchant
in all the colonies.
863
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:13,500
He considered himself
prosperous enough to retire
864
00:48:13,670 --> 00:48:17,880
from the day-to-day running
of his businesses in 1748,
865
00:48:18,050 --> 00:48:20,670
at age 42.
866
00:48:20,840 --> 00:48:24,010
"I would rather have it said,
'He lived usefully, '"
867
00:48:24,180 --> 00:48:28,850
Franklin wrote his mother,
"than 'He died rich.'"
868
00:48:29,020 --> 00:48:30,850
I am in a fair Way of having
869
00:48:31,020 --> 00:48:35,110
no other Tasks than such as I
shall like to give my Self,
870
00:48:35,270 --> 00:48:39,940
and of enjoying what I look upon
as a great Happiness,
871
00:48:40,110 --> 00:48:43,450
Leisure to read, make Experiments,
872
00:48:43,610 --> 00:48:47,330
and converse at large with such
ingenious and worthy Men
873
00:48:47,490 --> 00:48:49,240
as are pleas'd to honor me
874
00:48:49,410 --> 00:48:51,830
with their friendship
and Acquaintance,
875
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:53,670
on such points as may produce
876
00:48:53,830 --> 00:48:57,920
something for
the common benefit of mankind,
877
00:48:58,090 --> 00:49:01,720
uninterrupted by the
little cares and fatigues
878
00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:03,220
of business.
879
00:49:05,010 --> 00:49:06,030
There was something
in Franklin that always
880
00:49:06,050 --> 00:49:07,470
wanted a little bit more.
881
00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:09,430
He wanted to learn more.
He wanted to go
882
00:49:09,600 --> 00:49:11,390
to more interesting places.
883
00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:13,770
He wanted to have a broader influence.
884
00:49:13,940 --> 00:49:16,310
Despite his lack of
a formal education,
885
00:49:16,480 --> 00:49:18,570
Franklin had turned himself
886
00:49:18,730 --> 00:49:21,860
into an influential
writer and thinker.
887
00:49:22,030 --> 00:49:23,700
Now, with more time to pursue
888
00:49:23,860 --> 00:49:27,070
whatever intrigued his
restless imagination,
889
00:49:27,240 --> 00:49:31,500
he would become better known
as a scientist and inventor.
890
00:49:34,580 --> 00:49:36,500
He studied the earth's rotation;
891
00:49:36,670 --> 00:49:39,460
conducted experiments
showing that dark cloths
892
00:49:39,630 --> 00:49:42,550
absorb more heat than bright fabrics;
893
00:49:42,710 --> 00:49:45,300
and became fascinated
by the human body's
894
00:49:45,470 --> 00:49:47,680
circulatory system.
895
00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:51,430
He loved anatomy, he loved botany,
896
00:49:51,600 --> 00:49:54,310
he loved the way leaves had veins.
897
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:57,690
He was most curious to know
everything you can know about
898
00:49:57,850 --> 00:50:00,020
everything that was possibly knowable.
899
00:50:00,190 --> 00:50:04,780
Wanting to know everything
is a key to his creativity.
900
00:50:04,950 --> 00:50:06,820
He observed weather patterns
901
00:50:06,990 --> 00:50:10,240
and correctly deduced
that the coastal storms
902
00:50:10,410 --> 00:50:12,330
now called Nor'easters
903
00:50:12,490 --> 00:50:15,460
actually moved in from the south.
904
00:50:15,620 --> 00:50:17,870
For an ailing brother, he fashioned
905
00:50:18,040 --> 00:50:20,710
a more comfortable catheter.
906
00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:25,090
And he designed a metal stove
to fit into a hearth,
907
00:50:25,260 --> 00:50:29,470
improving on the ones many
German immigrants were using.
908
00:50:29,640 --> 00:50:32,810
Franklin's radiated more heat
out into the room
909
00:50:32,970 --> 00:50:35,930
and had an opening for those
who still wished
910
00:50:36,100 --> 00:50:38,730
to bask in the fire's glow.
911
00:50:38,900 --> 00:50:41,820
An ironworker who was
a fellow Junto member
912
00:50:41,980 --> 00:50:46,360
began manufacturing them,
and they sold for 5 pounds each
913
00:50:46,530 --> 00:50:48,780
throughout the northeast.
914
00:50:48,950 --> 00:50:51,070
When Franklin was urged to take out
915
00:50:51,240 --> 00:50:57,370
a potentially lucrative patent
on his invention, he declined.
916
00:50:57,540 --> 00:50:59,420
As we enjoy great advantages
917
00:50:59,580 --> 00:51:01,250
from the invention of others,
918
00:51:01,420 --> 00:51:04,920
we should be glad of
an opportunity to serve others
919
00:51:05,090 --> 00:51:06,720
by an invention of ours,
920
00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:11,470
and this we should do
freely and generously.
921
00:51:13,930 --> 00:51:16,100
But nothing he did as a scientist
922
00:51:16,270 --> 00:51:18,350
would do more to serve others,
923
00:51:18,520 --> 00:51:20,270
and bring him more fame,
924
00:51:20,440 --> 00:51:24,940
than his work in the fledgling
field of electricity.
925
00:51:25,110 --> 00:51:28,950
"I never was before engaged
in any study," Franklin wrote,
926
00:51:29,110 --> 00:51:33,780
"that so totally engrossed
my attention and my time."
927
00:51:35,290 --> 00:51:37,830
Franklin had become
interested in electricity,
928
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:40,710
which, at the time,
was certainly not understood,
929
00:51:40,870 --> 00:51:42,750
but it was also
sort of a parlor trick.
930
00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:44,750
People would come in
with a--with a glass rod
931
00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:48,210
and some silk and shock
each other and lift
932
00:51:48,380 --> 00:51:49,590
pieces of paper.
933
00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:51,380
He and his Junto friends
934
00:51:51,550 --> 00:51:54,050
staged electricity parties
935
00:51:54,220 --> 00:51:57,850
in which they used a charge
to ring bells
936
00:51:58,020 --> 00:52:02,730
and make a toy he called an
electrical spider jump around.
937
00:52:02,900 --> 00:52:07,070
Men and women exchanged
electrical kisses.
938
00:52:07,230 --> 00:52:09,070
Franklin also electrified
939
00:52:09,240 --> 00:52:12,950
a gilt-edged portrait of
King George II that created
940
00:52:13,110 --> 00:52:15,620
what he called a high-treason shock
941
00:52:15,780 --> 00:52:20,120
if someone touched his crown.
942
00:52:20,290 --> 00:52:23,460
He used a more powerful shock
to kill a turkey and reported
943
00:52:23,630 --> 00:52:26,170
that it seemed uncommonly tender
944
00:52:26,340 --> 00:52:30,090
compared to one slaughtered
the conventional way.
945
00:52:30,260 --> 00:52:33,510
He kept saying,
"We have to find useful things
946
00:52:33,680 --> 00:52:36,100
to do with this electricity."
947
00:52:36,260 --> 00:52:38,280
He said one of the only useful
things in his first year
948
00:52:38,310 --> 00:52:41,140
of experiments was that
he would get shocked
949
00:52:41,310 --> 00:52:43,980
and knock him down; and he said,
"Electricity was useful
950
00:52:44,150 --> 00:52:46,770
for making
a vain person humble."
951
00:52:46,940 --> 00:52:49,780
As his studies turned more serious,
952
00:52:49,940 --> 00:52:52,740
and he began documenting
his observations,
953
00:52:52,900 --> 00:52:54,990
he came up with new terms to describe
954
00:52:55,160 --> 00:52:57,780
electricity's mysterious properties.
955
00:52:59,620 --> 00:53:01,540
It had two charges, he wrote,
956
00:53:01,710 --> 00:53:03,750
positive and negative,
957
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:08,420
and it could travel by what
he called a conductor.
958
00:53:08,590 --> 00:53:11,880
He grouped a collection of
glass containers together,
959
00:53:12,050 --> 00:53:14,180
each possessing an electrical charge,
960
00:53:14,340 --> 00:53:18,600
and named it a battery,
using the military term
961
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:21,890
for an array of cannons.
962
00:53:22,060 --> 00:53:23,690
Benjamin Franklin
comes up with the most
963
00:53:23,850 --> 00:53:26,600
important theory of the era, which is
964
00:53:26,770 --> 00:53:28,770
the Single Fluid Theory
of Electricity,
965
00:53:28,940 --> 00:53:32,530
which is that it's not some substance,
966
00:53:32,690 --> 00:53:33,960
but it's a positive and a negative.
967
00:53:33,990 --> 00:53:37,200
And it flows from
positive to negative.
968
00:53:37,370 --> 00:53:40,620
But pure science
had less appeal to Franklin
969
00:53:40,790 --> 00:53:42,870
than putting it to practical use.
970
00:53:45,120 --> 00:53:48,210
Lightning was seen as being
Divine Retribution.
971
00:53:48,380 --> 00:53:50,750
Of course, the irony was that
most of the buildings
972
00:53:50,920 --> 00:53:53,010
that were destroyed by lightning
were churches
973
00:53:53,170 --> 00:53:55,260
'cause in a lot of communities
in the 18th century,
974
00:53:55,430 --> 00:53:56,710
they were the highest structure.
975
00:53:58,430 --> 00:54:01,060
Franklin is convinced that lightning
976
00:54:01,220 --> 00:54:05,390
bears a similarity
to an electrical spark.
977
00:54:05,560 --> 00:54:07,270
He's looking at electric sparks,
978
00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:10,060
he's looking at lightning,
and he puts in his notebook
979
00:54:10,230 --> 00:54:13,690
all the similarities
and at the end of the page,
980
00:54:13,860 --> 00:54:16,030
he says, "Let the experiment
be made."
981
00:54:18,820 --> 00:54:20,280
Franklin detailed his theory
982
00:54:20,450 --> 00:54:22,620
that lightning was electricity
983
00:54:22,790 --> 00:54:26,210
and that metal objects
could draw off a charge.
984
00:54:26,370 --> 00:54:30,290
He proposed an experiment
that involved placing a person
985
00:54:30,460 --> 00:54:32,630
in what he called a sentry box
986
00:54:32,800 --> 00:54:34,840
on a high tower or hilltop
987
00:54:35,010 --> 00:54:37,680
and raising a sharply pointed iron rod
988
00:54:37,840 --> 00:54:40,760
when storm clouds approached.
989
00:54:40,930 --> 00:54:43,970
He shared his observations
with a London scientist,
990
00:54:44,140 --> 00:54:47,440
Peter Collinson, who had
supplied him with equipment
991
00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:49,940
for his electrical studies.
992
00:54:50,100 --> 00:54:52,980
Franklin was planning
to conduct the experiment
993
00:54:53,150 --> 00:54:56,240
on the new steeple of
Christ Church off Market Street
994
00:54:56,400 --> 00:54:59,410
as soon as its
construction was completed.
995
00:54:59,570 --> 00:55:04,200
But the work went slowly
and Franklin grew impatient.
996
00:55:04,370 --> 00:55:06,450
He then came up with
an alternative way
997
00:55:06,620 --> 00:55:08,500
to test his theory.
998
00:55:08,670 --> 00:55:10,670
He was less confident in this method
999
00:55:10,830 --> 00:55:13,090
and decided to do it in secret,
1000
00:55:13,250 --> 00:55:16,760
trusting only his son William
to take part.
1001
00:55:18,170 --> 00:55:22,350
In June of 1752,
with storm clouds threatening,
1002
00:55:22,510 --> 00:55:25,890
he and William went to a field
with a silk kite,
1003
00:55:26,060 --> 00:55:29,850
to which Franklin had attached
a sharp-pointed wire.
1004
00:55:31,230 --> 00:55:34,110
Dangling at the end of
the kite's long twine string
1005
00:55:34,270 --> 00:55:36,440
was a metal key.
1006
00:55:36,610 --> 00:55:40,450
They got the kite aloft
and Franklin maneuvered it
1007
00:55:40,610 --> 00:55:43,280
toward the approaching clouds.
1008
00:55:43,450 --> 00:55:45,450
What he was showing
was that the atmosphere
1009
00:55:45,620 --> 00:55:47,500
became electrified,
1010
00:55:47,660 --> 00:55:50,460
not that the kite had to be
struck by a lightning bolt,
1011
00:55:50,620 --> 00:55:53,920
which is often the way it's
depicted in illustrations.
1012
00:55:54,090 --> 00:55:55,500
Franklin suddenly noticed
1013
00:55:55,670 --> 00:55:57,460
the individual strands of hemp
1014
00:55:57,630 --> 00:55:58,720
along the kite's string
1015
00:55:58,880 --> 00:56:01,760
stiffening and standing on end.
1016
00:56:01,930 --> 00:56:04,050
He moved his free hand toward the key
1017
00:56:04,220 --> 00:56:07,560
and felt a mild shock on his knuckle.
1018
00:56:07,720 --> 00:56:09,560
When the rain began, and water
1019
00:56:09,730 --> 00:56:11,850
started streaming down the twine,
1020
00:56:12,020 --> 00:56:14,480
sparks flew off the key.
1021
00:56:14,650 --> 00:56:17,030
Franklin was exultant.
1022
00:56:17,190 --> 00:56:20,190
"Thereby," he wrote of his experiment,
1023
00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:23,740
"the sameness of electrical
matter with that of lightning
1024
00:56:23,910 --> 00:56:26,410
has been
completely demonstrated."
1025
00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:30,660
Meanwhile, the theories
1026
00:56:30,830 --> 00:56:32,670
he had shared with Collinson
1027
00:56:32,830 --> 00:56:34,170
had been published,
1028
00:56:34,330 --> 00:56:36,960
and unbeknownst to him,
other scientists
1029
00:56:37,130 --> 00:56:40,510
were already
testing and verifying them.
1030
00:56:40,670 --> 00:56:44,260
Experiments using his original
sentry box proposal
1031
00:56:44,430 --> 00:56:49,350
had been taking place
all over England and Europe.
1032
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:52,810
"Monsieur Franklin's idea,"
a French physicist wrote,
1033
00:56:52,980 --> 00:56:54,810
"has ceased to be a conjecture;
1034
00:56:54,980 --> 00:56:58,320
here it has become a reality."
1035
00:56:58,480 --> 00:57:00,820
The kite experiment, that really was
1036
00:57:00,990 --> 00:57:03,490
the symbol of his breakthrough.
1037
00:57:03,660 --> 00:57:07,280
It showed that the atmosphere
was electrified,
1038
00:57:07,450 --> 00:57:10,910
that thus thunder and lightning
were electrical forces.
1039
00:57:11,080 --> 00:57:14,290
And it overthrew
centuries of superstition
1040
00:57:14,460 --> 00:57:17,630
and scientific confusion about
what this might be.
1041
00:57:19,210 --> 00:57:20,520
He made a really
fundamental contribution
1042
00:57:20,550 --> 00:57:22,670
to basic science.
1043
00:57:22,840 --> 00:57:25,220
And the fact that
he did it as an American,
1044
00:57:25,390 --> 00:57:28,220
coming out of the wilds
of, uh, of America,
1045
00:57:28,390 --> 00:57:33,060
in the European eyes, made him,
uh, instantly world famous.
1046
00:57:33,230 --> 00:57:35,940
There's a hilarious little piece
1047
00:57:36,100 --> 00:57:38,020
in the "Gentleman's Magazine"
in London
1048
00:57:38,190 --> 00:57:40,110
where this commentator
says that "Now we know
1049
00:57:40,270 --> 00:57:42,320
"that Mr. Franklin's
theories about
1050
00:57:42,490 --> 00:57:45,200
"emptying the clouds of
electricity are actually true;
1051
00:57:45,360 --> 00:57:47,640
"whereas, once upon a time,
we didn't even think there was
1052
00:57:47,780 --> 00:57:50,030
such a person as Mr. Franklin."
1053
00:57:50,200 --> 00:57:51,800
'Cause it does seem
incredibly improbable
1054
00:57:51,870 --> 00:57:54,460
that the reigning expert on
1055
00:57:54,620 --> 00:57:57,290
an enormous attribute of Nature
1056
00:57:57,460 --> 00:58:00,170
would come from Philadelphia,
wherever the hell that was.
1057
00:58:01,590 --> 00:58:03,380
Benjamin Franklin had unlocked
1058
00:58:03,550 --> 00:58:05,300
the mystery of electricity,
1059
00:58:05,470 --> 00:58:09,470
but he still wanted
to put his discovery to work.
1060
00:58:09,640 --> 00:58:12,060
In Germany during the mid-century,
1061
00:58:12,220 --> 00:58:16,020
386 churches had been
struck by lightning
1062
00:58:16,190 --> 00:58:19,400
and more than 100 bell ringers killed.
1063
00:58:19,560 --> 00:58:22,440
In Italy, hundreds more
people perished
1064
00:58:22,610 --> 00:58:27,160
when a bolt hit a building that
had gunpowder stored in it.
1065
00:58:27,320 --> 00:58:30,030
Franklin concluded that lightning
1066
00:58:30,200 --> 00:58:32,410
seeks the path of least resistance
1067
00:58:32,580 --> 00:58:34,410
to connect with the ground.
1068
00:58:34,580 --> 00:58:35,910
Providing a better conductor
1069
00:58:36,080 --> 00:58:39,500
might safely divert the charge.
1070
00:58:39,670 --> 00:58:42,920
He then arranged for
what he called lightning rods
1071
00:58:43,090 --> 00:58:45,760
to be placed atop
Pennsylvania's State House
1072
00:58:45,920 --> 00:58:48,090
and his college building--
1073
00:58:48,260 --> 00:58:52,970
the first such devices
ever erected in the world.
1074
00:58:53,140 --> 00:58:55,270
Lightning bolts aren't there
1075
00:58:55,430 --> 00:58:56,930
sent by an angry god.
1076
00:58:57,100 --> 00:58:58,900
It's not something you can just
1077
00:58:59,060 --> 00:59:02,190
try to pray and it goes away.
1078
00:59:02,360 --> 00:59:05,030
You have to find practical,
scientific solutions
1079
00:59:05,190 --> 00:59:08,610
that help us understand our cosmos.
1080
00:59:08,780 --> 00:59:11,160
The lightning rod changes the world.
1081
00:59:11,320 --> 00:59:12,990
It's one of the most
important inventions
1082
00:59:13,160 --> 00:59:14,600
of the Enlightenment and, of course,
1083
00:59:14,620 --> 00:59:15,750
he won't patent it.
1084
00:59:15,910 --> 00:59:17,500
He believes a good idea
1085
00:59:17,660 --> 00:59:19,080
belongs to humankind.
1086
00:59:19,250 --> 00:59:21,130
Some religious leaders objected
1087
00:59:21,290 --> 00:59:23,920
that Franklin was
attempting to interfere
1088
00:59:24,090 --> 00:59:29,590
with one of God's most effective
methods of punishing sinners.
1089
00:59:29,760 --> 00:59:31,430
Surely the
Thunder of Heaven is no more
1090
00:59:31,590 --> 00:59:36,310
supernatural than the Rain,
Hail or Sunshine of Heaven,
1091
00:59:36,470 --> 00:59:38,980
against the Inconvenience
of which we guard
1092
00:59:39,140 --> 00:59:41,600
by Roofs & Shades without Scruple.
1093
00:59:43,560 --> 00:59:46,360
Scientists in America and Europe
1094
00:59:46,530 --> 00:59:49,650
were hailing him for his
achievements in electricity.
1095
00:59:49,820 --> 00:59:53,990
Harvard, Yale, and the College
of William and Mary in Virginia
1096
00:59:54,160 --> 00:59:57,160
gave him honorary degrees.
1097
00:59:57,330 --> 01:00:00,410
London's Royal Society
made him the first person
1098
01:00:00,580 --> 01:00:03,000
living outside of Britain to receive
1099
01:00:03,170 --> 01:00:06,340
its prestigious Copley Medal.
1100
01:00:06,500 --> 01:00:09,010
And one English scientist
called his work
1101
01:00:09,170 --> 01:00:11,510
"the greatest discovery
that has been made
1102
01:00:11,680 --> 01:00:14,930
since the time
of Sir Isaac Newton."
1103
01:00:15,100 --> 01:00:19,730
In Germany, the Enlightenment
philosopher Immanuel Kant said
1104
01:00:19,890 --> 01:00:24,400
Franklin had stolen the fire
of heaven and called him
1105
01:00:24,560 --> 01:00:26,320
the "modern Prometheus."
1106
01:00:36,830 --> 01:00:38,910
By the collision
of different sentiments,
1107
01:00:39,080 --> 01:00:41,580
sparks of truth are struck,
1108
01:00:41,750 --> 01:00:44,710
and political light is obtained.
1109
01:00:46,170 --> 01:00:48,130
He had a kind of social intelligence
1110
01:00:48,300 --> 01:00:51,670
that matched his
book learning intelligence.
1111
01:00:51,840 --> 01:00:54,640
He really was an American
genius, but part of his genius
1112
01:00:54,800 --> 01:00:58,430
lay in his ability
to get people to work with him
1113
01:00:58,600 --> 01:00:59,920
and to move things in a direction
1114
01:01:00,020 --> 01:01:01,770
he wanted them to go.
1115
01:01:01,930 --> 01:01:04,350
Franklin's
involvement in civic affairs
1116
01:01:04,520 --> 01:01:07,610
took a new political turn
when he was elected to
1117
01:01:07,770 --> 01:01:12,780
Pennsylvania's colonial
Assembly in 1751.
1118
01:01:12,950 --> 01:01:15,110
I conceived my becoming a member
1119
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:18,660
would enlarge my power of doing good.
1120
01:01:18,830 --> 01:01:21,370
I would not however insinuate
that my ambition was not
1121
01:01:21,540 --> 01:01:24,250
flattered by all these promotions.
1122
01:01:24,420 --> 01:01:26,080
It certainly was.
1123
01:01:26,250 --> 01:01:28,250
For considering my low beginning
1124
01:01:28,420 --> 01:01:30,760
they were great things to me.
1125
01:01:34,010 --> 01:01:36,640
He worked on
everything from regulations
1126
01:01:36,800 --> 01:01:38,680
on the size of bread loaves
1127
01:01:38,850 --> 01:01:41,390
to a tax on dogs;
1128
01:01:41,560 --> 01:01:43,890
pushed through a plan
to pave Market Street
1129
01:01:44,060 --> 01:01:46,440
and keep it swept of dust;
1130
01:01:46,600 --> 01:01:48,980
then gained approval
to install newly designed
1131
01:01:49,150 --> 01:01:51,110
street lamps in the city
1132
01:01:51,280 --> 01:01:53,950
with 4 replaceable glass panes
1133
01:01:54,110 --> 01:01:56,700
that made them easier to repair.
1134
01:01:58,320 --> 01:02:01,410
In 1752, the British
government appointed
1135
01:02:01,580 --> 01:02:03,290
the 46-year-old Franklin
1136
01:02:03,450 --> 01:02:06,370
to the top postal job in America,
1137
01:02:06,540 --> 01:02:08,960
sharing the title of deputy postmaster
1138
01:02:09,130 --> 01:02:11,460
with a man from the South.
1139
01:02:11,630 --> 01:02:14,170
Franklin immediately started
making the colonies'
1140
01:02:14,340 --> 01:02:17,430
mail service more efficient.
1141
01:02:17,590 --> 01:02:20,510
He established the first
home-delivery system
1142
01:02:20,680 --> 01:02:23,140
and cut the time it took
for a letter to get from
1143
01:02:23,310 --> 01:02:27,480
Philadelphia to New York City
to one day.
1144
01:02:27,650 --> 01:02:30,020
On an inspection tour
that took him through
1145
01:02:30,190 --> 01:02:32,900
Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia,
1146
01:02:33,070 --> 01:02:37,570
he learned more about the
colonies south of Pennsylvania.
1147
01:02:37,740 --> 01:02:40,620
The American identity begins to form
1148
01:02:40,780 --> 01:02:44,200
when Franklin creates a Postal
System that allows people
1149
01:02:44,370 --> 01:02:47,370
to communicate up and down the coast.
1150
01:02:47,540 --> 01:02:49,420
Most of the Colonies
thought of themselves
1151
01:02:49,580 --> 01:02:51,170
closer to London.
1152
01:02:51,340 --> 01:02:53,460
Even letters would go,
from Charleston,
1153
01:02:53,630 --> 01:02:55,970
if it had to go to Boston,
it would go to London,
1154
01:02:56,130 --> 01:02:58,470
and then back to Boston.
1155
01:02:58,630 --> 01:03:00,760
So, by doing a Postal Road
up and down the coast,
1156
01:03:00,930 --> 01:03:05,100
he helps knit the American
Colonies together.
1157
01:03:05,270 --> 01:03:07,980
The future prosperity
of the British Empire,
1158
01:03:08,140 --> 01:03:09,980
Franklin wrote in one essay,
1159
01:03:10,150 --> 01:03:13,070
lay in the American colonies.
1160
01:03:13,230 --> 01:03:15,440
Because of the abundance of land,
1161
01:03:15,610 --> 01:03:18,240
he predicted the white
population would double
1162
01:03:18,400 --> 01:03:21,160
every 20 years, and within a century
1163
01:03:21,320 --> 01:03:24,160
would even surpass England's.
1164
01:03:24,330 --> 01:03:28,290
All of this disregarded the
sovereignty of Native peoples,
1165
01:03:28,460 --> 01:03:31,330
whose land it had been for millennia.
1166
01:03:33,590 --> 01:03:35,210
In the same essay, he argued,
1167
01:03:35,380 --> 01:03:37,840
strictly on economic grounds,
1168
01:03:38,010 --> 01:03:42,510
that the importation of black
slaves diminished a nation
1169
01:03:42,680 --> 01:03:44,600
because "The Whites who have Slaves"
1170
01:03:44,760 --> 01:03:49,270
are "enfeebled" by
not working themselves.
1171
01:03:49,440 --> 01:03:51,850
He is combining racism
1172
01:03:52,020 --> 01:03:55,780
and opposition to the
slave trade, simultaneously.
1173
01:03:55,940 --> 01:03:58,320
Some of the initial efforts
1174
01:03:58,490 --> 01:04:03,160
to stop the slave trade
to North America
1175
01:04:03,320 --> 01:04:04,120
originated in concern that there were
1176
01:04:04,280 --> 01:04:06,580
too many black people there.
1177
01:04:06,740 --> 01:04:10,500
It was an immigration problem,
rather than a moral problem.
1178
01:04:12,790 --> 01:04:15,420
He also worried
about the influx of immigrants
1179
01:04:15,590 --> 01:04:19,090
he described as having
"a swarthy complexion,"
1180
01:04:19,260 --> 01:04:22,090
including Spaniards, Italians,
1181
01:04:22,260 --> 01:04:26,140
French, Russians, and Swedes--
1182
01:04:26,310 --> 01:04:28,270
even the Germans, who now represented
1183
01:04:28,430 --> 01:04:31,310
a third of his own colony.
1184
01:04:31,480 --> 01:04:33,980
"Why," he wrote, "should Pennsylvania,
1185
01:04:34,150 --> 01:04:38,690
"founded by the English,
become a Colony of Aliens,
1186
01:04:38,860 --> 01:04:42,950
"who will shortly be so numerous
as to Germanize us
1187
01:04:43,110 --> 01:04:46,490
instead of our Anglifying them."
1188
01:04:48,080 --> 01:04:50,330
We have so fair an Opportunity,
1189
01:04:50,500 --> 01:04:53,040
by excluding all Blacks and Tawneys,
1190
01:04:53,210 --> 01:04:56,630
of increasing the lovely
White and Red.
1191
01:04:56,790 --> 01:05:00,510
But perhaps I am partial to
the Complexion of my Country,
1192
01:05:00,670 --> 01:05:04,760
for such Kind of Partiality
is natural to Mankind.
1193
01:05:06,140 --> 01:05:08,850
In the middle decades
of the 18th century,
1194
01:05:09,010 --> 01:05:12,690
notions of racial inferiority
were so deeply embedded
1195
01:05:12,850 --> 01:05:16,020
that the unusual fact
of this document, actually,
1196
01:05:16,190 --> 01:05:19,980
is how he says, at the end,
"Or maybe I'm just biased
1197
01:05:20,150 --> 01:05:23,070
in favor of people like myself."
1198
01:05:23,240 --> 01:05:27,160
Franklin doesn't deserve
particular praise for that.
1199
01:05:27,320 --> 01:05:31,660
But it is unusual in the sense of
1200
01:05:31,830 --> 01:05:34,830
he's being self-reflective
about his own prejudices.
1201
01:05:35,000 --> 01:05:38,000
It's the self-reflective part
which is slightly unusual.
1202
01:05:38,170 --> 01:05:39,880
The prejudices are not.
1203
01:05:44,470 --> 01:05:47,760
In 1754, increased white settlement
1204
01:05:47,930 --> 01:05:49,390
in the Ohio River Valley
1205
01:05:49,560 --> 01:05:52,270
ignited another struggle with France
1206
01:05:52,430 --> 01:05:54,600
for control of Native lands--
1207
01:05:54,770 --> 01:05:59,110
what would come to be called
the French and Indian War.
1208
01:05:59,270 --> 01:06:02,780
Franklin was chosen as one of
4 Pennsylvania delegates
1209
01:06:02,940 --> 01:06:06,280
to meet with representatives
from 6 other colonies
1210
01:06:06,450 --> 01:06:10,660
in Albany, New York, to
negotiate with Native Americans
1211
01:06:10,830 --> 01:06:14,830
they hoped would side with
England in the conflict.
1212
01:06:15,000 --> 01:06:17,670
He was familiar with
the way the Iroquois nations
1213
01:06:17,830 --> 01:06:21,340
had formed a confederation,
the Haudenosaunee,
1214
01:06:21,500 --> 01:06:23,260
more than a century earlier
1215
01:06:23,420 --> 01:06:25,760
that promoted unity through consensus
1216
01:06:25,930 --> 01:06:28,890
on matters that affected them all.
1217
01:06:29,050 --> 01:06:32,060
It gave him an idea.
1218
01:06:32,220 --> 01:06:34,350
It would be a very strange thing,
1219
01:06:34,520 --> 01:06:36,730
if 6 nations of ignorant
savages should be
1220
01:06:36,890 --> 01:06:39,810
capable of forming a scheme
for such a union,
1221
01:06:39,980 --> 01:06:42,320
and be able to execute it
in such a manner
1222
01:06:42,480 --> 01:06:45,150
as that it has subsisted for ages,
1223
01:06:45,320 --> 01:06:47,820
and appears indissoluble;
1224
01:06:47,990 --> 01:06:51,490
and yet that a like union
should be impracticable
1225
01:06:51,660 --> 01:06:54,580
for 10 or a dozen English colonies,
1226
01:06:54,750 --> 01:06:57,580
to whom it is more necessary,
1227
01:06:57,750 --> 01:07:00,580
and must be more advantageous.
1228
01:07:01,790 --> 01:07:03,550
Franklin urged his fellow delegates
1229
01:07:03,710 --> 01:07:06,630
to consider creating their own charter
1230
01:07:06,800 --> 01:07:09,800
to encourage the colonies
to work together.
1231
01:07:09,970 --> 01:07:13,890
He and Thomas Hutchinson,
an ally from Massachusetts,
1232
01:07:14,060 --> 01:07:17,270
spearheaded a committee
that drew up what was called
1233
01:07:17,430 --> 01:07:20,600
the Albany Plan of Union.
1234
01:07:20,770 --> 01:07:23,900
It proposed a Grand Council
for the Colonies,
1235
01:07:24,070 --> 01:07:26,990
empowered to make treaties
with Indians,
1236
01:07:27,150 --> 01:07:31,910
regulate trade, oversee
land sales on the frontier,
1237
01:07:32,070 --> 01:07:35,540
build forts and raise troops
for common defense,
1238
01:07:35,700 --> 01:07:38,250
and enact whatever taxes and duties
1239
01:07:38,410 --> 01:07:40,790
were needed for it all.
1240
01:07:40,960 --> 01:07:43,840
Individual colonies would
keep their own authority
1241
01:07:44,000 --> 01:07:48,630
over everything else
under their own constitutions.
1242
01:07:48,800 --> 01:07:51,260
In an article in
the "Gazette," he attached
1243
01:07:51,430 --> 01:07:54,260
a drawing showing a dismembered snake
1244
01:07:54,430 --> 01:07:56,430
representing the colonies.
1245
01:07:56,600 --> 01:07:59,850
At the bottom was a dire warning.
1246
01:08:00,020 --> 01:08:02,860
It says,
"Join or die."
1247
01:08:03,020 --> 01:08:06,570
And it's his way of saying
that we have to come together
1248
01:08:06,730 --> 01:08:10,110
to have one national sensibility.
1249
01:08:10,280 --> 01:08:11,820
So, he's the great visionary
1250
01:08:11,990 --> 01:08:13,490
that sees that we have to
1251
01:08:13,660 --> 01:08:16,080
knit the Colonies together,
1252
01:08:16,240 --> 01:08:18,910
rather than have each of
the Colonies think of themselves
1253
01:08:19,080 --> 01:08:22,670
as sort of a separate entity
reporting back to London.
1254
01:08:22,830 --> 01:08:25,040
On both sides of the Atlantic,
1255
01:08:25,210 --> 01:08:29,590
the Albany Plan
was considered too radical.
1256
01:08:29,760 --> 01:08:31,470
Its Fate was singular.
1257
01:08:31,630 --> 01:08:33,430
The Assemblies did not adopt it,
1258
01:08:33,590 --> 01:08:36,890
as they all thought there was
too much Prerogative in it;
1259
01:08:37,060 --> 01:08:41,690
and in England it was judg'd to
have too much of the democratic.
1260
01:08:41,850 --> 01:08:43,270
Despite all the failure, and it was
1261
01:08:43,440 --> 01:08:45,940
a total failure,
1262
01:08:46,110 --> 01:08:49,740
it did possibly plant
some kind of seed
1263
01:08:49,900 --> 01:08:54,450
for future organization
among the Colonies.
1264
01:08:57,740 --> 01:09:00,580
In 1755, Franklin met with
1265
01:09:00,750 --> 01:09:02,670
Major General Edward Braddock,
1266
01:09:02,830 --> 01:09:05,170
who had arrived in America boasting
1267
01:09:05,330 --> 01:09:09,130
that he and his British redcoats
would have little trouble
1268
01:09:09,300 --> 01:09:13,010
defeating the French and their
Native American allies.
