On this day 250 years ago, Benjamin Franklin appeared before the Privy Council in London. Franklin assumed he had been summoned to the Privy Council as agent for Massachuseito address the requests that the Massachusetts legislature had filed with the Privy Council to have Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson and Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver removed from office. Instead Alexander Wedderburn, British Solicitor-General, accused Franklin of being a “true incendiary” for making copies of letters written by Hutchinson that suggested Parliament restrict the liberties of the colonies and then leaking the letters to the press. Wedderburn grills an embarrassed Franklin for over an hour but Franklin makes no attempt to respond to the allegations against him.

His embarrassment before the Privy Council was a turning point for Benjamin Franklin. Up to this point, Frankin had been a voice of moderation within the Patriot leadership intent on reconciliation with the Mother Country. From this point forward, Franklin wholeheartedly supported every action of the Patriots that led to American Independence.

Sources: https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/franklin/franklin-break.html; https://www.williamhbenson.com/2002/01/benjamin-franklin-in-the-cockpit/