Category: Benjamin Franklin

In 1749, one of the most famous London newspapers posted a speech of the woman who became accused by the court of bearing a child outside of wedlock. In the eighteenth century, the court could punish those women who were pregnant before marriage. According to Hall (2018), Polly Baker stated that instead of punishment, the court should take part in the creation of a statue in her honor. The character believed that she did not commit a crime and positively influenced society to fight against such unfair rules. Miss Polly Baker stated that she had done the duty of God as the birth of a child is a Gods nature which the want of society cannot destroy. The court found Baker guilty five times for the same actions, but she denied it since the birth of these children was planned, and their living conditions were at a good level.

Polly Baker said that she is not the only person who should take all responsibility, but also bachelors must receive the courts punishment (Hall, 2018). Benjamin Franklin was one of the creators of The Speech of Miss Polly Baker, and most of the ideas displayed his personal beliefs. Franklin was a part of the USAs political system and could analyze all advantages and disadvantages of the law. I believe that he would analyze the positive and negative sides of the situation and give clear ideas to make the story more receptive. Benjamin Franklin became one of the first politicians who helped establish connections with other countries and achieve the independence of the United States. The modern state of mind changed the attitude toward women, and they received more rights. The modern world is different from the eighteenth century, and women feel free in their actions and participation in the political sphere. The attitude towards women began to change because of the influential speech of Benjamin Franklin, and this was one of the largest changes in the American history.

Reference

Hall, M. (2018). Benjamin Franklin and Polly Baker. The University of North Carolina Press.

Dover Publications is an American publisher founded in 1941. They tend to publish books that are no longer published by their original publishers, often works found in public domain. These republished books are made available at a greatly reduced cost. One of these publications is The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin is known as one of the greatest contributors to American history and as a great inventor. Born January 17, 1706, he was known as a congressman, philosopher, scientist and revolutionary.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is authored by Franklin himself and is purposed to give an account of his life. Being compared to the original manuscript and the first published autography of Benjamin Franklin we can to determine if all the information is accurate to the original and if the Dover Thrift edition can be considered a primary source. Franklin was born in 1706 in Boston to a family of 14 children. As a child he went to school to become a minister however this soon was substituted when Franklin quickly took to literature, mainly reading and writing. After moving to Philadelphia and becoming acquainted with important political figures, Franklin moved to England where he spent almost two years working as a printer with his friend, James Ralph. Returning back to America in 1726, Franklin later married his wife Deborah Read, had 2 children, the first of which was his son William Franklin, to whom the opening lines of his autobiography are dedicated to.

During the 1730s, Franklin acquired governmental positions and began writing Poor Richard’s Almanac. Later is known to have invented the Franklin Stove, founding a fire brigade, police force, and the University of Pennsylvania. Retiring from the printing business in 1748, Franklin began working on scientific experiments, the most well-known being the kite and the key and later be was awarded by Harvard and Yale. This “hopping” from occupations in different fields is an ideal not widely accepted in today’s society.

Today one is expected to cement themselves in a single career path until retirement. Later Franklin created outlines for proposals for the French and Indian War, many succeed however the autobiography end in 1757 leaving more than 30 years of Franklin’s life unaccounted by him even though later in life he went back to fill in details. Franklin later died in 1790 due to empyema. The Dover Thrift edition gives a very accurate account of Franklin’s life and accomplishments. The Dover Thrift edition of the book starts off with, “DEAR SON: I have ever had pleasure in obtaining any little anecdotes of my ancestors. ” Meanwhile the 1817 version begins with, “To William Franklin, Governor of New Jersey. &; Dear Son”.

Due to the age of 1817 many might believe the Dover thrift edition may be wrong however the original manuscript starts the same as the Dover Thrift Edition. But this is not significant enough to gage if the Dover Edition is a primary source or not. As stated before, the autobiography for the most part was written chronologically, however, Franklin did go back to fill in details. Franklin goes back to write about when he saw his grandfather’s grave in 1758. The Dover Thrift Edition states, “My grandfather Thomas… lived at Ecton till he grew too old to follow business longer, …he went to live with his son John, a dyer at Banbury, in Oxfordshire, with whom my father served an apprenticeship. There my grandfather died and lies buried.” This quote is not significantly different than the 1817 Edition authorized by Franklin’s son, William Temple Franklin but heavily edited by John Marshall. This edition reads, “my grandfather Thomas, who was born 1598, lived at Ecton…till he was too old to continue his business, he retired to Banbury in Oxfordshire to the house of his son John…my father served an apprenticeship. There my uncle died and lies buried.” Due to this, the Dover Thrift edition again might not be considered a primary source, but rather a secondary source, if not for a major piece of evidence.

