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 68
Page 3
... give you one moments trubel . " Franklin never com- plained of her failure to learn spelling or grammar , never condescended to her . The relationship , whether they were together or apart , was a trusting , affectionate one . That is ...
... give you one moments trubel . " Franklin never com- plained of her failure to learn spelling or grammar , never condescended to her . The relationship , whether they were together or apart , was a trusting , affectionate one . That is ...
Page 5
... give a sense of the whole. But other entries include thoughts about a variety of matters that are echoed in his later life. It is a good place to meet an ordinary young man who never lost his ordinary character, even when his exploits ...
... give a sense of the whole. But other entries include thoughts about a variety of matters that are echoed in his later life. It is a good place to meet an ordinary young man who never lost his ordinary character, even when his exploits ...
Page 7
... gives about all these things but for the impression it conveys of the man who wrote it . Journal of a Voyage , 1726 ... give half what they ask , you pay twice as much as the thing is worth . Thank God , we shall leave it to - morrow ...
... gives about all these things but for the impression it conveys of the man who wrote it . Journal of a Voyage , 1726 ... give half what they ask , you pay twice as much as the thing is worth . Thank God , we shall leave it to - morrow ...
Page 13
... give them to the boy when he had done, who understood nothing at all of cards. But another evidence being called, deposed that he saw the prisoner in the main top one day when he thought himself unobserved, marking a pack of cards on ...
... give them to the boy when he had done, who understood nothing at all of cards. But another evidence being called, deposed that he saw the prisoner in the main top one day when he thought himself unobserved, marking a pack of cards on ...
Page 21
... give Suck , Car , dit il , ils n'ont point des Tetons . He assur'd me it was a Fact , and had me look at them , and observe how flat they were on the Breast ; they have nothing more there , says he , than I have upon the Back of my Hand ...
... give Suck , Car , dit il , ils n'ont point des Tetons . He assur'd me it was a Fact , and had me look at them , and observe how flat they were on the Breast ; they have nothing more there , says he , than I have upon the Back of my Hand ...
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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