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Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Scientist): Years
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Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Early) , and more.
Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Early) , and more.
With America celebrating the tricentennary of Benjamin Franklin's birth this year a veritable flood of books have been published seeking to understand this fascinating figure. This book is the best of the bunch. While not a standard biography, Gordon Wood offers a penetrating analysis of Franklin by approaching Franklin's life through five transformations that he underwent: from his humble roots to become a man of means, from that to his enthusiasm for empire and from there to his adoption of the Patriot cause, then from there to his transformation into a diplomat and ultimately an American icon.
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This new year, which will commemorate Benjamin Franklin’s 300th birthday on Jan. 17, begins with the anniversaries of two events which ultimately contributed to the exploration of space. On Jan. 7, 1785 a manned balloon flight successfully crossed the English Channel from England to France, and on Jan. 9, 1793, the first American exhibition of manned lighter-than-air flight took place in Philadelphia.
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The son of a tallow chandler and soapmaker, Franklin left school at 10 years of age to help his father. He then was apprenticed to his half brother James, a printer and publisher of the New England Courant, to which young Ben secretly contributed. After much disagreement he left his brother’s employment and went (1723) to Philadelphia to work as a printer. Industry and thrift—qualities he was to praise later—helped him to better himself.
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Franklin's most popular publication was 'Poor Richard's Almanack', which first appeared in 1732. The 'Almanack' was a calendar and weather forecast for the year, and it contained amusing stories, jokes, and proverbs. The homely sayings, which Franklin published under the pen name Richard Saunders, made him famous as a rustic philosopher. It was "Poor Richard" who said:
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At the end of this occasion, in 1783, Franklin wanted to go home. But somehow the Congress would not recall him until 1785. And when he did return, he feared that he would be a stranger in his own country. Indeed, in some respects he was. He was 79 years old. He hardly knew anyone. Lee and Adams had spent a lot of time impugning his reputation in America.
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Franklin himself was not without faults, but masterfully used his mistakes and failings -- particularly in his younger years - as a true learning tool and stepping stone to greatness. At the age of ten, young Franklin led a group of friends in the building of a fishing pier along with the pilfering of a considerable amount of stones to build their pier. Their wrongdoing was soon discovered and, through the wise and convincing words of his father, Franklin cemented his belief in the necessity for honesty in all endeavors.
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