The Franklin Prophecy

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"The Franklin Prophecy", sometimes called "The Franklin Forgery", is an anti-Semitic speech attributed -- falsely, it is generally agreed -- to Benjamin Franklin, warning of the supposed dangers of admitting Jews to the nascent United States. The speech was purportedly transcribed by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, but was unknown before its appearance in 1934 in the pages of William Dudley Pelley's pro-Nazi weekly magazine Liberation. Despite having been repeatedly discredited since its first appearance, the “prophecy” has proved a remarkably durable canard, returning most recently as a popular internet hoax promulgated on usenet groups and anti-Semitic websites, where it is presented as authentic. While its author is not known, many who have investigated the “prophecy” suspect Pelley of having penned it himself.

[edit] Further Reading

  • Allen, Henry Butler. "Franklin and the Jews." The Franklin Institute News. Vol.III, No.4, August 1938, pp.1-2.
  • Beard, Charles A. “Exposing the Anti-Semitic Forgery about Franklin.” Jewish Frontier. New York, March 1935, pp.1-13.
  • Boller, Paul F., and John George. They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
  • Boyd, Julian P. “Society News and Accessions.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol 61. April, 1937, pp.233-234.
  • Kominsky, Morris. The Hoaxers: Plain Liars, Fancy Liars, and Damned Liars. Branden Press: 1970.
  • Lopez, Claude-Anne. “Prophet and Loss.” The New Republic. January 7, 1997.
  • Pelley, William Dudley, ed. “Did Benjamin Franklin Say this About the Hebrews?” Liberation. Vol 5, No.24. February 3, 1934.
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