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Making of a Patriot: Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit
Contributor(s): Skemp, Sheila L. (Author)
ISBN: 0195386566     ISBN-13: 9780195386561
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
OUR PRICE:   $18.99  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: July 2013
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Historical
- History | United States - Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
- History | United States - Colonial Period (1600-1775)
Dewey: B
LCCN: 2011038772
Series: Critical Historical Encounters
Physical Information: 0.6" H x 5.4" W x 8.1" (0.50 lbs) 208 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 18th Century
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
On January 29, 1774, Benjamin Franklin was called to appear before the Privy Council--a select group of the king's advisors--in an octagonal-shaped room in Whitehall Palace known as the Cockpit. Spurred by jeers and applause from the audience in the Cockpit, Solicitor General Alexander
Wedderburn unleashed a withering tirade against Franklin. Though Franklin entered the room as a dutiful servant of the British crown, he left as a budding American revolutionary. In The Making of a Patriot, renowned Franklin historian Sheila L. Skemp presents an insightful, lively narrative that
goes beyond the traditional Franklin biography--and behind the common myths--to demonstrate how Franklin's ultimate decision to support the colonists was by no means a foregone conclusion. In fact, up until the Cockpit ordeal, he was steadfastly committed to achieving an accommodation of our
differences.

The Making of a Patriot sheds light on the conspiratorial framework within which actors on both sides of the Atlantic moved toward revolution. It highlights how this event ultimately pitted Franklin against his son, suggesting that the Revolution was, in no small part, also a civil war.