The 1817 version of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is confirmed to have added many modifications other than what was in the original manuscript. During the 1730s, began writing Poor Richard’s Almanac; Richard Saunders Was a pseudonym of Franklin. He states, “first publish’d my Almanack, under the name of Richard Saunders…commonly called Poor Richard’s Almanac… came to be in such demand, that I reap’d considerable profit from it.” This quote speaks of an accomplishment of Franklin and through the autobiography, we learn of many more such as the creation of the first fire brigade,“ I first formed, called the Union Fire Company, still subsists and flourishes…The small fines that have been paid by members for absence at the monthly meetings have been applied to the purchase of fire engines, ladders, fire-hooks, and other useful implements … provided with the means of putting a stop to beginning conflagrations…”.

The University of Philadelphia is another achievement he is especially proud of as he states, “…thus was established the present University of Philadelphia. I have been continued one of its trustees from the beginning, now near forty years, and have had the very great pleasure of seeing a number of the youth who have receiv’d their education in it…” . These are just a few examples that give credence to the idea that this autobiography was made to highlight Franklin’s achievements.

Benjamin Franklin’s civil achievements were not the only contributions documents. He was an avid scientist and many of his scholarly endeavors were well documented, however they started from humble beginnings, “asham’d of my ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed in learning when at school, I took Cocker’s book of Arithmetick and went through the whole by myself with great ease. I also read Seller’s and Shermy’s books of Navigation and became acquainted with the little geometry they contain; but never proceeded far in that science.” . The idea that with hard work one can master anything is an idea that has almost been completely eradicated as now we tend to give-up on task that we may find that we are not good at and then move on to something else. This quote is also very important because it gives a foundational understanding of where Franklin came from academically and how he furthered his own knowledge base.

Franklin was not worried about using the knowledge of others to further his own experiments, as shown on page 233, “I purchased all Dr. Spence’s apparatus, who had come from England to lecture here, and I proceeded in my electrical experiments with great alacrity;” This again shows a huge difference from society today. In this age people are searching for ways to mke something new and innovative on their own to boast their achievements unlike Franklin. Franklin in some way had a deeper understanding of his contribution in society as he states, “This is an age of experiments, and I think a set accurately made and combin’d would be of great use. I am persuaded, therefore, that ere long some ingenious philosopher will undertake it, to whom I wish success.” Unlike other “autobiographies” the Autobiography of Benjamin franklin appears to be written mainly by himself.

The Life of George Washington, which was actually written and heavily doctored by John Marshall, to the point that the enslaved is never mentioned and that Marshall in named as an author. The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson foreward starts with a sort of disclaimer that basically states that the information disconfirmed to be written be Thomas Jefferson, but the information may be misleading due to his own vanity. This disclaimer is not introduced in the Dover Thrift edition of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin but rather by Franklin himself as he states, “So I might, besides correcting the faults, change some sinister accidents and events of it for others more favorable… to make that recollection as durable as possible by putting it down in writing… I shall indulge it without being tiresome to others, who, through respect to age, might conceive themselves obliged to give me a hearing…” . This quote is incredibly important because it shows that even though Dover did not put a disclaimer in the book, Franklin, knew that his words might be influenced by his own opinion and he acknowledge that.

The reduced cost of Dover Thrift books may be a red flag that their products may not be as accurate or refined. However, this is far from the truth. The reissue classic text that are, for the most part out of print. This being in a niche market of scholars and libraries. They have mastered the art of low-cost production by using cheaper paper and smaller font size to get “the most bang for their buck”. These factors allow Dover to provide authentic content with low-cost production and a lower cost for customers to buy. By comparing Dover’s Edition to the 1817 Edition as well as the original manuscript, and other autobiographies from Benjamin Franklin’s time period, the Dover thrift editions appears to be a primary source of information.

Introduction

I’ll start off with asking you a question, what would you do if there was no electricity? Nowadays we rely on electricity more than we realize it, our society is dependent upon using it in almost everything. I can’t imagine a world without it, could you? We have Benjamin Franklin to thank for this remarkable discovery.

