...Benjamin Franklin was a remarkably talented man. He started his life as a printers apprentice, but went much farther then there. He developed things that were far more advanced than the time. Benjamin Franklin's stove for example, for cold winter nights, and bifocal lenses for reading. Franklin tracked storms to help understand the horrible weather endured by the colonies. But gis study of electricity made him mist famous and he was known world wide as the founder of the lightning rod. Not only was Benjamin Franklin helpful in developing ideas for better living, he was also a strong force in developing the new nation of America. Benjamin Franklins political views showed him to be a man who loved freedom and independence. His views towards England gradually changed from like to dislike until he finally became a revolutionist at the age of seventy. But more than just his political views helped the formation of the United States government and independance. His common sense, knowledge, and ability to negotiate all played a major part in the forming of a new country. Benjamin Franklin's ability to compromise often helped prevent large disputes which could have stalled the new government from forming. Benjamin Franklin was a major participant in the colonies strive for independence. He had a house in London and was very influential in England. However, his love of liberty and his wish to help the well being of Pennsylvania pushed him toward independence for the colonies. Also...
Words: 883 - Pages: 4
...Franklin project: Paragraphs Paragraph 1: Franklin Reflection Benjamin Franklin’s improvement plan for himself was very substantial for one to commit to. Having thirteen personality traits to flip around at one time is too much for a human to conquer. He must have been a serious go getter. He made a chart and even kept a journal to record his progress. Personally I feel like doing this would be almost impossible. He writes “I wanted to make all these virtues into personal habits, so I tried to master them one at a time”. It’s great to work hard for something, but it’s hard enough changing one thing but changing thirteen things would be non- accomplishable. I remember I tried to change just a few things about me. Just doing that was hard, and it took awhile and sometimes I still mess up. But having ten more things would be too much. However, he definitely knew it would be a challenge according to his quote, “ Like a man with a large garden to weed, I knew I could not get rid of all my faults at once”. At least he is somewhat realistic. Still I believe if he took to the list with tremendous work ethic, he would still most likely not perfect himself. Perfection takes a lifetime. Paragraph 2: My Plan My improvement plan consists of simply not cursing, and replacing those words with more sensible words. Cursing is unprofessional and makes me sound uneducated. I knew it needed to stop, so like Benjamin Franklin I set myself up with a self improvement...
Words: 619 - Pages: 3
...Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts, into a devoted Puritan household. (The Puritans were a religious group that stood against the practices of the Church of England.) In 1683 his family had left England and moved to New England in search of religious freedom. Franklin's father was a candlemaker and a mechanic, but, his son said, his "great Excellence lay in a sound Understanding, and solid Judgment." Franklin also praised his mother, who raised a family of thirteen children. Young Franklin was not content at home. He received little formal schooling and by age eleven went to work making candles and soap at his father's shop. However, he hated this trade—especially the smell. Franklin eventually left his father's shop and went to work for his brother James, who was the printer of a Boston newspaper. While learning the business Franklin read every word that came into the shop and was soon writing clever pieces that criticized the Boston establishment. He loved to read and even became a vegetarian in order to save money to buy books. When authorities imprisoned James for his own critical articles, Benjamin continued the paper himself. In 1723 at age seventeen Franklin left home and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By this time Franklin had begun to embrace the ideas of such Enlightenment thinkers as the physicist Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) and the philosopher John Locke (1632–1727). The Enlightenment, which began in the sixteenth century...
Words: 1573 - Pages: 7
...Colonial America was no different. The era was a 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...
Words: 3813 - Pages: 16
...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...
Words: 3419 - Pages: 14
...Blake Howard EN 105 Nancy McGee Week 2 Essay 10/28/2014 Benjamin Franklin Arriving at Perfection Can anyone be perfect? How do we go about achieving perfection? Well Benjamin Franklin thought he could live his life to perfection and achieve this in everyday tasks. People second-guess themselves or look back and wish they would have done whatever they had done different. Benjamin Franklin was on a mission to show everyone he could be perfect but also show to everyone he came across. Even though his ways of being perfect were not the same as everyone’s standards, Benjamin Franklin still tried to show that he was perfect in everyway possible. There is something in all of our lives that we wish we were better at. There are things we may try to do to make those things better: study more, put in extra hours at the job, see a counselor, or practice harder. In Benjamin Franklin's essay "Arriving at Perfection" he sets out to devise a plan of self-examination, resulting in self-correction. “Arriving at Perfection” Benjamin Franklin explains how he is perfect and how he is going to show everyone to stride to be perfect. He said, “It was about the time I conceived the bold project of arriving at moral perfection”. This message shows the standard of his thoughts and motives of Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin, along with being a worthy human being, was an extremely ingenious person as well. Franklin was a very clever man, intellectual and witty, and he did not let his...
