Franklin before the Privy Council, White: On behalf of the Province of Massachusetts to Advocate the Removal of Hutchinson and Oliver

by Benjamin Franklin

Overview

In 1773, Benjamin Franklin was living in London and acting as Commissioner for the colonies of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Georgia. He learned of, and obtained copies of, letters from the Province of Massachusetts Bay Governor Thomas Hutchinson and Lieutenant Governor Oliver written to powerful people in England. These letters called "for suppressive measures" and advised "action detrimental to the colonies." Benjamin Franklin came before the privy council in London, on behalf of the House of Representatives, to petition for the removal of Hutchinson and Oliver from office. This account includes a description of the event from Bancroft's History of the United States , and the text of the letters and speeches relating to the event. It was originally published in Philadelphia in 1860.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429017442
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	03/05/2009
Series:	Applewood Books
Pages:	148
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of America's most influential Founding Fathers. He was an author, printer, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, statesman, and diplomat. Franklin invented the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and bifocals. He served as President of Pennsylvania (which would be Governor today), United States Minister to France, United States Minister to Sweden, and United States Postmaster General. At 70, he was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was a publisher; most famously of Poor Richard's Almanack, which was published from 1732 to 1757. He charted the Gulf Stream in 1770, developed meteorological theories, and, in a letter dated 1772, laid out the earliest known description of a Pro & Con list. Franklin played the violin, harp, and guitar, and was the first chess player known by name in the American colonies. He created one of the first volunteer firefighting companies in America, was instumental in the founding of the University of Pennsylvania, and founded the American Philosophical Society. Franklin biographer Walter Isaacson calls him "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."