38 pages • 1-hour read
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
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Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4, Pages 156-160 Summary
Franklin arrives in London on July 27, 1757. He attempts to gain support from the proprietary governors. However, Franklin discovers a lack of support from England and claims he was told that the “Law of the Land” revolves around the king being “the Legislator of the Colonies” (157). Franklin expresses his surprise, claiming that he believed the colonies served as charters with the Assemblies able to make their own laws. Franklin debates this issue with representatives of the British government, and he writes a list of the Assembly’s complaints and proposals to be reviewed. After a legal battle over taxes, the British government and the Assembly, as represented by Franklin, come to a compromise.
Franklin returns to Philadelphia. The autobiography ends with the proprietary governors threatening to have Governor Denny removed from office for passing the Assembly’s proposal. However, the threats are never executed. Ultimately, Franklin learns that the American colonies do not have the right to make any of their own laws.
Part 4 Analysis
Although Part 4 is short and without its own narrative break, it recounts Franklin’s introduction to political diplomacy, which will take up most of his time in the latter half of his life. In his encounters with the proprietary governors, he introduces his integral role in the American Revolution as a diplomat, highlighting The Development of American Identity. This experience in London provides context for Franklin’s position against the British during the Revolutionary War: He is shocked that the colonies have no rights whatsoever to make their own laws. Franklin suggests that this is an unjust situation, one which illustrates why the colonies wanted to gain independence from Britain: to exercise direct control over their own society and affairs. However, the abrupt end to the narrative indicates that Franklin was unable to finish his autobiographical writings before his death.
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