Benjamin Franklin and Gottfried Achenwall, Amerika 1766. Anmerkungen über Nordamerika, und über dasige Großbritannische Colonien. Published and commented by Heinrich Detering and Lisa Kunze. Wallstein, 2023. Julia Sattler Almost 250 years after it took place, the American Revolution still bears fascination for Americans and non-Americans alike. Obviously, the events that led to the American colonists’ desire for freedom from Great Britain’s governance, and the development of a decidedly own, distinguishable ‘American’ identity in the years and decades following the “Declaration of Independence” are captivating subjects of study. But they also bring to the forefront noteworthy voices from what was to become the United States. Benjamin Franklin is certainly among those fascinating figures - a Founding Father, but also so much more. Coming from a modest background, Franklin was almost entirely selfeducated, but yet would become an important scientist, inventor, writer and publisher, founder of several organizations and institutions, including the American postal services and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an internationally known statesman and diplomat. Heinrich Detering’s and Lisa Kunze’s volume, published in August of 2022, takes the reader back to Franklin and his time. In its extensive 60-page long introduction, it discusses a German-American encounter that led to the publication of an important transatlantic document, first in Hannoverisches Magazin (1767), and, later on, in book-form. This comprehensive work, Benjamin Franklin’s and Gottfried Achenwall’s Anmerkungen über Nordamerika, und über dasige Großbritannische Colonien, sheds a light on the political and social climate in the American colonies immediately preceding the Revolution. It is also an important text for the comprehension of the transatlantic exchange of ideas on political and social issues in the second half of the 18 th century. The book adds to our understanding of German and European knowledge and imagination of the American colonies with regard to their economic structures, the social and legal systems, as well as the political relations between the colonies and Great Britain. In order to appreciate Franklin’s and Achenbach’s work adequately, the rich cultural, social and historical context this publication provides for the Anmerkungen über Nordamerika, und über dasige Großbritannische Colonien is AAA - Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik Agenda: Advancing Anglophone Studies Band 49 · Heft 1 Gunter Narr Verlag Tübingen DOI 10.24053/ AAA-2024-0006 Reviews 140 extremely helpful even for readers who are already fairly familiar with American Enlightenment thought. The introduction provides detailed knowledge about the foreground of the American Revolution, and the mindset and reasoning behind it. Moreover, the role of transatlantic political exchange is an oftenunderestimated subject in relation to the American Revolution. As the introduction explains, to keep the colonies firmly under control, the Crown established the Sugar Act (1764), the Quarter Act (1765) and the Stamp Act (1765). These regulations led to an atmosphere of conflict across the Atlantic. At this time, the onset of the first major conflicts between the British Crown and the thirteen colonies, Benjamin Franklin made himself a name as a powerful spokesperson for a principle that is today known as “no taxation without representation.” His hearing in the House of Commons in February 1766, in which he advocated against the Stamp Act, stating that it would lead to “a total loss of the respect and affection the people of America bear to this country” (11), did not only gain him respect and visibility in the colonies, but also in England. It also became known in the Electorate of Hannover, at the time of course still closely interlinked with Great Britain itself. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean several times in his life, Franklin - at the time known around the world for his invention of the lightning rod - came to the German city of Göttingen together with his companion Sir John Pringle, the personal doctor of the Royal Family. His arrival occurred almost exactly one decade before the events of the American Revolution would give birth to a new nation that would eventually become a global power. This visit was preceded by a curative visit to the Pyrmont spa and a trip to Hannover, where Franklin met, among others, Gerlach Adolph von Münch-hausen, founder and curator of the University of Göttingen, who extended an invitation to his university. Göttingen at the time was rather different from its rural surroundings. The university, in its brief 30 years of existence, had already gained fame and at that time brought important researchers, from the German-speaking world as well as from abroad, to the area. The atmosphere was hence open as well as filled with the spirit of discovery. Still, it was rather unusual at that time that a well-known scholar from the American colonies paid a visit, and Franklin’s presence was echoed widely in the press. The local intellectuals were very interested in the developments in the American colonies, and it was here that Franklin met another exceptional personality of this time, albeit on the German side. Gottfried Achenwall, like Franklin, was a champion of interdisciplinarity and eclecticism - he taught history and the law but is also one of the fathers of modern-day statistics. Following Franklin’s departure, he would keep in touch with the man from across the Atlantic Ocean, finally resulting in the series of papers that are here republished. The discussions that were held with Franklin in the spirit of the Enlightenment about the future role of universities, but also about the colonies’ immense population growth and its consequences for the economy are extremely insightful as are the accompanying documents in the annex. The original work was put together by Achenwall, supposedly based on the oral exchange between the former and Franklin, but was later authorized by Franklin, suggesting that Rezensionen 141 he was content with Achenwall’s report. Interestingly enough, the Anmerkungen foreshadow many of the later developments in the colonies and even in the United States, including open questions relating to the nature of the state and its role that accompanied the nation all the way up to the Civil War. The text already suggests that differences will prevail between different sections of the country after the independence from the Crown. What is here described as “jealousy” (102) by Franklin will erupt into a violent conflict less than a century later. In addition, the text makes clear that the colonists, already a decade before the Revolution, view themselves as subjects of the King, but not of Parliament, which is interesting in view of the developments to come: It hints at the future dispute about who has the authority to determine the status of the colonists, and who can decide upon the colony’s further development. The publication also addresses the situation of Native Americans and African American slaves. It offers the painful but valuable insight that at the time, the threat of disease to the indigenous population was well-recognized but not acted upon by the politically dominant white population. At the same time, Native Americans are said to have reached political goals that the colonists still have to attain, for example the organization of a federation. These ideas appear to be part of Franklin’s own ambivalence towards Native Americans which the introduction recognizes and discusses (42-43). That slaves are said to have all rights but freedom and property (75) also reflects a wide-spread attitude at the time. It should be noted that Franklin, in later years, developed a much more critical attitude towards the institution of slavery (45-46). While these are just a few examples of subjects addressed in the work, they already make clear that the Anmerkungen is a very valuable resource for the study of America before independence, but also to learn about the rhetoric of this time papering over ambivalences in politics and other areas. Overall, this timely and extremely well-researched publication - an early German present for the 250 th anniversary of the American Revolution - invites further study: of the original documents from that time, in part also re-printed in the book, but also of the intellectual climate of Enlightenment America and the imagination of the American colonies in Europe. A comparison with other - also later - portraits of America would certainly reveal further transatlantic insights. Indeed, one of the merits of this book is that it shows how crucial the Revolutionary period is to understanding the development of transatlantic relations until today. Julia Sattler TU Dortmund University