1269
01:09:13,180 --> 01:09:16,970
Franklin warned the general
against overconfidence.
1270
01:09:17,140 --> 01:09:20,520
On July 9, 1755,
1271
01:09:20,680 --> 01:09:22,850
8 miles from Fort Duquesne,
1272
01:09:23,020 --> 01:09:25,480
where the Monongahela
and Allegheny rivers
1273
01:09:25,650 --> 01:09:27,900
join to form the Ohio,
1274
01:09:28,070 --> 01:09:30,860
Braddock's forces
stumbled into an ambush
1275
01:09:31,030 --> 01:09:35,160
and were routed by
French and Indian soldiers.
1276
01:09:35,320 --> 01:09:39,030
Nearly 1,000 of the British
were killed or wounded;
1277
01:09:39,200 --> 01:09:43,870
most of the officers died,
including Braddock.
1278
01:09:44,040 --> 01:09:47,420
In the battle, two horses
were shot out from underneath
1279
01:09:47,580 --> 01:09:49,040
a young lieutenant colonel
1280
01:09:49,210 --> 01:09:51,800
and land speculator from Virginia,
1281
01:09:51,960 --> 01:09:54,970
and 4 bullets pierced his coat.
1282
01:09:55,130 --> 01:10:00,760
But somehow, 23-year-old
George Washington survived.
1283
01:10:02,520 --> 01:10:04,180
The French and Indians soon pushed
1284
01:10:04,350 --> 01:10:05,980
farther into Pennsylvania,
1285
01:10:06,150 --> 01:10:09,900
burning houses,
killing and capturing settlers,
1286
01:10:10,070 --> 01:10:12,740
spreading panic across the colony.
1287
01:10:12,900 --> 01:10:16,160
In Philadelphia,
the Assembly seemed paralyzed.
1288
01:10:16,320 --> 01:10:21,240
Dominated by Quaker pacifists,
it resisted raising an army.
1289
01:10:22,700 --> 01:10:24,290
Meanwhile, the governor, appointed by
1290
01:10:24,460 --> 01:10:26,460
William Penn's sons in England,
1291
01:10:26,620 --> 01:10:28,790
steadfastly rejected any tax
1292
01:10:28,960 --> 01:10:31,550
on the family's lands in Pennsylvania
1293
01:10:31,710 --> 01:10:35,010
to help defend the colony.
1294
01:10:35,170 --> 01:10:37,680
Vassals fight at their lord's expense;
1295
01:10:37,840 --> 01:10:39,970
but our lord would have us
defend his estate
1296
01:10:40,140 --> 01:10:41,890
at our own expense!
1297
01:10:42,060 --> 01:10:45,350
It is even more slavish
than slavery itself.
1298
01:10:47,100 --> 01:10:48,690
When a raiding party
struck a settlement
1299
01:10:48,850 --> 01:10:51,730
only 75 miles north of Philadelphia,
1300
01:10:51,900 --> 01:10:54,230
Franklin led a force of militiamen,
1301
01:10:54,400 --> 01:10:58,660
including his son William,
over rough terrain to the scene,
1302
01:10:58,820 --> 01:11:00,370
where they buried the dead
1303
01:11:00,530 --> 01:11:01,950
and began to build
1304
01:11:02,120 --> 01:11:03,540
a series of forts.
1305
01:11:04,910 --> 01:11:07,410
The winter weather was cold and wet.
1306
01:11:07,580 --> 01:11:09,710
Franklin spent his 50th birthday
1307
01:11:09,880 --> 01:11:12,590
encamped at Lehigh Gap.
1308
01:11:14,960 --> 01:11:17,880
But the immediate crisis had been met.
1309
01:11:18,050 --> 01:11:22,180
In Philadelphia,
Franklin was hailed as a hero.
1310
01:11:22,350 --> 01:11:26,480
"The people," he wrote
a friend, "happen to love me."
1311
01:11:30,150 --> 01:11:33,690
In June of 1757, Franklin once more
1312
01:11:33,860 --> 01:11:37,360
found himself on a ship
bound for England.
1313
01:11:37,530 --> 01:11:40,910
The Assembly had sent him on
a mission to try to negotiate
1314
01:11:41,070 --> 01:11:43,490
with the Penn family in person
1315
01:11:43,660 --> 01:11:46,160
about their refusal to be taxed.
1316
01:11:47,660 --> 01:11:50,620
He brought his son William
along as his assistant,
1317
01:11:50,790 --> 01:11:53,840
but Deborah and Sally stayed behind.
1318
01:11:54,000 --> 01:11:55,920
Deborah worried that
her husband's ship
1319
01:11:56,090 --> 01:11:58,340
might be attacked by the French
1320
01:11:58,510 --> 01:12:02,010
or go down in the dangerous
waters of the North Atlantic.
1321
01:12:04,220 --> 01:12:05,510
I have been in much pain
1322
01:12:05,680 --> 01:12:08,230
for some days on account
of my Husband,
1323
01:12:08,390 --> 01:12:11,480
for by this time he is, as I suppose,
1324
01:12:11,650 --> 01:12:14,230
near the Land's End of England,
1325
01:12:14,400 --> 01:12:17,280
and of course in danger of
being taken,
1326
01:12:17,440 --> 01:12:20,490
which I pray God prevent.
1327
01:12:20,650 --> 01:12:23,820
I am not able to bear
the least thing in the world
1328
01:12:23,990 --> 01:12:26,990
and I find myself very weak indeed.
1329
01:12:30,120 --> 01:12:31,500
Approaching the coast of England,
1330
01:12:31,670 --> 01:12:34,080
Franklin's ship was nearly
1331
01:12:34,250 --> 01:12:35,250
wrecked on the rocks,
1332
01:12:35,420 --> 01:12:37,420
just as his wife had feared,
1333
01:12:37,590 --> 01:12:41,130
but finally landed safely.
1334
01:12:41,300 --> 01:12:43,760
"Were I a Roman Catholic,"
he wrote Deborah,
1335
01:12:43,930 --> 01:12:46,810
"perhaps I should on this occasion
1336
01:12:46,970 --> 01:12:49,810
"vow to build a chapel to some saint;
1337
01:12:49,980 --> 01:12:53,150
"but as I am not,
if I were to vow at all,
1338
01:12:53,310 --> 01:12:55,900
it should be to build
a lighthouse."
1339
01:12:57,610 --> 01:13:01,450
In London, he found lodging
at a home on Craven Street,
1340
01:13:01,610 --> 01:13:04,450
a short walk from
the British government offices
1341
01:13:04,620 --> 01:13:06,280
at Whitehall.
1342
01:13:06,450 --> 01:13:08,540
When he gets to
London, Franklin tries to
1343
01:13:08,700 --> 01:13:11,200
recreate his family life.
1344
01:13:11,370 --> 01:13:13,960
And, so, he finds a landlady
who's quite like
1345
01:13:14,120 --> 01:13:16,840
Deborah Franklin,
named Margaret Stevenson,
1346
01:13:17,000 --> 01:13:19,170
who has a daughter named Polly.
1347
01:13:19,340 --> 01:13:21,880
And they set up
on Craven Street a replica
1348
01:13:22,050 --> 01:13:24,760
of what he had back in Philadelphia.
1349
01:13:27,220 --> 01:13:29,310
Franklin and William had brought along
1350
01:13:29,470 --> 01:13:35,940
two enslaved men, known only as
Peter and King, as servants.
1351
01:13:36,100 --> 01:13:38,820
"Peter behaves very well
to me in general,"
1352
01:13:38,980 --> 01:13:40,730
Franklin wrote home to Deborah,
1353
01:13:40,900 --> 01:13:46,160
"and begins to know the town so
as to go anywhere on errands."
1354
01:13:46,320 --> 01:13:49,030
But King, sensing
an opportunity for freedom
1355
01:13:49,200 --> 01:13:53,620
in his new surroundings, ran away.
1356
01:13:53,790 --> 01:13:56,250
What we know about these men
1357
01:13:56,420 --> 01:13:58,130
is relatively little.
1358
01:13:58,290 --> 01:14:02,130
What we do know is that,
while Ben Franklin's
1359
01:14:02,300 --> 01:14:05,340
feelings or opinions about slavery
1360
01:14:05,510 --> 01:14:07,930
may have changed over time,
1361
01:14:08,100 --> 01:14:14,270
he doesn't set his slaves free, ever.
1362
01:14:14,430 --> 01:14:17,230
They run off and he doesn't
necessarily pursue them,
1363
01:14:17,400 --> 01:14:20,730
perhaps, with as much
vigor as he might have.
1364
01:14:20,900 --> 01:14:22,690
And they die off.
1365
01:14:22,860 --> 01:14:26,860
But at no moment do we really
see Franklin step out front
1366
01:14:27,030 --> 01:14:29,530
and say, "I am setting an example
1367
01:14:29,700 --> 01:14:31,620
by setting my slaves free."
1368
01:14:34,250 --> 01:14:36,210
When Franklin
met with the Penn family,
1369
01:14:36,370 --> 01:14:39,210
they categorically dismissed
the notion that they should
1370
01:14:39,380 --> 01:14:41,800
pay any taxes at all.
1371
01:14:41,960 --> 01:14:43,710
They saw the colony solely as
1372
01:14:43,880 --> 01:14:47,010
a source of wealth and power for them,
1373
01:14:47,180 --> 01:14:50,180
and declared Franklin
a malicious villain.
1374
01:14:51,760 --> 01:14:54,060
Franklin decided to change tactics.
1375
01:14:54,220 --> 01:14:56,350
He thought he might be
able to persuade
1376
01:14:56,520 --> 01:14:59,060
King George II and his ministers
1377
01:14:59,230 --> 01:15:02,820
to declare Pennsylvania
a Crown colony,
1378
01:15:02,980 --> 01:15:05,150
like most of the others in America,
1379
01:15:05,320 --> 01:15:08,570
where governors were appointed
by the King.
1380
01:15:10,620 --> 01:15:13,120
He let Deborah know he would
not be returning as quickly
1381
01:15:13,290 --> 01:15:15,870
as the two of them had planned.
1382
01:15:16,040 --> 01:15:19,170
Franklin was enjoying London.
1383
01:15:23,300 --> 01:15:25,340
London was
the greatest city in the world
1384
01:15:25,510 --> 01:15:26,670
at the time.
1385
01:15:26,840 --> 01:15:28,180
It was filled with coffee shops
1386
01:15:28,340 --> 01:15:33,180
and had a thriving
intellectual middle class.
1387
01:15:33,350 --> 01:15:34,990
And Franklin goes around
with his friends,
1388
01:15:35,020 --> 01:15:37,140
mainly scientists and writers,
1389
01:15:37,310 --> 01:15:39,600
and they spend their afternoons
in the coffee shops
1390
01:15:39,770 --> 01:15:41,770
discussing new ideas.
1391
01:15:41,940 --> 01:15:43,860
That glittering, sophisticated world
1392
01:15:44,020 --> 01:15:46,150
was made for Ben Franklin.
1393
01:15:46,320 --> 01:15:49,320
He was made for a dinner party
and conversation.
1394
01:15:49,490 --> 01:15:51,450
Philadelphia might have
been extraordinary
1395
01:15:51,620 --> 01:15:54,450
for the New World,
but it couldn't compare
1396
01:15:54,620 --> 01:15:59,620
to the absolute sophistication
of the Old World.
1397
01:15:59,790 --> 01:16:02,500
There were people who
shared his views on science;
1398
01:16:02,670 --> 01:16:04,960
there were people who shared
his broadminded view
1399
01:16:05,130 --> 01:16:07,880
of all sorts of human institutions.
1400
01:16:08,050 --> 01:16:10,630
He made friends very easily.
1401
01:16:10,800 --> 01:16:13,430
In fact, if Debbie
1402
01:16:13,600 --> 01:16:18,270
had been willing to relocate
from Philadelphia to London,
1403
01:16:18,430 --> 01:16:19,940
Franklin might very well
1404
01:16:20,100 --> 01:16:22,440
have become a permanent
resident of London.
1405
01:16:22,600 --> 01:16:25,690
In England, as he had in America,
1406
01:16:25,860 --> 01:16:29,530
Franklin forged intellectual
and affectionate relationships
1407
01:16:29,690 --> 01:16:31,150
with a number of young women
1408
01:16:31,320 --> 01:16:34,030
whose intelligence he appreciated--
1409
01:16:34,200 --> 01:16:36,990
exchanging letters, providing advice,
1410
01:16:37,160 --> 01:16:39,910
and encouraging their ambitions;
1411
01:16:40,080 --> 01:16:42,040
the kind of attention
he neglected to give
1412
01:16:42,210 --> 01:16:44,170
his own daughter Sally.
1413
01:16:46,380 --> 01:16:49,420
Sally was born at a bad time, I think,
1414
01:16:49,590 --> 01:16:52,760
just as Benjamin Franklin
became involved in politics
1415
01:16:52,930 --> 01:16:54,850
and was away most of the time.
1416
01:16:55,010 --> 01:16:56,030
And, so, I don't think she ever really
1417
01:16:56,050 --> 01:16:57,680
got to know her father.
1418
01:16:57,850 --> 01:16:59,980
And her father didn't
seem particularly interested
1419
01:17:00,140 --> 01:17:03,270
in knowing her in those days.
1420
01:17:03,440 --> 01:17:04,960
She wanted the education
that her brother had
1421
01:17:04,980 --> 01:17:06,230
and never got it.
1422
01:17:06,400 --> 01:17:07,790
She wanted to go to England with him;
1423
01:17:07,820 --> 01:17:09,940
that never happened.
1424
01:17:10,110 --> 01:17:11,490
With William by his side,
1425
01:17:11,650 --> 01:17:15,700
Franklin traveled beyond London
whenever possible.
1426
01:17:15,870 --> 01:17:18,030
A friend reported to Deborah that
1427
01:17:18,200 --> 01:17:21,330
"William is daily
in the company of his father,
1428
01:17:21,500 --> 01:17:25,080
"who is at the same time
his friend, his brother,
1429
01:17:25,250 --> 01:17:28,210
his intimate,
and easy companion."
1430
01:17:32,050 --> 01:17:34,010
In Edinburgh, they socialized with
1431
01:17:34,180 --> 01:17:36,600
two of the Enlightenment's
leading thinkers,
1432
01:17:36,760 --> 01:17:42,350
the economist Adam Smith
and the philosopher David Hume.
1433
01:17:42,520 --> 01:17:44,940
At St. Andrews,
the university placed
1434
01:17:45,100 --> 01:17:48,020
a crimson and white robe
over Franklin's shoulder
1435
01:17:48,190 --> 01:17:50,070
and presented him, a man with
1436
01:17:50,230 --> 01:17:53,070
only two years of formal education,
1437
01:17:53,240 --> 01:17:55,530
with an honorary doctorate.
1438
01:17:55,700 --> 01:17:59,030
From that moment on,
most people referred to him
1439
01:17:59,200 --> 01:18:01,240
as Doctor Franklin.
1440
01:18:05,460 --> 01:18:07,420
One evening in Cambridge, he attended
1441
01:18:07,580 --> 01:18:08,960
a concert of sorts,
1442
01:18:09,130 --> 01:18:11,340
where the rims of wine glasses
1443
01:18:11,500 --> 01:18:14,300
were rubbed to produce musical notes.
1444
01:18:16,300 --> 01:18:17,840
Franklin looked at that
and he thought,
1445
01:18:18,010 --> 01:18:21,510
"Now, that's just inefficient."
1446
01:18:21,680 --> 01:18:25,600
Why move your arms to that degree?
1447
01:18:25,770 --> 01:18:28,860
Why not take the glasses
and have them move
1448
01:18:29,020 --> 01:18:31,650
and your hand stay still?
1449
01:18:31,820 --> 01:18:33,780
He hired a London
glassblower to create
1450
01:18:33,940 --> 01:18:40,280
a series of 36 glass bowls, to
specific thicknesses and sizes.
1451
01:18:42,910 --> 01:18:45,830
And rather than having your fingers
1452
01:18:46,000 --> 01:18:47,540
move around the glass,
1453
01:18:47,710 --> 01:18:49,040
the glasses rotated,
1454
01:18:49,210 --> 01:18:50,960
and he wet his fingers
1455
01:18:51,130 --> 01:18:52,460
and played it like a keyboard.
1456
01:18:59,970 --> 01:19:02,470
He named his
new invention the armonica,
1457
01:19:02,640 --> 01:19:05,350
after the Italian word for harmony,
1458
01:19:05,520 --> 01:19:09,230
and charmed visitors
with performances on it.
1459
01:19:09,400 --> 01:19:11,560
Soon, more of the instruments
were being
1460
01:19:11,730 --> 01:19:15,440
manufactured and sold,
though Franklin again refused
1461
01:19:15,610 --> 01:19:18,360
to patent or profit
from his invention.
1462
01:19:20,410 --> 01:19:22,080
What pleased him most was that,
1463
01:19:22,240 --> 01:19:23,910
in musical circles throughout
1464
01:19:24,080 --> 01:19:25,700
England and Europe,
1465
01:19:25,870 --> 01:19:26,870
the armonica
1466
01:19:27,040 --> 01:19:28,420
created a sensation.
1467
01:19:31,840 --> 01:19:33,340
In Austria, Franklin's invention
1468
01:19:33,500 --> 01:19:36,590
provided the music
for a royal wedding.
1469
01:19:36,760 --> 01:19:38,550
Even Mozart and Beethoven
1470
01:19:38,720 --> 01:19:42,100
would compose chamber pieces for it.
1471
01:19:44,140 --> 01:19:48,020
The sound it made was described as
1472
01:19:48,180 --> 01:19:50,440
celestial ravishment.
1473
01:20:04,990 --> 01:20:06,700
I have long been of the opinion
1474
01:20:06,870 --> 01:20:08,200
that the foundations of
1475
01:20:08,370 --> 01:20:10,120
the future grandeur and stability
1476
01:20:10,290 --> 01:20:13,630
of the British Empire lie in America,
1477
01:20:13,790 --> 01:20:17,420
broad and strong enough
to support the greatest
1478
01:20:17,590 --> 01:20:21,260
political structure
human wisdom ever yet erected.
1479
01:20:24,930 --> 01:20:29,640
By 1761, the French
and Indian War had exploded
1480
01:20:29,810 --> 01:20:33,440
into a global conflict
called the Seven Years' War,
1481
01:20:33,610 --> 01:20:36,690
involving all the European powers.
1482
01:20:36,860 --> 01:20:40,530
In North America, England
had won a decisive victory
1483
01:20:40,700 --> 01:20:44,240
against the French
by capturing Quebec.
1484
01:20:45,620 --> 01:20:47,790
No one can rejoice more sincerely
1485
01:20:47,950 --> 01:20:52,080
than I do on the possible
addition of Canada;
1486
01:20:52,250 --> 01:20:54,880
and this not
merely as I am a colonist,
1487
01:20:55,040 --> 01:20:58,340
but as I am a Briton.
1488
01:21:00,380 --> 01:21:02,300
Franklin is one of
the earliest to say,
1489
01:21:02,470 --> 01:21:05,220
"Look, the weight of the British world
1490
01:21:05,390 --> 01:21:08,100
is going to be
in North America."
1491
01:21:08,260 --> 01:21:11,180
And he put himself
at the center of it.
1492
01:21:11,350 --> 01:21:15,690
He imagined himself as being
the kind of linchpin between
1493
01:21:15,860 --> 01:21:20,280
these--this emerging empire
in North America
1494
01:21:20,440 --> 01:21:23,030
and the seat of power in London.
1495
01:21:23,200 --> 01:21:26,700
By this time,
William Franklin had completed
1496
01:21:26,870 --> 01:21:28,120
his legal studies
1497
01:21:28,280 --> 01:21:30,540
and enjoyed socializing with
1498
01:21:30,700 --> 01:21:33,830
wealthy friends in the upper class.
1499
01:21:34,000 --> 01:21:36,130
William also took up with
1500
01:21:36,290 --> 01:21:39,210
women from London's high society,
1501
01:21:39,380 --> 01:21:43,550
and others with
less sterling reputations.
1502
01:21:43,720 --> 01:21:47,720
Just like his own father,
he sired a son out of wedlock.
1503
01:21:47,890 --> 01:21:51,390
Unlike his father, William
arranged for the baby boy
1504
01:21:51,560 --> 01:21:55,690
to be secretly placed
in a foster home.
1505
01:21:58,860 --> 01:22:01,690
On September 22, 1761,
1506
01:22:01,860 --> 01:22:05,200
hundreds of England's
well-born and well-connected
1507
01:22:05,360 --> 01:22:07,200
gathered in Westminster Hall
1508
01:22:07,370 --> 01:22:09,620
for the coronation of a new monarch:
1509
01:22:09,780 --> 01:22:12,500
King George III.
1510
01:22:12,660 --> 01:22:14,790
Among those present for the occasion
1511
01:22:14,960 --> 01:22:18,210
were two staunch defenders
of the Empire--
1512
01:22:18,380 --> 01:22:21,050
Benjamin and William Franklin.
1513
01:22:22,670 --> 01:22:26,300
From the balcony, Benjamin
watched the lavish ritual.
1514
01:22:27,590 --> 01:22:29,930
On the hall's floor, his son William
1515
01:22:30,100 --> 01:22:31,890
stood with a more privileged crowd
1516
01:22:32,060 --> 01:22:34,520
of nobles and high officials.
1517
01:22:36,560 --> 01:22:38,690
Then William marched
in a small procession
1518
01:22:38,860 --> 01:22:41,110
into Westminster Abbey,
where the crown
1519
01:22:41,270 --> 01:22:44,530
was to be placed on George's head.
1520
01:22:52,410 --> 01:22:54,620
Benjamin, not part of
that select group,
1521
01:22:54,790 --> 01:22:58,210
walked back to Craven Street alone.
1522
01:23:00,840 --> 01:23:03,510
Franklin's efforts to
elevate his son's station
1523
01:23:03,670 --> 01:23:05,550
were paying off.
1524
01:23:05,720 --> 01:23:07,480
William had caught
the attention of ministers
1525
01:23:07,630 --> 01:23:09,720
in the new king's government
1526
01:23:09,890 --> 01:23:13,140
who decided that he, though
barely into his early thirties,
1527
01:23:13,310 --> 01:23:15,680
was a natural leader.
1528
01:23:15,850 --> 01:23:17,940
With their support, William Franklin
1529
01:23:18,100 --> 01:23:23,150
was chosen to be the next
royal governor of New Jersey.
1530
01:23:23,320 --> 01:23:25,570
And there was other good news.
1531
01:23:25,740 --> 01:23:28,660
William had fallen in love
with Elizabeth Downes,
1532
01:23:28,820 --> 01:23:30,490
the daughter of a wealthy owner of
1533
01:23:30,660 --> 01:23:33,200
sugar plantations in Barbados,
1534
01:23:33,370 --> 01:23:35,950
and they were now engaged.
1535
01:23:36,120 --> 01:23:38,960
Benjamin Franklin had been
gone from Philadelphia
1536
01:23:39,120 --> 01:23:41,000
for 5 years.
1537
01:23:41,170 --> 01:23:47,420
He was now 56, and still
captivated by life in England.
1538
01:23:47,590 --> 01:23:49,340
Why should this island,
1539
01:23:49,510 --> 01:23:51,890
which compared to America is but like
1540
01:23:52,050 --> 01:23:54,220
a stepping stone in a brook,
1541
01:23:54,390 --> 01:23:57,270
enjoy in almost every neighborhood
1542
01:23:57,430 --> 01:24:01,310
more sensible, virtuous,
and elegant minds
1543
01:24:01,480 --> 01:24:07,610
than we can collect in ranging
100 leagues of our vast forests?
1544
01:24:09,570 --> 01:24:11,410
In the summer of 1762,
1545
01:24:11,570 --> 01:24:14,160
he booked passage for Philadelphia,
1546
01:24:14,330 --> 01:24:17,620
determined to convince Deborah
to come back with him,
1547
01:24:17,790 --> 01:24:19,660
and promising his English friends
1548
01:24:19,830 --> 01:24:23,710
he intended to return
to London permanently.
1549
01:24:25,340 --> 01:24:26,920
In two Years at farthest
1550
01:24:27,090 --> 01:24:29,920
I hope to settle all my Affairs
in such a Manner,
1551
01:24:30,090 --> 01:24:33,930
as that I may then conveniently
remove to England,
1552
01:24:34,100 --> 01:24:37,890
provided we can persuade the
good Woman to cross the Seas.
1553
01:24:38,060 --> 01:24:40,690
That will be the great Difficulty.
1554
01:24:42,440 --> 01:24:43,190
Franklin would be at sea
1555
01:24:43,350 --> 01:24:44,770
when William was married
1556
01:24:44,940 --> 01:24:48,110
in St. George's Church
in London,
1557
01:24:48,280 --> 01:24:50,190
and when he bowed to George III
1558
01:24:50,360 --> 01:24:52,320
in St. James's Palace,
1559
01:24:52,490 --> 01:24:54,740
kissed the new king's ring,
1560
01:24:54,910 --> 01:24:59,250
and swore his eternal allegiance
to the crown.
1561
01:25:04,790 --> 01:25:07,500
On November 1, 1762,
1562
01:25:07,670 --> 01:25:11,090
Benjamin Franklin arrived
back in Philadelphia.
1563
01:25:11,260 --> 01:25:13,800
It wasn't a teeming
metropolis like London,
1564
01:25:13,970 --> 01:25:17,510
but with a population
of nearly 25,000,
1565
01:25:17,680 --> 01:25:20,020
it had surpassed Boston and New York
1566
01:25:20,180 --> 01:25:23,850
as the largest city
in the American colonies.
1567
01:25:24,020 --> 01:25:28,570
Deborah and 19-year-old Sally
welcomed him home.
1568
01:25:28,730 --> 01:25:31,490
A few months later,
William arrived from England
1569
01:25:31,650 --> 01:25:33,660
with his new wife Elizabeth,
1570
01:25:33,820 --> 01:25:36,910
and Franklin accompanied them
across the Delaware River
1571
01:25:37,080 --> 01:25:39,950
to New Jersey, where Benjamin
watched proudly
1572
01:25:40,120 --> 01:25:43,750
as his son became that colony's
ninth governor.
1573
01:25:46,000 --> 01:25:48,210
As deputy postmaster of His Majesty's
1574
01:25:48,380 --> 01:25:49,960
colonies in North America,
1575
01:25:50,130 --> 01:25:53,380
Franklin embarked on another
inspection tour
1576
01:25:53,550 --> 01:25:55,680
that took him through 6 colonies,
1577
01:25:55,840 --> 01:25:58,430
all the way to New Hampshire.
1578
01:25:58,600 --> 01:26:02,600
The trip lasted 5 months.
1579
01:26:02,770 --> 01:26:04,850
Franklin sees the many different
1580
01:26:05,020 --> 01:26:06,690
American styles.
1581
01:26:06,850 --> 01:26:08,610
There's a Northern community;
1582
01:26:08,770 --> 01:26:09,610
there's a New England community;
1583
01:26:09,770 --> 01:26:11,190
there are the Middle Colonies;
1584
01:26:11,360 --> 01:26:12,900
the Upper South;
the Lower South.
1585
01:26:13,070 --> 01:26:16,410
He begins to understand
the vast complexity
1586
01:26:16,570 --> 01:26:18,070
of the Colonial situation.
1587
01:26:18,240 --> 01:26:19,740
And nobody else did.
1588
01:26:19,910 --> 01:26:22,950
He was the best-informed
person in the New World
1589
01:26:23,120 --> 01:26:25,960
about the diversity of
geography, of economy,
1590
01:26:26,120 --> 01:26:31,090
of social structure, and he
also saw discontentments.
1591
01:26:31,250 --> 01:26:34,300
There was concern
about representation;
1592
01:26:34,470 --> 01:26:37,640
there was concern about
arbitrary economic tariffs
1593
01:26:37,800 --> 01:26:39,930
that were being imposed by Britain,
1594
01:26:40,100 --> 01:26:42,100
and the increasing sense
that the British
1595
01:26:42,270 --> 01:26:44,890
don't really understand us
1596
01:26:45,060 --> 01:26:48,900
and they're also using us
as an extraction machine
1597
01:26:49,060 --> 01:26:50,270
for British wealth.
1598
01:26:50,440 --> 01:26:51,570
And, even though they will
1599
01:26:51,730 --> 01:26:53,530
say we're British citizens,
1600
01:26:53,690 --> 01:26:55,610
they're not treating us
with full respect
1601
01:26:55,780 --> 01:26:58,110
that an Englishman deserves.
1602
01:27:02,080 --> 01:27:05,000
I went to hear the Negro
children at Church.
1603
01:27:06,250 --> 01:27:10,330
There were 17 that answered
very prettily indeed,
1604
01:27:10,500 --> 01:27:16,340
and 5 or 6 that were too little,
but all behaved very decently.
1605
01:27:16,510 --> 01:27:20,220
It gave me a great deal of
Pleasure, and I shall send
1606
01:27:20,390 --> 01:27:21,800
Othello to the School.
1607
01:27:23,260 --> 01:27:25,890
Deborah Franklin had enrolled Othello,
1608
01:27:26,060 --> 01:27:28,600
an enslaved child
in the Franklin household,
1609
01:27:28,770 --> 01:27:31,270
in a new school in Philadelphia,
1610
01:27:31,440 --> 01:27:35,150
part of an effort to educate
Black children in North America
1611
01:27:35,320 --> 01:27:38,530
that Benjamin Franklin had endorsed.
1612
01:27:38,700 --> 01:27:40,950
At Deborah's urging, her husband
1613
01:27:41,120 --> 01:27:44,330
made a personal visit to the school.
1614
01:27:44,490 --> 01:27:47,120
I was on the whole much pleas'd,
1615
01:27:47,290 --> 01:27:50,790
and from what I then saw, have
conceiv'd a higher Opinion
1616
01:27:50,960 --> 01:27:53,630
of the natural Capacities
of the black Race,
1617
01:27:53,800 --> 01:27:56,920
than I had ever before entertained.
1618
01:27:57,090 --> 01:28:01,430
Their Apprehension seems as
quick, their Memory as strong,
1619
01:28:01,590 --> 01:28:03,720
and their Docility in every Respect
1620
01:28:03,890 --> 01:28:06,810
equal to that of white Children.
1621
01:28:08,600 --> 01:28:12,360
You will wonder perhaps
that I should ever doubt it,
1622
01:28:12,520 --> 01:28:16,320
and I will not undertake
to justify all my Prejudices,
1623
01:28:16,480 --> 01:28:18,150
nor to account for them.
1624
01:28:19,570 --> 01:28:22,570
I think a major
turning point in Franklin's life
1625
01:28:22,740 --> 01:28:27,410
was when he visited that classroom.
1626
01:28:27,580 --> 01:28:31,500
He did not like Black people
when he was a young man.
1627
01:28:31,670 --> 01:28:33,060
There's no way of getting around that.
1628
01:28:33,080 --> 01:28:37,420
It's very distasteful
to say, but it's true.
1629
01:28:37,590 --> 01:28:43,180
He had once written that the
hardest thing for a man to do
1630
01:28:43,340 --> 01:28:48,890
is to change long-standing
prejudices of belief.
1631
01:28:49,060 --> 01:28:53,730
But to succeed in doing it
is a test of one's humanity.
1632
01:29:05,450 --> 01:29:08,120
If an Indian
injures me, does it follow
1633
01:29:08,290 --> 01:29:13,000
that I may revenge that
injury on all Indians?
1634
01:29:13,170 --> 01:29:16,790
These poor People have
been always our Friends.
1635
01:29:16,960 --> 01:29:19,670
Their Fathers received ours,
when Strangers here,
1636
01:29:19,840 --> 01:29:22,760
with Kindness and Hospitality.
1637
01:29:22,930 --> 01:29:25,680
Behold the Return we have made them!
1638
01:29:27,180 --> 01:29:28,390
Native Americans
1639
01:29:28,560 --> 01:29:30,270
had been completely left out
1640
01:29:30,430 --> 01:29:33,810
of the treaty negotiations
between France and Britain
1641
01:29:33,980 --> 01:29:36,480
that ended the Seven Years' War.
1642
01:29:36,650 --> 01:29:40,480
As white settlements continued
to push onto their homelands,
1643
01:29:40,650 --> 01:29:44,110
Indians from the Great Lakes
to Western Pennsylvania
1644
01:29:44,280 --> 01:29:45,820
fought back.
1645
01:29:45,990 --> 01:29:50,830
On December 14, 1763, 50 frontiersmen
1646
01:29:51,000 --> 01:29:53,750
from the town of Paxton, Pennsylvania
1647
01:29:53,920 --> 01:29:56,830
swarmed into the small village
of Conestoga
1648
01:29:57,000 --> 01:29:58,960
and slaughtered the 6 unarmed
1649
01:29:59,130 --> 01:30:02,420
Susquehannock Indians
they found there.
1650
01:30:02,590 --> 01:30:06,140
The mob moved on to Lancaster,
where they murdered 14 more
1651
01:30:06,300 --> 01:30:09,850
defenseless men, women, and children.
1652
01:30:11,310 --> 01:30:13,980
Though the Susquehannocks
were known to be friendly,
1653
01:30:14,140 --> 01:30:18,190
the so-called Paxton Boys
had killed them anyway.
1654
01:30:18,360 --> 01:30:21,400
Public opinion about
the massacre was split--
1655
01:30:21,570 --> 01:30:24,610
between the Quakers, guided by
William Penn's advice
1656
01:30:24,780 --> 01:30:27,410
to be friends of the Indians,
1657
01:30:27,570 --> 01:30:29,120
and the newer immigrants, mostly
1658
01:30:29,280 --> 01:30:31,950
Scots-Irish and Germans
from the backcountry,
1659
01:30:32,120 --> 01:30:34,620
who accused the Quaker-led assembly
1660
01:30:34,790 --> 01:30:37,750
of coddling native peoples.
