Primary sourceNewspaper article2-9 July 1722

Silence Dogood Essay No. 8, on Freedom of Speech

Benjamin Franklin · 2-9 July 1722

Franklin's pseudonymous newspaper essay from 1722 defending freedom of speech, printed in the New-England Courant.

Franklin's own pseudonymous essay, written as a teenager, defending free speech.

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Scanned page of the New-England Courant newspaper, headed 'To the Author of the New-England Courant, Sir, No VIII', with a decorative woodcut of ships and a figure at top left. The printed essay on freedom of speech follows in dense columns of text. — Benjamin Franklin (as 'Silence Dogood'), essay No. 8, New-England Courant, 2-9 July 1722.

About this source

What it is

This is a page from the New-England Courant newspaper from July 1722, printing the eighth essay signed 'Silence Dogood' — a pen name used by the teenage Benjamin Franklin. The essay largely quotes from the London Journal in defense of free speech.

Why it matters

Published while Franklin was still a teenager working at his brother's print shop, this essay shows his early interest in political ideas and his skill in using humor and borrowed voices to share opinions he could not safely state as himself. It is an early sign of the writer and thinker he would become.

Look closer

Why might young Franklin have used a fictional name like Silence Dogood instead of his own?
What does the essay's argument about freedom of speech tell you about the political climate of the time?
How does quoting another source let the writer make a point indirectly?

This newspaper article is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Benjamin Franklin on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.