Biographical Information

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston but unfortunately, he passed away on April 17, 1790. He didn’t come from a superior family, in fact, they could only afford to send him for 2 years of school then, by the time he was 13 he was sent to become an apprentice at his brother’s company. Long story short, he ran away from his family at the age of 17 and started his own printing company. In 1748 he retired, moreover he continued writing literature and became councilman, justice of the peace in Pennsylvania and elected member of the assembly. About 5 years later, he became ‘Joint Deputy Postmaster General Of North America’ where he began working towards independence with the other 4 founding fathers, He was the only founding father that signed all 3 of the countries founding documents: Declaration of independence, treaty of Paris and the US Consitution.

Benjamin Franklin is an inspiration as he went from having nothing to then being such a nobleman. What they have done June 1752, Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity with his famous experiment of the kite. This experiment included a kite, obviously but also a key that was tied to the end of it which connected to jar. When the lighting struck the electric current travelled down the string through the key and into the jar. Ever since that day, we have had electricity and we have luckily been able to experience one of the joys in life. If electricity wasn’t discovered then we would have to resort to how life was before. Inconvenient, unparticle and difficult.

Electricity is a key resource in our lives however it makes you think what would happen if there was no electricity? Tasks that we wouldn’t imagine to be so stressing, without electricity would make life just so difficult: food storage, cooking, indoor heating, boiling water, laundry, even just ironing. Don’t forget communication, ever since electricity was further developed we were then able to experience the privilege for talking to anyone, anywhere any time. Whether they are right next to us or across the world we are able to contact them with a click of a button. As Robert Brault states “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” This shows that we should be grateful for electricity and really appretiate it as we don’t know how much we need it until its gone. How you can further/ maintain their contribution Luckily in my opinion I don’t think we will run out of electricity as we will probably not be running out of wind power or sun any time soon as it is a source to help generate electricity through wind turbines. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t conserve and protect electricity. You need to spread awareness so that everyone can be more aware about the society that we are living in. Because it does have an impact on us. The more electricity that is just being wasted just wastes our resource for fossil fuels. Don’t forget about the impact it has on the environment.

Producing electricity releases harmful gases into the air. To maintain electricity we need to spread awareness about the cause and about the long term impact it will contribute. Does your chosen person fit the IB learner profile To conclude Benjamin franklin always asked questions, he was curious about electricity and always asked questions about it which led to his kite experiment. This makes him an inquirer. Furthermore a thinker and knowledagable. Moreover, he was a risk taker, during his experiment he could of died as it is really dangerous., he took the risk of being struck by lighting himself for the benefit of society to be able to advance his findings. Which makes him caring as well. Benjamin Franklin was a great man, he is an inspiration to everyone and will forever be remembered.

Benjamin Franklin was a very popular person in his day, and still to this day, we remember him for all the good he has done.

Benjamin Franklin was born into a religious, Puritan, household on January 17, 1706. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and was the fifteenth child out of his seventeen siblings. Franklin’s parents were named Josiah and Abiah Franklin. His parents were very religious and hard-working. His father made soap and candles in his shop, “At the sign of the Blue Ball, on Milk Street, and later in a bigger house on Union Street” (Waldstreicher). At a young age, Ben’s father thought that praying from home was more beneficial to him than going to church. Ben’s father also liked to play religious tunes on his violin and sing after long days of work. His father was also known for his wisdom. People would come to him for advice on resolving a problem. Ben’s father was described as a very strong and healthy man, however, not much was known about Ben’s mother. Franklin told a friend that she taught him common sense and tolerance.

Benjamin Franklin taught himself many concepts in his youth. Since Benjamin Franklin had sixteen other siblings there was always a lot going on in the family. Ben’s parents couldn’t afford to send all of his children to school for a good amount of time. Josiah Franklin could not afford the cost of education for Benjamin anymore, so Ben couldn’t go to school anymore after his second year. He only attended school for two years. Josiah thought it was a good idea to keep Benjamin home at the age of ten to help him with his job, and the work inside of his job. That included, “helping cut wicks and melt tallow in the candle and soap shop” (Waldstreicher). Early in Benjamin’s life, he was a student and an apprentice.

Benjamin Franklin taught himself to be one of the most educated people of his time. Benjamin Franklin wasn’t educated for long but still became a very successful man. He only attended school for two years. There, he proved that he was outstanding at reading, but, he was fair in writing, and poor in arithmetic (Waldstreicher). When Franklin was twelve years old, his father persuaded him to become an apprentice for Ben’s older brother, James, a printer, because Ben’s dad couldn’t afford to send him to school anymore.

