David Franks: Colonial Merchant by Mark Abbot Stern

Abstract

The second half of the eighteenth century in North America was dynamic and filled with opportunity, tragedy, and change. From the Seven Years' War period to the Colonial Crisis and culminat-ing with the Revolutionary War, the era presented individuals with both tremendous opportunity and significant risks. Perhaps no colony experienced such a drastic shift during this period than Pennsylvania. Still a Quaker-dominated government at the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, the colony-turned-state had become the seat of a revolutionary government, significant battlefield, and home to radical revolutionaries during the War for Independence. This period of transition, however, presented outstanding financial opportunities for men willing to seize them— including David Franks.