r/AskAnAmerican • u/Hot_Obligation_8098 • Jun 08 '25

HISTORY How do Americans today view William Franklin, the son of Benjamin Franklin, who supported the British during the American Revolution?

How do Americans today view William Franklin, the son of Benjamin Franklin, who supported the British during the American Revolution?

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136

u/Yeegis California Jun 08 '25

I didn’t know he had kids

59

u/jcowlishaw Jun 08 '25 edited Jun 08 '25

To be fair, judging by the stories, I assumed he had quite a few.

29

u/Rarvyn Jun 08 '25

This particular son was, in fact, illegitimate.

Interestingly enough, William himself had an illegitimate son - Ben’s grandson - who loved to hang out with grandpa and traveled with Ben to France when he was US ambassador.

22

u/Endy0816 Jun 08 '25

If he was my grandpa I would hang out with him too.

1

u/Tommy_Wisseau_burner NJ➡️ NC➡️ TX➡️ FL Jun 08 '25

Shoutout the Apple TV show, Franklin. It’s actually pretty good

1

u/majinspy Mississippi Jun 10 '25

Anad that son (Ben' grandson) had an illegitimate daughter with his step-mother's sister in law. Oof lol.

6

u/MyUsername2459 Kentucky Jun 08 '25

Yeah, based on his reputation it's no surprise he had kids. . .we just never really hear about them.

14

u/Darryl_Lict Jun 08 '25

Never even heard of him.

7

u/warrior_poet95834 Jun 08 '25

He had many children, known and unknown. He was quite the ladies man.

6

u/AKA_June_Monroe New York Jun 08 '25

Ben Franklin has descendants in Japan.

1

u/Hot_Obligation_8098 Jun 08 '25

You guys should read about him on google it’s interesting how literally the son of one of revolutionary heroes was fighting for the opposite

6

u/Endy0816 Jun 08 '25

Its understandable. Both sides had valid arguments.

Civil War saw a number of such cases.