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Franklin can be compared favorably with [[Frederick Jackson Turner]] as a promoter of the [[Frontier Thesis]], the idea of the significance of the West in the shaping of American character. Franklin used the words frontier and West interchangeably and generally equated both of them with free land. He believed that the West was decisive in producing the phenomenal population growth of the society of his day and its "middle-class agrarianism." His frontier-inspired ideas had a demonstrable effect on public events and contributed to the coming of the American Revolution. Americans eagerly gave wide currency to Franklin's ideas. His political and diplomatic exertions contributed considerably to insure that the West would be a part of the new nation he was helping to create.<ref>James H. Hutson, "Benjamin Franklin and the West". ''Western Historical Quarterly'' 1973 4(4): 425-434. 0043-3810</ref>
In 1787 the [[Constitutional Convention]] convened in Philadelphia to write a new Constitution. Franklin, at age 81 the oldest delegate, played an honorific role and his support helped legitimize the project. Other members of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Convention were [[George Clymer]], [[Thomas Fitzsimons]], [[Jared Ingersoll]], [[Thomas Mifflin]], [[Gouverneur Morris]], [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]], and [[James Wilson]].
==Slavery==
