More telling than his negative comments about Germans' shortcomings, was Benjamin Franklin's early attitude to slavery. In the 1730s, Franklin's newspaper, the Philadelphia Gazette, carried advertisements for black slaves, and he himself apparently participated in the slave trade, acting at the very least as the contact man for buyers and sellers. This article offers passages that may lead readers to believe that Franklin was a racist. Before becoming attached to that opinion, however, it is worth taking a moment to read about a couple of other things that Franklin did in his long life. This article also discusses some of the accomplishments made by Benjamin Franklin. (Contains 12 endnotes.)