1661
01:30:37,920 --> 01:30:40,420
Benjamin Franklin
called the perpetrators
1662
01:30:40,590 --> 01:30:42,000
"barbarous Men"
1663
01:30:42,170 --> 01:30:44,300
who had brought "eternal disgrace"
1664
01:30:44,470 --> 01:30:46,590
to their race and religion.
1665
01:30:48,260 --> 01:30:50,850
The Paxton Boys then marched
on Philadelphia,
1666
01:30:51,010 --> 01:30:55,520
where more than 100 Indians had
been brought for their safety.
1667
01:30:55,690 --> 01:30:58,690
Franklin helped
raise a militia to stop them
1668
01:30:58,850 --> 01:31:02,020
and negotiated an end to the crisis.
1669
01:31:02,190 --> 01:31:05,280
But his outspokenness
created a backlash,
1670
01:31:05,440 --> 01:31:08,320
especially among the settlers
of the backcountry,
1671
01:31:08,490 --> 01:31:11,490
which the Penn family exploited.
1672
01:31:11,660 --> 01:31:15,330
They slandered Franklin's
son William as illegitimate,
1673
01:31:15,500 --> 01:31:17,670
falsely claiming that his birth mother
1674
01:31:17,830 --> 01:31:20,210
had starved to death,
and that Benjamin
1675
01:31:20,380 --> 01:31:24,050
had hidden her body
in an unmarked grave.
1676
01:31:25,970 --> 01:31:26,720
In all the controversy,
1677
01:31:26,880 --> 01:31:29,180
Franklin lost his Assembly seat.
1678
01:31:29,340 --> 01:31:32,300
But the legislature now
adopted his position
1679
01:31:32,470 --> 01:31:35,470
that Pennsylvania should be
a Crown colony
1680
01:31:35,640 --> 01:31:39,900
and reappointed him
as their agent in London.
1681
01:31:40,060 --> 01:31:43,150
After only two years in Philadelphia,
1682
01:31:43,320 --> 01:31:46,030
Franklin was going back to England.
1683
01:31:47,490 --> 01:31:50,320
Deborah had made it clear
she intended to stay;
1684
01:31:50,490 --> 01:31:54,120
they were building a new home
just off Market Street.
1685
01:31:54,290 --> 01:31:57,660
He promised he wouldn't be gone long.
1686
01:32:05,340 --> 01:32:06,840
Coming out of the Seven Years' War,
1687
01:32:07,010 --> 01:32:10,380
Britain is on top of the world.
1688
01:32:10,550 --> 01:32:12,310
They had acquired a huge
amount of territory,
1689
01:32:12,340 --> 01:32:15,810
all the territory up to
the Mississippi River.
1690
01:32:15,970 --> 01:32:17,430
It was expensive to maintain
1691
01:32:17,600 --> 01:32:19,190
and, so, you needed to tax it.
1692
01:32:19,350 --> 01:32:21,270
Franklin certainly went along with it.
1693
01:32:21,440 --> 01:32:23,730
And he said,
"Well, empires cost money."
1694
01:32:23,900 --> 01:32:25,730
And, much to his chagrin,
1695
01:32:25,900 --> 01:32:28,150
he found himself going the wrong way,
1696
01:32:28,320 --> 01:32:30,740
out of touch with
American public opinion.
1697
01:32:30,910 --> 01:32:32,910
The recent war with France
1698
01:32:33,070 --> 01:32:37,950
had expanded England's empire,
but left its treasury depleted.
1699
01:32:39,080 --> 01:32:41,170
In the spring of 1765,
1700
01:32:41,330 --> 01:32:43,580
the king's ministers and Parliament
1701
01:32:43,750 --> 01:32:46,000
came up with
a new way to raise more money
1702
01:32:46,170 --> 01:32:48,260
from the American colonies.
1703
01:32:50,630 --> 01:32:55,720
Now all legal documents,
newspapers, books, almanacs,
1704
01:32:55,890 --> 01:33:00,770
even decks of playing cards,
would need official stamps,
1705
01:33:00,940 --> 01:33:03,310
purchased from the government.
1706
01:33:03,480 --> 01:33:06,070
In Virginia, Patrick Henry
denounced the act
1707
01:33:06,230 --> 01:33:10,240
as taxation without representation.
1708
01:33:10,400 --> 01:33:13,820
Riots broke out in New York;
New London, Connecticut;
1709
01:33:13,990 --> 01:33:16,330
Annapolis, Maryland.
1710
01:33:16,490 --> 01:33:20,290
In Boston, a group calling
themselves the Sons of Liberty
1711
01:33:20,450 --> 01:33:25,080
hanged and burned the stamp
commissioner in effigy.
1712
01:33:25,250 --> 01:33:27,130
Then the mob destroyed the mansion
1713
01:33:27,290 --> 01:33:29,420
of Lieutenant Governor
Thomas Hutchinson,
1714
01:33:29,590 --> 01:33:33,970
who had worked with Franklin
back in 1754
1715
01:33:34,140 --> 01:33:37,220
to propose the Albany Plan of Union.
1716
01:33:37,390 --> 01:33:40,560
The leaders of the protests
had appropriated the motto
1717
01:33:40,720 --> 01:33:42,640
Franklin had used at the time
1718
01:33:42,810 --> 01:33:48,360
to encourage the colonies to act
TOGETHER: "join or die."
1719
01:33:48,520 --> 01:33:51,860
Franklin didn't like
the Stamp Act either,
1720
01:33:52,030 --> 01:33:54,740
but from London advised Pennsylvanians
1721
01:33:54,910 --> 01:33:57,160
against over-reacting.
1722
01:33:59,740 --> 01:34:03,500
His political enemies back home
now spread false rumors
1723
01:34:03,660 --> 01:34:05,960
that he helped write the Stamp Act
1724
01:34:06,130 --> 01:34:11,260
and had been bribed by promises
of a higher royal appointment.
1725
01:34:11,420 --> 01:34:13,170
When a mob threatened to attack
1726
01:34:13,340 --> 01:34:15,800
the Franklin home in Philadelphia,
1727
01:34:15,970 --> 01:34:18,260
Deborah wouldn't budge.
1728
01:34:19,890 --> 01:34:20,930
I said when I was advised
1729
01:34:21,100 --> 01:34:23,100
to remove that I was very sure
1730
01:34:23,270 --> 01:34:25,810
you had done nothing to hurt anybody,
1731
01:34:25,980 --> 01:34:30,270
and I had not given any offense
to any person at all.
1732
01:34:30,440 --> 01:34:35,240
I sent to ask my brother
to come and bring his gun.
1733
01:34:35,400 --> 01:34:37,910
If any one came to disturb me,
1734
01:34:38,070 --> 01:34:40,530
I would show a proper resentment.
1735
01:34:42,160 --> 01:34:45,370
Shocked at the reports
of mob violence in the colonies,
1736
01:34:45,540 --> 01:34:47,830
Franklin wrote William that unless
1737
01:34:48,000 --> 01:34:49,880
some compromise could be found
1738
01:34:50,040 --> 01:34:51,550
to ease the tensions,
1739
01:34:51,710 --> 01:34:53,920
events were "laying the Foundation
1740
01:34:54,090 --> 01:34:57,300
of a future total Separation."
1741
01:34:57,470 --> 01:35:00,010
He flooded London newspapers
with letters
1742
01:35:00,180 --> 01:35:03,180
arguing that the Stamp Act was unfair,
1743
01:35:03,350 --> 01:35:05,480
that the recent riots
did not represent
1744
01:35:05,640 --> 01:35:09,360
the attitude of
a majority of the colonists.
1745
01:35:09,520 --> 01:35:12,940
He circulated a political
cartoon illustrating that,
1746
01:35:13,110 --> 01:35:15,030
if the crisis escalated,
1747
01:35:15,190 --> 01:35:18,700
the Empire would be dismembered.
1748
01:35:18,860 --> 01:35:24,540
On February 13, 1766, Franklin
appeared before Parliament,
1749
01:35:24,700 --> 01:35:29,080
patiently answering questions
posed by its members.
1750
01:35:29,250 --> 01:35:31,250
Could an army make
the colonists comply,
1751
01:35:31,420 --> 01:35:34,130
he was asked.
1752
01:35:34,300 --> 01:35:35,300
Suppose a military force
1753
01:35:35,340 --> 01:35:37,680
is sent into America.
1754
01:35:37,840 --> 01:35:39,970
What are they then to do?
1755
01:35:40,140 --> 01:35:42,010
They cannot force a man to take stamps
1756
01:35:42,180 --> 01:35:45,100
who chooses to do without them.
1757
01:35:45,270 --> 01:35:47,770
They will not find a rebellion;
1758
01:35:47,940 --> 01:35:50,100
they may indeed make one.
1759
01:35:51,860 --> 01:35:54,400
The Stamp Act was repealed.
1760
01:35:54,570 --> 01:35:57,400
But the Privy Council,
the King's top advisors,
1761
01:35:57,570 --> 01:36:00,360
had refused to act on
Franklin's petition
1762
01:36:00,530 --> 01:36:04,370
to make Pennsylvania a Crown colony.
1763
01:36:04,540 --> 01:36:08,410
Franklin decided to remain
in England anyway.
1764
01:36:08,580 --> 01:36:11,380
There were hints that he might
be in line for a high post
1765
01:36:11,540 --> 01:36:16,210
in the ministry responsible
for the American provinces.
1766
01:36:16,380 --> 01:36:18,510
And he used his connections
to begin lobbying
1767
01:36:18,670 --> 01:36:22,180
on behalf of William
and a group of speculators
1768
01:36:22,340 --> 01:36:25,510
to acquire millions of acres
of Indian land
1769
01:36:25,680 --> 01:36:27,770
along the Ohio River,
1770
01:36:27,930 --> 01:36:32,690
then sell it in small parcels to
settlers for an immense profit--
1771
01:36:32,860 --> 01:36:34,860
and create a new colony.
1772
01:36:36,940 --> 01:36:39,950
Meanwhile, Franklin put his
scientific skills
1773
01:36:40,110 --> 01:36:42,160
to work for the empire.
1774
01:36:42,320 --> 01:36:43,990
He helped install lightning rods
1775
01:36:44,160 --> 01:36:46,450
on St. Paul's Cathedral;
1776
01:36:46,620 --> 01:36:49,080
came up with a hot-water piping system
1777
01:36:49,250 --> 01:36:52,080
to keep the House of Commons warm;
1778
01:36:52,250 --> 01:36:54,040
and, working with a cousin,
1779
01:36:54,210 --> 01:36:56,250
a whaling captain from Nantucket,
1780
01:36:56,420 --> 01:36:58,380
he created the first chart
1781
01:36:58,550 --> 01:37:01,130
of what was called the Gulph Stream,
1782
01:37:01,300 --> 01:37:05,470
which helped explain why ships
going from London to America
1783
01:37:05,640 --> 01:37:08,810
took longer than those
going the other way.
1784
01:37:12,060 --> 01:37:13,120
Yesterday I had the pleasure
1785
01:37:13,150 --> 01:37:15,110
to receive your letter.
1786
01:37:15,270 --> 01:37:17,150
I had not heard one word about you
1787
01:37:17,320 --> 01:37:19,860
since the latter end of August,
1788
01:37:20,030 --> 01:37:23,200
which was near 5 months,
1789
01:37:23,360 --> 01:37:26,370
but I shall not dwell on that
at this time.
1790
01:37:28,790 --> 01:37:30,450
Back in Philadelphia, as she had
1791
01:37:30,620 --> 01:37:33,750
always done during
Benjamin's long absences,
1792
01:37:33,920 --> 01:37:37,290
Deborah Franklin took care
of everything.
1793
01:37:37,460 --> 01:37:40,550
She managed her husband's
many business enterprises
1794
01:37:40,710 --> 01:37:43,130
and supervised the myriad details
1795
01:37:43,300 --> 01:37:45,680
of the new home they were building.
1796
01:37:45,840 --> 01:37:49,350
All the while, she waited
for his promised return.
1797
01:37:51,560 --> 01:37:55,230
In the fall of 1767,
their daughter Sally married
1798
01:37:55,400 --> 01:37:58,480
a Philadelphia merchant,
Richard Bache,
1799
01:37:58,650 --> 01:38:02,690
and in 1769 she gave birth
to a baby boy,
1800
01:38:02,860 --> 01:38:06,070
whom she named after his grandfather.
1801
01:38:06,240 --> 01:38:08,490
They called him Benny.
1802
01:38:10,660 --> 01:38:13,210
That same year,
Deborah suffered a stroke
1803
01:38:13,370 --> 01:38:16,540
that left her incapacitated
for months.
1804
01:38:16,710 --> 01:38:19,130
As she recovered,
she wrote her husband
1805
01:38:19,290 --> 01:38:21,380
that her worries about him
1806
01:38:21,550 --> 01:38:24,510
had been at least partly responsible.
1807
01:38:26,510 --> 01:38:29,510
I often tell my friends
I was not sick,
1808
01:38:29,680 --> 01:38:32,430
it was only more than I could bear.
1809
01:38:32,600 --> 01:38:37,100
And so I fell down
and could not get up again.
1810
01:38:37,270 --> 01:38:39,060
But I had taken up a resolution
1811
01:38:39,230 --> 01:38:41,110
never to make any complaint to you
1812
01:38:41,280 --> 01:38:43,610
or give you any disquiet.
1813
01:38:48,070 --> 01:38:50,200
Even though the
Stamp Act had been repealed,
1814
01:38:50,370 --> 01:38:52,080
the colonies were still expected
1815
01:38:52,240 --> 01:38:55,120
to help pay off war debts;
1816
01:38:55,290 --> 01:38:57,540
Parliament now imposed import duties
1817
01:38:57,710 --> 01:39:02,800
on glass and china, paint and tea.
1818
01:39:02,960 --> 01:39:05,510
When the Massachusetts
Assembly passed a resolution
1819
01:39:05,670 --> 01:39:07,890
objecting to the new measures--
1820
01:39:08,050 --> 01:39:12,010
and called on other colonial
legislatures to do the same--
1821
01:39:12,180 --> 01:39:17,600
Britain sent 15 warships
and 1,000 troops to Boston.
1822
01:39:17,770 --> 01:39:19,940
Their presence,
Franklin wrote from London,
1823
01:39:20,110 --> 01:39:23,190
"seems like setting up
a blacksmith's forge
1824
01:39:23,360 --> 01:39:25,940
in a magazine of gunpowder."
1825
01:39:26,110 --> 01:39:29,450
He redoubled his efforts
to find a compromise between
1826
01:39:29,620 --> 01:39:33,830
the hard-liners on
both sides of the Atlantic.
1827
01:39:33,990 --> 01:39:38,040
He sees the issue as one of respect.
1828
01:39:38,210 --> 01:39:43,380
What holds an empire together
is a sense of common feeling.
1829
01:39:43,550 --> 01:39:45,590
Right? Of common
economic interest,
1830
01:39:45,760 --> 01:39:49,590
of interdependence, of identification.
1831
01:39:49,760 --> 01:39:51,760
The power doesn't reside
in the capacity
1832
01:39:51,930 --> 01:39:54,640
to make people do what
you want them to do.
1833
01:39:57,730 --> 01:39:59,250
Benjamin Franklin keeps trying to hold
1834
01:39:59,390 --> 01:40:01,310
the British Empire together.
1835
01:40:01,480 --> 01:40:03,730
Trying to figure out
some middle ground
1836
01:40:03,900 --> 01:40:06,650
in which the Colonies
get to control themselves
1837
01:40:06,820 --> 01:40:09,740
through their own
assemblies and legislatures,
1838
01:40:09,910 --> 01:40:12,910
but still loyal to
the Crown of England.
1839
01:40:13,080 --> 01:40:15,620
And that was Franklin's hope,
that somehow
1840
01:40:15,790 --> 01:40:17,370
he could keep together what he called
1841
01:40:17,540 --> 01:40:20,620
this "fragile, noble vase."
1842
01:40:20,790 --> 01:40:22,750
'Cause he said, "Once it gets broken,
1843
01:40:22,920 --> 01:40:25,460
you're not going to put it
back together."
1844
01:40:25,630 --> 01:40:26,300
Being born and bred
1845
01:40:26,460 --> 01:40:28,420
in one of the countries,
1846
01:40:28,590 --> 01:40:30,550
and having lived long in the other,
1847
01:40:30,720 --> 01:40:33,760
I wish all prosperity to both.
1848
01:40:33,930 --> 01:40:35,930
But I do not find that I have gained
1849
01:40:36,100 --> 01:40:38,430
any point in either country,
1850
01:40:38,600 --> 01:40:43,400
except that of rendering myself
suspected by my impartiality:
1851
01:40:43,560 --> 01:40:46,020
in England of being
too much an American,
1852
01:40:46,190 --> 01:40:50,490
and in America of being
too much an Englishman.
1853
01:40:52,160 --> 01:40:54,700
As the political
crisis continued to build,
1854
01:40:54,870 --> 01:40:59,410
Franklin spent part of
the summer of 1771
1855
01:40:59,580 --> 01:41:02,210
at a friend's estate
southwest of London.
1856
01:41:03,880 --> 01:41:06,250
He was 65 years old
and decided to make
1857
01:41:06,420 --> 01:41:08,630
an accounting of his life,
1858
01:41:08,800 --> 01:41:12,630
something, he wrote,
"my posterity may like to know."
1859
01:41:14,010 --> 01:41:16,720
It was filled with stories
of how, in his words,
1860
01:41:16,890 --> 01:41:19,560
"I emerged from
the poverty and obscurity
1861
01:41:19,730 --> 01:41:21,810
"in which I was born and bred,
1862
01:41:21,980 --> 01:41:25,020
"to a state of affluence
and some degree
1863
01:41:25,190 --> 01:41:27,520
of reputation in the world."
1864
01:41:29,030 --> 01:41:30,860
It was the beginning
of what would become
1865
01:41:31,030 --> 01:41:33,450
one of the most-read and influential
1866
01:41:33,610 --> 01:41:36,910
autobiographies ever written.
1867
01:41:37,080 --> 01:41:39,910
He begins with
two very interesting words:
1868
01:41:40,080 --> 01:41:42,830
"Dear Son."
1869
01:41:43,000 --> 01:41:44,800
And he's addressing it
to William, or at least
1870
01:41:44,960 --> 01:41:46,960
pretending he's
addressing it to William.
1871
01:41:47,130 --> 01:41:50,760
'Cause he's trying to say,
"Remember where we come from.
1872
01:41:50,920 --> 01:41:52,630
"We're working class and middle class.
1873
01:41:52,800 --> 01:41:56,430
We're not trying
to be aristocratic."
1874
01:41:56,600 --> 01:41:59,220
But he soon put his memoir aside;
1875
01:41:59,390 --> 01:42:03,100
world affairs were overtaking
both Benjamin Franklin--
1876
01:42:03,270 --> 01:42:08,230
now the agent representing
several colonies in England--
1877
01:42:08,400 --> 01:42:12,570
and William Franklin--the royal
governor of New Jersey.
1878
01:42:14,200 --> 01:42:15,450
It is very uncertain what Turn
1879
01:42:15,610 --> 01:42:18,200
American Affairs will take here.
1880
01:42:18,370 --> 01:42:23,120
The Friends of both Countries
wish a reconciliation;
1881
01:42:23,290 --> 01:42:27,000
the Enemies of either,
endeavor to widen the Breach;
1882
01:42:27,170 --> 01:42:29,000
God knows how it will end.
1883
01:42:35,550 --> 01:42:36,640
He was never thinking,
1884
01:42:36,800 --> 01:42:39,050
we need to be independent.
1885
01:42:39,220 --> 01:42:41,680
He was always thinking, if we can just
1886
01:42:41,850 --> 01:42:43,850
work out a few fundamental problems
1887
01:42:44,020 --> 01:42:46,400
between us and the British Ministry,
1888
01:42:46,560 --> 01:42:48,060
that things are going to be fine.
1889
01:42:48,230 --> 01:42:51,320
He probably could have been
won over to the British side
1890
01:42:51,480 --> 01:42:52,730
as a Loyalist, like his son,
1891
01:42:52,900 --> 01:42:55,950
if things had gone
slightly differently.
1892
01:42:56,110 --> 01:42:58,990
Tensions between England
and the colonies worsened,
1893
01:42:59,160 --> 01:43:02,120
especially after
British soldiers fired on
1894
01:43:02,290 --> 01:43:04,830
a Massachusetts mob in 1770,
1895
01:43:05,000 --> 01:43:09,000
killing 5 Americans--
the Boston Massacre.
1896
01:43:10,420 --> 01:43:14,300
Franklin's position was becoming
increasingly untenable.
1897
01:43:14,460 --> 01:43:17,220
He was trying to represent
the interests of Massachusetts,
1898
01:43:17,380 --> 01:43:22,140
New Jersey, and Georgia,
in addition to Pennsylvania.
1899
01:43:22,310 --> 01:43:26,770
In 1772, Franklin was shown
confidential letters
1900
01:43:26,940 --> 01:43:30,190
written by his old ally
Thomas Hutchinson,
1901
01:43:30,360 --> 01:43:32,860
now the governor of Massachusetts.
1902
01:43:33,020 --> 01:43:35,650
The only way to quell colonial unrest,
1903
01:43:35,820 --> 01:43:38,110
Hutchinson had advised London,
1904
01:43:38,280 --> 01:43:41,660
was through harsher measures,
including, he suggested,
1905
01:43:41,830 --> 01:43:44,950
"an abridgment of liberties."
1906
01:43:45,120 --> 01:43:48,000
Franklin surreptitiously
sent copies of the letters
1907
01:43:48,170 --> 01:43:51,500
to the leaders of
the Massachusetts Assembly.
1908
01:43:51,670 --> 01:43:53,960
He hoped that the firebrands in Boston
1909
01:43:54,130 --> 01:43:57,220
would turn their anger from
Parliament to Hutchinson,
1910
01:43:57,380 --> 01:44:00,430
blaming his bad advice
for the crisis with Britain,
1911
01:44:00,590 --> 01:44:05,560
making room for cooler heads
to broker a reconciliation.
1912
01:44:05,720 --> 01:44:09,390
Instead, it only inflamed passions.
1913
01:44:10,900 --> 01:44:13,110
The letters were leaked to newspapers,
1914
01:44:13,270 --> 01:44:17,570
sparking an uproar
throughout the colonies.
1915
01:44:17,740 --> 01:44:19,200
The Massachusetts Assembly drafted
1916
01:44:19,360 --> 01:44:21,490
an angry petition to the king,
1917
01:44:21,660 --> 01:44:24,950
demanding that Hutchinson be removed.
1918
01:44:25,120 --> 01:44:28,160
As the Assembly's agent,
Franklin would have to be
1919
01:44:28,330 --> 01:44:30,290
the one to present that petition
1920
01:44:30,460 --> 01:44:32,790
before the King's Privy Council.
1921
01:44:32,960 --> 01:44:35,960
To make matters worse,
Franklin had felt
1922
01:44:36,130 --> 01:44:38,720
obligated to admit that he was the one
1923
01:44:38,880 --> 01:44:42,970
who had originally shared
Hutchinson's letters.
1924
01:44:43,140 --> 01:44:45,600
And, so, Franklin was
seen as this person who
1925
01:44:45,760 --> 01:44:48,640
stole other people's mail,
1926
01:44:48,810 --> 01:44:51,480
which was quite an egregious offense
1927
01:44:51,650 --> 01:44:53,900
for someone who was a postmaster.
1928
01:44:55,570 --> 01:44:58,070
Just a few days
before Franklin was scheduled
1929
01:44:58,240 --> 01:45:02,990
to appear before the Privy
Council in January of 1774,
1930
01:45:03,160 --> 01:45:06,910
news arrived from America
that changed everything.
1931
01:45:08,370 --> 01:45:10,750
The Sons of Liberty,
dressed as Indians,
1932
01:45:10,910 --> 01:45:13,880
had boarded 3 ships in Boston Harbor
1933
01:45:14,040 --> 01:45:18,340
and dumped 46 tons-- 342 crates--
1934
01:45:18,510 --> 01:45:20,920
of English tea into the sea.
1935
01:45:22,220 --> 01:45:24,340
Officials in London
were still seething
1936
01:45:24,510 --> 01:45:26,140
at that act of defiance
1937
01:45:26,300 --> 01:45:29,850
when, on January 29, Franklin entered
1938
01:45:30,020 --> 01:45:33,310
a meeting room at Whitehall
called the Cockpit,
1939
01:45:33,480 --> 01:45:37,940
where Henry VIII had once
staged cockfights.
1940
01:45:38,110 --> 01:45:40,860
To the Privy Council,
and the crowd of spectators
1941
01:45:41,030 --> 01:45:43,860
gathered there, Franklin was
now the face
1942
01:45:44,030 --> 01:45:46,780
of an insolent American uprising,
1943
01:45:46,950 --> 01:45:50,000
although Franklin considered
the Boston Tea Party
1944
01:45:50,160 --> 01:45:53,250
an "act of violent injustice
on our part"--
1945
01:45:53,420 --> 01:45:57,880
the very kind of provocation
he had always counseled against.
1946
01:45:59,920 --> 01:46:02,260
Alexander Wedderburn,
the sharp-tongued
1947
01:46:02,420 --> 01:46:04,930
and politically ambitious
solicitor general,
1948
01:46:05,090 --> 01:46:08,560
who considered the recent
events in Boston treasonous,
1949
01:46:08,720 --> 01:46:11,020
made clear from the start
that the hearing
1950
01:46:11,180 --> 01:46:14,270
would be an attack
on Franklin's character.
1951
01:46:15,650 --> 01:46:17,400
Your Lordships will not wonder
1952
01:46:17,560 --> 01:46:21,280
that I consider Dr. Franklin not
so much in the light of an agent
1953
01:46:21,440 --> 01:46:25,360
for the Assembly's purpose,
as in that of a first mover
1954
01:46:25,530 --> 01:46:29,080
and prime conductor of it
for his own as the actor...
1955
01:46:29,240 --> 01:46:31,240
Wedderburn spoke for a solid hour,
1956
01:46:31,410 --> 01:46:34,870
sometimes pounding on the table
as he berated Franklin
1957
01:46:35,040 --> 01:46:38,630
with one denunciation after another,
1958
01:46:38,790 --> 01:46:41,380
sometimes using sarcasm that prompted
1959
01:46:41,550 --> 01:46:43,920
the nobles and high
officials in the audience
1960
01:46:44,090 --> 01:46:48,010
to snicker and jeer
as they urged him on.
1961
01:46:48,180 --> 01:46:50,970
Throughout it all,
Franklin stood stock still,
1962
01:46:51,140 --> 01:46:53,270
refusing to show any emotion.
1963
01:46:53,430 --> 01:46:55,310
...answerable to the law.
1964
01:46:55,480 --> 01:46:57,660
The good men of Boston have
lately held their meetings...
1965
01:46:57,690 --> 01:46:59,770
They're accusing Benjamin Franklin of
1966
01:46:59,940 --> 01:47:03,610
fomenting this Revolution
1967
01:47:03,780 --> 01:47:05,900
and he just stays there, silent,
1968
01:47:06,070 --> 01:47:09,120
and treats them with silent contempt.
1969
01:47:09,280 --> 01:47:11,990
When Wedderburn
finally finished his diatribe,
1970
01:47:12,160 --> 01:47:14,620
he asked if Franklin had
a statement to make
1971
01:47:14,790 --> 01:47:17,000
or would take questions.
1972
01:47:17,170 --> 01:47:19,290
Franklin refused.
1973
01:47:19,460 --> 01:47:21,250
The hearing was over.
1974
01:47:28,720 --> 01:47:31,850
London newspapers now
referred to Franklin as
1975
01:47:32,010 --> 01:47:35,730
"old Doubleface,"
a "grand incendiary,"
1976
01:47:35,890 --> 01:47:39,230
and a "gray-headed traitor."
1977
01:47:39,400 --> 01:47:42,940
Americans, the essayist
Samuel Johnson wrote,
1978
01:47:43,110 --> 01:47:46,240
"have been taught by
some master of mischief
1979
01:47:46,400 --> 01:47:50,950
how to put in motion the engine
of political electricity."
1980
01:47:53,410 --> 01:47:56,250
Two days after his humiliation
in the Cockpit,
1981
01:47:56,410 --> 01:47:59,210
Franklin was informed
that he had been dismissed
1982
01:47:59,370 --> 01:48:03,380
as deputy postmaster
for North America.
1983
01:48:03,550 --> 01:48:07,380
Any hopes he had for
a higher post also evaporated,
1984
01:48:07,550 --> 01:48:12,800
as did his dreams for the vast
land scheme along the Ohio.
1985
01:48:12,970 --> 01:48:15,890
Franklin walked into
the Cockpit an Englishman
1986
01:48:16,060 --> 01:48:18,350
and walked out of the Cockpit
an American
1987
01:48:18,520 --> 01:48:21,400
because it became
very clear to Franklin
1988
01:48:21,560 --> 01:48:24,980
that he, as an American,
would never receive
1989
01:48:25,150 --> 01:48:28,450
the respect that
he believed he was due.
1990
01:48:28,610 --> 01:48:31,450
At that point, Franklin
realized there is no future
1991
01:48:31,610 --> 01:48:35,830
for me or for people like me
within the British Empire.
1992
01:48:39,330 --> 01:48:42,130
On December 14, 1774,
1993
01:48:42,290 --> 01:48:45,000
Deborah Franklin had another stroke,
1994
01:48:45,170 --> 01:48:48,670
more massive than
the one 5 years earlier.
1995
01:48:48,840 --> 01:48:50,840
She lingered on for a few days,
1996
01:48:51,010 --> 01:48:53,090
then died on the 19th,
1997
01:48:53,260 --> 01:48:55,220
still waiting for her husband,
1998
01:48:55,390 --> 01:48:59,180
who had been away for 15
of the last 17 years,
1999
01:48:59,350 --> 01:49:02,520
to return to her and the new
house on Market Street
2000
01:49:02,690 --> 01:49:04,810
he had never seen.
2001
01:49:06,070 --> 01:49:08,090
He's away from Deborah
for the last 10 years of her life.
2002
01:49:08,110 --> 01:49:09,610
He knows she's ill.
2003
01:49:09,780 --> 01:49:12,030
And he doesn't come back.
2004
01:49:12,200 --> 01:49:13,840
If Franklin gets
failing grades in any subject,
2005
01:49:13,870 --> 01:49:16,700
it's the family relations,
both in terms of the marriage
2006
01:49:16,870 --> 01:49:18,830
and in terms of his son.
2007
01:49:21,620 --> 01:49:26,170
Philadelphia, December 24, 1774.
2008
01:49:26,340 --> 01:49:30,380
Honored Father,
I came here on Thursday last
2009
01:49:30,550 --> 01:49:34,220
to attend the Funeral
of my poor old Mother.
2010
01:49:34,390 --> 01:49:36,300
I heartily wish you had
happened to have
2011
01:49:36,470 --> 01:49:38,010
come over in the Fall,
2012
01:49:38,180 --> 01:49:40,140
as I think her Disappointment
in that respect
2013
01:49:40,310 --> 01:49:43,230
preyed a good deal on her Spirits.
2014
01:49:45,400 --> 01:49:47,360
I cannot help being
concerned to find that
2015
01:49:47,520 --> 01:49:51,070
you postpone your
Return to your Family.
2016
01:49:52,450 --> 01:49:54,660
You have had by this Time
pretty strong Proofs
2017
01:49:54,820 --> 01:49:57,910
that you are look'd upon with
an evil Eye in that Country.
2018
01:49:58,080 --> 01:49:59,910
You had certainly better return
2019
01:50:00,080 --> 01:50:02,500
to a Country where
the People revere you,
2020
01:50:02,660 --> 01:50:06,960
and are inclined to pay
a Deference to your Opinions.
2021
01:50:07,130 --> 01:50:12,840
I am ever, Honored Sir,
Your dutiful Son William.
2022
01:50:14,720 --> 01:50:17,300
For Franklin, his breach with England
2023
01:50:17,470 --> 01:50:18,970
was complete.
2024
01:50:19,140 --> 01:50:21,890
Now a political rift
seemed to be growing
2025
01:50:22,060 --> 01:50:24,310
between him and his son.
2026
01:50:26,730 --> 01:50:31,030
In the coming year,
a revolution would begin,
2027
01:50:31,190 --> 01:50:33,900
unlikely alliances would be forged,
2028
01:50:34,070 --> 01:50:36,240
loyalties would be tested,
2029
01:50:36,410 --> 01:50:39,530
families would be torn apart,
2030
01:50:39,700 --> 01:50:44,460
and Benjamin Franklin would be
in the middle of it all.
2031
01:53:44,310 --> 01:53:46,640
Being now in my last Act,
2032
01:53:46,810 --> 01:53:51,100
I begin to cast about
for something fit to end with.
2033
01:53:51,270 --> 01:53:55,320
Or if mine be more properly
compar'd to an Epigram,
2034
01:53:55,480 --> 01:53:57,820
I am very desirous of concluding
2035
01:53:57,990 --> 01:53:59,820
with a bright Point.
2036
01:53:59,990 --> 01:54:02,490
Benjamin Franklin.
2037
01:54:02,660 --> 01:54:04,120
The thing about Franklin is,
2038
01:54:04,280 --> 01:54:06,000
whatever you say about him,
on the one hand,
2039
01:54:06,040 --> 01:54:07,950
you can always say
the opposite, as well.
2040
01:54:08,120 --> 01:54:10,790
I mean, this is a man who is
very much pro-temperance
2041
01:54:10,960 --> 01:54:13,130
and he writes bawdy drinking songs.
2042
01:54:13,290 --> 01:54:14,670
He founds a fire company,
2043
01:54:14,840 --> 01:54:16,800
and he founds a fire
insurance company.
2044
01:54:16,960 --> 01:54:18,880
He does play all sides.
2045
01:54:19,050 --> 01:54:21,680
But during those British
years, he very much plays
2046
01:54:21,840 --> 01:54:23,300
the British gentleman.
2047
01:54:23,470 --> 01:54:27,020
He has a--a crest on the
door of his carriage.
2048
01:54:27,180 --> 01:54:30,270
And, yet, by the time he
becomes an American rebel,
2049
01:54:30,440 --> 01:54:33,360
so to speak, he is
entirely an American.
