An Empire Fit for God’s Kingdom

Chapter 10 examines Franklin’s experience in London during Pennsylvania’s charter crisis of the 1750s, which positioned him to be the chief negotiator in London for American interests during the run up to the War for Independence. His politics were by no means simple since he admired the British constitution, the monarchy, and the British Empire. But the treatment he received in London turned him into a patriot and brought him home to assist the Continental Congress. Still, Franklin’s partiality to the British and his own desires to extend American influence westward made him congenial to Protestants who began to cooperate more consistently during the war and then after established ecumenical and missionary organizations to bring civilization to the American frontier.