...Benjamin Franklin was an American printer, diplomat, scientist and philosopher who made many contributions to the American Revolution and the newly formed Federal Government that followed. Even though some people were not always happy with some of his ideas. Today, he is recognized as one of America’s greatest inventors. Benjamin Franklin was a true American because of his dedication to starting, sustaining, and stabilizing America as a country. One of Franklin’s most contributive works to America besides his diplomacy was the Declaration of Independence. Not only did Franklin help write this document, but he was also the oldest person to sign it. Franklin published an annual book called Poor Richard’s Almanac. In this book Franklin included both important and useless information. Franklin predicted temperatures, told tales, included some of his favorite quotes, and had many fun facts published in this book. This is one of Franklin’s most famous quotes; “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” This saying shows Franklin’s intelligence on time management. Here Franklin claims to be a precise, healthy, and wise person. Benjamin Franklin’s leadership did not only influence the people of his time, but this great quality still influences the people of today. Many people today think of Franklin as a proud pillar of our national heritage. Most of Franklin’s education was self-taught through his hard work and dedication to learning. This education...
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...Literature began to take a new form beginning in the late 1700s. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine were two of those most impactful writers of the time. Between the two, many pieces of powerful literature were crafted notably, Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography and Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason. The two writers had very similar views especially on the topic of religion. Due to their commonalities, Benjamin Franklin was an influential part in Thomas Paine’s success in America. However, remaining true to themselves, Franklin and Paine had their own unique take on the different aspects of religion. Beginning in 1794, Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason publicised his views about religion. In Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, it tells of how his parents raised him in a Presbyterian way opposed to the Church of England. Despite his upbringing, he began doubting at just the age of fifteen. He read many religious books, but even the ones that were against Deism failed to sway him. In fact, they only made his Deistic views stronger. Most people did things...
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...complicated time when America was attempting to find itself. The family structure was one of hard work and survival. School and education came second to providing for ones family. During Benjamin Franklin’s early childhood, his family experienced some of the same newfound troubles many of these families were experiencing. Growing up his father, brother, and other family members had substantial influence on molding young Benjamin Franklin. As Franklin’s life unfolded, he exceeded in many fields, including science, politics, journalism, and philosophy, while also becoming one of the Founding Fathers of the nation. Thus, it is evident the childhood of Benjamin Franklin had tremendous effects on his future. Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston. Raised by his father, Josiah Franklin, and his mother, Abiah Folger Franklin, he was cast into a large family consisting of sixteen brothers and sisters. Josiah Franklin had seven children with another women before she passed away and he married Abiah. Due to the popularity of illnesses and diseases in the early American colonies both men and women were familiar with the idea of remarrying following their spouses death. Benjamin was the “youngest son and the youngest of all the children except two daughters.” A large family like the Franklin’s was not uncommon during this time as the average colonial family consisted of approximately nine members with a household typically including...
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...Benjamin Franklin once said, “Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” That quote described Franklin's portrayal of life in one sentence. Hard work and success go hand in hand, and while Benjamin Franklin and Washington Irving both write passages regarding it, they both have two different ideas or approaches with it. In Benjamin Franklin’s The Way to Wealth, Franklin establishes a firm belief in what it means to be hard working and in Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle, the life of the main character puts that belief to the test. In life, generally to be successful one must be a hard worker and be wanting to strive to reach their goal. Benjamin Franklin strongly believes in having to be a hard worker to be...
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...When thinking critically about Benjamin Franklin’s view on the poor laws, it became apparent that his views were connected to the views of a conservative. Benjamin Franklin believed that “the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it” (Williams, H.,1994). Analyzing Benjamin’s meaning behind this statement is thought provoking; from a conservative point of view this statement can be perceived as individuals needing to take care of them selfs without any help from social services or government agencies. Benjamin Franklin believed that all individuals should be solely responsible for themselves and their economic welfare even if they were to become disabled or elderly, the belief was that they should have prepared for the unknown (Williams, H., 1994). Franklin took the stance that the poor laws made individuals dependent on others to provide for them, which then would lead to increased poverty and reliance on government supports. Franklin argued that the less you provide for individuals forces the individual to do for themselves, promoting independence, self worth and riches. Although Franklin believed that getting assistance form private charities could be harmful; he also believed that if the government was able to delegate how the programs were managed then this would prove to be 1 more effective (Williams, H., g82). The view that the government would be able to police the programs to ensure that individuals...
