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 37
Page 2
... family . Franklin and Deborah had two 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 ...
... family . Franklin and Deborah had two 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 ...
Page 22
... Family , the less would be found existing in any one Branch of it ; to say nothing of the greater Chance of unlucky Interruptions . Our Constitution seems not to be well understood with you . If the Congress were a permanent Body ...
... Family , the less would be found existing in any one Branch of it ; to say nothing of the greater Chance of unlucky Interruptions . Our Constitution seems not to be well understood with you . If the Congress were a permanent Body ...
Page 27
... family . From Westerly , Catharine returned to her home on Block Island , while Franklin made his leisurely way back to Philadelphia . She immediately began their long correspondence by asking him to " love me one thousandth Part so ...
... family . From Westerly , Catharine returned to her home on Block Island , while Franklin made his leisurely way back to Philadelphia . She immediately began their long correspondence by asking him to " love me one thousandth Part so ...
Page 35
... Family sup in Publick . The Form of their sitting at the Table was this : Mad . Louife Waiters Had Sophie . Mad Victoire Had . Delaide The Queen The King . The Table as you see was half a Hollow Square , the Service Gold . When either ...
... Family sup in Publick . The Form of their sitting at the Table was this : Mad . Louife Waiters Had Sophie . Mad Victoire Had . Delaide The Queen The King . The Table as you see was half a Hollow Square , the Service Gold . When either ...
Page 36
... Family ; and did me too the Honour of taking some Notice of me ; that's saying enough , for I would not have you think me so much pleas'd with this King and Queen as to have a Whit less Regard than I us'd to have for ours . No Frenchman ...
... Family ; and did me too the Honour of taking some Notice of me ; that's saying enough , for I would not have you think me so much pleas'd with this King and Queen as to have a Whit less Regard than I us'd to have for ours . No Frenchman ...
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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