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There is no more fascinating character among the Founding Fathers than Benjamin Franklin. An intellectual powerhouse credited with an extraordinary number of inventions and writings, he also was one of the three most pivotal players in the solidifying of the new colonial government, along with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Historian Walter Isaacson, author of the definitive biography of Franklin, described him as "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become." It was Franklin who edited the Declaration of Independence as Jefferson wrote it, making significant changes, which altered the course of history. ( For example, Jefferson had originally written "we hold these truths to be Sacred," but Franklin altered that to read "self-evident" because, he argued with Jefferson, the new democracy could not be predicated on the old divine right of kings, like the monarchy they had just won freedom from. Thus "self-evident"—coming from the people, not "Sacred," coming via a kingly conduit to God. )
Franklin was also a statesman, having been Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly and President of Pennsylvania—a position equivalent to governor, today.
Franklin was also known as the great communicator among the major players in the colonial era. His joie de vivre and sense of humor ingratiated him with everyone, which is why he became the primary diplomat from the colonies, an ambassador to the French and Prussian courts and U.S. minister to both France and Sweden. In each capacity he negotiated treaties and opened communication between supporters in Europe and the colonies.
It was in his role as ambassador to France that Franklin also became the nation's first gay-friendly ambassador, helping a known homosexual escape prosecution and become a pivotal figure in the American Revolution.
Identifying Franklin's most pivotal role in colonial America is impossible as there was no arena in which he was not essential, as Isaacson's biography makes clear. But certainly Franklin's most significant role in relationship to the American Revolution and the propitious outcome of the Revolutionary War was his delivery of Baron Friedrich von Steuben from the French court at Paris to George Washington at Valley Forge.
Franklin knew of von Steuben's homosexual encounters, but didn't consider them relevant to a position in Washington's Continental Army. In June 1777, rumors of homosexual activity had forced von Steuben to resign his role as chamberlain to Prince Joseph Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Hechige, in southern Germany. Von Steuben travelled to Paris—some say fled—seeking a position in the French army or the Continental Army, through American military representatives like Franklin.
Washington had sought a military strategist, but had insisted on someone who spoke fluent English. Von Steuben spoke German and French and very little English, so Franklin was initially leary of recommending him to Washington.
Read the entire profile of Benjamin Franklin—as well as that of Black Revolutionary War hero Col. George Middleton—online at www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com .
