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 40
Page 15
... in my breast with joy when I saw so many human countenances , and I could scarce refrain from that kind of laughter which proceeds from some degree of inward pleasure. When we have THE YOUNG MAN AND THE OLD MAN [ 15 ]
... in my breast with joy when I saw so many human countenances , and I could scarce refrain from that kind of laughter which proceeds from some degree of inward pleasure. When we have THE YOUNG MAN AND THE OLD MAN [ 15 ]
Page 16
... kind, very surprising to see. It was a small shell-fish like a heart, the stalk by which it proceeded from the branch being partly of a gristly kind. Upon this one branch of the weed there were near forty of these vegetable animals; the ...
... kind, very surprising to see. It was a small shell-fish like a heart, the stalk by which it proceeded from the branch being partly of a gristly kind. Upon this one branch of the weed there were near forty of these vegetable animals; the ...
Page 17
... kind of fruit might be crabs in due time . To strengthen my conjecture , I have resolved to keep the weed in salt water , renewing it every day till we come on shore , by this experiment to see whether any more crabs will be produced or ...
... kind of fruit might be crabs in due time . To strengthen my conjecture , I have resolved to keep the weed in salt water , renewing it every day till we come on shore , by this experiment to see whether any more crabs will be produced or ...
Page 19
... kind proposal , and about ten o'clock landed at Philadelphia , heartily congratulating each other upon our having happily completed so tedious and dangerous a voyage . Thank God ! To George Whately , 1785 Dear old Friend Passy , May 23 ...
... kind proposal , and about ten o'clock landed at Philadelphia , heartily congratulating each other upon our having happily completed so tedious and dangerous a voyage . Thank God ! To George Whately , 1785 Dear old Friend Passy , May 23 ...
Page 23
... Change trou- blesome and not always sufficiently ready , I had the Glasses cut , and half of each kind associated in the same Circle , thus for landing By this means , as I wear my Spectacles constantly. THE YOUNG MAN AND THE OLD MAN [ 23 ]
... Change trou- blesome and not always sufficiently ready , I had the Glasses cut , and half of each kind associated in the same Circle , thus for landing By this means , as I wear my Spectacles constantly. THE YOUNG MAN AND THE OLD MAN [ 23 ]
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 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Acts of Parliament Adams Advantage Albany Congress America Articles of Confederation Assembly become Benjamin Franklin Boat Body Britain British Business called Children chimney Clouds cold Collinson Colonies Commerce common conductors Congress continued Country dear Debt Earth electric Fluid Emma Thompson empire England English Europe excerpted Expence Experiment Family Fire France French Friend give Globe Government Grand Council Honour House human increase Indians Inhabitants Island Jane Mecom Jonathan Shipley Julien-David Le Roy kind King Labour Land Laws letter lightning live London Lord Madame Helvétius Manufactures means Merchants Money Nation natural never Number Observations occasion Opinion Parliament Peace Pennsylvania perhaps Persons Peter Collinson Philadelphia Power present Property proposed Quantity Ships slaves Society soon Stamp Act Subsistence Sugar Taxes thing thought thro tion Trade treaty Union wanted Water wind