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 58
Page viii
... Colonies and the Empire 143 On Transported Felons , 1751 Felons and Rattlesnakes , 1751 Thoughts on Immigrants , 1751 of Mankind , 1751 II Ethnic Pride and Prejudice 158 Observations Concerning the Increase Indians and Germans , 1753 To ...
... Colonies and the Empire 143 On Transported Felons , 1751 Felons and Rattlesnakes , 1751 Thoughts on Immigrants , 1751 of Mankind , 1751 II Ethnic Pride and Prejudice 158 Observations Concerning the Increase Indians and Germans , 1753 To ...
Page ix
... Colonies, 1782 To William Strahan, 1784 The Costs of War, 1787 18 The Pretensions of Wealth 254 Thoughts on the House of Lords, 1775 Convention Speech on Salaries, 1787 Property Rights and Human Rights, 1785 The Moral Obligation of ...
... Colonies, 1782 To William Strahan, 1784 The Costs of War, 1787 18 The Pretensions of Wealth 254 Thoughts on the House of Lords, 1775 Convention Speech on Salaries, 1787 Property Rights and Human Rights, 1785 The Moral Obligation of ...
Page xii
... colonies . In 1775 , at the Continental Congress , he proposed articles of confederation for a continental union . The Congress declined to con- sider them and later adopted a much weaker set with provisions Franklin had specifically ...
... colonies . In 1775 , at the Continental Congress , he proposed articles of confederation for a continental union . The Congress declined to con- sider them and later adopted a much weaker set with provisions Franklin had specifically ...
Page 45
... colonies becoming competitors instead of customers in the manufacture of woolens . Franklin and others had already written straightforward essays to discount the danger of such competition , citing the high cost [ 45 ] 3 The uses of ...
... colonies becoming competitors instead of customers in the manufacture of woolens . Franklin and others had already written straightforward essays to discount the danger of such competition , citing the high cost [ 45 ] 3 The uses of ...
Page 50
... Colonies to the Prejudice of those of this Kingdom . It is objected by superficial Readers , who yet pretend to some Knowledge of those Countries , that such Estab- lishments are not only improbable but impossible ; for that their Sheep ...
... Colonies to the Prejudice of those of this Kingdom . It is objected by superficial Readers , who yet pretend to some Knowledge of those Countries , that such Estab- lishments are not only improbable but impossible ; for that their Sheep ...
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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