Leap in the Dark by Ferling

1. Leap in the Darkby Ferling Ch 1 Lecture

2. Ben Franklin- born in Boston Jan 17, 1706 • Ben was one of 17 children of Josiah Franklin. Ben’s mother AbiahFolger was the second wife of Josiah. • Wanted Ben to be in the Clergy-too expensive. • Benjamin always loved to read and at a very early age had a scholarly mind.

3. When Ben was 15 his older brother, James, started The New England Courant. • Silence Dogood- Pen Name Ben Franklin used • Cotton Mather and the Puritan clash • James in thrown in jail • Ben left to run the Courant

4. Left Boston. Went to New York in hopes of finding work as a printer-unsuccessful. Ended up in Philadelphia. Eventually found job as an apprentice printer. • Deborah Read- future wife • Would borrow money to set himself up his own print shop • Fathered a child in 1728-William. Would marry Deborah Read. They opened a sort of mercantile along with the print shop.

5. 1729 Franklin purchased the Pennsylvania Gazette • 1733 Began publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac • Weather reports, recipes, predictions etc. He published it under the name Richard Sanders, a poor man who needed money to take care of his sick wife.

6. 1730-40’s civic contributions • Pave, clean and light Philadelphia streets • Library Company 1731 nations 1st subscription library • Philadelphia Union Fire Company “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure • American Philosophical Society 1743 • 1751 Pennsylvania Hospital • 1752 Philadelphia Contribution for Insurance Against Loss by Fire

7. By 1750 He had retired from business at the age of 44. • Focused on his inventions: Franklin stove ( no patent) bifocals, swim fins and electricity • Franklin will begin to dabble in politics when he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1751.

8. The British are going to request a gathering of representatives in Albany, New York to discuss what to do about French aggressions and their claims to the Ohio River Valley. In addition, the meeting included the Six Nations Confederacy in hopes of persuading the Indian nation to support the British against the French.

9. Represented at Albany were the New England Colonies, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Franklin would represent Pennsylvania. • Ulterior motive- many delegates hoped to come up with a plan to unify the colonies under British Control

10. Franklin owned land in the Ohio River Valley. He purchased it between 1740-50. • Make sure French did not own the land and then push the Indians off of the land. • Goal-make the British Empire the largest and most powerful in all of the continent

11. “Join or Die”- the title of an article Franklin wrote in his newspaper- The Pennsylvania Gazette depicting the menacing encroachments of the French in the Ohio river valley and depicted a severed snake for visual effect

12. After Jumonville 1754-( Remember… George Washington led the attack on the French encampment and sat by in disbelief as Half-King and the Indians massacred and scalped the French including the French Commander- Ensign Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville. The representatives at Albany knew that now a war with France was imminent

13. Many delegates would suggest different formats for a unifying body of government for the 13 colonies. But, 4 days after the first plan was discussed the committee came up with the Albany Plan of Union on June 28. Franklin is known as the primary author of the document because the majorities of ideas for unification in the document were his.

14. Plan details- see handout. • Quick overview- Georgia and Delaware excluded. It was a unification of 11 colonies • President General • Grand Council(National Legislature) consisting of 48 members elected for 3 year terms by whomever each colony designated as qualified voters. • Representation and Taxation were to be based on population • President General could declare war with the advice and consent of the assembly, negotiate treaties, regulate trade and arrange land transactions, Raise armies, but could not force colonist into the military without the consent of the colonial assemblies • Levy taxes that “ to them shall appear most equal and Just” but take into consideration the citizenries ability to pay and tax luxury items only

15. The plan was sent to England and the colonies for approval. • Prime Minister received the document 10 days after Jumonville. For several reasons did not approve • Not one English Colony Approved!

16. The official declaration of the French and Indian war was 1756 and it would last until 1763. However, the French and Indian war truly started in 1754 with Jumonville. So instead of the war being called the 7 years war it truly was the 9 years war

17. Middle Ground • Land that Indians inhabit. • French and Indians had trade agreements in this territory but England thought the trade should be controlled and taxed by them. • France and Indians disagreed. • 1757 Britain began to attempt to remove the French from what is now Quebec City and Montreal in Canada.

18. Looking back-England est. the Ohio Company of Virginia in 1747 to explore the region • French did not like that and established more forts in the area. • Duquesne (what is now Pittsburgh) became a key fort. The English wanted to remove the French from the fort. George Washington was assigned by the English to take the fort. His attempts failed. Edward Braddock was then assigned and he and his troops failed too.

19. Britain and France were at war almost constantly since the late 17th century primarily over trading rights and the land just west of the colonies. The French controlled what is now Canada all the way down the region by Lake Erie. In between the lands controlled by the English and French is what is called the Middle ground.

20. It was not until 1758 that the English, under the command of Jeffery Amherst, began to win against the French and the Indians. • Montreal the capital of Canada fell to the English in 1760 ending France’s domination • In 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian war. Quebec culturally was still French but England now controlled all of Canada

21. Side note- • Canada evolves into an “independent” country from England over time. • Becomes independent in theory in 1867 • 1871 British troops leave Canada • Canada est. its own supreme court in 1875 • Canada’s involvement in WWI is what really solidified them as independent power • Currently have own Prime Minister but maintains Queen Elizabeth II as Constitutional Head of State

22. French and Indian war would end in 1763. Treaty of Paris 1763 made it official. • Even though Britain and the colonies had been victorious in the French and Indian war there was an underlying irony that is made clear by Franklin on page 22 of your text- last paragraph

23. Franklins memoirs: “’ I am still of opinion it would have been happy for both sides of the water if it [Albany Plan] had been adopted. The colonies, so united, could have been sufficiently strong to have defended themselves; there would then have been no need of troops from England.” London would neither have been driven deeply into debt by this war, he added, nor would it have felt it necessary afterwards to tax the provinces, which helped trigger the American Revolution. “ But such mistakes are not new.” Most leaders do not like change- “The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom but forc’d by the occasion.