2050
01:54:42,280 --> 01:54:48,790
In January of 1775,
Benjamin Franklin turned 69.
2051
01:54:48,950 --> 01:54:51,920
He had already achieved
extraordinary success
2052
01:54:52,080 --> 01:54:55,420
as a printer and publisher
in his adopted hometown
2053
01:54:55,590 --> 01:54:59,590
of Philadelphia, where
a library, a college,
2054
01:54:59,760 --> 01:55:02,180
and countless civic improvements
2055
01:55:02,340 --> 01:55:05,720
testified to his belief
that his highest calling
2056
01:55:05,890 --> 01:55:07,720
lay not in making money,
2057
01:55:07,890 --> 01:55:11,640
but in improving
the lives of everyday people.
2058
01:55:11,810 --> 01:55:14,440
And his revolutionary breakthroughs
2059
01:55:14,600 --> 01:55:17,520
in unraveling
the mysteries of electricity
2060
01:55:17,690 --> 01:55:22,950
had made him the most famous
American in the world.
2061
01:55:23,110 --> 01:55:24,910
He is every man,
2062
01:55:25,070 --> 01:55:28,240
but he's a very
extraordinary every man.
2063
01:55:28,410 --> 01:55:32,370
He was a Nobel Prize-winning
caliber scientist,
2064
01:55:32,540 --> 01:55:35,920
probably the great--greatest
prose stylist of his generation,
2065
01:55:36,080 --> 01:55:38,170
and he's probably
the greatest diplomat
2066
01:55:38,340 --> 01:55:40,420
in American history.
2067
01:55:40,590 --> 01:55:43,880
Franklin had been in
England for the last decade,
2068
01:55:44,050 --> 01:55:46,720
trying desperately to bridge
the growing gulf
2069
01:55:46,890 --> 01:55:50,850
between Parliament
and the American colonies.
2070
01:55:51,020 --> 01:55:54,140
Only a year earlier,
the future he had envisioned
2071
01:55:54,310 --> 01:55:58,020
for himself and his family
seemed bright and tethered
2072
01:55:58,190 --> 01:56:01,110
inextricably to the British Empire.
2073
01:56:01,280 --> 01:56:04,990
Now that dream was in ruins.
2074
01:56:05,160 --> 01:56:07,660
During his long absence from home,
2075
01:56:07,820 --> 01:56:12,620
he had missed his wife
Deborah's death and funeral.
2076
01:56:12,790 --> 01:56:16,250
In London, in a government
chamber called the Cockpit,
2077
01:56:16,420 --> 01:56:18,790
he had been publicly humiliated,
2078
01:56:18,960 --> 01:56:23,300
accused of inciting the colonial
crisis he had, in fact,
2079
01:56:23,470 --> 01:56:26,180
worked so hard to prevent.
2080
01:56:26,340 --> 01:56:30,510
And as that crisis
intensified, his son William,
2081
01:56:30,680 --> 01:56:33,390
now the royal governor of New Jersey,
2082
01:56:33,560 --> 01:56:37,310
seemed to be choosing the wrong side.
2083
01:56:37,480 --> 01:56:40,570
The longer William
stayed in New Jersey,
2084
01:56:40,730 --> 01:56:44,150
the more corrupt
and rebellious and selfish
2085
01:56:44,320 --> 01:56:46,360
the colonies started to look to him
2086
01:56:46,530 --> 01:56:51,450
and the more wonderful and
inspiring the Crown looked.
2087
01:56:51,620 --> 01:56:54,910
I think that the longer that
Benjamin Franklin stayed
2088
01:56:55,080 --> 01:57:00,130
in England, the more he
idealized the colonies and saw
2089
01:57:00,290 --> 01:57:03,630
the corruption and venality
around him in England.
2090
01:57:03,800 --> 01:57:05,800
And so, they began to see things
2091
01:57:05,970 --> 01:57:08,340
kind of as a mirror
image of one another.
2092
01:57:10,260 --> 01:57:12,140
For years, Franklin had reveled
2093
01:57:12,310 --> 01:57:14,640
in the intellectual life of Britain.
2094
01:57:14,810 --> 01:57:17,690
But increasingly, he dwelled
more on the differences
2095
01:57:17,850 --> 01:57:20,310
between the Old World and the New,
2096
01:57:20,480 --> 01:57:23,610
rather than what they
shared in common.
2097
01:57:23,780 --> 01:57:25,280
In America,
2098
01:57:25,440 --> 01:57:27,900
People do not enquire,
concerning a stranger,
2099
01:57:28,070 --> 01:57:31,660
"What is he?"
but "What can he do?"
2100
01:57:33,080 --> 01:57:35,080
The people have a saying,
2101
01:57:35,250 --> 01:57:38,620
that God Almighty is himself
a mechanic,
2102
01:57:38,790 --> 01:57:41,250
the greatest in the universe;
2103
01:57:41,420 --> 01:57:46,130
and he is respected more
for the variety, ingenuity,
2104
01:57:46,300 --> 01:57:48,470
and utility of his handiworks
2105
01:57:48,630 --> 01:57:52,550
than for the antiquity of his family.
2106
01:57:54,510 --> 01:57:58,230
"Life," he once said,
"is like chess."
2107
01:57:58,390 --> 01:58:02,230
And in the turbulent years
ahead, as his country and his
2108
01:58:02,400 --> 01:58:06,230
family would be challenged as
never before, Benjamin Franklin
2109
01:58:06,400 --> 01:58:11,280
would need every skill
the game had taught him.
2110
01:58:11,450 --> 01:58:12,820
The game of chess
2111
01:58:12,990 --> 01:58:16,120
is not merely an idle amusement.
2112
01:58:16,290 --> 01:58:19,710
By playing at chess,
we may learn, Foresight,
2113
01:58:19,870 --> 01:58:22,960
Circumspection, Caution.
2114
01:58:23,130 --> 01:58:25,340
The habit of not being
discouraged by present
2115
01:58:25,500 --> 01:58:28,590
bad appearances in the state
of our affairs,
2116
01:58:28,760 --> 01:58:32,760
the habit of hoping for
a favorable change,
2117
01:58:32,930 --> 01:58:36,140
and that of persevering.
2118
01:58:36,310 --> 01:58:38,270
He's different from
the other Founders,
2119
01:58:38,430 --> 01:58:40,230
from a Washington, from a Jefferson.
2120
01:58:40,390 --> 01:58:43,940
He's older.
And so he brought a past,
2121
01:58:44,110 --> 01:58:48,490
a past in which he created
himself as a man.
2122
01:58:48,650 --> 01:58:51,110
He brought his wisdom, his experience,
2123
01:58:51,280 --> 01:58:54,120
his travel abroad to make,
2124
01:58:54,280 --> 01:58:57,660
I think, a much more
cosmopolitan and urbane
2125
01:58:57,830 --> 01:59:00,080
understanding of what
America could be.
2126
01:59:02,540 --> 01:59:05,170
Franklin was born an
Englishman, like everybody else
2127
01:59:05,340 --> 01:59:07,380
in the American Colonies
of his generation.
2128
01:59:07,550 --> 01:59:09,340
He died an American.
2129
01:59:09,510 --> 01:59:14,260
He is made to realize that he
will never be allowed to be
2130
01:59:14,430 --> 01:59:18,010
sort of a--a fully recognized,
respected Briton.
2131
01:59:18,180 --> 01:59:20,230
And, for that reason,
he decides he has to
2132
01:59:20,390 --> 01:59:21,430
become an American.
2133
01:59:36,570 --> 01:59:38,080
Dear Father,
2134
01:59:38,240 --> 01:59:40,330
The Measure of Sending
Troops to Boston
2135
01:59:40,500 --> 01:59:43,040
is putting a Stop to the Riots.
2136
01:59:43,210 --> 01:59:45,960
The same Spirit however,
still prevails
2137
01:59:46,130 --> 01:59:49,500
in the Colonies, and nothing
can make them acknowledge
2138
01:59:49,670 --> 01:59:52,590
the Right of the Parliament
to tax them.
2139
01:59:52,760 --> 01:59:55,930
Your dutiful son, William.
2140
01:59:57,890 --> 01:59:59,810
The repercussions of
the Boston Tea Party
2141
01:59:59,970 --> 02:00:03,890
had created a tinderbox
in the American colonies.
2142
02:00:04,060 --> 02:00:06,310
King George III ordered a crackdown
2143
02:00:06,480 --> 02:00:08,770
on the American upstarts.
2144
02:00:08,940 --> 02:00:12,070
"The New England governments
are in a state of rebellion,"
2145
02:00:12,240 --> 02:00:13,820
he declared.
2146
02:00:13,990 --> 02:00:16,870
"Blows must decide whether
they are to be subject
2147
02:00:17,030 --> 02:00:19,950
to this country
or independent."
2148
02:00:20,120 --> 02:00:23,910
Parliament quickly passed
a flurry of new laws.
2149
02:00:24,080 --> 02:00:28,380
Until the East India Company was
compensated for its lost tea,
2150
02:00:28,540 --> 02:00:30,920
Boston Harbor was to be closed.
2151
02:00:32,630 --> 02:00:35,930
Massachusetts was placed
under martial law,
2152
02:00:36,090 --> 02:00:39,140
the colonial charter was suspended,
2153
02:00:39,300 --> 02:00:41,510
the elected assembly outlawed,
2154
02:00:41,680 --> 02:00:44,890
and most public meetings banned.
2155
02:00:45,060 --> 02:00:47,900
Communities were required
to provide quarters
2156
02:00:48,060 --> 02:00:50,270
for British troops.
2157
02:00:50,440 --> 02:00:55,030
Americans called the new
laws the Intolerable Acts.
2158
02:00:55,200 --> 02:00:58,950
Protests sprang up in every colony.
2159
02:00:59,120 --> 02:01:02,620
Committees of correspondence
were established.
2160
02:01:02,790 --> 02:01:06,660
They urged colonists "not to
purchase any goods which shall
2161
02:01:06,830 --> 02:01:09,210
be imported from
Great Britain."
2162
02:01:09,380 --> 02:01:12,210
Each colony was asked
to send delegates
2163
02:01:12,380 --> 02:01:14,130
to a Continental Congress
2164
02:01:14,300 --> 02:01:17,720
that could propose a united response.
2165
02:01:17,880 --> 02:01:21,640
In New Jersey, Governor
William Franklin wrote to his
2166
02:01:21,800 --> 02:01:23,930
superiors in London.
2167
02:01:25,680 --> 02:01:27,100
My Lord,
2168
02:01:27,270 --> 02:01:29,810
His Majesty
may be assured that I shall
2169
02:01:29,980 --> 02:01:34,030
omit nothing in my Power to
keep this Province quiet,
2170
02:01:34,190 --> 02:01:37,450
no Attachments or Connexions
shall ever make me swerve
2171
02:01:37,610 --> 02:01:39,700
from the Duty of my Station.
2172
02:01:39,860 --> 02:01:41,950
Your Lordship's most obedient
2173
02:01:42,120 --> 02:01:44,540
and humble Servant.
2174
02:01:44,700 --> 02:01:47,500
For more than
a decade, William Franklin
2175
02:01:47,660 --> 02:01:50,330
had managed better
than other colonial governors
2176
02:01:50,500 --> 02:01:53,710
to work with his assembly
and steer it toward a more
2177
02:01:53,880 --> 02:01:55,880
moderate course.
2178
02:01:56,050 --> 02:01:59,630
"The most despotic and worst
of all Tyrannies," he told them,
2179
02:01:59,800 --> 02:02:01,640
is "the Tyranny of the Mob,
2180
02:02:01,800 --> 02:02:04,470
"which must at length involve us all
2181
02:02:04,640 --> 02:02:07,020
in one common ruin."
2182
02:02:07,180 --> 02:02:10,310
William wrote to his father
in London suggesting that
2183
02:02:10,480 --> 02:02:15,570
the necessary first step was for
Boston to "do justice" and pay
2184
02:02:15,730 --> 02:02:18,740
for the tons of tea that
had been destroyed.
2185
02:02:18,900 --> 02:02:20,990
Dear Son,
2186
02:02:21,160 --> 02:02:23,780
As to "doing Justice,"
2187
02:02:23,950 --> 02:02:25,950
that should have been
thought of by Parliament
2188
02:02:26,120 --> 02:02:29,660
before they demanded it
of the Bostonians.
2189
02:02:29,830 --> 02:02:33,130
They have extorted many
Thousand Pounds from America
2190
02:02:33,290 --> 02:02:37,510
unconstitutionally
and with an armed Force.
2191
02:02:37,670 --> 02:02:42,340
Of this Money, they ought
to make Restitution.
2192
02:02:42,510 --> 02:02:47,470
But you, who are a thorough
Courtier, see everything
2193
02:02:47,640 --> 02:02:49,850
with Government Eyes.
2194
02:02:51,890 --> 02:02:53,600
The Franklins were coming to
2195
02:02:53,770 --> 02:02:57,190
different conclusions about
which side was to blame,
2196
02:02:57,360 --> 02:03:01,030
but both men still hoped that
a complete split between
2197
02:03:01,200 --> 02:03:05,330
Britain and her colonies
might be avoided.
2198
02:03:05,490 --> 02:03:07,410
The British government
was never a monolith.
2199
02:03:07,580 --> 02:03:10,790
There were always dissenters,
sympathizers with America,
2200
02:03:10,960 --> 02:03:13,420
people who thought that
Americans were justified
2201
02:03:13,580 --> 02:03:15,420
in their opposition.
2202
02:03:15,590 --> 02:03:18,170
There were people, well-placed
within the British Government,
2203
02:03:18,340 --> 02:03:20,260
who believed, with Franklin,
2204
02:03:20,420 --> 02:03:23,380
that the future of the
British Empire could be great
2205
02:03:23,550 --> 02:03:26,050
and could be bright if
the British government
2206
02:03:26,220 --> 02:03:29,680
recognized that America could be
this second pillar
2207
02:03:29,850 --> 02:03:32,640
of a transatlantic empire.
2208
02:03:32,810 --> 02:03:34,980
Working behind the scenes,
2209
02:03:35,150 --> 02:03:37,020
because his public image in England
2210
02:03:37,190 --> 02:03:39,480
was now so badly tarnished,
2211
02:03:39,650 --> 02:03:42,530
Franklin and sympathetic
members of Parliament
2212
02:03:42,700 --> 02:03:44,990
struggled to find some compromise
2213
02:03:45,160 --> 02:03:47,200
that could avert a war.
2214
02:03:47,370 --> 02:03:49,910
But nothing came of it.
2215
02:03:50,080 --> 02:03:52,330
Franklin knows exactly
what's going on.
2216
02:03:52,500 --> 02:03:55,880
And what's going on
leads him to despair.
2217
02:03:56,040 --> 02:03:59,380
I'm not sure there were many
who were more disappointed
2218
02:03:59,550 --> 02:04:02,420
by the separation than Franklin.
2219
02:04:02,590 --> 02:04:04,070
In part, because I think
he really thought it
2220
02:04:04,090 --> 02:04:05,340
was avoidable.
2221
02:04:06,680 --> 02:04:07,680
Gentlemen,
2222
02:04:07,850 --> 02:04:09,760
You have now two roads--
2223
02:04:09,930 --> 02:04:13,680
one evidently leading to peace,
happiness, and a restoration
2224
02:04:13,850 --> 02:04:15,940
of the public tranquility--
2225
02:04:16,100 --> 02:04:18,820
the other inevitably conducting you
2226
02:04:18,980 --> 02:04:22,530
to anarchy, misery,
and all the horrors
2227
02:04:22,690 --> 02:04:25,450
of a civil war.
2228
02:04:28,030 --> 02:04:30,540
In New Jersey, William had refused to
2229
02:04:30,700 --> 02:04:34,000
convene the colonial assembly
in order to prevent them from
2230
02:04:34,160 --> 02:04:37,670
sending delegates to
the Continental Congress.
2231
02:04:37,830 --> 02:04:41,380
They chose representatives anyway.
2232
02:04:41,550 --> 02:04:44,260
When the Congress met in Philadelphia
2233
02:04:44,420 --> 02:04:48,220
in the fall of 1774,
it had asserted that only
2234
02:04:48,390 --> 02:04:52,520
elected colonial legislatures
had the right of taxation
2235
02:04:52,680 --> 02:04:54,270
within their borders.
2236
02:04:54,430 --> 02:04:56,940
It banned all imports from Britain
2237
02:04:57,100 --> 02:05:00,190
until the Intolerable
Acts were repealed
2238
02:05:00,360 --> 02:05:03,690
and set a deadline
for Parliament to do it.
2239
02:05:03,860 --> 02:05:08,070
Otherwise, American exports
to England would cease
2240
02:05:08,240 --> 02:05:12,950
and a Second Continental
Congress would convene in 1775
2241
02:05:13,120 --> 02:05:16,040
to consider further steps.
2242
02:05:16,210 --> 02:05:20,130
If only his father had been
there, William wrote, he might
2243
02:05:20,290 --> 02:05:22,750
have been able to steer the
Congress toward something
2244
02:05:22,920 --> 02:05:25,050
less confrontational.
2245
02:05:26,800 --> 02:05:28,890
However mad you may think the Measures
2246
02:05:29,050 --> 02:05:32,310
of the Ministry are, yet I
trust you have Candor enough
2247
02:05:32,470 --> 02:05:36,140
to acknowledge that we are no
ways behind hand with them
2248
02:05:36,310 --> 02:05:40,230
in Instances of Madness
on this Side of the Water.
2249
02:05:42,860 --> 02:05:44,940
Benjamin Franklin now believed
2250
02:05:45,110 --> 02:05:49,160
any chances of averting war
were unlikely; but he was
2251
02:05:49,320 --> 02:05:52,410
growing more and more worried
that he and William
2252
02:05:52,580 --> 02:05:55,870
were ending up on opposing sides.
2253
02:05:56,040 --> 02:05:58,790
He was ready to head for home.
2254
02:05:58,960 --> 02:06:02,040
If he couldn't keep the
colonies and England together,
2255
02:06:02,210 --> 02:06:06,210
at least he might be
able to keep his son.
2256
02:06:08,010 --> 02:06:12,600
On March 21, 1775,
Franklin finally set sail
2257
02:06:12,760 --> 02:06:14,560
for Philadelphia.
2258
02:06:14,720 --> 02:06:18,980
With him was William's own son,
Temple, who had been born
2259
02:06:19,140 --> 02:06:22,610
out of wedlock 15 years
earlier in England
2260
02:06:22,770 --> 02:06:26,780
and discreetly given over
to a foster family.
2261
02:06:26,940 --> 02:06:30,150
In London, Benjamin had
decided to take custody
2262
02:06:30,320 --> 02:06:33,030
of the boy and enrolled him in school
2263
02:06:33,200 --> 02:06:36,540
but did not tell him
he was his grandfather.
2264
02:06:36,700 --> 02:06:40,790
Now, he was bringing Temple to
America, where he would meet
2265
02:06:40,960 --> 02:06:43,880
the father he had never known.
2266
02:06:44,040 --> 02:06:48,300
When Benjamin Franklin
sails home in 1775,
2267
02:06:48,460 --> 02:06:50,630
he's estranged from William.
2268
02:06:50,800 --> 02:06:52,640
His wife Deborah has died.
2269
02:06:52,800 --> 02:06:56,350
He feels this enormous
sense of failure.
2270
02:06:56,510 --> 02:07:00,270
His whole mission had been
to try to hold the Colonies
2271
02:07:00,430 --> 02:07:01,940
and Britain together.
2272
02:07:02,100 --> 02:07:03,730
And that has failed.
2273
02:07:07,400 --> 02:07:08,730
But being at sea
2274
02:07:08,900 --> 02:07:11,530
always revived Franklin's spirits
2275
02:07:11,700 --> 02:07:15,320
and ignited his scientific curiosity.
2276
02:07:15,490 --> 02:07:18,410
He still wants to
chart the Gulf Stream.
2277
02:07:18,580 --> 02:07:23,170
He still is curious
about natural phenomenon.
2278
02:07:23,330 --> 02:07:26,040
And, so, there's
Temple Franklin helping
2279
02:07:26,210 --> 02:07:30,720
his grandfather Benjamin as they
lower barrels into the ocean
2280
02:07:30,880 --> 02:07:32,720
to take the temperature of the water,
2281
02:07:32,880 --> 02:07:35,680
to see where the Gulf Stream could be,
2282
02:07:35,850 --> 02:07:38,180
and he's almost replicating
those moments
2283
02:07:38,350 --> 02:07:41,140
with William Franklin,
where Ben Franklin and William
2284
02:07:41,310 --> 02:07:45,100
flew the kite in the rain
to discover electricity.
2285
02:07:45,270 --> 02:07:47,820
When he and Temple
arrived in Philadelphia
2286
02:07:47,980 --> 02:07:53,150
on May 5, 1775, Franklin
learned startling news.
2287
02:07:53,320 --> 02:07:57,490
While he was at sea, the war he
had once hoped to prevent
2288
02:07:57,660 --> 02:08:00,540
had already started in Massachusetts.
2289
02:08:02,870 --> 02:08:08,040
On April 19th, 700 British
troops had marched from Boston
2290
02:08:08,210 --> 02:08:10,960
to capture munitions
stockpiled in Concord.
2291
02:08:11,130 --> 02:08:14,050
A skirmish on the Lexington town green
2292
02:08:14,220 --> 02:08:15,930
left 8 Americans dead...
2293
02:08:16,090 --> 02:08:19,010
but a larger fight broke out
2294
02:08:19,180 --> 02:08:22,430
at Concord's North Bridge
that sent British redcoats
2295
02:08:22,600 --> 02:08:26,190
retreating back toward Boston.
2296
02:08:26,350 --> 02:08:32,150
The Revolutionary energy
in Philadelphia was palpable.
2297
02:08:32,320 --> 02:08:36,280
Regular people were talking
about "revolution,"
2298
02:08:36,450 --> 02:08:40,530
were talking about "power," were
talking about "human rights,"
2299
02:08:40,700 --> 02:08:44,500
were talking about
"freedom" and "democracy."
2300
02:08:44,660 --> 02:08:48,750
These were the things that
Franklin came home to.
2301
02:08:50,840 --> 02:08:53,420
A week after Franklin got back home,
2302
02:08:53,590 --> 02:08:56,680
delegates to the Second
Continental Congress were
2303
02:08:56,840 --> 02:09:00,390
gathering in Philadelphia,
and the Pennsylvania Assembly
2304
02:09:00,550 --> 02:09:04,770
elected him as one of
their representatives.
2305
02:09:04,930 --> 02:09:07,020
I can inform you that some delegates
2306
02:09:07,190 --> 02:09:10,520
begin to entertain a great
suspicion that Dr. Franklin
2307
02:09:10,690 --> 02:09:14,360
came rather as a spy than as
a friend, and that he means to
2308
02:09:14,530 --> 02:09:16,860
discover our weak side.
2309
02:09:17,030 --> 02:09:19,450
William Bradford.
2310
02:09:19,620 --> 02:09:23,450
In the early meetings,
Franklin remained quiet,
2311
02:09:23,620 --> 02:09:27,040
so quiet, John Adams
of Massachusetts complained
2312
02:09:27,210 --> 02:09:30,250
that he seemed to spend
"a great part of the time
2313
02:09:30,420 --> 02:09:33,300
fast asleep in his chair."
2314
02:09:33,460 --> 02:09:36,590
In the evenings, while other
delegates congregated
2315
02:09:36,760 --> 02:09:39,430
in taverns and debated whether
the Congress
2316
02:09:39,590 --> 02:09:41,680
should declare independence,
2317
02:09:41,850 --> 02:09:44,430
he preferred to stay at his new house,
2318
02:09:44,600 --> 02:09:47,770
with his daughter
Sally and her family.
2319
02:09:47,940 --> 02:09:51,480
By this time, Franklin had
confessed to Temple
2320
02:09:51,650 --> 02:09:54,530
that he was the boy's grandfather.
2321
02:09:56,030 --> 02:09:59,740
When Governor William Franklin
visited from New Jersey,
2322
02:09:59,910 --> 02:10:04,540
Temple met his
father for the first time.
2323
02:10:04,700 --> 02:10:08,370
And later, when Benjamin
and William met privately,
2324
02:10:08,540 --> 02:10:13,090
Benjamin made it clear he wanted
his son to join the cause.
2325
02:10:13,250 --> 02:10:17,300
William wanted his father to
stay neutral. He still thought
2326
02:10:17,470 --> 02:10:21,970
a reconciliation with
England might be possible.
2327
02:10:22,140 --> 02:10:24,140
They argued all night.
2328
02:10:24,310 --> 02:10:28,890
At another meeting, neighbors
could hear them shouting.
2329
02:10:29,060 --> 02:10:32,610
Father and son went
their separate ways.
2330
02:10:32,770 --> 02:10:35,570
William would remain a Loyalist.
2331
02:10:35,730 --> 02:10:39,400
Benjamin had become
a fervent revolutionary--
2332
02:10:39,570 --> 02:10:42,740
what was called a Patriot.
2333
02:10:42,910 --> 02:10:44,330
Of the major leaders,
2334
02:10:44,490 --> 02:10:46,660
he came to the Revolution very late.
2335
02:10:46,830 --> 02:10:48,830
In fact, it's hard to
understand why he even joined
2336
02:10:48,950 --> 02:10:50,460
the Revolution, uh...
2337
02:10:50,620 --> 02:10:53,790
He was already successful.
He was an old man.
2338
02:10:53,960 --> 02:10:56,300
Revolution is a young man's game,
2339
02:10:56,460 --> 02:10:59,970
but Franklin decided this
is what needs to be done.
2340
02:11:01,680 --> 02:11:04,890
At age 69, he was the oldest delegate.
2341
02:11:05,050 --> 02:11:09,390
Many of the 62 other delegates
had not even been born when he
2342
02:11:09,560 --> 02:11:12,520
first entered political life
40 years earlier
2343
02:11:12,690 --> 02:11:16,270
and knew Franklin only by
his reputation.
2344
02:11:16,440 --> 02:11:19,030
John Adams was 39;
2345
02:11:19,190 --> 02:11:22,740
Patrick Henry and John Hancock, 38;
2346
02:11:22,910 --> 02:11:26,580
Virginia's Thomas Jefferson
was only 32--
2347
02:11:26,740 --> 02:11:30,750
all younger than Franklin's
son William.
2348
02:11:30,910 --> 02:11:34,000
He's the "old" one.
He's the sage one.
2349
02:11:34,170 --> 02:11:38,500
And he talks in
parables and metaphors.
2350
02:11:38,670 --> 02:11:41,470
And a lot of people don't quite
know what to make of him.
2351
02:11:41,630 --> 02:11:44,390
Here's Franklin, coming with
a worldwide reputation,
2352
02:11:44,550 --> 02:11:47,810
certainly the most famous
American in the world,
2353
02:11:47,970 --> 02:11:50,980
and yet, they're not
fully trusting him.
2354
02:11:51,140 --> 02:11:55,150
Who is this guy?
We don't really know him.
2355
02:11:55,310 --> 02:11:57,770
Franklin had
traveled more extensively than
2356
02:11:57,940 --> 02:12:01,740
any of the others--throughout
Europe, but also through most
2357
02:12:01,900 --> 02:12:04,820
of the colonies that were
only now beginning to think
2358
02:12:04,990 --> 02:12:07,700
of themselves as something
more than individual
2359
02:12:07,870 --> 02:12:09,740
English provinces.
2360
02:12:09,910 --> 02:12:15,040
It was an idea he had proposed
more than 2 decades before.
2361
02:12:16,880 --> 02:12:19,250
The delegates unanimously elected him
2362
02:12:19,420 --> 02:12:21,300
as postmaster general,
2363
02:12:21,460 --> 02:12:25,340
and he donated his salary
to help wounded soldiers.
2364
02:12:25,510 --> 02:12:29,600
They assigned him to important
committees, creating a system
2365
02:12:29,760 --> 02:12:32,520
for paper currency,
raising money for weapons
2366
02:12:32,680 --> 02:12:34,890
and manufacturing gunpowder,
2367
02:12:35,060 --> 02:12:38,400
and negotiating with Indian
nations in the hope
2368
02:12:38,560 --> 02:12:42,280
they would not side with the British.
2369
02:12:42,440 --> 02:12:45,450
Following the battles of
Lexington and Concord,
2370
02:12:45,610 --> 02:12:48,620
Franklin heard
from his favorite sister Jane,
2371
02:12:48,780 --> 02:12:53,540
who witnessed the chaos in
Boston, the town of his birth.
2372
02:12:53,700 --> 02:12:55,870
"The distress it has occasioned
2373
02:12:56,040 --> 02:12:58,420
is past my description," she wrote.
2374
02:12:58,580 --> 02:13:02,170
"The commotion the town was in
after the battle, bringing in
2375
02:13:02,340 --> 02:13:06,220
"their wounded men, caused
such an agitation of mind,
2376
02:13:06,380 --> 02:13:09,300
I believe none
had much sleep."
2377
02:13:09,470 --> 02:13:12,220
Colonial militia had
surrounded the city
2378
02:13:12,390 --> 02:13:15,060
and the occupying
British forces there.
2379
02:13:15,230 --> 02:13:20,480
12,000 of Boston's 15,000
residents, including Jane,
2380
02:13:20,650 --> 02:13:22,980
evacuated in panic.
2381
02:13:23,150 --> 02:13:27,200
British soldiers then
ransacked the nearly empty town.
2382
02:13:27,360 --> 02:13:29,450
They would use the pews and pulpit
2383
02:13:29,620 --> 02:13:32,910
from the Old South
Meeting House as firewood.
2384
02:13:34,790 --> 02:13:38,330
On June 17th, in the Battle
of Bunker Hill,
2385
02:13:38,500 --> 02:13:42,710
British forces attacked the
militiamen in nearby Charlestown
2386
02:13:42,880 --> 02:13:44,670
and were repulsed twice,
2387
02:13:44,840 --> 02:13:48,220
until the defenders'
ammunition ran out.
2388
02:13:48,380 --> 02:13:50,930
At the end of the day,
the British had taken
2389
02:13:51,100 --> 02:13:55,220
the heights, but suffered
more than 1,000 casualties
2390
02:13:55,390 --> 02:13:58,270
to fewer than
half that by the Patriots.
2391
02:13:58,440 --> 02:14:01,730
Much of Charlestown had been
burned by the British
2392
02:14:01,900 --> 02:14:04,940
to rid it of American snipers.
2393
02:14:05,110 --> 02:14:10,320
Jane's son, Josiah, fought
for the Patriots and died.
2394
02:14:10,490 --> 02:14:14,030
One of her in-laws died
fighting for the British.
2395
02:14:14,200 --> 02:14:16,910
"O how horrible is our
situation," she wrote
2396
02:14:17,080 --> 02:14:20,580
to Benjamin, "that relations
seek the destruction
2397
02:14:20,750 --> 02:14:22,000
of each other."
2398
02:14:23,790 --> 02:14:27,380
Enraged by what the British
had done, Franklin sent
2399
02:14:27,550 --> 02:14:29,380
a letter to a friend in England,
2400
02:14:29,550 --> 02:14:33,760
intended for publication there.
2401
02:14:33,930 --> 02:14:35,810
Britain, at the expense
2402
02:14:35,970 --> 02:14:38,850
of three millions,
has killed 150 Americans
2403
02:14:39,020 --> 02:14:44,110
this campaign, which is
20,000 pounds a head;
2404
02:14:44,270 --> 02:14:48,940
and at Bunker's Hill she
gained a mile of ground.
2405
02:14:49,110 --> 02:14:51,910
During the same time
60,000 children have been
2406
02:14:52,070 --> 02:14:53,570
born in America.
2407
02:14:53,740 --> 02:14:56,450
From these data,
calculate the time and expense
2408
02:14:56,620 --> 02:14:58,540
necessary to kill us all,
2409
02:14:58,700 --> 02:15:01,500
and conquer our whole territory.
2410
02:15:03,040 --> 02:15:05,250
And he had written a second letter
2411
02:15:05,420 --> 02:15:08,170
to another English friend,
which he shared
2412
02:15:08,340 --> 02:15:12,590
with colleagues in America
but never sent.
2413
02:15:12,760 --> 02:15:15,470
You have begun to burn our towns,
2414
02:15:15,640 --> 02:15:17,850
and murder our people.
2415
02:15:18,020 --> 02:15:19,810
Look upon your hands!
2416
02:15:19,980 --> 02:15:23,730
They are stained with the
blood of your relations!
2417
02:15:23,900 --> 02:15:28,980
YOU AND I WERE LONG FRIENDS:
You are now my enemy,
2418
02:15:29,150 --> 02:15:30,820
and I am Yours.
2419
02:15:32,150 --> 02:15:33,910
The
suspicions against Dr. Franklin
2420
02:15:34,070 --> 02:15:35,820
have died away.
2421
02:15:35,990 --> 02:15:39,290
Whatever was his design at
coming over here, I believe he
2422
02:15:39,450 --> 02:15:43,920
has now chosen his side
and favors our cause.
2423
02:15:44,080 --> 02:15:45,630
Dr. Franklin
2424
02:15:45,790 --> 02:15:49,670
has discovered a disposition
entirely American.
2425
02:15:49,840 --> 02:15:52,970
He is a great and good man.
2426
02:15:53,130 --> 02:15:55,180
John Adams.
2427
02:15:59,970 --> 02:16:02,770
In October 1775,
2428
02:16:02,940 --> 02:16:05,730
Franklin traveled to
Massachusetts to confer
2429
02:16:05,900 --> 02:16:08,860
with General George
Washington, who desperately
2430
02:16:09,020 --> 02:16:12,860
needed more money from
Congress to fight the British.
2431
02:16:13,030 --> 02:16:16,530
He was trying to cobble
together a Continental Army
2432
02:16:16,700 --> 02:16:20,700
that would eventually include
fishermen, frontiersmen
2433
02:16:20,870 --> 02:16:24,670
and farm laborers; recent
immigrants, vagrants
2434
02:16:24,830 --> 02:16:28,420
and teen-aged boys with few prospects;
2435
02:16:28,590 --> 02:16:32,510
Native Americans,
free African Americans
2436
02:16:32,670 --> 02:16:37,800
and enslaved men, hoping to be
freed when the war ended.
