Benjamin Franklin Bache (journalist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Benjamin Franklin Bache (1769 – 1798) son of Richard and Sarah Bache and the grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was an American journalist who headed the openly Jeffersonian publication, the Aurora.

As a young boy, Bache spent time in France with his grandfather, notably attending school with John Adams' son and future president John Quincy Adams in Passy. He was said to be a good student, even winning the school prize for translating Latin into French at Geneva, a school in Switzerland. Perhaps due to his grandfather's habit of being away without visiting for long periods of time, Bache was described as a depressed and shy adolescent. Though sensible and reasonable, Bache was said to often come across as cold and lacking fantasies or needs.

Upon returning to Philadelphia, Bache was ushered into work as a printer at his grandfather's old shop, prefiguring his future career as a newspaper editor. He took lessons for a time under François Didot, a well acknowledged and respected printer.

Following his grandfather's death in 1790, Benny inherited his printing equipment and many of his books. He followed in his grandfather's steps by establishing, seventy years after the New England Courant was first published, The American Aurora. The paper was notoriously passionate, even surpassing grandfather Benjamin Franklin's fierce pro-French and democratic stances.

Bache's articles denounced Federalists. The papers openly discredited both George Washington and John Adams. Among Bache's more controversial statements was the suggestion that Washington had secretly been collaborating with the British during the American Revolution. Bache was subsequently arrested after the passage of the Alien and Sedition Act, an act supported by then-President Adams. This act may have been written, at least in part, as a response to Bache's statements.

Bache died from yellow fever at the age of 29 before he could stand trial, and is buried in the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia. He is regarded by many Americans as an early champion of the Freedom of Speech and the First Amendment.