Even though Benjamin Franklin was not going to school anymore, he still believed that he could get smarter by himself. He said, “The doors of wisdom are never shut.” So, he decided to read every book he could find to benefit his knowledge. “He eagerly read such books as Pilgrim’s Progress (1678, 1684), Plutarch’s Lives (about A.D. 100), Cotton Mather’s Bonifacius (1710), and Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719)” (Waldstreicher). Since Benjamin Franklin was poor at arithmetic during his two years of schooling, he decided to teach “himself the basic principles of algebra and geometry, navigation, grammar, logic, and the natural and physical sciences” (Waldstreicher). Benjamin Franklin also “partially mastered French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin” (Waldstreicher).

Benjamin Franklin met a nice woman and started a family when he moved to Philadelphia. Her name was Deborah Read, and Ben instantly gained interest after meeting her. When Benjamin moved, he was a very healthy man. He had, “Dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a large mouth, and a larch head in proportion to his body and was nearly six feet tall” (Schmittroth and Rosteck 116). Deborah Read was the “daughter of a prosperous carpenter” (Schmittroth and Rosteck 116). Ben and Deborah later had three children. Their children’s names were Sarah Franklin Bache, William Franklin, and Francis Folger Franklin. Deborah Read lived from 1730-1774.

Benjamin Franklin was a very successful man in a variety of different ways. After Benjamin was educated for two years his father made him work in his shop, working with soap and candles. Ben really didn’t enjoy making the soap and candles, so his dad gave him a new job, being James’s apprentice. James taught Benjamin to be a very skilled printer. “In 1721, James Franklin established his own newspaper,” and Benjamin contributed (Schmittroth and Rosteck 116). Benjamin Franklin started to write newspapers and signed his name as, “Silence Dogood” (Waldstreicher). James really liked some of Ben’s articles and printed them.

After Benjamin had practice by being an apprentice, he soon became his own master. At the age of seventeen, he decided to run away to Philadelphia by boat. It was a Sunday morning in October of 1723. He was on his way to the biggest city in the colonies. In 1724, Ben “went to England to buy type for a printing press so he could start his own business” (Schmittroth and Rosteck 116). It was a two-year-long journey to get to England for his print. Ben “got work right away at one of London’s most important publishers and made a name for himself by writing on religious matters” (Schmittroth and Rosteck 116).

Ben “grew tired of the frantic pace of London” (Schmittroth and Rosteck 116). He then started touring the continent of Europe, but he didn’t have much money to pay for the trip. So, he would pay for the trip by giving people swimming lessons. In 1728, Ben became part owner of a print shop when he was at the age of twenty-two. Benjamin Franklin was a printer from 1723 to 1730. Then in 1732, when Ben was twenty-six, he came up with one of his best ideas. That was to publish an almanac.

Years later, Ben saved up more money so he could visit his family in Boston. When Ben came back to James he did nothing but show off. This resulted in James being mad, and it took them two years to make up. Later, in December of 1776, when Ben came to Paris, he lived in hotels for a while. By the spring of 1776, Ben moved into a little village outside the city called Passy. Benjamin Franklin was also a statesman. Because Benjamin was a statesman, “Franklin stood in the front rank of the people who built the United States” (Waldstreicher).

Benjamin Franklin wrote his own autobiography called The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Also, he was the only person to sign all four of these important documents: The Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris, The Treaty of Alliance, and The Constitution of the United States. In conclusion, Benjamin Franklin did many productive things during his lifetime to make him such a well-known person in American history.

Benjamin Franklin was involved in the American Revolution. History.com said, “In 1776, he was part of the five-member committee that helped draft the Declaration of Independence in which the thirteen American colonies declared their freedom from British rule. That same year, Congress sent Franklin to France to enlist the nation’s help with the Revolutionary War.” Benjamin Franklin served as a diplomat in the American Revolution.

In 1785, Benjamin Franklin left France and returned to Philadelphia. In 1787, Benjamin was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was the oldest delegate at the convention, reaching the age of eighty-one. History.com says, “At the end of the convention, in September 1787, he urged his fellow delegates to support the heavily debated new document. The U.S. Constitution was ratified by the required nine states in June 1788. Also, George Washington (1732-99) was inaugurated as America’s first president in April 1789.”

Benjamin Franklin lived from 1706 to 1790. Benjamin Franklin returned to Philadelphia. When he returned, he was seventy-nine. He also wrote a farewell to his friend called, Adieu!. Thomas Jefferson was also one of Ben’s last friends to visit him before he died. Benjamin Franklin died three months after his eighty-fourth birthday.

