Otis Singleton
Benjamin Franklin was a Founding Father of the United States, a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. He is known for his discovery of many aspects of electricity, such as its fluid nature and that it is composed of a common element which he named the electric fire. Franklin's famous kite experiment in 1752 proved that lightning was electrical in nature. However, his legacy is also tied to his ownership of slaves, a topic he refused to publicly debate, and his reluctance to free the people he enslaved.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Did Benjamin Franklin have slaves? | Yes, Benjamin Franklin had slaves. In 1757, he travelled to London with two enslaved men, Peter and King. |
| Did Benjamin Franklin's slave discover electricity? | No, Benjamin Franklin's slaves did not discover electricity. However, Franklin's research and experiments with electricity are well-known, and he proved that lightning was electrical in nature through his famous kite and key experiment in 1752. |
| What were Benjamin Franklin's views on slavery? | Benjamin Franklin believed that slavery was "an atrocious debasement of human nature" and "a source of serious evils." He wrote essays and published anti-slavery tracts anonymously, and in 1787, he helped write a new constitution for the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and became its president. Despite his views, he never emancipated any of the people he enslaved. |
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What You'll Learn
Benjamin Franklin's views on slavery
Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, had a complicated relationship with slavery. While he owned slaves himself, he also published Quaker pamphlets against slavery and condemned the practice in his private correspondence.
Franklin's views on slavery evolved over time. In his early years, he owned slaves and carried advertisements for their sale in his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. However, he also published anti-slavery tracts anonymously in England around 1760. As he moved into politics, he faced the contradiction of promoting liberty for some while supporting enslavement for others.
In his later years, Franklin became more vocal as an abolitionist. He helped write a new constitution for the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and became its president in 1787. He also wrote several essays stressing the importance of abolition and the integration of African Americans into American society. Franklin believed that slavery was "an atrocious debasement of human nature" and "a source of serious evils." He argued that slaves had long been treated as brute animals, and that slavery impaired their intellectual faculties and social affections.
Despite his changing views, Franklin worked to keep proposals for abolition from interfering with American independence or the ratification of the Constitution. For example, in 1776, he did not free a slave named George before travelling to France, instead giving him to his daughter and son-in-law to maintain his negotiating position with the French. During the Constitutional Convention, Franklin's main goal was to keep the new country united, so he compromised on the issue of slavery to avoid angering pro-slavery delegates from the southern states.
In summary, while Benjamin Franklin's views on slavery evolved over his lifetime, he ultimately became a vocal advocate for abolition and the integration of freed slaves into American society. However, he also made compromises on the issue to maintain political unity and independence.
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Franklin's slaves
Benjamin Franklin, an American polymath, was a Founding Father of the United States and a pioneer in the study of electricity. He is well-known for his famous kite and key experiment in 1752, which proved that lightning was electrical in nature. Franklin also discovered many things about electricity that were not previously understood, such as the fact that it consisted of a "common element" which he named the "electric fire", and that it was a fluid that passed from one body to another without being destroyed.
While Franklin is celebrated for his contributions to science and democracy, his legacy is also tied to his ownership of slaves and his evolving views on slavery. Franklin's involvement with slavery is a complex part of his story, and it is important to acknowledge the people he enslaved and the impact this had on their lives.
In 1757, when Franklin and his son William travelled to London, they brought two enslaved men, Peter and King, as personal servants. King escaped a year later and found shelter with a woman in Suffolk. The Franklins located him but chose not to reclaim him, presumably allowing him to live out his life as a free man. Peter, on the other hand, remained with the Franklins and returned to Philadelphia with them in 1763.
Franklin's views on slavery evolved over time. He wrote letters using pseudonyms to advocate for various political points, including a letter from a Muslim slaver intended to mirror the American slaveholder's lust for slavery. In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Franklin helped write a new constitution for the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and became its president. However, he did not publicly debate the issue of slavery at the convention, as he prioritised keeping the new country united. Despite his changing personal views, Franklin never emancipated any of the people he enslaved.
In conclusion, while Benjamin Franklin is renowned for his scientific discoveries and contributions to democracy, his legacy is also intertwined with his ownership of slaves and his complex relationship with the issue of slavery. It is important to recognise the impact of slavery on the lives of those he enslaved and to consider Franklin's evolving views on this contentious issue.
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Did Franklin free his slaves?
Benjamin Franklin's views on slavery evolved over the course of his life. While he is known to have benefited financially from the slave trade, he also wrote and published several essays supporting the abolition of slavery.
