Franklin answered proslavery property claims by noting enslaved people could revolt.

Evidence

Reading the room, South Carolina plantation owner Thomas Lynch made the southern resolve clear. “If it is debated, whether their slaves are their property, there is an end of the confederation,” he declared on behalf of white southerners generally. “Our slaves being our property, why should they be taxed more than … sheep?” But there is a difference, Franklin demurred. “Sheep will never make any insurrections.” — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 295

Categorization

• CANDY: Franklin’s one-line ‘Sheep will never make any insurrections’ retort is a crisp, tweetable rebuttal of the property analogy.
• XREF: Shows the property-versus-person tension animating all Revolutionary-era slavery debates, including Dunmore proclamation echoes already noted. — connects to: Southern delegates argued enslaved people were property, not taxable free persons. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 293; Enslaved people revolted rather than wait for masters’ opinions to change. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 372

Broader Connections

• Enslaved people revolted rather than wait for masters’ opinions to change. #expands (0.75) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 372