Fictional characters

• Sarah Phillips (voiced by Reo Jones) is a bright-eyed red-headed teenage girl from England, Sarah travels to the Thirteen Colonies in 1773 at age 15 in search of her father, Major Phillips, who was last heard exploring the region of Ohio; upon her arrival, she is warmly welcomed by and lives as a guest of Benjamin Franklin. Her mother, Lady Phillips, remains in England and is a good friend to Dr. Franklin. However, with the possibility of a war between the American colonists and the English mother country, she decides that she will become a reporter for Franklin's newspaper in order to offer a more balanced perspective to the press. Sarah believes firmly in the power of words and equal rights for all, and is not afraid to speak her mind. At the start of the series, she is a firm loyalist, which sparks many arguments between her and James. Later in the series, Sarah has a change of heart, and realizes how much she has come to understand the people of the colonies, and ends up supporting the Revolution. Some men know the way to her heart – good manners; when this happens, James can seem almost jealous. Throughout the series, Sarah and James grow closer. At the end of the series, her mother, Lady Phillips, joins Sarah and her father in the United States and Sarah hopes to explore more of her adopted country. She is the only character to appear in every episode of the series.
• James Hiller (voiced by Chris Lundquist) is a 14 year old (in 1773) American teenage colonist who works as an apprentice journalist for Franklin's newspaper. James holds a great deal of respect and admiration for Dr. Franklin and his works, particularly his invention of the lightning rod, as when he was an infant, both his parents died in a fire caused by a lightning strike. Street-smart and impulsive, James pursues the revolution from a slightly one-sided perspective – something that prompts Sarah to counter his views. An apprentice in Franklin's Print Shop, James believes firmly in the American cause and will do almost anything to ensure that the people receive an honest view of what is happening. In the process, he also faces the less positive aspects of the political conflict, which eventually forces his patriotic fervor into a new maturity. He highly values his friends, Sarah and Henri. He can be a little protective of Sarah while he attempts to keep Henri out of trouble, acting somewhat like an older brother figure to Henri. He is very laid-back and is constantly reminded of his bad etiquette and poor table manners by Sarah. At the end of the series, James intends to start his own newspaper, following in the steps of his mentor.
• Henri Richard Maurice Dutoit LeFevbre (voiced by Kathleen Barr) is an energetic, rambunctious 8 year old French boy (1773), Henri shares a similar tragic story as James. Several years earlier, when he was six years old and still living in France, his parents made an agreement with a merchant for seven years of labor in exchange for passage to North America. However, three weeks later, during the voyage an illness broke out aboard the ship, killing half of those on board, including both Henri's parents. The merchant decided to make Henri his cabin boy and treated him very cruelly, until James and Moses discovered him locked in a cage while collecting a new printer from the merchant. Together they smuggled Henri off the ship and the boy found a home in Benjamin Franklin's workshop. While he speaks French fluently, Dr. Franklin has insisted that Henri learn to speak, read, and write in both English and French. Henri's small size has proved more than useful to Sarah and James, though he has a tendency to land himself in all sorts of trouble while not fully understanding the dangers of the war. His lookout on life is that of a "huge party for his benefit" and he has been labeled a "magnet for trouble". In later episodes, he serves on the drum and bugle corps of the Continental Army. Curious and fearless, the only thing Henri values more than his freedom is finding a family of his own. At the end of the series he returns to France with Marquis de Lafayette, whom he had become close to during the series almost as a son. It is implied that Lafayette adopts Henri as his foster-son.
• Moses (voiced by D. Kevin Williams) was born in Africa, Moses was brought in chains to North America as a slave and sold on the block in Charleston, South Carolina. Because of his ingenuity, Moses learned to read, forge metal, and buy his freedom from his master, thus freeing himself from the slavery of the American south. To keep from being confused for a runaway slave, Moses is required to carry papers proving that he is a free man. He eventually moved to Philadelphia and found work at Dr. Franklin's Print Shop. His brother, Cato, had not been so fortunate but later escaped, joining the British troops as a soldier to earn his freedom. Cato appears again at the end of the series when he does not tell on an African American Patriot spy, James Armistead, whose spying was crucial to the American victory at Yorktown, which ends the war for American independence. Moses looks out for Dr. Franklin's young wards, especially Henri. Like Henri, he values his freedom more than anything. Iron-willed Moses will never allow anyone to strip him of his dignity, despite his or her feelings on race. By working at the Print Shop, Moses hopes to educate children of all colors in the ideals of America so that everyone may one day be free. At the end of the series, Moses reveals a plan to set up a school for free black children, both boys and girls, but only to Dr. Franklin and Marquis de Lafayette. Cato goes to Canada with Mrs. Radcliffe, a British loyalist and friend of Sarah and her mother.

Historical characters depicted