Words: 884 - Pages: 4
...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...
Words: 510 - Pages: 3
...strong and with this strength deism was born. Although not everyone accepted these new ideas, many did. Benjamin Franklin was definitely a product of this new age. Benjamin Franklin at the age of sixteen accepted deism as his religion. Franklin believed in the perfectibility of man. By altering his lifestyle he removed morals from religion in believing one should do good because it is useful in this world, not the next. Without having to consider original sin from Adam and Eve, which would have made it impossible to achieve perfection. Unlike Puritans who believed they had to reach moral perfection to please God. Franklins deism allowed him to strive for this perfection. His strategy for accomplishing his goal was by following his thirteen virtues. He made a little brown book so he could recorded the faults he had that day. In his Autobiography Franklin hints at his secularization of virtue, “vicious actions are no harmful because they are forbidden, but forbidden because they are hurtful”(818). Franklin did not feel that he truly reached this perfection, mainly because, “inclination was sometimes too strong for reason”(913). Later stating that, “I was by the endeavor a better and happier Man than I otherwise should have been, if I had not attempted it”(917). As we look at Franklin’s thirteen virtues all of them deal with the betterment of oneself and mankind. Franklin has truly defined his secularization of...
Words: 304 - Pages: 2
...John Eed English 1102-008 April 9th, 2012 Jim Burnham The Bible of the Middle-Class American *** Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography has an impact on the readers in some way. Middle-Class people go through similar problems Ben went through and learn from the parables and advices he throws in. The Autobiography is uniquely American because it communicates to all people who live in the United States, especially the Middle-Class Americans. Franklin would fit in our society now because he lived a similar life back then. Also, Franklin thought about life in a modern way, making his way in life on his own at a young age. Franklin, like most Middle-Class teenagers now, had to work in order to live (58-59). He also traveled on his own to Philadelphia to find a job and to make a living (71). *** What makes the autobiography relevant to people is that Ben was not raised in a rich family. His dad dropped him out of school because he could not afford Ben to go to school (53). It was also really difficult for his father to raise the family since he had 17 children. When Middle-Class people read this, they could relate in everyway and feel the same way he felt. Ben, being the author, writes what he feels and what he went through. If it were another author, it would have been much different because no one feels the same feeling unless they are in the same situation. Sample * * # of words: 120 ASL = 17 # of independent clauses:...
Words: 268 - Pages: 2
...en Franklin: Early Life In his many careers as a printer, moralist, essayist, civic leader, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, and philosopher, for later generations of Americans he became both a spokesman and a model for the national character. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Jan. 17, 1706, into a religious Puritan household. His father, Josiah, was a candlemaker and a skillful mechanic. His mother, Abiah Ben’s parents raised thirteen children--the survivors of Josiah’s seventeen children by two wives (#1). Printer & Writer Franklin left school at ten years old when he was pressed into his father's trade. At twelve Ben was apprenticed to his half brother James, a printer of The New England Courant. He generally absorbed the values and philosophy of the English Enlightenment. At the age of 16, Franklin wrote some pieces for the Courant signed "Silence Dogood," in which he parodied the Boston authorities and society (#3). At one point James Franklin was imprisoned for his liberal statements, and Benjamin carried on the paper himself. Having thus learned to resist oppression, Benjamin refused to suffer his brother's own domineering qualities and in 1723 ran away to Philadelphia (#1). Soon Franklin found a job as a printer. After a year he went to England, where he became a master printer, sowed some wild oats, amazed the locals with his swimming feats, and lived among inspiring writers of London. By 1726 Franklin was tiring of London (#1). He considered...
Words: 390 - Pages: 2
...Ben Franklin talks about his reasons for writing the Autobiography, saying that since you can't live your life over again, the next best thing is to recapture it by writing it down. He describes his early life in Boston, his love for reading, and his job training. Franklin apprentices as a printer to his brother James, but he hates working for him, and runs away to Philadelphia at age sixteen. In Philadelphia, Franklin begins working for a printer named Keimer. The governor, Sir William Keith, offers to set Franklin up on his own as a printer and sends him to England to get supplies. Once in England, though, Franklin finds out that Keith's a liar and a cheat – and he's stuck in London without money or a way to get back to America. Franklin works hard at Watts' printing shop, learns about his craft, and makes some important connections. After he saves up enough money, he returns to America with his friend Mr. Denham, who's offered him a job. Franklin works hard for Denham until his employer dies, and then he has to go back to Keimer. That doesn't last long, because Franklin quits. He decides to start his own business with another former Keimer employee, Hugh Meredith. Even though there's competition, they get a couple of lucky breaks, like printing the Pennsylvania Gazette. After Meredith bows out, Franklin gets some contracts to print paper money, and his rival Keimer retires. As the business really starts to take off, Franklin marries his old flame Deborah Read. He also helps...