2437
02:16:37,970 --> 02:16:40,970
Franklin promised
Washington he would do what he
2438
02:16:41,140 --> 02:16:43,730
could to help.
2439
02:16:43,890 --> 02:16:47,690
On his way back, Franklin
reunited with his sister Jane
2440
02:16:47,860 --> 02:16:49,270
in Rhode Island.
2441
02:16:49,440 --> 02:16:53,320
She was still a refugee from
occupied Boston.
2442
02:16:53,490 --> 02:16:57,320
He persuaded her to come with
him to Philadelphia, and they
2443
02:16:57,490 --> 02:17:00,990
stopped briefly in New Jersey,
so she could see her nephew
2444
02:17:01,160 --> 02:17:04,200
William at the governor's mansion.
2445
02:17:04,370 --> 02:17:08,920
Franklin hoped her description
of the carnage in Boston might
2446
02:17:09,080 --> 02:17:13,880
prompt his son to reconsider
his loyalty to the Crown.
2447
02:17:14,050 --> 02:17:16,130
She was unsuccessful.
2448
02:17:16,300 --> 02:17:20,050
William would be the last royal
governor trying to carry on
2449
02:17:20,220 --> 02:17:23,350
the king's affairs in America.
2450
02:17:23,520 --> 02:17:26,190
People always ask, why
were people Loyalists.
2451
02:17:26,350 --> 02:17:27,850
And I think the question to ask is,
2452
02:17:28,020 --> 02:17:29,860
"Why were people Patriots?"
2453
02:17:30,020 --> 02:17:32,270
Uh, to be loyal is not to change.
2454
02:17:32,440 --> 02:17:34,900
It's simply to go on believing
what you've always believed
2455
02:17:35,070 --> 02:17:36,820
your entire life.
2456
02:17:36,990 --> 02:17:39,530
His father taught him
to be principled.
2457
02:17:39,700 --> 02:17:41,780
He was doing exactly what
his father had always
2458
02:17:41,950 --> 02:17:43,830
taught him to do.
2459
02:17:43,990 --> 02:17:46,250
For King and Country was the Motto
2460
02:17:46,410 --> 02:17:49,880
I assumed when I first commenced
my Political Life,
2461
02:17:50,040 --> 02:17:52,460
and I am resolved to
retain it till Death
2462
02:17:52,630 --> 02:17:56,970
shall put an end
to my mortal Existence.
2463
02:17:57,130 --> 02:17:59,050
William Franklin had assured his
2464
02:17:59,220 --> 02:18:03,510
superiors in London he did
not intend to leave his post.
2465
02:18:03,680 --> 02:18:07,020
He had advised his wife
Elizabeth to seek refuge
2466
02:18:07,180 --> 02:18:10,980
with relatives in Barbados,
but she insisted on staying
2467
02:18:11,150 --> 02:18:13,940
with him in New Jersey.
2468
02:18:14,110 --> 02:18:17,440
Benjamin Franklin would
not see his son again
2469
02:18:17,610 --> 02:18:19,360
for 10 years.
2470
02:18:29,710 --> 02:18:31,330
March!
2471
02:18:31,500 --> 02:18:34,130
One day in
Philadelphia, Franklin noticed
2472
02:18:34,290 --> 02:18:38,010
a drummer who had painted
a rattlesnake on his drum
2473
02:18:38,170 --> 02:18:42,300
along with the words
"Don't Tread on Me."
2474
02:18:42,470 --> 02:18:43,970
It occurred to me
2475
02:18:44,140 --> 02:18:45,890
that the Rattle-Snake is found
2476
02:18:46,060 --> 02:18:49,890
in no other quarter of the
world besides America, and may
2477
02:18:50,060 --> 02:18:54,020
therefore be chosen, on that
account, to represent her.
2478
02:18:54,190 --> 02:18:58,360
She never begins an attack,
nor, when once engaged,
2479
02:19:00,700 --> 02:19:03,740
I confess
I was wholly at a loss what to
2480
02:19:03,910 --> 02:19:07,700
make of the rattles, 'till I
went back and counted them
2481
02:19:07,870 --> 02:19:11,290
and found them just thirteen,
exactly the number
2482
02:19:11,460 --> 02:19:14,710
of the Colonies united in America;
2483
02:19:14,880 --> 02:19:17,090
One of those rattles singly,
2484
02:19:17,250 --> 02:19:19,970
is incapable of producing sound,
2485
02:19:20,130 --> 02:19:24,390
but the ringing of thirteen
together, is sufficient to
2486
02:19:24,550 --> 02:19:26,680
alarm the boldest man living.
2487
02:19:28,560 --> 02:19:30,640
A delegate from South Carolina
2488
02:19:30,810 --> 02:19:33,850
created a bright yellow flag,
which was flown from the
2489
02:19:34,020 --> 02:19:38,400
flagship of America's first
deployment of Marines.
2490
02:19:41,320 --> 02:19:46,240
In March of 1776, Franklin
was on his way overland to
2491
02:19:46,410 --> 02:19:50,160
Montreal, to try to convince
the Canadians to join
2492
02:19:50,330 --> 02:19:52,370
the colonial cause.
2493
02:19:52,540 --> 02:19:55,330
Learning of the mission,
William Franklin wrote
2494
02:19:55,500 --> 02:19:58,090
immediately to London, betraying his
2495
02:19:58,250 --> 02:20:00,050
father's movements.
2496
02:20:00,210 --> 02:20:03,010
It was an arduous 9-week trip.
2497
02:20:03,180 --> 02:20:05,760
Benjamin Franklin's efforts failed.
2498
02:20:05,930 --> 02:20:08,180
Canada would remain loyal.
2499
02:20:08,350 --> 02:20:11,850
And when he returned to
Philadelphia, he was so sick
2500
02:20:12,020 --> 02:20:15,900
he was unable to attend
the proceedings in Congress.
2501
02:20:16,060 --> 02:20:19,900
All he had to show for his
troubles was a soft cap
2502
02:20:20,070 --> 02:20:24,070
of marten fur that had
kept his head warm.
2503
02:20:27,280 --> 02:20:31,870
In June of 1776, William was arrested
2504
02:20:32,040 --> 02:20:35,670
at the governor's mansion
by Patriot soldiers.
2505
02:20:35,830 --> 02:20:38,250
His secret reports about proceedings
2506
02:20:38,420 --> 02:20:41,800
in the Continental Congress
had been intercepted.
2507
02:20:41,960 --> 02:20:44,800
He was declared
an "enemy to this country."
2508
02:20:44,970 --> 02:20:49,680
Congress voted unanimously that
he be transported under guard
2509
02:20:49,850 --> 02:20:52,060
out of New Jersey to Connecticut.
2510
02:20:54,020 --> 02:20:58,110
His father, still housebound
after his trip to Canada,
2511
02:20:58,270 --> 02:21:02,780
was spared having to cast
a vote against his son.
2512
02:21:09,370 --> 02:21:14,700
On June 21, 1776, a packet
arrived at Franklin's
2513
02:21:14,870 --> 02:21:16,750
Market Street home.
2514
02:21:16,920 --> 02:21:21,800
It was from Thomas Jefferson,
who with Franklin, John Adams,
2515
02:21:21,960 --> 02:21:25,220
and two other delegates,
had been assigned to draft
2516
02:21:25,380 --> 02:21:29,050
a declaration of independence.
2517
02:21:29,220 --> 02:21:32,850
Working in a rented second-
floor room of a house a few
2518
02:21:33,010 --> 02:21:36,390
blocks from Franklin's
and attended by his enslaved
2519
02:21:36,560 --> 02:21:38,400
servant Robert Hemings,
2520
02:21:38,560 --> 02:21:42,650
Jefferson completed a first draft.
2521
02:21:42,820 --> 02:21:46,530
He asked Franklin to "suggest
such alterations as your
2522
02:21:46,700 --> 02:21:50,660
more enlarged view of
the subject will dictate."
2523
02:21:50,820 --> 02:21:54,370
The old editor and writer
recognized the elegance
2524
02:21:54,540 --> 02:21:57,870
of Jefferson's prose and made
only a few changes
2525
02:21:58,040 --> 02:22:00,540
before returning it.
2526
02:22:00,710 --> 02:22:03,460
Franklin sits back
and ponders it a little
2527
02:22:03,630 --> 02:22:05,130
and he makes a few
2528
02:22:05,300 --> 02:22:08,510
really extraordinary
suggestions to Jefferson.
2529
02:22:08,680 --> 02:22:11,550
And one of them is world class.
2530
02:22:11,720 --> 02:22:15,140
Jefferson had written,
"We hold these truths to be
2531
02:22:15,310 --> 02:22:18,140
sacred and undeniable."
2532
02:22:18,310 --> 02:22:20,600
And Franklin said, "No, no.
2533
02:22:20,770 --> 02:22:23,440
'We hold these truths to be
self-evident.'"
2534
02:22:23,610 --> 02:22:28,780
Just as 2 plus 2 is 4 and
the sun rises in the morning,
2535
02:22:28,950 --> 02:22:34,490
it is self-evident that we have
a right to revolution.
2536
02:22:34,660 --> 02:22:37,500
Franklin is saying, "We're
trying to create a new type
2537
02:22:37,660 --> 02:22:40,920
"of nation in which our
rights come from rationality
2538
02:22:41,080 --> 02:22:44,750
"and the consent of the
governed, not the dictates or
2539
02:22:44,920 --> 02:22:47,300
dogma of a religion."
2540
02:22:47,460 --> 02:22:51,760
They were doing something
very radical and very scary.
2541
02:22:51,930 --> 02:22:54,180
To say something is "self
evident," to say that it's
2542
02:22:54,350 --> 02:22:59,270
common sense, is to say that
there is no other way to think
2543
02:22:59,430 --> 02:23:04,400
about this, that only an
irrational person, who's not
2544
02:23:04,560 --> 02:23:09,780
using their mind correctly
could contend with this thing,
2545
02:23:09,950 --> 02:23:12,360
which is, in fact, really contentious.
2546
02:23:12,530 --> 02:23:15,490
It's a classic lawyer's trick to say,
2547
02:23:15,660 --> 02:23:17,870
"We all agree to this thing."
2548
02:23:18,040 --> 02:23:22,620
Who is "we?"
The "we" is presumptuous.
2549
02:23:22,790 --> 02:23:26,210
They were not talking
about liberating women in any
2550
02:23:26,380 --> 02:23:30,010
particular way
or certainly not slaves.
2551
02:23:30,170 --> 02:23:35,140
But in incremental ways, it
grew and grew because if you
2552
02:23:35,300 --> 02:23:39,890
talk about liberty for the
individual, of you and me, uh,
2553
02:23:40,060 --> 02:23:43,100
you're talking about a greater
liberty that can be applied
2554
02:23:43,270 --> 02:23:45,480
to other people.
2555
02:23:45,650 --> 02:23:48,690
On July 2, the Continental Congress
2556
02:23:48,860 --> 02:23:51,780
unanimously approved
the central clause
2557
02:23:51,950 --> 02:23:53,990
of the declaration, proclaiming
2558
02:23:54,160 --> 02:23:57,330
American independence.
2559
02:23:57,490 --> 02:24:04,210
Two days later, July 4, 1776,
12 of the 13 former
2560
02:24:04,370 --> 02:24:08,380
colonies approved
the entire declaration.
2561
02:24:08,550 --> 02:24:13,170
New York would take a few
more days to make up its mind.
2562
02:24:13,340 --> 02:24:14,550
And for the support
2563
02:24:14,720 --> 02:24:16,470
of this declaration,
2564
02:24:16,640 --> 02:24:21,060
we mutually pledge to each
other our lives, our fortunes,
2565
02:24:21,220 --> 02:24:23,350
and our sacred honor.
2566
02:24:24,730 --> 02:24:26,690
On the same day Benjamin Franklin
2567
02:24:26,860 --> 02:24:30,610
was voting to approve the
Declaration, his son William
2568
02:24:30,780 --> 02:24:33,950
arrived in Connecticut,
where he was told he was now
2569
02:24:34,110 --> 02:24:36,660
officially a prisoner of the brand-new
2570
02:24:36,820 --> 02:24:39,370
United States of America.
2571
02:24:49,380 --> 02:24:51,590
At this point, what are the odds?
2572
02:24:51,760 --> 02:24:55,220
If you were making a book on
this, who would you bet on?
2573
02:24:55,380 --> 02:24:58,640
There was the greatest
military power in Europe,
2574
02:24:58,800 --> 02:25:01,120
arguably the greatest military
power in the world, and then
2575
02:25:01,180 --> 02:25:02,970
there are these 13 Colonies.
2576
02:25:03,140 --> 02:25:06,270
So, it was a longshot,
to put it mildly.
2577
02:25:06,440 --> 02:25:08,520
And then there are significant numbers
2578
02:25:08,690 --> 02:25:11,070
of enslaved men and women who
were eying the situation,
2579
02:25:11,230 --> 02:25:13,900
trying to figure out, is there
some way that this conflict
2580
02:25:14,070 --> 02:25:16,610
could serve my interests personally,
2581
02:25:16,780 --> 02:25:20,030
serve people like me collectively.
2582
02:25:20,200 --> 02:25:22,700
And then you have, both within
the Colonies, at the borders
2583
02:25:22,870 --> 02:25:25,710
of the Colonies, Native
nations who are trying to
2584
02:25:25,870 --> 02:25:31,170
understand what this emerging
divide might mean for control
2585
02:25:31,340 --> 02:25:34,010
of their land or access to trade.
2586
02:25:34,170 --> 02:25:35,970
We know how it turned out.
2587
02:25:36,130 --> 02:25:38,640
But nobody in 1775 or 1776
has any idea how this is
2588
02:25:38,800 --> 02:25:40,430
going to turn out.
2589
02:25:40,600 --> 02:25:43,560
And, so, choosing sides
also means choosing fates.
2590
02:25:45,430 --> 02:25:46,980
The Revolution, as it emerges
2591
02:25:47,140 --> 02:25:50,060
and becomes a war, is a civil war.
2592
02:25:50,230 --> 02:25:52,150
Families are divided, uh,
2593
02:25:52,320 --> 02:25:55,070
friends are divided,
neighborhoods are divided.
2594
02:25:55,240 --> 02:25:58,030
Almost everyone involved
in the Revolution has family
2595
02:25:58,200 --> 02:25:59,990
members who are on the other side,
2596
02:26:00,160 --> 02:26:02,530
often, very vitriolically
on the other side.
2597
02:26:02,700 --> 02:26:06,120
So, this really does
tear families apart.
2598
02:26:06,290 --> 02:26:10,080
In Franklin's case, um,
it comes as a complete break
2599
02:26:10,250 --> 02:26:11,960
with his son.
2600
02:26:12,130 --> 02:26:15,090
By now, hundreds
of British ships had arrived
2601
02:26:15,260 --> 02:26:18,970
in New York Harbor with
35,000 British soldiers
2602
02:26:19,130 --> 02:26:22,720
and sailors and Hessian
mercenaries, the greatest
2603
02:26:22,890 --> 02:26:24,970
and best-equipped expeditionary force
2604
02:26:25,140 --> 02:26:27,390
of the 18th century.
2605
02:26:27,560 --> 02:26:31,150
Washington's army would be
overmatched and easily routed
2606
02:26:31,310 --> 02:26:33,060
from Long Island.
2607
02:26:33,230 --> 02:26:37,110
British Admiral Lord Richard
Howe sent Franklin a letter
2608
02:26:37,280 --> 02:26:41,160
offering a truce, with pardons
for the rebels, and rewards
2609
02:26:41,320 --> 02:26:44,660
for any Americans who
helped restore peace.
2610
02:26:44,830 --> 02:26:47,950
Franklin and a small
delegation met with Howe
2611
02:26:48,120 --> 02:26:51,670
on Staten Island on September 11.
2612
02:26:51,830 --> 02:26:55,040
Howe now suggested that the
colonies might also have
2613
02:26:55,210 --> 02:26:58,630
control of their own
legislatures and taxes,
2614
02:26:58,800 --> 02:27:01,760
yet still be part of the empire.
2615
02:27:01,930 --> 02:27:04,220
The Americans said it was too late.
2616
02:27:04,390 --> 02:27:07,220
He should ask the king for
permission to negotiate
2617
02:27:07,390 --> 02:27:09,640
with an independent nation.
2618
02:27:09,810 --> 02:27:12,520
Howe urged them to reconsider.
2619
02:27:12,690 --> 02:27:16,320
"When an American falls,
England feels it," he said.
2620
02:27:16,480 --> 02:27:20,070
And if America were to fall,
he added, "I should feel
2621
02:27:20,240 --> 02:27:23,110
and lament it like
the loss of a brother."
2622
02:27:23,280 --> 02:27:26,790
"We will do our utmost,"
Franklin responded, "to save
2623
02:27:26,950 --> 02:27:30,500
your Lordship
that mortification."
2624
02:27:30,660 --> 02:27:34,250
"They met, they talked,
they parted," Howe's secretary
2625
02:27:34,420 --> 02:27:36,170
wrote of the 3-hour meeting.
2626
02:27:36,340 --> 02:27:40,170
"And now, nothing remains
but to fight it out."
2627
02:27:41,880 --> 02:27:45,050
Two weeks after the meeting
with Lord Howe, Congress
2628
02:27:45,220 --> 02:27:49,640
secretly chose Franklin to be
one of 3 envoys to France
2629
02:27:49,810 --> 02:27:54,310
to seek King Louis XVI's help
in the fight with England.
2630
02:27:54,480 --> 02:27:55,940
He is the perfect choice.
2631
02:27:56,110 --> 02:27:58,230
First of all, there's no other
person who knows
2632
02:27:58,400 --> 02:28:01,320
the, uh, the European world
as Franklin does.
2633
02:28:01,490 --> 02:28:04,530
And he is the most
celebrated American in Europe.
2634
02:28:04,700 --> 02:28:07,030
And he's a natural for the job.
2635
02:28:07,200 --> 02:28:11,080
On October 27,
he was on board the "Reprisal,"
2636
02:28:11,250 --> 02:28:15,040
a swift but cramped
American 2-masted brig.
2637
02:28:15,210 --> 02:28:19,750
With him were two grandsons--
16-year-old Temple
2638
02:28:19,920 --> 02:28:23,340
and Sally's 7-year-old son Benny.
2639
02:28:23,510 --> 02:28:25,930
14 years earlier,
when France and Britain
2640
02:28:26,090 --> 02:28:28,970
were at war, Franklin had
sailed from England
2641
02:28:29,140 --> 02:28:31,930
under the protection
of the Royal Navy.
2642
02:28:32,100 --> 02:28:36,900
Now it was imperative he avoid
British ships at all costs.
2643
02:28:40,780 --> 02:28:43,610
The rough voyage
across the wintry Atlantic
2644
02:28:43,780 --> 02:28:45,820
"almost demolished me," he wrote.
2645
02:28:45,990 --> 02:28:49,990
The diet on board of salted
beef had ruined his digestion
2646
02:28:50,160 --> 02:28:54,290
and caused boils, scabs,
and rashes all over his body,
2647
02:28:54,460 --> 02:28:56,420
including his scalp.
2648
02:28:56,580 --> 02:29:00,840
They reached the west coast
of France in early December.
2649
02:29:01,000 --> 02:29:05,220
A fisherman agreed to row him
and his two grandsons to shore
2650
02:29:05,380 --> 02:29:10,890
at the hamlet of Auray in
Brittany, 300 miles from Paris.
2651
02:29:11,060 --> 02:29:15,180
Franklin had intended to keep
a low profile, but news of his
2652
02:29:15,350 --> 02:29:18,270
arrival spread quickly
and reached the capital
2653
02:29:18,440 --> 02:29:20,480
long before he did.
2654
02:29:20,650 --> 02:29:24,860
The real purpose of his visit,
securing a formal alliance
2655
02:29:25,030 --> 02:29:28,240
with France, remained secret.
2656
02:29:28,410 --> 02:29:33,910
But everywhere he went,
he was a sensation.
2657
02:29:34,080 --> 02:29:38,750
In 1776, people in France had never
2658
02:29:38,920 --> 02:29:43,090
heard of any American
except for Benjamin Franklin.
2659
02:29:43,250 --> 02:29:45,010
From the French point of view,
2660
02:29:45,170 --> 02:29:47,590
they have sent the
greatest celebrity on Earth,
2661
02:29:47,760 --> 02:29:49,840
this side of Voltaire, to Paris.
2662
02:29:50,010 --> 02:29:53,430
He is like Newton or
Galileo reincarnated.
2663
02:29:53,600 --> 02:29:56,810
The city of Nantes
celebrated the renowned
2664
02:29:56,980 --> 02:30:00,650
Docteur Franklin, tamer of
lightning, and crowds
2665
02:30:00,810 --> 02:30:04,110
cheered him on his carriage
ride into Paris.
2666
02:30:04,280 --> 02:30:07,780
They were fascinated by
his soft hat of marten fur,
2667
02:30:07,950 --> 02:30:11,030
which resembled the famous
cap worn by the philosopher
2668
02:30:11,200 --> 02:30:14,040
Rousseau, in contrast
to the powdered wigs
2669
02:30:14,200 --> 02:30:17,160
of the Parisian elite.
2670
02:30:17,330 --> 02:30:21,130
Franklin was wearing it to
keep his head warm and to hide
2671
02:30:21,290 --> 02:30:25,000
the unsightly sores
on his balding head.
2672
02:30:25,170 --> 02:30:28,680
It's such a great costume and prop,
2673
02:30:28,840 --> 02:30:33,510
immediately announcing himself
as a man of science.
2674
02:30:33,680 --> 02:30:36,720
I am the famous Benjamin Franklin--
2675
02:30:36,890 --> 02:30:38,690
the "Prometheus of the Modern Age,"
2676
02:30:38,850 --> 02:30:41,060
don't forget it-- here on business.
2677
02:30:42,650 --> 02:30:45,480
French admirers
hung portraits of him over the
2678
02:30:45,650 --> 02:30:48,030
mantelpieces in their homes.
2679
02:30:48,190 --> 02:30:51,410
Poems were written about
the great American scientist
2680
02:30:51,570 --> 02:30:54,580
and philosopher who had
miraculously arrived
2681
02:30:54,740 --> 02:30:56,700
in their midst.
2682
02:30:56,870 --> 02:30:59,540
A collection of
"Poor Richard's" aphorisms
2683
02:30:59,710 --> 02:31:01,960
was translated into French as
2684
02:31:02,130 --> 02:31:04,670
"La Science du
Bonhomme Richard."
2685
02:31:04,840 --> 02:31:07,380
Franklin loved it.
2686
02:31:07,550 --> 02:31:08,880
Dear Sally,
2687
02:31:09,050 --> 02:31:10,760
The clay medallion of me
2688
02:31:10,930 --> 02:31:13,590
was the first of
the kind made in France
2689
02:31:13,760 --> 02:31:17,430
and the numbers sold are incredible.
2690
02:31:17,600 --> 02:31:21,890
These, with the pictures,
busts, and prints, of which
2691
02:31:22,060 --> 02:31:25,770
copies upon copies are spread
everywhere, have made your
2692
02:31:25,940 --> 02:31:30,780
father's face as well known
as that of the moon.
2693
02:31:30,950 --> 02:31:33,490
The King, Louis XVI, became sort of
2694
02:31:33,660 --> 02:31:36,780
slightly annoyed and amused
by the Cult of Franklin.
2695
02:31:36,950 --> 02:31:39,750
He had a chamber pot with
an image of Franklin put
2696
02:31:39,910 --> 02:31:42,670
on the inside of it just
as a way of saying,
2697
02:31:42,830 --> 02:31:44,790
"Enough, already."
2698
02:31:44,960 --> 02:31:50,090
Franklin had serious
and vital business to attend to.
2699
02:31:50,260 --> 02:31:53,720
Without France's money,
supplies, and, ideally,
2700
02:31:53,890 --> 02:31:58,350
military assistance, America's
fight for independence might
2701
02:31:58,510 --> 02:32:01,560
be lost and lost quickly.
2702
02:32:01,730 --> 02:32:03,940
There's no question that
someone is going to have to
2703
02:32:04,100 --> 02:32:06,770
step in to underwrite this Revolution.
2704
02:32:06,940 --> 02:32:09,730
There is no gunpowder in the
Colonies; there is no materiel;
2705
02:32:09,900 --> 02:32:11,990
there are very few guns;
there are no uniforms.
2706
02:32:12,150 --> 02:32:14,660
There's very little
common purpose, in fact.
2707
02:32:14,820 --> 02:32:19,200
The obvious candidate, um,
for that alliance is France.
2708
02:32:19,370 --> 02:32:22,830
Franklin had a terribly
difficult assignment.
2709
02:32:23,000 --> 02:32:28,130
He had to convince one
monarch to help the Americans
2710
02:32:28,290 --> 02:32:31,170
overthrow another monarch.
2711
02:32:31,340 --> 02:32:34,050
The French had reasons
to oppose Britain.
2712
02:32:34,220 --> 02:32:36,090
They wanted to weaken Britain.
2713
02:32:36,260 --> 02:32:40,350
But, King Louis XVI didn't
want to underwrite this
2714
02:32:40,520 --> 02:32:42,730
overthrow of monarchies.
2715
02:32:42,890 --> 02:32:45,980
The French people might get ideas.
2716
02:32:46,150 --> 02:32:49,690
Persuading France's
king and his ministers to
2717
02:32:49,860 --> 02:32:53,440
provide any assistance at
all would require delicacy
2718
02:32:53,610 --> 02:32:58,240
and discretion, persistence
and shrewd calculation.
2719
02:32:58,410 --> 02:33:01,330
Franklin had taken on the
most momentous chess match
2720
02:33:01,490 --> 02:33:03,290
of his life.
2721
02:33:03,450 --> 02:33:08,040
And playing it would require
him, on his own, to improvise
2722
02:33:08,210 --> 02:33:11,550
his strategy again and again.
2723
02:33:11,710 --> 02:33:14,300
Franklin understood
they're not committed
2724
02:33:14,470 --> 02:33:17,470
to our people's
republican revolution here.
2725
02:33:17,640 --> 02:33:19,850
They want to get back at the British.
2726
02:33:20,010 --> 02:33:23,470
They side with the
colonials and allow us each
2727
02:33:23,640 --> 02:33:26,600
to spend ourselves down
in this protracted fight,
2728
02:33:26,770 --> 02:33:30,360
that this improves France's
position in the European
2729
02:33:30,520 --> 02:33:33,230
balance of power and maybe
gives it a chance to reassert
2730
02:33:33,400 --> 02:33:35,530
itself a little bit in the New World.
2731
02:33:35,700 --> 02:33:38,240
And, so, everyone's operating
out of self-interest.
2732
02:33:38,410 --> 02:33:41,620
But, Franklin, and Franklin
alone, knows how to negotiate
2733
02:33:41,780 --> 02:33:48,330
this slowly, with suavity
and humor and patience.
2734
02:33:48,500 --> 02:33:52,130
He met frequently
and always surreptitiously
2735
02:33:52,300 --> 02:33:55,760
with the Comte de Vergennes,
France's foreign minister,
2736
02:33:55,920 --> 02:33:59,840
who found Franklin tactful,
smart, and unassuming.
2737
02:34:00,010 --> 02:34:04,220
Vergennes arranged for several
million livres, French pounds,
2738
02:34:04,390 --> 02:34:06,600
to be secretly advanced
for the Americans
2739
02:34:06,770 --> 02:34:08,560
to purchase supplies.
2740
02:34:08,730 --> 02:34:12,270
But he would go no further,
unless the Patriots' military
2741
02:34:12,440 --> 02:34:14,900
situation improved.
2742
02:34:16,530 --> 02:34:20,070
At the moment,
that didn't appear likely.
2743
02:34:20,240 --> 02:34:24,080
George Washington's army had
been chased out of Manhattan,
2744
02:34:24,240 --> 02:34:27,540
across New Jersey
and into Pennsylvania.
2745
02:34:27,710 --> 02:34:31,080
A large British force
moving south from Canada
2746
02:34:31,250 --> 02:34:33,420
had captured Fort Ticonderoga.
2747
02:34:33,590 --> 02:34:35,550
Its general, John Burgoyne,
2748
02:34:35,710 --> 02:34:40,260
boasted that he would be home
in England by Christmas.
2749
02:34:40,430 --> 02:34:43,930
British soldiers also
threatened Philadelphia.
2750
02:34:44,100 --> 02:34:48,560
Congress abandoned the city,
as did many of its residents.
2751
02:34:48,730 --> 02:34:52,190
Only a few days earlier,
Franklin's daughter, Sally,
2752
02:34:52,360 --> 02:34:54,610
had given birth to a baby girl.
2753
02:34:54,770 --> 02:34:58,650
Now the whole family, including
Franklin's sister Jane,
2754
02:34:58,820 --> 02:35:00,990
were refugees.
2755
02:35:01,160 --> 02:35:05,370
After an American defeat at
Brandywine Creek, Philadelphia
2756
02:35:05,530 --> 02:35:07,700
fell without a fight.
2757
02:35:07,870 --> 02:35:11,670
A British officer commandeered
Franklin's home and stole his
2758
02:35:11,830 --> 02:35:14,920
books and papers, musical instruments,
2759
02:35:15,090 --> 02:35:17,510
and scientific equipment.
2760
02:35:17,670 --> 02:35:21,260
In France, Franklin strove
to appear upbeat,
2761
02:35:21,430 --> 02:35:23,510
despite the setbacks.
2762
02:35:23,680 --> 02:35:26,100
The Americans could
hold out for 30 years,
2763
02:35:26,260 --> 02:35:28,310
he bravely declared.
2764
02:35:28,470 --> 02:35:32,060
Franklin is, first and
foremost, a man of the press.
2765
02:35:32,230 --> 02:35:34,480
And he plays that role to the hilt
2766
02:35:34,650 --> 02:35:35,930
in those first months in France.
2767
02:35:36,070 --> 02:35:37,400
He is essentially engaged
2768
02:35:37,570 --> 02:35:40,240
in a thorough disinformation campaign.
2769
02:35:40,400 --> 02:35:42,990
Washington's men are almost
without uniforms.
2770
02:35:43,160 --> 02:35:45,240
There's a wonderful quote
in which someone says,
2771
02:35:45,410 --> 02:35:46,930
"They could have scared
the British away
2772
02:35:46,950 --> 02:35:49,410
by their nakedness."
They have nothing.
2773
02:35:49,580 --> 02:35:51,910
And Washington, during
this time, is in despair.
2774
02:35:52,080 --> 02:35:54,380
While Washington is struggling
all over, Franklin is
2775
02:35:54,540 --> 02:35:57,130
in France saying, "It's
victory after victory."
2776
02:35:57,300 --> 02:36:00,880
Um..."He, like, he has
an army of 80,000," um...
2777
02:36:01,050 --> 02:36:03,150
"Yes, the--the British may
take Philadelphia, but they
2778
02:36:03,180 --> 02:36:05,140
"will be trapped there,
the river will freeze,
2779
02:36:05,300 --> 02:36:06,930
"they won't be able to reach
their ships.
2780
02:36:07,100 --> 02:36:08,470
Washington will
surround them."
2781
02:36:08,640 --> 02:36:10,350
He's utterly making this up.
2782
02:36:10,520 --> 02:36:12,940
He's promoting a war that
isn't really happening.
2783
02:36:13,100 --> 02:36:17,150
And he doesn't, for a moment,
in public, drop that mask.
2784
02:36:18,730 --> 02:36:21,740
Benjamin Franklin also
realizes he has to win
2785
02:36:21,900 --> 02:36:24,610
the hearts and minds of
the French people.
2786
02:36:24,780 --> 02:36:28,240
He knows that within the
French population, there's
2787
02:36:28,410 --> 02:36:32,000
welling up this sentiment
for liberty and fraternity
2788
02:36:32,160 --> 02:36:33,960
and equality.
2789
02:36:34,120 --> 02:36:39,090
And he taps into that by being
a public diplomat, not just
2790
02:36:39,250 --> 02:36:41,550
a private diplomat.
2791
02:36:41,710 --> 02:36:45,380
Franklin moved from
a hotel in crowded Paris to
2792
02:36:45,550 --> 02:36:48,350
the village of Passy,
2 miles west, where
2793
02:36:48,510 --> 02:36:51,270
a wealthy merchant offered
the use of a wing
2794
02:36:51,430 --> 02:36:54,390
of his sprawling estate rent-free.
2795
02:36:54,560 --> 02:36:58,440
Soon, a lightning rod
sprouted from its roof.
2796
02:36:58,610 --> 02:37:01,730
Franklin sent his grandson
Benny to a boarding school
2797
02:37:01,900 --> 02:37:04,780
in Switzerland and assigned
Temple to help with
2798
02:37:04,950 --> 02:37:09,120
the diplomatic paperwork--
there were mountains of it--
2799
02:37:09,280 --> 02:37:11,370
and the steady stream of visitors
2800
02:37:11,540 --> 02:37:14,460
who began arriving once
they knew the famous
2801
02:37:14,620 --> 02:37:17,670
Doctor Franklin was living there.
2802
02:37:17,830 --> 02:37:19,670
You can have no Conception
2803
02:37:19,840 --> 02:37:21,420
how I am harass'd.
2804
02:37:21,590 --> 02:37:25,010
The Noise of Every Coach
now that enters my Court
2805
02:37:25,170 --> 02:37:27,590
terrifies me.
2806
02:37:27,760 --> 02:37:29,550
Besides his constant efforts
2807
02:37:29,720 --> 02:37:33,140
to get more money from the
French, much of Franklin's
2808
02:37:33,310 --> 02:37:36,850
time was consumed handling
requests from individual
2809
02:37:37,020 --> 02:37:43,190
Europeans eager to fight
the hated English in America.
2810
02:37:43,360 --> 02:37:45,820
Frequently if a Man has
2811
02:37:45,990 --> 02:37:49,990
no useful Talents, is good
for nothing, and burdensome
2812
02:37:50,160 --> 02:37:51,780
to his Relations,
2813
02:37:51,950 --> 02:37:55,450
they are glad to get rid of
him by sending him to
2814
02:37:55,620 --> 02:37:58,330
the other End of the World.
2815
02:37:58,500 --> 02:38:01,590
They came from every corner of Europe.
