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. |
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Page 34
... Manufacture about 60 Years ago ; or to their being less expos'd to the Sun than in other Places , their Business keeping them much within Doors , I know not . Perhaps as in some other Cases , different Causes may club in producing the ...
... Manufacture about 60 Years ago ; or to their being less expos'd to the Sun than in other Places , their Business keeping them much within Doors , I know not . Perhaps as in some other Cases , different Causes may club in producing the ...
Page 45
... 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 laughter.
... 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 laughter.
Page 50
... Manufactures in the 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 ...
... Manufactures in the 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 ...
Page 144
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Page 152
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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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