The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 9

Early in the period covered by this volume Franklin wrote the "Canada Pamphlet," one of his earliest and most important efforts to influence British public opinion. In it he urged that in peace negotiations with France, Great Britain should insist on receiving the whole of Canada as a permanent possession, rather than the island of Guadeloupe. Franklin's time and attention were also taken up by a major contest with the Pennsylvania Proprietors before the officers of the Crown to gain royal approval of a series of important acts passed by the Assembly. Neither side won a complete victory, though on the central issue that had taken Franklin to England he achieved the recognition of the Assembly's right to tax the proprietary estates on the same basis as the property of other landowners. His periods of leisure were brightened by a widening circle of British friends and by travel in England and the Low Countries.