Benjamin Franklin had many strengths, but he also was known for a couple of his weaknesses. Benjamin Franklin was a man who owned up to his mistakes and always tried to fix them. He was known for being easily distracted and unorganized. So, in his autobiography, he wrote a daily schedule to keep him on task and up to date with everything. Benjamin Franklin was also vain, as he didn’t think of it as a sin, but he tried really hard to improve himself.

Benjamin Franklin also had many strengths that make him most remembered in American history. Benjamin Franklin was very kind and polite and even made “a list of rules for good behavior. 1.) Don’t eat or drink too much, 2.) Don’t joke or talk too much, 3.) Keep your things neat, 4.) Do what you set out to do, 5.) Don’t spend too much money, 6.) Don’t waste time, 7.) Be sincere, 8.) Be fair, 9.) Don’t go to extremes, 10.) Keep clean, 11.) Keep calm, 12.) Don’t fool around with girls, 13.) Don’t show off” (Fritz 21). Benjamin Franklin was very talented at improving his mistakes once he made that mistake once. Also, Benjamin Franklin was very strong in his morals.

Benjamin Franklin contributed to history in many different ways. He helped establish Pennsylvania’s first university, and also helped establish America’s first city hospital. He helped organize Philadelphia’s fire department, and proved that lightning is just a huge electric spark. He invented a useful and quick heating stove, the Lightning Rod, street lamps, the Franklin Stove. He also invented, bifocals, the glass armonica, the odometer, the flexible urinary catheter, and a stepladder stool. Benjamin Franklin’s inventions weren’t always just meant for him. He created and put together the first circulating library in America, and he was a Founding Father. Also, he published The Pennsylvania Gazette. Concluding, this shows how much Benjamin Franklin contributed to the world’s history.

“Sometimes Benjamin Franklin’s ideas turned into inventions. At the head of his bed, he hung a cord which was connected to an iron bolt on his door. When he wanted to lock his door at night, he didn’t have to get out of his bed. He just pulled the cord, rolled over, and shut his eyes” (Fritz 28). Thomas Jefferson thought of Benjamin Franklin as, “The greatest man and ornament of the age and country in which he lived” (Waldstreicher).

When Benjamin Franklin was a child, he taught himself how to swim. Once he became good at swimming, he tried something to make him swim faster, he made wooden paddles for his hands and feet. It worked, but the wood was too heavy for him to go far, as the wood absorbed the water. He tried lying on his back with a kite going as he was holding on to see if he could go fast across the pond. The kite idea was super good and worked, but the boys went swimming naked and he would have to have somebody take his clothes from one side of the pond to the other. The pond was one mile wide, so the idea failed. Boys would go swimming naked no matter what the scenario was, whether it was in winter or summer.

Ben was always on the journey to learn new things every day. Benjamin Franklin read a book on how to argue. Ben loved arithmetic but wasn’t very good at it in his two years of schooling. He stuck with it and made a hobby of it, which would be called Magic Squares. Benjamin Franklin was quite the ladies man during his life. Also, he invented a rocking chair with a fan over it. When Benjamin Franklin got a job in Pennsylvania, he saved up his earned money on a new suit of clothes and a watch with a long gold watch chain.

To this day, Benjamin Franklin is a very important reason why our country and world is to where it is today. From Benjamin Franklin being born with seventeen siblings, to only getting two years of schooling. He invented many things that we use to this day. He worked hard to become the person he is known as today. Benjamin Franklin has positively impacted our world so much that acknowledging him for what he did is necessary.

One day, an inventor named Benjamin Franklin wanted to prove something to all the other scientists in his community. So he waited for a day that was dark and cloudy. He listened carefully for the rumble of thunder. He watched out the window to see the large sheets of lighting shoot across the sky.

Once he was sure the conditions were right he went into his invention room. He fetched his kite, a piece of string and a large key. Most people wouldn’t have wanted to go kite-flying in the rain but Benjamin Franklin was a very clever man and he had a plan.

He walked into the storm and began to fly his kite. The wind picked it up and it flew high into the clouds. Benjamin held onto the key which was tied to the wet string. Eventually a bolt of lightning hit the kite. The energy from the lightning traveled down through the string and into the key and Benjamin got a big shock!

Now, most people would be very upset if they had been struck by lightning. But not Benjamin Franklin. He was so excited. His theory was true. Lightning was electrical. Benjamin’s discovery was huge. It was the first step in the creation of electricity. After his experiment with the kite, Benjamin continued to think of a way that power supply could be harnessed and stored.

It took another 100 years before another very clever inventor called Thomas Edison came up with the light bulb. Which is arguably one of the best inventions ever created. Now people could use electricity to change the way in which they lived their lives.

