The enlightenment was a period marked by logical thought and reason. John Locke advocated a need for majority rulings and denying monarchies that seek complete power. His ideas allowed the realization that monarchs and kings were not given political power by god. This type of reason stimulated American thought and led to a changed viewpoint of life in the colonies. This era of enlightenment is ultimately one of the key periods in the years leading up to the Revolution. While Americans were becoming increasingly irritable with British control through unjust taxation and troop presence, Benjamin and William Franklin were trying to argue exclusive proprietary control as the main fault.
Every trip to England taken by Benjamin was one of comfort and a feeling of belonging. Both William and Benjamin felt a very real love for their mother country and extended their stays in London, along with having desires to establish permanent residence. They seemed to share ideals through the 1750's and 60's, in that the king and parliament had the interests of the colonies at heart. They both shared equally negative outlooks on proprietary strength in the colonies. Franklin went back to London in 1764 and eventually argued the removal of the Stamp Act. Both father and son saw this as a sign that England had colonial interest in mind, but their trying times were yet to begin.
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A reason that I believe that William stayed loyal to England is because that the king George III gave him his job as governor of New Jersey. But he may have forgotten that it was his fathers connections that made it possible.
I think that the Franklins had grown together due to their love of the mother country. They both enjoyed going to England. I feel that Benjamin and William had a rough falling out when their views changed. Benjamin wanted freedom of the colonies while William had remained loyal to the king.
The Franklins both believed that England and the colonies could work together and be under one government. But it was believed that they were ruled by the king not parliment. Once parliment started trying to control the colonies is when tensions started to rise.
I think it was only a matter of time before the Frankilins had a falling out. It may not have seemed so to them, since they were agreed on most things concerning the relations of Britain and the colonies. But I think even by this point, Benjamin was leaning more towards the rights of the colonies and William more towards pleasing the King. I think William's service for the British military and his appointment as Governor of NJ helped make William more loyal to the King. I think Benjamin's experiences dealing with the wealthy British nobility and the fact that he grew up around all classes of colonists and made his own way in the colonies made him more loyal to America.
William felt he had to belong with the high class society in England and to not side with Benjamin as a new high class colonial man. William wanted to be accpeted by the throne where Benjamin enjoyed is place in colonial life.
I believe that William and Benjamin split on the issue of loyalty, because Benjamin came from nothing and made something of himself without much help from the crown. William on the other hand didnt have a rough life and was "blessed" by the crown with his appointment to governor. As they say you cant bite the hand that feeds you.
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