"This obscure family of ours was early in the reformation": on family memory -- "I had such a thirst for knowledge": Franklin's Boston youth -- Franklin's imperial imaginings: "coined land" and global goals -- Pennsylvania politics and the problems of empire -- "People in the colonies...better judges": observing empire at midcentury -- Franklin in London's theatre of empire -- Love of country -- Rebellion to tyrants, obedience to god -- "I intended well, and I hope all will end well": Franklin's last years -- Conclusion
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Text of Note
A literary biography of Franklin's writings on the British Empire and its relationship to British North America, this book assesses Franklin's intellectual life by examining his writings on economics, society, politics, and the environment. It shows how Franklin's youthful reading and writings influenced his values, which had their basis in the early modern liberalism of the seventeenth century