I bet that you can’t imagine what life was like before we had electricity. It completely revolutionized everyday life. Before the 1880’s people had to use things like whale fat and candles and gas to see in the dark. There were no light bulbs or torches. In big castles, like in England they had special people who used to go around lighting all the candles just so they could see.

Could you imagine we didn’t have electricity nowadays? Without electricity we would be in big trouble. We’d have no power supply to our internet or to power our phone charger. Can you think what you would do without a refrigerator to keep your food fresh. Or how about boiling a kettle to make a cup of tea? Would you be okay showering with cold water only? Life is certainly a lot easier and a lot more convenient with electricity.

It’s quite amazing to think that someone actually invented electricity. You must have a really big brain to think of something so cool.

Be grateful next time you are busy plugging your phone or computer into its charger. Thanks to Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison for being such brave and fearless inventors. Otherwise we’d probably still be sitting in the dark.

Being the most accomplished American of his age, Benjamin Franklin has made a great contribution to many fields as education, and diplomacy. He wrote his autobiography since he was a normal child who later found fame and fortune, and hoped that his story will inspire others. Also, since he could not relive his life once more, he took this opportunity to relive it through memories and by recording them. His autobiography portrayed the story of a man from rags to riches, which reveal the pragmatic spirit that deeply related to his life experiences and the American environment in the 18th century.

All pragmatists agreed on the importance of practice and action and viewed things from their pragmatic benefits. They also agreed that the best method to learn is to practice. Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography suggests many principles that he valued throughout his life and how they represented the guiding force of his life. He suggested that these principles and virtues are more important than religion regarding living one’s life honorably, as he sees that it may keep people away from honest with their virtuousness. However, principles help one to work on doing good things for the sake of it.

From the beginning, Franklin emphasized the importance of self-education/improvement, he attributed his success to proper means he led, how he emerged from poverty and achieved some degree of reputation. He recounts how he failed at math when he was a child but found himself in writing, how he later on learnt many new languages like French, Spanish and Italian. When he grew up he found Philadelphia’s first leading library and the University of Pennsylvania; they helped to bring others and himself opportunities for self-improvement and education. Franklin emphasized on this as he saw that it would always pay the best interest, and no one should ever stop improving himself.

He then suggests how he achieved his moral perfection and how he practiced a bold project of 13 virtues. He did not only tell his readers to follow these virtues, but he also designed a plan to practice them within a circle of 13 weeks. Franklin saw these virtues were either necessary in one’s daily life, or desirable among people. This table of virtues shows that one could practically address and improve his moral worth.

This project shed lights on certain important virtues. He made a schedule for his day, allotting seven hours for sleep, 8 hours for work and 9 hours for his daily life exercises like eating, relaxing, and eating. He allotted himself one week to acquire each new virtue, and also to see his progress; he made a record book to terrace his work. This exercise falls under one of his virtue which is industry; Franklin suggests never to lose time and to be always employed in something useful and to cut all unnecessary actions. This also falls under the virtue of order; he suggests letting all one’s things have their place and to let each part of one’s business have its time. Order would give him also more time for attending to his project and studies.

Franklin also embraces silence as he mentions it would be easy to gain knowledge by considering that in conversation it was obtained rather by the use of the ears than the tongue, which was one of his habits that made him acceptable to trifling company. Franklin also suggests that both pride and vanity were hardest as he describes, since they are natural passions for people and even if one reached humility, he might be as well proud of his humility. In fact, he was never good at order or humility; he added humility later on after the other virtues because a friend convinced him that he was justly suspected of being proud.

Although many may see that Franklin did not reach the absolute perfection, he himself still felt better than before, he reached his self-improvement throughout his life. He, in fact, felt that all he achieved at the end, such as reputation and popularity were due to these efforts.

Benjamin Franklin was born on the seventeenth day of January, 1706, on Milk Street, Boston, in Massachusetts. He died on the seventeenth day of April, 1790. He had nine brothers and seven sisters, sixteen siblings in all. He was the son of Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger, his second wife. Anne Child was Benjamin’s half mother. Josiah Franklin worked as a soap maker. Benjamin’s main hobbies as a child were reading and writing. He started attending the Boston Latin School when he was eight and he transferred to George Brownell’s English School a year later. His father withdrew him from school when he was ten, because Benjamin was failing arithmetic and his father needed help with his soap making. Although he never had any other formal education after George Brownell’s English School, he continued to educate himself.

