The Political Philosophy of Benjamin Franklin

CHAPTER 4. THOUGHTS ON GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER 4 THOUGHTS ON GOVERNMENT We have now examined Franklin’s reflections on the economic and moral foundations of liberty and the most fundamental civic expressions of that liberty in free associations, which in turn teach the skills necessary for self-government. In doing so, we have largely followed the progression of Franklin’s own interests and activities, beginning with his early eVorts to establish himself in business and moving through his projects for moral perfection and civic improvement in Philadelphia, up to the moment of his entry into public life in 1751. In this chapter we will continue from that point, tracing the development of Franklin’s thoughts on government and diplomacy as they emerged from his practical confrontations with the great issues of his day, in this last, longest, and most illustrious chapter of his career. But here we find a change in tone. Franklin relates with gusto his civic projects in Philadelphia: he has had fun with all of them, and he invites everyone else to do the same in their own communities. But serving in oYce, especially high oYce at a level removed from the people, does not seem to have held the same natural satisfactions for Franklin.1 For all the fame it brought him, he found working at diplomacy and lawmaking a dark and frustrating business in which his faith in human nature was tried and most of his best hopes bore little fruit. Franklin gave so much time to politics because he recognized its importance, and he was of course pleased that his country thought well of his talents. Yet the importance of politics, in his thinking as in that of many of his contemporaries, was largely negative . As he saw it, happiness requires liberty and prosperity and a 127 ;l: thriving civil society, which governments can protect or thwart; in the worst case, tyranny enslaves a people so thoroughly that virtue is corrupted as well.2 The true tasks of government are few and simple. It should do for society only those things that individuals and voluntary associations cannot, such as defending against criminals and enemies and constructing large public works. While most of Franklin’s eVorts before his entry into politics involved launching new projects, the lion’s share of his eVorts afterwards had the goal of curtailing excessive and pernicious assumptions of governmental power. Franklin should not, however , be classed with the revolutionary radicals who saw government as only a necessary evil that a society should minimize as much as possible. His early experiences with colonial governments that were too weak and divided to provide for their own defense inoculated him against the naïve wish for minimal government . It would be more accurate to say that Franklin favored simple government: government with strictly curtailed ends, powers fully adequate to meet those ends, and lines of responsibility of maximum directness and clarity. Simplicity is a virtue that recurs in Franklin’s thoughts on a myriad of subjects, including colonial dress and republican manners , English spelling, relations between business partners, and governmental structure.3 Simplicity of form and function in government is good because it prevents the duplication, contradictory policies, and overlapping jurisdictions that make it hard to assign responsibility for problems and resolve them. Franklin’s advice that the king appoint a single postmaster for America, his preference for direct royal governance over proprietary rule in Pennsylvania, his request to Congress to put the mission to France under one ambassador, and his endorsement of unicameral legislatures are all expressions of this love of simplicity. Yet in one respect Franklin’s politics departed markedly from the general inclination of Americans who loved simplicity and prized local self-government. Many who shared these views found themselves among the Antifederalists, who wished to maximize local autonomy, in imitation of the ancient small republics of Greece and Rome. Franklin, however, was an inveterate foe of narrow localism, finding it prone to prejudice, suspicion of outsiders , and fiercely circumscribed loyalties. Throughout his life he The Political Philosophy of Benjamin Franklin 128 worked to combat such narrowness, with his press and his post oYce, his numerous schemes for national and international associations of learned men, and his bold advocacy of continental union, a well-integrated British Empire, and later a vigorous national government for the United States. Franklin believed that many tasks of government are best fulfilled by unified policies under...