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...Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin wasn’t only just an inventor, publisher, diplomat, or philosopher. Benjamin Franklin was an educator; he used life as his classroom and his acquaintances as his pupils. He used his life experiences as well as his mistakes as the curriculum. He then taught it to others. Throughout his life he helped others to better themselves. Whether it was with his training of young apprentices in the printing trade, or with his political advice to governors, Benjamin Franklin was always willing to help others to better their situations and to educate themselves. Franklin felt that everyone needed an education no matter what diverse background they were from. Franklin was vital in the formation of the first public school and first public library. He knew that education would be needed for success in life. He also partook in the formations of the first fire and police departments. Throughout Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography he tends to point out his short falls or mistakes, which he calls “erratas”. For instance, when he broke into Vern’s money or when he printed a pamphlet entitled "A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain" to impress Mr. Palmer. Neither party was pleased with his actions. In Franklin’s mind this reinforced his father’s belief he was too young to manage an important business and Mr. Palmer was neither impressed or in favor of the pamphlet; which he found to be detestable. Franklin learned from these mistakes and did...
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...another. Likewise, you need to avoid misleading your own audience when you write persuasively. ("http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/ ," ) I would like to address some fallacies presented throughout Benjamin Franklin’s speech at the 1787 Constitution Convention. After a thorough review of the speech and the statements therein, I realized that the eloquence of Benjamin Franklin could frequently be mistaken for fallacy. So, it was a fairly challenging endeavor to distinguish fallacy from eloquent verbiage. To explain, the first fallacy I want to discuss is when Benjamin Franklin speaks on many men thinking they are infallible and “in possession of all truth”. He goes on to say “Steele, a protestant in a Dedication, tells the Pope that the only difference between our Churches in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is, the Church of Rome is infallible and the Church of England is never in the wrong.” This reference demonstrates the ethical fallacy Dogmatism because it shuts down discussion by asserting that the speaker's beliefs are the only acceptable ones. The protestant suggests to the Pope that the Church of Rome is infallible and the Church of England is never wrong, thereby declaring that whatever the Pope thinks isn’t acceptable. The next fallacy I want to discuss is when Benjamin Franklin describes his doubt that any other Convention obtained would be able to make a better Constitution. He goes on to explain the reason...
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...Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, printer, scientist, statesman, wrote an Autobiography that poses a riddle never completely solved: How could such an incomplete, disjointed, inaccurate, mangled manuscript be so perennially popular? Translated into dozens of languages and reprinted in hundreds of editions, it continues to be one of the most successful books of all time, even though Franklin himself is sometimes viewed with suspicion by the haters of industry and frugality. An answer to the riddle of the Autobiography is partially hinted at by the ways in which it has been described, for if it has not been all things to all men, it has at least been remarkable to most men who have read it. Its most admired qualities have changed as fashions, philosophies, and needs have changed. But, significantly, the book continues to survive such changes From the first line, Franklin's Autobiography illustrates the complex character of the man who wrote it, not only through the facts it states but also through the attitudes it reveals. The productive tension in Franklin's nature between the lighthearted and the earnest is evident by the end of the first paragraph. While Franklin starts his account as a paternal (and presumably chatty) letter to his son, he soon begins the formal statement about his worthy purposes — the rationalizations for the work to follow — which one expects of highly serious eighteenth-century treatises. But after presenting three respectable reasons for writing, Franklin...
