{"product_id":"benjamin-franklin-and-the-ends-of-empire-paperback","title":"Benjamin Franklin and the Ends of Empire - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eCarla J. Mulford\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing from Benjamin Franklin's published and unpublished papers, including letters, notes, and marginalia, \u003cem\u003eBenjamin Franklin and the Ends of Empire\u003c\/em\u003e examines how the early modern liberalism of Franklin's youthful intellectual life helped foster his vision of independence from Britain that became his hallmark achievement. In the early chapters, Carla Mulford explores the impact of Franklin's family history--especially their difficult times during the English Civil War--on Franklin's intellectual life and his personal and political goals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book's middle chapters show how Franklin's fascination with British imperial strategy grew from his own analyses of the financial, environmental, and commercial potential of North America. Franklin's involvement in Pennsylvania's politics led him to devise strategies for monetary stability, intercolonial trade, Indian affairs, and imperial defense that would have assisted the British Empire in its effort to take over the world. When Franklin realized that the goals of British ministers were to subordinate colonists in a system that assisted the lives of Britons in England but undermined the wellbeing of North Americans, he began to criticize the goals of British imperialism. Mulford argues that Franklin's turn away from the British Empire began in the 1750s--not the 1770s, as most historians have suggested--and occurred as a result of Franklin's perceptive analyses of what the British Empire was doing not just in the American colonies but in Ireland and India.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the last chapters, Mulford reveals how Franklin ultimately grew restive, formed alliances with French intellectuals and the court of France, and condemned the actions of the British Empire and imperial politicians. As a whole, Mulford's book provides a fresh reading of a much-admired founding father, suggesting how Franklin's conception of the freedoms espoused in England's ages old Magna Carta could be realized in the political life of the new American nation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCarla J. Mulford \u003c\/strong\u003ehas published widely in the field of early American studies, but Benjamin Franklin has been her preoccupation for over twenty-five years. She has published over twenty articles and book chapters on Franklin, in addition to \u003cem\u003eThe Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Franklin\u003c\/em\u003e (Cambridge UP, 2009) and \u003cem\u003eBenjamin Franklin and the Ends of Empire\u003c\/em\u003e (Oxford UP, 2015). She is currently working on a new book, tentatively titled \u003cem\u003eBenjamin Franklin's Electrical Diplomacy\u003c\/em\u003e. Professor of English at Penn State University, she is the Founding President of the Society of Early Americanists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 448\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 9.1 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e December 01, 2019\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53060693131597,"sku":"9780190090074","price":108.06,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0927\/3304\/7117\/files\/EvIlLKN9-u9780190090074.webp?v=1766548526","url":"https:\/\/belfastbooks.us\/products\/benjamin-franklin-and-the-ends-of-empire-paperback","provider":"belfastbooks.us","version":"1.0","type":"link"}