When he was twelve, he was apprenticed as a printer to his half brother James. Even though Benjamin learned a lot, his brother frequently beat and mistreated him. Benjamin ran away to New York then to Philadelphia, where he lived the rest of his life. When he arrived at Pensylvania, He worked as a apprentice printer. Several years later, he stopped working as an apprentice and opened a print shop of his own. The business was very succesful, and he produced a wide variety of materials, from books to pamphlets and more. Because of his increasing buisness he became widley konwn, and became more and more involved with public matters. While he was famous for being a printer, he was also famous for inventing. Inventing the lightning rod, the franklin stove, and the bifocal made Benjamin Franklin well known. He tinkered with inventions and science for many years in his early adulthood. He started politics when he was elected as a member of Philadelphia’s city council.

Benjamin Franklins is remembered in many ways, some ways he is remembered is that his face is printed on the one hundred dollar bill, and many town’s, school’s, and businesses are named after him. He was famous for writing ‘Poor Richard’s Almanac and Silence Dogood’, studying electricity, and creating the lightning rod. His kite expierement on 1752 proved that lightning created electrical charges, helping people reserch electricity greatly even today. Benjamin Franklins act of first introducing street lamps changed America then and now greatly. He was also one of the founding fathers. Benjamin Franklin died on April 17, 1790, at Philidelphia, from pleurisy.

In Benjamin Franklin’s life, we can assume that male and female spaces were different. His life indirectly revealed a difference between genders. Back then, men deemed more worthy than women. Gender greatly influenced education, workspace, and politics.

Gender played a big role in education. Men could decide if they wanted a great education. On the other hand, women weren’t authorized to have one. As a boy, Benjamin and his elder brothers went to school. The text of the Authbiography of Benjamin Franklin mentions that Benjamin had brothers and sisters. However, Benjamin never mentions his sisters going to school and gaining a good education. Later on, only Benjamin and his elder brothers become apprentices. We can infer that women didn’t have the option to get a good education based on this information. As we dig further into the autobiography, Benjamin converses with his friend Collin. Benjamin questioned for women’s education. He questioned women’s abilities to learn and if they were capable of studying. As a male in the eighteenth century, Collin thought the idea was rather improper. Collin declared, ‘They were naturally unequal to it”. Collin didn’t believe that women could be equal to men, hence they shouldn’t study. Many men thought like Collin. Most men didn’t like the idea of letting women being equal with them. However, women were fully capable of learning. Men refuse to see this and dismissed the fact that a female was just as capable as a male. The lifestyle of a woman wasn’t easy compared to a man’s.

At the beginning of the text, it states that Benjamin’s father had two wives. With both wives, he had seventeen children. Seventeen might seem like an absurd number of children, but it was normal. Wives are expected to have this many children if the husband deemed so. This indicated the average relationship between a wife and a husband in the past. Normally, wives and husbands could have many children. Despite having so many children, women often had to take care of them on their own. Men were usually off to their jobs to support their families.

One of the jobs men could become was a printer or to become an apprentice. Benjamin states that he was yet but twelve-years-old when he signed the indentures to become an apprentice. The way he emphasized the words ”but’ and ‘yet’, we can infer that men are permitted to have suitable positions such as an apprentice, at a young age. It was pretty common for men to have jobs such as a printer. What about women? In Franklin’s autobiography, he never named a female printer. He also never referred to a female with a modest career. Since women didn’t have access to education, it’s reasonable to say that they couldn’t have decent jobs. Women could still have jobs, but they were very low ranked.

Benjamin met a poor woman sweeping the pavement. She was pale and feeble. The first thing that came to his mind was to question if she is employed. The shrill woman said she wasn’t employed, and she was sweeping the pavement and hoped to get something. Even though she was weak, she still swept the pavement.

Determination is another skill for determination.

Benjamin Franklin was more an ideological person then more a partaker of a sector of a religion. Although he was raised as an Presbyterian and exhibited some quality of it in that there is one God and that your actions of goodness should be a constant part of one’s life. This lack of religious belief was truly exemplified in ‘the Autobiography’ in which he stated, “It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, I soon became a thorough Deist” (FRANKLIN, Chapter 7). In this statement by Franklin, he is letting readers know his conversion to the Deist movement which was an 17th and 18th century movement in which the idea of a God was accepted but the notion that this creator was an active part of humankind was rejected.

Benjamin Franklin’s belief in Deism was based on the natural laws of morality in that moral conduct will enable every individual in society to not be justified by their religious belief because not everybody will have the same religion but rather be justified by their moral behavior. Franklin illustrates this by stating, “all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter” (FRANKLIN, Chapter 8). This aspect of Benjamin Franklin Ideology on Deism was not based on Christian beliefs but rather institutionalized sense of morality and virtue that enabled a civilized society.

