OK. The PoD is his father, William Franklin, switches sides in the Revolution...
A Chip off the Old Block: A More UK-Like USA.
Chapter One: An American Revolution.
Part One: The Prodigal Son Returns, and also general update.
William Franklin, illegitimate son of the famous American philosopher Benjamin Franklin, and father of an illegitimate son himself, William Temple Franklin, was in a tight position. Should he keep to his Loyalist beliefs and abandon his family? Even his son, quite young as he is, has shown that he supports the Rebels over the British. And why should he support the British, a nation an ocean away from us, over his friends and family? Benjamin sent letters to try to convince his son one last time, believing that he could see the light, and found in his son's reply a doubt of his Loyalist stance. Seizing the opportunity, Benjamin sent back letters that is now known as the "Prodigal Letters" for they convinced a "prodigal son", in this case William Franklin, to side with the Patriots.
The defection of William Franklin, siding with the Patriots rather then the Loyalists, ensured New Jersey became Patriot, albeit with a lot of Loyalists objecting, but the new-found New Jersey Militia ensured they didn't object too much. William Franklin was always suspected by the Congress to be a spy sent by the British and their Loyalist lackeys to sabotage the Cause, the Revolution. Everywhere he received glares and rumors ran wild about his loyalties. His father, Benjamin, always defended him and tried his best to debunk those arguments, and William himself often argued about his loyalties with skeptical Congressmen. William Temple Franklin, which would ultimately become a very important person in the American story, was mostly looked after safely by his adopted grandmother, his father's adopted mother, his grandfather's common-law wife, Deborah Read.
Meanwhile, elsewhere... The Continental Army was ready, and General Washington was chosen to lead them. Their first aim was New York, as it has been occupied by the "British" with the help of the "traitorous" governor, Andrew Elliot. Reports of massacres, albeit widely exaggerated, was taken seriously by the Americans, and New York was the first city that was planned to be liberated. The troops were sent there, under General Washington, and even though it took a lot of dead men and a wounded General, the city was "liberated". Only then did Americans discover what has had really been happening... The British troops ransacked American homes for supplies and treated the city like an supply outpost. Anti-British feelings rose high in that city, and many volunteered to be militiamen and serve under Washington.
Meanwhile, back in the Home Islands, the Prime Minister Frederick North, Lord North, was struggling to convince Parliament that more troops should be send to quell the rebellion in the American colonies, as there were three other rebellions, one in Ireland, one in Hanover and one in India, all three seen as more valuable then the American colonies. North failed in his struggle and the extra troops were sent to Ireland, Hanover and India, instead of America. Three rebellions were quelled, but one still remained, and it was defiantly strong, that of the American one. North believed this to be a bad idea... This ensured the stability of the Empire for the long run, but ended up with the British dithering around whatever to send more troops to the colonies. France started to believe that the Americans could win...