Rules By Which A Great Empire May Be Reduced To A Small One By Benjamin Franklin

“Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One” by Benjamin Franklin was written during a time when the British rule of the American colony began to exercise taxation without representation. This, eventually, caused the colony to rebel against its government and fight for their independence. Franklin’s essay addresses Great Britain’s abuse of power amongst the American colony with satire and sarcasm that will certainly cause Great Britain to lose its colonies. Out of his list of rules, I found Rule X and Rule XV to be the most appalling. Both rules introduce the thought

The first rule I found appalling is Rule X. Franklin begins by going into detail about the colonists’ rights and freedoms. Losing rights such as Habeas Corpus, being tried by jury of peers

He continues in a satirical tone stating “alter our ecclesiastical constitutions, and compel us to be Papists, if they please, or Mahometans.” (Franklin 468). Franklin challenges its government and people on the thought of the government interfering by taking away their religious independences and force another one upon them, such as Papists and Mahometans or Catholics and Muslims. Religious freedoms are, simply, the basic right that colonists possess and it is unjust for their government to take away those civil liberties.

Franklin continues by responding to the first part of Rule X with the idea to “annihilate” the aforementioned rights and freedoms. He suggest that the colonists’ are to have their property taken along with other rules and regulations under the law that prohibits them from retaliating. He also