Death And Taxes: Benjamin Franklin Part 3

·1 hr 55 min·5 clips

Franklin stands motionless for hours as British officials savage him for leaking letters, wearing the same suit he'd later use for revenge.

The episode is the third and final part of a series on Benjamin Franklin, hosted by comedians John Fahy, Aaron Pita, and Matt Brousseau. It picks up in the early 1770s with Franklin still in London, trying to bridge the gap between Britain and the American colonies. The hosts describe how Franklin receives and leaks letters from Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson, which detail ways to suppress colonial rebellion, leading to riots in Boston and duels in London. Franklin is then publicly berated for hours in the Cockpit by the Privy Council, a humiliating experience. As tensions escalate, the Boston Tea Party occurs, with colonists dressing as Native Americans to dump 10,000 pounds of tea. Franklin returns to America and is elected to the Second Continental Congress at age 69. He plays a key role in editing the Declaration of Independence, changing 'sacred and undeniable' to 'self-evident.' The hosts discuss Franklin's relationship with his loyalist son William, which ends in a bitter argument. Franklin writes a fiery unsent letter to a friend in Parliament, which he publishes to show his commitment to independence. He also proposes the 'United Colonies of North America' and popularizes the 'Don't Tread on Me' rattlesnake symbol. The episode covers Franklin's mission to France in 1776, where he arrives wearing a fur cap due to boils and becomes a cultural sensation. He secures a secret loan from France and later a formal military alliance after the American victory at Saratoga. The hosts detail Franklin's social life in Paris, including his flirtations with women like Madame Brillon and Madame Helvetius, and his invention of bifocals. They also describe his contentious relationship with John Adams, who disapproves of Franklin's lifestyle. The episode concludes with Franklin's diplomatic triumph, signing the French alliance while wearing the same suit from his humiliation in London. Throughout, the hosts interject comedic commentary, referencing pop culture and making irreverent jokes about historical figures.

As heard by us

Franklin's French debut turns diplomacy, vanity, and boils into a civic spectacle.

This stretch keeps Benjamin Franklin's trip to France in view, where diplomacy and spectacle move side by side. Franklin is sent to seek a loan from France, or ideally a loan and troops, and the episode even allows for the absurdity of a 70-year-old crossing the Atlantic with…

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Why you'd press play

Play this when you want Franklin in Paris, boils on his head, and an alliance mission gone gloriously odd.

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