2816
02:38:01,750 --> 02:38:05,420
All of them, regardless of
their talents and experience,
2817
02:38:05,590 --> 02:38:09,300
expected to be
commissioned as officers.
2818
02:38:09,470 --> 02:38:13,470
General Washington finally
begged Franklin not to send
2819
02:38:13,640 --> 02:38:15,770
anyone else.
2820
02:38:15,930 --> 02:38:19,150
But 3 of the men Franklin
recommended would
2821
02:38:19,310 --> 02:38:22,690
prove invaluable to the Revolution:
2822
02:38:22,860 --> 02:38:25,650
Count Casimir Pulaski of Poland
2823
02:38:25,820 --> 02:38:28,110
would organize the American cavalry
2824
02:38:28,280 --> 02:38:31,530
and serve with bravery
and distinction before being
2825
02:38:31,700 --> 02:38:35,700
killed in action at Savannah, Georgia.
2826
02:38:35,870 --> 02:38:39,870
Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von
Steuben would develop a system
2827
02:38:40,040 --> 02:38:42,840
of military discipline
and drilling and impressed
2828
02:38:43,000 --> 02:38:46,260
the Continental soldiers with
his ability to swear
2829
02:38:46,420 --> 02:38:48,760
in multiple languages.
2830
02:38:48,920 --> 02:38:52,680
And the Marquis de Lafayette
of France, whose father had
2831
02:38:52,850 --> 02:38:56,390
been killed by the British in
the Seven Years' War, believed
2832
02:38:56,560 --> 02:39:00,640
that "To injure England is
to serve my country."
2833
02:39:00,810 --> 02:39:04,020
Only 19 years old when
he went to America, he would
2834
02:39:04,190 --> 02:39:07,740
become a surrogate son to
General Washington and one
2835
02:39:07,900 --> 02:39:11,530
of the most ardent champions
of the Revolution.
2836
02:39:15,740 --> 02:39:19,580
Early into his diplomatic
mission, Franklin was warned,
2837
02:39:19,750 --> 02:39:22,830
"You are surrounded with
spies who watch your every
2838
02:39:23,000 --> 02:39:27,420
movement, who you Visit
and by whom you are visited."
2839
02:39:27,590 --> 02:39:31,470
He said he didn't care.
2840
02:39:31,630 --> 02:39:33,010
As it is impossible
2841
02:39:33,180 --> 02:39:35,470
to prevent being watched by Spies,
2842
02:39:35,640 --> 02:39:38,180
I have long observed one Rule:
2843
02:39:38,350 --> 02:39:41,270
to be concerned in no affairs
that I should blush to have
2844
02:39:41,440 --> 02:39:43,020
made public.
2845
02:39:43,190 --> 02:39:45,860
If I was sure, therefore,
that my valet
2846
02:39:46,020 --> 02:39:50,740
was a spy, as probably he is,
I think I should probably not
2847
02:39:50,900 --> 02:39:55,200
discharge him for that, if in
other respects I liked him.
2848
02:39:56,660 --> 02:39:59,200
The chief spy in Franklin's midst
2849
02:39:59,370 --> 02:40:01,080
was not his valet.
2850
02:40:01,250 --> 02:40:05,130
It was Edward Bancroft,
a Massachusetts-born scientist
2851
02:40:05,290 --> 02:40:08,050
now serving as
the secretary to the American
2852
02:40:08,210 --> 02:40:12,010
delegation in France,
with access to every document
2853
02:40:12,170 --> 02:40:14,130
and letter.
2854
02:40:14,300 --> 02:40:18,060
Every week, Bancroft wrote
seemingly personal letters
2855
02:40:18,220 --> 02:40:21,890
and then, in invisible ink,
provided his clandestine
2856
02:40:22,060 --> 02:40:24,730
reports in the margins.
2857
02:40:24,900 --> 02:40:28,400
Each Tuesday night, he dropped
them into the hollow of a tree
2858
02:40:28,570 --> 02:40:31,190
in the Tuileries Garden,
where they were retrieved
2859
02:40:31,360 --> 02:40:35,160
and taken to
the British embassy in Paris.
2860
02:40:35,320 --> 02:40:38,780
For his work as a secret
agent, England paid him
2861
02:40:38,950 --> 02:40:42,750
£1,000 a year, the same
amount the Americans were
2862
02:40:42,910 --> 02:40:45,960
giving him to be their secretary.
2863
02:40:46,130 --> 02:40:48,710
His double-dealing would
not come to light
2864
02:40:48,880 --> 02:40:50,960
for a hundred years.
2865
02:40:52,550 --> 02:40:54,010
Franklin is encircled
2866
02:40:54,170 --> 02:40:57,720
by two sets of
extremely effective spies--
2867
02:40:57,890 --> 02:40:59,640
a set of French spies,
who are, themselves,
2868
02:40:59,810 --> 02:41:02,140
surrounded by a set of British spies.
2869
02:41:02,310 --> 02:41:05,810
And every piece of paper that,
essentially, moves off
2870
02:41:05,980 --> 02:41:07,940
of Franklin's desk will
end up in the wrong place,
2871
02:41:08,110 --> 02:41:10,150
will end up either at
Versailles or in London,
2872
02:41:10,320 --> 02:41:12,900
but very rarely in the colonies.
2873
02:41:13,070 --> 02:41:16,160
Franklin was no fool.
2874
02:41:16,320 --> 02:41:19,030
He knew what was happening.
2875
02:41:19,200 --> 02:41:23,540
He knew the spying that was
going on was to America's
2876
02:41:23,700 --> 02:41:28,750
advantage because the Brits
got the sense that America was
2877
02:41:28,920 --> 02:41:31,460
really quite close to France.
2878
02:41:31,630 --> 02:41:33,130
And, uh, Franklin did nothing.
2879
02:41:33,300 --> 02:41:37,050
I mean, he just
sat there and let it happen.
2880
02:41:45,140 --> 02:41:49,360
On December 4, 1777,
a messenger rode into
2881
02:41:49,520 --> 02:41:53,780
Franklin's courtyard at
Passy with startling news.
2882
02:41:55,400 --> 02:41:58,660
After two battles near
Saratoga, New York,
2883
02:41:58,820 --> 02:42:01,410
British General Burgoyne
had found himself
2884
02:42:01,580 --> 02:42:04,700
surrounded by a larger American force,
2885
02:42:04,870 --> 02:42:08,750
and on October 17,
he surrendered, along with
2886
02:42:08,920 --> 02:42:13,710
his entire army, nearly 6,000 troops.
2887
02:42:13,880 --> 02:42:15,630
Saratoga changes everything.
2888
02:42:15,800 --> 02:42:18,010
This is the moment Franklin
has been waiting for.
2889
02:42:18,180 --> 02:42:21,300
There is no reason for
the French to enter into any
2890
02:42:21,470 --> 02:42:23,760
serious alliance until the
Americans have proved that
2891
02:42:23,930 --> 02:42:26,640
they can actually win this war,
or at least put up a fight.
2892
02:42:26,810 --> 02:42:29,270
So, this is the news that he
needs to take to Vergennes,
2893
02:42:29,440 --> 02:42:31,200
the French foreign minister,
and to the Court
2894
02:42:31,360 --> 02:42:33,820
to be able to say, "OK, now,
will you take us seriously?
2895
02:42:33,980 --> 02:42:36,440
Now, will you officially--"
because until this point,
2896
02:42:36,610 --> 02:42:38,780
the help has been unofficial--
"Will you officially
2897
02:42:38,950 --> 02:42:40,860
underwrite our Revolution?"
2898
02:42:41,030 --> 02:42:44,280
Franklin sprang
into action, writing reports
2899
02:42:44,450 --> 02:42:46,500
of the American victory that
would be spread
2900
02:42:46,660 --> 02:42:48,370
throughout Paris,
2901
02:42:48,540 --> 02:42:52,670
praising valiant French officers
now serving in America,
2902
02:42:52,840 --> 02:42:56,510
like Lafayette, and
leading the British ambassador
2903
02:42:56,670 --> 02:43:01,760
to realize he had completely
underestimated Franklin.
2904
02:43:01,930 --> 02:43:03,570
MAN AS AMBASSADOR LORD STORMONT:
They play us off
2905
02:43:03,600 --> 02:43:05,350
against one another.
2906
02:43:05,510 --> 02:43:08,230
Franklin's natural subtlety
gives him a great advantage
2907
02:43:08,390 --> 02:43:10,060
in such a game.
2908
02:43:10,230 --> 02:43:13,860
It is easy to see that in
such a situation peace between
2909
02:43:14,020 --> 02:43:17,650
England and the House of
Bourbon hangs by the slightest
2910
02:43:17,820 --> 02:43:19,740
of all threads.
2911
02:43:23,200 --> 02:43:27,120
On February 6, 1778, Franklin
2912
02:43:27,290 --> 02:43:31,460
met with Vergennes
and signed 2 treaties.
2913
02:43:31,620 --> 02:43:35,750
One, a treaty of friendship
and commerce, meant French aid
2914
02:43:35,920 --> 02:43:38,960
would flow in greater
quantities and no longer
2915
02:43:39,130 --> 02:43:40,630
in secret.
2916
02:43:40,800 --> 02:43:44,090
The other, the most
important, was a treaty
2917
02:43:44,260 --> 02:43:46,100
of military alliance.
2918
02:43:46,260 --> 02:43:51,390
France had officially joined
the American Revolution.
2919
02:43:51,560 --> 02:43:54,610
When they signed the
treaty, he wears this old,
2920
02:43:54,770 --> 02:43:56,770
frayed suit.
2921
02:43:56,940 --> 02:44:00,650
And it's the one he had worn
in the Cockpit, when he had
2922
02:44:00,820 --> 02:44:05,200
been berated by the British
lords for what he was doing.
2923
02:44:05,370 --> 02:44:08,160
And he was asked why
he wore that coat.
2924
02:44:08,330 --> 02:44:11,460
And he said, "To give it
a little revenge."
2925
02:44:11,620 --> 02:44:16,170
A month later, he was
presented to King Louis XVI
2926
02:44:16,340 --> 02:44:18,500
at Versailles.
2927
02:44:18,670 --> 02:44:20,840
And he meets the king,
who congratulates him
2928
02:44:21,010 --> 02:44:22,530
and says, "I hope this is for the good
2929
02:44:22,590 --> 02:44:24,380
of both countries."
2930
02:44:24,550 --> 02:44:27,260
And Franklin utters a line,
which is almost astonishing
2931
02:44:27,430 --> 02:44:29,600
in its treachery, which is,
basically, he--he says to
2932
02:44:29,770 --> 02:44:33,600
the king, um, "If all rulers
ruled with your benevolence,
2933
02:44:33,770 --> 02:44:36,190
republics would
never be formed."
2934
02:44:36,360 --> 02:44:39,940
Franklin,
a French statesman proclaimed,
2935
02:44:40,110 --> 02:44:43,740
has "seized the lightning
from the heavens and now
2936
02:44:43,900 --> 02:44:46,780
the scepter from the tyrants."
2937
02:44:57,710 --> 02:44:59,250
This is the civilest nation
2938
02:44:59,420 --> 02:45:01,050
upon Earth.
2939
02:45:01,210 --> 02:45:02,920
Your first Acquaintances endeavor
2940
02:45:03,090 --> 02:45:06,720
to find out what you like,
and they tell others.
2941
02:45:06,890 --> 02:45:12,140
Somebody, it seems, gave it
out that I lov'd Ladies.
2942
02:45:12,310 --> 02:45:15,940
So everybody presented me their Ladies
2943
02:45:16,100 --> 02:45:21,400
or the Ladies presented
themselves to be embraced,
2944
02:45:21,570 --> 02:45:23,690
that is to have their Necks kissed.
2945
02:45:23,860 --> 02:45:28,490
For as to kissing of Lips or
Cheeks, it is not the Mode here;
2946
02:45:28,660 --> 02:45:32,330
the first, is reckoned rude,
and the other may
2947
02:45:32,490 --> 02:45:34,080
rub off the Paint.
2948
02:45:34,250 --> 02:45:37,500
'Tis a delightful People to live with.
2949
02:45:38,830 --> 02:45:40,880
All the while he was negotiating
2950
02:45:41,040 --> 02:45:44,170
and maneuvering for the
alliance with France, Franklin
2951
02:45:44,340 --> 02:45:46,970
immersed himself in
the intellectual circles
2952
02:45:47,130 --> 02:45:50,050
and social salons of Paris.
2953
02:45:50,220 --> 02:45:56,060
He considered it part of his
diplomacy and very enjoyable.
2954
02:45:56,230 --> 02:46:00,610
He had loved London,
but he adored Paris.
2955
02:46:00,770 --> 02:46:03,530
In France, you can flirt at
a very high level
2956
02:46:03,690 --> 02:46:07,070
of sophistication and it's
all a beautiful game
2957
02:46:07,240 --> 02:46:08,780
of sexual ballet.
2958
02:46:08,950 --> 02:46:11,160
And it has nothing to do
with carnality, really.
2959
02:46:11,330 --> 02:46:14,620
It's more about, nuance
and just the right touch
2960
02:46:14,790 --> 02:46:16,790
of flirtation.
2961
02:46:16,960 --> 02:46:21,080
he found personal happiness in
France that he had never found
2962
02:46:21,250 --> 02:46:23,090
in the course of his life.
2963
02:46:23,250 --> 02:46:26,420
I don't think you can
find anyone, anyone except his
2964
02:46:26,590 --> 02:46:28,930
colleagues, who fails to
fall under the charms
2965
02:46:29,090 --> 02:46:30,720
of Benjamin Franklin.
2966
02:46:32,140 --> 02:46:35,390
Franklin is everywhere adored
and everywhere cossetted
2967
02:46:35,560 --> 02:46:39,140
in Paris, by no one more so,
than by the women of France.
2968
02:46:39,310 --> 02:46:42,440
Every word that drops from his
lips, they think is a gem.
2969
02:46:42,610 --> 02:46:45,150
And Franklin just adores
the fact that these women are
2970
02:46:45,320 --> 02:46:48,200
essentially hanging
about him at all times.
2971
02:46:48,360 --> 02:46:50,860
Franklin became particularly enchanted
2972
02:46:51,030 --> 02:46:55,910
with a neighbor of his in Passy,
Madame Brillon de Jouy.
2973
02:46:56,080 --> 02:47:00,210
She was beautiful and well-
educated and, at age 33,
2974
02:47:00,370 --> 02:47:04,090
a year younger than
Franklin's daughter Sally.
2975
02:47:04,250 --> 02:47:07,970
He went to her home twice
a week for tea and music;
2976
02:47:08,130 --> 02:47:12,260
composed essays in her honor;
and once played a late-night
2977
02:47:12,430 --> 02:47:15,010
game of chess while
she watched from her
2978
02:47:15,180 --> 02:47:17,930
covered bathtub.
2979
02:47:18,100 --> 02:47:20,890
I think that Franklin's relationships
2980
02:47:21,060 --> 02:47:25,980
with women were more in the mind
than in the flesh.
2981
02:47:26,150 --> 02:47:29,820
He loved being flirtatious,
loved being around them,
2982
02:47:29,990 --> 02:47:33,570
but I don't think he pursued
a truly passionate romance
2983
02:47:33,740 --> 02:47:35,990
with any of them.
2984
02:47:36,160 --> 02:47:38,080
We'll never know what happened.
2985
02:47:38,250 --> 02:47:40,960
I think Madame Brillon pointed
out to Franklin that she was
2986
02:47:41,120 --> 02:47:44,790
a married woman, that any kind
of hanky-panky was simply
2987
02:47:44,960 --> 02:47:46,750
out of the question.
2988
02:47:46,920 --> 02:47:50,380
I believe Franklin must
have been disappointed,
2989
02:47:50,550 --> 02:47:54,800
but he took it very gracefully
and from that point forward,
2990
02:47:54,970 --> 02:47:59,430
they agreed that he would
be "Papa" and she would be
2991
02:47:59,600 --> 02:48:01,180
his daughter.
2992
02:48:03,060 --> 02:48:05,900
Franklin's attentions
turned to another woman
2993
02:48:06,060 --> 02:48:08,360
a little closer to his own age.
2994
02:48:08,530 --> 02:48:13,240
Anne-Catherine Helvétius was
nearly 60, a widow who lived
2995
02:48:13,410 --> 02:48:15,870
on a grand estate near Passy.
2996
02:48:16,030 --> 02:48:19,540
Eccentric and free-spirited,
she hosted one of the most
2997
02:48:19,700 --> 02:48:23,790
renowned salons in France,
attended by intellectuals
2998
02:48:23,960 --> 02:48:25,630
and artists.
2999
02:48:25,790 --> 02:48:29,550
Franklin became a regular
visitor, sometimes playing his
3000
02:48:29,710 --> 02:48:32,760
glass armonica while people
sang his favorite
3001
02:48:32,920 --> 02:48:36,430
Scottish ballads in French.
3002
02:48:36,600 --> 02:48:40,060
She's a philosopher's
widow and very Bohemian.
3003
02:48:40,220 --> 02:48:43,690
She had this fleet of
cats whom she would dress
3004
02:48:43,850 --> 02:48:46,860
in brocades and silks, and who
would--who would, basically,
3005
02:48:47,020 --> 02:48:49,440
wander around her house and
eat their meals off china.
3006
02:48:49,610 --> 02:48:53,820
Um, and into that menagerie,
um, walks Benjamin Franklin,
3007
02:48:53,990 --> 02:48:55,780
who's immediately smitten.
3008
02:48:55,950 --> 02:48:58,030
If this lady is pleased to spend
3009
02:48:58,200 --> 02:49:00,490
her days with Monsieur Franklin,
3010
02:49:00,660 --> 02:49:06,370
he would be just as pleased
to spend his nights with her.
3011
02:49:06,540 --> 02:49:09,630
She declined,
but never discouraged him
3012
02:49:09,800 --> 02:49:12,210
from showering her with affection.
3013
02:49:12,380 --> 02:49:14,220
There is a moment there
where he essentially
3014
02:49:14,380 --> 02:49:17,800
says to her, "I would stay in
France, if you would have me."
3015
02:49:17,970 --> 02:49:19,640
And she's not interested.
3016
02:49:19,810 --> 02:49:22,310
But I would say that that
was probably the most serious
3017
02:49:22,470 --> 02:49:25,850
of the relationships with--
with any--with the French women.
3018
02:49:26,020 --> 02:49:28,730
Meanwhile,
Franklin's social calendar was
3019
02:49:28,900 --> 02:49:33,690
always filled with lunches,
teas, and lavish dinners.
3020
02:49:33,860 --> 02:49:37,240
He didn't speak or
understand French all that well.
3021
02:49:37,410 --> 02:49:39,570
He wanted to be able to see
the meal in front of him
3022
02:49:39,740 --> 02:49:42,180
at a dinner party, but, also, at
the same time, he needed to see
3023
02:49:42,200 --> 02:49:45,160
the lips of the people speaking
to him across the table.
3024
02:49:45,330 --> 02:49:47,750
So, he became frustrated
that his glasses couldn't do
3025
02:49:47,920 --> 02:49:49,380
both things.
3026
02:49:49,540 --> 02:49:53,210
This is typical Franklin.
He analyzed the problem.
3027
02:49:53,380 --> 02:49:56,380
He sawed his existing glasses
in half, and glued them
3028
02:49:56,550 --> 02:49:59,140
together so that one top--
one side did one function,
3029
02:49:59,300 --> 02:50:00,640
the other, the other.
3030
02:50:00,800 --> 02:50:03,010
He called his newest invention
3031
02:50:03,180 --> 02:50:06,810
"double-spectacles"-- bifocals.
3032
02:50:06,980 --> 02:50:10,310
And Franklin was always
ready for a game of chess
3033
02:50:10,480 --> 02:50:12,400
with anyone.
3034
02:50:12,570 --> 02:50:16,360
In one case, he was
having this chess match with
3035
02:50:16,530 --> 02:50:20,490
the Duchess of Bourbon and
Franklin professed to forget
3036
02:50:20,660 --> 02:50:23,830
the rules and he captured the king.
3037
02:50:23,990 --> 02:50:26,580
His opponent, the Duchess
says, "Well, in--in France,
3038
02:50:26,750 --> 02:50:28,120
"we don't capture kings.
3039
02:50:28,290 --> 02:50:30,040
That's not the way
the game is played."
3040
02:50:30,210 --> 02:50:32,670
He said, "Ah, but
in America, we do."
3041
02:50:37,170 --> 02:50:39,550
It was late when he breakfasted,
3042
02:50:39,720 --> 02:50:41,550
and as soon as breakfast was over,
3043
02:50:41,720 --> 02:50:44,600
a crowd of carriages came.
3044
02:50:44,760 --> 02:50:47,560
By far the greater part were
women and children, come to
3045
02:50:47,730 --> 02:50:50,810
have the honor to see the
great Franklin, and to have
3046
02:50:50,980 --> 02:50:52,860
the pleasure of telling
stories about his
3047
02:50:53,020 --> 02:50:56,030
simplicity and his bald head.
3048
02:50:56,190 --> 02:50:59,700
He was invited to dine every day
and never declined
3049
02:50:59,860 --> 02:51:04,280
and it was the only thing
in which he was punctual.
3050
02:51:04,450 --> 02:51:06,790
John Adams.
3051
02:51:06,950 --> 02:51:08,790
In April, while the treaties
3052
02:51:08,960 --> 02:51:10,670
were crossing the Atlantic,
3053
02:51:10,830 --> 02:51:13,340
John Adams arrived in Paris.
3054
02:51:13,500 --> 02:51:16,710
He had been sent by Congress
to push more vigorously
3055
02:51:16,880 --> 02:51:20,300
for a French alliance and was
chagrined to learn that
3056
02:51:20,470 --> 02:51:24,510
Franklin had already
secured two treaties.
3057
02:51:24,680 --> 02:51:28,640
Even more aggravating to him
was how Franklin seemed to be
3058
02:51:28,810 --> 02:51:30,560
conducting himself.
3059
02:51:30,730 --> 02:51:34,900
Adams called it "a scene
of continual dissipation."
3060
02:51:35,070 --> 02:51:38,110
He was absolutely horrified.
3061
02:51:38,280 --> 02:51:39,900
Franklin's desk was a mess.
3062
02:51:40,070 --> 02:51:42,240
There were papers all over the place.
3063
02:51:42,410 --> 02:51:45,200
And there was no security.
3064
02:51:45,370 --> 02:51:46,910
Adams said,
"Where's 'Poor Richard?'"
3065
02:51:47,080 --> 02:51:48,540
"Early to bed, early to rise
3066
02:51:48,700 --> 02:51:50,620
"makes a man
healthy, wealthy, and wise.
3067
02:51:50,790 --> 02:51:52,560
"Where's--where's the--
the Franklin that we're all--
3068
02:51:52,580 --> 02:51:54,830
that's famous
for his discipline?"
3069
02:51:55,000 --> 02:51:59,670
It's hard to imagine
2 such talented people, 2 men
3070
02:51:59,840 --> 02:52:02,470
with so much in common,
who are of absolutely
3071
02:52:02,630 --> 02:52:04,470
opposite temperaments.
3072
02:52:04,640 --> 02:52:08,770
One of them is very rigid
and dogmatic and brilliant.
3073
02:52:08,930 --> 02:52:11,390
And the other one is very
flexible and easy-going
3074
02:52:11,560 --> 02:52:12,890
and affable and brilliant.
3075
02:52:13,060 --> 02:52:15,440
And they got on each other's nerves.
3076
02:52:15,610 --> 02:52:20,110
Adams is quite wary of
the French, quite Puritanical.
3077
02:52:20,280 --> 02:52:24,450
Adams learned French by
memorizing funeral orations,
3078
02:52:24,610 --> 02:52:27,580
and Franklin learned French
by writing poetry
3079
02:52:27,740 --> 02:52:29,870
and letters to women.
3080
02:52:30,040 --> 02:52:32,580
Franklin knew how to be
popular and Adams had no idea
3081
02:52:32,750 --> 02:52:34,120
how to be popular.
3082
02:52:34,290 --> 02:52:36,080
In fact, Adams
per-perceived popularity
3083
02:52:36,250 --> 02:52:38,250
as a sign that he
was not doing the right thing.
3084
02:52:38,420 --> 02:52:42,170
Franklin's popularity
drives Adams to distraction.
3085
02:52:42,340 --> 02:52:44,280
He's--he feels he's being--
he feels that Franklin is being
3086
02:52:44,300 --> 02:52:48,930
ineffective and utterly given
over to Old World luxury,
3087
02:52:49,100 --> 02:52:51,120
and, moreover, people are
throwing themselves at him
3088
02:52:51,140 --> 02:52:52,770
left and right.
3089
02:52:52,930 --> 02:52:54,660
He can't stand these
celebrations of what he sees
3090
02:52:54,690 --> 02:52:57,400
as this utterly
irresponsible colleague.
3091
02:52:57,560 --> 02:53:00,610
Shortly after his
arrival, Adams accompanied
3092
02:53:00,780 --> 02:53:04,650
Franklin to the Academy of
Sciences to see Voltaire,
3093
02:53:04,820 --> 02:53:07,320
France's greatest Enlightenment writer
3094
02:53:07,490 --> 02:53:09,200
and philosopher.
3095
02:53:09,370 --> 02:53:14,620
He was 83 and in poor health,
a month away from dying.
3096
02:53:14,790 --> 02:53:18,960
When the crowd demanded that
the two great men embrace,
3097
02:53:19,130 --> 02:53:22,920
Adams had to watch from the sidelines.
3098
02:53:23,090 --> 02:53:26,840
Adams is an impatient
man, he's a brittle man.
3099
02:53:27,010 --> 02:53:29,680
And he doesn't understand
the channels of diplomacy.
3100
02:53:29,850 --> 02:53:31,280
And he certainly doesn't
understand the way
3101
02:53:31,310 --> 02:53:33,100
the French Court works.
3102
02:53:33,270 --> 02:53:36,730
He doesn't see that the secret
to Franklin's success is,
3103
02:53:36,900 --> 02:53:39,940
in large part, his inactivity,
the fact that he is...
3104
02:53:40,110 --> 02:53:42,900
essentially being polite and genteel
3105
02:53:43,070 --> 02:53:45,650
and is expressing gratitude
toward these people who are
3106
02:53:45,820 --> 02:53:47,990
underwriting our-- our Revolution.
3107
02:53:48,160 --> 02:53:50,580
Adams wants to be demanding
things at all times and,
3108
02:53:50,740 --> 02:53:52,260
essentially, makes himself
very unwelcome
3109
02:53:52,290 --> 02:53:53,870
at the French Court.
3110
02:53:54,040 --> 02:53:56,540
It's the "good cop"
and the "bad cop."
3111
02:53:56,710 --> 02:53:58,500
And Franklin is the good cop.
3112
02:53:58,670 --> 02:54:01,090
I think they become
an effective team and instead
3113
02:54:01,250 --> 02:54:04,010
of seeing one as right and the
other as wrong, um, it works
3114
02:54:04,170 --> 02:54:05,800
for the American cause.
3115
02:54:05,970 --> 02:54:07,780
This is probably the greatest
assemblage of diplomatic
3116
02:54:07,800 --> 02:54:10,470
talent in American
history--two people.
3117
02:54:10,640 --> 02:54:14,850
But Adams is perceived by the
French, especially Vergennes,
3118
02:54:15,020 --> 02:54:19,520
the French foreign minister,
as this impossible creature.
3119
02:54:19,690 --> 02:54:23,480
In February 1779,
3120
02:54:23,650 --> 02:54:26,860
Adams learned that,
at Vergennes' insistence,
3121
02:54:27,030 --> 02:54:29,490
Congress had named Benjamin Franklin
3122
02:54:29,660 --> 02:54:33,450
the United States'
sole representative in France.
3123
02:54:35,700 --> 02:54:38,620
John Adams left for home.
3124
02:54:53,140 --> 02:54:56,720
This was a war that was
not a sectional war.
3125
02:54:56,890 --> 02:54:59,810
This was not North versus South.
3126
02:54:59,980 --> 02:55:03,110
Americans were fighting
against Americans.
3127
02:55:03,270 --> 02:55:07,490
This was a Continental war
where every single person had
3128
02:55:07,650 --> 02:55:11,200
to decide which side they were on.
3129
02:55:11,360 --> 02:55:13,200
After being taken to Connecticut as
3130
02:55:13,370 --> 02:55:17,290
a prisoner in 1776,
William Franklin had been
3131
02:55:17,450 --> 02:55:20,670
persuaded to sign a paper
promising not to attempt
3132
02:55:20,830 --> 02:55:24,790
an escape or to work against
the Patriots so he could be
3133
02:55:24,960 --> 02:55:28,380
placed under house arrest
in a comfortable home.
3134
02:55:28,550 --> 02:55:32,050
It didn't last long.
3135
02:55:32,220 --> 02:55:35,100
He began secretly
corresponding with British
3136
02:55:35,260 --> 02:55:38,520
officials in New York,
advising them about Loyalists
3137
02:55:38,680 --> 02:55:41,480
in Connecticut and New Jersey.
3138
02:55:41,640 --> 02:55:44,810
Congress learned what William
was doing and ordered him
3139
02:55:44,980 --> 02:55:48,610
taken to the infamous Litchfield jail.
3140
02:55:48,780 --> 02:55:52,660
He was kept there in solitary
confinement for 8 months,
3141
02:55:52,820 --> 02:55:55,990
with nothing but a chamber
pot and a straw pallet
3142
02:55:56,160 --> 02:55:57,990
on the floor.
3143
02:55:58,160 --> 02:56:02,710
It was, he wrote, as if "I have
been buried alive."
3144
02:56:02,870 --> 02:56:06,710
His wife, Elizabeth, had moved
to British-held New York City,
3145
02:56:06,880 --> 02:56:10,170
where her already
fragile health worsened.
3146
02:56:10,340 --> 02:56:13,470
William appealed to
General Washington, begging
3147
02:56:13,640 --> 02:56:16,390
for permission to see her.
3148
02:56:16,550 --> 02:56:18,810
I am certain that an indulgence
3149
02:56:18,970 --> 02:56:21,060
in my present request will be
3150
02:56:21,230 --> 02:56:23,520
thankfully acknowledged by my father,
3151
02:56:23,690 --> 02:56:26,560
for he has great esteem for my wife,
3152
02:56:26,730 --> 02:56:28,860
and I believe that though we differ
3153
02:56:29,030 --> 02:56:30,740
in our political sentiments,
3154
02:56:30,900 --> 02:56:34,450
yet it has not lessened his
natural affection for me,
3155
02:56:34,610 --> 02:56:38,700
any more than it has mine for him.
3156
02:56:38,870 --> 02:56:40,700
Washington passed his request
3157
02:56:40,870 --> 02:56:44,710
on to Congress, which
refused to intervene.
3158
02:56:44,870 --> 02:56:50,050
The same day,
Elizabeth died at age 43.
3159
02:56:50,210 --> 02:56:53,050
In his jail cell, William's own health
3160
02:56:53,220 --> 02:56:56,430
began deteriorating.
3161
02:56:56,590 --> 02:56:59,760
My Life
has become quite a burden to me.
3162
02:56:59,930 --> 02:57:02,810
In short, I suffer so much
3163
02:57:02,980 --> 02:57:06,060
that I should deem it
a Favour to be immediately
3164
02:57:06,230 --> 02:57:08,860
taken out and shot.
3165
02:57:11,030 --> 02:57:12,650
Franklin's daughter Sally
3166
02:57:12,820 --> 02:57:15,910
and her husband appealed
to Congress to move him.
3167
02:57:16,070 --> 02:57:20,030
So did many of Franklin's
Philadelphia friends.
3168
02:57:20,200 --> 02:57:24,330
In France, Benjamin Franklin
himself did nothing
3169
02:57:24,500 --> 02:57:27,750
on his son's behalf.
3170
02:57:27,920 --> 02:57:32,170
In September of 1778,
Congress approved an exchange
3171
02:57:32,340 --> 02:57:34,010
of prisoners.
3172
02:57:34,170 --> 02:57:38,220
The British released the
Patriot governor of Delaware.
3173
02:57:38,390 --> 02:57:41,260
William Franklin was
taken to New York City.
3174
02:57:41,430 --> 02:57:44,480
It was assumed he
would sail to England.
3175
02:57:44,640 --> 02:57:49,230
Instead, he stayed to help the
British, establishing a network
3176
02:57:49,400 --> 02:57:54,530
of spies that operated behind
American lines and organizing
3177
02:57:54,690 --> 02:57:58,240
guerrilla units that conducted
raids along the coast
3178
02:57:58,410 --> 02:58:01,830
of Connecticut and Rhode
Island and up the Hudson River
3179
02:58:01,990 --> 02:58:04,200
in New York.
3180
02:58:04,370 --> 02:58:07,420
He came out of that
jail time experience
3181
02:58:07,580 --> 02:58:10,920
in the same way that Benjamin
came out of the Cockpit.
3182
02:58:11,090 --> 02:58:14,840
He was angry, and he wanted to
do everything that he could
3183
02:58:15,010 --> 02:58:16,760
to defeat the Patriots.
3184
02:58:16,920 --> 02:58:20,220
He became head of something
called the "Associate Board
3185
02:58:20,390 --> 02:58:23,350
of Loyalists," which was
a terrorist organization,
3186
02:58:23,510 --> 02:58:25,060
pure and simple.
3187
02:58:25,220 --> 02:58:28,350
In New Jersey, Patriots were routinely
3188
02:58:28,520 --> 02:58:30,480
murdering Loyalists.
3189
02:58:30,650 --> 02:58:35,230
In response, William's
group issued a warning.
3190
02:58:35,400 --> 02:58:38,030
A Warning to Rebels:
3191
02:58:38,200 --> 02:58:41,870
If you continue in your murder
and cruelties,
3192
02:58:42,030 --> 02:58:45,450
we Loyalists
do Solemnly Declare that we
3193
02:58:45,620 --> 02:58:49,290
will Hang Six for One,
which shall be Inflicted
3194
02:58:49,460 --> 02:58:52,290
on your Headmen and Leaders.
