Defeated in his efforts to prevent a split, Franklin returned to America in 1775. That July, even after hostilities had erupted in Lexington and Concord, most Americans were not yet in favor of independence. The Continental Congress sent an “Olive Branch Petition” to the king seeking reconciliation. But Franklin proclaimed his own sentiments in favor of outright rebellion in a short and sharp letter he sent to his closest friend in London, the printer William Strahan. Franklin allowed the letter to be published to show his ardent views. But interestingly, he never actually mailed it to Strahan, with whom he in fact remained friends.
TO WILLIAM STRAHAN, JULY 5, 1775
Mr. Strahan,
You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, and murder our people. Look upon your hands! They are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends: you are now my Enemy, and I am, Yours,