{"data":{"description":"Archiving Early America - Ben Franklin's Son Sides With Great Britain   Says No To Independence!","title":"Ben Franklin's Son Sides With Great Britain - Says NO To Independence!","post_type":"post","content":"\u003cstrong\u003eBy Don Vitale\u003c/strong\u003e\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nI guess you thought all of our colonists....in those early days....were of the same mind.I mean, about separating from those nasties in the mother country.\r\n\r\n\u003cspan style=\"font-size: xx-small;\"\u003e \u003c/span\u003eThat all of our men, women and children were ready to do battle.\r\n\r\nSorry to say otherwise, good friends....but that's not exactly how it was.\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nSure, the Patriots as they were called probably were the\r\nlargest group fighting for independence. I would say that\r\nin their hearts and minds they were dedicated to unleash their bonds.\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nBut facts are facts, other colonists sided with Great Britain. They were Loyalists\r\nand made their presence known.\r\n\r\nIn fact, that's the reason I'm writing this bit of history. Because one of those who made their presence known was \u003ca title=\"Benjamin Franklin\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives/benjamin-franklin/\"\u003eBen Franklin\u003c/a\u003e's son William. Imagine! Your only son joining force with your avowed enemy!\r\n\r\nGreat Godfrey, Friends, Romans and Countrymen...think that didn't raise a lot\r\nof dust with his father? As they say, You Were Right The First Time!\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nBut you decide.\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nHere's Franklin's letter to his son William, who was 54 at the time,\r\nheavily ensconced in the Loyalist World.\r\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\"August 16, 1784\r\nDear Son,\r\n.......I am glad that you desire to revive...the Intercourse that formally existed between us....Indeed nothing has ever hurt me so much and affected me with such keen Sensations...as to find myself deserted in my old Age by my only Son...and not only deserted, but to find him taking up Arms against me, in a Cause wherein my good Fame, Fortune and Life were all at stake...\"\u003c/blockquote\u003e\r\nIn your wildest dreams would you ever imagine that the son of one of America's foremost founders would ever be at loggerheads with his father?\r\nEspecially over an issue that amounted to Life or Death!\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nBut first, let me point out that we're talking about William, the illegitimate son of\r\n\u003ca title=\"Son of Benjamin Franklin\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives/benjamin-franklin/\"\u003eBenjamin Franklin\u003c/a\u003e.\r\n\r\nYou heard that right, friends, illegitimate.  Born in Philadelphia \"to an\r\nunidentified woman of low standing,\" according to the town's gossip mongers.\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nNot surprising then that there's some debate over William's real\r\nparents. Was Ben his natural father? Was Deborah Read Franklin, Ben's common law wife, his real mother? Ben was very close mouthed about the boy's real parentage. Result,the subject was dead before it hit the ground.\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nA year after the boy was born, Ben Franklin married and brought the child into his house.\r\n\r\nNamed William, he was raised by Deborah and Ben, who provided the\r\nchild with love and devotion in his upbringing. Ben saw to it that the boy-- from his earliest years onward-- received a top notch education in Philadelphia. Later that would include a Commission as Ensign in King George's War...and studying law under a prominent Loyalist.\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nAs he was growing up William worked closely with his father's electrical experiments\r\ntogether with a number of civic projects. As he grew older William was appointed\r\nto a succession of political positions. Through his father, who else?\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nBut son William eventually transitioned from Patriot to Loyalist. Do we dare ask Why?\r\n\r\nOn the one hand his father was openly opposed to the English monarchy. At the same time his son was a rising star among Loyalists when the War broke out.\r\n\r\nIn fact, William ascended into the higher ranks of English Royalty in America with his appointment as Royal Governor of New Jersey.  Ben tried to talk his son out of the position....but son William said No!\r\n\r\nAs William became more involved with the Loyalist cause, the patriots-that-be took note of his traitorous acts. In June of 1776 he was declared \"an enemy to the liberties of this country.\" He was arrested and spent 250 days in solitary confinement. Three years later he was released, lived in New York among Loyalists and later left for London where he remained until his death.\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nBack to the letter.\r\n\r\nWilliam waved the white flag after he read his father's letter but Ben did not respond.\r\n\r\nAt that point their father and son relationship was as dead as a bent doornail.\r\n\r\nNo surprise then that William received very little when his father died.\r\nAs Ben Franklin put it in his will:\r\n\"The part he acted against me in the late war, which is of public notoriety,\r\nwill account for my leaving him no more of an estate he endeavored to deprive me of.\"\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \r\nAdmit it, friends, it's not unusual for families to have political differences.\r\nThose waters can run very very deep.\r\n\r\nAfter Franklin's letter to William, father and son were estranged\r\nfor the rest of their lives.\u003cstrong\u003e--dv\u003c/strong\u003e\r\n\r\n\u0026nbsp;","menu":[{"path":"lives-early-america","title":"Famous Lives","submenu":[{"path":"lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin"},{"path":"lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington","title":"Ramsay's The Life of Washington"},{"path":"lives-early-america/adventures-col-daniel-boone","title":"The Adventures of Col. 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