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...THE GLENCOE LITERATURE LIBRARY Study Guide for The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin i Meet Benjamin Franklin Benjamin thought that his older brother James was too hard on him, and they often fought. When his apprenticeship ended, Franklin went to Philadelphia. This city, far more than his birthplace of Boston, became Franklin’s home. In Philadelphia he established his own business and raised his family. After Franklin retired from business in 1748, he embarked on a new career as a civil servant. He served in the Pennsylvania Assembly and became deputy postmaster-general. Sent to England as a representative of the Assembly, he spent five years there. During that time, he made the acquaintance of statesmen and scientists alike. Years later, he returned to England and found himself caught up in the growing tension between the thirteen colonies and the British government. Franklin’s loyalties were divided. He felt affinities to the colonies and to King George II of England. When he could tolerate the British government’s policies toward the American colonies no longer, he sailed back to the colonies. By the time his ship arrived, the first battles of the American Revolution had already been fought. Franklin was chosen to serve on the Second Continental Congress, which, acting as the government for the colonies, declared independence from Britain and appointed George Washington as commander in chief of the American army. Franklin was one of five...
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...i Study Guide for The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin T H E G L E N C O E L I T E R A T U R E L I B R A R Y The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Study Guide 9 Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Benjamin thought that his older brother James was too hard on him, and they often fought. When his apprenticeship ended, Franklin went to Philadelphia. This city, far more than his birthplace of Boston, became Franklin’s home. In Philadelphia he established his own business and raised his family. After Franklin retired from business in 1748, he embarked on a new career as a civil servant. He served in the Pennsylvania Assembly and became deputy postmaster-general. Sent to England as a representative of the Assembly, he spent five years there. During that time, he made the acquaintance of statesmen and scientists alike. Years later, he returned to England and found himself caught up in the growing tension between the thirteen colonies and the British government. Franklin’s loyalties were divided. He felt affinities to the colonies and to King George II of England. When he could tolerate the British government’s policies toward the American colonies no longer, he sailed back to the colonies. By the time his ship arrived, the first battles of the American Revolution had already been fought. Franklin was chosen to serve on the Second Continental Congress, which, acting as the government for the colonies, declared independence...
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...THE GLENCOE LITERATURE LIBRARY Study Guide for The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin i Meet Benjamin Franklin Benjamin thought that his older brother James was too hard on him, and they often fought. When his apprenticeship ended, Franklin went to Philadelphia. This city, far more than his birthplace of Boston, became Franklin’s home. In Philadelphia he established his own business and raised his family. After Franklin retired from business in 1748, he embarked on a new career as a civil servant. He served in the Pennsylvania Assembly and became deputy postmaster-general. Sent to England as a representative of the Assembly, he spent five years there. During that time, he made the acquaintance of statesmen and scientists alike. Years later, he returned to England and found himself caught up in the growing tension between the thirteen colonies and the British government. Franklin’s loyalties were divided. He felt affinities to the colonies and to King George II of England. When he could tolerate the British government’s policies toward the American colonies no longer, he sailed back to the colonies. By the time his ship arrived, the first battles of the American Revolution had already been fought. Franklin was chosen to serve on the Second Continental Congress, which, acting as the government for the colonies, declared independence from Britain and appointed George Washington as commander in chief of the American army. Franklin was one of five...
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...Benjamin Franklin David Duron AP Psychology 5th Hour Mr. Compton April 12, 2013 Benjamin Franklin was a very astonishing man who accomplished many things not only for America as a politician and Founding Father, but for all of humanity. Our father of electricity is known and remembered for many things, poet, for being and inventor, a mediator, and probably best known for flying a kite with a key tied on during a lightning storm. Franklin was the son of a Bostonian soap boiler, born on January 17, 1706 the eighth child of ten. His parents were Josiah Franklin, and Abiah Folger Franklin. Abiah franklin was the second wife of Josiah and raised his late wife’s eight, and her own ten children, eighteen total Franklin children. Abiah was born in Nantucket Massachusetts and raised as a Puritan, which had influence on young Benjamin. Not to a lot of other extended information is known about his mother (NSDAR). His father Josiah was born in England in 1657 and migrated to Boston for more religious freedom. Again not too much information is known about his father as well. Josiah had a very influential role in Benjamin’s life. The most noted is that he encouraged all of his children to pursue an honest and worthwhile trade after attaining an education. He was certain that Benjamin was going to be a minister but could only afford two years of schooling (Shmoop). Placed at the Boston Latin School, these two short years made him ten and gave him a heightened need for reading, so...
