Benjamin Franklin's
career as a printer served as the foundation for his
incredible accomplishments to further America's cause.
His great influence among his countrymen stemmed from a
combination of his industriousness and his ability to
use the printing press to advance his viewpoints on the
issues of the day. This is a copy of the Benjamin
Franklin's paper, the Pennsylvania Gazette.
Franklin purchased the business in 1729, and personally
ran the business until he entered into a partnership
with David Hall in January, 1748. While later
copies of the Pennsylvania Gazette, with the Franklin
and Hall imprint on the bottom of Page 4 exist,
copies of the paper that were printed when Franklin was
sole proprietor, such as this example, are very rare.
It indicates that the paper was printed by Franklin
himself, while he was present at the shop. In
fact, though he had assistance from workers in the shop,
in all possibility he may have personally set the type
and pull the press for this issue.
This particular issue
is a fine example of Franklin using the paper to shape
public opinion on an issue of the day. The first
column features a letter supposedly written to Franklin
from a concerned citizen, who makes the case that
Quakers who defend themselves and take up arms are not
necessarily in violation of their religious beliefs
toward pacifism. The issue of the day involved
threats to the western settlements of Pennsylvania from
the French and Indians, and the fact that many Quakers
expected others to come to their defense without them
personally taking up arms in their own defense.
The letter, in fact, was written by Franklin himself,
and published in his own paper. Original early
examples of the Pennsylvania Gazette published under
Franklin's own imprint, with Franklin as the sole
proprietor of the paper, are rare surviving examples of
early Americana that have personal and direct ties to a
man that many consider to be the "First American".
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