George Washington is commonly referred to as the “father of the United States.” However, as co-editor and signer of all four major documents that created the United States, Ben Franklin, who was a reluctant revolutionary at first, could also be a contender for that title.
Franklin spent the majority of his life a loyal British colonial citizen. His most famous editorial cartoon depicting a snake cut into 13 parts with the phrase “join or die,” actually did not have anything to do with the American Revolution. According to The Franklin Institute, Franklin created the cartoon in 1754 in support of the British during the French and Indian Wars.
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When the first schisms between the colonies and England began, Franklin tried to be pragmatic and urged his peers toward a peaceful resolution. When it became clear that a break with the mother country was inevitable, Franklin decided to go all in and become a traitor to the Crown.
Franklin spent weeks helping Thomas Jefferson craft the language of the Declaration Of Independence that both men signed, along with Augustans Button Gwinnett and Georgia Walton, and 52 others.
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Every last one of the signers knew that their signatures on the Declaration was also a signature on their own death warrants.
An interesting side note to counter attempts to erase the memory of men like Jefferson and Franklin for owning slaves is that as co-editor of the Declaration, Franklin agreed to language that blamed the Crown for forcing the slave trade on the colonies.
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However, the language condemning the slave trade was omitted shortly after the Declaration’s first reading to the Continental Congress.
After signing the Declaration and knowing that war was on the horizon, the colonies found themselves with a major problem: they did not have anywhere near enough money to fund an army.
Franklin was already an international celebrity at the time, having patented numerous inventions and authored several scientific theories. Early American leaders decided to send him to France as an ambassador to secure needed funding from King Louis XVI.
While Franklin was known far and wide for his moralist writings in Poor Richard’s Almanac, he also had the reputation for being quite bawdy. Franklin had at least one illegitimate child, and some biographers have claimed he may have fathered as many as 15 offspring.
Franklin had turned 70 when he sailed to France, and the records show that his libido had not diminished at all with age. Franklin used his time in France to not only chase the King’s money but to chase women as well. And he caught a few, too.
Over the years, some have attempted to prove that Franklin may have had homosexual relationships as well. While the jury is still out on those claims, Franklin definitely had a very close friendship with Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian military strategist who was openly gay.
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Franklin would recommend von Steuben to George Washington when he was commanding an untrained and unruly Continental Army. The Baron would help turn the rag-tag army into a real fighting force. It can be said that a gay man helped create the army that won the Revolutionary War, and Franklin handpicked that man.
In 1778, Franklin signed the treaty of alliance with France and came back to America flush with cash. He would later be on-hand in 1783 to sign the final peace treaty with England.
Years after the war, it became apparent to almost everyone that the Articles of Confederation, which created the United States, was an ineffective document. Most historians agree it was Franklin’s senior statesman status that lent credibility to the constitutional convention.
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In 1787, Franklin signed his name to his final historic document, the United States Constitution.
Several years later, in 1789, Franklin would pen what is likely his most famous quote in a letter to French scientist Jean-Baptiste Leroy:
“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” Franklin wrote.
…And that is something you might not have known.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com.
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