In both Invectives Against the Americans and Rattle-Snakes for Felons, Franklin denounces the growing separation between the concepts of English and British nationalism. As the British government was gradually imposing its will upon the American colonies more and more, it became ever more apparent that the rational behind their actions was illogical. To Franklin, who always valued the utility of actions and their potential benefit to an individual or community, the increasing transgressions against the American colonies served as an impetus for his satirical writings.
The central concept of utility is presented immediately in Rattle-Snakes for Felons as the British justification for the practice of relocating convicted felons to the United States. Franklin scoffs at the pretext that relocating convicts from Great Britain to the colonies contributed to "the Improvement and Well Peopling of the Colonies", sarcastically mocking the attitude of those in England as 'parental' and caring about the welfare of her 'Children' in America. It was the exact opposite of what they were doing; sending the worst members of one society to another with the only benefit in settling more land going to Britain, while Americans would have to suffer their presence. The attitude of the British was that the benefit such relocation and populating of the colonies afforded society as a whole outweighed the detriment to the small segment of the population that colonists represented- "let not private Interests obstruct publick Utility". The difference in the two spheres of what constitutes a society, and the value placed on that of England's empire as a whole above that of America by itself enraged Franklin.
Franklin explores the dismissive attitude with which British writers considered American malcontents in Invectives Against the Americans from a British perspective. This technique allows Franklin to illustrate the illogical nature of the British derision of American beliefs and complaints without appearing to be biased. Franklin shows how the public criticism of Americans serves only to alienate them more from the mother country of England and will not achieve the intent of rectifying their actions. At the same time he is able to subtly critique the British perspective and rationally support the American desire for property rights and representation in England, before finally stoking the egos of the British to sway them.
