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身為印刷商的班傑明富蘭克林 Benjamin Franklin, the Printer
在1723年出現幾則受爭議的報導內容後，麻薩諸塞州立法機關判定新英格蘭新聞報有嘲弄宗教與政府的言論，應受處罰，因而將詹姆士逮捕入獄，並明令詹姆士富蘭克林不得再從事發行報紙的工作。
但詹姆士和朋友們找到一個解決方法，那就是他們以班傑明富蘭克林的名義重新發行報紙；這樣一來班傑明在十七歲時就成為了新英格蘭新聞報的發行人；為了確保合法，詹姆士正式結束了班傑明的學徒身份，而以一份新的秘密學徒協議書取代。
雖然班傑明對出版商有興趣，但他更在意自由這件事 – 非指國家的自由（時間未到）、而是他個人的自由。法律上來說，班傑明已經不需聽從詹姆士的命令，也因為班傑明知道詹姆士並不希望秘密協定的內容被他人得知，所以他利用這一點、趁機逃跑，過獨立自主的生活。
After a couple of especially controversial stories in 1723, the Massachusetts legislature decided that the Courant had mocked religion and the government and should be punished. They put James in jail and passed an order that "James Franklin should no longer print the paper."
But James and his friends figured out a good way around the order. They published the paper under the name "Benjamin Franklin." And suddenly, Benjamin, at age 17, was the publisher of the New England Courant. To make sure it looked legitimate, James officially ended Benjamin's apprenticeship, but he replaced it with a new secret apprenticeship agreement.
While Benjamin liked being the publisher, he liked the idea of freedom better. Not freedom for the states (yet), but freedom for himself. Officially, Benjamin no longer had to obey and work for James, his "master." Benjamin guessed that James would not want to reveal the secret apprenticeship agreement and so he took advantage of the situation. Benjamin ran away to try to make it on his own.
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