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Collection Reference Number GLC01719
From Archive Folder Documents Relating to 1765-1774 
Title Examination of Doctor Benjamin Franklin, before an August Assembly, relating to the Repeal of the Stamp-Act, &c.
Date 1766
Author Parker, James (fl. 1766-1777)  
Document Type Pamphlet
Content Description Records Franklin's testimony before the House of Commons concerning American grievances about the Stamp Act, internal levies, the debts from the French and Indian War, costs and origins of that war, American manufactures, and American sentiments towards Britain and Parliament. Among the questions and answers are: "Q. What used to be the pride of Americans? / A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great-Britain. / Q. What now is their pride? / A. To wear their old cloaths over again, till they can make new ones." Copyright and libel laws prohibited any indication of the "august assembly" being identified as the House of Commons. James Parker was the publisher of this pamphlet.
Subjects Stamp Act  French and Indian War  Law  Government and Civics  Global History and Civics  Taxes or Taxation  Finance  Economics  Military History  Industry  Commerce  Merchants and Trade  Textile  
People Parker, James (fl. 1766-1777)  Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790)  
Place written New York, New York
Theme French & Indian Wars; Law; Government & Politics; Foreign Affairs; Banking & Economics; Industry; Merchants & Commerce
Sub-collection The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859
Additional Information His is one of the most remarkable success stories in American history. The eighteenth child of a Boston candlemaker and soapmaker, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was apprenticed to his brother, a printer, but ran away. As a publisher in Philadelphia, he was so successful that he was able to retire at the age of 42 and devote the rest of his life to science and politics. While serving in England as a representative of the colonies of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Georgia, Franklin promoted the idea of American liberties and testified against the Stamp Act. He had been out of touch with sentiment in the colonies, and in his testimony before Parliament, Franklin suggested that the colonists objected only to direct taxes, not to duties placed on imported goods. His testimony helped to secure the repeal of the Stamp Act and greatly enhanced his reputation both in England and America.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859