What do you think?
Rate this book
The Making of a Patriot: Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit
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.
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.
184 pages, Paperback
First published March 2, 2012
6 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 3, 2025
I can't remember if I read all of this book, but I definitely read some of it. This was when I was plowing through a bunch of Franklin biographies, but there was one thing that stood out about this one. I didn't understand fully how much conspiratorial thinking was affecting both sides of the Atlantic in the lead up to war. That is something Skemp makes pretty clear - that Franklin got dragged in front of this council in part because they were so paranoid about the Americans and who might be working behind the scenes to move toward independence. I already knew that the colonists were ready to respond to everything London did with "Tyranny! Conspiracy!" but it turns out that every time colonists pushed back on a tax, the British government responded with "Conspiracy! They DO want independence! We knew it!"
I also never made the connection between something like the Boston Massacre and this Wilkes situation in England, where rioters were also fired on and killed by troops.
I also never made the connection between something like the Boston Massacre and this Wilkes situation in England, where rioters were also fired on and killed by troops.
December 16, 2023
I am a bit obsessed with stories of the American Revolution and have come to admire Benjamin Franklin after the PBS series on him.
This book is only 208 pages long, but it speaks to how Franklin became a leader of the "revolution."
In January 1774, he was called before the Privy Council in London in a room at Whitehall Palace called "the Cockpit." He was accused of plotting colonial independence.
This dressing down turned a loyal supporter of King George III into an avowed enemy.
This book is only 208 pages long, but it speaks to how Franklin became a leader of the "revolution."
In January 1774, he was called before the Privy Council in London in a room at Whitehall Palace called "the Cockpit." He was accused of plotting colonial independence.
This dressing down turned a loyal supporter of King George III into an avowed enemy.
March 21, 2018
An entertaining and thorough account of how Benjamin Franklin went from a British loyalist to an American patriot. The story discusses Franklin's professional life leading to and after the change of heart as well as how the change in his view affected his personal relationships, particularly the relationship with his son, William.
August 3, 2020
Fantastic explanation of Ben Franklin's evolution from a loyalist to raging revolutionary. Short and succinct, which is always welcome in a historical book!
May 21, 2015
Part of Oxford’s Critical Encounters series, Sheila Skemp’s The Making of a Patriot: Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit attempts to place a largely forgotten incident in American (and British) history into context by judging its impact on the transformation of Benjamin Franklin from a devoted servant of the British Empire into one of the most ardent supporters of independence for its American colonies.
The subtitle refers to Franklin’s appearance at Whitehall Palace on January 29, 1774 in a small, oddly shaped room once used by Henry VIII for cockfighting (hence known as “the cockpit”). Then the seat of the King’s Privy Council, Franklin was summoned to appear as the agent of the Massachusetts assembly, ostensibly to hear arguments as to how the Council would handle that colony’s petition to the King to remove its detested royal governor. Instead, he was subject to an abusive harangue from the British Solicitor General, mostly over an incident that had occurred years earlier involving some purloined correspondence from the governor that Franklin had transmitted to the governor’s enemies back in America. Utterly humiliated in front of men he believed to be friends and colleagues in the British imperial project, Franklin left that day a changed man.
The book’s narrative is, however, very light in regards to the details of this particular episode. It related who was in the room to witness the proceedings, what wore in some cases, and Franklin’s history with them. The basic events are relayed, but the book quickly diverts its story down the other corridors of Franklin’s journey towards independence.
Much is made of Franklin’s efforts to re-charter Pennsylvania from proprietary to crown colony. His feud with the Penn family is the subject of an overly long narrative. Franklin’s attempts to fully explain colonial theories of the imperial constitution are also explored mostly critically, largely unfairly in my view given how the diverse thinkers in the colonies differed on crucial points and how quickly they were evolving an ocean away from where Franklin was during the time period of this book.