Words: 1194 - Pages: 5
...Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17; in 1706.He was the tenth son of a soap maker. He received a bit of education from school, but was mainly self-taught. After working as an apprentice for his father for two years, he worked for his half-brother James, who was a printer. In 1721, they founded the New England Courant, the fourth newspaper in the colonies. Benjamin secretly wrote 14 essays for it, his first published writings. In 1723, due to disagreements with his half-brother, Franklin fled to Philadelphia, where he was able to find employment as a printer. He spent one year there and then sailed to London for two years. After his return to Philadelphia, he rose gallantly in the printing industry. He published The Pennsylvania Gazette (1730-48). His most successful literary venture was the annual Poor Richard’s Almanac (1733-58). It gained popularity in the colonies, and its name spread to Europe. In 1730, Franklin got married to Deborah Read, who was on a schedule to give him a son and a daughter, and he, also, had children with another unknown woman out of wedlock. By 1748, he was financially independent and got recognition for his philanthropy and the efforts he made to public causes like libraries, educational institutions, and hospitals. He,also, made time to pursue his interest in science, as well as to enter politics. Franklin worked as a clerk (1736-51) and a member (1751-64) of the colonial legislature and as deputy postmaster of...
Words: 913 - Pages: 4
...Benjamin Franklin The information I am going to share will be a big surprise to you. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, is a well-rounded and productive figure. His distinguished contributions vary from field to field, for he is not only a famous author, diploma, and political theorist, but also a postmaster, printer and scientist. Is it incredible or just stunning? Unquestionably it is. However, to be honest, He is worthy of such titles. Now, let us make an all-round acquaintance of him in detail. As a scientist and inventor, he had made great contributions to the American Enlightenment and the history of physics. He conducted a many of experiments and discovered lots of new things such as the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove. Moreover, He facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphia's fire department and a university. As an outstanding author and spokesman, he exemplified the emerging American nation. He earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity. He was also foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, and community spirit, and he was opposite to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment. As a successful newspaper editor and printer, he published the Pennsylvania Chronicle with his two partners, a newspaper that was known...
Words: 450 - Pages: 2
...Benjamin Franklin’s role in shaping the United States is mostly tied to his part in the American Revolution and his experiments with electricity. Mr. Franklin not only helped shaped the country but he also helped shape American literature with such writings such as The Way to Wealth, The Gospel Preacher a Book of Twenty Sermons, a number of different essays, and of course his Autobiography. His Autobiography was more of a self help book than writings about his life. He wanted to stress to his son and other people that what they were is not who they would always be, if they take the proper steps and kept an open mind they could achieve great things. In his Autobiography Franklin stresses the point of self-improvement through education, good health habits, good work ethics, not being argumentative, and practiced frugality among other things. Franklin’s writings influenced writers like Dale Carnegie, Stephen Covey, and Anthony Robbins. Some writers like Thoreau thought his writings focused only on achieving wealth and never really appreciating the simpler things in life. Though Franklin does stress on the more frivolous things in life at times, he really only wanted for people to learn how to become all around better people. Franklin believed that education was everything. In order for out country to grow everyone, especially the youth, needed to expand their minds. He stressed education so much to his fellow Americans that he started a learning academy that is now known as The...
Words: 251 - Pages: 2
...Benjamin Franklin For this journal, I want you to create a schedule for yourself for a day or two like Franklin did. Think about what you want to accomplish in your life and how your activities are helping you achieve those goals. Share with me your schedule in the form of a list and how your activities are moving you forward in life. Also include at least 1 of Franklin's sayings and how your activities helped you achieve it. I will be getting married to my boyfriend of four and a half years and fiancé for 5 months in June spring of 2014. My current goal is to lose weight and get fit between now and then in hopes to getting a final fitting and alterations done to my wedding dress. I intentionally purchased the dress in a size six and I’m currently a ten with goals of fitting into the dress comfortably on my wedding day. My goal is to be able to fit in the wedding dress in June but I also want to improve many aspects of my life. My daily activities to achieve these goals include: 1. Eating Right a. Balance of all food groups daily b. Drinking more than the recommend amounts of water c. Taking the appropriate vitamins daily 2. Exercising d. 60 minutes of cardio daily (twice a day if possible) e. Switching up workout with classes, weight training f. Working and consulting with my trainer twice a week g. Keeping track of my progress 3. Relaxing/ Relieving Stress h. Getting at least 7 hours a sleep i. Planning...
Words: 462 - Pages: 2
