Creating the United States

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Benjamin Franklin Voices American Defiance

Benjamin Franklin Voices American Defiance (029.01.00)

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Just days after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by Congress, Benjamin Franklin wrote this stinging rebuke to the commander of the British naval forces in North America and peace commissioner, Lord Richard Howe (1726–1799), who had offered pardons to American political leaders. The offer was rejected. Franklin replied that “It is impossible we should think of Submission to a Government” that has inflicted “atrocious injuries” on Americans.

(Transcription)

“It is impossible we should think of Submission to a Government . . . ”