Ben Franklin - Founding Father and Enlightener - Research Paper Example

 Ben Franklin: Founding Father and Man of the Enlightenment Throughout history those men and women who had the resolve to cultivate their private lives as much as they did their public ones stand out as the greatest mankind has had to offer. These individuals both devoted their lives to the good of their fellow man and to the enhancement and development of their own wisdom and knowledge. The eighteenth century Enlightenment can at least claim to be the one period in history whose ethic and main beliefs sought to apply the knowledge of the natural sciences, coupled with the wisdom inherent in the advances in political philosophy, to the betterment of human society and the life of man. These were the philosopher-kings first mandated by Plato in The Republic: [when] philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one…” (2004, p. 180). The Enlightenment strove to realize Plato’s vision with “the faith that man can be remade by a scientific sociology-politics; the belief that man is good” (Crocker 1962, p. 331). There is arguably no man in American history that better fits this description than does Benjamin Franklin: thinker, writer and printer, inventor, statesman, and diplomat. Viewed with the clarity of hindsight, the scientific, political, and historical accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin become all the more striking when one takes note of the fact that he was born into a poor family. In the opening pages of his autobiography, looking back across his life, he wrote to his son: Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the circumstances of my life, many of which you are not yet acquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week’s uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I sit down to write them for you. To which I have besides other inducements. Having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born and bred, to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the world, and having gone so far through life with a considerable share of felicity, the conducting means I made use of, which with the blessing of god so well succeeded, my posterity may like to know, as they may find some of them suitable to their own situations, and therefore fit to be imitated. (Franklin 1923, pp. 21-22) Franklin was born into a New England family of ten children (he was the eighth). His father was a dyer with a “mechanical genius…qualities which Benjamin both recognized and inherited” (Jones 1977, p. 201). Growing up in a poorer family probably endowed him with a certain sense of humility, a characteristic not always found in the other Founding Fathers. At age twelve he became an apprentice in his uncle’s printing business in Boston. His talents did not go unrecognized. “Later, working in Philadelphia, he was noticed by the Governor, William Keith, who persuaded him in 1724 to go to London to complete his training as a printer and to collect the materials for setting up a press in Philadelphia” (Jones 1977, p. 201). This had lasting consequences for the young Franklin: not only did it provide him with a means to support himself, it also greatly aided in his intellectual development, exposed him to people in power and high society, and provided the worldly outlook which eventually made him the man of the Enlightenment that he became. His time in London had particular consequences for Franklin’s legacy. It was in London where he made the acquaintance of many of the greatest thinkers and writers of the day: Isaac Newton, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, and Samuel Richardson. This experience opened his mind to the thought of the Enlightenment and the political philosophy then swirling around Europe. “As a young printer, he aroused the admiration of his fellow journeymen…He began to question the validity of what he was asked to print, and was therefore moved to write a book of his own on liberty and religion. The hundred copies that he then printed brought him to the notice of the coffee houses, and he thereby nearly realized an ambition to meet Newton...After nineteen months in London, Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1726 and within two years set up a press that over the next decade became the most flourishing in the Colonies. With his lively outlook and a press at his disposal, he began to write his own material; and by 1732 he had produced his first edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack, which made his fortune. (Jones 1977, p. 202) The fact that he began to reject certain printings out of principle is yet another reason to cherish his memory. His work in printing exposed him to philosophy and politics and eventually made him famous. His travels were frequently times where he met influential and powerful men. Franklin affectionately wrote of one such encounter. The then governor of New York, Burnet…, hearing from the captain that a young man, one of his passengers, had a great many books, desir’d he would bring me to see him. I waited upon him accordingly, and should have taken Collins with me but that he was not sober. The gov’r. treated me with great civility, show’d me his library, which was a very large on, and we had a good deal of conversation about books and authors. This was the second governor who had done me the honor to take notice of me; which, to a poor boy like me, was very pleasing. (Franklin 1923, pp. 58-59. His intellectual growth continued. He very soon became the political voice for which he is remembered. In 1729 he published A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency and later in 1759 An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania. He became a well-known authority on questions relating to the American Colonies’ relationship with Great Britain and thus combined his printing and writing talents with the ideas of the age: the betterment of man, the importance of living free from tyranny, and the value of learning. “[A]s had been said in ancient times, ‘knowledge is power,’ American colonials were fortunate in having ample stores of it within their reach” (Beard 1944, pp. 61-62). As for knowledge, Franklin had his hands full. An important part of Franklin’s legacy revolved around his accomplishments as a scientist. His inventions included the woodstove, the lightning rod, and bifocals, among others. His invention of the lightning rod stemmed from his pioneering work on electricity, a subject about which he published a great amount. He studied for example the ways in which electricity could be well conducted. His experiments with the “Electric Phial” looked into the use of “glass to contain electricity” (Franklin 1931, p. 74). His research into electricity gave him yet another opportunity to prove himself to be a man who used his knowledge for the betterment of his fellow man. At the time, it was believed that electricity could be used to stimulate the limbs of people who were