Benjamin Franklin began his quest for moral perfection at a young age and also was raised in Presbyterian household thereby allowing Franklin to exhibit and uphold some of its moral values/implications. This moral implication gave Benjamin Franklin a different understanding on the subject of moral perfection. Moral perfection to Franklin represented a constant improvement and lack of faultiness in one’s all dimensions of life. This quest was illustrated in ‘the Autobiography’ when Benjamin Franklin stated, “I wish’d to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into” (FRANKLIN, Chapter 9). This drive and quest by Benjamin Franklin to constantly evolve led Franklin to implement a plan in which to achieve this process.

Through the commitment and adaptation of the 13 virtues Franklin was able to come to a place in his life where moral defilement was not an aspect of his life. These 13 virtues constitute Benjamin Franklin to carry a small book in which the 13 virtues were listed and at the end of the day Franklin self-examines himself to see if the intended virtues was met. All these interconnected virtues were tried on multiple times until one was at a stage of mastery. This stage of mastery required Franklin to trample on his habitual nature and explore new understanding. Benjamin Franklin confessed himself that he never arrived at moral perfection by stating, “…though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it” (FRANKLIN, Chapter 9). After this statement, Franklin also revealed in the following sentence that this self improvement project that he embarked on made him a better and happier man.

The virtue that Benjamin Franklin found most challenging was the third virtue regarding order. Franklin goes on supporting this notion by stating, “My scheme of Order gave me the most trouble” (FRANKLIN, Chapter 9). Benjamin Franklin revealed in his autobiography that this virtue of Order was the most difficult to achieve as he continually relapsed and failed at every turn. In the process of exemplifying this notion in ‘the Autobiography’, Benjamin Franklin gave the readers a depiction of the “man who, in buying an ax of a smith”. In this depiction Franklin employed his saying “a speckled ax is best?” to reveal that a man can not be a hundred percent surface “bright as the edge”, meaning that a person can find more happiness by not always attempting to be 100 percent at all times but by incorporating some aspect of imperfection. In this case Benjamin Franklin illustrated himself as the ax who is looking to sharpen his whole surface with moral perfection but eventually finding that some speckled imperfection is the best quality.

Benjamin Franklin is a man of many wonders and helped shaped the world as we know it. This autobiography explains the life and travels of Benjamin Franklin. During this edition of ‘the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin’, it was the intention of the publishers to try and attempt in a fit and discuss the life of Franklin and how he changed the world as most see it. During this essay I intend to inform some of the impact Benjamin Franklin had on the Americans.

Benjamin Franklin was born January 17, 1706 by parents Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger, Franklin was the eighth of ten children in his family. Benjamin had a somewhat hard time learning in school, “… being on some occasion made asham’d of my ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed in learning when at school…”. He did eventually find his own way of learning which helped him greatly, “…I took Cocker’s book of Arithmetick, and went through the whole by myself with great ease”.

“I also read Seller’s and Shermy’s books of Navigation, and became acquainted with the little geometry they contain; but never proceeded far in that science” (Page 38).

Benjamin Franklin was quite close to the governor of where he lived at the time and would normally get sent out to voyage. He was also a holder of specific, important documents. Franklin was also a writer and a publisher in his early years, he opened a business that was highly successful, the business also helped produce some of these government documents (Pages 60-70: “skimmed over some but I did need a bit of help understanding so I had to search a bit”). He was praised by many for his work with his writings. Benjamin Franklin’s business prospered, and as it did, he became involved in civic affairs.

Some time around the date 1754, during a meeting of colonial representatives in Albany, New York, Franklin had decided upon a plan for joining together the colonies under a national congress. Unfortunately Benjamin Franklin’s Albany Plan had been rejected it still had helped lay some of the base work for the Articles of Confederation, which would soon become most of the first constitution of the United States.

Franklin was an avid scientist and was always testing new things. His inventions shed a whole new light on many things people use today and it has changed the world as everyone knows it. He studied so many different things that have helped make our world better. As many know, he invented the bifocals and practically electricity as we know it. Not many know this but he also invented an instrument, sadly the instrument wasn’t used as often but it was called the glass armonica.

In conclusion, Benjamin Franklin was a huge part of our nation’s history. He helped build a constitution and work to build the groundwork for the constitution. Franklin had invented things that improved our country and changed the world and science as we know it.