Benjamin Franklin and Somersett

Fraunces Tavern Museum

Everyone knows about the Revolutionary War, but few know of Benjamin Franklin's secret plan to turn the northern and southern colonies against their oppressors, and how the freeing of one enslaved man, Somersett, was the catalyst for the colonies to come together against the crown. In this lecture, Phillip Goodrich discusses the little-known story behind the origins of the Revolutionary War and explains how several well-known but random events during the war culminated in the creation of the United States of America.