Subsequent chapters are more useful, especially that entitled “Dueling Conspiracies” that describe the American and British mindsets, and how each side came to misunderstand and miscalculate the other. The final chapter, “Civil War” nicely uses the estrangement of Franklin from his son as a result of their strong differences on colonial independence to illustrate how the war was really a civil war, even more so than the conflict that would engulf America not 100 years later. There is much to appreciate in Skemp’s work, but it largely reads in the end like five essays on Franklin’s pre-Revolutionary life than a coherent narrative of his ideological journey giving the impression of glimpses into his story rather than a compressive account of his ideological sojourn.
Additionally, Skemp’s conclusion as to the historical import of the Cockpit incident seems contrived. She concludes (of course, given the series’ title) that it was “critical” to Franklin’s story, but not to American history. Without the Cockpit incident, she speculates, Franklin would have likely been a more moderate voice and therefore excluded from those events that made him a leading figure of the Revolution – the drafting of the Declaration and an opportunity to serve the American cause at the French Court that eventually resulted in a the crucial alliance that secured American independence. But given all of the other decisions made on both sides, independence and victory would have happened regardless of Franklin’s story in her view. Whether this was the case, or Franklin was as “indispensable” to America’s cause overseas as Washington was in America as Gordon Wood argues, is left largely unexplored.
The subtitle refers to Franklin’s appearance at Whitehall Palace on January 29, 1774 in a small, oddly shaped room once used by Henry VIII for cockfighting (hence known as “the cockpit”). Then the seat of the King’s Privy Council, Franklin was summoned to appear as the agent of the Massachusetts assembly, ostensibly to hear arguments as to how the Council would handle that colony’s petition to the King to remove its detested royal governor. Instead, he was subject to an abusive harangue from the British Solicitor General, mostly over an incident that had occurred years earlier involving some purloined correspondence from the governor that Franklin had transmitted to the governor’s enemies back in America. Utterly humiliated in front of men he believed to be friends and colleagues in the British imperial project, Franklin left that day a changed man.
The book’s narrative is, however, very light in regards to the details of this particular episode. It related who was in the room to witness the proceedings, what wore in some cases, and Franklin’s history with them. The basic events are relayed, but the book quickly diverts its story down the other corridors of Franklin’s journey towards independence.
Much is made of Franklin’s efforts to re-charter Pennsylvania from proprietary to crown colony. His feud with the Penn family is the subject of an overly long narrative. Franklin’s attempts to fully explain colonial theories of the imperial constitution are also explored mostly critically, largely unfairly in my view given how the diverse thinkers in the colonies differed on crucial points and how quickly they were evolving an ocean away from where Franklin was during the time period of this book.
Subsequent chapters are more useful, especially that entitled “Dueling Conspiracies” that describe the American and British mindsets, and how each side came to misunderstand and miscalculate the other. The final chapter, “Civil War” nicely uses the estrangement of Franklin from his son as a result of their strong differences on colonial independence to illustrate how the war was really a civil war, even more so than the conflict that would engulf America not 100 years later. There is much to appreciate in Skemp’s work, but it largely reads in the end like five essays on Franklin’s pre-Revolutionary life than a coherent narrative of his ideological journey giving the impression of glimpses into his story rather than a compressive account of his ideological sojourn.
Additionally, Skemp’s conclusion as to the historical import of the Cockpit incident seems contrived. She concludes (of course, given the series’ title) that it was “critical” to Franklin’s story, but not to American history. Without the Cockpit incident, she speculates, Franklin would have likely been a more moderate voice and therefore excluded from those events that made him a leading figure of the Revolution – the drafting of the Declaration and an opportunity to serve the American cause at the French Court that eventually resulted in a the crucial alliance that secured American independence. But given all of the other decisions made on both sides, independence and victory would have happened regardless of Franklin’s story in her view. Whether this was the case, or Franklin was as “indispensable” to America’s cause overseas as Washington was in America as Gordon Wood argues, is left largely unexplored.
March 30, 2018
An informative read, Ms. Kemp's book is on a period of American History a few years before the revolution involving Franklin and his time in London and the goings on in the colonies at the time.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews