A True and Impartial State of the Province of Pennsylvania

"A spirited defense of the activities of the Quakers in the Pennsylvania Assembly against the actions of Chief Proprietor Thomas Penn. Conflict between Penn and the Assembly had been bubbling for years, but boiled over during the tensions of the French and Indian War. Penn attempted to consolidate power in himself and to reduce the taxation and appropriation powers of the Assembly, which that body naturally resented. The disagreement eventually led to Franklin's mission to England in 1757 in order to make direct overtures to have Penn removed from power. This pamphlet, attributed to either Franklin himself or to Joseph Galloway, who was still one of Franklin's closest allies at the time, followed Franklin's return to the United States, and sets forth many of the same points he had crossed the Atlantic to make in Britain. In particular, it is a response to the two pamphlets mentioned in the title, called A Brief State and A Brief View. These were written by Rev. William Smith, an advocate of Proprietary government, a close friend of the Penns, and a long-time political opponent of Franklin. This copy with the dedication in the second of two states: "To The Right Honorable William Pitt, Esq." "This tract was probably inspired, if not wholly written by Franklin" - Hildeburn.

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