Franklin was a slave owner and is known to have purchased at least seven individuals: Joseph, Jemima, Peter, King, Othello, George, and Bob. The Franklin household owned enslaved people as early as 1735 until 1790. In 1757, when Franklin travelled to London, he took two of his enslaved men, Peter and King, as personal servants. In 1758, King escaped and was given shelter by a woman in Suffolk. The Franklins discovered his whereabouts but made no attempt to reclaim him. Peter, on the other hand, remained with the Franklins after King's escape and returned to Philadelphia with them in 1763.
Despite his changing views on slavery, Franklin never publicly spoke out against it until later in his life. In the 1780s, he became a vocal abolitionist, writing a famous public address condemning slavery and urging Congress to act. He also published numerous Quaker pamphlets against slavery and wrote several essays stressing the importance of the abolition of slavery and the integration of African Americans into American society. In 1787, Franklin became the president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, and he supported Pennsylvania's adoption of gradual emancipation.
However, Franklin's actions did not always align with his stated beliefs. For example, in 1776, he gave his slave George to his daughter and son-in-law instead of emancipating him before going to France to represent the United States. This decision was made to ease his negotiating position with the French and avoid angering pro-slavery colleagues in the US delegation. During the Constitutional Convention, Franklin's main goal was to keep the new country united, so he compromised on the issue of slavery, hoping that people would voluntarily choose to end the practice.
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Franklin's electrical experiments
Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath, a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin was also a pioneer in the study of electricity and lightning.
Franklin actively experimented with electricity for only a few years, starting in the 1740s and continuing into the early 1750s. He was introduced to electrical experiments with the Leyden Jar, which caught his attention and curiosity. He then received a glass-rubbing tube from Peter Collinson, the London agent of the Philadelphia Library Company, in late 1746. After much experimenting, he wrote several letters to Collinson about his findings and success using the tube. One of his first experiments was to give electrical shocks to the limbs of paralyzed individuals using Leyden jars. He also conducted the kite experiment in 1752, which involved flying a kite with a pointed conductive wire near thunderclouds to collect static electricity and conduct it down the wet kite string to the ground. This experiment proved the electric nature of lightning.
Franklin's experiments, published in "Experiments and Observations on Electricity Made at Philadelphia in America," proved the existence of positive and negative charges, as well as the concepts of insulators and conductors. His work led to the invention of the lightning rod, which protected buildings from lightning strikes.
While Franklin is known for his scientific contributions, his legacy is also tied to his ownership of enslaved people and his evolving views on slavery. During his lifetime, he owned several enslaved individuals, including two men, Peter and King, who he took with him as personal servants when he travelled to London in 1757. Despite his changing personal views on slavery, Franklin never emancipated any of the people he enslaved. He did, however, become president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery in 1787 and supported Pennsylvania's adoption of gradual emancipation.
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Franklin's legacy
Benjamin Franklin is remembered as one of the most influential intellectuals of his time. He was a Founding Father of the United States, a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. He was also the first postmaster general.
Franklin's work in electricity is particularly notable. He discovered many things about electricity that were previously unknown. He proved that lightning was electrical in nature through his famous kite and key experiment in 1752. He also coined new terms, such as "positive," "negative," "charge," "conductor," and "battery."
However, Franklin's legacy is complicated by his relationship with slavery. While he personally disliked the institution and advocated for its abolition, he did not free any of the people he enslaved. He also refused to publicly debate the issue at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, choosing instead to compromise with the southern states to keep the country united. Franklin's position as an enslaver and his failure to take a stronger anti-slavery stance during his lifetime remain a complex part of his historical legacy.
In addition to his work in electricity and his complicated stance on slavery, Franklin made significant contributions to various fields. In demography, his 1755 essay, "Observations concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc.," stands as a leading work in 18th-century Anglo-American demography. He also wrote popular works such as \"Poor Richard's Almanack,\" which offered an enduring brand of American humour. Franklin's writings and experiments in electricity brought him world fame, and his work in this field laid the foundation for the single fluid theory of electricity.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Benjamin Franklin owned slaves. In 1757, he travelled to London with his son William and two enslaved men, Peter and King.
While Benjamin Franklin was personally uneasy about slavery, he did not take an anti-slavery position in England. He worked to keep proposals for abolition from interfering with American independence or the ratification of the Constitution. Later in life, he wrote several essays that stressed the importance of the abolition of slavery and the integration of African Americans into American society.
No, Benjamin Franklin did not discover electricity. However, he did make groundbreaking discoveries about electricity, including that lightning was electrical in nature, and coined new terms such as "positive", "negative", "charge", "conductor", and "battery".
In 1752, Benjamin Franklin conducted a famous experiment with a kite and a key, proving that lightning was electrical in nature. He also discovered that electricity consisted of a "common element" which he named "electric fire", and that it was "fluid" like a liquid.
