| Pseudonym | Year | Purpose & Context | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | 1722 | Satirize Boston’s religious and academic elites. | | Richard Saunders | 1732 | Author of Poor Richard’s Almanack ; dispensed proverbs and practical wisdom. | | Anthony Afterwit | 1732 | Wrote letters advising middle-class families on marriage, debt, and consumerism. | | Alice Addertongue | 1732 | Gossipy character who exposed social scandals in a humorous way. | | Busy Body, &c. | 1729 | A series critiquing the lack of a paper currency and colonial governance. | | The Traveller | 1770s | Fictional correspondent reporting on British-American relations. |
Mrs. Dogood was a masterpiece of character creation. She was witty, pious, irreverent, and sharp-tongued. In a series of 14 letters, she mocked Harvard pedants (“a miracle of erudition, yet knew nothing”), criticized the hypocrisy of Puritan leaders, and even suggested that women deserved more education. The letters became the talk of Boston. James Franklin and his friends speculated endlessly about the identity of this brilliant widow—never suspecting the pimply apprentice in the back room. ben franklin pseudonym
The lesson of Franklin’s pseudonyms is not just historical trivia. It is a testament to the power of ideas detached from ego. By becoming Silence Dogood, Richard Saunders, or Polly Baker, Benjamin Franklin could make arguments no single man could risk—and in doing so, he helped invent the American voice: irreverent, clever, and unafraid to wear a mask in the service of truth. | Pseudonym | Year | Purpose & Context