Can some man arrive at moral perfection in this life, or is it impossible? Benjamin Franklin was born on Milk Street, in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. In his early age, he became more focus in reading and writing. As the years went by, it was clearly seen that writing was a tool through which he could express his ideas and argue points, and helped him to become a successful person later on in life. In 1753, Franklin rise to the top of the mail delivery world, becoming Postmaster General of the United States. Afterwards, Franklin started to turn his attention more and more to "public affairs" and the betterment of society. He was also called one of the founding fathers of the United States of America because he improved the quality of American’s life by doing a lot of public services and inventing the stove. In June, 1776, he became a member of the Committee of Five that drafts the Declaration of Independence. Franklin was also elected to the Second Continental Congress and proposed the first Articles of Confederation. In October 18, 1785 Franklin was elected as the sixth President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, replacing John Dickinson. Franklin died on April 17, 1790, at age 84.
After I red the book The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, this question came up to my mind, "Why are we still reading Benjamin Franklin’s life?" The answer was because the book established in literary form the first example of the fulfillment of the American Dream. For example, Franklin demonstrated the possibilities of life in the New World through his own rise from the lower middle class as a youth to one of the most admired men in the world as an adult. Furthermore, he asserted that he achieved his success through a solid work ethic which was one of the aspects of American Dream.
In the article “The Virtue of Reasonableness”, it implies that Franklin tried to lead his life by following the thirteen virtues (temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility). It also discusses that he followed these virtues because it helped him to indentify what was right and wrong. In addition, this virtues were also thought to be own by puritan’s tradition. He also chose to put the thirteen virtues in his book because he wanted to illustrate the “perfect character” and moral perfection to American.
Work Cited
"Benjamin Franklin." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Sep. 2009 http://www.encyclopedia.com/.
Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Mineola: Dover Publicatons, Inc., 1996. Print
Forbe, Steven. "The Virtue of Resonableness." Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and the Education of America . The American Political Science Review, Vol. 86, No. 2 (Jun., 1992), pp. 357-368 . American Political Science Association . September 16, 2009 .
How you listed his accomplishments then explained some details from his autobiography really shows how hard he worked. However, it could also be that he created the list of virtues because he thought religious practices were not doing enough to improve people's lives.
ReplyDeleteI don't really understand why it is that he has accomplished the American dream though, he was in the beginning from a realitively wealthy family, or did I read that wrong. The American dream was about ignoring social status of where you orginally came from. a blank state. Though it is difficult you gain more then you had through hard work. I don't know it might just be the way I read the autobiography, but I don't believe that Franklin achieved that much more then he had before. or it wasn't as steep as going from a begger to a king at any rate.
ReplyDeleteFranklin in his autobiography was a well meaning man who wanted a good life and lived with good intentions. the Virtue of Resonableness. It is good, but we should keep our admiration for him in check. Being a President didn't mean by far that he was a complete sumeritan. and His auto biography might be scewed because few men view thier actions as unjustified.
The American Dream could be considered as improving one's life or status. Franklin does improve his life and would qualify under this interpretation of the American Dream.
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