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...Benjamin Franklin’s Remarks concerning the Savages of North America is a collection of Ben Franklin's thoughts and interactions concerning Native Americans in the 18th century. Beginning with his own analysis he describes the "Savages" manners as different than his own. Franklin also acknowledges that the Native Americans thought of their manners as he did of his own—as "the perfection of civility". Franklin goes on to describe the societal structure of Native American tribes. Referencing specific instances, such as the Treaty of Lancaster, Franklin describes the interactions between Native Americans and the White colonists, during one of the most tumultuous times in Native American history. Franklin comes across as a rationalist in this writing. Remarks such as "Perhaps, if we could examine the manners of different nations with impartiality, we should find no people so rude" summarize the bias of the white male in America as a whole—touching on many, if not all of Jon Meachum's views in Keeping the American Dream Alive. The very core of the problems impeding the American Dream are manifested by the Swedish minister's reaction when the "Indian orator", after listening to the wonders of Christianity, offered to share a Native American legend. Taking great offense to the gesture, the minister completely dismisses the story as fictitious. Completely intact is the narcissistic rationale that all things white are "sacred truths", while everything not white will earn you a one way...
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...If there was any one theme throughout Ben Franklin's life, it was self-improvement. He was born into a family of seventeen children as the son of a poor candle and soap maker. He had less than two years of formal education and began his young adulthood entirely on his own in Philadelphia. Yet he became a wealthy man by eighteenth century standards and one of the most respected intellects of the Western world. He was a model for the rags-to-riches story of the self-made man. Franklin's entire life reflected his belief in self-improvement, and from adolescence until his death at eighty-four, he worked constantly to improve his mind, his body, and his behavior. Mind: Self-education While apprenticed at his brother James' printing shop, Franklin decided to improve his writing abilities. He created a number of methods designed to make him a better writer. He studied the writings of authors whose style he liked and practiced writing essays in the same style. He would also rewrite essays by famous writers, seeking to improve them. Another method he devised was writing the paragraphs and sentences of an essay on slips of paper, shuffling the slips, and finally attempting to reassemble them in the correct order. Also during his apprenticeship, Franklin was exposed to a variety of books and read everything that he could get his hands on. Not only was Franklin an avid reader, he loved to discuss what he read. One of the reasons Franklin formed the Junto in 1727 was to have...
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...Benjamin Franklin John Doe University of Phoenix LDR-531/Leadership February 8, 2014 Professor: Jane Doe Benjamin Franklin According to the Franklin Institute (n.d.), “Today, America's leadership and government are found in Washington, DC. In the late 1700s, that leadership was in Philadelphia because that's where Ben Franklin was” (para. 4). I am a great admirer of Benjamin Franklin. A polymath, Franklin never stopped learning. His numerous accomplishments include cofounding the first hospital in North America, organizing Philadelphia's first fire company and founding the first circulating library, the Library Company of Philadelphia (La Fon, 2013). These endeavors could not be done alone. Says the National Lightning Safety Institute, “Many of Franklin's achievements involved motivating other people towards his goals. He was successful in accomplishing many things because he enlisted the help of others” (Knowing How to Motivate Others Tactfully). To bring his ideas into reality, Franklin had to use a form of leadership to transmit and instill his vision in others. I desire to emulate his leadership style in order to be successful in my next vocation. Franklin the Leader Franklin embodies every attribute of a charismatic leader as laid out in Leadership in Organizations. His novel and appealing visions lead to the creation of the Franklin stove, bifocals, the odometer and swimming fins as well as the discovery of...
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