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The Loyal Son by Daniel Mark Epstein7/6/2023 ![]() ![]() In 1776, the Continental Congress imprisoned William for treason. ![]() By then, William was Royal Governor of New Jersey, while Ben was one of the foremost champions of American independence. The outbreak of the American Revolution caused a devastating split between father and son. He was invited to walk in the procession of the coronation of George III Ben was not. On a diplomatic mission to London, it was William who charmed London society. After the famous kite-in-a-thunderstorm experiment, it was William who proved that the electrical charge in a lightning bolt travels from the ground up, not from the clouds down. He adopted the boy, raised him, and educated him to be his aide. When he was twenty-four, Franklin fathered a child with a woman who was not his wife. In The Loyal Son, award-winning historian Daniel Mark Epstein throws the spotlight on one of the darker episodes in Franklin’s biography: his complex and confounding relationship with his illegitimate son William. ![]() But this image obscures the scandals that dogged him throughout his life. His wit, his charm, his inventiveness-even his grandfatherly appearance-are legendary. The dramatic story of a founding father, his illegitimate son, and the tragedy of their conflict during the American Revolution-from the acclaimed author of The Lincolnsīen Franklin is the most lovable of America’s founding fathers. ![]()
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