Letter to George III

Letter Content

Your Majesty, The colonies have borne every burden you have placed upon us with patience, hoping that reason and justice would prevail. But our patience is now exhausted. We are not rebels seeking to overthrow lawful authority. We are British subjects demanding the rights of Englishmen - rights established by Magna Carta and confirmed by centuries of tradition. We ask only for representation in the Parliament that taxes us, for trial by jury, for the protection of our property. Your Majesty's ministers have instead sent armies to occupy our cities, dissolved our legislatures, and declared us in rebellion for asserting rights that every Englishman in London takes for granted. Blood has been shed at Lexington and Concord. War has begun, though we did not seek it. Even now, at this late hour, reconciliation is possible if Your Majesty will acknowledge our rights and withdraw your forces. We harbor no desire for independence - we wish only to remain loyal subjects with the freedoms our fathers enjoyed. But if you persist in this course of tyranny, you will transform this conflict from a constitutional dispute into a war for independence. You will lose not just the argument but the colonies themselves. A people fighting for their liberty cannot be subdued by force of arms alone. I pray Your Majesty will choose the path of wisdom and reconciliation before it is too late. Your devoted subject, Benjamin Franklin

Historical Context

Written in the early days of the American Revolution, before independence was declared. Franklin, who had spent years in London trying to bridge the gap between Britain and the colonies, was making one last appeal for reconciliation.

Significance

Shows that independence was not the colonists' initial goal but became inevitable when Britain refused to address their grievances. Franklin's evolution from loyal subject to revolutionary leader mirrors the colonies' journey.