3195
02:58:56,670 --> 02:58:59,300
Word of the alliance with France had
3196
02:58:59,470 --> 02:59:02,220
prompted the British
to abandon Philadelphia
3197
02:59:02,390 --> 02:59:05,640
and bolster their
defenses in New York.
3198
02:59:05,810 --> 02:59:09,890
Franklin's family moved back
into their Market Street home.
3199
02:59:10,060 --> 02:59:13,860
Sally organized women who went
door-to-door to raise money
3200
02:59:14,020 --> 02:59:16,690
for the Continental Army
and knitted shirts
3201
02:59:16,860 --> 02:59:18,860
for Washington's men.
3202
02:59:19,030 --> 02:59:23,620
But elsewhere in America,
the war was not going well.
3203
02:59:23,780 --> 02:59:27,160
The first joint American-
French military operation,
3204
02:59:27,330 --> 02:59:30,040
in Rhode Island, had failed
to take Newport
3205
02:59:30,210 --> 02:59:31,790
back from the British,
3206
02:59:31,960 --> 02:59:35,460
who opened up their
own offensive in the South.
3207
02:59:35,630 --> 02:59:38,420
They captured Savannah,
Georgia, and later,
3208
02:59:38,590 --> 02:59:43,090
Charleston, South Carolina,
where 5,000 American troops,
3209
02:59:43,260 --> 02:59:48,560
4 ships, and 300 pieces of
artillery were surrendered.
3210
02:59:48,730 --> 02:59:52,600
Soon, a British army, under
General Lord Cornwallis,
3211
02:59:52,770 --> 02:59:55,860
would begin marching toward Virginia.
3212
02:59:56,020 --> 03:00:01,070
"Our present situation makes one
of two things essential to us,"
3213
03:00:01,240 --> 03:00:03,570
George Washington wrote to Franklin.
3214
03:00:03,740 --> 03:00:07,700
"A peace or the most
vigorous aid of our allies,
3215
03:00:07,870 --> 03:00:11,080
particularly in
the article of money."
3216
03:00:11,250 --> 03:00:16,630
Lafayette reported to Franklin
how dire things had become.
3217
03:00:16,790 --> 03:00:20,050
My dear friend, You have no idea
3218
03:00:20,210 --> 03:00:22,720
of the shocking situation
the Army is in.
3219
03:00:22,880 --> 03:00:26,220
We are naked, shockingly
naked, and worse off on that
3220
03:00:26,390 --> 03:00:28,510
respect than we have ever been.
3221
03:00:28,680 --> 03:00:29,970
For God's sake let us have
3222
03:00:30,140 --> 03:00:32,310
fifteen or twenty thousand uniforms
3223
03:00:32,480 --> 03:00:34,980
and let it be done in such
a way as will insure their
3224
03:00:35,150 --> 03:00:38,020
timely departure from France.
3225
03:00:38,190 --> 03:00:40,490
In France, managing the purchase
3226
03:00:40,650 --> 03:00:45,030
and shipment of supplies
proved frustratingly slow.
3227
03:00:45,200 --> 03:00:48,700
Franklin did what he could
to speed things up, but some
3228
03:00:48,870 --> 03:00:52,910
in Congress blamed him for the
delays anyway and discussed
3229
03:00:53,080 --> 03:00:55,500
having him replaced.
3230
03:00:55,670 --> 03:00:58,750
Vergennes was angered at the news.
3231
03:00:58,920 --> 03:01:03,220
He approved an outright gift,
not a loan, the largest
3232
03:01:03,380 --> 03:01:07,140
of the war to the United
States, and wrote Congress
3233
03:01:07,300 --> 03:01:10,310
that it had been granted
specifically because
3234
03:01:10,470 --> 03:01:13,640
of Franklin's persistence.
3235
03:01:13,810 --> 03:01:16,770
Franklin, meanwhile, wrote Congress,
3236
03:01:16,940 --> 03:01:19,730
asking to be replaced.
3237
03:01:19,900 --> 03:01:22,780
I have pass'd my 75th Year.
3238
03:01:22,940 --> 03:01:27,740
I have been engag'd in publick
Affairs, and enjoy'd public
3239
03:01:27,910 --> 03:01:32,080
Confidence in some Shape or
other, during the long Term
3240
03:01:32,250 --> 03:01:36,620
of fifty Years, an Honor
sufficient to satisfy any
3241
03:01:36,790 --> 03:01:41,050
reasonable Ambition, and I
have no other left, but that
3242
03:01:41,210 --> 03:01:45,970
of Repose, which I hope
the Congress will grant me,
3243
03:01:46,130 --> 03:01:50,850
by sending some Person
to supply my Place.
3244
03:01:53,470 --> 03:01:58,440
On November 19, 1781,
a young American merchant
3245
03:01:58,600 --> 03:02:02,070
named Elkanah Watson
paid a visit to Passy
3246
03:02:02,230 --> 03:02:05,490
and found the old man lost in thought.
3247
03:02:05,650 --> 03:02:09,200
Franklin invited him in for
dinner, played a Scottish
3248
03:02:09,370 --> 03:02:13,580
pastoral tune for him on the
armonica, and then they talked
3249
03:02:13,740 --> 03:02:19,330
late into the night about
the state of the war.
3250
03:02:19,500 --> 03:02:22,300
We weighed probabilities, balanc'd
3251
03:02:22,460 --> 03:02:27,090
vicissitudes, dissected the
best Maps; and finally it
3252
03:02:27,260 --> 03:02:30,300
resulted in a disheartening
foreboding,
3253
03:02:30,470 --> 03:02:32,260
that the English Fleet wou'd intercept
3254
03:02:32,430 --> 03:02:36,520
& destroy the French Fleet,
Land their Army & brake up
3255
03:02:36,680 --> 03:02:38,980
Washington's quarters.
3256
03:02:39,150 --> 03:02:43,520
Thus our unhappy Country would
again bleed at every vein
3257
03:02:43,690 --> 03:02:45,860
& the war commence with fresh vigor
3258
03:02:46,030 --> 03:02:48,860
on the part of our implacable enemy.
3259
03:02:50,660 --> 03:02:54,120
Franklin was extremely discouraged.
3260
03:02:54,290 --> 03:02:58,620
He was working night and day
to supply the Americans
3261
03:02:58,790 --> 03:03:01,920
with everything they needed.
3262
03:03:02,080 --> 03:03:07,720
But the war was dragging
on and on and on.
3263
03:03:07,880 --> 03:03:13,050
So, when, at midnight,
a courier came galloping into
3264
03:03:13,220 --> 03:03:16,720
Franklin's courtyard with
the news of the victory
3265
03:03:16,890 --> 03:03:20,850
at Yorktown, it transformed him.
3266
03:03:21,020 --> 03:03:23,650
A month earlier, Washington's army
3267
03:03:23,810 --> 03:03:28,190
of 9,000 Americans and nearly
as many French troops
3268
03:03:28,360 --> 03:03:31,860
had trapped British General
Cornwallis at Yorktown
3269
03:03:32,030 --> 03:03:33,910
on the Virginia Peninsula.
3270
03:03:34,080 --> 03:03:37,750
The French fleet offshore
had cut off any chance of his
3271
03:03:37,910 --> 03:03:41,500
being resupplied or reinforced.
3272
03:03:41,670 --> 03:03:45,420
After 9 days of heavy
bombardment, Cornwallis
3273
03:03:45,590 --> 03:03:52,130
surrendered his 8,000 troops
on October 19, 1781.
3274
03:03:52,300 --> 03:03:56,220
Lafayette, a division
commander of American forces,
3275
03:03:56,390 --> 03:03:59,520
was at Washington's side.
3276
03:03:59,680 --> 03:04:02,770
If France had not supplied the ships,
3277
03:04:02,940 --> 03:04:05,020
if Lafayette hadn't come over,
3278
03:04:05,190 --> 03:04:08,530
if Vergennes and others
hadn't done what they did,
3279
03:04:08,690 --> 03:04:11,950
if we hadn't had
the French Navy helping by
3280
03:04:12,110 --> 03:04:16,120
the time we got to Yorktown,
I do not think that
3281
03:04:16,280 --> 03:04:20,120
the American Colonies would
have won the Revolution.
3282
03:04:20,290 --> 03:04:23,750
I think Benjamin Franklin,
by sealing the alliance
3283
03:04:23,920 --> 03:04:28,420
with France, did as much to
win the Revolution as anybody
3284
03:04:28,590 --> 03:04:31,130
with the possible exception
of George Washington.
3285
03:04:32,970 --> 03:04:36,010
The Americans had won a great victory,
3286
03:04:36,180 --> 03:04:40,350
but the British still had
26,000 troops in North America,
3287
03:04:40,520 --> 03:04:43,560
and the war with England was not over.
3288
03:04:43,730 --> 03:04:46,610
Neither were Franklin's duties.
3289
03:04:46,770 --> 03:04:51,530
Congress refused to accept his
resignation and instead gave him
3290
03:04:51,690 --> 03:04:53,450
an additional mission.
3291
03:04:53,610 --> 03:04:56,320
He was now part of
a delegation to begin peace
3292
03:04:56,490 --> 03:04:59,790
negotiations with England.
3293
03:04:59,950 --> 03:05:04,500
Franklin drew up a list of
4 non-negotiable demands
3294
03:05:04,670 --> 03:05:07,960
during informal talks with
the British and rebuffed their
3295
03:05:08,130 --> 03:05:10,960
suggestions that the
Americans cut the French
3296
03:05:11,130 --> 03:05:14,220
out of the deliberations.
3297
03:05:14,380 --> 03:05:18,550
To complicate things, when
two other American negotiators
3298
03:05:18,720 --> 03:05:21,600
arrived in Paris, they had
their own opinions
3299
03:05:21,770 --> 03:05:23,810
on the best way forward.
3300
03:05:23,980 --> 03:05:28,560
One was John Jay,
a brilliant New York lawyer.
3301
03:05:28,730 --> 03:05:32,650
The other was John Adams.
3302
03:05:32,820 --> 03:05:34,320
That I have no friendship
3303
03:05:34,490 --> 03:05:36,530
for Franklin, I avow.
3304
03:05:36,700 --> 03:05:39,580
That I am incapable of having
any with a man of his moral
3305
03:05:39,740 --> 03:05:42,330
sentiments, I avow.
3306
03:05:42,500 --> 03:05:45,040
His whole Life has been one
continued Insult
3307
03:05:45,210 --> 03:05:47,630
to good Manners and to Decency.
3308
03:05:47,790 --> 03:05:50,210
I can have no Dependence on his Word.
3309
03:05:50,380 --> 03:05:54,090
I never know when he speaks
the Truth, and when not.
3310
03:05:54,260 --> 03:05:57,380
I wish with all my Soul he
was out of public Service,
3311
03:05:57,550 --> 03:06:00,470
and in Retirement,
repenting of his past Life,
3312
03:06:00,640 --> 03:06:05,270
and preparing, as he ought
to be, for another World.
3313
03:06:05,430 --> 03:06:07,810
Franklin was
the kind of man put on Earth
3314
03:06:07,980 --> 03:06:11,110
to drive a man like
Adams absolutely crazy.
3315
03:06:11,270 --> 03:06:13,570
Franklin, himself, writes back
to the Congress during
3316
03:06:13,730 --> 03:06:16,110
the time they're both Ministers
in France and says,
3317
03:06:16,280 --> 03:06:19,160
"John Adams is an honest man;
sometimes, a great one.
3318
03:06:19,320 --> 03:06:22,080
"But, in some ways and some
things, absolutely out
3319
03:06:22,240 --> 03:06:23,870
of his senses."
3320
03:06:24,040 --> 03:06:26,000
Despite their
differences, the Americans
3321
03:06:26,160 --> 03:06:27,920
settled down to work.
3322
03:06:28,080 --> 03:06:29,670
John Jay agreed with Adams,
3323
03:06:29,830 --> 03:06:32,670
that they should not consult
with Vergennes,
3324
03:06:32,840 --> 03:06:36,170
even though the alliance with
France required it.
3325
03:06:36,340 --> 03:06:41,220
For the sake of unanimity,
Franklin reluctantly consented.
3326
03:06:41,390 --> 03:06:46,140
By November of 1782, more
than a year after Yorktown,
3327
03:06:46,310 --> 03:06:50,310
a preliminary agreement
seemed within reach.
3328
03:06:50,480 --> 03:06:53,900
England would recognize
American independence,
3329
03:06:54,070 --> 03:06:56,780
remove its troops
from the United States,
3330
03:06:56,940 --> 03:07:00,450
allow American fishing rights
off the coast of Newfoundland,
3331
03:07:00,610 --> 03:07:04,910
and relinquish any claims
south of the Great Lakes.
3332
03:07:05,080 --> 03:07:07,040
But there was a sticking point.
3333
03:07:07,200 --> 03:07:10,250
The British wanted a provision
that would compensate
3334
03:07:10,420 --> 03:07:13,920
American Loyalists for their
losses during the war.
3335
03:07:14,090 --> 03:07:16,960
Adams and Jay wavered on the issue.
3336
03:07:17,130 --> 03:07:20,260
Franklin wouldn't budge.
3337
03:07:20,430 --> 03:07:21,970
And Franklin got angry.
3338
03:07:22,140 --> 03:07:23,660
He didn't very often
get angry, and he said,
3339
03:07:23,680 --> 03:07:26,720
"Wait a minute.
You ruined our crops.
3340
03:07:26,890 --> 03:07:29,140
"You burned our cities.
3341
03:07:29,310 --> 03:07:31,810
"You took our citizens
across the Atlantic
3342
03:07:31,980 --> 03:07:33,610
"and tortured them.
3343
03:07:33,770 --> 03:07:36,860
"You engaged in state
terror against the citizens
3344
03:07:37,030 --> 03:07:38,940
"of the United States.
3345
03:07:39,110 --> 03:07:41,660
"Don't talk to me about
recompensing Loyalists unless
3346
03:07:41,820 --> 03:07:45,240
"you want to pay for Norfolk
and all the cities you burned
3347
03:07:45,410 --> 03:07:47,390
"and trashed, and the houses
that you ruined, and the lives
3348
03:07:47,410 --> 03:07:49,080
that you shattered."
3349
03:07:49,250 --> 03:07:51,870
Even Adams was
struck by Franklin's vehemence
3350
03:07:52,040 --> 03:07:53,790
on the issue.
3351
03:07:53,960 --> 03:07:57,590
His fury came in part from
reports of his son William's
3352
03:07:57,760 --> 03:08:00,510
conduct back in the United States.
3353
03:08:00,670 --> 03:08:04,260
Intent on keeping the war
going, despite the British
3354
03:08:04,430 --> 03:08:08,470
defeat at Yorktown, William's
group of guerrilla marauders
3355
03:08:08,640 --> 03:08:10,850
had pressed forward with their raids.
3356
03:08:11,020 --> 03:08:15,150
In one notorious incident,
they hanged a Patriot leader
3357
03:08:15,310 --> 03:08:17,900
in the midst of what was
supposed to be a peaceful
3358
03:08:18,070 --> 03:08:20,030
exchange of prisoners.
3359
03:08:20,190 --> 03:08:23,740
It was an outrage that
threatened to mushroom into
3360
03:08:23,910 --> 03:08:27,280
an international crisis,
complicating Franklin's
3361
03:08:27,450 --> 03:08:31,210
diplomacy in Paris at
precisely the wrong time.
3362
03:08:33,420 --> 03:08:37,040
At the end of 1782,
a preliminary agreement
3363
03:08:37,210 --> 03:08:40,550
of peace was signed and sent
to London and Philadelphia
3364
03:08:40,710 --> 03:08:42,590
for approval.
3365
03:08:42,760 --> 03:08:46,470
It did not require reparations
to Americans who had remained
3366
03:08:46,640 --> 03:08:48,350
loyal to England.
3367
03:08:48,510 --> 03:08:52,230
And France, which had given
so much to the new nation,
3368
03:08:52,390 --> 03:08:55,230
had been excluded altogether.
3369
03:08:55,400 --> 03:08:58,980
Franklin was assigned the
task of smoothing things over
3370
03:08:59,150 --> 03:09:00,900
with Vergennes.
3371
03:09:01,070 --> 03:09:03,030
Franklin writes one
of the greatest letters
3372
03:09:03,200 --> 03:09:04,780
he ever wrote to Vergennes,
3373
03:09:04,950 --> 03:09:07,530
apologizing for
this in a beautiful way and--
3374
03:09:07,700 --> 03:09:10,160
and really disarming the--
what could have been a huge
3375
03:09:10,330 --> 03:09:13,750
international crisis, that we
had not fulfilled our promise
3376
03:09:13,910 --> 03:09:16,460
to work out the diplomatic
aspects of the end of the war
3377
03:09:16,630 --> 03:09:19,090
with France and not separately.
3378
03:09:19,250 --> 03:09:22,090
But he also, in that same letter
of apology to Vergennes,
3379
03:09:22,260 --> 03:09:24,260
this masterpiece, said,
"And, by the way,
3380
03:09:24,430 --> 03:09:27,970
we need some more money, too,"
and he got it!
3381
03:09:28,140 --> 03:09:31,970
Finally, on September 3, 1783,
3382
03:09:32,140 --> 03:09:34,890
the Treaty of Paris was signed.
3383
03:09:35,060 --> 03:09:38,480
England officially recognized
its former colonies
3384
03:09:38,650 --> 03:09:41,070
as the United States of America.
3385
03:09:41,230 --> 03:09:44,450
The Revolutionary War was over.
3386
03:09:45,900 --> 03:09:48,620
Members of the British
delegation refused to pose
3387
03:09:48,780 --> 03:09:51,450
for the portrait meant to
commemorate the moment.
3388
03:09:51,620 --> 03:09:55,080
In the unfinished painting,
Franklin sits in the middle,
3389
03:09:55,250 --> 03:09:58,460
with his grandson Temple,
the delegation's secretary,
3390
03:09:58,630 --> 03:10:00,670
sitting to his left.
3391
03:10:00,840 --> 03:10:04,630
On Franklin's right sits
John Adams, already worried
3392
03:10:04,800 --> 03:10:08,800
about how history would
remember the Revolution.
3393
03:10:08,970 --> 03:10:11,220
The history of our revolution will be
3394
03:10:11,390 --> 03:10:15,310
one continued lie
from one end to the other.
3395
03:10:15,480 --> 03:10:18,400
And the essence of the whole
will be that Dr. Franklin's
3396
03:10:18,560 --> 03:10:21,980
electrical rod smote the Earth,
and out sprang
3397
03:10:22,150 --> 03:10:24,070
General Washington.
3398
03:10:24,230 --> 03:10:28,360
That Franklin electrified him
with his rod and thence forward
3399
03:10:28,530 --> 03:10:31,660
these two conducted
all the policy, negotiations,
3400
03:10:31,830 --> 03:10:34,540
legislation and war.
3401
03:10:39,880 --> 03:10:42,040
The Treaty of 1783 is one of the most
3402
03:10:42,210 --> 03:10:45,260
lopsided treaties in
American diplomatic history.
3403
03:10:45,420 --> 03:10:48,880
It's a total victory
for the United States.
3404
03:10:49,050 --> 03:10:51,680
Its independence is recognized
by France and the rest
3405
03:10:51,850 --> 03:10:53,560
of Europe and England.
3406
03:10:53,720 --> 03:10:56,270
And we get a third of
a continent, everything from the
3407
03:10:56,430 --> 03:10:58,620
Mississippi to the Atlantic,
and from the Canadian border
3408
03:10:58,640 --> 03:11:00,350
to Florida.
3409
03:11:00,520 --> 03:11:03,270
We now become a nation
larger than France, England,
3410
03:11:03,440 --> 03:11:05,280
and Spain put together.
3411
03:11:05,440 --> 03:11:09,450
There is a consensus, at the
end, uh, among the negotiators,
3412
03:11:09,610 --> 03:11:12,240
including the Brits,
that we're witnessing
3413
03:11:12,410 --> 03:11:14,450
the creation of an American empire.
3414
03:11:17,080 --> 03:11:19,370
By the end of the war,
France's coffers were
3415
03:11:19,540 --> 03:11:21,960
more or less depleted.
3416
03:11:22,130 --> 03:11:26,340
France had the satisfaction
in triumphing over their
3417
03:11:26,510 --> 03:11:28,720
arch enemy Great Britain,
3418
03:11:28,880 --> 03:11:33,800
but they hadn't counted on
bankrupting, uh, their own
3419
03:11:33,970 --> 03:11:36,100
country in the process.
3420
03:11:36,270 --> 03:11:40,890
So, Franklin extracted,
in a way, the lifeblood
3421
03:11:41,060 --> 03:11:47,320
out of the royal coffers and he
gave in return something
3422
03:11:47,480 --> 03:11:50,110
that the monarchy was not counting on.
3423
03:11:52,740 --> 03:11:56,740
He lit a fire, not only in France,
3424
03:11:56,910 --> 03:12:01,790
but in all of Europe,
promoting the democratic ideals
3425
03:12:01,960 --> 03:12:04,920
that the United States stood for.
3426
03:12:05,090 --> 03:12:10,260
To put down tyranny was
something that all
3427
03:12:10,420 --> 03:12:12,890
the peasants could understand.
3428
03:12:17,680 --> 03:12:21,940
For Native Americans,
the treaty was devastating.
3429
03:12:22,100 --> 03:12:25,610
Many Nations had decided that
they would be better off by
3430
03:12:25,770 --> 03:12:29,320
allying with the British, not
the colonists, who for nearly
3431
03:12:29,490 --> 03:12:33,910
2 centuries had been
encroaching on their lands.
3432
03:12:34,070 --> 03:12:36,620
Now the United States was claiming
3433
03:12:36,780 --> 03:12:38,990
an even vaster territory,
3434
03:12:39,160 --> 03:12:42,620
and as its white citizens
pushed farther west,
3435
03:12:42,790 --> 03:12:46,540
more and more Native people
would be dispossessed,
3436
03:12:46,710 --> 03:12:51,590
regardless of whose side they
had taken during the war.
3437
03:12:58,890 --> 03:13:03,480
In the summer and fall of 1783,
huge balloons suddenly
3438
03:13:03,640 --> 03:13:06,900
appeared in the skies over Paris.
3439
03:13:07,060 --> 03:13:09,860
Hundreds of thousands of
people turned out to see
3440
03:13:10,030 --> 03:13:13,820
human beings flying for
the first time.
3441
03:13:13,990 --> 03:13:17,070
And Franklin is watching this,
with his usual spirit of,
3442
03:13:17,240 --> 03:13:19,620
you know, what does this
portend and what are
3443
03:13:19,790 --> 03:13:24,710
the applications for war,
for travel, for recreation.
3444
03:13:24,870 --> 03:13:28,000
And a man that was standing
next to him, uh, watched all
3445
03:13:28,170 --> 03:13:33,510
this and said, "Interesting,
but what's the use of it?"
3446
03:13:33,670 --> 03:13:36,390
And Franklin turned to him and said,
3447
03:13:36,550 --> 03:13:39,100
"What's the use
of a newborn baby?"
3448
03:13:40,560 --> 03:13:44,230
In early 1785, another balloon crossed
3449
03:13:44,390 --> 03:13:47,060
the English Channel
and landed in France.
3450
03:13:47,230 --> 03:13:51,070
It carried the world's first
airmail letter addressed to
3451
03:13:51,230 --> 03:13:54,990
Temple Franklin at Passy.
3452
03:13:55,150 --> 03:13:58,910
It came from his father,
William, who was now in London.
3453
03:13:59,070 --> 03:14:02,120
He had reestablished his
relationship with Temple
3454
03:14:02,290 --> 03:14:06,250
and was hoping to do
the same with his father.
3455
03:14:06,420 --> 03:14:09,170
Dear and Honored Father,
3456
03:14:09,330 --> 03:14:11,130
Ever since the termination
3457
03:14:11,300 --> 03:14:14,880
of the unhappy contest between
Great Britain and America,
3458
03:14:15,050 --> 03:14:17,760
I have been anxious to write to you,
3459
03:14:17,930 --> 03:14:20,890
and to endeavor to revive
that affectionate connection
3460
03:14:21,050 --> 03:14:23,600
which till the commencement
of the late troubles
3461
03:14:23,770 --> 03:14:28,270
had been the pride
and happiness of my life.
3462
03:14:29,480 --> 03:14:33,480
Dear Son, I received your letter.
3463
03:14:33,650 --> 03:14:37,360
Nothing has ever hurt me so
much and affected me with such
3464
03:14:37,530 --> 03:14:42,740
keen sensations as to find
myself deserted in my old age
3465
03:14:42,910 --> 03:14:47,870
by my only son; and not only
deserted, but to find him
3466
03:14:48,040 --> 03:14:50,630
taking up arms against me.
3467
03:14:50,790 --> 03:14:55,130
There are natural duties
which precede political ones,
3468
03:14:55,300 --> 03:14:59,260
and cannot be extinguished by them.
3469
03:14:59,430 --> 03:15:03,310
You may confide to your son
the family affairs you wished
3470
03:15:03,470 --> 03:15:05,770
to confer upon with me.
3471
03:15:05,930 --> 03:15:09,690
I shall hear from you by him.
3472
03:15:09,850 --> 03:15:11,650
Benjamin Franklin was estranged from
3473
03:15:11,810 --> 03:15:15,230
many of his British associates
and friends during the war.
3474
03:15:15,400 --> 03:15:18,610
But after the war, he was
able to repair all those
3475
03:15:18,780 --> 03:15:22,070
relationships, except with William.
3476
03:15:22,240 --> 03:15:25,240
And I'm not sure
I can say exactly why.
3477
03:15:25,410 --> 03:15:29,370
William is willing to make up,
but Benjamin is not.
3478
03:15:29,540 --> 03:15:32,540
And I just sort of imagine
that William is--is holding out
3479
03:15:32,710 --> 03:15:35,800
his hand to his father and
his father just won't take it.
3480
03:15:35,960 --> 03:15:38,050
I guess the hurt went too deep.
3481
03:15:40,180 --> 03:15:44,010
By May of 1785,
Thomas Jefferson had arrived
3482
03:15:44,180 --> 03:15:47,810
as the new ambassador to
France, and Franklin learned
3483
03:15:47,970 --> 03:15:52,100
that Congress had finally
accepted his resignation.
3484
03:15:52,270 --> 03:15:56,020
By July, with his grandsons
Temple and Benny,
3485
03:15:56,190 --> 03:15:58,780
he was ready to leave.
3486
03:15:58,940 --> 03:16:02,950
They crossed the Channel
and lingered for several days
3487
03:16:03,120 --> 03:16:06,330
in the port at Southampton,
where Franklin visited
3488
03:16:06,490 --> 03:16:10,370
with some of his
oldest English friends.
3489
03:16:10,540 --> 03:16:13,290
Then William arrived.
3490
03:16:13,460 --> 03:16:17,800
He and his father had not
seen each other in a decade.
3491
03:16:20,670 --> 03:16:24,590
Whatever expectations
William held for the reunion,
3492
03:16:24,760 --> 03:16:28,350
his father treated it as
a business negotiation.
3493
03:16:28,520 --> 03:16:31,310
He insisted that the deeds
to William's properties
3494
03:16:31,480 --> 03:16:34,900
in America be turned over to Temple.
3495
03:16:35,060 --> 03:16:39,690
Franklin also made clear that
Temple, William's own son,
3496
03:16:39,860 --> 03:16:44,030
would be returning to
the United States with him.
3497
03:16:44,200 --> 03:16:46,950
Legal documents were drawn up.
3498
03:16:47,120 --> 03:16:50,700
William signed them all.
3499
03:16:50,870 --> 03:16:53,830
They would never see each other again.
3500
03:16:58,840 --> 03:17:02,720
On July 27, Franklin's ship set sail
3501
03:17:02,880 --> 03:17:06,140
for his 8th crossing of the Atlantic.
3502
03:17:06,300 --> 03:17:09,850
On board, he soon immersed
himself in the most sustained
3503
03:17:10,020 --> 03:17:13,690
scientific work since his
experiments with electricity
3504
03:17:13,850 --> 03:17:17,310
back in 1752.
3505
03:17:17,480 --> 03:17:21,280
Most of his time was focused
on observations and theories
3506
03:17:21,440 --> 03:17:26,030
about the ocean and ships--
from more efficient designs
3507
03:17:26,200 --> 03:17:29,740
for hulls and sails, to thoughts
on the outrigger boats
3508
03:17:29,910 --> 03:17:34,540
of Pacific Islanders and the
canoes of Native Americans,
3509
03:17:34,710 --> 03:17:38,880
from proposals for better
anchors to a better soup bowl
3510
03:17:39,040 --> 03:17:43,340
that would be less likely to
spill when the ship tilted.
3511
03:17:43,510 --> 03:17:45,180
And with Temple and Benny's help,
3512
03:17:45,340 --> 03:17:48,970
he continued gathering details
about the Gulf Stream-
3513
03:17:49,140 --> 03:17:51,680
taking the temperature
of the air and water
3514
03:17:51,850 --> 03:17:56,020
3 times a day for more than 40 days.
3515
03:17:58,150 --> 03:18:02,070
Finally, his ship docked at
the wharf in Philadelphia,
3516
03:18:02,230 --> 03:18:06,780
62 years after his first
arrival as a teenage runaway.
3517
03:18:09,780 --> 03:18:13,120
Back then, no one had heard of him.
3518
03:18:13,290 --> 03:18:16,830
This time, he was greeted
by booming cannons,
3519
03:18:17,000 --> 03:18:18,580
ringing church bells,
3520
03:18:18,750 --> 03:18:22,590
and the cheers
of his fellow Americans.
3521
03:18:22,750 --> 03:18:25,220
He's been away for 8 1/2 years.
3522
03:18:25,380 --> 03:18:27,180
He's about to see
a country that he's created.
3523
03:18:27,340 --> 03:18:28,930
It didn't exist when he'd left.
3524
03:18:29,090 --> 03:18:32,560
It's a really, um, rather
extraordinary return.
3525
03:18:32,720 --> 03:18:35,350
He's greeted at the pier
in Philadelphia by crowds
3526
03:18:35,520 --> 03:18:37,310
and acclamations.
3527
03:18:37,480 --> 03:18:40,310
The crowd carried
him to his Market Street home,
3528
03:18:40,480 --> 03:18:42,980
where his daughter Sally
introduced him to
3529
03:18:43,150 --> 03:18:48,030
4 new grandchildren who had been
born while he was away.
3530
03:18:50,120 --> 03:18:53,450
I am now in the Bosom of my Family,
3531
03:18:53,620 --> 03:18:56,710
and find four new little Prattlers,
3532
03:18:56,870 --> 03:18:58,500
who cling about the Knees
3533
03:18:58,670 --> 03:19:03,840
of their Grand Papa,
and afford me great Pleasure.
3534
03:19:12,890 --> 03:19:15,970
In May of 1787, delegates from
3535
03:19:16,140 --> 03:19:19,520
all the former colonies
began converging again
3536
03:19:19,690 --> 03:19:21,730
on Philadelphia.
3537
03:19:21,900 --> 03:19:25,070
The Articles of Confederation
that had been drawn up after
3538
03:19:25,230 --> 03:19:28,400
the Declaration of Independence
had proved inadequate
3539
03:19:28,570 --> 03:19:32,070
for the new nation
during the Revolution.
3540
03:19:32,240 --> 03:19:34,240
When the Constitutional Convention
3541
03:19:34,410 --> 03:19:35,700
is called,
3542
03:19:35,870 --> 03:19:37,620
it's really a last chance for America
3543
03:19:37,790 --> 03:19:39,500
to get its act together.
3544
03:19:39,660 --> 03:19:42,750
The Articles of Confederation
really did not do what
3545
03:19:42,920 --> 03:19:44,420
Franklin had asked for,
3546
03:19:44,590 --> 03:19:48,880
which is unite the Colonies
into one nation.
3547
03:19:49,050 --> 03:19:51,510
When George Washington arrived
3548
03:19:51,680 --> 03:19:54,550
in Philadelphia,
his first stop was to pay
3549
03:19:54,720 --> 03:19:57,060
Franklin a visit.
3550
03:19:57,220 --> 03:20:00,060
At the Constitutional Convention,
3551
03:20:00,230 --> 03:20:03,690
he was one of the two great figures.
3552
03:20:03,860 --> 03:20:05,480
There was George Washington
and there was
3553
03:20:05,650 --> 03:20:10,110
Benjamin Franklin,
and nobody else came third.
3554
03:20:10,280 --> 03:20:12,610
Up until the end of the War,
3555
03:20:12,780 --> 03:20:15,160
if you were trying to rate
American leaders,
3556
03:20:15,330 --> 03:20:17,330
Washington would be behind him
3557
03:20:17,490 --> 03:20:19,660
and Franklin would be at the head.
3558
03:20:19,830 --> 03:20:21,670
Franklin's the great man.
3559
03:20:21,830 --> 03:20:25,290
By the end of the War,
Washington has gone ahead,
3560
03:20:25,460 --> 03:20:29,260
and in his will, Franklin says,
"I leave him my crab-tree
3561
03:20:29,420 --> 03:20:32,800
walking stick for his
stroll towards destiny."
3562
03:20:32,970 --> 03:20:36,930
On May 25, 1787, when the convention
3563
03:20:37,100 --> 03:20:41,430
gathered for its first day,
Washington was unanimously
3564
03:20:41,600 --> 03:20:43,900
elected to preside.
3565
03:20:44,060 --> 03:20:47,690
Benjamin Franklin's
health is starting to fade.
3566
03:20:47,860 --> 03:20:50,320
Prisoners from the Walnut
Street Jail, they have to
3567
03:20:50,490 --> 03:20:52,990
carry him from his home on
Market Street
3568
03:20:53,150 --> 03:20:54,660
for the 2 or 3 blocks
3569
03:20:54,820 --> 03:20:58,240
to get to what is
now called Independence Hall.
3570
03:20:58,410 --> 03:21:02,290
Franklin was 81,
nearly crippled by gout
3571
03:21:02,460 --> 03:21:04,170
and kidney stones.
3572
03:21:04,330 --> 03:21:08,630
Still, he would attend
every session but one.
3573
03:21:10,210 --> 03:21:14,050
From the start, it was clear
that the 55 delegates did not
3574
03:21:14,220 --> 03:21:16,300
agree on the details of how to fix
3575
03:21:16,470 --> 03:21:18,850
the Articles of Confederation.
