The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin

I have had a copy of Ben Franklin's Autobiography on my bookshelf as part of larger collection of leather bound books for several years. I have never had any serious interest in reading it because Franklin has never really impressed me as one of our country's founders. I have read references to Franklin's involvement in the Revolution as part of many other biographies and his participation seemed far too limited to be of much interest. As a man well past the life expectancy of the time he seemed to have been given some soft jobs just to keep him out of the way of the important work. As such Ben was sent to France to negotiate an alliance which didn't happen until we proved we weren't a hopeless cause after Saratoga. After Yorktown he had the job of negotiating the peace with Britain and then he returned home after 8 years in France which followed the 20 or so years he spent in England before Lexington and Concord. When he returned home he was part of our Constitutional Convention in 1787 where he spent most of his time sleeping through the debates and having his few suggests ignored. Reading this book gave me a much greater appreciation of this man and an understanding of his value to the American cause and the American identity that developed during the 19th century.Ben Franklin was the only American in the 18th century that could be what we understand today to be a celebrity and an international celebrity at that. He basically defined and epitomized the concept of the self-made man and was able to bridge the gap between being a working man and becoming a gentleman. In the rigidly class conscious 18th century a man that worked, that worked with his hand, could never be expected to become a gentleman and that was a pinnacle status of the time. Franklin was born to working class and became a printer. Through diligence and perseverance he educated himself and flourished in business to the point that he was able to retire from business in middle age. At retirement he did what many gentlemen did and that was to devote himself to idle pursuits of personal interest. Franklin's interest was electricity which resulted in some successes that became the subject of publications and international attention. This attention resulted in a notoriety that got him appointed to represent Pennsylvania and a few other colonies in London. His time in England was so lengthy that when he returned in the early 1770's his loyalty was seriously in doubt. Since Ben was more interested in finding reasonable solutions to colonial problems rather than radical responses he was thought to be too much a Tory. Nevertheless, when he returned to America the cause had a use for him and it was important.Franklin's tenure in France was probably an assignment that only he could have performed. While he was still regarded as being of doubtful loyalty he was now suspected of being too French. He was criticized by the other members of his delegation and had to weather attempts to remove him. What saved him and, ultimately, America was the insistence by France that he not be removed. While his colleagues never understood neither Franklin nor the French Ben was the only one the French regarded seriously. To the French Franklin was a superstar while his fellow Americans were amateurs on the world stage. Without Franklin the alliance with France was doubtful and without the alliance Yorktown was unlikely. We can speculate about how that might have turned out but thankfully we didn't have to live through it.Now what really was revelatory about Franklin was how his life accomplishments were used to frame and define an ideal for the youth of the new United States. This book offers a very interesting and informative glimpse into 18th century society and how Franklin unwittingly overcame its impassable barriers. As a low born tradesman, a printer, his life should have been restricted. Ben, however, was curious and his trade offered him the advantage of being taught to read and read he did. He devoured every book he could get access to and educated himself. He was able to open his own printing shop and then through thrift and diligence was able to expand his business to shops in other cities and become an 18th century entrepreneur. He was also an author which added to his blossoming wealth and acclaim. His wealth afforded him the opportunity to retire from business and to cease working with his hands as not needing to work was the hallmark of a gentleman. Of course acquiring wealth and not needing to work was not enough to become a gentleman. Ben became a gentleman as result of his scientific pursuits in the field of electricity and the acclaim that resulted from his successes in this field. The fact that this low born uneducated printer was able to break the social barriers of the day and obliterate the stigma attached to laboring for a living was what cemented Franklin's place in American history. Following his death Franklin's Autobiography became the road map for the common man's path to success in America. The working man was no longer a social outcast and the concept of a gentleman was now open to new, American, definition. Franklin's life formed the foundation for the evolution of what would become American society and its values and therein lies his greatness.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) is the founding father more Americans admire than any other. However, it is also true that Franklin the man is little understood. This situation is remedied in this excellent short work by Dr. Gordon S. Wood who is America's foremost historian of the colonial, revolutionary and early republican periodof our nation's history. Wood begins by stating that Franklin has come to symbolize the Horatio Alger, pull yourself up by the bootstaps lad who through hard work, clean living, frugality and dedication makes a success of himself. Franklin was a hard worker who was born the 15th of 17 children to a Boston soapmaker in 1706. He left Boston for Philadelphia at the age of 17.In the City of Brotherly Love he became a famous printer and newspaper editor. He was also a tireless social reformer organizing the local militia, volunteer fire department, free public library, creating the idea of matching funds and founding the American Phil. Society. Franklin also served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pa. winning the attention of wealthy patrons who aided him in his career climb to the top. Franklin retired in his late 40s. He spent much of his life in London and Paris. Until the 1770's when he opposed the Stamp Act he was pro-British calling for colonial obedience to the crown. He served as the Royal assistant postmaster for the entire American colonies but was fired in 1774 following his support of the American rebellion. Franklin was an expert on electricity who developed the lightening rod and also invented bifocal glasses and the famous Franklin stove. He was an avid swimmer enjoying long walks and sitting with friends in the "Juno society" discussing intellectual and community concerns. BF was the printer for several colonial legislative bodies and served with success in the Penn. government. Folloiwng the American Revolution he served three terms as President of Pennsylvania. Though only attending school for two years he was awarded honorary doctorates by Yale and Oxford among other institutions of higher learning. He was our first ambassador to France and the greatest diplomat in American history. Due to BF's efforts the French government gave support to the fledgling United States in commercial treaties and as an ally against England in the American Revolution. Franklin was a genius, a wit and and the most famous, learned and traveled American citizen of the eighteenth century. Wood ranks him second only to George Washington in the pantheon of Revolutionary War heroes. Franklin was not cute and cuddly but a pragmatist with an astute mind who understood human nature. He spoke several languages and read widely in many fields. He was a Deist who doubted the deity of Christ though he thought religion good for the moral uplift of the public. His family life was complicated. He lived with Deborah Read his common law wife who gave him a son Franky who died young and a daughter Sally. He was not close to her and lived aborad for several years while she kept house in Philadelphia. His illegitimate son William by an unknown paramour was a Loyalist who was imprisoned by the Americans. He had been the Royal Governor of New Jersey. BF and William had their love aborted over their political disagreements. BF was close to Temple Franklin the son of William. Franklin was ambitious and could be vain. He was not happy with the way he was treated by Congress following the Revolution claiming he needed reimbursement for his time on diplomatic work abroad in France. He did not like puritanical John Adams. Some in America thought he was too pro-British but he was an arch patriot of the new American republic. Franklin was a Renaissance man and a great American statesman, inventor, publisher and printer. Gordon Wood's short book was named a Notable Book in 2004 by the New York Review of Books. It is the best book I have read on Franklin and deserves to be on your bookshelf. A great book about a great American! Bravo Ben!