paralyzed. Franklin showed himself to be open to trying the method on willing patients free of charge. The following is what I can at present recollect, relating to the effects of electricity in paralytic cases, which have fallen under my observation. Some years since, when the newspapers made mention of great cures performed in Italy or Germany, by means of electricity, a number of paralytics were brought tome from different parts of Pennsylvania, and the neighboring provinces, to be electrified; which I did for them at their request. My method was to place the patient first in a chair, on an electric stool, and draw a number of large strong sparks from all parts of the affected limb or side…The first thing I observed was an immediate greater sensible warmth in the lame limbs, that had received the stroke, than in the others;…The limbs too were found more capable of voluntary motion, and seemed to receive strength….These appearances gave great spirits to the patients…(Franklin 1757, p. 481-482). Though this experimental approach ultimately failed to cure paralysis, it did show Franklin to be a man of all trades. To imagine today a journalist who doubled as a pro bono doctor, not to mention a philosopher, would prove to be absurdly difficult. And yet Franklin was all that and more. His work on electricity not only made him into a respected man of science but also gave the American colonies as a whole some distinction in the eyes of the European forbears whose respect they so desperately wanted. His legacy as a Founding Father derived not just from his writings and role in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence but also for his service as ambassador to France. He went there in 1776 as the ambassador of the American Colonies just after they had declared independence from Britain, a post he would hold intermittently until 1785. “[H]is years in France [have] always been known to be the most daunting…” (Wright 1990, pp. 271-272). His ceaseless work for his native land paid off. Most important was his role in the drafting of the 1783 Treaty of Paris. It was not until 1782 that negotiations were opened between the British agents and the American peace commissioners in France – Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams…Working quietly with British agents in Paris, keeping their plans hidden from the French government, the American commissioners won generous terms for the United States and secretly signed the draft of a treaty with Great Britain. (Beard 1944, p. 112) His service to his country today may seem almost exaggerated. And yet he functioned well in foreign environments where his gregariousness and talent with foreign languages proved useful. “He could be cosmopolitan and sophisticate, precise and humble, as well as jocular and roguish, to suit the part” Wright 1990, p. 274). He helped win the independence and freedom of America and thus forever carved his name into its history. He was a signer of the 1776 Declaration of Independence. More importantly, he was one of the men appointed to draft the historic document. Meanwhile the committee appointed in June, composed of five members, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, was busy framing the document which was to express the ideas and the spirit of independence…Jefferson had written: ‘We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable.’ Later it was modified, perhaps by Franklin, to read: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident.’ (Beard 1944, p.112) In his autobiography, Franklin humorously recalled one exchange in which he had been forced to defend the complaints of the colonists voiced in the Declaration. [He said to me]: “You Americans have wrong ideas of the nature of your constitution; you contend that the king’s instructions to his governors are not laws, and think yourselves at liberty to regard or disregard them at your own discretion. But those instructions are not like the pocket instructions given to a minister going abroad, for regulating his conduct in some trifling point of ceremony….They are then, so far as they relate to you, the law of the land, for the king is the Legislator of the Colonies.” I told his lordship this view was new doctrine to me. (Franklin 1923, pp. 230-231) Franklin stood for principle in his writings and in his social exchanges. He helped fuse the teachings of the Enlightenment with the independent mindedness of America. His contributions in this respect did not stop with the Declaration. He was also one of America’s first statesmen to question the moral validity of slavery. Of the fathers of the republic who first saw the evils of slavery, none made a more forceful argument against the institution than Benjamin Franklin. A man of lowly estate himself, he could not sympathize with the man who felt that his bread should be should be wrung from the sweat of another’s brow. Desiring to see the institution abolished, Franklin early connected himself with the anti-slavery forces of Pennsylvania and maintained this attitude of antagonism until his death. (Franklin 1919, p. 41) Franklin, long before it became fashionable to do so, was one of the first advocates of one of American history’s most noble causes: the abolition of slavery. Unfortunately, his approach to the issue would not be realized for another 70 years or so, only then after a horrific war. Though this survey cannot claim to be complete, it has shown Franklin to be the man that he was. He was skilled in a variety of fields, wrote, took part in the making of history, and, judging by his autobiography, probably died a happy man. If America was the country which most realized the teachings and philosophy of the Enlightenment, then Benjamin Franklin ought to be known as the American who most embodied those same teachings. By fusing wisdom and statesmanship together, his brilliance, principles, and talents show him to have truly been the philosopher-king that he was. Works Cited Beard, Charles. Basic History of the United States. New York: Doubleday, Doran, & Company, 1944. Crocker, Lester G. “Book Review.” The Journal of Modern History 34:3 (1962): pp. 331-332. Franklin, B. “Franklin and the Electric Phial: ‘A Classic of Science’.” The Science News-Letter 20:538 (1931): pp. 74-76. Franklin, Benjamin. “An Account of the effects of Electricity in Paralytic Cases.” Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775) 50 (1757-1758): pp. 481-483. Franklin, Benjamin. “Benjamin Franklin and Freedom.” The Journal of Negro History 4:1 (1919): pp. 41-50. Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. USA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1923. Plato. The Republic. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2004. Jones, R.V. “Benjamin Franklin.” Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 31:2 (1977): pp. 201-225. Wright, Esmond. “Review: Benjamin Franklin after 200 Years.” Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 44:2 (1990): pp. 269-279. Read More