3576
03:21:19,010 --> 03:21:23,270
Franklin favored a single-body
Congress and a 3-member
3577
03:21:23,440 --> 03:21:26,860
executive council instead
of a president.
3578
03:21:27,020 --> 03:21:30,530
Virginians proposed
2 legislative bodies--
3579
03:21:30,690 --> 03:21:32,150
a House of Representatives
3580
03:21:32,320 --> 03:21:35,200
that would select the members
of an upper body
3581
03:21:35,360 --> 03:21:36,870
to be called the Senate
3582
03:21:37,030 --> 03:21:40,580
and also name the president
and judiciary.
3583
03:21:40,740 --> 03:21:44,160
Alexander Hamilton of New York
thought the president should
3584
03:21:44,330 --> 03:21:47,250
be elected--for life.
3585
03:21:47,420 --> 03:21:51,130
Fierce debates on
all the issues raged for days
3586
03:21:51,300 --> 03:21:54,220
during a sweltering
Philadelphia summer.
3587
03:21:56,840 --> 03:21:58,180
We must not expect
3588
03:21:58,340 --> 03:22:00,640
that a new government may be formed,
3589
03:22:00,810 --> 03:22:04,810
as a game of chess may
be played, by a skillful hand,
3590
03:22:04,980 --> 03:22:07,400
without a fault.
3591
03:22:07,560 --> 03:22:11,730
We are making experiments in politics.
3592
03:22:11,900 --> 03:22:15,820
The players of our game
are so many, their ideas
3593
03:22:15,990 --> 03:22:19,120
so different, their
prejudices so strong
3594
03:22:19,280 --> 03:22:20,950
and so various,
3595
03:22:21,120 --> 03:22:25,330
that not a move can be
made that is not contested.
3596
03:22:28,920 --> 03:22:31,710
The convention adopted many provisions
3597
03:22:31,880 --> 03:22:34,630
that Franklin did
not initially support--
3598
03:22:34,800 --> 03:22:40,100
a 2-body legislature, a single
executive who could veto laws--
3599
03:22:40,260 --> 03:22:44,180
and others that he did--
a 4-year presidential term,
3600
03:22:44,350 --> 03:22:47,190
the legislature's power
of impeachment,
3601
03:22:47,350 --> 03:22:50,610
and no requirement of property
ownership for voting
3602
03:22:50,770 --> 03:22:53,150
or holding office.
3603
03:22:53,320 --> 03:22:56,240
One of the thorniest issues
was how Congress
3604
03:22:56,400 --> 03:22:58,070
would be apportioned.
3605
03:22:58,240 --> 03:23:01,570
Under the Articles of
Confederation, each state had
3606
03:23:01,740 --> 03:23:05,700
an equal vote, and delegates
from smaller states demanded
3607
03:23:05,870 --> 03:23:07,830
that it stay that way.
3608
03:23:08,000 --> 03:23:11,710
Larger states, which would be
contributing more in taxes,
3609
03:23:11,880 --> 03:23:15,380
wanted Congress to be
based on population.
3610
03:23:15,550 --> 03:23:18,380
Franklin was placed on
a committee to find
3611
03:23:18,550 --> 03:23:20,760
a workable compromise.
3612
03:23:20,930 --> 03:23:24,760
And, finally, Franklin
gets up and he says,
3613
03:23:24,930 --> 03:23:27,430
"When we were young tradesmen
here in Philadelphia,
3614
03:23:27,600 --> 03:23:30,560
"we had a joint of wood
that didn't quite fit,
3615
03:23:30,730 --> 03:23:33,150
"we'd take a little from one
side and shave from the other
3616
03:23:33,310 --> 03:23:36,480
until we had a joint that would
hold together for centuries."
3617
03:23:36,650 --> 03:23:40,360
And his point was that
compromises may not make
3618
03:23:40,530 --> 03:23:43,830
great heroes, but they do
make great democracies.
3619
03:23:43,990 --> 03:23:47,000
As the impasse over
apportionment threatened to
3620
03:23:47,160 --> 03:23:50,120
derail the convention,
Franklin began inviting
3621
03:23:50,290 --> 03:23:53,170
important delegates to
his home, where they could
3622
03:23:53,330 --> 03:23:56,250
socialize in the late
afternoon, under the branches
3623
03:23:56,420 --> 03:24:02,260
of his mulberry tree,
and try to find common ground.
3624
03:24:02,430 --> 03:24:05,220
They discuss science,
they discuss the things
3625
03:24:05,390 --> 03:24:08,020
they're talking about that they
have to compromise on.
3626
03:24:08,180 --> 03:24:11,560
And he helps cool the passions
of that hot summer
3627
03:24:11,730 --> 03:24:14,310
under the shade of his mulberry tree.
3628
03:24:17,190 --> 03:24:20,450
In the end, a compromise was reached.
3629
03:24:20,610 --> 03:24:24,530
Each state would have the same
number of senators, 2,
3630
03:24:24,700 --> 03:24:27,370
chosen by their legislatures.
3631
03:24:27,540 --> 03:24:30,290
The members of the House
of Representatives would be
3632
03:24:30,460 --> 03:24:35,130
elected by voters, white men
only, and each state's share
3633
03:24:35,290 --> 03:24:38,710
would be based on its population.
3634
03:24:38,880 --> 03:24:42,300
To mollify the southern
states, their populations
3635
03:24:42,470 --> 03:24:46,100
would include their number
of enslaved people,
3636
03:24:46,260 --> 03:24:49,140
but each of those human beings
would be counted
3637
03:24:49,310 --> 03:24:52,890
as only three-fifths of a person.
3638
03:24:53,060 --> 03:24:55,100
They can't talk about
slavery directly, and the word
3639
03:24:55,230 --> 03:24:59,900
"slavery" is never mentioned
in the document itself.
3640
03:25:00,070 --> 03:25:05,030
The difficult fact to accept
is that the Union is only
3641
03:25:05,200 --> 03:25:07,990
possible if it includes the South.
3642
03:25:08,160 --> 03:25:11,790
And the states south of the
Chesapeake are committed
3643
03:25:11,960 --> 03:25:15,420
to slavery, especially
Virginia and South Carolina.
3644
03:25:15,580 --> 03:25:20,800
If you did the moral thing in
the summer of 1787 and took
3645
03:25:20,960 --> 03:25:24,590
a clear stand and insisted
on it, the Constitution would
3646
03:25:24,760 --> 03:25:26,390
have never passed.
3647
03:25:27,930 --> 03:25:30,470
It was a tragic
compromise, obviously, for many
3648
03:25:30,640 --> 03:25:33,060
populations in the United
States who had no party
3649
03:25:33,230 --> 03:25:34,810
to this agreement.
3650
03:25:34,980 --> 03:25:36,620
They had never agreed that
they would be represented
3651
03:25:36,650 --> 03:25:38,310
in this way.
3652
03:25:38,480 --> 03:25:41,230
And, so, the compromise
looks especially compromised
3653
03:25:41,400 --> 03:25:42,990
in those terms.
3654
03:25:43,150 --> 03:25:48,120
This is America's original sin,
and they know it.
3655
03:25:48,280 --> 03:25:52,000
Nobody in the Convention
or at that moment
3656
03:25:52,160 --> 03:25:55,920
talks about slavery as anything
other than a necessary evil.
3657
03:25:56,080 --> 03:25:58,250
The original sin of slavery
3658
03:25:58,420 --> 03:26:03,720
was more than just
simply compromising.
3659
03:26:03,880 --> 03:26:06,470
The original
sin of slavery began, at least
3660
03:26:06,630 --> 03:26:10,010
for these colonists, years before.
3661
03:26:11,470 --> 03:26:16,560
For Franklin, unity and
compromise was the only thing
3662
03:26:16,730 --> 03:26:19,900
that could make this new
nation move forward.
3663
03:26:20,060 --> 03:26:23,740
Without it, it would be
a failed journey.
3664
03:26:23,900 --> 03:26:27,700
American democracy would not
develop without it.
3665
03:26:27,860 --> 03:26:32,160
And for that reason,
Franklin, as well as others,
3666
03:26:32,330 --> 03:26:35,540
sidestepped the issue of slavery.
3667
03:26:35,710 --> 03:26:40,710
On September 17, 1787,
the delegates gathered
3668
03:26:40,880 --> 03:26:44,010
to vote on the proposed Constitution.
3669
03:26:44,170 --> 03:26:48,840
Benjamin Franklin made
the motion for its adoption.
3670
03:26:49,010 --> 03:26:51,140
I agree to this Constitution
3671
03:26:51,300 --> 03:26:54,140
with all its faults, if they are such,
3672
03:26:54,310 --> 03:26:58,770
because I think a general
government necessary for us.
3673
03:26:58,940 --> 03:27:02,360
I doubt, too, whether any
other convention we can obtain
3674
03:27:02,520 --> 03:27:05,740
may be able to make
a better Constitution.
3675
03:27:05,900 --> 03:27:08,650
For, when you assemble
a number of men, to have
3676
03:27:08,820 --> 03:27:12,080
the advantage of their joint
wisdom, you inevitably
3677
03:27:12,240 --> 03:27:15,370
assemble with those men
all their prejudices,
3678
03:27:15,540 --> 03:27:17,870
their passions,
their errors of opinion,
3679
03:27:18,040 --> 03:27:21,170
their local interests,
and their selfish views.
3680
03:27:21,330 --> 03:27:24,340
From such an assembly can
a perfect production
3681
03:27:24,500 --> 03:27:27,170
be expected?
3682
03:27:27,340 --> 03:27:31,050
It therefore astonishes me,
sir, to find this system
3683
03:27:31,220 --> 03:27:35,260
approaching so near to
perfection as it does;
3684
03:27:35,430 --> 03:27:38,980
and I think it will astonish our
enemies, who are waiting
3685
03:27:39,140 --> 03:27:42,610
with confidence to hear that
our councils are confounded,
3686
03:27:42,770 --> 03:27:46,730
like those of the builders of
Babel, and that our States are
3687
03:27:46,900 --> 03:27:49,780
on the point of separation,
only to meet hereafter
3688
03:27:49,950 --> 03:27:53,200
for the purpose of cutting
one another's throats.
3689
03:27:53,370 --> 03:27:58,330
Thus I consent, sir, to this
Constitution because I expect
3690
03:27:58,500 --> 03:28:02,420
no better, and because I
am not sure that it is
3691
03:28:02,580 --> 03:28:05,460
not the best.
3692
03:28:09,920 --> 03:28:13,680
Franklin's motion was approved.
3693
03:28:13,850 --> 03:28:17,810
One by one, the delegates
signed the new Constitution,
3694
03:28:17,970 --> 03:28:21,480
so it could be sent to the
states for ratification.
3695
03:28:21,640 --> 03:28:23,440
He signed it.
3696
03:28:23,600 --> 03:28:29,400
And I think he was relieved that
it brought Americans together.
3697
03:28:29,570 --> 03:28:31,780
And that was something that
he had wanted ever since
3698
03:28:31,950 --> 03:28:33,740
the Albany Conference.
3699
03:28:33,910 --> 03:28:38,830
He had wanted Americans to
be a part of one grand whole.
3700
03:28:39,000 --> 03:28:40,410
This might not be the best,
3701
03:28:40,580 --> 03:28:42,100
but it was the best
that you could get,
3702
03:28:42,170 --> 03:28:43,750
and he recognized that.
3703
03:28:43,920 --> 03:28:47,000
The Constitution is
the framework for an ongoing
3704
03:28:47,170 --> 03:28:49,340
argument about who we are as a people
3705
03:28:49,510 --> 03:28:51,220
and where power resides.
3706
03:28:51,380 --> 03:28:54,260
And it's presumed that each
generation will be engaged
3707
03:28:54,430 --> 03:28:56,760
in an argument and take
it in new directions.
3708
03:28:56,930 --> 03:28:59,220
What do we mean by, "We the people"?
3709
03:28:59,390 --> 03:29:01,030
And certainly,
we mean a lot more people now
3710
03:29:01,060 --> 03:29:03,140
than we did then.
3711
03:29:03,310 --> 03:29:05,020
With the work done,
3712
03:29:05,190 --> 03:29:08,520
the doors to Independence Hall
were thrown open.
3713
03:29:08,690 --> 03:29:10,940
Franklin was approached
by one of the city's
3714
03:29:11,110 --> 03:29:14,910
most prominent citizens,
Elizabeth Willing Powel,
3715
03:29:15,070 --> 03:29:17,870
whose own rights had
not been considered.
3716
03:29:18,030 --> 03:29:21,750
She asked him, "Well, Doctor,
what have we got,
3717
03:29:21,910 --> 03:29:25,120
a republic or a monarchy?"
3718
03:29:25,290 --> 03:29:29,590
"A republic," he answered,
"if you can keep it."
3719
03:29:29,750 --> 03:29:33,010
"A republic, if you can keep it,"
3720
03:29:33,170 --> 03:29:34,840
which turns out to be
3721
03:29:35,010 --> 03:29:37,550
maybe the most prophetic
sentence of all.
3722
03:29:37,720 --> 03:29:39,390
Everyone who cares about this country
3723
03:29:39,560 --> 03:29:41,640
has to ask that question every day.
3724
03:29:41,810 --> 03:29:45,560
"A republic,
if you can keep it."
3725
03:29:48,400 --> 03:29:50,900
Hitherto, this long life
3726
03:29:51,070 --> 03:29:53,280
has been tolerably happy,
3727
03:29:53,440 --> 03:29:56,990
so that if I were allowed to
live it over again, I should
3728
03:29:57,160 --> 03:30:01,160
make no objection, only
wishing for leave to do what
3729
03:30:01,330 --> 03:30:06,040
authors do in a second edition
OF THEIR WORKS: correct some
3730
03:30:06,210 --> 03:30:08,290
of my Errata.
3731
03:30:16,130 --> 03:30:19,260
By early 1790, the Constitution
3732
03:30:19,430 --> 03:30:23,810
had been ratified, and Franklin
was now 84 years old.
3733
03:30:23,980 --> 03:30:27,900
His kidney stones put him in
such pain, he took regular
3734
03:30:28,060 --> 03:30:30,770
doses of laudanum,
a tincture of opium,
3735
03:30:30,940 --> 03:30:32,860
to get through the day.
3736
03:30:33,030 --> 03:30:36,150
"I should have died 2 years
ago," he wrote to Washington,
3737
03:30:36,320 --> 03:30:39,160
who had been elected as
the nation's first president,
3738
03:30:39,320 --> 03:30:41,700
"but I am pleased that
I have lived them,
3739
03:30:41,870 --> 03:30:46,580
since they have brought me to
see our present Situation."
3740
03:30:46,750 --> 03:30:48,830
Our grand machine has at length
3741
03:30:49,000 --> 03:30:50,670
begun to work.
3742
03:30:50,840 --> 03:30:54,880
I pray God to bless
and guide its operations.
3743
03:30:55,050 --> 03:30:59,220
If any form of government is
capable of making a nation happy
3744
03:30:59,390 --> 03:31:03,720
ours I think bids fair
for producing that effect.
3745
03:31:03,890 --> 03:31:07,230
But after all, much depends
upon the people
3746
03:31:07,390 --> 03:31:09,730
who are to be governed.
3747
03:31:09,900 --> 03:31:13,900
Our new Constitution is now
established, everything seems
3748
03:31:14,070 --> 03:31:18,610
to promise it will be durable;
but, in this world, nothing is
3749
03:31:18,780 --> 03:31:22,780
certain except death and taxes.
3750
03:31:25,410 --> 03:31:28,120
As an Enlightenment
scientist and inventor,
3751
03:31:28,290 --> 03:31:32,000
he considered America's
new democracy an experiment.
3752
03:31:32,170 --> 03:31:34,590
It should be tested and tinkered with,
3753
03:31:34,750 --> 03:31:37,260
if improvements were needed.
3754
03:31:37,420 --> 03:31:40,760
As a man who had once
constructed an elaborate chart
3755
03:31:40,930 --> 03:31:43,800
and checklist to help him
better himself,
3756
03:31:43,970 --> 03:31:47,680
he still believed in keeping
track of his failings.
3757
03:31:47,850 --> 03:31:51,400
Now Benjamin Franklin felt
there was still one more
3758
03:31:51,560 --> 03:31:56,730
public duty to carry out,
one more of his life's "errata"
3759
03:31:56,900 --> 03:31:58,820
to correct.
3760
03:32:00,240 --> 03:32:02,030
During his time as a delegate
3761
03:32:02,200 --> 03:32:04,280
to the Constitutional Convention,
3762
03:32:04,450 --> 03:32:06,790
Franklin, a former slave owner,
3763
03:32:06,950 --> 03:32:08,870
had accepted the presidency
3764
03:32:09,040 --> 03:32:11,960
of the Pennsylvania Society
for Promoting
3765
03:32:12,120 --> 03:32:13,920
the Abolition of Slavery,
3766
03:32:14,090 --> 03:32:17,090
a Quaker group in Philadelphia.
3767
03:32:17,250 --> 03:32:21,090
He had considered introducing
a statement of principle
3768
03:32:21,260 --> 03:32:22,640
into the Constitution,
3769
03:32:22,800 --> 03:32:25,810
condemning slavery
and the slave trade,
3770
03:32:25,970 --> 03:32:29,640
but several delegates had
persuaded him to drop it.
3771
03:32:29,810 --> 03:32:34,190
The question of anti-slavery,
pro-slavery, was not
3772
03:32:34,360 --> 03:32:38,030
an important issue for
the vast majority of people
3773
03:32:38,190 --> 03:32:41,240
who wrote or thought about
or argued about
3774
03:32:41,400 --> 03:32:43,110
the American Revolution.
3775
03:32:43,280 --> 03:32:47,830
On the other hand, given the
fact that it is the daily
3776
03:32:47,990 --> 03:32:52,870
reality for enslaved men and
women, in some ways, that was
3777
03:32:53,040 --> 03:32:55,790
the key question every day.
3778
03:32:55,960 --> 03:33:02,550
The gross hypocrisy in
fighting a war for liberty,
3779
03:33:02,720 --> 03:33:07,720
liberty of people,
and not including everybody
3780
03:33:07,890 --> 03:33:09,850
was obvious.
3781
03:33:10,020 --> 03:33:14,020
If you're talking about liberty,
you're talking about liberty.
3782
03:33:14,190 --> 03:33:17,060
With the Constitution in place,
3783
03:33:17,230 --> 03:33:21,820
Franklin felt free to
address the issue head-on.
3784
03:33:21,990 --> 03:33:23,650
To the Senate
3785
03:33:23,820 --> 03:33:26,910
and House of Representatives
of the United States.
3786
03:33:27,070 --> 03:33:29,120
From a persuasion that equal liberty
3787
03:33:29,290 --> 03:33:31,540
is still the Birthright of all Men,
3788
03:33:31,700 --> 03:33:35,920
we earnestly entreat your
serious attention to the subject
3789
03:33:36,080 --> 03:33:39,670
of Slavery; that you will be
pleased to countenance
3790
03:33:39,840 --> 03:33:43,920
the Restoration of liberty to
those unhappy Men, who alone
3791
03:33:44,090 --> 03:33:46,010
in this land of Freedom
3792
03:33:46,180 --> 03:33:49,470
are degraded into perpetual Bondage,
3793
03:33:49,640 --> 03:33:54,100
that you will devise means for
removing this Inconsistency
3794
03:33:54,270 --> 03:33:57,060
from the Character of
the American People.
3795
03:33:58,650 --> 03:34:00,980
The first real act of Franklin's life,
3796
03:34:01,150 --> 03:34:02,740
or the first public act, I guess,
3797
03:34:02,900 --> 03:34:04,740
is his running away from home.
3798
03:34:04,900 --> 03:34:08,240
So, here you have a young
man in quest of freedom.
3799
03:34:08,410 --> 03:34:11,490
And the last real act of--
the last public act
3800
03:34:11,660 --> 03:34:14,790
of Franklin's life, um,
is a treatise against slavery.
3801
03:34:14,960 --> 03:34:19,710
So, the end--the life is
largely bookended in a way, um,
3802
03:34:19,880 --> 03:34:23,460
by these two, um, endorsements,
in some way, of freedom.
3803
03:34:23,630 --> 03:34:27,760
Benjamin Franklin evolved
as far as his understanding
3804
03:34:27,930 --> 03:34:31,390
of race relations
and slavery were concerned.
3805
03:34:31,560 --> 03:34:33,180
He had owned slaves.
3806
03:34:33,350 --> 03:34:35,430
He didn't see anything wrong with it
3807
03:34:35,600 --> 03:34:37,270
until very late in the game.
3808
03:34:37,440 --> 03:34:41,860
But in his last years,
he started to change his mind.
3809
03:34:43,360 --> 03:34:47,660
Philadelphia became
a leader in abolition
3810
03:34:47,820 --> 03:34:52,030
and the emancipation of enslaved
people of African descent.
3811
03:34:52,200 --> 03:34:56,960
There were laws on the books
that began the dismantling
3812
03:34:57,120 --> 03:34:59,120
of slavery.
3813
03:34:59,290 --> 03:35:03,840
It was a train that
could not be stopped.
3814
03:35:04,000 --> 03:35:09,550
And, so, we see someone
who understands the tide
3815
03:35:09,720 --> 03:35:11,890
of the city, of the state,
3816
03:35:12,050 --> 03:35:16,600
looks at the laws, understands
that slavery is going to end,
3817
03:35:16,770 --> 03:35:19,310
at least in Pennsylvania,
3818
03:35:19,480 --> 03:35:22,650
and he got on the right side
of that conversation.
3819
03:35:22,820 --> 03:35:25,570
If this were a petition
coming from anybody else,
3820
03:35:25,730 --> 03:35:27,650
the Congress would have
never even considered it,
3821
03:35:27,820 --> 03:35:29,530
but because of Franklin's signature,
3822
03:35:29,700 --> 03:35:31,570
they're forced to consider it.
3823
03:35:31,740 --> 03:35:36,000
And it's the first outspoken,
in public, debate
3824
03:35:36,160 --> 03:35:38,710
in the American history on--
under the new nation
3825
03:35:38,870 --> 03:35:40,670
on slavery.
3826
03:35:40,830 --> 03:35:43,210
In Congress,
the petition was immediately
3827
03:35:43,380 --> 03:35:45,710
attacked by southerners.
3828
03:35:45,880 --> 03:35:49,590
Representative James Jackson
of Georgia warned that if
3829
03:35:49,760 --> 03:35:52,930
Congress tried to abolish
slavery, it would "light up
3830
03:35:53,100 --> 03:35:56,640
the flame of civil discord"
and the southern states
3831
03:35:56,810 --> 03:36:00,520
"will never suffer themselves to
be divested of their property
3832
03:36:00,690 --> 03:36:02,480
without a struggle."
3833
03:36:02,650 --> 03:36:06,900
Another congressman claimed that
the South's sweltering climate
3834
03:36:07,070 --> 03:36:10,400
prohibited whites
from working the soil.
3835
03:36:10,570 --> 03:36:13,910
For that, he said, they needed slaves.
3836
03:36:14,070 --> 03:36:18,160
And Franklin goes back
to a device he had used as
3837
03:36:18,330 --> 03:36:22,120
a teenager, which is to
write a parody in the voice
3838
03:36:22,290 --> 03:36:24,080
of somebody else.
3839
03:36:24,250 --> 03:36:29,170
So he writes a sermon that
he pretends has been given by
3840
03:36:29,340 --> 03:36:32,930
a Muslim from North Africa
about why they have to keep
3841
03:36:33,090 --> 03:36:35,970
white Europeans in slavery.
3842
03:36:36,140 --> 03:36:40,680
And it parodies the entire
argument of all those who are
3843
03:36:40,850 --> 03:36:44,610
opposing abolition in
the United States.
3844
03:36:44,770 --> 03:36:47,070
"If we forbear to make slaves
3845
03:36:47,230 --> 03:36:50,690
of the Christians,"
Franklin's character asks,
3846
03:36:50,860 --> 03:36:56,870
who, in this hot climate,
are to cultivate our lands?"
3847
03:36:57,030 --> 03:36:59,830
And if we set our slaves free,
3848
03:37:00,000 --> 03:37:02,620
what is to be done with them?
3849
03:37:02,790 --> 03:37:05,790
For men accustomed to
slavery, will not work
3850
03:37:05,960 --> 03:37:10,590
for a livelihood when not compelled.
3851
03:37:10,760 --> 03:37:16,430
Here they are brought into a
land where the sun of Islam
3852
03:37:16,600 --> 03:37:19,220
gives forth its light
3853
03:37:19,390 --> 03:37:21,980
and they have an opportunity of making
3854
03:37:22,140 --> 03:37:26,860
themselves acquainted with
the true doctrine, and thereby
3855
03:37:27,020 --> 03:37:30,900
saving their immortal souls.
3856
03:37:32,320 --> 03:37:34,240
And, so,
of course, the reader realizes
3857
03:37:34,410 --> 03:37:37,570
that Franklin is using
precisely the same arguments
3858
03:37:37,740 --> 03:37:40,660
of James Jackson of Georgia,
which immediately proves to you,
3859
03:37:40,830 --> 03:37:44,420
without question, the absurdity
of the arguments.
3860
03:37:44,580 --> 03:37:47,290
This is the genius of Franklin,
to--to take something
3861
03:37:47,460 --> 03:37:49,500
and just turn it around,
to switch the lens and say,
3862
03:37:49,670 --> 03:37:51,670
"So, how would you like it
if it looked like that?"
3863
03:37:53,590 --> 03:37:57,090
The House of
Representatives voted 29-25
3864
03:37:57,260 --> 03:38:00,180
that "Congress has
no authority to interfere"
3865
03:38:00,350 --> 03:38:02,140
on the issue of slavery.
3866
03:38:02,310 --> 03:38:07,560
In the Senate, the petition
was tabled without discussion.
3867
03:38:07,730 --> 03:38:10,150
What they agree on,
more than anything else,
3868
03:38:10,320 --> 03:38:12,400
is we're not talking about this.
3869
03:38:12,570 --> 03:38:14,950
The Federal Government is
not talking about this.
3870
03:38:15,110 --> 03:38:17,170
This is not the forum to deal
with the national question
3871
03:38:17,200 --> 03:38:19,700
of slavery, because there is
no national question.
3872
03:38:19,870 --> 03:38:21,790
It's a state question.
3873
03:38:21,950 --> 03:38:25,370
The question of the future
of slavery is really left
3874
03:38:25,540 --> 03:38:27,670
for the individual States to decide.
3875
03:38:27,830 --> 03:38:30,960
That's how we end up with
the North-South division.
3876
03:38:31,130 --> 03:38:33,300
I would put it this way.
3877
03:38:33,460 --> 03:38:41,060
Before the Revolution, slavery
was never a major public issue.
3878
03:38:41,220 --> 03:38:44,810
There were people who spoke,
before the Revolution,
3879
03:38:44,980 --> 03:38:50,110
who spoke against it and gave
good reasons to what evil
3880
03:38:50,270 --> 03:38:55,650
it was, but it was not
a major public issue.
3881
03:38:55,820 --> 03:39:02,120
After the Revolution, there
never was a time when it wasn't.
3882
03:39:10,500 --> 03:39:12,630
Here is my creed:
3883
03:39:12,800 --> 03:39:17,380
I believe in one God,
creator of the universe.
3884
03:39:17,550 --> 03:39:20,470
That he governs it by his providence.
3885
03:39:20,640 --> 03:39:22,430
That he ought to be worshipped.
3886
03:39:22,600 --> 03:39:25,350
That the most acceptable
service we render to him
3887
03:39:25,520 --> 03:39:28,940
is doing good to his other children.
3888
03:39:29,100 --> 03:39:33,070
That the soul of man is immortal
and will be treated
3889
03:39:33,230 --> 03:39:38,950
with justice in another life
respecting its conduct in this.
3890
03:39:39,110 --> 03:39:42,490
These I take to be the
fundamental principles of all
3891
03:39:42,660 --> 03:39:45,790
sound religion, and I regard them
3892
03:39:45,950 --> 03:39:48,540
in whatever sect I meet with them.
3893
03:39:50,500 --> 03:39:54,130
Franklin's worsening
health kept him housebound.
3894
03:39:54,290 --> 03:39:57,210
"People who live long,
who will drink from the cup
3895
03:39:57,380 --> 03:40:00,220
of Life to the very bottom,"
he wrote a friend,
3896
03:40:00,380 --> 03:40:04,260
"must expect to meet with some
of the usual dregs."
3897
03:40:05,930 --> 03:40:09,890
In the spring of 1790,
he suffered chest pains
3898
03:40:10,060 --> 03:40:12,600
and a fever that confined him
to his bed,
3899
03:40:12,770 --> 03:40:14,980
surrounded by his family.
3900
03:40:15,150 --> 03:40:18,780
He asked his daughter Sally
to arrange things so he could
3901
03:40:18,940 --> 03:40:20,820
"die in a decent manner."
3902
03:40:20,990 --> 03:40:26,200
She told him everyone hoped
he would live many more years.
3903
03:40:26,370 --> 03:40:29,120
"I hope not," he replied.
3904
03:40:32,040 --> 03:40:37,800
On April 17, 1790,
an abscess in his lung burst,
3905
03:40:37,960 --> 03:40:41,220
and he slipped into unconsciousness.
3906
03:40:41,380 --> 03:40:46,010
At 11:00 that night,
Benjamin Franklin died.
3907
03:40:46,180 --> 03:40:50,060
He was 84 years old.
3908
03:40:50,230 --> 03:40:52,520
More than 20,000 people,
3909
03:40:52,690 --> 03:40:56,150
the largest crowd Philadelphia
had ever seen,
3910
03:40:56,320 --> 03:40:59,190
turned out for his funeral procession.
3911
03:40:59,360 --> 03:41:01,450
Leading it from his house
on Market Street
3912
03:41:01,610 --> 03:41:04,360
to the burial ground at Christ Church
3913
03:41:04,530 --> 03:41:09,410
were the clergy of every church
of every sect in the city,
3914
03:41:09,580 --> 03:41:12,540
walking arm in arm.
3915
03:41:12,710 --> 03:41:15,130
When he was 22 years old,
3916
03:41:15,290 --> 03:41:18,670
Franklin had composed
an epitaph for his grave.
3917
03:41:18,840 --> 03:41:21,840
"The Body of B. Franklin,
Printer,
3918
03:41:22,010 --> 03:41:24,340
"Like the Cover of an old Book,
3919
03:41:24,510 --> 03:41:28,260
"Its contents torn out,
And Stript of its Lettering
3920
03:41:28,430 --> 03:41:32,850
"and Gilding,
"Lies here, Food for Worms.
3921
03:41:33,020 --> 03:41:35,980
"But the Work shall not be
wholly lost,
3922
03:41:36,150 --> 03:41:39,730
"For it will, as he believed,
appear once more,
3923
03:41:39,900 --> 03:41:42,690
"In a new & more perfect Edition
3924
03:41:42,860 --> 03:41:46,320
Corrected and amended
By the Author."
3925
03:41:47,780 --> 03:41:52,330
As he aged, however, the old
printer had, of course,
3926
03:41:52,500 --> 03:41:54,500
edited it down.
3927
03:41:54,670 --> 03:41:57,420
The gravestone's epitaph became,
3928
03:41:57,580 --> 03:42:00,300
"BENJAMIN
And DEBORAH FRANKLIN."
3929
03:42:02,920 --> 03:42:06,220
He had never completed
the autobiography he started
3930
03:42:06,390 --> 03:42:09,600
back in 1771.
3931
03:42:09,760 --> 03:42:14,640
His grandson Temple eventually
published the manuscript.
3932
03:42:14,810 --> 03:42:17,560
The book would go through
hundreds of editions
3933
03:42:17,730 --> 03:42:20,110
in dozens of languages,
3934
03:42:20,270 --> 03:42:24,280
inspiring generations of
ambitious strivers
3935
03:42:24,440 --> 03:42:28,200
wanting to get ahead in life.
3936
03:42:28,370 --> 03:42:30,580
There's nothing dreamy
or romantic about Franklin.
3937
03:42:30,740 --> 03:42:36,160
But in that self-improving,
marvelously protean way,
3938
03:42:36,330 --> 03:42:39,290
there's something about him
that so much becomes what we
3939
03:42:39,460 --> 03:42:42,670
all quest for, what we think
of as the sort of, American
3940
03:42:42,840 --> 03:42:44,670
ingenuity, that American
feeling that we can
3941
03:42:44,840 --> 03:42:46,470
accomplish anything.
3942
03:42:51,970 --> 03:42:55,230
In his will, Franklin
left most of his wealth
3943
03:42:55,390 --> 03:42:58,020
and possessions to
members of his family,
3944
03:42:58,190 --> 03:43:00,730
except to his son William.
3945
03:43:02,520 --> 03:43:06,490
But in memory of his start as
a lowly printer's apprentice,
3946
03:43:06,650 --> 03:43:10,620
he created a trust fund,
still active today,
3947
03:43:10,780 --> 03:43:14,040
to help young people with
ambition and talent
3948
03:43:14,200 --> 03:43:20,630
from his two hometowns
of Boston and Philadelphia.
3949
03:43:20,790 --> 03:43:22,880
I begin to be almost sorry
3950
03:43:23,050 --> 03:43:24,880
I was born so soon,
3951
03:43:25,050 --> 03:43:28,470
since I cannot have the
Happiness of knowing what will
3952
03:43:28,630 --> 03:43:31,430
be known 100 Years hence.
3953
03:43:34,930 --> 03:43:37,850
But it is the will of God
and Nature that these mortal
3954
03:43:38,020 --> 03:43:40,770
bodies be laid aside.
3955
03:43:40,940 --> 03:43:44,570
Whether I have been doing
good or mischief is for time
3956
03:43:44,730 --> 03:43:46,280
to discover.
3957
03:43:46,440 --> 03:43:49,200
I only know that I intended well,
3958
03:43:49,360 --> 03:43:53,330
and I hope all will end well.
3959
03:43:53,490 --> 03:43:55,660
Adieu.
3960
03:43:55,830 --> 03:43:57,330
Benjamin Franklin.
321243