History was made in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706, as one of our nation's most influential enlightenment thinkers was born. Benjamin Franklin was the tenth son of his father Josiah Franklin, who was a soap maker. Josiah’s second wife, Abiah Folger, was Benjamin’s mother. When Benjamin was only 12, he would sell the products that he composed and set type through gruelling work with his brother James. At 15, his brother started the first newspaper in Boston, which was called The New England Courant. Benjamin wanted to write for the paper too, so he would sneak papers into the print shop, which soon became a smash hit. When he revealed he was the one writing the papers, his brother rebuked him out of jealousy. Even though running
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was the root of many ideas of the American expansion; it was an era of intellectual ferment and prosperity that brought reasoning and political science over superstition and blind faith. Benjamin Franklin’s contrast in ideas from that of the puritans are a clear indication of morality and how it is being redefined. Enlightenment thinkers such as Franklin addressed acknowledged information and spread new thoughts regarding transparency, investigation and self-exploration that will create a major turning point in western advancement, an age of light replacing the age of the blind.
There have been multiple individuals who have had significant impact on the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment: The.. Benjamin Franklin: Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of America. He was a scientist, inventor, etc, and he conducted multiple experiments with electricity creating a lighting rod, and he also contributed to the understanding of electricity. He was also known for his writing and philosophy.
“Though I am still of opinion that it, was a practicable scheme, and might have been useful, by forming a good number of citizens: and I was not discouraged by the seeming magnitude of the undertaking as I have always thought that one man of tolerable abilities may work great changes and accomplish great affairs among mankind (pg. 106).” Benjamin Franklin is an archetypal American because everybody wants to be just like him. He wrote this book to show the right way to become the perfect American. Also, he wrote this autobiography to explain to his son and to other people about how to be the ideal American. Benjamin Franklin became a deism because it helped him become more open-minded. A deism is a person that believes that god created the
One of the most inspiring founding fathers of the United State has left the world a legacy of his to his son. Often viewed as the ‘jack-of-all-trades”, Benjamin Franklin wrote his own autobiography to recall the major events of history as he took part in them, whether he was successful or a failure. His autobiography was written in three different periods in his lifetime: 1771 in England (7), 1783 at France (100), and 1788 in America (118).
The colonies started at New Hampshire and ended in Georgia. Benjamin was born on January 6, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts. Education in his early life ended by the age of ten. By the age of twelve, he went to work as a printer with his older sibling James. At the age of seventeen, he
Benjamin Franklin was one of the most successful founding fathers of our nation and helped establish American independence from Great Britain. He was a key member in the development of the political backbone that has shaped this country into what it is today. Benjamin Franklin was one of the most humble and inspirational figures of that time. He was a major factor in the outcome of the war of Independence and in his selfless actions of leaving his family, won the help from the French to assist America in the fight against England. Although Benjamin Franklin never made it to be president he was a leader among his peers. He invented many things that we still use today such as the library, bifocals, and the postal service. He helped
A hero can come in many shapes and sizes. They do not always wear tights and fly through the air. In reality, a hero can be a next door neighbor, a man walking down the street, a firefighter, or a teacher. Throughout American history, there have been a multitude of heroes, and me in particular is Benjamin Franklin. Although there is some controversy surrounding Benjamin Franklin a his heroic contributions, the fact remain that he was a hero during the American Revolution.
It is easy to see Benjamin Franklin was no doubt an archetypal American. No one since him has ever had the same amount of success as him. He was a private businessman who made enough money to retire early and to spend the rest of his life in politics. Around this time period only the rich were able to retire early. He was industrious. Franklin continually put forth the idea of the industrious American. He had support from the middle-class who did not care if he was rich but he was a man who was self-made and worked hard. This American attitude was formed early and most of it by him. Franklin was also not judgmental came to decisions and conclusions as a businessman and politician. However, his attitude was non-judgmental with respect to a
The Enlightenment is when popular Christian preachers in the 1700’s preached to their congregation that freedom does not bestow from the English crown but is bestowed from God. They explained to their people that they had free will to choose what they wanted to do in order to be the best they could be for themselves. This included freedom of commerce, freedom of religion, and freedom of press. The Enlightenment gave people courage because of their faith in God to pursue freedom. Benjamin Franklin guided people in politics and people in the religious fashion and got them together. He helped facilitate the continental congress and other countries that would help support us during the revolutionary war. Franklin helped introduce Enlightenment to America through his readings, his writings, and his actions.
Provide loyalty to country, thyself, or family? These are the important questions Benjamin Franklin, William Franklin and George Hewes asked themselves during the years prior to the American Revolution and influenced their political and personal actions henceforth. The American colonists and British were a politically divided population during the 1770’s. British subjects were separated by their support of three political principles, supporting independence from Britain, the Patriots, remaining with Britain, the Loyalists and those neutral. These key figures involvement in the events leading up to the Revolution provide an answer for why these figures’ loyalty resided with either Britain or the colonies.
There were many people that helped contribute to the Enlightenment, but the most prominent American leader was a well-know political figure named Benjamin Franklin. The Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason, was period of time when people tried to justify life in terms of scientific theory and rationalism. “The Enlightenment was responsible for inspiring revived interests in education, science, and literature” (“HistoryKing.com”). It also emphasized progression away from traditional customs and foundations
Benjamin Franklin was one of the most influential men of the eighteenth century. He was the only man to sign all of these four major documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Constitution of the United States, and the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain. Franklin was an inventor, a philosopher, a writer, a musician, and he actively participated in many congressional articles used by the government of the United States of America. His tombstone, however, simply referred to him as "printer", reflecting his great humility. One of the things he was most influential in was the separation of the American colonies from British rule. In fact, Benjamin Franklin was vital to the success of the American
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston. His father, Josiah Franklin, who was a tallow chandler, had seventeen children; Benjamin was the fifteenth child and the tenth son. His mother, Abiah Folger, was his father’s second wife. After he went to grammar school from age eight to ten, Benjamin started working at his father’s business. He didn’t like the work very much, however, and so he began to work for a cutler. When he was just thirteen, he became an apprentice to his brother James, who had just returned from England with a new printing press. Benjamin learned the printing trade, but in his spare time he tried to improve his education. In 1721 his brother
Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, founding father of the U.S, and a Diplomat in France, has many accomplishments and contributions to our democracy. For starters, in my drawing diagram, I chose three items that I thought were appropriate to identify or symbolize the Enlightenment thinker, Benjamin Franklin. The first drawing (#1), the lightning bolt represents his accomplishment of the being the first person to discover electricity in 1746, which is a very useful and important resource today. The second drawing (#2), his political cartoon captioned “Join or Die”, symbolizes his accomplishment of being the first to publish a political cartoon in the U.S in 1754 symbolizing the original American Colonies and how if they all united they would be
Benjamin Franklin was one of the first and most famous scientists in America. He was a man of many talents and interests. Franklin was always curios about they way things work, and he always tried to find ways to make them work better. Even though he started out as a published, he was always interested in science. However this interest soon became a passion to Franklin. He even retired from his publishing business to work in a laboratory with his mostly homemade equipment. Throughout his life Benjamin Franklin made many important discoveries and theories which greatly influenced future scientists and inventors.