Not Your Usual Founding Father: Selected Readings from Benjamin FranklinThis engaging book reveals Benjamin Franklin’s human side—his tastes and habits, his enthusiasms, and his devotion to democracy and the people of the United States. Three hundred years after his birth, we may remember Franklin’s famous Autobiography, or his status as framer of the Declaration of Independence and the peace with Great Britain, or his experiments in electricity, or perhaps his sage advice on diligence and thrift. But historian Edmund S. Morgan invites us to meet the man himself, a sociable, good-natured, and extraordinary human being with boundless curiosity about the natural world and a vision of what America could be. Drawing on lifelong research in the vast Franklin archives, Morgan assembles both famous and lesser-known writings that offer insights into this founding father’s thinking. The book is organized around four major themes, each with an introduction. The first section includes journal excerpts and letters revealing Franklin’s personal tastes and habits. The second is devoted to Franklin’s inexhaustible intellectual energy and his scientific discoveries. The third and fourth chronicle his devotion to serving the people who became the United States both before and after the Revolution and to advancing his democratic vision of their future. Franklin’s humanity and genius have never seemed more real than in the pages of this appealing anthology. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 33
Page 2
... children of their own , a boy , Francis , and a girl , Sarah ( Sally ) . Franklin seems to have been devoted to all of them . He was deeply grieved when Francis died at the age of four . Thereafter Franklin fastened his affections on ...
... children of their own , a boy , Francis , and a girl , Sarah ( Sally ) . Franklin seems to have been devoted to all of them . He was deeply grieved when Francis died at the age of four . Thereafter Franklin fastened his affections on ...
Page 6
... children in both England and France continue an exchange prompted by Whately's appointment as treasurer of London's Foundling Hospital . Franklin was fond of children and ever eager to sup- port efforts for their welfare . The “ double ...
... children in both England and France continue an exchange prompted by Whately's appointment as treasurer of London's Foundling Hospital . Franklin was fond of children and ever eager to sup- port efforts for their welfare . The “ double ...
Page 21
... Children receiv'd in the Foundling Hospital at Paris from 1741 to 1755 inclusive , and I have added the Years preceding as far back as 1710 , together with the general Christnings of the City ; and the Years succeeding down to 1770 ...
... Children receiv'd in the Foundling Hospital at Paris from 1741 to 1755 inclusive , and I have added the Years preceding as far back as 1710 , together with the general Christnings of the City ; and the Years succeeding down to 1770 ...
Page 22
... Children and take care of them there . Here is an Office for examining the Health of Nurses and giving them Licences . They come to Town on certain Days of the Week in Companies to receive the Children , and we often meet Trains of them ...
... Children and take care of them there . Here is an Office for examining the Health of Nurses and giving them Licences . They come to Town on certain Days of the Week in Companies to receive the Children , and we often meet Trains of them ...
Page 28
... children on their own terms . One of his closest friends in England was Jonathan Shipley , bishop of St. Asaph , who openly espoused the American cause . Shipley had married Anna Mordaunt , niece of the earl of Peterborough . They lived ...
... children on their own terms . One of his closest friends in England was Jonathan Shipley , bishop of St. Asaph , who openly espoused the American cause . Shipley had married Anna Mordaunt , niece of the earl of Peterborough . They lived ...
Contents
1 | |
Part II Nature observed | 67 |
Part III A continental vision | 141 |
Part IV War peace and humanity | 219 |
Chronology | 289 |
Credits | 291 |
Index | 297 |
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